Neil A. Carousso produces NewsNation original “Kurt’s Country” – a celebration of country music and a slice of Americana with host Kurt Bardella.
-
Sonya Kenin: A Young Star Takes On The US Open
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Sofia “Sonya” Kenin is only 19, but has been climbing the ranks to the top in professional tennis.
Kenin won in three sets during her first two matches at this year’s US Open and has reached the third round. The Florida resident will take on Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic Friday night.
Kenin joined WCBS 880 Producer Neil A. Carousso on Thursday evening to talk about her experience. Here are some excerpts from their interview:
Carousso: “What’s your experience like so far?”
Kenin: “It’s amazing, you know. I love playing here. It’s the greatest thing in the world. I have a lot of confidence. I’m playing really well. I feel like my best tennis is right here in New York City.”
Carousso: “You last year gained a lot of notoriety because you played against Maria Sharapova… and so it’s funny, going back to last year and playing that match, what has changed from then to now?”
Kenin: “I feel like the confidence that I have and the fact that I have more experience playing at these high stages…. Last year was kind of like a bit more overwhelming. It’s more yes, I’m really excited, looking forward to it. But I’m just going to try to take it easy, not get too overwhelmed with the crowd and everything.”
Carousso: “And you’re going to play at Louis Armstrong tomorrow. What’s the difference between playing on a big stage versus a smaller court?”
Kenin: “I mean, there, you actually have to play well. But the atmosphere’s just incredible there… I obviously really wanted to try and play in one of those courts, and yeah, I’m really looking forward to it.”
Carousso: “So playing in New York City… do you feel like you have that mojo; do you feel like you go into a match a little differently here in New York?”
Kenin: “Yeah, I feel like I can bring out that energy here and everyone’s going to support me. Some other places where I can’t – if I do that, they’re not really going to be behind me.”
Carousso: “What about other players? You obviously grew up watching Maria Sharapova. You’re 19. You know, what’s it like being in the same locker room as some of those greats?”
Kenin: “It’s amazing. I’ve been watching them – from when I started playing tennis, I’ve been watching them, and I always wanted to get here, and playing against them and being next to them is incredible, but I’ve gotten used to it.”
-
Two-Time Giants Super Bowl Champ Sean Landeta Spends A Night with Our Heroes
By Neil A. Carousso, Special to ConnectingVets.com and WCBS Newsradio 880
NORTHPORT, N.Y. — A humble 6-foot Giant walked into the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Long Island Thursday evening wearing his 1986 Super Bowl ring and a debt of gratitude on his sleeve.
“It really gives me chills to think of what they did and why we’re able to live how we do here to come and see the veterans and talk to them and hear their stories,” retired NFL punter Sean Landeta said.
He won two Super Bowls with the New York Football Giants at the conclusion of the 1986 and 1990 NFL seasons. Landeta is an All-Pro and All-Decade Team punter who played 22 seasons – the longest tenure in league history for his position – in the National Football League, mostly with the Giants. He also played for the Rams, Buccaneers, Packers and Eagles.
Retired NFL All-Pro Punter Sean Landeta talks football with veterans at the Northport VA. (Neil A. Carousso/ConnectingVets.com/WCBS Newsradio 880) Landeta is known for pinning the opposing team inside the 20 yard line; he retired with the league record for doing so, and he is currently number two on the all-time record list for most punts inside the 20, second to retired Giants punter Jeff Feagles, Landeta’s successor.
He recalled an amusing story he told a group of veterans, who surrounded him to talk football, of the moment he thanked legendary G-Men quarterback Phil Simms on the sideline of Super Bowl XXI for throwing a couple incompletions that gave Landeta an opportunity to appear in the big game against the Denver Broncos. He told the vets he wanted his family to get to see him play in the big game in person at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Simms, the Super Bowl MVP, actually set a record for completing 22 of 25 passes, leading Big Blue to victory over the Broncos 39-20.
From the moment Landeta walked in to the building where the veterans live on the Northport VA Medical Center campus, they were fascinated by his playing career, but Landeta was awestruck by the true heroes around him.
“As a player, people are always asking you about you, and you know, I’ve had such good times just asking these guys: ‘tell me about you and where you’ve been and what you’ve done,’” Landeta said, adding, “It really humbles you to see what they’ve done and makes you realize how lucky we are to have heroes like this.”
Sean Landeta lends his 1986 Giants Super Bowl ring to a veteran at the Northport VA. (Neil A. Carousso/ConnectingVets.com/WCBS Newsradio 880) It was a casual night that will stay with those men forever. They took pictures with Landeta wearing his Super Bowl ring on their fingers, watched preseason football on the television, and sat and talked about their services and their current day-to-day struggles.
At the end of the night, everyone was smiling.
“A lot of them seem like they’re in a pretty good place. I really enjoyed my time with them. I hope I can come back again.”
-
Two Veterans Open Up About The Realities of Service
By Neil A. Carousso, Special to ConnectingVets.com and WCBS Newsradio 880
NORTHPORT, N.Y. — As the sun set on a beautiful Thursday evening at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs campus on the North Fork of Long Island, a group of veterans finished their first yoga session and enjoyed dinner together before sitting down in their recreational room to watch the New York Yankees host the Kansas City Royals on television.
It was a light-hearted evening discussing the latest sports news as a distraction for the veterans’ personal struggles since returning home.
“Boot camp was great. I went in at 17. [It] toughened me up to be a man,” said Andrew Brand, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served from 1981-83.
Just moments before he offered to speak on camera about his service in the Marines, Brand was passionately discussing New York sports, including his love for the Yankees, Rangers hockey, Knicks and Giants football, and lighting up the room with his larger-than-life personality and friendly jocularity. Then, he turned serious.
“[I] came home on leave prior to going to Beirut and I got in a car accident and I was in a coma for 32 days and I was read my last rights by a priest,” Brand said, continuing, “And, October 23, 1983, they car bombed two barracks, 220 Marines were dead and I would have been there.”
A group called the Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the Beirut barracks bombings – a terrorist attack on United States and French service members on a peacekeeping mission during the Lebanese Civil War. It was the deadliest attack against the U.S. Marines since the battle over Iwo Jima in February 1945.
“They’re brothers,” Brand said as he acknowledged he thinks of them often.
Brand is recovering at the Northport VA Hospital from alcoholism. One day, his 14 year old daughter confronted him after returning from a bar and asked him to seek help. He checked himself in at the VA about 8 months ago and he will be returning home to his family in Sayville on Long Island where his daughter and 8 year old son, Andrew, Jr., live.
Brand has kept himself in good shape physically and mentally, exercising daily and eating a healthy and consistent diet as if he was still standing a post – six eggs every morning for breakfast and tuna for lunch and dinner. He is adamant about successfully finishing his recovery and avoiding relapse. As Brand says, “Family first.” Brand has been sober since he checked himself in.
As a Marine, Brand is trained to look out for his cohorts. He shared experiences with Army veteran Donail Sykes who is recovering from a substance abuse issue compounded with PTSD.
Army Veteran Donail Sykes (left) and Marine Corps Vet Andrew Brand play a game of chess at the Northport VA Medical Center. (Neil A. Carousso/Entercom) “I’m working on it and I’m fighting back and I’m doing well and I’m about to complete this program, but as far as completing the problem I had, it’s a never-ending problem, it’s forever, so I’m working on staying clean every day,” Sykes said.
He is returning home to New Jersey in a few days where he has two supportive brothers and two loving sisters waiting for him, hoping he takes the lessons on stress and coping with PTSD that resonated with him to daily practice when he leaves the VA hospital.
“You know, it’s an every day struggle, but I get through it. I’m getting better now. They give me a lot of training,” said Sykes.
Both veterans said positivity and sharing their experiences with their fellow vets who can relate and understand their tribulations are therapeutic.
“Prayer has helped me a lot,” said Brand who makes it a weekly practice to attend Sunday mass with The Greatest Generation on the other side of the VA campus. He then walks the World War II veterans, many with missing limbs, back to their rooms and spends time talking to them. “It gives me a great feeling inside and they’re very happy that they have someone to talk to and it’s a great experience.”
Each veteran has a story that begins with tremendous sacrifice, and often times, all they need is a welcoming ear to listen.
-
The New Wave: Women in Politics and the Power of Social Media
NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — It’s not that the rules are changing, but new technology is making it easier for political upstarts to run their campaigns. That’s one element helping a record number of female candidates seeking public office this year.
Getting out your political message is always about money. But a new dynamic is helping fuel first time and often unknown candidates.
“What we learn is that social media can be an incredibly powerful, leveling force. And it can level the playing field for people who heretofore haven’t had a voice in politics and may not have the resources to get their voices heard,” said Brigid Harrison, who teaches political science at Montclair State University.
Debbie Walsh sees this benefiting all newcomers, but especially the new wave of women candidates. There are Facebook groups, Twitter trends and other rapid fire connections.
“I think social media is playing a role in this. I feel there is a connection among women that they just didn’t have in the early 90s. A way of a kind of a constant level of communication that I think will help keep this momentum going,” said Walsh, who heads the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers.
Former New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno thinks this is especially important in reaching younger voters.
“Tweeting it, instagramming it and whatever else the newest fad is, it’s all good for millennials. And if they’re brought up in that generation — you saw some of it I think with the shooting quite frankly. They’ve been empowered, the kids understand that they have the power to change outcomes,” Guadagno said.
The Parkland high school students in Florida have shown themselves to be a political force.
“The Parkland incident was a catalyst moment where we saw this surge of youth activism which then inspired more adult activism,” said Mark Barden, who co-founded the gun violence prevention group Sandy Hook Promise after his 7-year old son Daniel was killed in the 2012 Newtown school shooting. “They’re interacting with elected officials and folks at the grassroots level alike. It’s kind of a level playing field, and they are doing some great work and raising awareness like we’ve never seen before.”
The lessons from those students are transferable to politics.
“What happened in Parkland is kind of showing itself as a roadmap for public activism and that it’s not difficult and it’s not as polraizing or divisive as some folks would like you to think it is,” Barden said.
Following the shooting, Parkland shooting survivor Emma Gonzalez, who became an activist and advocate for gun control, received more Twitter followers than the NRA. Harrison said social media is a powerful tool that can level the playing and create an equal voice among participants.
“At the end of the day for some Congressional candidates they’re going to be able to use social media incredibly adeptly whether they’re male or female and use that as a potential source of power,” Harrison said. “I think it’s disingenous to say that this is how every woman candidate who is running is going to succeed because we have some very traditional women running, we have people running in districts where social media usage is not on par as it is with other places and so it is one tool in the toolbox and I think it’s a really important one particularly young candidates and for young social activists who are mobilizing other people like them but if you’re trying to get the 65-plus vote out in your district maybe Instagram isn’t the best way of doing that.”
Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) thinks this energetic, youth-fueled movement will make a difference.
“We follow their lead or get out of their way. They are moving,” DeLauro said.
Neil A. Carousso produced WCBS Newsradio 880 reporter Peter Haskell’s multi-platform series titled “The New Wave: Women in Politics.” See the video piece of this installment here.
-
Proud Air Force Vet of 4 Decades Pays Lifelong Homage to the American Flag
By Neil A. Carousso, Special to ConnectingVets.com and WCBS Newsradio 880
VALLEY STREAM, N.Y. — Whenever James Cunningham sees the American flag, he salutes.
Cunningham is a retired senior master sergeant with the U.S. Air Force. His 41 years of service to our nation spans active duty and Air National Guard service.
“I know the history of our country, I know what went into the first flag when it came up, and it’s always been a symbol of our country and the way that we live and I’m proud to be part of that,” Cunningham said.
Congress authorized the United States Flag on June 14, 1777, which is now observed as Flag Day.
The flag was first flown during the American Revolution at Fort Stanwix, on the site of the present city of Rome, New York, on August 3, 1777. It was first under fire for three days later in the Battle of Oriskany.
“I’ve seen a lot of flags and a lot of people who are as proud as I am and I see by the way they display it,” Cunningham said.
When the American Flag is not displayed “properly,” Cunningham politely speaks up because presentation of the flag is essential to the veteran as a representation of our republic.
Recently, Cunningham was going into a restaurant when he noticed the flag on a home next door was “disreputable” because it was in “tatters.”
“When I left the restaurant, I stopped and I rang the doorbell and the homeowner came to the door and I said, ‘Ma’am, I’m sorry to bother you, but I’ve noticed that flag flying there, but it really isn’t a good idea to keep it up the way it is because it’s torn,’” Cunningham said.
Cunningham told the woman that she was “embarrassing” herself by displaying the American flag in such a poor condition. “You’re not giving it the proper respect,” Mr. Cunningham recalled telling her.
She told him that she had a new flag, but she was unable to replace it herself, so Mr. Cunningham put it up for her, replacing the old flag and giving the ripped flag a proper retirement.
“I told her, ‘You can be proud of that flag now and I’m proud that I was able to help you with that,’” Cunningham recalled, with a smile on his face.
When Mr. Cunningham walks in parades with the Knights of Columbus, he marvels at the American flag and salutes the 13 red and white stripes – representing the 13 British colonies that declared independence from Great Britain – and the 50 white stars on the sea of blue that symbolizes the 50 states.
Cunningham lights up when he spots the flag like the solar-powered landscape spotlight that shines on his flag at nighttime from the edge of the bushes on his manicured lawn.
“I salute when I come home,” said Cunningham, whose children used to tease him when they were younger, but now, they understand why he pays his respects to the flag.
As he gazed at Old Glory delicately waving in the breeze in front of his Valley Stream, Long Island home, as the sun set on a beautiful spring Friday evening, Mr. Cunningham turned his head slightly, so he could still see the flag, flashed a smile, and exclaimed, “I’m proud it’s my flag.”
Ret. Sr. Master Sgt. James Cunningham proudly wears his uniform that still fits nearly 23 years after he was discharged. A Life of Service
Cunningham was discharged in July 1995 when he turned 60 years old. His tailor-made Air Force dress uniform still fits today at age 83; he proudly wore it in his Nassau County home, where he started a life with his late wife Mary, eight miles from where he was raised in Queens.
“I wish my wife were here to share this moment with me,” Cunningham said while visibly holding back tears. “We were married for 47 years, we didn’t quite make 50, but she was my inspiration, and as far as the service went, she was with me 100 percent.”
Mr. Cunningham has kept the last rose that was by Mary’s bedside when she passed 10 years ago. He keeps it in a tea cup with “Mary” inscribed in script. A blessing to Mr. Cunningham, the rose has not disintegrated. The rose and tea cup sit atop his living room fireplace adjacent to pictures of his loving family, including his eldest daughter who fell ill from a 9/11-related cancer as she worked on Wall Street and inhaled the smoke that engulfed Lower Manhattan.
Far from despondent, Cunningham is proud, especially of his country that has afforded him a sense of purpose, joy and gratitude. He keeps himself busy with the American Legion and Knights of Columbus organizations, while also serving as an extraordinary minister at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, which is down the street from Cunningham’s home in Valley Stream.
“My service life endeared me for the rest of my life. It taught me things that came very handy in civilian life,” said Mr. Cunningham.
See more stories at ConnectingVets.com
