Memorial Day special

For Memorial Day, we have stories of conflict and devotion, and how they are told through memorials.
A well-known memorial in Washington, DC, pays tribute to the US service members who lost their lives in the Vietnam War, but few memorials honor the Vietnamese who fought alongside them, or the hundreds of thousands who came to the US in subsequent years. A new memorial project in the “Little Saigon” neighborhood of Dorchester in Boston aims to do just that. Also, Chile’s biggest carnival is kicking off at full speed. As many as 150,000 people have traveled to the northern Chilean town of Arica to participate. But this is not your typical carnival. Most of the dances and music come from Bolivia for a celebration of Indigenous Aymara, Quechua, and Afro-Chilean identities. And, Yaroslav Simkiv has played the trumpet for over 50 years and is a recognizable figure in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. Several times a day, he plays his instrument from the towering mayoral building in Lviv’s main square to announce the time of day. But these days, Simkiv has taken on a more serious role — bidding a musical farewell to Ukraine’s fallen soldiers.

Listen to today’s Music Heard on Air.