Featured in Episode 6 of our podcast, WWII Veteran Hank Roberson is back to celebrate his 100th Birthday! In this short episode, Paul Meincke joins Rev. Roberson at his West Side church on Easter Sunday as the community comes together to honor this hero. Listen in!

Ed Helrigel returned from Vietnam to a world he no longer recognized. From the heat of battle one day to arriving home the next, it was a reality that plagued many of his comrades-in-arms.

Sonny Zdancewicz saw constant action in the Vietnamese jungles as a Sergeant in the 7th Cavalry Regiment. The physical and emotional scars of battle, though many, were not enough to dim his singular focus: keeping the men in his command as safe as possible.

Howard Levinson grew up in extreme poverty in Chicago and from a very young age experienced rampant anti-Semitism. He dreamed to fly, pushing through the obstacles of resources and ignorance to become a B-24 pilot in the Pacific at the tender age of 21.

Army SPC/5 Richard "Dee" Simmons saw and experienced a lot during his time in Vietnam, but nothing stuck with him more -- literally -- than the Agent Orange defoliant that would cake on his skin to the point that it could be peeled off.

Jerry Warren is a born leader, a trait that was instantly recognized in his Army training prior to being sent to Vietnam. Jerry, who is Black, quickly made Sergeant and was placed in charge of a unit comprising all white soldiers. Though they functioned well as a team, there was a prejudicial undercurrent that could not be escaped.

Elaine Ansbro has had a fascination with flying and aviation since she was a young girl. With that in mind, she joined the Air Force during the Korean War in the hopes of taking wing.

Marine Corps Veteran Jerry Sperry received two Purple Heart medals for his service in the Korean War. The first came in South Korea, while the second came during the frozen Battle of Chosin Reservoir in the North.

Marine Corps Lance Corporal Jim Weinstein enlisted in the Marines to escape a troubled youth full of drink and drugs. Jim endured many close calls on the battlefields of Vietnam including one that resulted in his family receiving an erroneous death notice.

Howard Hill joined the Navy at 17-years-old toward the tail end of WWII. With camera in hand, Howard walked the streets of the city and documented first-hand the destructive power of the atom bomb.

Honor Flight Chicago alum Danny Anderson hails from Gardner, Illinois. A town of 1,400 that sits 60 miles southwest of Chicago in Grundy county, Gardner saw five of its young men not return home from Vietnam.

Bill Shoop served as a teletype operator during the latter stages of World War II in Europe, first during the Battle of Bulge and later from the International Military Tribunal known as the Nuremburg Trials.