hmTv at HMTC Podcasts Ep 445: The Fog of War and Humanity with Richard Acritelli and guest Mike Williams P1 on hmTv
Podcast Description – hmTv | Humanity Matters Series
Episode 445 – The Fog of War and Humanity (Part 1)
Host: Richard Acritelli
Guest: Mike Williams
In Part 1 of this new veteran series, Richard Acritelli sits down with Air Force veteran Mike Williams to trace the journey that led a Queens kid into the Vietnam era military.
Mike reflects on growing up in Ridgewood, New York, living in his mother’s storefront business, attending Catholic school with the Franciscan brothers, and learning early lessons about hardship, discipline, and responsibility. He shares vivid memories of a post-war immigrant neighborhood, the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the move from city life to suburban Long Island just as the country was changing in the early 1960s.
As friends began receiving draft notices, reality set in. Rather than wait, Mike enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, beginning a path that took him from Fort Hamilton to basic training in Texas, technical school in Illinois, and eventually Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, a critical hub during the Vietnam War. He recounts the culture shock of military life, the discipline of training, and the sobering awareness of the war’s human cost at a base where fallen service members returned home.
This opening episode sets the foundation for Mike’s wartime story, exploring how ordinary young Americans moved from adolescence to responsibility almost overnight. It is a portrait of upbringing, service, and the life experiences that shaped a generation before they ever set foot near a battlefield.