An Off-Ramp Memorial Day Special ... the youngest man on the list remembers Oskar Schindler ... Louis Zamperini, torpedoed, remembers life on a raft in the Pacific and in a Japanese POW camp ... Kevin Ferguson's Grandma and the USS Indianapolis ... an Iraqi vet remembers ... stories from Vietnam War correspondents and photojournalists ... helping grieving Marine families cut through the red tape ...
Fullerton's Leon Leyson - Youngest Schindler Jew
Freelance journalist Camille Hahn interviews her father-in-law, Leon Leyson, 82. Looking at his modest home in Fullerton, you wouldn't guess the remarkable story of the man who lives inside. Leyson was the youngest person on Schindler's list.
Fisher House - Easing a Family's Loss
Off-Ramp host John Rabe talks with Robert Stanton, 50, whose son, Marine Corporal Jordan Stanton, 20, was killed in action in Afghanistan in March. What helped get the Stanton's through it was a non-profit group called Fisher House, which supports families of Marine casualties.
Listen to the interview here, and CLICK THROUGH for a link to Fisher House.
(Thumbnail: Cpl Stanton with fiancee Julie Dickson, courtesy Nick Stanton.)
Memorial Day, WWII a family affair for Kevin Ferguson
8/1/2011 - A SAD UPDATE: Kevin's Grandmother passed away early Sunday morning. She was 87. Team Off-Ramp and all of KPCC send condolences to Kevin's family.
For most historians, there are few stories more compelling than that of the USS Indianapolis: a heavy cruiser that had seen battle for nearly all of World War Two. Its final voyage was one of the most integral, yet disastrous missions in the history of the US Navy. And for Off-Ramp producer Kevin Ferguson, it’s a story that hits very close to home.
Death Toll For Vets - Back Home
It's been noted many times that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were notable for the relatively small number of deaths during combat. But Aaron Glantz, a reporter for the Bay Citizen in San Francisco, asked what happened to those soldiers when they got back? The answer was disturbing -- more are dying here than when they were in uniform -- and it won Glantz the Society of Professional Journalists's recently awarded Glantz its Sigma Delta Chi Award for Investigative Reporting for his ground-breaking work. Queena Kim spoke with Glantz at the Bay Citizen.
Supporting the Combat Troops - Meet Marine Cpl. Rene Casillas
Not every story on Memorial Day needs to be drama from the battlefield. An army travels on its stomach, its vehicle maintenance facilities, its electricians ... You get the picture. Marine Corporal Rene Casillas is 27, lives in Southern California, and served two tours of duty in Iraq before he was discharged in 2009. Casillas spoke with Off-Ramp host John Rabe about his path into the Marines, and what he found there.
Veteran reporters remember covering the Vietnam War
Earlier this month, veteran reporters, photographers and editors from all over the country met at Brodard Chateau in Garden Grove for lunch. It was called the "Old Hacks Reunion," a gathering of reporters who all covered the war in Vietnam. Off-Ramp producer Kevin Ferguson stopped by.
Louis Zamperini's epic life story
UPDATE 7/3/2014: Olympian and World War 2 vet Louis Zamperini died yesterday of pneumonia; he was 97. Zamperini was also a spellbinding storyteller, and in 2010 he regaled a packed Crawford Family Forum with tales of his long and remarkable life.
Epic in the most literal sense possible: Zamperini's life plays out like a grandiose American hero's tale. Louis Zamperini is a living legend you probably have never heard of, but you've seen his name everywhere. Listen to the on-air version by clicking on the first icon, listen to the whole Olympic Panel by clicking on the second!
You might have seen a football game Torrance High School’s Zamperini Stadium, or landed an airplane Zamperini Field, even Zamperini Plaza, at the front of USC’s track and field stadium. They’re all named after Louis Zamperini. A former Olympic track runner, World War Two veteran and Los Angeles native who at 93 years old shares his story to this day. This past June, at KPCC’s Crawford Family Forum, Zamperini spoke with Fellow Olympian John Naber about how he ended up in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, met Hitler, stole a Nazi flag, served in the airforce, survived for a month and half on a life raft in the Pacific, and endured years of life in captivity as a Japanese prisoner of war.