Wreaths Across America Radio, a 24/7 internet radio station that airs podcasts and radio shows aimed at educating and entertaining Veterans, has made a major expansion to its programming lineup. With a commitment to providing diverse and engaging content, the web-based platform now offers more than 50 shows, including seven new Veteran-themed programs.
“As Wreaths Across America Radio continues to expand our programming, we are honored to partner with shows that honor Veterans and support the military community,” said Jeff Pierce, director of broadcast and media partnerships at Wreaths Across America Radio. “We are dedicated to continually providing a platform for Veterans, military families and our volunteers to share their stories and support.”
The lineup additions underscore Wreaths Across America Radio’s dedication to its mission to “Remember, Honor, Teach.” The new shows include 1 Mile 1 Veteran with Danny Mayberry; Bulletproof podcast with Ace; Connect First with Command Sgt. Maj. Shawn Carns; the America’s First Corps PHIner Life Show from the Mu Beta Phi Military Fraternity, Inc.; Transacting Value; and True War Stories. The seventh show, Modern MilSpouse, is produced by WAA Radio in partnership with Armed Forces Insurance and features military spouses of the year as hosts.
The new programming focuses on Veteran and active duty information and support, mental health issues, military life and stories of everyday life as a military spouse. These and other programs aired by WAA Radio support the mission of its Maine-based parent organization, Wreaths Across America, to remember fallen Veterans, honor those who have served and teach future generations the value of freedom.
Amplifying the voices of Veterans, military families
Since its inception in 2015, Wreaths Across America Radio has strived to amplify the voices of Veterans, military families and supporters nationwide. WAA Radio is part of the burgeoning medium of internet-based radio, which is expected to grow by more than 18% from 2022 to 2030. Its market value is likely to reach more than $9 billion by 2030. Online radio stations broadcast the same content available on traditional radio stations, whether it’s news, sports, music or talk—as well as Veteran-centric shows.
In addition to its national internet availability, WAA Radio is available on the apps iHeartRadio, Audacy and TuneIn, as well as LIVE365, an internet radio network. A country music thread runs through the core of WAA Radio’s stream.
“Our goal is purely philanthropic,” Pierce said. “We want to broadcast information that is helpful in some way to the Veteran community.”
Pierce knows of no other internet radio stations that aggregate and broadcast Veteran-themed shows. “That’s what makes this unique,” he said. “People are coming out of the woodwork with these [Veteran-themed] shows. Then it’s logistics. How do you get this show on the station because not everybody is that technically savvy? Our automation is easy to use. Most of our podcasters just give us the show, and it magically appears in our automation, and we’re ready to go.”
Pierce joined WAA Radio in 2020, 14 years after the founding of Wreaths Across America, a nonprofit organization that honors Veterans who served and sacrificed and have since passed away. Wreaths Across America is linked to more than 3,700 cemeteries in the United States where volunteers lay wreaths at the gravestones of Veterans on National Wreaths Across America Day, which most recently was held on Dec. 16, 2023. Each location has someone who coordinates the wreath laying for that cemetery, with Wreaths Across America providing the resources to fundraise and acquire the wreaths.
`I’m honored to play a part in it’
Since coming on board, Pierce has been instrumental in building out the station by reaching deals with iHeartRadio and other apps to stream the content and by agreeing to carry Veteran radio shows and podcasts in the station’s programming.
WAA Radio’s shows are on a myriad of topics. In the Mental Health Warrior, Army Veteran and motivational speaker Cliff Bauman shares his stories of struggles and attempted suicide, and how he turned that into strength and resilience. In the Got Your Six Podcast, Tony Nash, an Army major on active duty, talks to Veterans about their transition from the service to successful careers in mainstream America, or “from the battlefield to the boardroom,” as the show puts it.
While overseeing the acquisition and scheduling of these shows, Pierce, who has four decades of experience in the broadcast industry, is loving his work at WAA Radio. In 2019, the year before he joined Wreaths Across America, the Maine Association of Broadcasters (MAB) awarded him its Broadcast Achievement Award and inducted him into the MAB Hall of Fame.
“For me, this is an amalgamation of all the work I have volunteered to do in my own communities over the years through Veterans’ charities and Veterans’ services at the radio stations I’ve managed,” he explained. “Now, I get to focus on the Veterans and military families that have become so much a part of my life for a living! It’s so much more than a job. It’s a passion, and I’m honored to play a part in it.”
*The sharing of any non-VA information does not constitute an endorsement of products and services on the part of VA. Veterans should verify the information with the organization offering.
