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This episode is a profile of Wynwood Curry better known as Woody. Host Marc Steiner often says if you married Deepak Chopra and Richard Pryor you would have Woody Curry ˇ
Woody joined our group of eight on a journey to Vietnam.
A Baltimore native and Vietnam Veteran, with Masters degrees in psychology, Woody runs one of the most successful drug recovery programs in the country, something he knows from the inside out, having been addicted to alcohol and drugs for many years after his return from ?Nam. He knew what it was like to recover and relapse, and recover and relapse again. Woody?s been clean and sober now for more than 15 years, having been through the program he now runs.
Woody was trained as a translator, one of the few African-Americans trained to speak it, and helicopter gunner. His ability to speak Vietnamese, gave him an insight and empathy for the Vietnamese, that caused him conflicted emotional problems in Vietnam, but especially after returning stateside, where he suffered through years of post traumatic stress disorder and addiction. This trip provide Woody with a chance to rekindle his love affair with the Vietnamese people, and put some old demons to rest. Join us on Woody's Journey.
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Piece Description
This episode is a profile of Wynwood Curry better known as Woody. Host Marc Steiner often says if you married Deepak Chopra and Richard Pryor you would have Woody Curry ˇ Woody joined our group of eight on a journey to Vietnam. A Baltimore native and Vietnam Veteran, with Masters degrees in psychology, Woody runs one of the most successful drug recovery programs in the country, something he knows from the inside out, having been addicted to alcohol and drugs for many years after his return from ?Nam. He knew what it was like to recover and relapse, and recover and relapse again. Woody?s been clean and sober now for more than 15 years, having been through the program he now runs. Woody was trained as a translator, one of the few African-Americans trained to speak it, and helicopter gunner. His ability to speak Vietnamese, gave him an insight and empathy for the Vietnamese, that caused him conflicted emotional problems in Vietnam, but especially after returning stateside, where he suffered through years of post traumatic stress disorder and addiction. This trip provide Woody with a chance to rekindle his love affair with the Vietnamese people, and put some old demons to rest. Join us on Woody's Journey.
Transcript
Shared Weight: 30 Years after the Fall of Saigon:
Woody?s Journey
Produced by the Center for Emerging Media
Billboard
HELLO, I?M MARC STEINER, AND WELCOME TO THE CENTER FOR EMERGING MEDIA?S SERIES, SHARED WEIGHT, A DOCUMENTARY SERIES ABOUT THE IMPACT OF THE VIETNAM WAR, THIRTY YEARS AFTER ITS END. ONE MEMBER OF OUR GROUP WAS WOODY CURRY, A VETERAN RETURNING TO VIETNAM TO REVIVE HIS LOVE FOR THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE.
WOODY CURRY: Now how many young, black kids off the streets of South Baltimore you know who run ?round in the jungle speaking some Oriental language and flying around in helicopters and stuff like that? Who is it? It?s me.
MARC: FROM COMBAT TO DRUGS AND THE STREET AND INSTITUTIONALIZATION TO RUNNING RECOVERY CENTERS, WE FOLLOW WOODY ON HIS JOURNEY TO COME FULL CIRCLE, TO FIND HIMSELF AGAIN, THIRTY YEARS LATER. FIRST, THE NEWS FROM NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO...
Read the full transcript
Timing and Cues
00:00 ? 00:59 BILLBOARD
01:00 ? 06:00 NEWS HOLE
06:00 ? 06:29 MUSIC
06:30 ? 20:59 SEGMENT A
21:00 ? 21:59 CUTAWAY
22:00 ? 41:29 SEGMENT B
41:30 ? 42:29 CUTAWAY
42:30 ? 58:59 SEGMENT C [INCLUDES CREDITS]
Additional Files
- show transcript (03woodysjourneytranscript.doc)
- Woody with N. Vietnamese veterans (woodyatcitadelweb.jpg)
- Woody and kids near Quang Tri. (woodyandkidsweb.jpg)
- North Vietnamese veteran at CuChi. (cuchinvietnameseveteran.jpg)
- promo (show3promo15.mp2)
- promo (show3promo30.mp2)

Nic Romano
Posted on May 02, 2007 at 12:09 PM | Permalink
Review of Woody's Journey
This is probably one of the most intriguing bits I have ever listened to. This is a very honest account of how one man was able to come to terms with his experiences in Vietnam. It is important that we remember the first hand accounts of events like these.