By Phil Metzler In the spring 2023 issue of VBC Magazine, we ran an article about the Berlin Airlift of 1948-1949. Army veteran Phil Metzler of Lancaster, PA, responded by sharing his own memories of serving in Berlin, not in the Airlift, but thirteen years later during the second Berlin Crisis. Below is his
Photo credit: Rose Carlo Gantner VBC member Richard Sand reports that on May 22, 2023, former Navy pilot Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) introduced House Resolution 8978: “To award a Congressional Gold Medal to members of the Red Cross Supplemental Recreational Activities Overseas (SRAO) program, also known as the ‘Donut Dollies,’ who served
Elizabeth Anne Helm-Frazier retired from the Army as a Master Sergeant after twenty-five years, ten-months, and twenty-six days of military service. Elizabeth held a variety of high-profile positions in personnel (MOS 75-Echo) and career counseling (MOS 79-Sierra). She was US Army TRADOC’s Career Counselor of the Year, San Antonio’s Mentor of the Year, and
Join us on Saturday, September 16 at 7:00pm ET (4pm PT) to mark National 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion Day with a screening of the documentary The Six Triple Eight, followed by a conversation with filmmakers James Theres and Elizabeth Anne Helm-Frazier. Until ten years ago, few Americans had ever heard of the 6888th
By Todd DePastino Last night, Ben Wright, Larry Woods, and I all walked out of the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh together after our 70th Anniversary of the Korean War Armistice Agreement Commemoration event. As we filed from the elevator through the first-floor Great Hall, we passed a much-treasured artifact from World War II:
Written by Todd DePastino In 2009, when the VBC was just beginning, I visited a retirement community just east of Pittsburgh and met a man who called himself "Big George." Big George carried clippings from Stars & Stripes and Yank Magazine, yellow brittle rectangles of folded paper that left behind flakes wherever they went.
