Nine years ago, World War II veteran Don Chaney from Chester, West Virginia, came to a Veterans Breakfast Club event with a little “Caterpillar Club” pin shaped like the insect on his lapel. I asked him about the pin and got a great story in return. Don was a B-26 pilot in Europe. He
When I was in school, textbooks told us that daring Revolutionary War hero John Paul Jones was the “Father of the American Navy.” But something happened over the last thirty years, and the title is now up for grabs. Today, most sources give the honor to Commodore John Barry, President John Adams, or the
PDSA, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images We’ve all heard of military working dogs receiving service medals for acts of valor. But last week, an African giant pouched rat (you read that right - a rat!) named Magawa was awarded a gold medal by the British veterinary charity People's Dispensary for Sick
On October 1, the US Navy completed the phase-out of the venerable Navy peacoat in favor of the “Black Cold Weather Parka.” The new parka is superior in every way: warmer, lighter, more versatile, and able to be stuffed into a seabag. It has only one drawback: everyone hates it. I’ve mentioned the peacoat
Jack Brawdy Lauren’s wonderful piece on the sound-powered telephone—a staple of any Navy or Cost Guard ship—triggered a memory of a tragic story shared by Jack Brawdy, a WWII veteran who attended our early breakfasts before he passed away in 2012. Here is Jack’s account: In 1943, Eddie Miller and I were
Recently on The Scuttlebutt we talked about Sergeant Major Thomas “Patrick” Payne being awarded the Medal of Honor for his part in a 2015 raid to free Iraqi hostages held by ISIS in northern Iraq. His story can be viewed HERE. Sgt. Maj. Payne entered a burning building and exposed himself to fire while freeing
