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“G.I. Joe was an icon. Between the action figures and the cartoon, there was no chance that I wanted to do anything else but be a soldier,” said Jared Reichel, Army veteran and Veterans United assistant loan officer.
If you’re a child of the 1980s or 90s, then Reichel’s sentiment might harmonize with yours. G.I. Joe didn’t just entertain and inspire boys like Reichel. The action figure — it’s not a doll — has a rich history of fascinating children ever since it first appeared in 1964.
Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper was an intriguing woman whose knowledge and passion for some of the most complicated computing systems of her time essentially created the personal computer.
According to Elizabeth Dickason of CHIPS, a Department of Navy magazine, “[Hopper] was described … as a ‘feisty old salt who gave off an aura of power.’ This held true in her dealings with top brass, subordinates and interviewers – always interested in getting to the bottom line.”
In her 60-some odd years as a mathematician and computer programmer, Hopper’s work built the foundation for digital communication as we know it today.
“Here, there and everywhere, the stamping foot of the boogie piano player sets the tempo for nimble feet that dance the jitterbug,” Pete Smith, the narrator for the 1944 short film “Groovie Movie,” chimes.
Swing and Big Band helped to define a culture and an era when great nations clashed on the battlefield in all corners of the globe. The music and dance of the late 30′s and early 40′s gave men and women an opportunity to forget the bleak woes of war and come together to mingle and “cut a rug” to the tunes of the time’s jazz greats.
Rick Rescorla was 62 years old and dying of terminal bone marrow cancer on September 11, 2001. He was also working on the 44th floor of World Trade Center Tower 1 when a plane crashed into the building.
Rescorla, who had already gone through a terrorist attack in the same building near 20 years earlier, jumped into action. Running up and down 22 floors in the Morgan Stanley Dean Witter headquarters, he helped evacuate 2,700 of his fellow co-workers. He was last seen on the tenth floor, heading up to find more people, when the building collapsed with him inside.
This single glimpse into Rescorla’s life may make him one of the greatest heroes in modern American history, but his story goes back much further.
“This is the valor we honor today — an American soldier who didn’t fire a gun, but who wielded the mightiest weapon of all, a love for his brothers so pure that he was willing to die so that they might live,” President Obama remarked at Fr. Emil Kapaun’s Medal of Honor ceremony.
Most Medal of Honor recipients earn the award through heroic actions while fighting an enemy. Kapaun was awarded the medal without ever firing a shot.
Kapaun, who served in the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously on April 11, 2013 for his courageous actions on Nov. 2, 1950, in Korea. He is the fifth Catholic priest to receive the award, and he is also being considered for canonization to sainthood by the Vatican.
For a small admission fee, you were once able to sit inside a movie theater and get a solid hour’s worth of news and information from around the country and the world. This was not made possible by cable news or the Internet, but by the newsreel — a relic of a bygone era that informed, entertained and boosted morale.
Newsreels played an important role in providing news to the public between 1911 and 1967, though the coverage was generally superficial. For ten minutes before every feature film, they showed, in roughly 2 minute segments, the latest in events from around the nation and the world.
Now, let’s journey through a brief history of the Second World War via the newsreel. See the events as many of the greatest generation on the home front saw them. See More
Do you get excited when when you open your mailbox and find a letter from a friend or family member? Now, take that feeling and amplify it tenfold. That’s what it feels like to receive a letter when you’re deployed.
Writing letters is a great tradition and becoming a pen pal to an American troop overseas is one of the many ways you can support our men and women in uniform.
For decades, America’s pastime has provided relief to baseball fans all over the county. It’s a time for people to come together, forget their worries, and get lost in a simple game of baseball.
Growing up in St. Louis, you have no other choice than to be a Cardinals fan. My love for the Redbirds stemmed from my dad, who, at 14 years old, went to spring training and snapped a picture with Stan “The Man” Musial, an icon in baseball and a treasure to Cardinals fans.
Six years later, my dad was drafted and placed in the United States Marine Corps to serve in Vietnam.
“Take Me Out to the Ball Game:” it’s a tune as ingrained in American culture as any other patriotic verse — it’s one that children often grow up learning right alongside “The Star-Spangled Banner.” But what else might those two songs have in common?
According to the Baseball Almanac, almost 300 field-famous names now rest in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. While more than 315,000 people visit Cooperstown to learn about the Hall of Famers each year, more than 70 of these players deserve further recognition for their dedication off the diamond as well.
Jerry Coleman, who was named a World Series MVP after serving as former second baseman for the New York Yankees and manager of the San Diego Padres, is just one of these notable Hall of Famers. Coleman also served in the Korean War and World War II.
A common misconception about post-traumatic stress disorder is that it only occurs in service members or veterans that have experienced the horrors of war. According to the National Center for PTSD, that simply isn’t true.
About 8 percent of the general American population will experience PTSD at some point in their lives. That means that in the United States there are approximately 5.2 million adults with PTSD at any given time.
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