"The hardest part of surviving combat is living for most people."

This week, we are joined by retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Walter E. Piatt, CEO of the Wounded Warrior Project. Walt shares his incredible 42-year journey from a 17-year-old enlisted infantry private to a three-star general and Director of the Army Staff. We dive deep into why he used poetry as combat therapy, the moral and human struggles soldiers face in conflict zones, and his current mission to eliminate veteran suicide and homelessness by expanding life-saving programs for warriors and their families.

In this episode:
- Understand the critical difference between "coming back" and "coming home", exploring the emotional weight, survivor's guilt, and mental friction that veterans carry long after returning to domestic life
- Discover groundbreaking advancements in PTSD care, including how the Warrior Care Network compressed a traditional one-year treatment program into just two weeks, alongside ongoing research into alternative medicine
- Learn about the historic trajectory of the Wounded Warrior Project, tracing its growth from a single veteran stuffing backpacks in a hospital room in 2003 to a 100% donor-funded non-profit offering free, life-saving programs

Learn more: https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/
Listen on Wreaths Across America Radio: https://wreathsacrossamerica.org
Listen on Spotify Podcasts: https://open.spotify.com/show/5b1hT0BJwrnMARDRueFffS
Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/story-behind-the-stone/id1795798019

"...it has to outlive us. You know, it's been here for a hundred years. It will be here for a hundred more, and a hundred more than that, and a hundred more than that. So it's our responsibility to ensure that the cemeteries are taken care of."

This week we sit down with Shayda Frost and Timothy Amoui, a couple who left their fast-paced careers in Los Angeles to unexpectedly take over the Lincoln Memorial Group in Atlanta, Georgia.

Stick around as they discuss the unique demands of the death care industry, the deep historical roots of their properties, and how they are reimagining cemeteries as vibrant, joyful spaces for community connection.

In this episode:

- Learn how their memorial gardens have served as the final resting place for many notable lives in Atlanta’s vibrant history, including prominent civil rights leaders, esteemed veterans, politicians, athletes, entrepreneurs and musicians.

- Hear why the couple rejected advice to sell the company to protect dedicated, long-term employees and a family legacy

Learn more: Visit the Lincoln Memorial Group to stay updated on upcoming community events

Link to listen on Apple, Spotify are in the comments or listen live on the Wreaths Across America Radio Network on Friday July 3 at 11am ET

"It's really wonderful to be able to turn headstones that say, 'Known unto God' into named people that we now know are in those graves."

This week, we speak with Lynelle Howson, a historian for the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC). As we mark the 110th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme this July, we explore the incredible operations of an organization that maintains the graves and memorials of over 1.7 million service members across more than 150 countries. Lynelle shares the heartbreaking legacy of the pals battalions, the profound poetry behind the personal headstone inscriptions, and the ongoing, modern forensic recovery efforts keeping the memories of the fallen alive over a century later.

In this episode:
- Uncover the tragic reality of the pals battalions, where entire communities of friends, coworkers, and neighbours enlisted together, inadvertently dealing concentrated, devastating losses to individual towns back home
- Learn about the forensic recovery and rededication process, which coordinates historical research and documentary evidence to give named headstones to soldiers previously listed on memorials to the missing
- Discover the architectural landscape of the Somme, from the massive Thiepval Memorial standing sentinel over the battlefields to hidden, intimate cemeteries like Quarry Cemetery