Advertise on podcast: Medal of Honor: Stories of Courage

When a veteran needs medical treatment far from home, where does their family stay? For 15 years, Jennifer Deluca has helped answer that question through Fisher House Boston. JR Martinez sits down with the recipient of the Citizen Honors Service Act Award, selected by Medal of Honor recipients themselves, to discuss her mission, the families she's helped, and why keeping loved ones together can make all the difference.  To learn more about Jen’s work at Fisher House Boston, or to make a donation to support them, visit Fisherhouseboston.org See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the early hours of February 3, 1943, the USS Dorchester was hit by a German torpedo in the icy waters off Greenland. As soon as they realized there weren’t enough life jackets to go around, four Army chaplains – a Catholic priest, a Jewish rabbi, and two Protestant ministers – took off their own and gave them to terrified soldiers, urging them to save themselves.  We end this season with one of the most moving stories in military history: the ultimate sacrifice of George Fox, Alexander Goode, John Washington, and Clark Poling, the immortal four chaplains.  Connect with the team:  Follow Pushkin on social @pushkinpods  Follow JR Martinez @iamjrmartinez  Follow Meredith Rollins @meredithkrollins Email the team: [email protected] Episode resource: No Greater Glory: The Four Immortal Chaplains and the Sinking of the Dorchester in World War II by Dan Kurzman (Random House, 2004) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You can hear this episode for free beginning August 5th. To learn more about Pushkin+ offerings, like ad-free episodes, exclusive content, and early access, visit pushkin.fm or the show page on Apple. When a veteran needs medical treatment far from home, where does their family stay? For 15 years, Jennifer Deluca has helped answer that question through Fisher House Boston. JR Martinez sits down with the recipient of the Citizen Honors Service Act Award, selected by Medal of Honor recipients themselves, to discuss her mission, the families she's helped, and why keeping loved ones together can make all the difference. To learn more about Jen’s work at Fisher House Boston, or to make a donation to support them, visit Fisherhouseboston.org

Joshua Chamberlain had never planned to be a soldier; he wanted to be a minister or a teacher. And yet, when the Civil War began, he felt it was his duty to enlist. He soon became a commander. And in Gettysburg, on a rocky hill called Little Round Top, he gave the order that helped the Union win the battle and made him a legend. But the courage Chamberlain showed in the months and years after this famous moment may be even more impressive.  Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up and save on the Medal of Honor show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. Use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription.  Connect with the team!  Follow Pushkin on social @pushkinpods  Follow JR Martinez @iamjrmartinez  Follow Meredith Rollins @meredithkrollins Email the team: [email protected]  Episode resources: On Great Fields: The Life and Unlikely Heroism of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain by Ronald C White (Random House, 2023) Autobiography of Joshua Chamberlain: The Major Writings edited by Thomas Desjardin (DownEast Books, 2024) Fanny & Joshua: The Enigmatic Lives of Frances Caroline Adams and Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain by Diane Monroe Smith (University Press of New England, 2013) The War Between the Union and the Confederacy: and Its Lost Opportunities by William C. Oates (The Neale Publishing Company, 1905)  Abraham Lincoln, Seen From the Field in the War for the Union by Joshua L. Chamberlain, 1909 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1968, Clarence Sasser was a young combat medic thrust into a nightmare. During a reconnaissance mission in Vietnam, his company was ambushed in a rice paddy. Despite being shot in the leg and unable to walk, Sasser spent the next several hours crawling through the mud, doing his best to care for his fellow soldiers. It would be decades before he was ready to talk about what he saw and heard.  Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up and save on the Medal of Honor show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. Use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription.  Connect with the team!  Follow Pushkin on social @pushkinpods  Follow JR Martinez @iamjrmartinez  Follow Meredith Rollins @meredithkrollins Email the team: [email protected]  Episode resource:  AMEDD Center of HIstory & Heritage interview with Clarence Sasser, 3/23/1987 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1951, Joseph Rodriguez and his unit were on a ridge in Korea, pinned down by gunfire. There was seemingly no way out. But Rodriguez had something to steady him. Tucked inside his helmet were letters from his girlfriend back home, Rose. He grabbed a handful of grenades and sprinted up the hill to take on the enemy himself. What happened next would change both his and Rose’s lives forever.  Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up and save on the Medal of Honor show page on Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin. Use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription.  Connect with the team!  Follow Pushkin on social @pushkinpods  Follow JR Martinez @iamjrmartinez  Follow Meredith Rollins @meredithkrollins Email the team: [email protected]  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Richard Pittman was legally blind in his right eye—a condition that should have kept him away from the front lines of the Vietnam War. But Pittman wasn't a man who took "no" for an answer. After sneaking his way into the U.S. Marines, he found himself on a trail in the jungle, single-handedly trying to save his brothers in arms. From a "medical disqualification" to a legendary stand with a machine gun, Richard Pittman’s story proves that true courage starts with the belief that you belong in the fight. Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up and save on the Medal of Honor show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. Use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription.  Connect with the team!  Follow Pushkin on social @pushkinpods  Follow JR Martinez @iamjrmartinez  Follow Meredith Rollins @meredithkrollins Email the team: [email protected]  Episode resources: US Marines in Vietnam: An Expanding War, 1966 by Jack Shulimson (Department of the Navy, 1982)  Operation Hastings website See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malcolm Gladwell sits down with journalist and author Sebastian Junger to discuss his  book “Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging.” After spending years embedded with American soldiers in Afghanistan, Junger found himself wondering: why do so many veterans struggle most not during  war, but after returning home?  Junger’s most recent book is “In My Time Of Dying.” He also has a substack called Tribe with Sebastian Junger. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you saw a suicide bomber moving toward your friends, would you have the courage to run toward him? That is the choice Florent “Flo” Groberg made on a dusty road in Afghanistan. In just eight seconds, he identified the threat, tackled the bomber, and saved countless lives. And yet, Flo says he still wishes he had run faster. Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up and save on the Medal of Honor show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. Use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription.  Connect with the team!  Follow Pushkin on social @pushkinpods  Follow JR Martinez @iamjrmartinez  Follow Meredith Rollins @meredithkrollins Email the team: [email protected]  Episode resource:  8 Seconds of Courage: A Soldier's Story from Immigrant to the Medal of Honor by Flo Groberg and Tom Sileo (Simon & Schuster, 2017) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Admiral Richard Byrd was one of the most famous explorers of the 20th century. He received the Medal of Honor for a risky flight to the North Pole. But soon after his death, the whispers began. Did he actually make it there? Or did he turn back early?  Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up and save on the Medal of Honor show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. Use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription.  Connect with the team!  Follow Pushkin on social @pushkinpods  Follow JR Martinez @iamjrmartinez  Follow Meredith Rollins @meredithkrollins Email the team: [email protected]  Episode resources: Race to the Top of the World: Richard Byrd and the First Flight to the North Pole by Sheldon Bart (Regnery History Press, 2013) To the Pole: The Diary and Notebook of Richard E Byrd, 1926-1927 edited by Raimund E Goerler (Ohio State University Press, 1998) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When World War II broke out, Japanese Americans, including George "Joe" Sakato and his family, were treated as threats. But Sakato still joined the Army because he wanted to protect the United States and its people. And on a hill in eastern France, he launched a one-man charge that defied military logic and changed the tides of the battle. His story is an incredible tale of loyalty and friendship against impossible odds. Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up and save on the Medal of Honor show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. Use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription. Connect with the team!  Follow Pushkin on social @pushkinpods  Follow JR Martinez @iamjrmartinez  Follow Meredith Rollins @meredithkrollins Email the team: [email protected]  Episode resources: Honor Before Glory: The Epic World War II Story of the Japanese American GIs Who Rescued the Lost Battalion by Scott McGaugh (Grand Central Publishing, 2016) “442nd Regimental Combat Team” by the Densho Encyclopedia  “Going for Broke: The 442nd Regimental Combat Team” by the National World War II Museum See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

During World War I, Navy Lieutenant Edouard Izac was plucked from a lifeboat by a German submarine, where, for weeks, he lived among his captors. After secretly gathering intelligence on the movements of the German fleet, Izac knew this information could change the course of the war and had to be given to the Allies. But first, he had to get out of Germany. He would hurl himself out of a moving train, trek 120 miles through the mountains, and swim across the Rhine, but he would never, ever give up.   Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up and save on the Medal of Honor show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. Use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription. Connect with the team!  Follow Pushkin on social @pushkinpods  Follow JR Martinez @iamjrmartinez  Email the team: [email protected] Episode resources: Escape by Dwight R Messimer (Naval Institute Press, 1994) Prisoner of the U-90 by Edouard Victor Isaacs (Houghton Mifflin, 1919) “Oral History: the Recollections of Lieutenant Edouard Victor Isaacs, U.S.N.” by the Department of the Navy, 1918  Medal of Honor by Allen Mikaelian (Hyperion, 2002) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1968, in the dense jungles of Vietnam, a team of Green Berets was pinned down by an overwhelming North Vietnamese Army force. Their last hope was a young Air Force pilot named James Fleming. Despite being low on fuel and facing a wall of enemy fire, Fleming refused to turn back. The rescue mission seemed destined to fail, but a split-second decision would earn Fleming the nation’s highest military honor. Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up and save on the Medal of Honor show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. Use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription. Connect with the team!  Follow Pushkin on social @pushkinpods  Follow JR Martinez @iamjrmartinez  Email the team: [email protected] Episode resources: “SOG Combat in Cambodia: Under the Gun at Tango Five-One” by Randy Harrison, Soldier of Fortune Magazine, August 1982  Green Hornets: The History of the U.S. Air Force 20th Special Operations Squadron by Wayne Mutza (Schiffer Military History, 2007)  Secret Green Beret Commandos In Cambodia: A Memorial History of MACVSOG's Command and Control Detachment South (CCS) And Its Air Partners, Republic of Vietnam, 1967-1972 by Fred S. Lindsey (AuthorHouse, 2012) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What turns an ordinary person into a legend? Host and Army veteran J.R. Martinez returns with stories of split-second decisions that changed the course of history.  Hear about harrowing escapes from prisoner-of-war-camps, daring flights to the farthest reaches of the globe, miraculous rescues, and acts of self sacrifice that will never be forgotten. These stories are about what it takes to become a hero and what happens after. Binge the full season of Medal of Honor, ad-free, with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up on the Medal of Honor show page in Apple or at Pushkin.fm/plus and use the code MOH25 for 25% off an annual subscription. This season, you’ll hear the stories of:  James Fleming: the Vietnam pilot who flew a helicopter into a death trap to save his men Edouard Izac: the WWI sailor who escaped a U-boat and a moving train to deliver enemy secrets George Sakato: the Japanese-American soldier who turned grief into a one-man army for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team Richard Byrd: the world’s most famous explorer who might’ve faked his flight to the North Pole  Florent Groberg: the man who tackled a suicide bomber to save his team in Afghanistan Richard Pittman: the one-eyed Marine who tricked his way into Vietnam to hold a jungle trail alone Joseph Rodriguez: the  Korean War soldier whose bravery was fueled by his love for a girl back home Clarence Sasser: the combat medic who crawled through a flooded rice paddy trying to help as many soldiers as he could Joshua Chamberlain: the college professor whose bayonet charge saved the Union at Gettysburg The Four Chaplains: four men of different faiths who sacrificed themselves to save their fellow soldiers See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

To mark Veterans Day, host J.R. Martinez sits down with producer Ryan Sweikert to talk about what he’s learned from the stories of veterans who have received the Medal of Honor, how to talk to veterans about their service, and the moments that shaped his life, both in the service and afterward. Medal of Honor Season 3 is coming on May 27th, 2026. In the meantime, we want to hear from you. We’ve put together a listener survey. Tell us what you love about the show. What we can improve on. Stories you think we've missed. To take the survey, follow this link: bit.ly/mohsurvey See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.