USS Stark

Thursday, May 15 2008

USS Stark

Tim Gable

Today's story features an event that traces the long history of mistrust between the US and Iraq.

Tim Gable was an Operations Specialist aboard the USS Stark in May 1987. The ship was struck by two Iraqi missiles while he was asleep. He, along with 28 other crew members, were trapped in the berthing spaces where the missiles hit. They faced electric shocks from severed live wires, quickly rising water, fire, and smoke. Tim escaped by jumping into the Gulf, where he swam for nearly twelve hours so that two of his shipmates could use the life rings that had been thrown overboard.

Tim talks with Dick Gordon about how this experience changed his life and the lives of his crew members forever.

• See a photo of Tim in front of the hole where the missile entered the USS Stark
• Read about the incident and see more photos of the USS Stark
• Find out more about the memorial service that will be held this weekend
  

Tough Job - From Sales to Souls

Vito Martinez

We have been doing a mini-series on "odd job combinations." It all started with a woman who wrote in to say that she is a substitute teacher by day and a stripper on the weekends. After that interview aired, we've received several stories from people who think that their job combinations are also odd.

Vito Martinez plans to leave his job as a car salesman in Michigan this summer - but not because no one wants to buy American gas guzzlers. Vito is trading in his affluent lifestyle for poverty, and celibacy, as he enters the Franciscan priesthood.

It hasn't been an easy transition: he had to tell his live-in girlfriend about his plans and give up all his possessions. But Vito thinks that his career as a car salesman will actually prepare him well for his life as a priest.

Life on the Line

Listen Here

Wednesday, May 14 2008

Life on the Line

Rita Perry and Emma Pender

A new study documents just how hard work in a chicken plant is on the workers, from irepetitive stress injuries to increased rates of depression. Emma Pender and Rita Perry did much of the research for the study. They weren't merely experts, though. Both women worked in a chicken processing plant for a number of years. They share their stories from life on the line.

• Find out more about the study
• Read an article about the study
• Read Perdue's response to the Duke study
  

Almost on the Ground

Listen Here

Tuesday, May 13 2008

almost On the ground

Matt Capobianco - larger >>

Cyclone Nargis hit Burma nine days ago. More than 30,000 people are dead, and just as many are missing. Matt Capobianco's emergency assistance team is waiting for permission from the Burmese authorities to enter the country.

Matt has been involved with disaster relief before - he was on the ground in Bangladesh after Cyclone Sidr hit in November of 2007. He has seen what it is like for people and for the aid workers who are trying desperately to organize amidst the chaos. Matt's team, GlobalMedic, expects to get on the ground soon to provide aid for those who have survived the deadly cyclone.

• See photos of the aid effort in Bangladesh
• Visit the GlobalMedic website
  

Tough job - Drumming up Real Estate

Zach Finn

The foreclosure rate in Florida is three times the national average. But Ft. Lauderdale realtor and developer Zach Finn is ignoring the numbers. He has opened a new office and is even throwing upscale cocktail parties to lure buyers. He talks to Dick about how parties and international investors are keeping his business afloat.

• Check out Zach's real estate business

YOUR STORY - Adoption AT GUNPOINT

Roger and Ellen Questel

Roger and Ellen Questel wrote in to tell us about a pivotal moment in their lives. It all began when they adopted a little girl, Aline, from Brazil. 

The couple discovered that Aline had two sisters still back in Brazil. Roger and Ellen decided to begin the process to bring the other two girls back to the U.S. They arrived in Brazil to attend a hearing, and stayed with a friend. That's where the trouble began. They tell Dick the harrowing story of being held up at gunpoint. Eventually, they were able to get the girls and make it home to safety.

• See photos of the family

Frontline Chaplain

Listen Here

Monday, May 12 2008

Frontline Chaplain

Jeff Bryan

Today marks the first anniversary of the abduction of three U.S. soldiers in Iraq. The search continues for Pvt. Byron Fouty and his comrade, Sgt. Alex Jimenez.

Chaplain Jeff Bryan, their unit chaplain, ministered to their fellow soldiers following the ambush. He tells Dick Gordon about how he kept those soldier's faith alive inside Iraq's "Triangle of Death," and how being a former rifleman himself helps him to conduct memorial services on the battlefield.

• See photos that Chaplain Bryan took in Iraq
• Learn more about the missing soldiers - Pvt. Byron Fouty and Sgt. Alex Jimenez
• View a tribute to Pfc. Joseph Anzack, also captured on May 12, 2007

Paper Dolls

Listen Here

Friday, May 9 2008

Paper Dolls

Carolyn Parkes - larger >>

In honor of Mother's Day, we have two stories of mother and child.

Carolyn Parkes married at age 13 after she got pregnant by an older boy. She struggled to learn how to be a mother at such a young age. She was lonely - living in an isolated area, and her new husband was at work all day.

One day, in lonely desperation, she pulled out her childhood paper dolls and played with them, even while her real life infant gurgled nearby. This memory always embarrassed Carolyn. When she got older, she told her daughter the story. Later, her daughter gave her a gift - an elaborate set of vintage paper dolls. That gesture enabled Carolyn to stop blaming herself for her shortcomings as a young mom and treasure the bond she had created with her child.

• See photos of Carolyn's daughter and her paper dolls

Music heard in this story: Three Lullabies For Deirdre: Gently Rocking performed by Anthony Byrne for the album Piano Music

Doctor's Bag

Leon Prochnik - larger >>

This Sunday, Mother's Day, Leon Prochnik will be remembering his late mother — who saved his life nearly 70 years ago.

Leon grew up in Poland in the 1930s, living a life of privilege. The Prochniks were a well-to-do Jewish family who ran a chocolate factory. But all that changed in 1938 when the Nazis reached their hometown of Krakow. In the wake of the brutal Nazi occupation of Poland, which would eventually claim 90 percent of the country's Jewish population, the family gathered what they could and began a long, dangerous journey that would take them through Eastern Europe and eventually to safety in New York City. However, had it not been for a chance encounter with a doctor's wife and a mother's instinct, Leon says he never would have survived.

Leon Prochnik is a screenwriter living in Los Angeles.

• Click here to see photos of Leon with his mother
• Click here to learn more about Leon's work

Music heard in this story: Schindler's List from the album The Ultimate Guitar Collection; I Could Have Done More (Schindler's List) performed by The 12 Cellists of The Berlin Philharmonic for the album As Time Goes By