My name is William K. Goodwin and yesterday was my 58th birthday. I am number two of four boys raised by a father who was a Drill Sergent in the Marines. My parents divorced when I was twelve and I ran away from home two days after turning fifteen. I returned home on my 17th birthday to get my mom’s signature to enlist because I was too young. I arrived to basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky on 1/17/1974 at…..
My name is Denny Gillem. Although no other family members in my direct line served in the military, my grandfather’s uncle commanded Gillem’s Cavalry in the Union Army of Tennessee during the Civil War. There was another relative whose name is the same as my grandfather who was a general on General Patton’s staff in World War III. Fort Gillem in Atlanta, Georgia is named for him. Plebe year at West Point was tough. I found that I really related…..
My name is Dale Jordan. I am a Vietnam Veteran. My father and grandfather were both in the U.S. Navy. dad served in World War II and was a fireman on the Old Saratoga in the Pacific; he twice conducted A-bomb nuclear test dummies at the Bikini Atoll in 1946 and 1947. His war stories had an impact on my young life. It was my reason for enlisting, although Dad was initially upset at my joining the Army instead of…..
Comes A Soldier’s Whisper In memory of our soldiers fathers, brothers, sons and daughters who fought to save this country for each and everyone Comes a soldier’s whisper with history in his words barely heard while fighting with many battles he endured Letters written decades ago resonating with soldiers of today war changes a soldier his heart and family too May we embrace our soldiers today upon their return from yesterday to help them heal a heart of war to…..
We wish to give special thanks to Robert Lynn Day for sharing this photo, memory and following information of his Grandfather, James B. Ratliff who served under General George Patton and was at the liberation of some of the Nazi concentration camps. Jim Ratliff was inducted into the U.S. Army on June 10, 1943 and began active service June 24, 1943 as a Tech 4 of the 576th Engineer Maintenance Company. He served under General Patton of the 3rd U.S……
My name is Lawrence John Sheehan, and I’m a Vietnam War Veteran. I chose the Marines because I felt they were the best. My specialized training was in M-60s. I found that I liked the structure of boot camp and became part of it – or rather it became part of me. I engaged in countless patrols, firefights, and many small battles. On second thought, they were not small battles since out of 800 in my unit only 47 of…..
The airborne soldiers were outnumbered 10 to 1 by the Germans who surrounded the airborne during the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944. This propaganda leaflet encouraging their surrender was dropped into their circle of men in December 1944. I remember Dad recalling the incident and said that he and many of his comrades used the leaflets as toilet paper saying, “that’s all it was good for!” Surrender was NOT an option for them. THE REST IS HISTORY WITH…..
“I saw the launch-flash of the SAMs,” Bill Milcarek said. “I watched from the time they left the ground all the way to impact with our aircraft.” On the night of December 27, 1972, he took off with his aircraft commander and crew from Andersen AFB in Guam to bomb a railyard outside Hanoi. Once over North Vietnam, the B-52 weathered near-constant surface-to-air missile attacks. Milcarek saw the launch-flashes of at least a hundred SAMs leave the ground, some fifteen…..
The photo inset is a sketch of a paratrooper operating his radio, just as my dad did as a 101st Airborne paratrooper with the 502nd PIR, Hq in WWII. His collection of wartime letters written and now preserved in COMES A Soldier’s Whisper contain sentiments that resonate with all soldiers. He would write on May 27, 1945: “I’ve been through all that some of my buddies have. Yet some of them have children and those points were enough to carry…..
A WOUNDED WARRIOR – KYLE MORPHY & ZORA, A GERMAN SHEPARD I had the pleasure of meeting Kyle Morphy who served in Iraq from September 2005 to November 2008. He has been diagnosed with severe PTSD and just partnered up with his new dog, Zora on October 24, 2014. Life is getting better each and every day. Pictured here is Amber Sweet, Kyle’s fiancee who said that prior to getting Zora, he would have 3 to 4 episodes and flashbacks…..
