Start Over Genres interview Unit Collections

121. Mike Sherman: Interview (29:21)

Date:
2010-07-20
Main contributors:
Sherman, Mike
Summary:
Mike Sherman, A&M Head Football Coach, Iraq Trip (Interviewed July 20, 2010) This is indeed a special Veterans of the Valley because instead of visiting with a Veteran, Aggie Head Football Coach Mike Sherman and I are going to talk about those who are serving our country right now. In May, Coach Sherman, with the tremendous help of the Aggie Network, had the opportunity to visit Iraq to see first hand the work of the brave men and women there; and to get a personal view of the day-to-day challenges they endure while proudly wearing American military uniforms. And as you can guess, he met with plenty of Aggies on his 6-day stay that took him from Kuwait to Camp Adder, to Camp Victory, to Camp Prosperity. As he wrote in his journal, he discovered the outstanding leadership we have in Iraq, the horrible quality of life the Iraqi people endured for so many years under Saddam Hussein, the passion that our military have for their job and their service, and the passion that they have for football.

122. Mike Southerland: Interview (28:14)

Date:
2011-01-26
Main contributors:
Southerland, Mike
Summary:
Mike Southerland, U.S. Army, Vietnam (Interviewed Jan. 26, 2011) The Brazos Valley and particularly residents of Bryan know Mike Southerland for his service on the Bryan City Council since 2006. Many others though know of his 22 1/2 years of military service in the U.S. Army. One year of that, from Feb 1969 to Feb 1970, was spent as a chopper Pilot in Vietnam, flying some 900 hours of mainly what they called Ash and Trash missions between Chu-Li and 80 miles south of Da Nang. There are some stories to tell of reconnaissance, transport and occasional assault. After Viet Nam, Mike Southerland spent another 19 years in uniform, ending his military career stationed at Bryan’s 420th Engineering Brigade, under General Al Jones.

123. Noble Goza: Interview (28:46)

Date:
2010
Main contributors:
Goza, Noble
Summary:
Noble Goza, U.S. Marines, WW II (Interviewed July 15, 2010) Noble Goza is a World War II Veteran for sure, although by the time he was drafted in 1945, little did he know that the war was about to end. His 4th Marines Division has been sent to Maui as replacement troops for the 4th Marines survivors returning from Iwo Jima. While training for what everyone figured would be a ground war with Japan, the bomb was dropped -- and soon after, the war was over. He spent another year in Hawaii and soon was discharged thinking he’d never ever see combat. He was quite wrong. Fast forward to 1950 when then Marine reserve Noble Goza was re-deployed, this time the fast track to Korea, were he was on an LST to the Cliffs at Inchon. Then later to North Korea where his 7th Marines Division was on its way to the Chosin Reservoir when he was wounded and his military service came to a quicker than expected end. His is a fascinating story of service in two wars.

124. Norman Beal: Interview (29:15)

Date:
2009-10-29
Main contributors:
Beal, Norman
Summary:
Norman Beal, U.S. Marines, Korea (Interviewed Oct. 29, 2009) Some call it the forgotten war, but Norman Beal of rural Brazos County has not forgotten a thing about his 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines assault on the Korean coast in 1950. Nor has he forgotten the horror in the cold of that winter, scaling the cliffs at the beaches of Incheon, nor the card game that kept him in Korea to fight even longer. The Korean war cost 54,000 American lives and another 8000 were missing and Norman Beal counts himself very lucky to have survived to tell his story of service.

126. P.K. Carlton: Interview (28:23)

Date:
2010-08-19
Main contributors:
Carlton, P. K.
Summary:
P.K. Carlton, U.S. Air Force, Pentagon on 9/11 (Interviewed Aug. 19, 2010) Lt. General P.K. Carlton Jr’s career of service in the United States Air Force is without doubt one of the most compelling and fascinating that we’ve ever had the honor to share on Veterans of the Valley and we will hear it over the next two editions of our show. The son of a World War II B-29 pilot who eventually commanded the Air Force’s Military Airlift, P.K. Carlton Jr. knew as early as age 8 that he wanted to be in the Air Force and wanted to fly. But a Depth Perception problem on his flight physical sent him on another path...medicine...surgery... and a career that placed him in a position to help create and implement changes that indeed have saved the lives of literally countless numbers of military personnel, indeed surgical methods and concepts that he and his teams have brought to exist, are saving lives right now in Afghanistan and Iraq. We sadly hear every day of the numbers who have died. You’re about to hear things you don’t know about the numbers who have lived. He is the former Surgeon General of the Air Force and since his retirement in the winter of 2002, General Carlton has been Director of Homeland Security for the Texas A&M Health Science Center.

127. Pat Patterson: Interview (27:38)

Date:
2006-03-29
Main contributors:
Patterson, Pat
Summary:
Pat Patterson, U.S. Marines, Desert Storm (Interviewed March 29, 2006) Pat Patterson served as a Marine during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, but this show is about his work as a counselor for the Texas Veterans Commission. It’s his job to make veterans aware of the benefit available to them. He served 20 years in the Marine Corp. He was a warrant officer during Desert Storm. He crossed the border the day before the ground war started, giving support to the artillery, looking for gun positions.

128. Paul Stephens: Interview (28:01)

Date:
2006-09-20
Main contributors:
Stephens, Paul
Summary:
Paul Stephens, Army Air Corps, WW II (Interviewed Sept. 20, 2006) Colonel Paul Stephens will never forget the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, the dawn of D-Day. Hours before sunrise and the beach invasion at Normandy, came the paratrooper drop behind the beaches between them the Americans and the British flew someone 1,000 transport planes and one of those was a C- 47 piloted by Colonel Stephens. Paul Stephen served his country as a flyer and for more than three years of his long service, witnessed the war in Europe from his cock pit. His is a fascinating story. Paul W. Stephens is A&M class of 1938.

129. Philip Alexander: Interview (33:18)

Date:
2007-07-19
Main contributors:
Alexander, Philip
Summary:
Dr. Philip Alexander, Computer Artist (Interviewed July 19, 2007) College Station Physician Dr. Philip Alexander has a unique skill beyond health care. He’s an artist. Not with a palette and brush, but with a computer. And uses this unique talent to express his passion for the military and for veterans through his amazing art. This TV Show will exhibit many of his works.

130. R.F. “Sonny” Franze: Interview (28:44)

Date:
2005-06-22
Main contributors:
Franze, R. F. “Sonny”
Summary:
R.F. “Sonny” Franze, U.S. Army, WW II (Interviewed June 22, 2005) “Sonny” Franze recalled well leaving his farm near Kurten and going into the Army -- learning to climb telephone poles and set communication wire and eventually taking that training across the North Atlantic to Europe front lines. He landed at Normandy on D+10 and that led to bravery that won him five Bronze Stars. He also saw the horror that his unit discovered at the concentration camp called Buchenwald.