← BACK TO VBC BLOG The History and Meaning of Memorial Day, part 1Todd DePastino Decoration Day postcard, 1908. (National Museum of American History) Decoration Day—now called Memorial Day—is a uniquely American holiday with shadowy origins. We know it began immediately after the Civil War when women came out all
← BACK TO VBC BLOG Army Tribute to Navy Peacoatby Dave Lozier Last year, in our fall 2021 issue of VBC Magazine, we ran a story on the Navy’s phase-out of the venerable peacoat in favor of the “Black Cold Weather Parka.” We received many responses, including this moving story
← BACK TO VBC BLOG 100-Year-Old WWII Ship Captain Tells All One-hundred-year-old Jim Kehl is one of the last surviving US Navy ship captains from World War II. Jim served aboard LSM-144 and LSM-145 and traveled tens-of-thousands of miles across the Pacific in 1944 and 1945, including the invasions
← BACK TO VBC BLOG War in Ukraine: Understanding the Tactical Situation by Galen Peterson Galen Peterson in Iraq, 2008 Galen Peterson is a foremost expert on modern tank combat, having learned the subject first-hand as a tank platoon leader and company commander in Iraq. Galen is
← BACK TO VBC BLOG Purple Heart for "Momma Bear": The Story of OEF Veteran Army Nurse LTC Patty Justice by Pete Mecca Major Patricia "Momma Bear" Justice in the O.R. at FOB Shank, Afghanistan August 7, 2013: Forward Operating Base (FOB) Shank,
