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Saturday, November 8, 2014

Blown Away: Explosive Ordnance Disposal Gone Wrong. StoryCorps


“I was in a pretty dark spot at the time.”
Retired Army Sgt 1st Class Max Voelz first recorded in 2011 to remember his wife, Staff Sgt Kim Voelz. They met on Valentine’s Day, while training to work in Explosive Ordinance Disposal–the Army’s elite bomb squad.
Both Max and Kim were sent to Iraq in 2003. One night, Max called in the location of an explosive and Kim was sent to disarm it. She did not survive the mission.
Around the time Max recorded his first interview, he turned to another bomb tech, Sgt Mary Dague, for support. Mary lost both of her arms in Iraq.
She talked Max through his lowest points, but they didn’t meet face to face until years later, when they recorded for StoryCorps.
Hear both interviews below.

Audio File: http://storycorps.org/listen/max-voelz-and-mary-dague/
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After Max’s original StoryCorps interview was broadcast on NPR, he was contacted by several public radio listeners who heard his story.
He grew close to one in particular, Lesley Holot. They started dating in 2012 and are now engaged to be married.
They also sat down for StoryCorps.

Audio File: http://storycorps.org/listen/max-voelz-and-mary-dague/
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Recorded in PittsburghPennsylvania
Music Info: "Fljótavík" by Sigur Rós from the album Með suð i eyrum við spilum endalaust
Music Info: "Genius and Thieves" by Eluvium from the album An Accidental Memory in the Case of Death
Produced by Jasmyn Belcher-Morris
Facilitated by Liyna Anwar and Gasper Caro
Read the Transcript
Click here for the transcript.


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