Veterans Archives: Preserving the Stories of our Nations Heroes

Send us Fan Mail A kid who doesn’t expect to make it to adulthood grows up to serve on a U.S. Navy warship, then gets medically discharged and has to reinvent everything from scratch. That’s the arc of our conversation with Chris Bersano, and he tells it with a mix of honesty, humor, and hard-earned calm. From early memories of Detroit and the shock of being placed in foster care at eight years old, Chris explains how instability can shape your risk tolerance, your drive, and the way you read...

Send us Fan Mail A Marine artillery career can sound like nonstop action, but Patrick Forystek tells the version that’s usually left out: long stretches of boredom, absurd workarounds, small moments that become lifelong memories, and the way one “wrong” assignment can still turn into pride in the craft. We start in the Flint area, where Patrick grows up playing hockey, stumbles through school with what he suspects is ADHD, and takes a job at the Flint City jail that unexpectedly becomes the b...

Send us Fan Mail He grew up in a tiny Michigan town with one stoplight and the kind of childhood where you rode your bike until dark, then somehow ended up standing on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier watching jets land for the first time. We’re joined by Adam Buck, a United States Navy veteran who chose the fire control path, leaned into the grind of Navy training, and served on USS Nimitz and USS Enterprise at a time when deployments meant long stretches away and real-world tension in...

Send us Fan Mail She showed up to basic training thinking she was ready, then learned fast that readiness is something you build, not something you announce. We’re joined by Stephanie Cane, a Kalamazoo, Michigan native who served in the United States Army and later the Army National Guard, and her story is equal parts funny, honest, and sharp about what military life really teaches you. We talk about growing up in the 1970s with hard-working parents, getting picked on at school, and fi...

Send us Fan Mail One phone call from Detroit Homicide changed James Bender’s life forever. After losing his mother in a tragic fire at 13, he’s forced into a new reality of split-up siblings, unstable housing, and growing up before he has the words for what’s happening. What follows is not a highlight reel, but an honest account of how a kid searching for stability finds it in continuity, education, and eventually the structure of the United States Army. We walk through James’s path from bas...