A mother and a grandfather. One loss. Two vantage points.

In this first-ever dual-interview episode of Gold Star Stories, Nick Letendre sits down with Kristen Giordano and Joe Giordano to honor Private First Class Joseph Marquez — known to the people who loved him as "Dimps." Joey was killed in a training accident in Yakima, Washington on April 25th, 2022. He was 19 years old and had been in the Army less than a year.

Kristen — Joey's mother — shares the dimples that gave him his name, the boy who'd rather watch the Yankees with her than go out with friends, the migraine call the night before he died, and the work she's doing now to make sure no Gold Star family feels alone.

Joe — Joey's grandfather, twenty years in the Army with twelve of them at West Point, and the man Joey was named after — remembers the day an eight-year-old boy stood on a riverbank watching helicopters and decided he was going to fly. He walks us through the rollover, the notification, and what it means to be a Gold Star grandfather standing quietly behind his daughter.

Say his name: Private First Class Joseph Marquez.

🎖️ HONORING:
PFC Joseph "Dimps" Marquez
U.S. Army, 88M / 92F cross-trained
KIA April 25, 2022 — Yakima, Washington

⏱️ CHAPTERS:
00:00 Intro
02:25 Meet Kristen — the dimples, the light
03:49 A family of service
04:32 Joe's story — the West Point helicopter day
05:41 The shattered leg that almost stopped him
06:08 Basic, AIT, and the BWI airport surprise
07:02 "Kez, get off your phone"
09:09 The last call — "Love you too, mama"
15:40 Joe explains what happened in the desert
17:14 Telling Alexis
21:51 The secret-mission denial
23:29 The funeral and the unit that came home with him
24:10 TAPS, the 5K, and the JM 42 Foundation
29:18 The Woody Williams Memorial
30:48 Why Joe doesn't lead with "Gold Star grandparent"
31:40 The toast
33:00 Thank you

💛 SUPPORT THE MISSION:
🌐 GoldStarStoriesUSA.com
☕ BuyMeACoffee.com/GoldStarStories
💵 Cash App: $GoldStarStories

🎗️ LEARN MORE / GET INVOLVED:
JM 42 Foundation — supporting active duty service members, first responders, and their families
Woody Williams Foundation Gold Star Families Memorial Monument — Millsboro, Delaware

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TikTok: @USAGoldStarStories
Web: GoldStarStoriesUSA.com

A special thank you to our supporters: June Letendre, Jackie Mullins, Danielle Metal, Terry Mullins, Edie Howard, Bob and Pat Scott, Mary Jo Stoy, and Helen Krupp.

If this episode moved you, share it. Tell someone his name. That's how he stays here.

I'm Nick Letendre — check in on your people, live with purpose, and always, always say their names.

#GoldStarStories #SayTheirNames #JosephMarquez #GoldStarFamily #GoldStarMom #GoldStarGrandparent #ArmyStrong #FallenHero #MilitaryFamily #VeteranSupport #Yakima #ArmyAviation #TrainingAccident #LegacyOfService #RememberTheFallen #MilitaryPodcast #GriefAndLove

Episode Title: Kim LaShomb | A Gold Star Sister’s Story

Featuring: Kim LaShomb

Honoring: Cpl Nicholas Nick Arvanitis, U.S. Army (KIA Iraq, October 2006)

Kim LaShomb is a Gold Star sister and a veteran who has carried her brother’s loss for nearly two decades. In this episode, she shares who Nick was before the uniform, what changed after deployment, how the notification unfolded, and what it looks like when a sibling becomes the point of contact and the steady one in the moment that breaks a family.

This is Nick’s story through the voice of the person who knew him best.

Topics Covered

• Nick’s life before service: sports, music, wrestling, and personality
• Why he chose the 82nd Airborne
• The impact of deployment and the silence that followed
• Notification and the weight placed on siblings
• Community response, remembrance, and keeping a legacy alive

Important Note About Audio

Due to an error in Riverside, there are moments where it may sound like Kim is being cut off or talked over. This is not intentional. We edited the episode as carefully as we could, and we’re working to prevent this issue in future releases.

Thank you for listening, and thank you for honoring Nick.

In this episode of Gold Star Stories, we share the life and sacrifice of Corporal Thomas Steven Hickman, a young soldier from Loogootee, Indiana, who served with courage and heart during the Vietnam War. Told through the voice of his younger brother Scott Hickman, this story reflects the love, loss, and resilience of a family forever changed by war.

As time passes, stories like Steve’s risk being forgotten — but through Gold Star Stories, we’re making sure their names remain spoken and their legacies live on.

⚠️

AI & Visual Disclaimer

While this episode focuses on the audio story, accompanying visuals shared online include AI-assisted recreations used to enhance storytelling.

Some scenes may not be historically or visually accurate. With limited surviving photos and resources, these recreations help illustrate moments that would otherwise be lost to time.

Gold Star Stories operates on limited means, often working with only a few affordable AI generations and restored family photos to tell each story.

With your support, the quality of these episodes and documentaries can grow exponentially — helping us restore real images, capture new interviews, and preserve even more voices from America’s Gold Star Families.

🎖️ Support the mission:

Visit GoldStarStoriesUSA.com

Your tax-deductible donation through Veterans Collaborative helps us record, restore, and remember.

Say their name. Remember their story. Honor their sacrifice.

#GoldStarStories #Vietnam #GoldStarFamily #SayTheirNames #Veterans #Legacy #DocumentaryPodcast