Today is Veterans Day and in today's episode, we remember the sacrifices of all of our service men and women by focusing on the experiences of American prisoners of war in Vietnam.
We are joined by noted Vietnam War scholar Dr. Andrew Wiest for a discussion of the infamous Hanoi Hilton and the POW experience in general.
Afterwards, we hear from Hattiesburg native, George R. Hall about his seven years as a POW and readjusting to civilian life upon returning home in this classic MS MO episode from October of 2015.
On November 3rd, America lost one of the greatest all-around athletes of this or any age. Ray Guy was the first punter to ever be drafted in the first round into the NFL. During his career with the Oakland Raiders, he led the team to three Super Bowl victories. He was the first pure-punter to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And he remains the standard by which all other kickers are judged. But Ray was so much more.
During his years with the University of Southern Mississippi, he dominated not only as a kicker, but as sports writer Rick Cleveland recalls, "besides being USM’s first consensus Division I All-American as a punter, Guy also shares the school’s pass interception record. He was the team’s emergency quarterback and could throw the ball 80 yards, seemingly with no great effort." Ray also was a first class pitcher and once pitched a no-hitter.
Senior Writer with University Communications, David Tisdale joins Mississippi Moments Producer Ross Walton in a discussion of Guy's career and his memories of interviewing the Pro Football Hall of Famer for the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage. We then give a listen to the MSMO episode featuring excerpts from that interview, first broadcast in January of this year.
To read Rick Cleveland's elegant tribute to his friend Ray Guy, follow this link to the Mississippi Today article: https://mississippitoday.org/2022/11/03/ray-guy-best-athlete-mississippi