Category: Veterans

From a Reader: Remembering and Honoring a Veteran

This is a story about a young man from a small Amish town willing to serve in a war far away. Andy grew up on a farm overlooking Cedar Creek in Leo, Indiana, with a devoted mother and father and sister. Despite ambitions beyond college, a full slate of activities resulted in less than stellar…


Irvine Halts Plans for Veteran’s Cemetery

City council in Irvine, Calif. took no action to construct a Veteran’s Memorial Park and Cemetery at the Orange County Great Park, following long debates paired with mixed opinions from the public. Council held a June 22 presentation about two potential Great Park sites for the cemetery. Both are on the El Toro Marine Base. The first site is called Amended and Restated Development Agreement (ARDA), and the other is a land parcel zoned for a golf…


Veteran, 101, Recounts World War II Experiences

When 101-year-old Wayne Perry, a World War II veteran, told me his first war story, it wasn’t about his own experience, nor was it about his war. “A man would get wounded, they would saw his leg off and throw it out the window. Every so many days, he would gather up the arms and…


Group to Distribute Hygiene Kits to Homeless Veterans for Flag Day

LOS ANGELES—Flag Day will be marked in Los Angeles County June 14 by a distribution of 100 hygiene kits to homeless veterans living on and near the grounds of the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Each hygiene kit will include basic toiletries, a face mask and water bottle, according to Pat Peterson, the…


Cherishing the Memories of America’s Last WWII Veterans

Commentary After Andrew Biggio bought a 1945 M1 Garand rifle, he brought it over to show his neighbor, World War II veteran Corp. Joseph Drago. When Drago held the rifle in his hands, his eyes lit up. The frail, elderly man was suddenly overcome with a burst of energy and began talking about the Battle…


Irvine’s Veteran Cemetery Report Released Amidst Controversy

A report for a state Veteran’s Memorial Park and Cemetery in Irvine, Calif. was recently released amidst controversy over where the grounds should be built. The California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) on June 4 released a report that analyzes two sites within the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, where the cemetery could be built. One option is the El…


Hero’s Bridge Connects Elderly Veterans With Care

Molly Brooks wasn’t at her father’s side when he died in 2016. It’s a memory that continues to haunt her. A 23-year career military retiree and Vietnam veteran, Raymond Gustin USMC, MSgt, suffered from the effects of Agent Orange exposure. He was 71 when he went to sleep for the last time in one of…


Navy Veteran Best Friends Still Work on USS Hornet

ALAMEDA, Calif.—Two best friends and Navy veterans shared with NTD Television about some of their most memorable Vietnam War experiences. Bill Fee, 73, joined the Navy in 1968 and served for four years at sea. As a then-20-year-old, he didn’t fully understand what patriotism means, he said. He grew to understand it after experiencing war. “The…


When Veterans Feel Down, Give Them a Mission, Says Combat Vet, Singer Takosha Swan

While Memorial Day is an important celebration in honor of the servicemen and women of America’s military, it weighs heavily on many veterans. “It’s that one time during the year where veterans will feel at some of their lowest points,” said Takosha Swan, an Iraq war veteran, singer, and military spouse. The national holiday serves…


Telling the Stories of World War II Veterans: ‘Time Is of the Essence!’

Tracie Hunter is an Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker who, for the past five years, has focused her film skills on telling the stories of World War II veterans. Through her organization WWII Beyond the Call, Hunter and her team of volunteer filmmakers have been seeking out, sitting down, and capturing the harrowing stories of soldiers…