Iraq war veteran, ‘Talk at Ten’ host keeps positive perspective

PORT CLINTON - Serving in Iraq on an armored truck clearing routes of improvised bombs while being hunted by insurgents didn’t scar Bert Fall’s outlook on life. He returned from overseas service and became a radio broadcaster for WPCR Radio, promoting positive stories about life in Port Clinton.

Fall grew up in Port Clinton and can trace his family roots in the town to 1860. He graduated from Port Clinton High School in 1998 and joined the National Guard in 1999. He was deployed to Iraq less than two weeks after getting married in 2004.

“I proposed, knowing I might be deployed. I knew the date of my deployment in September, and she said let’s plan a wedding,” Fall said. “We were married on Oct. 30, and I left on Nov. 10.”

That brief time together before deployment, combined with a short leave, gave Fall and his wife little opportunity to spend time together that first year.

“We saw each other 22 days that first year of marriage,” he said.

Fall was a combat engineer serving with C Company, 612th Engineer Battalion. His year in Iraq was wrought with danger. He drove and operated the mechanical arm of a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle used to search for improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.

“Our main job was route clearance. We worked in a Buffalo, an armored truck made for landmine clearing repurposed to look for IEDs,” he said. “It had a hydraulic arm that we would use to dig through debris and look through bags on the side of the road in Baghdad.”

Fall said Baghdad was a very dirty city, due partly to the fact that it had no modern garbage services. He said trash was routinely burned or simply thrown on the side of the road. That made it easy for insurgents to hide explosives inside bags along roads. Each of those bags had to be inspected.

“They were made to look like garbage, or sometimes they were encased in concrete, to look like a curb. We would notice a section that was a different color and inspect it,” Fall said.

Often, the insurgents targeted the Buffalo.

“The insurgents would hunt us. We would go down a road, come back, and there would be a bag there,” he said. “There were a lot of explosions. One blew out all six tires on our vehicle. That was the worst.”

Fall survived his year in Iraq without any serious injuries, and when he returned to the states, he accepted a job in sales with WPCR. He was quickly promoted to a position developing the station’s social media presence. During that time, he occasionally did an on-air appearance on a history program with former WPCR radio host Joan Bryden.

That was the only on-air experience Fall had when he was asked by station owner Greg Peiffer to host his current program, “Talk at Ten.”

“Joan was always really encouraging me to be on the radio. She was very helpful in the beginning,” he said. “I am the only local person working here. Greg’s a big supporter of local business, so having someone local is something he wanted to do.”

“Talk at Ten” shares local “feel-good” stories about the people and events that make Port Clinton unique. Through www.PortClintonRadio.com, Fall has gained listeners from all over the world.

“It’s very conversational in tone. I’ll talk to the mayor, and the sheriff is on quite a bit,” Fall said. “I like to have stuff during the change of seasons, when we go from a big tourist town to a small town and how that affects us.”

That two-sided face of Port Clinton is one of the things Fall enjoys most about his hometown.

“In the summertime, it’s kind of a bustling area. There is lots to do, and you can’t beat the view. Then this time of year, it’s nice to sit back and not worry about traffic,” he said. “It’s like living in two completely different places.”