This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years, and now it takes form in a new way. The 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint.
It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage. Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q. This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party, hosted by America 250.
America's Block Party is a can't-miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Experience music performances from major artists, patriotic tributes, and the kickoff to Giving Forth, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks. Learn more about this landmark celebration at America250.org. I turned off news altogether.
I hate to say it, but I don't trust much of anything. It's the rage bait. It feels like it's trying to divide people. If we got clear facts, maybe we could calm down a little. NBC News brings you clear reporting.
Let's meet at the facts. Let's move forward from there. NBC News reporting for America. What's up y'all? Summer's got a different temper.
Everything's a little looser, brighter. One plan turns into another. You hear something, you stay a little longer.
Next thing you know, you're somewhere you didn't plan to be. It's those in between moments. That's where the ideas hit. conversations stretch out, little memories sneak up on you.
Sometimes it's just about what's in your hand. that color. That chill. a new tropical butterfly refresher from Starbucks. guava and passion fruit flavors with mango pineapple flavored pearls.
Yeah. That feels like summer before you even taste it. Funny how one small stop becomes the best part of the day. Start your summer rhythm. with Starbucks.
Try the new Tropical Butterfly Refresher from Starbucks. This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories. Joy Neal Kidney is a listener in Iowa and has a family full of heroes. And by the way, she listens. On WHO, and that's a great station in Des Moines, home of Paul Harvey and so many other broadcasting legends, and we're honored and we're grateful.
to be on that great flagship station in the great state of Iowa. And Joy writes and records those stories for us. She's told a few for us, actually. And here is Joy Neil Kidney and her story titled. Reconciling Dad to the farmer I knew.
with Dad the veteran pilot. An engine smoked and sputtered. One propeller began to stir on the aging bomber. Then another. The third engine started to shudder and choke.
Satisfying sounds of old piston engines. Finally, the last one caught to life. A few minutes earlier, I had been sitting in the pilot's seat. of that World War two Flying Fortress. and old B seventeen.
Like the one in the movie Memphis Belle. In the seat where my dad sat seven decades ago. My Dad, the farmer. As I sat in the cockpit looking out the pilot's window at the gold-tipped propellers. I tried to imagine that Iowa farmer teaching cadets to fly.
and later being in charge of that big four-engine bomber. In my mind's snapshot of Dad, he was wearing Big Smith overalls. We're in the bib. He carried a pocket watch and a decal bullet pencil. with a little metal cap to protect the lead point.
Shirt sleeves rolled to the elbow. A Pioneer brand seed corn cap, Tired leather work boots. and Rockford Sox. Vignettes of him guzzling Coca-Cola from a small curvy glass bottle. Leaving for the field on his red Massey Harris tractor.
overseeing his crops from his perch on the gate. Throwing back his head when he laughed. Penciling neat diagrams and math formulas on scraps of paper. Catching a nap at the table. After the noon dinner.
his head resting on folded arms. That's the dad I knew. My husband, an air traffic controller at the Des Moines airport. had called to let me know that a B17 was there. just for a short stop over.
So I rushed out with my camera. and asked if I could see inside. telling them that my dad had flown one in 1945. One man. led me up a short ladder into the fuselage.
then over a catwalk above the bomb bay. to the cockpit. He told me to take all the time I wanted there. As I sat in the pilot's seat, A strong breeze buffeted the bomber. It swayed slightly.
It sighed and creaked. just like Dad's barn on a windy day. I had forgotten about those friendly sounds. My thoughts turned to Dad's thorough instructions to my sister and me for our summer chores. How many half-buckets of corn and oats to feed the hogs?
How full to pump water into the cattle tank? A dad patiently teaching me to shift gears on the Chevy's steering column. In the barnyard. This summer I learned to drive. It began to dawn on me that he would have used that same thoroughness and patience.
with young cadets. And I could appreciate that, yes. He would have been put in charge of a multi-engine plane. and crew of ten. He eventually became commander.
of the even larger B twenty nine Superfortress. With a date set to leave for Saipan and combat over Japan. when the war came to an end. While in that rare bomber, I was blessed with a glint of my dad in his other life. As a young lieutenant, in charge of aircraft instead of tractors.
Airmen instead of livestock. To exit the old warbird, I was told I could climb back through the plain. and down the letter, Or I could drop out the way the crew did. through a small door right below the cockpit. By grasping the edge and swinging out.
There's no photographic evidence, but I did it. just like Dad had long ago. I returned to the other side of the chain-link fence to watch the fortress take off. The four engines were coaxed to wake. one at a time.
The dad also loved that deep throated growl. In a few minutes, the awkward to taxi aircraft headed toward the runway. Nose up, tail down. It lumbered behind a hangar. Aurora signaled takeoff.
and the plexiglass nose emerged from behind the building. Pointing the bomber down the runway. By the time that sleek, rugged old warbird leveled off. and disappeared in the distance, I could readily reconcile my dad the farmer. With Dab the Young World War two pilot.
And what a great story again, that was Joy Neil Kidney. And she's from Des Moines, Iowa. And this story comes to us from Des Moines. and thanks to our great station in Des Moines WHO. And it's so great to hear someone trying to understand her dad's other life, that life before the life.
And my goodness, take a look one day at one of those B-17 flying fortresses. She said it was a sleek, rugged old war bird. And that it was. Indeed, it was the third most produced bomber. of all time, and it's unimaginable.
that we could have thought of even winning the war without our great industrial capacity. Joy Neil Kidney's story, her father's story. Here on Our American Stories. Lee Habib here, and I'd like to encourage you to subscribe to Our American Stories on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, or wherever you get our podcasts. Any story you missed or want to hear again can be found there daily.
Again, Please subscribe to the Our American Stories podcast on Apple Podcasts or anywhere you get your podcasts. It helps us keep these great American stories coming. Liberty has never been just a word to we Americans. It has guided every one of our endeavors for the past 250 years, and now it takes form in a new way: the 2026 Semi-Quincentennial Coin and Metal Program from the United States Mint. It celebrates the founding ideals that have long shaped our coinage.
Available one year only, this historic collection features new coin designs, limited edition releases, and reissues. Shop new official coins at usmint.gov forward slash semi-q. That's usmint.gov/slash S-E-M-I-Q. This July 4th, come celebrate at America's Block Party, hosted by America 250. America's Block Party is a can't-miss 4th of July concert happening at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Experience music performances from major artists, patriotic tributes, and the kickoff to Giving Forth, helping to make July 4th the largest day of giving in American history. It's more than just fireworks. Learn more about this landmark celebration at America250.org. I'm U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
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