STORYTELLER
PODCASTING
Finding Faces
The search for the missing pictures of fallen Vietnam heroes
The following episodes were produced, written, edited, mixed and reported by Ryan Kern
EPISODE 1: PHIL AND CASEY
September, 2020
The clock is ticking. The photos of 30 Massachusetts men who died during the Vietnam War are missing from the Wall of Faces. Journalist Ryan Kern links up with Vietnam Veterans Phil Madio and Casey Polaski, beginning their search for family members of the final 30 New England men whose pictures need to be found. If Ryan, Phil and Casey can track down these loved ones, perhaps they'll still be holding on to photos from fifty years ago.
EPISODE 2: RED
September, 2020
Phil and Ryan make contact with the niece of his old high school buddy 'Red,' aka Richard Johnson. Richard/Richie/Red/Dickie died in the war around the same time Phil was also in Vietnam fighting to stay alive. Eventually, Phil, Casey and Ryan link up with Richard's sisters, who have just as many stories about their brother as they have photos of him.
EPISODE 3: THE OTHER RICHARD
September, 2020
A knock on the front door of Staff Sergeant Joseph Daigneault's sister's home leads to the completion of a photo album 51 years in the making.
EPISODE 4: FRANNY
October, 2020
Ryan connects with three different, yet equally grieving individuals impacted by the death of Francis Allen Jr., who was killed in an ambush after the local militia he was training deserted him.
EPISODE 5: FRANNY PART 2
October, 2020
A lifetime of mysteries and 30+ years of a seemingly endless search both come to a halt as Ryan helps Francis Allen Jr.'s younger sister answer some of the questions that have kept her up at night for decades.
EPISODE 6: JERRY!
October, 2020
The search for pictures takes Ryan, Phil and Casey outside of Worcester, where a woman's battle with dementia is put to the test in an effort to dig up memories from 50 years in her past.
EPISODE 7: PIERO
November, 2020
As the last of the missing central Massachusetts pictures get rounded up, Ryan searches for a family in East Boston just several doors down from where a serviceman lived when he was killed in Vietnam 52 years ago.
EPISODE 8: WALLY AND CHEECH
November, 2020
Two men from Eastern Massachusetts, both named Walter, died in Vietnam within just weeks of each other. In one afternoon, around 50 years later, Ryan stumbles upon each of their siblings by accident.
EPISODE 9: BRO
November, 2020
Ryan leaves New England for New York. Even though his goal is to find pictures, Ryan ends up divulging the mysterious details of a soldier's death to an unsuspecting family.
EPISODE 10: CONNIE
December, 2020
Within just several years, two brothers mysteriously passed away while serving in the Navy. As the stories go, one died while trying to get onto a ship while the other died falling off of his ship. Ryan, trying to figure out exactly what happened, searches for sailors who might have witnessed these incidents.
EPISODE 11: NOEL
December, 2020
Ryan finally makes progress in tracking down a photo of Michael Faherty, the Irishman recently added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C., along with the Massachusetts Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Worcester.
EPISODE 12: CUFFY
December, 2020
In this season 1 finale, Phil, Casey and Ryan travel somewhat off-the-grid to visit a rural home in the woods of Central Massachusetts. After being led into a dark basement, they discover a plethora of pictures and artifacts once belonging to the last Vietnam serviceman on their list of men to find photos for.