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How I Got Over

Hi, I am a Desert Storm Veteran, I went in 1991, I had just got married and had a baby. While in Saudi Arabia, a sand storm came and blew me off the truck. i cut my lip off, broke all my teeth out in the front, messed up my neck and my back. Since then I have had 13 surgeries and I am still working on my 100 percent. I was denying that i had PTSD, but now I am getting help for it. Since I have home my husband has died, my mother has died, and my sister was killed by a drunk driver. But I had 3 boys to take care of, besides my handicapped brother and sister. I trust in God because without Him I would not have made it this far. It is more to my story but I am not telling.

vanessa sheridan
florida city, FL
The Little Known Special Forces

The Little Known Special Forces

In 1947, little was known about an elite team of military excellants. This team would do what no other special forces team would do. They were designed to rescue trapped, injured, surrounded and prisoners' of war. They were from the branch of the military that no one realized, had ground troops fighting in the fields. They were a part of the United States Air Force and were named according to their main objective, they are the Para Jumpers (aka PJs).

October 10th, 1974, at the age of 17, I enlisted in the United States Air Force. , with 4 years Air Force JROTC, After all my testings (I scores a 99% overall), I signed my contracts. I couldn't help notice that I signed a 4th contract, while everyone else signed 3. Not thinking much about it )I thought it was because I was 17 and going in as an Airman, not and Airman Basic, oh, but how wrong I was. Because of my high scores and physical conditioning (4th degree black belt in chung fu) I was place in the most elite fighting force that the US military has. I was to become a PJ or die trying! It was the toughest training that you could imagine and it wasn't just flying in and pulling someone out. We trained for land, sea and air rescues.

30 years later, I retired as the commander of the 2100 (21st) PJ Squadron, with the best completed missions record. We have a moto, "Everyone comes home, NO MATTER WHAT!" I loved all of my men and women that served with and under me. I never asked them to do something I hadn't done myself. I commanded from the field, fighting right along side my troops. The ate the best.

Col. Ricky Price (Ret) USAF

Col Ricky Price USAF (ret)
Baytown, TX

A-Bomb Testing

My husband was a participant in the A-Bomb testing in 1953 in Nevada. He was in the MP's, had to dig a trench, and when it was exploded they were told not to raise their heads otherwise they would not have one. The bomb destroyed everything a 1 1/2 mile from the site and he was a mile. He has clippings that are very amazing. His skin has suffered I think from the fall out - every bit of skin that was explosed is very dry, flaky and full of skin cancers. He has had as many of 100 frozen at a time and they continue to return. Most of the VA say it is sun damage - I think they are nuts but I don't have a degree. He suffers with it but does not complain. I admire him for standing up for his country and being involved in a test they no one had an idea of the results. I salute him and he is my hero.. If there are other veterans that were involved in this activation, please feel free to contact us. We would love hearing from you.

Helen Reeves
Siloam Springs, AR
retired lifer Paul Thurston

retired lifer Paul Thurston

Paul Thurston was fightind for his country all his life and retired from the army. he has faught in a few wars in his time of serving in the army. He is a proud American who loves his country. I Honor my brother-in-law Paul Thurston and all that he stands for. American,love you Paul

shirley scott
Decatur, IL
Living

Living

I know it won't sound inspiring at first, but it is. My husband PFC Rueben Gideon Kirk III (Skip) gave his life defending our country Jan 29,1991. We were young and I thought my life was over. I mourned just as much for the life we would've had as I did for the life we shared. The what if's were probably harder to deal with than 50 years of happy memories that many get to share before dealing with a loss. But I'm writing to tell you that life does eventually go on (for me it took over 10 years). I have a wonderful loving husband. We have 4 beautiful children and God has blessed us beyond words. I hope this helps anyone who has to go through this suffering, to know that there is life afterwards, even if it doesn't seem that way for a very long time.

Cynthia
Fairfield, OH
My Amazing Brother

My Amazing Brother

This is not so much a story as it is really me just wanting to let it be known what a HERO my brother was. how much I love and miss my brother.How much the whole family loves and misses my brother. He decided he wanted to join the Marine Corp,we were very proud of him and supported him in what he wanted to do. He graduated bootcamp at Parris Island ,SC February 11,2011.December 12th 2012 ,which was also his 22nd Birthday he was deployed to Afghanistan.Only 6 weeks after being there on February 1,2012 he was shot by a supposed Afghan Ally and killed instantly .The news was a shock to my mother,,,,who had marines show up at her door with a letter just hours after it had happened, He died just 10 days shy of one year since graduating. We love and miss him so very much.I try to tell myself that he died doing something he was proud to do and somehow it helps ease the pain.some nights telling myself doesnt help at all. He was only 22 and had so much life left to live..He had a girl he was very sweet on and couldnt wait to get out of Afghanistan to continue his relationship with her. I know that eventually he wanted marriage and to have babies of his own. Knowing he will never experience those things breaks my heart so badly. I just want my brother to be remembered as a hero and recognized. I love you so much! RIP Lance Corporal Edward J Dycus,

Stephanie Johnson
Greenville, MS
Through my Father's Eyes

Through my Father's Eyes

My father, Pvt. Moss D Jones, Jr. was stationed with the 17th Airborne Division in England on Christmas Eve of 1944. Shortly before midnight, he boarded Army aircraft and parachuted into combat zone at the Battle of the Buldge. He landed outside a small Catholic Church having midnight mass and soon found himself in a fierce battle. It was then that he vowed to his battle buddy, that if he ever saw another Christmas he would do something very special. In December of 1947 upon his return to Falls City, Nebraska he took his paints and brushes and began using the large picture window in the family home at 1516 Schoenheit Street to paint different Nativity scenes each year. On the 25th anniversary of his window paintings, he painted each and every window across the front of the family home with different Christmas scenes despite his disabling back injury that he endured during the WWII. The tradition continued until his death in July of 1975.
My father would include special animals of the household each year too.

Moss Jones Jr came from a very active military family. At one time while deployed for WWII, his mother got a telegram that all five of her sons were missing in action or killed. Moss and three of his brothers came home, however Donald Jones died at Normandy.

Today, Moss would be very proud of his grandson, Spc. Stephen D. Randall serving in the United States Army as a Combat Engineer.

JoLana Randall
Falls City, NE

Mind your Helm!

I had the Mid Watch on the bridge. I was on the helm which is the steering wheel of the ship. The Boatswain mate of the watch was overseeing us while the Officer of the deck and Conning officer are on the flying bridge above us. (Us being the Bridge team). Any time there is a course change, the conning officer talks to us through a brass voice tube. We repeat the orders back to them and then execute the order. When the ship is off course, the conning officer yells down to " Mind your Helm", which means get your ass back on course. On this particular night, these two officers are just talking and talking. We can hear them through the tubes. So the challenge is on. If you slightly turn the helm 5 degrees slowly, the ship will start turning. If you go to fast, the ship will lean and give you away. We made a 360 degree circle. The quartermaster is over at his table busting a gut. Just as the circle was complete, I shifted the rudder to stop the swing. The Conning officer barks down to mind my helm because I was using too much rudder to correct a 1 degree overage. Sucess!

Chief Scott Brown
Toledo, OH

Why Buy Wall Mounts?

It was a duty night on the ship. While walking the weather decks on my rounds, I noticed a huge giant starfish on the pylons under the pier. I scooped it up and out of the water. It was impressive! I wanted to dry it out and hang it on my wall at home. A friend and I took it up to the crow's nest atop the cranes. There it would dry in the sun during our trip back to Hawaii. Seagulls surrounded the crow's nest all the way back. After our return to home port Hawaii, we waited until our next duty night to retrieve my new wall ornament. I stood lookout while my partner reached up to get the Starfish. He gags and barfs. Then drops it to my feet. The bonehead had forgotten to remove the starfish from the plastic bag when he placed it up there.Now it was a bag of rotten dead fish mush. I couldn't barf enough to drown out the smell. I quickly grabbed the bag and tossed it over the side. Now every sailor has to look over the side to see what they toss out. And there was my first lieutenant standing on the deck below us looking to find out where this fish mush came from, as he wore it on the backside.

Chief Scott Brown
Toledo, OH

In the first 5 years of our marriage

My husband and I never dated- we just took a huge leap of faith and got married. We endured our first deployment, where my husband lost his best friends. When he returned, we got pregnant right away and I had major complications and had to have major surgery after giving birth. I was always there during deployment and my husband took care of me through my complications. The army has moved us 4 times in 4 years. We endured our second deployment while I was pregnant with our second child. Again, we had major complications. My husband came home and helped out since I was on bedrest. He deployed right after the birth, only to come back a short time later because I went blind within two weeks and had to take care of two kids by myself overseas, since we were stationed in germany at the time. My husband made it home in time for my brain surgery that I had to have. He took care of me and both kids without complaining. He continues to support me and help when he can.
However, after all that he has done for me, it is now my turn to help him. He has been injured while serving. He is getting a medical discharge and his injuries interfere with his daily activities a lot, even to the point that he can't even move. So, now it's my turn to take care of him. I adore him so much and admire his courage and appreciate his love for me.

I will never be able to pay him back for everything he does for me, but maybe I can show my appreciation.

Kasie
Yelm, WA