by Todd DePastino No military regulation has been more closely watched—and more frequently changed—than the do’s and don’ts of tattoos. Last week, the Marine Corps revised its policy, allowing the “sleeve” (whole arm) tattoo and also permitting officers more than four tattoos visible in uniform. Both officers and enlisted can now
by Todd DePastino World War I ended precisely on the 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month of 1918. At the moment the bells struck and the guns went silent, a body fell in a French village. Henry Gunther was a bank clerk from Baltimore, drafted the year
This story from SeaBee veteran Derek Sansone (NMCB-21, Black Jack Battalion) reinforces my conviction that the SeaBees is the most ingenious branch of the military. My Reserve Navy Seabee Battalion was activated in January 2003 as part of the build-up for the invasion of Iraq. A few months into deployment, 125 of
98-year-old Paul Fairbrook joined VBC Happy Hour on October 4 to talk about his experiences as a “Ritchie Boy” in World War II. Paul fled Nazi Germany with his Jewish family in 1938 and, like our other 98-year-old guest that night, Max Lerner, joined the US Army to exact their revenge against
Another VBC veteran was honored at Heinz Field by Pittsburgh Steelers. During the Sunday night game against the Seahawks, fans cheered as the Jumbotron showed this video and Harry Van Riper walked on the field. Harry, who lost his army to a Viet Cong rocket in 1968, wrote afterward saying he
by Todd DePastino (YouTube screenshot Peter von Panda) Every once in a while, you’re reminded that the US military is, among other things, the world’s largest bureaucracy. I ran across this 26-page brownie recipe first published in 1987, revised in 1990, and updated again in 2003. It’s called “Brownie,
