. . Despite having lived all over the world during his long Air Force career, you can still hear the Texas in Ben Wright’s voice. He grew up in Big Bend Country, as far west in West Texas as you can get. Now Ben and his wife live in Beaver, Pennsylvania,
. . Rick Witherell of Tionesta, Pennsylvania served in the Army at the end of the Cold War, but when his reserve unit was called up during the Gulf War, he deployed to Kuwait. Despite being the first day of spring 2014, it snowed the day we preserved the stories of
. . At the tail end of the Korean War, Lew Weingard left Erie, Pennsylvania and wanted to fly planes in the Air Force. But it was not meant to be. So, after getting his commission from the enlisted ranks he was sent to post-war Japan and served with the 9th
. . Eugene Torisky of Stow, Ohio served in the navy as a radioman during the 1950s, sailing on two different destroyers, the USS Turner (DDR-834) and the USS Fessenden (DER-142). Gene grew up in Pittsburgh, attended Catholic seminary school, but then decided against a life in service to the church.
. . Gary Schisler of Moon Township, Pennsylvania served in the United States Air Force from 1969 to 1999. Lt. Col. Schisler flew C-130 air transports throughout his career while on active duty and as a reserve pilot from 1982-1999. Growing up in a military family (Gary’s dad was a