Written by Todd DePastino In 2009, when the VBC was just beginning, I visited a retirement community just east of Pittsburgh and met a man who called himself "Big George." Big George carried clippings from Stars & Stripes and Yank Magazine, yellow brittle rectangles of folded paper that left behind flakes wherever they went.
Written by Jack Reid VBC Veteran Jack Reid of Plymouth, Mass., sent us the piece below after taking a recent "Road to Revolution" walking tour in Boston's North End. At the Old North Church, he noticed dog tags hanging on a fence in the back garden. He went back later and took in the
Written by Todd DePastino At the conclusion of our VBC Happy Hour on May 8 with Korean War veteran Bud Mendenhall, our resident historian Greg Yoest gave us a quick thumbnail history of the German surrender in 1945 in World War II. Boy, was it complicated. In short, the Germans surrendered very early on
VA claims can be confusing and even frustrating. One of our great VA contacts sent this quick guide that might help Veterans file a well-grounded claim. A successful claim for service connected disability compensation normally contains all of the following components: An event, illness, injury, or hazardous exposure in service Evidence of a currently
Written by Harry Van Riper I don’t know where I’d be without the Army. Before Vietnam took my arm, the Army saved my life. Harry Van Riper tells his story at a VBC breakfast in September 2016 at the 911th Airlift Wing I was a troubled teen, a real hellraiser. I rolled my
Written by Todd DePastino Twenty years ago, the prospect of a bionic arm controlled by the mind of an amputee was the stuff of science fiction. A brain-controlled prosthetic arm picks up a rubber ball But last year, Harry Van Riper volunteered for a VA feasibility study for just such a “smart” limb.
