Andrew McCaffrey with two of his children. (The McCaffrey Family) By Matt Cahill Matt Cahill is the Founder and Executive Chair of Green Star Families. A retired U.S. Army Sergeant First Class and medic, he served with the 101st Airborne Division and later in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. He holds a
By Nate Webster Nate Webster grew up in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and graduated from West Point in 2011. He commissioned as an infantry officer and served with the 101st Airborne, later becoming a Special Forces officer with deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, and locations across Africa. Nate is a recipient of the Pat Tillman Foundation Scholarship
The wars that followed September 11, 2001, produced a generation of Americans whose lives were shaped by events that began on a single morning and unfolded over two decades. The Veterans Breakfast Club Veterans History Project has recorded hundreds of interviews with veterans and military family members. The excerpts that follow are drawn from those
United Airlines Flight 175 hits the World Trade Center’s south tower, September 11, 2001. (Public domain) By Todd DePastino On September 11, 2001, nineteen young men boarded four commercial airliners and changed the course of American life—or so it seemed. Most of us who were alive that day remember exactly where we
By Bob Von Bargen Few veterans today remember the phrase "purple suit." I was reminded of that recently after giving a presentation on the origins of Armed Forces Day. At the end, I asked the audience whether anyone remembered the expression. No one did. That surprised me because, for many of us, "putting on
By Todd DePastino For many of us, September 11, 2001, remains a vivid personal memory. We remember where we were when we heard the news. We remember the smoke, the confusion, and the sense that history had suddenly burst into our lives like an unwelcome intruder. But twenty-five years is a long time. More
