If you didn’t know or hear about it, I was a guest on BBC’s World Have Your Say Radio program yesterday. You can listen to the archive of that show at downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/worldservice/whys/whys_20120112-1907a.mp3

I have been on BBC and mostly the WHYS Radio program several dozen times but it has been since last summer when I was on last. With the recent Marine Video news giving the MSM something to talk about they are having me back on again today. I will be on the BBC’s 5Live radio show which broadcasts worldwide on BBC Radio and on the internet. If you want to listen and don’t have BBC Radio  locally, you can listen live starting at 5PM ET on http://www.bbc.co.uk/5live/.

First up tonight we have MN National Guard 1SG Shane Hudella from Defending the Blue Line. Shane founded Defending The Blue Line (DTBL) a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the spring of 2009 to help military families with the high costs of hockey and help ensure that children of military members are afforded every opportunity to participate in the great sport. Prior to running DTBL, Hudella was on active duty for the Minnesota Army National Guard and was deployed for Operation Desert Storm in 1990. He brings over 22 years of military leadership experience to the organization and is still actively serving.

Kerry Kachejian will be on in the second hour. Kerry is the author of SUVs Suck in Combat: The Rebuilding of Iraq during a Raging Insurgency. Kerry served as an Army Engineer officer for 28 years. He has a BS from the U.S. Military Academy, MS in Systems Engineering from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and another MS in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. He has received numerous military awards, including the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, and the Combat Action Badge and is both Airborne and Ranger qualified. He currently supports intelligence programs at Raytheon and lives with his family outside of Washington, DC. His book recently received the annual “Literacy Hero Award” and is available on Amazon and Barnesandnoble.com

Be sure to tune in at 8PM EDT on www.youservedradio.com to listen to these great guests and who knows what else tonight.

I have read several reports that puts the death rate of WW II vets at around 1,000 per day. In fact based on the death rate of WW I veterans there are predictions that all WW II veterans could be gone by 2020.

To be able to meet and talk with these awesome veterans is quite an honor. They are truly living capsules of history of our country. So needless to say when we get to interview these WW II Veterans like MG Haynes, Ben Steele or Vic Freudenberger it is truly an honor and a privilege. It is even more of an honor when they talk to us and can recount so many minor details.

I can barely remember last week so it doesn’t surprise me when WW II veterans start forget some of the past, like here:
http://www.military.com/news/article/memory-fades-but-wwii-vets-story-in-memoir.html

This is another reason why I am amazed when we have guests like Vic on the show. If you haven’t listened to last week’s hour-plus interview with Vic then you are missing out. He walked through years of history with us on the show, recollecting exact dates, places, etc. Be sure and check out http://www.blogtalkradio.com/youserved/2011/09/28/episode-161-maj-rusty-bradley-vic-freudenberger to listen to the show last week and stay tuned in on Tuesday nights because we will have Vic back on in the near future to continue with more of his career and our history.

This week’s show on You Served Radio is another one you don’t want to miss. Hey I serious here, tell your friends, family, co workers, everyone. You are missing out if you don’t listen to this show. First up we have Special Forces Major Rusty Bradley who a Special Forces ODA Team Commander in the Kandahar area in 2006 amongst many other years. Rusty wrote a book about this one particular tour titled the Lions of Kandahar that I am currently reading and I can tell you it is a must-read if you want to even have an idea about what our operators do on the battlefield in the Global War on Terror.

In the second hour we have a Mr. Vic Freudenberger. Vic joined the Marines 73 years ago this month in 1938. Vic was with the detachment of marines sent to Montevidewo Uruguay when the German Battleship Graf Spee had been damaged and chased into Montevideo Harbor. The president of Uruguay feared the German crew, almost a thousand men now ashore in Montevideo, would try to stage a coup. Since Uruguay was pro German President Roosevelt sent Marines to prevent it aboard the Cruiser Witchita.

While in the Marines, Vic found out  they began experimenting with Paratroopers because of the success the Germans were having pre-war and then in 1940 when they took the low countries and used paratroopers to storm the impregnable fortress of Eben Emul. Being a paratrooper was considered very elite then and paid an extra 50 per month hazard duty pay.

Vic was then in the attached along with the other paratroopers to the 1st Marine Division and were sent to the Solomons an enemy airfield on Guadalcanal. This airfield was a threat to the sea lanes to Australia much the way U boats were threatening the US lifeline to England in the North Atlantic.

Gavutu was a seaplane base for the Japanese. It was a tiny island across Sea Lark Channel from Guadalcanal. 397 Marine paratroopers of which Vic was part of landed on Guvutu with fighter and fighter bomber support from the Enterprise along with one cruiser and two destroyers. When the fight was over, 31 Marines were KIA. 55 were WIA for a total of 86 men lost. Vic was one of the casualties.

Not just a veteran of WWII, Vic was also a veteran of the Korean War. He was an XO of a company that took part in the Inchon landing and was involved in the battle at the Chosin Reservoir.

So as you can see this is not a show you want to miss. We have battle-hardened warriors from WWII to Afghanistan. Come join us Tuesday night at 8PM EDT at www.youservedradio.com

First up tonight is singer Jason Moon. Since his return from the Iraq War in 2004, Jason has come to realize both that there is a terrible lack of awareness in the civilian community regarding their obligations to soldiers returning from war, and that the transition from warrior to civilian of soldiers returning from war is often handled very badly by our culture.

In recognition of this situation, in an attempt to rectify it, and in order to find healing himself from the rigors of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Jason has developed an interactive performance-discussion using music, information, and community designed to raise awareness among civilians of the needs of soldiers returning from war and to provide a transitional experience for soldiers who have returned from war.

Jason’s mission grew out of his personal quest to bring his latest album, Trying to Find My Way Home, into being. Only able to finish a single song in over five years after his return from Iraq, Jason was asked to participate in the forthcoming documentary On the Bridge about Iraq War veterans’ experiences on returning from the Middle East. He was then asked to finish several of his songs so that they might be used for the film. This provided the motivation he needed to be able to once again take up his guitar and write several more songs, which combined became the nucleus of his new album and began an extraordinarily healing process. Jason sought to translate the healing he experienced in the creation of his album into something that would bring that same healing to others who he knew suffered as he did.

In the second hour we will have Mr. Dan Osborne who works in International Truck Marketing for Military Tactical Truck Maker, Navistar. He will be on to talk about the Navistar LPGA classic raising funds for Wounded Warrior Project. Two weeks ago during episode #158 we had Mr. Joe Caley on as a guest talking about the LPGA classic and how Navistar sponsored this event to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. This interview is a follow up to that one to see how well the fundraiser went.

Well tonight is it folks. We have been talking about this show for a couple of weeks. Tonight on You Served Radio, we will host a special 9/11 memorial show. As part of that show, we will have former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on to talk about a variety of important topics. We will also be having good friend of the show, former Ranger and current businessman, Ranger-Up founder Nick Palmisciano. In addition to these two great guests we at You Served Radio will talk about our memories of 9/11/01, where we were, what it means to us today, etc. We also encourage some of our listeners to call in to our guest line at 866-696-9150 and share their memories when we get to that point in the show.

Last but not least we here at You Served Radio are proud to announce that starting today, our You Served Ebay auction site is back up and running. Our first item in the auction store is a signed copy of Donald Rumsfeld’s new book, Known and Unknown.

I am currently reading this book and I can tell you it is awesome. You want a copy of this book, and of course getting a signed copy makes it even better. So stop by http://www.ebay.com/itm/Known-and-Unknown-A-Memoir-Autographed-Copy/190576720461#ht_500wt_1156 and make your bid now. It is starting out at $5.00 (NO RESERVE) which is a steal.

All sales made on the You Served ebay Store have 100% (VAMC pays for all shipping) of the money goes towards a Military supporting charity that we choose. We try to rotate these charities every couple of months.

The charity we are now supporting is www.pinupsforvets.com. Be sure and check out Gina’s site to learn more about her charity, how she helps and lifts the spirits of many of our country’s wounded in military and VA hospitals today, and how she has donated over $50,000 back to some of those hospitals for their needs.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the horrific attacks that happened to our country on 9/11/2001. Our show on 9/13/2011 will be our special remembrance show in honor of those who died in those attacks and on the day itself.

We here at You Served Blog and Radio show are extremely honored to announce that we will have a very special guest on the show the evening of 9/13. Former Secretary of Defense, Mr. Donald Rumsfeld will be joining us on You Served Radio to talk about the anniversary, reflect on his very long career of public service and I am sure we will talk a little about his book also.

So be sure to tell your family, friends, and even people you don’t like that they need to tune into the show. In fact tell them to start tuning in this week because we have awesome guests every week.

We here at You Served love social media, so be sure and tell people on Facebook and Twitter too. You can follow us at www.facebook.com/youserved and www.twitter.com/youserved. By following us there, you get announcements like this before anyone else.

A general installed just last month as the Army’s top officer is President Obama’s surprise choice to become the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, two people familiar with the selection process said Wednesday.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, an accomplished veteran of the Iraq war, would succeed Navy Adm. Mike Mullen as the president’s top military adviser when Mullen’s term as chairman ends Sept. 30. Dempsey would have to be confirmed by the Senate.

Two people familiar with the choice, who spoke on condition of anonymity because it has not been announced by the White House, said it is scheduled to be made public on Tuesday.

Dempsey is a surprise choice because he just began a four-year term as Army chief of staff on April 11.

I could not think of a better selection to be the  next CJCS. Admiral Mullen has done some really great things and some not so great things in my opinion. He started out strong calling leaders on their deficiencies when needed.

However I think putting in an experienced and highly respected leader like GEN Dempsey is exactly what the POTUS needs in order  to keep him informed with sage advice and ground truth from the military point of view. I was honored to meet and interview GEN Dempsey last year and I truly left those few days of being around him being very impressed by his views and leadership. You can go to http://www.vamortgagecenter.com/blog/?s=dempsey to see all the videos form the interview.

So congrats GEN Dempsey, I think you will do an awesome job.

MilBlogCon11- LTG Caldwell addresses the Conference from You Served Radio & Blog on Vimeo.

This is a video that was shot of the screen that LTG Caldwell appeared on live via video-teleconference talking to the attendees of the 2011 Milblog Conference. LTG Caldwell opened up with a statement (which is where this video starts) and then he takes questions from the attendees and from viewers online who watched the livestream

Take a few minutes and watch this fabulous interview with a very brave Gold Star family who attended and sat on a panel to discuss being survivors of a fallen warrior.

MilBlogCon11 Interview with Tricia and Shelly Hall from You Served Radio & Blog on Vimeo.

This interview happened right after one of the toughest panels to watch at the 2011 MilBlog Conference. This one is an interview with Tricia and Shelly Hall who are a mother and daughter and gold star family members. The “Survivors Panel” they sat on was a highlight of the conference, but this interview lets you get to know them a little bit more.