UPDATED: ‘To the Point’ radio interviews  focus on veterans during November

By IRENE NOLAN

“To the Point,” the Radio Hatteras interview show hosted by Island Free Press editor Irene Nolan, focused on veterans during the month of November with interviews on two different island vets groups.

On Sunday, Nov. 15, the interview was on the Hatteras Island Wounded Warriors Vacation Project.

The guest was Kevin McCabe of Buxton who, along with John McGee of Frisco, started the program in 2011 to give wounded veterans an opportunity to vacation with their families on Hatteras.

The program is run on donations of cash and services. Local property owners donate cottages.  Motel owners donate rooms.  Restaurants donate meals and other stores help with groceries or fishing tackle or souvenirs.  Recreation, such as fishing or parasailing, is also arranged for the visiting vets.

All cash donations are handled through the Cape LeJeune chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart. The vacation project group sponsors at least one fundraiser each year — a barbecue over Memorial Day weekend.

McGee and McCabe, both the sons of Marines, have managed to keep the project going by themselves for five years now — with the help of their many donors — and have hosted 15 wounded veterans and their families, about three a year.

This interview will be broadcast again on Sunday, Nov. 22, at 5 p.m.  Or you can go to the end of the article and click on the icon to listen to the audio.

For more information on the program, call Kevin McCabe at 252-995-4788.  Donations, which are tax-deductible, can be sent via a check made to the Military Order of the Purple Heart, P.O. Box. 431, Frisco NC 27936.  Please note WW-Hatteras Vacation Fund in the memo line.

The first interview on veterans’ issues, which was aired on two Sunday evenings, Nov. 1 and Nov. 8, was with Frank Miller of Hatteras Village. Miller retired from the U.S. Army as a major after a career of 20-plus years and now runs a private consulting company —  in addition to working in the family business, the Hatterasman Drive-In.

He is also the founder of the Hatteras Island Veterans Support Group, which meets monthly at the Drive-In.

In the interview, Miller talks about how an area of the restaurant has been given over to veterans.  It’s called “Veteran’s Hall” and serves as a meeting place, a place to get information, to reach out to others and get support. Outside the restaurant, there is a memorial to Hatteras veterans, which is a work in progress.

Miller stresses that the Hatteras Island Veterans Support Group is not “a closed organization, by any stretch of the imagination.”  It is open to all veterans, their families and friends, and anyone else interested in veterans issue.

If you are interested, you can attend the next meeting. The group meets on the third Wednesday at 2 p.m. at the Hatterasman Drive-In.  Or you can call Miller at 571-218-5837 or e-mail him at millerredtiger@aol.com.

“To the Point” airs on the island’s community radio station, FM 101.5, at 5 p.m. on the first and third Sunday of each month.  It is repeated on the second and fourth Sunday. Those who don’t live on Hatteras can listen to the show on Sundays through live streaming at www.radiohatteras.org.

Scroll down and click on the appropriate “To the Point” logo to listen to the audio of the interviews.

MORE ABOUT RADIO HATTERAS

Radio Hatteras is our community, non-profit radio station and depends on grants, memberships, and underwriting.

It broadcasts around the clock with news — including such things as surfing and fishing reports — community announcements, music, and special programs. The station is also now streamed live. To listen, go to www.radiohatteras.org.

Our community radio station also needs your support, and you can give that by purchasing a membership or by underwriting the station if you are a business or another community non-profit.

Radio Hatteras memberships are $50 for a family, $25 for an individual and $10 for a student. Mail memberships and other contributions to Radio Hatteras, P.O. Box 339, Frisco, NC 27936.

E-mail info@radiohatteras.org or call (252) 995-6000 for information about underwriting opportunities.