By Michel Robertson, from the bookWelcome Home, Brother: Memoirs of Vietnam War VeteransYoung Ray Pavlik had not heard of Vietnam when he graduated from high school in 1964 and enlisted in the Navy. “I wanted to get as far away from Cleveland as I could.” His...

An Interview with Korean War Veteran Bill Lack By Mike McCarthy I grew up in Meridian, Mississippi and my father and mother were divorced in 1940. My father was automatically drafted into the military before WWII started. Then his two brothers got called in after he...

At 100 years old, veteran looks back on time serving in the Army.  By Ken Corn Old Fort, North Carolina, resident and WWII veteran Harry Viruet celebrated his 100th birthday in May this year. Viruet was born in 1920 and joined the US Army when he was nineteen, a year...

Don’t Ask That Questionby John Hallimore Veteran’s Creative Writing Workshop 4th meeting, February 17th, 2016 Coming home from Vietnam to America amidst college sit-ins, peace protests, passionate political debate, and random cultural turmoil is not a fond memory. My...

Jimmy McKinney – Driving a Howitzer with The Big Red 1 By Michel RobertsonNorth Carolina native Jimmy McKinney was working at a paper plant when he received his draft notice in May 1966. “I’d been married about three years, with no children. I preferred it to be me...

A Dubious Honor:Having Flown a U-2C with the Canopy Open by Richard "Duke" Woodhull One fine day in 1968, I accompanied a squadron mate of mine to Palmdale in a T-33, for the purpose of retrieving one of our U-2Cs that had been loaned to another organization. The plan...

One of my friends on a night ambush said that a snake came right towards him just beyond the muzzle of his rifle. It stopped and stood up like a cobra.

One Fires, We All FirePart 1by John Hallimore Veteran’s Creative Writing Workshop,5th meeting February 24th, 2016 Having grown up during the 50s and 60s, I enjoyed watching TV westerns. I had a pretty good idea of what the typical cowboy ambush involved. There is a...

An excerpt from “Welcome Home, Brother: Memoirs of Vietnam War Veterans” by Michel Robertson.   Lt. Cdr. Grady L. Jackson, senior Bombardier/Navigator assigned to VA-75, an attack squadron of the US Navy known as the Sunday Punchers, arrived in Vietnam’s Tonkin Gulf...

75 years ago, the world's largest and deadliest war ended when the Empire of Japan surrendered to Allied Forces.   Most living veterans from WWII are in their 90's now.  South Asheville resident Carl Jackson, a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot, is 97 and happy to talk about...