For Memorial Day, we hear about a young man on his way to war and an older soldier searching

for the next chapter.

Two stories about responsibility and connecting with others from Miley Maloy and Kurt Vonnegut.

I'm your host, Meg Wallitzer.

You'll want to stay tuned.

You're listening to selected shorts where our greatest actors transport us through the

magic of fiction, one short story at a time.

Shorts has a long history, and while I've been happily listening for years, I've only

been hosting for a little while now.

One thing I sometimes feel is this tension between wanting to say a lot because these stories

are amazing and wanting to say only a little also because these stories are amazing and

can speak for themselves.

In any case, whether I talk too much or not enough, it's an absolute delight to present

such wonderful work each week.

The great thing about short stories is that they are both enduring and immediate.

We can read them to celebrate and to mourn and to honor.

On Memorial Day, it's the honoring we think of.

The world is in a difficult place at the moment, but when we look at stories that touch on

our involvement in conflicts old and new, we're reminded of the courage and dignity that

often come with conflict and loss.

And sometimes, it's because of honor, which isn't as obvious as bravery, but just as important.

The two stories on this program are related to war, but are subtle narratives, not about

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