• Slug: CN2Go.
• Runtime: 6:26.
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THIS IS YOUR CRONKITE NEWS 2GO BRIEFING.

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I’M ( go to story )

TODAY, WE’RE GOING TO TOUCH ON A FEW ELECTION UPDATES AND SHARE SOME STORIES FOR VETERAN’S DAY.

Election Update (Sydnee/Fernanda Galan Martinez)

HOPEFUL REPUBLICANS EXPECTED A RED WAVE TO WASH OVER ARIZONA. THAT DID NOT HAPPEN. REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS ARE NECK-AND-NECK IN ARIZONA’S KEY RACES.

ARIZONA POLITICS SAW A BLUE LEAD THANKS TO EARLY VOTES. BUT THOSE LEADS ARE DWINDLING NOW AS ELECTION-DAY BALLOTS GET COUNTED, MAKING IT A TIGHT RACE BETWEEN THE TWO PARTIES.

OVER THE PAST FEW PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, WE’VE SEEN A PATTERN IN ARIZONA OF REGISTERED DEMOCRATS VOTING EARLY BY MAIL AND THEIR REPUBLICAN COUNTERPARTS SHOWING UP IN PERSON AT THE POLLS AMID ELECTION SECURITY CONCERNS. BUT POLITICAL CONSULTANT DOUGLAS COLE SAYS IT HASN’T ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY.

“[00:03:04] So the behavior of Republicans historically, they would participate heavily in early balloting. And the Democrats voted more on Election Day. That has now been flipped because of messaging coming out of the former president and his followers… So that’s why we saw the huge blue surge in early balloting… and the later ballots tend to be more red now in Arizona.”

COLE SAYS THERE ARE STILL THOUSANDS OF BALLOTS LEFT TO COUNT. COMPLETE ELECTION RESULTS ARE EXPECTED SOMETIME AT THE END OF THIS WEEK.

THIS STORY WAS ORIGINALLY REPORTED BY FERNANDA GALAN MARTINEZ.

500th Flight (Athena/Sam Chow)

HOST INTRO:

WEARING THE SAME FLIGHT SUIT HE WORE IN WORLD WAR TWO, 100-YEAR-OLD TED GIANNONE (GEE-uh-KNOW-nee) BOARDED A BRIGHT YELLOW TRAINER PLANE AT THE FALCON FIELD AIRPORT LAST MONTH. HE IS THE FIVE HUNDREDTH VETERAN TO RIDE WITH ‘GROUNDED NO MORE’, A NONPROFIT THAT TAKES VETERANS FOR DEMO FLIGHTS. TONY A –-NGER IS THE OWNER AND FOUNDER OF THE NONPROFIT. CRONKITE NEWS REPORTER SAMANTHA CHOW BRINGS YOU THESE VOICES FROM THE SUPERSTITION MOUNTAINS IN EAST MESA.

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THIS STORY WAS ORIGINALLY REPORTED BY SAMANTHA CHOW.

Korean War vet (Jordan/Mikenzie)

HOST INTRO:
AN ARIZONA SOLDIER WHO DIED IN THE KOREAN WAR WAS FINALLY LAID TO REST IN TUCSON EARLIER THIS YEAR. HIS IDENTIFICATION IS A RESULT OF ADVANCEMENTS IN D-N-A TECHNOLOGY. CRONKITE NEWS REPORTER MIKENZIE HAMMEL EXPLAINS.

HAMMEL:

AT THE END OF THE KOREAN WAR, THERE WERE MORE THAN 8 THOUSAND MISSING SOLDIERS… THE REMAINS OF MORE THAN 600 SOLDIERS ARE INTERRED AT A CEMETERY IN HAWAII. NOW THE US GOVERNMENT IS GOING THROUGH THE PAINSTAKING PROCESS OF IDENTIFYING THESE MEN… ONE BY ONE. FOR ONE ARIZONA FAMILY, THESE EFFORTS BROUGHT CLOSURE.

 

TAMMI SHREEVE NEVER KNEW HIM…BUT HER UNCLE’S DEATH PLAGUED HER FAMILY FOR YEARS.

“It’s like a person that you’ve never met before that you have so much respect for.”

PVT. FELIX YANEZ WAS 19-YEARS-OLD WHEN HE DIED IN THE KOREAN WAR IN 1950.

HE WAS AMONG NEARLY 500 SOLDIERS KILLED IN A SINGLE BATTLE ALONG THE KUM (KOOM) RIVER… MANY OF WHOM ARE STILL UNACCOUNTED FOR TODAY.

THE MILITARY DID NOT RECOVER YANEZ’S REMAINS UNTIL EIGHT MONTHS AFTER HIS DEATH, BUT DUE TO LESS ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY AT THE TIME, HE WAS LEFT UNIDENTIFIED FOR DECADES.

SHREEVE MADE IT HER MISSION TO BRING HER UNCLE HOME SO HER 83-YEAR-OLD MOM COULD GIVE HER BROTHER A PROPER BURIAL.

“It was almost…I don’t want to say it was an obligation, but it was an obligation in my heart that I had to do. And, and I would always tell my family, I’m like ‘he’s not gonna be forgotten on my watch. It’s not gonna happen.’”

 

THE D-P-A-A KOREAN WAR IDENTIFICATION PROJECT LAB IN HONOLULU, HAWAII HAS BEEN WORKING ON IDENTIFYING THE REMAINS OF THESE SOLDIERS.

BUT THERE HAVE BEEN MANY BARRIERS, INCLUDING INCOMPLETE REMAINS, CONTAMINATION, LOST OR DESTROYED RECORDS, AND ISSUES WITH D-N-A EXTRACTION.

THE HAWAII LAB PARTNERED WITH THE ARMED FORCES MEDICAL EXAMINER SYSTEM…

AND NOW, THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE SAYS THEY FOUND A WAY TO SEPARATE THE D-N-A SAMPLES FROM ANY CONTAMINANTS.

IDENTIFYING WAR VICTIMS IS LIKE SOLVING A PUZZLE WITH MISSING PIECES.

YANEZ WAS HONORED EARLIER THIS YEAR AT VETERAN’S PARK IN DOUGLAS, ARIZONA FOR HIS SERVICE… AND SHREEVE SAYS SHE WILL CONTINUE TO SHARE HER FAMILY’S STORY TO SPREAD HOPE TO OTHERS STILL SEARCHING FOR THEIR LOVED ONES.

MIKENZIE HAMMEL, CRONKITE NEWS

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WE HAD HELP TODAY FROM FERNANDA GALAN MARTINEZ, SAMANTHA CHOW, SYDNEE WILSON AND MIKENZIE HAMMEL. A BIG THANKS TO ATHENA ANKRAH FOR PRODUCING OUR SHOW.

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YOU CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT THE STORIES YOU HEARD IN TODAY’S NEWS UPDATE BY GOING TO CRONKITE NEWS-DOT-AZ PBS-DOT-ORG.

THAT’S ALL FOR YOUR CRONKITE NEWS 2 GO. I’M .

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