A Minnesota PBS Initiative
Semper Fi
The following is from Episode 10, Season 1 of the Terrible, Thanks for Asking podcast
and was shared with permission.
My dad had been a storm cloud all day. I told him I was sick of him being like this... I wanted him to snap out of it.
Audio Story - Press Play to Listen
36:42
When Nora McInerny’s dad died, she lost his stories. The ones that she’s not sure she can can’t quite remember right, and the ones she never knew. Like those from his time as a Recon Marine in Vietnam. So Nora decides to look up some of the men he served with, and discovers one day in 1968 that forever shaped a group of boys into the mercurial, complicated men they would become.
Biographical Details
Submitted From: St. Paul, MN
Story Subject: Memorial
If you have a veteran in your life (and you do), you should sit down with them and ask about their experiences. And, if you can, you should document it. The StoryCorps project has a great app that can help walk you through interviewing, recording, and submitting your oral history interview to the Library of Congress.
This story is part of Children of Vets.
Go to the collection.
Story Themes: 1968, 1st Recon, Camp Reasoner, Children of Veterans, Curtis Gruetzmacher, Death and Loss, Felipe Herrera, Forgiveness, Golden Valley, Listen, Marine Recon, Marines, Memorial, Nora McInerny, Nora Purmort, PTSD, Quang Nam, Reconciliation, Reunion, Saint Paul, St Paul, Stephen McInerny, Steve McInerny, Storycorps, Terrible Thanks for Asking