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President Obama toured the wreckage Sunday, promising federal help for the people of Moore during what's sure to be a long rebuilding process. The president's message was not overtly political. He did, however, take the opportunity to highlight the important role the government can play — and not just when disaster strikes.

Recently, Fresh Air contributor Maureen Corrigan found a letter from then-Secretary of War James Forrestal that had been sent to her father after he had been honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 1945. In that letter, she found an expression of gratitude that could serve us well today.

Jake McNiece was the leader of a crack U.S. Army paratrooper unit that dropped behind German lines on D-Day. With their wild antics, McNiece's group was known as "The Filthy Thirteen" and inspired Robert Aldrich's macho film classic The Dirty Dozen.

When Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich used the word "slacks" in a column, a reader commented: "Slacks? How old are you?" The reader's comment got Schmich thinking about the words we choose and how much those choices can reveal about our age. (Originally broadcast on October 22, 2012.)

Exits are ubiquitous; grand or modest, we've all left something, from resigning from a job to waving goodbye to a friend. In Exit: The Endings That Set Us Free, author Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot explores goodbyes through the stories of people in transition. (Originally broadcast June 11, 2012.)

Arizona Sen. John McCain spent his Memorial Day in Syria. McCain's spokesman says the Republican senator crossed into northern Syria from Turkey to meet with rebels in the country, ripped apart by the 2-year conflict turned civil war.

High costs and minimal insurance coverage may be keeping adults out of the hearing aid market. Private companies are trying to lower prices by selling the devices directly online, but specialists warn that comes with its own costs.

Twenty-two million Americans served in the military, but the vast majority are from the Vietnam and Korea generations. They're getting older now, and many live in rural or remote places like Alaska.

After last week's deadly tornado in Moore, Okla,, hundreds of homes were damaged. Maurice Smith is optimistic about the future in Moore. So much so, he is planning to build a new home and sell the old one without an agent. And he expects it will be snapped up quickly. The reason? Displaced residents are looking for homes, and his has a storm shelter.

An abandoned baby boy was rescued from a sewage pipe in China after becoming lodged in an apartment building's public toilet system Firefighters called to the scene cut out a portion of pipe containing the boy. That section was then rushed to the hospital, where the baby was carefully removed.