The Sound Of My Father

0:00This is an RNZ podcast. I didn't understand where they had to be a secret. It will be where we have a loss. I have a ghost. I'm not a religious man. I'm not a superstitious person, but it shook me. Kia ora, I'm Rita Atwood, host and producer of The Sound of My Father, a brand new podcast by Riotworks and RNZ. She said, your history will come to you. I've a long wanted to tell John Quartz's story, for many reasons, which you'll find out about in the podcast. But when I found a cassette that had been sitting unheard and forgotten in an old purse of letters and photos, I knew the time was right. I don't remember a tape at all. People send me letters. When all the letters I showed you were. Really? Never seen it. Because it says to Jean and John.

1:0068? Yeah. There's a lot riding on this discovery. Not only the fear that I could be opening a Pandora's box that was supposed to stay shut. I never heard his voice. No, I've never heard John's voice at all. But the revelation about a part of New Zealand's history that has long been untold. The story of the thousands of children fathered by US servicemen across the Pacific in World War II. The level of secrecy is quite high. And American military command didn't want to admit to paternity either. And then there's the question of whether the 60-year-old recording will even hold the secrets I desperately want to uncover. I don't know when it was last listened to if it's ever been listened to. I just have no idea. Well, we can do that. So join me to meet John Quartz. The knowledge is disappearing. And you can't get it back. And follow us as we take an epic journey of love, loss, and connection.

2:03I do get a bit of my show about it. Yeah. What have I missed? As John tries to answer the question that lies at the heart of all of us. Who am I? And where do I come from? You've come here as manually like where the same people are. Follow and listen to the sound of my father at rnz.co.nz or wherever you get your podcasts.