Service and sacrifice — a debt owed by all Americans to fellow Americans who have served us at great cost. Who are these brave, caring Americans who live among us? In this special reporting, you’ll meet people like the 100-year-old veteran who fought for us at Anzio in World War II, first responders not afraid to confront what could hurt us and the special school teacher who cares so much about teaching our children that she spends her own time and money on that cause. There’s the missionary who carries healing medicine and consoling words to far off places, the doctor who puts her calling above her bank account, the Vietnam veteran who — after all these years — is still helping buddies cope with the trauma of that terrible war. What makes some of our neighbors so willing and ready for service and sacrifice? They come from every walk of life. The common thread in their stories? They are American stories: Stories of service and sacrifice.
Do you have a story idea for our Service and Sacrifice series? Click here to fill out a form and we may report on it.
Stories
MCCRACKEN COUNTY, KY — School is back in session for your kids, but most teachers have been hard at work for weeks. That might be the entire summer if their load is hundreds of kids.
July 29, 1967. The aircraft carrier USS Forrestal was engaged in combat operations in the Gulf of Tonkin off of the Vietnam coast. A massive fire broke out when jet fuel spilled across the deck, igniting and triggering a chain reaction of explosions that killed 134 sailors and injured 161 more.
How can you possibly pay someone back for putting their life at risk for your freedom? A group of volunteers came together to try to do just that for World War II veteran Roy H. Duncan.
“Every week’s a little different, but every week’s the same at the core: love one another, be kind to one another. The world needs that a lot.”
On Dec. 7, 1941, 2,403 people died at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked the Hawaii naval base. A Paducah man survived. He passed away in 1981, but his story lives on thanks in part to a special interview he gave.
It took more than 40 years for him to talk about what he lived through in Vietnam and how PTSD has impacted his life. He’s now sharing his story of how he’s learned to live with the price of service and sacrifice.
For more than 100 years, the NAACP has fought for equality and justice for African Americans. The fight continues today, but not without people like Benny Heady and Corbin Snardon.
When the program started about two years ago, Dyer said they were helping a little more than 100 students. Now, nearly 800 students are being helped.
Chuck McDaniel served in Vietnam in 1970 for a little less than a year, but he carried the weight of that war for 50 years. It’s the price our veterans pay for their Service & Sacrifice.
“His kindness was a shining star.”
The Navy pilot’s family, friends, and hundreds more who never knew him filled Discovery Park of America on Saturday to honor his service and sacrifice.
He was lost for 51 years. On Thursday, MIA Vietnam Navy pilot Lt. Richard “Tito” Lannom finally returned home to Tennessee.
“The military was the first integrated part of society that I experienced,” Coleman said. “All the way up to that time I went through separate schools — separate but unequal.”
Cornelius “Neal” Clark is following in the footsteps of Oscar Cross as the new executive director of the Boys and Girls Club that bares Cross’ name.
Two women, complete strangers, but they have one thing in common: the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945. One helped make it. The other’s husband helped deliver it.
Tom George has lived by the ideals of service and sacrifice for 100 years. He saw the horrors of war firsthand in World War II and wrote about his experiences in a book.
