Veterans Chronicles

You may know him best as country music star Craig Morgan. But for 17 years, including 10 years on active duty, Craig Morgan Greer served our nation in the U.S. Army. He spent time with both the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions. Morgan is also a veteran of Operation Just Cause, the U.S. mission in Panama in December 1989. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Morgan shares why he joined the Ar...

Frank Blount was commissioned into the U.S. Air Force in 1960 upon graduation from Florida State University and completion of its ROTC program. Over the next 20 years, Blount would pilot planes carrying everyone from the President of the United States to heroes of our space program to precocious kids. He would also see intense action as a gunship pilot in Vietnam. In this edition of "Veterans Chro...

Charlie Plumb ended up in the U.S. Navy because money was tight for his family and it was a big economic relief when he was recommended and accepted at the U.S. Naval Academy. Upon commissioning from Annapolis and competion of flight school, Plumb would soon be flying an F-4. Little did he know what awaited him just a few years later in Vietnam. Plumb was deployed to the war zone in November 1966....

William Walter joined the U.S. Air Force in 1976. Two years later he arrived at Hurlburt Field in Florida for AC-130 gunship training. Over the next couple of decades, his serice in Air Force special operations would place him on missions from Operation Eagle Claw to rescue U.S. hostages in Iran to Operation Just Cause in Panama to Operation Desert Storm, among several others. In this edition of "...

Michelle Curran was a teenager when she was mesmerized by the roar and power of military jets. Soon she was off to ROTC in college. Within just a few years, she would be at war in Afghanistan and eventually become the lead solo pilot for the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Maj. Curran takes us inside her role in providing "Danger Close" air support for our al...

Charlie Duke attended the U.S. Naval Academy but accepted a commission into the U.S. Air Force upon graduation. After early assignments, including service near Berlin in the tumultuous days of the early 1960's, Duke was accepted as a NASA astronaut as the United States pressed on towards President Kennedy's goal of sending a man to the moon and returning him safely to the earth before the end of t...

While not a veteran himself, actor and director Gary Sinise is now synonymous with devotion to our active duty military, our veterans, and their families. Sinise turned 18 years old shortly after the U.S. withdrawal of forces from Vietnam. However, hearing the stories of service in Vietnam from his wife's brothers instilled a deep appreciation for those who served and a desire to help them - espec...

Ed Hubbard has been fascinated by flight since he can remember. When he was a kid, his parents dropped him off to watch planes at the local airfield for hours at a time. He joined the Air Force Reserves in hopes of becoming a pilot. He later went on active duty, became an officer and earned his wings. While serving in Europe in the mid-1960s, orders came for Hubbard to take his family back to the...

Ronald Webb was commissioned as a U.S. Navy officer through the ROTC program at Indiana University. First trained as a navigator, Webb later received his pilots' wings in 1966. Soon, he was off to Vietnam, flying missions out of Da Nang with the 390th Tactical Fighter Squadron. On most missions, he served as the "backseater" to Korean War double ace pilot Frederick C. "Boots" Blesse. On June 11, 1...

John Raaen, Jr. entered the U.S. Military Academy in the summer of 1939, just weeks before World War II broke out in Europe. During his four years at West Point, there was no question his class would be going to war. Commissioned in 1943, Raaen soon joined the elite Army Rangers. Just a year later, as a captain, Raaen led men ashore at Omaha Beach on the morning of June 6, 1944. He is believed to...

Just before 8 a.m. on June 6, 1944, U.S. Army Captain John Raaen, Jr., of the 5th Ranger Battalion, landed at Omaha Beach in Normandy as the Allies launched their campaign to breach Adolf Hitler's Atlantic Wall and work to free Europe from Nazi tyranny. In our previous edition, Raaen, who is believed to be the last living American officer from Omaha Beach, described the extensive preparations for...

John Raaen, Jr. grew up in an Army family and his father was a West Point graduate. Long before World War II, the Raaens were family friends with the Eisenhowers, the Bradleys, and other figures who would become household names in World War II. In 1939, Raaen followed in his father's footsteps and enrolled at West Point just as war was about to engulf Europe. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicle...

Bernie Oder joined the U.S. Air Force in 1972 when his number came up among the final names in the military draft. While serving as a supply clerk in the Philippines, Oder became friends with service members in special operations and decided to pursue that for his own career. After rigorous training in many disciplines, Oder was soon part of Air Force special operations. In this edition of "Vetera...

When college wasn't working out, Mike Sarraille decided to become a U.S. Marine when he became friends with a recon Marine and was impressed by his humble confidence. Saraille also become a recon Marine as well as a sniper. But a couple years later, after being encouraged to become an officer, he entered BUD/s training and became a U.S. Navy SEAL. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," LCDR Sar...

Donald Banks enlisted through the Draft Board to join the U.S. Army and then jumped at the chance to serve in the 82nd Airborne Division. After very difficult paratrooper training, Banks soon found himself jumping into Normandy on D-Day and later fighting in the Netherlands as part of Operation Market Garden and at the Battle of the Bulge. In this edition, Banks shares some of his memories of serv...

George Ferkes could not pass up the opportunity to fly in the U.S. Air Force. After finishing flight school in 1970, he soon found himself in the skies over Vietnam. Ferkes flew in support of Operation Lam Son 719/Dewey Canyon II and the Siege of Fire Support Base Fuller. Less than a decade later, Ferkes was co-piloting an MC-130 gunship as part of Operation Eagle Claw in the mission designed to r...

In February 1945, Willie Clemons, Jr. joined the U.S. Navy while still 17 years old. Within just a couple of months, he was off to the Pacific Theater. Within a few more months, the Japanese surrendered and the war was over. After leaving the military, Clemons returned to the Navy in 1953 and served in the Korean theater. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Clemons discusses why he joined th...

Vern Staley wanted to join the military at age 17 following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. His father refused to sign off, telling him to finish high school and accurately predicting "there'll be plenty of war left as soon as you get out of school." After graduating, Staley was drafted into the U.S. Army and assigned to the 70th Infantry Division. He went through basic training and was then...

Ken Guyer joined the U.S. Navy when he was 17 years old. It was 1967, and he was eager to join the fight in Vietnam. Once he turned 18, he was on his way there and was soon serving as a gunner on a five-man crew aboard a Navy picket boat patrolling Da Nang Harbor and the Da Nang River. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Guyer explains why he loved serving on the picket boats so much, interd...

Dewayne Rudd joined the U.S. Air Force with a dream of one day becoming an astronaut and flying to space. Instead he became a versatile pilot the military and NASA would turn to on some of their most important projects, including a U-2 reconnaissance pilot, a test pilot during the development of the B-2 Stealth Bomber, and the chief test pilot for the space shuttle crew escape system following the...

Lockered "Bud" Gahs was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II. In late 1944, he deployed to France with the 42nd Infantry Division, which was dubbed "The Rainbow." Over the next several months, Gahs experienced intense combat all the way to Munich and the end of the war. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Gahs gives us great detail on one of his early combat experiences...as roughl...

Henry Greenbaum was born in Poland in 1928. He was one of nine children. Even before the Nazi invasion of Poland in 1939, Greenbaum's family sensed that trouble was coming. One of his sisters had married and moved to the U.S. two years earlier. In addition to the invasion, Henry's father died and the family scrambled to make ends meet. But before long, some members of his family were dead. Others...

Matt Cable joined the Montana National Guard shortly after graduating from high school because he just wanted to move on with his life. Little did he know at the time that saving his own life would be by far the biggest challenge he would face in the years to come. But he did live. In fact, Cable is thriving. And in 2022, he won two gold medals, a silver, and four bronze in the Invictus Games. In...

Richard Hamilton was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1942. He was trained as a radio man on a B-17 bomber crew. After arriving in England, he took part in eight successful bombing missions, but often dealt with the harrowing anti-aircraft fore coming from the Germans. The ninth mission turned out much differently. The bomber was severely damaged and Hamilton and several other crew members...

When John Cahill graduated from high school, college was not an option for him. He knew that meant he would soon be drafted. So he decided to enlist, and his U.S. Army veteran father convinced him to join the Navy. Cahill was soon disappointed that all of his preferred assignments were rejected. He would be working as a bolilerman aboard the destroyer USS Buck. In this edition of "Veterans Chronic...