written by Todd DePastino Last October, Elizabeth Anne Helm-Frazier contacted me to call upon folks to send birthday cards to Romay Johnson Davis, one of the oldest World War II veterans in the world, who celebrated her 104th birthday on October 29, 2023. Ms. Romay was a member of the famed 6888th Central Postal
written by Mary Klepper In Rogersville, Tennessee, is the Persia General Store, the kind of place where “if they don’t have it, you don’t need it.” It’s also the domain of Vicki Seay, who founded the store and has run it for almost 50 years. I walked in looking for Diet Peach Snapple (I
written by Johnny Lang Last June, we had the immense pleasure of hosting a VBC Happy Hour with the inimitable Johnny Lang, an Army veteran who served with Elvis Presley and seemed to channel Elvis's extraordinary energy. Johnny’s new book, My Army Days with Elvis: Friendship, Football & Follies, tells of hijinks and warm
written by Daria Sommers The VBC got to know writer and filmmaker Daria Sommers through her award-winning feature-length documentary Lioness, which tells the story of a group of female Army support soldiers who were part of the first program in American history to send women into direct ground combat. We screened the film and
written by Todd DePastino Elvis cleaning his new company’s sign at Ray Barracks, Friedberg, Germany, 1958 Three-hundred miles due west of Memphis, close to the Oklahoma border, stands a vintage Army barracks with a barber pole fixed to its whitewashed clapboard. Inside is the room where the “Haircut Heard ‘Round the World”
written by Daria SommersWhen the Veterans Breakfast Club invited me to screen Lioness this past June in celebration of the 75th Anniversary of the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, I was thrilled.Lioness tells the story of female Army support soldiers – the original Team Lioness – who deployed to Iraq in 2003-4 and fought in
