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Ep. 359: The Fog of War and Humanity
Host: Richard Acritelli
Guest: Miguel A. Logreira
hmTv / Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center
In this gripping third installment, Richard Acritelli continues his conversation with Miguel A. Logreira — a multilingual U.S. Army intelligence veteran whose life reads like a front-row seat to history.
Miguel recounts witnessing the fall of the Berlin Wall from the ground in Berlin, navigating Cold War tensions, and learning firsthand how Germany and Japan rebuilt with starkly different cultural attitudes. His reflections cut deep: Why don’t people get along? Why doesn’t humanity learn?
The episode then shifts into the Middle East. Miguel explains why he volunteered for deployment in Desert Storm, sharing vivid accounts of intelligence work, cultural adaptation, interrogation strategy, and the uncomfortable reality of being seen as both “one of them” and a “traitor” by those who shared his heritage.
Key moments include:
• Watching history unfold at the Wall’s collapse
• How Finland, Japan, Germany, Africa, and the Middle East shaped his worldview
• Lessons from operating in Mali with no air support or infrastructure
• Surreal contrasts — from villages without water to Times Square excess
• The human value of discomfort, adaptability, and curiosity
• Why Vietnam veterans saved lives in later wars — including his
Miguel’s emotional gratitude to the Vietnam generation and his fierce loyalty to the United States bring this episode to a powerful close. War, identity, patriotism, culture — it’s all here, raw and unfiltered.

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