{"id":5199,"date":"2023-05-23T15:42:31","date_gmt":"2023-05-23T15:42:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/?page_id=5199"},"modified":"2025-05-21T18:16:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T18:16:08","slug":"2nd-rangers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/2nd-rangers\/","title":{"rendered":"Cleveland Valrey&#8217;s Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n<div  class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-parallax has-aspect-ratio\" >\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-media-card has-video\" >\n        \n                    <div class=\"responsive_embed\">\n                <div class=\"responsive_embed_inner\">\n                                        <iframe id=\"video_5212\"\n                    width=\"100%\"\n                    allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\n                            frameborder=\"0\"\n                            src=\"https:\/\/player.pbs.org\/partnerplayer\/3KTqn9kpN_UMbvISUASfAg==\/?start=0&amp;end=0&amp;topbar=false&amp;autoplay=false&amp;muted=false&amp;endscreen=true\">\n                    <\/iframe>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                \n        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-aspect-ratio has-blue-background-color\" style=\"background-color:#1c2838;\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<h1 class=\"has-gold-color has-text-color has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">KOREA<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">CLEVELAND VALREY&#8217;S STORY<\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background-color:#a4c8ec;\" class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image has-light-blue-background-color\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image\" >\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">CLEVELAND VALREY&#8217;S STORY<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-large-font-size\">Performed by Joe Morton<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>2021 National Memorial Day Concert<br>underscore music from the National Symphony Orchestra<\/em><\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background-color:#e1e7ec;\" class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image has-light-gray-background-color\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image\" >\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-light-gray-color\">&#8211;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Near the end of World War II, the Army\u2019s 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion was formed. The first all-black paratrooper company, known as the Triple Nickles. They didn\u2019t see combat but were kept stateside for a vital and secret security mission. The 555th was disbanded in 1947, but some of its members and other volunteers went on to form the 2nd Ranger Infantry Company. Cleveland Valrey became one of the original members of the 2nd Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne), the elite force that trained and deployed with three other all-white units. They arrived in Korea in December of 1950 unprepared for the excruciatingly bitter cold, having only been equipped with cotton liners for their field jackets. Nonetheless, the 2nd Rangers were gung-ho and engaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-light-gray-color\">&#8211;<\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col has-image has-background-size-small has-background-top-center-position\" style=\"background-image:url('https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Cleveland-Valrey-20-at-279th-Hospital-in-Osaka-Japan-shot-in-right-leg-in-Korea-in-ground-combat-1951.jpg');\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                                                <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div  class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-parallax has-aspect-ratio\" >\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-media-card has-video\" >\n        \n                    <div class=\"responsive_embed\">\n                <div class=\"responsive_embed_inner\">\n                                        <iframe id=\"video_5207\"\n                    width=\"100%\"\n                    allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\n                            frameborder=\"0\"\n                            src=\"https:\/\/player.pbs.org\/partnerplayer\/Z33KsFH6DrS3ZEpHYBzDwg==\/?start=0&amp;end=0&amp;topbar=false&amp;autoplay=false&amp;muted=false&amp;endscreen=true\">\n                    <\/iframe>\n                <\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                \n        <\/div>\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image has-aspect-ratio has-blue-background-color\" style=\"background-color:#1c2838;\">\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<h4 class=\"has-gold-color has-text-color has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">GLADYS KNIGHT PERFORMS &#8220;WIND BENEATH MY WINGS&#8221;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Honoring Korean War Veteran, Cleveland Valrey<\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n<div style=\"background-color:#6D5F4F;\" class=\" wp-block-pbs-blocks-row no-image has-darker-brown-background-color\">\n\n            \n    <div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-col no-image\" >\n        <div class=\"content\">\n\n                            \n<div class=\"wp-block-pbs-blocks-content has-pdt-60 has-pdb-60 has-pdl-60 has-pdr-60\">\n    <div class=\"content\">\n                \n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center has-huge-font-size\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/past-stories\/\">Return to Past Stories<\/a><\/p>\n\n            <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n                    <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n\n\n    <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":6174,"menu_order":105,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5199","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cleveland Valrey&#039;s Story - National Memorial Day Concert - PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The country was embarking on the Vietnam War. Young men all over the nation were being drafted and dying, while every night the war was playing out on the six o\u2019clock news in living rooms across America. In her second year of nursing school, Diane Carlson heard an Army recruiter on the radio say that nurses were needed. She enlisted immediately and volunteered to go to Vietnam, determined to save lives. Twenty-one years old, she\u2019d nursed in hospitals and ERs, but nothing could prepare her for what she\u2019d encounter in Vietnam.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/2nd-rangers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cleveland Valrey&#039;s Story - National Memorial Day Concert - PBS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The country was embarking on the Vietnam War. Young men all over the nation were being drafted and dying, while every night the war was playing out on the six o\u2019clock news in living rooms across America. In her second year of nursing school, Diane Carlson heard an Army recruiter on the radio say that nurses were needed. She enlisted immediately and volunteered to go to Vietnam, determined to save lives. Twenty-one years old, she\u2019d nursed in hospitals and ERs, but nothing could prepare her for what she\u2019d encounter in Vietnam.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/2nd-rangers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"National Memorial Day Concert - PBS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-21T18:16:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/national-memorial-day-concert\\\/concert\\\/featured-stories\\\/2nd-rangers\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/national-memorial-day-concert\\\/concert\\\/featured-stories\\\/2nd-rangers\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cleveland Valrey's Story - National Memorial Day Concert - PBS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/national-memorial-day-concert\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-05-23T15:42:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-21T18:16:08+00:00\",\"description\":\"The country was embarking on the Vietnam War. Young men all over the nation were being drafted and dying, while every night the war was playing out on the six o\u2019clock news in living rooms across America. In her second year of nursing school, Diane Carlson heard an Army recruiter on the radio say that nurses were needed. She enlisted immediately and volunteered to go to Vietnam, determined to save lives. Twenty-one years old, she\u2019d nursed in hospitals and ERs, but nothing could prepare her for what she\u2019d encounter in Vietnam.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/national-memorial-day-concert\\\/concert\\\/featured-stories\\\/2nd-rangers\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/national-memorial-day-concert\\\/concert\\\/featured-stories\\\/2nd-rangers\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/national-memorial-day-concert\\\/concert\\\/featured-stories\\\/2nd-rangers\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/national-memorial-day-concert\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Concert\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging.pbs.org\\\/national-memorial-day-concert\\\/concert\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Featured Stories\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/national-memorial-day-concert\\\/concert\\\/featured-stories\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Cleveland Valrey&#8217;s Story\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/national-memorial-day-concert\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/national-memorial-day-concert\\\/\",\"name\":\"National Memorial Day Concert - PBS\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/national-memorial-day-concert\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/national-memorial-day-concert\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/national-memorial-day-concert\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"National Memorial Day Concert - PBS\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/national-memorial-day-concert\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/national-memorial-day-concert\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/national-memorial-day-concert\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/national-memorial-day-concert\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/03\\\/logo.svg\",\"width\":347,\"height\":29,\"caption\":\"National Memorial Day Concert - PBS\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pbs.org\\\/national-memorial-day-concert\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cleveland Valrey's Story - National Memorial Day Concert - PBS","description":"The country was embarking on the Vietnam War. Young men all over the nation were being drafted and dying, while every night the war was playing out on the six o\u2019clock news in living rooms across America. In her second year of nursing school, Diane Carlson heard an Army recruiter on the radio say that nurses were needed. She enlisted immediately and volunteered to go to Vietnam, determined to save lives. Twenty-one years old, she\u2019d nursed in hospitals and ERs, but nothing could prepare her for what she\u2019d encounter in Vietnam.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/2nd-rangers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cleveland Valrey's Story - National Memorial Day Concert - PBS","og_description":"The country was embarking on the Vietnam War. Young men all over the nation were being drafted and dying, while every night the war was playing out on the six o\u2019clock news in living rooms across America. In her second year of nursing school, Diane Carlson heard an Army recruiter on the radio say that nurses were needed. She enlisted immediately and volunteered to go to Vietnam, determined to save lives. Twenty-one years old, she\u2019d nursed in hospitals and ERs, but nothing could prepare her for what she\u2019d encounter in Vietnam.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/2nd-rangers\/","og_site_name":"National Memorial Day Concert - PBS","article_modified_time":"2025-05-21T18:16:08+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/2nd-rangers\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/2nd-rangers\/","name":"Cleveland Valrey's Story - National Memorial Day Concert - PBS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-05-23T15:42:31+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-21T18:16:08+00:00","description":"The country was embarking on the Vietnam War. Young men all over the nation were being drafted and dying, while every night the war was playing out on the six o\u2019clock news in living rooms across America. In her second year of nursing school, Diane Carlson heard an Army recruiter on the radio say that nurses were needed. She enlisted immediately and volunteered to go to Vietnam, determined to save lives. Twenty-one years old, she\u2019d nursed in hospitals and ERs, but nothing could prepare her for what she\u2019d encounter in Vietnam.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/2nd-rangers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/2nd-rangers\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/2nd-rangers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Concert","item":"https:\/\/staging.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Featured Stories","item":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/concert\/featured-stories\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Cleveland Valrey&#8217;s Story"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/","name":"National Memorial Day Concert - PBS","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/#organization","name":"National Memorial Day Concert - PBS","url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/logo.svg","width":347,"height":29,"caption":"National Memorial Day Concert - PBS"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5199"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6059,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5199\/revisions\/6059"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/national-memorial-day-concert\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}