By Todd DePastino Gil Ferrey became a minor Cold War cause célèbre in 1961 when he got caught, along with fellow college student Victor Pankey, trying to smuggle a young woman out of East Berlin in the trunk of a Volkswagen Beetle. Gil, who would later serve as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, told
By Todd DePastino West Berlin native Bibi LeBlanc is collecting firsthand memories of the Berlin Airlift—one of the Cold War’s defining humanitarian missions. In this VBC conversation, she explains her Voices of the Berlin Airlift oral history project and invites anyone with Airlift stories to share them before they’re lost. 👉 To share your
By Colonel (Ret.) Dr. Peter M. Tan We are pleased to announce that Army Colonel and VBC Member, Dr. Peter Tan was inducted into the United States Veterans Hall of Fame, on November 8, just two days after receiving a similar honor from the Florida Veterans Hall of Fame. Dr. Peter M. Tan, a
By Bob Smith with Barb Smith In August 1960, The carrier USS Franklin D Roosevelt (CVA-42), pulled into Livorno (“Leghorn”), Italy, one of the largest and main seaports in the Mediterranean Sea. Three liberty launches left the ship for fleet landing. A storm was approaching. The ship began listing heavily. The winds were ferocious.
By Charlotte Crosswhite The Army Security Agency (ASA) was a unique military experience. Whether you served in small assignments, large field stations, or combat situations, you always had one boot in the Army and the other in the NSA’s door. I wouldn’t call us isolated, but in many ways, we were self-isolating. You don’t
By Larry Hertzberg During the summer after my freshman year of college, I stayed at home, doing little more than hanging out with friends, drinking, shooting pool, and chasing girls. Truth be told, those were the main reasons I had gone to college in the first place. One evening in August 1963, just before
