Joe Heater: Part of the Walking Dead
marc.zarefsky2026-04-13T06:22:49-05:00Joe Heater’s first childhood memory is going to a train station in the middle of the night to welcome his father home after his service as a Navy Seabee in World War II.
Benjamin Baldwin, Jr.: Flying aerial reconnaissance
marc.zarefsky2026-04-13T08:06:48-05:00Like most Americans he remembers the announcement of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Sunday afternoon, December 7, 1941, found him lying on the living room floor in front of the radio listening to “The Shadow”, a vigilante crime fighter.
Brandt Leischner: We were cowboys
marc.zarefsky2026-04-13T06:22:29-05:00Brandt’s path started in January 1969 with basic training at Ft. Polk, La. In March he transferred to Ft. Wolters, Texas, to begin the six-month long Warrant Officer Candidate (WOC) school, which included helicopter training in the OH-23 Raven.
John Whiteside: Meet The 22-Year-Old King
marc.zarefsky2026-04-14T14:49:04-05:00John knew that if he were drafted he would most likely be placed in the Army for a two year term. So at the age of 19 he headed to the recruitment office and signed up for a four year commitment in the Navy.
Walter ‘Bud’ Guest: G.I. Bill Means No Bills
marc.zarefsky2025-10-13T18:37:40-05:00Walter “Bud” Guest was born in Philadelphia. After graduation from high school Bud was encouraged by one of his teachers to apply to the US Coast Guard Academy. He was accepted in 1968, right out of high school, with a full scholarship to attend the Academy.
William Blair: Max the Medic
marc.zarefsky2025-10-13T18:36:55-05:00William Maxie Blair, who goes by Max, grew up on the south side of Chicago in the Englewood neighborhood. He has a younger brother who also served in the Army during Vietnam. Both brothers will be traveling together with Honor Flight Chicago in October.
Mike DeSmedt: The Army Chose Him
marc.zarefsky2025-10-13T18:36:03-05:00Some experiences leave a lasting mark. For Mike DeSmedt, his tour of duty in Vietnam is one of them. Still, he wouldn’t hesitate to do it all over again. “I had to do something I wouldn’t have volunteered for,” he says.
Andrew C. Reitz: Personifying a ‘Can-Do’ Attitude
marc.zarefsky2025-10-13T18:35:19-05:00Andrew C. “Andy” Reitz witnessed the “fireworks” of the 1968 Tet Offensive from his Seabee barracks at Da Nang. He personified the Seabee “Can Do” attitude as a journeyman carpenter, equipment operator and construction foreman.
Chris Argianas: Feeling Like He Can Do Anything
marc.zarefsky2025-10-13T18:33:50-05:00Chris Argianas was born in Cicero, Illinois on April 3, 1934. Both of Chris’ parents were immigrants from Greece. Chris and his family stayed in Cicero for twelve years before moving to Brookfield, Illinois, where his parents had their own little family store.
Gilbert High: Inside the Army Security Agency
marc.zarefsky2025-10-13T18:32:04-05:00Growing up, Gilbert High dreamed of being a journalist or perhaps a teacher, and while he didn’t envision the Army being the key to achieving those goals, that’s exactly what happened.
Myron Gulych: A World Traveler
marc.zarefsky2025-10-13T18:30:48-05:00He’s a vagabond, a nomad, a traveler. He has lived in Costa Rica, in Thailand, in Cuba, on a sailboat in the Caribbean, even in the Cayman Islands. But he has never owned a house. He is a pilot, a scuba diver, a motorcycle rider, a ham radio operator with friends all over the world.
Daniel Burress: Proud to be a Marine
marc.zarefsky2025-10-13T18:27:53-05:00Daniel Burress still remembers the icy snow and the sting of the gusty wind. He was among hundreds of Marine recruits stuck high on a mountain in Southern California. Their two-week, cold weather war games were over but they weren’t going anywhere.
John Stajic: Water was his Destiny
marc.zarefsky2025-09-15T21:51:03-05:00John Stajic was the only child of immigrant parents. John‘s mother immigrated from Borning, Germany and his father from Yugoslavia. The Stajics immigrated to the United States after John was born in Germany. While John was not a citizen, he was able to join the United States Navy in 1967
Frank Trout: The Walking Dead
marc.zarefsky2025-09-15T11:51:12-05:00For a long time, Frank Trout didn’t know the whole story of how he was shot in the head and left for dead on a riverbed in a thick, black, steaming Vietnamese jungle. Or how he was later sealed and zipped into a body bag—yet managed to make it out alive.
Emery Myers: The stresses of air traffic control
marc.zarefsky2025-09-15T11:51:02-05:00As an Air Traffic Controller, Emery spent his Air Force career staring at a radar screen in a dark, windowless room. Being an Air Traffic Controller is a stressful job anywhere but in Da Nang, Vietnam, with mortars targeting his building, it was not just stressful but also dangerous.
Denny Perz: The Brown Water Navy
marc.zarefsky2025-09-15T11:50:53-05:00Dennis, or Denny as he prefers to be called, grew up in Hammond, IN. He signed up for the Navy 2-3 days after he turned 18. His older brother, who had been in the Army, tried to talk him out of it, but he signed up anyway.
Rodney Franklin: Born to Fly
marc.zarefsky2025-09-15T11:50:42-05:00The desire to fly has been at the heart of nearly everything Rodney Franklin has done in his life, including graduating college, becoming an Air Force fighter pilot, a pilot instructor, and even air taxi operator in Hawaii.
Arnold Oskin: Helping traumatized soldiers come home
marc.zarefsky2025-09-15T11:50:24-05:00Even a decade before Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome got its official name, PFC Arnie Oskin was immersed in evaluating and helping traumatized soldiers coming home from Vietnam.
Bill Haines: Cold War Target
marc.zarefsky2025-09-15T11:50:16-05:00U.S. military history is rich with unsung heroes – individuals whose behind-the-scenes contributions have quietly shaped the course of events. Take Bill Haines, for example, a Korean War veteran, who will be honored for his service this month.
Joe Inserro: Good News and Bad News
marc.zarefsky2025-09-15T11:50:02-05:00Joseph (Joe) Inserro was born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island until the age of 10. From there, his family moved to Cicero, Illinois and he settled in Elmhurst, Illinois which he considers his home town.