Some of the 'Services' and 'Programs we have available
NATIONAL POW/MIA DAY 3rd FRIDAY OF EVERY SEPTEMBER
Welcome to Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida 'a Source for Veteran Resources'
180 W. Idaho Ave, Ontario, Oregon 97914
541-889-1978
VETERAN ADVOCATES THRIFT STOR
Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida has a rathar very nice Thrift Stor with an excellent selection of donated items !! The prices range from 50 cents up - depending on the kind of items you are shopping for - We have an absolutely WONDERFUL staff of Volunteers eager to help you find items... it is open from 9am to 4pm Monday thru Friday - and you can bring donations Monday thru Friday from 9:30 am to 3:30pm.
Any Questions call 541-889-1978
YOU TOO CAN HELP SERVE AND THANK OUR COUNTRIES VETERANS
About Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida
Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida was founded by a group of veterans who saw a need for better support and resources for the veteran community. Our organization is committed to providing assistance to veterans in need, whether it's help finding a job, connecting with mental health resources, or accessing affordable housing. We believe that every veteran deserves access to the care and support they need to thrive after serving our country.
Join Our Team
Are you passionate about supporting veterans and giving back to your community? Join our team of dedicated volunteers and make a difference in the lives of those who have served. We offer a variety of volunteer opportunities, from helping with fundraising events to providing mentorship to veterans in need. Contact us today at 541-889-1978 to learn more about getting involved with Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida.
BI-MONTHLY ARTICLES AND A FEW STORIES OF INTEREST
Veteran Articles published Bi-monthly
The Chairman of Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida, Ronald Verini, writes two articles every month for publication in a Regional Newspaper, this article"ARE OUR LEADERS DISTRACTED BY "TCHOTCHKES?..."
will be published September 3,, 2025. Here is a part of Mr. Verini's article, and you can read the full article by clicking the red bar below.
Are Our Leaders Distracted by “Tchotchkes”?
September 3rd, 2025 Veterans Column by Ronald Verini
“Tchotchkes”—those shiny, often useless little trinkets—might seem harmless. But in the hands of our elected leaders, they’ve become a metaphor for distraction, misplaced priorities, and how far leadership has drifted from its purpose.
I’ll admit it: I’ve always been drawn to shiny things—the gleam of gold bars, the snap of a $100 bill, a promising stock certificate. At one point, that allure even convinced me the Vietnam War was worth supporting. I served, and I’ll never regret standing up for my country. But I later learned a hard truth: shiny surfaces often hide darker realities.
Back then, politicians preached patriotism and progress. Behind the curtain, they chased photo ops, soundbites, and personal gain. Today feels worse. Our system is a dysfunctional marriage: two parties locked in endless fights, more interested in winning points than solving problems. Meanwhile, veterans—the men and women who served under the promise of support—are still left waiting. Billions flood into the system. Confusion, inefficiency, and delay remain. Are they rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic? Maybe. But remember—some survived. There is hope.
What does this have to do with veterans? Everything.
Here in Ontario, we lost Family Support services at our National Guard Armory—programs that helped families survive deployments and transitions. Lucky for us, a volunteer has stepped up when she can. With little backing, she’s doing a damn good job with the hand she’s been dealt. But volunteers shouldn’t have to fill holes left by government neglect. We’re also still waiting for a local VA mental health counselor (promised years ago from the Vet Center). We have an office for them to use. These aren’t extras. They’re lifelines.
To be fair, the VA has helped me. It took 50 years of fighting to get that help, but I got it. I’m grateful. Too many veterans I know weren’t so lucky. Their stories are full of exhaustion and roadblocks. Many right here in the Western Treasure Valley battled the system until it broke them. Some gave up. I hope this rekindles their fight. Better shot today than ever before. The system still needs work, but it’s improved over the past 20 years. More knowledgeable VSOs, too. Connie Tanaka in Ontario is one of them. Call him at 541-889-6649. Every state has others ready to help.
In recent months, the VA delivered real changes—not tchotchkes. The VA has lost thousands of staff over the last few months and the plan to cut nearly 30,000 by the end of 2025. With that said : The VA Secretary Doug Collins mentioned in the VA/News page that “Since March, we’ve been conducting a holistic review of the department centered on reducing bureaucracy and improving services to veterans” he went on to say “As a result of our efforts, VA is headed in the right direction, both in terms of staff levels and customer service…. “ He continues talking about the improvements of VA, and new ideas. I believe that Collins has shaken the system up with all its moving parts, hope Congress has his back. Remember with the line of succession to the presidency he is number seventeenth! ( I bet no one thought about that fact).
Leaders promise streamlined appeals, AI-driven claims, and better mental health care again. It could be transformational. But we’ve been here before. Progress only sticks when we hold their feet to the fire.
SEPTEMBER EVENTS THAT ACTUALLY CHANGED THE WORLD !!!!
Origins of September
September's name comes from septem, the Latin word for seven. Although it’s the ninth month of the Gregorian calendar, it was originally the seventh month under the Roman calendar, which began with March.
Seasonal Oddities and Astronomical Facts
Because September is harvest season, it’s no stretch that its full moon, called the corn moon, was named by Native Americans after the late-summer reaping of the crop, notes the Old Farmer’s Almanac. When September’s full moon falls closest to the fall equinox, it is also called the harvest moon.
September 1, 1939 at 5:30 am - Hitler's armies invaded Poland thus starting WWII in Europe.
September 2, 1864 - During the American Civil War, Atlanta was captured by Sherman's Army. "Atlanta is ours and fairly won'' Sherman said in a telegraph to President Abraham Lincoln.
September 5, 1774 - The First Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia with 56 delegates, representing every colony, except Georgia. Attendants included Patrick Henry, George Washington, Sam Adams and John Hancock.
September 8, 1883 - The Northern Pacific Railroad across the U.S. was completed.
September 10, 1919 - Following the defeat of Germany in World War I, the victorious Allies signed the Treaty of Saint-Germain ceding parts of pre-war German-Austria to Italy and Czechoslovakia. Austria was also forbidden to unite with Germany.
September 11, 2001 - The worst terrorist attack in U.S. history occurred as four large passenger jets were hijacked then crashed, killing nearly 3,000 persons. Four separate teams of Mideast terrorists, operating from inside the U.S., boarded the morning flights posing as passengers, then forcibly commandeered the aircraft. Two fully-fueled jumbo jets, American Airlines Flight 11 carrying 92 people and United Airlines Flight 175 carrying 65 people, had departed Boston for Los Angeles. Both jets were diverted by the hijackers to New York City where they were piloted into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. The impact and subsequent fire caused both 110-story towers to collapse, killing 2,752 persons including hundreds of rescue workers and people employed in the towers. In addition, United Airlines Flight 93, which had departed Newark for San Francisco, and American Airlines Flight 77, which had departed Dulles (Virginia) for Los Angeles, were hijacked. Flight 77 with 64 people on board was diverted to Washington, D.C., then piloted into the Pentagon building, killing everyone on board and 125 military personnel inside the building. Flight 93 with 44 people on board was also diverted toward Washington but crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to overpower the terrorists on board.
NATIONAL POW/MIA DAY - EVERY 3rd FRIDAY OF EVERY SEPTEMBER
THREE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT POW/MIA DAY
The key phrase behind the national POW/MIA remembrance movement, which honors Soldiers who were taken as prisoners of war and those who are still missing in action, is “you are not forgotten.”
Many American service members suffered as prisoners of war during varying conflicts- while some made it home to their families, many never did. Continue reading to learn more about this important movement and how you can help recognize it.
WHAT IS POW/MIA RECOGNITION DAY?
POW/MIA Recognition Day is commemorated on the third Friday of every September, a date that’s not associated with any particular war. In 1979, Congress and the president passed resolutions making it official after the families of the more than 2,500 Vietnam War POW/MIAs pushed for full accountability.
A national-level ceremony is held on every National POW/MIA Recognition Day. Traditionally held at the Pentagon, it features members from each branch of military service and participation from high-ranking officials. In addition to the national-level ceremony, observances of National POW/MIA Recognition Day are held across the country on military installations, ships at sea, state capitols, schools and veterans’ facilities. All of these National POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremonies share the common purpose of honoring those who were held captive and returned, as well as those who remain missing.
HOW MANY SOLDIERS ARE PRISONERS OF WAR OR MISSING IN ACTION?
In order to comprehend the importance of this movement, all you need to do is look at the overwhelmingly large number of Americans who have been listed as POW/MIAs.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency indicates more than 81,600 Americans remain missing from WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and the Gulf Wars/other conflicts. Out of the more than 81,600 missing, 75% of the losses are located in the Indo-Pacific, and over 41,000 of the missing are presumed lost at sea (i.e. ship losses, known aircraft water losses, etc.).
This includes:
- 72,404 missing Soldiers from WWII
- 7,555 missing Soldiers from the Korean War
- 1,584 missing Soldiers from the Vietnam War
- 126 missing Soldiers from the Cold War
- 5 missing Soldiers from the Gulf Wars
Efforts to find those men, identify them and bring them home are constant. For example, the DPAA said that in the past year it has accounted for 41 men missing during the Korean War: 10 had been previously buried as unknowns, 26 were from remains turned over by North Korea in the 1990s, one was from a recovery operation, and four were combinations of remains and recovery operations.
According to the Defense POW/MIA AcAccording to a Congressional Research Service report on POWs:
- 30,201 World War II service members were imprisoned; 14,072 them died
- 7,140 Korean War service members were imprisoned; 2,701 of them died
- 725 Vietnam War service members were imprisoned; 64 of them died
- 37 service members were imprisoned during conflicts since 1991, including both Gulf wars; none are still in captivity
THE CREATIONS OF THE POW/MIA FLAG
Few know that the official POW/MIA flag was actually created many years before the remembrance day became official.
THE TOILET PAPER WAR...... A submariner’s battle against bureaucracy
By Claire Barrett - MilitaryTimes
For most of recorded history, more men have died from disease in some faraway field than from an enemy bullet.
“Diseases,” writes historian John A. Haymond, “particularly those of the insect-borne or water-specific types, have been responsible for untold millions of deaths in militaries across the millennia. Ironically, armies ravaged by disease have usually carried the seeds of their destruction with them in the form of poor field sanitation habits. After all, a sufficiently provisioned army of 10,000 men could produce about four tons of fecal waste every day.”
On June 11, 1942, disease, and perhaps an increasing desire not to use one’s own hand to wipe one’s nether regions, drove Lt. Cmdr. James Coe of the submarine Skipjack to send an “urgent” message to the powers that be.
Since July 1, 1941, a requisition had been submitted for 150 rolls of toilet paper to replenish the dwindling supply aboard the Skipjack. However, as the boat patrolled the Pacific, no sign of the all-important bathroom item appeared — even as other war materiel came in.
In March 1942, according to the National WWII Museum, Coe took command of the Skipjack and learned of the dire, and no doubt malodorous, situation. To make matters worse, Coe received a canceled invoice for the TP alongside a stamped July 1941 message stating “cancelled-cannot identify.”
In response to this bureaucratic fumble, Coe issued a letter to the supply officer in Mare Island, California. His tongue-in-cheek rejoinder would become the stuff of legends within the Navy.
USS SKIPJACK
June 11, 1942
From: Commanding Officer To: Supply Officer, Navy Yard, Mare Island, California Via: Commander Submarines, Southwest Pacific
Subject: Toilet Paper
Reference: (a) USS HOLLAND (5148) USS Skipjack req. 70-42 of 30 July 1941. (b) SO NYMI Canceled invoice No. 272836
Enclosure: (1) Copy of cancelled Invoice (2) Sample of material requested.
1. This vessel submitted a requisition for 150 rolls of toilet paper on July 30, 1941, to USS HOLLAND. The material was ordered by HOLLAND from the Supply Officer, Navy Yard, Mare Island, for delivery to USS Skipjack.
This sailor requested leave to get his wife pregnant. It was approved.
Observation Post by Claire Barrett
Like a lion stalking its prey across the Serengeti, so too does a Jody hunt — lurking in the night, ever vigilant in hopes of hearing that one magic word: “Deployment.”
So, how does one stop an insatiable Jody in his tracks? For one seaman, the solution was simple: Beat out the competition by simply being there.
On July 20, 1967, Petty Officer 1st Class David Jarvis Anderson submitted an unusual special leave request. His plea was simple.
“My wife is planning on getting pregnant this weekend,” he wrote, “and I would sure like to be there when it happens.”
Anderson’s tongue-in-cheek entreaty seemed to have worked. It was, after all, the Summer of Love.
While requests for special liberty can often reduce a poor service member to a desperate husk of a man, in 1967, it appears that the powers that be were a little more forgiving — allowing for Anderson to enjoy shore leave in the right port during a particularly crucial tide.
In traveling the seven-plus hours from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to the coal mining town of Layland, West Virginia, the sailor thwarted all would-be Jody’s in the area upon his arrival home.
No word was readily available, however, on whether the pair’s weekend’s festivities produced the desired result.
Food Boxed at Veteran Advocates Food Pantry to hand out to Veterans/Military and their Families
MARCH 2024
The Food Pantry at Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida has really expanded and grown over the last few years. There has been such an increase of our Veteran and Military Families needing help to handle the increasing problems of 'food insecurity'. We do have a 'modest' pantry open every Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30am to 3:30pm. Give a call to 541-889-1978 to let us know you are coming to pick up Food Box. Please let us know how many in your family and about when your coming.
Also, if you are interested in volunteering to help our veterans and the Food Pantry please give us a call or come on in and see what we are doing...
Sometimes the food donations we receive are unable to meet the demands, but we still hand out the product we receive. So if you need a little something to help you get from one paycheck to the other come on down. Each Family can get a Box twice a month.
CURRENT IDEAS ABOUT THE USE OF KETAMINE ON PTSD FLASHBACKS
Search Assist
Recent studies suggest that ketamine may be effective in treating PTSD, particularly when combined with psychotherapy. Research indicates that ketamine can enhance the extinction of traumatic memories and improve symptoms more rapidly than traditional therapies.
bbrfoundation.org
Yale Medicine
Overview of Ketamine in PTSD Treatment
Ketamine is being explored as a treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) due to its rapid effects on mood and anxiety. It is an NMDA receptor antagonist that can induce changes in brain connectivity, potentially enhancing therapeutic outcomes when combined with psychotherapy.
Mechanism of Action
How Ketamine Works
- Memory Reconsolidation: Ketamine may help modify traumatic memories during their recall, making them less distressing.
- Neuroplasticity: It is believed to temporarily increase the brain's ability to rewire itself, which can aid in the therapeutic process.
Treatment Approaches
Combined Therapies
- Ketamine Infusions: Administered in low doses, ketamine can be combined with exposure therapy to enhance treatment effectiveness.
- Intensive Therapy Programs: Some studies involve a 7-day treatment combining ketamine infusions with trauma-focused psychotherapy, aiming for significant symptom relief.
Study Findings
- Pilot Studies: Research indicates that a single ketamine infusion may enhance the extinction of traumatic memories, improving outcomes for PTSD patients.
- Long-term Effects: While initial results are promising, further studies are needed to understand the long-term benefits and safety of ketamine in PTSD treatment.
Eligibility and Considerations
Who Can Participate
- Age Range: Typically, participants are between 21 and 70 years old.
- Exclusion Criteria: Individuals with certain psychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia or severe personality disorders, are generally excluded from studies.
Ketamine represents a novel approach to treating PTSD, with ongoing research aimed at confirming its efficacy and safety in clinical settings.
THERE ARE MANY ARTICLES ABOUT THIS TYPE OF TREATMENT FOR PTSD. SUGGEST YOU GOOGLE "KETAMINE THERAPY FOR PTSD" TO READ ALL THE RESEARCH AND TESTING NOW HAPPENING.
Deployment playlists, then and now:
from Walkmans to wireless despair
By Clay Beyersdorfer, Observation POST
Whether pressed against the side of a Humvee or hunched under a poncho liner shade at a patrol base, music has always been more than a distraction for deployed service members. It is a lifeline.
For troops in the field, deployment playlists are not just about taste. They are about memory, morale and survival.
This is the journey of the soldier’s soundtrack, from Walkmans to Bluetooth earbuds, from Desert Storm to TikTok remixes.
Walkman era: tactile saddlebags of sound
Before the cloud, there was the cassette. In the 1980s and 1990s, many troops deployed with Walkmans or portable CD players stuffed inside their rucks. Tapes were often mailed from home, shared among squad mates or bought at PXs in bulk. You could count on a handful of classics making the rounds: AC/DC, Metallica, Garth Brooks and maybe some R&B to round out a fire team’s vibe.
The music was limited, but it was yours. Rewinding a tape mid-patrol or swapping batteries during a rest halt gave a sense of normalcy. It was tactile. It was something to hold when everything else felt like it could slip away.
Burned discs and the iPod invasion
As compact disc players gave way to MP3 players and eventually iPods, troops began arriving in-theater with entire libraries in their pockets. Burned mix CDs from home were still standard, especially during early rotations in Iraq and Afghanistan, but by the mid-2000s, Apple’s click-wheel was everywhere.
The original iPod, released in 2001, allowed users to store up to 1,000 songs in their pocket. By 2004, Apple was selling millions per quarter. Many service members used the iTunes Store to build pre-deployment playlists, which they later traded or passed around on hard drives in tents and barracks.
Streaming era: access at a cost
Today, deployed troops rely heavily on streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube to create and share playlists. Most installations have internet access through commercial providers or Wi-Fi from third-party satellite services. In some cases, troops also access mobile data networks, depending on region and security protocols.
But streaming has its limits, including buffering issues, account restrictions or limited bandwidth depending on location. Some services require periodic authentication, which can fail in austere environments.
Evolution of military tattoos, Sailor Jerry to skull logos
The Global War on Terror and the age of the Punisher skull
After 9/11, the military saw a dramatic spike in tattoo culture. For many post-9/11 veterans, ink became both a cathartic outlet and a way to memorialize fallen comrades. Dog tags, battlefield crosses, KIA dates and American flags — often inked across the chest, ribs, or forearms — became some of the most common images.
One symbol rose to near mythic prominence during this period: the Punisher skull.
Originally a comic book antihero created by Marvel in 1974, the Punisher’s white skull logo was adopted by many military units during deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Special operations units were particularly fond of it, using it as a symbol of aggression and dominance.
The skull’s popularity eventually spread to conventional forces and law enforcement — and not without controversy. Even the character’s co-creator, Gerry Conway, has criticized its use. In a 2019 interview with SYFY Wire, Conway said: “The Punisher is a vigilante who shouldn’t be held up as a role model. Using his symbol as a military emblem or a police symbol is completely antithetical to the character’s purpose.”
Ritch Green, one of five tattoo artists brought to U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay
From taboo to tradition
It wasn’t long ago that tattoos could disqualify someone from joining the military. But now, they’re so ubiquitous that even generals sport them, albeit carefully hidden. The Navy, which once banned visible tattoos above the collar, now permits neck tattoos and full sleeves, as long as they don’t contain offensive content.
Tattoo parlors have popped up near every major base, and entire deployments have been marked with group tattoos — a modern-day version of a class ring or a battle streamer.
While tastes have evolved (we’ve moved past barbed wire and tribal suns, mostly), the desire remains the same: to mark a moment, remember a comrade or show the world you were there.
Because in the military, you earn your scars. Sometimes on the battlefield. Sometimes in the tattoo chair.
Air Force WSO became an ace in showdown with Iranian drones
Nava, 29, is Military Times’ Airman of the Year.
By Hope Hodge Seck, Military Times
When Iran dispatched some 200 attack drones and cruise missiles toward Israel in a brute-force attack on April 13, 2024, all of Capt. Carla Nava’s training was suddenly put to the test. A weapons systems officer with the 494th Fighter Squadron out of RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom, Nava knew her F-15E Strike Eagle was prepped to be first in a two-ship formation if called upon. But when the pair of aircraft were launched from their undisclosed location in the Middle East — in the dark of night and more urgently than the crews expected — the intensity of the real-world mission was still disorienting.
“It just hits heavier when you know the Master Arm hot switch is on,” Nava recalled.
As the swarms of one-way attack drones came into view within just minutes of takeoff, the planes, flying at low altitudes, were tasked with taking them out before they could reach their targets.
The No. 2 aircraft got the first shot at an incoming drone, but missed. That cued up Nava’s aircraft and her role of double-checking the Strike Eagle’s targeting pod and giving the all-clear to shoot. The drone went down: a confirmed kill.
“It’s nerve-wracking, and then once you see it hit, it’s the biggest relief that you can have before you move on to the next target and rinse and repeat,” she said.
Nava, 29, is Military Times’ Airman of the Year. A first-generation American whose parents came to the U.S. from Venezuela, she fell in love with aviation while a cadet at the Air Force Academy. Nava had volunteered for the Middle East deployment that would put her unit in the action against Iranian drones.
The April 13 mission made her, along with pilot Capt. Claire “Atomic” Eddins, the Air Force’s first all-female crew of aces – signifying five air-to-air kills.
Beyond her achievements in combat, Nava has worked to improve the service for other female airmen, coordinating a “Flying While Pregnant Roadshow” while stationed in the UK and representing her unit at a convention focused on improving uniforms and equipment for women aviators.
During the counter-drone mission, an unprecedented Iranian assault and the largest air-to-air engagement for the Air Force in more than half a century, Nava also took on risk, delaying a refueling to remain in position as other aircraft expended their missiles and had to depart the area. They reached a “combat bingo” fuel state, meaning they’d have to land at a friendly foreign base near their location if they couldn’t secure an aerial refueling, which they ultimately did.
By the time they headed back to home station, the crew had expended all their missiles and taken out five Iranian drones. Their status as newly minted aces didn’t set in, Nava said, until the next day when they reviewed the plane’s targeting history.
VA WORKING WITH DAVITA TO CONTINUE DELIVERING CARE
Cyber-security incident response a priority for protecting Veterans
August 12, 2025 - Chris W. Cox
Chief, Campaign Development, VHA Integrated Veteran Care
On April 12, 2025, DaVita—a dialysis provider participating in VA’s Veteran Community Care Program—experienced a ransomware cybersecurity incident on its internal systems that resulted in the compromise of some patient records. Although VA’s systems were not affected, we’ve continued to monitor the situation as DaVita maintains Veteran health information in its system.
Currently, forensic investigators and the FBI continue their work to determine the extent of the breach. We know how important privacy is and will provide updates as there is information to share.
What you need to know
- Veteran care is not affected. Health care services at DaVita facilities are continuing without interruption.
- All DaVita patients will receive a letter explaining the situation and announcing at least 12 months of free identity monitoring services from Experian Identity Works beginning approximately July 31, 2025. To enroll, follow the instructions in the letter or call 833-931-7489.
Additional fraud protection resources
- VA provides fraud protection tips and a fraud prevention toolkit at Protecting Veterans From Fraud | Veterans Affairs (va.gov). This includes frequently asked questions, information about how to be vigilant about scams and much more.
- The Federal Trade Commission also offers identity theft resources at the Federal Trade Commission website.
Protecting Veterans’ personal health information is—and always will be—one of our top priorities. We will continue to monitor this incident closely and provide updates as they become available.
COPING WITH PTSD: THREE STORIES OF TRIUMPH
Andy Reynolds is an Army Veteran who found himself struggling with anger and other PTSD side effects as a civilian. In the Army, he worked as a Buffalo Commander whose mission was to find IEDs.
“We were fortunate enough as a battalion that everybody made it home, but nobody was the same after that deployment. I mean we got our butts kicked. I was hit by an IED while I was over there, and I had a concussion from it.”
Migraines, anger fits, and gastrointestinal issues were just some of the symptoms he faced after returning from his second Deployment.
“Every time we’d go out and it was crowded, I’d wind up trying to fight somebody. It wasn’t good.”
Andy’s wife got him help at the VA, he found a therapist, and he got involved with Project Odyssey, a retreat offered by the Wounded Warrior Project where Andy took home valuable lessons on how to deal with PTSD. During a goal-setting session, he decided he would rewrite his business plan to start a brewery – a passion he found while Deployed.
“I kind of started home brewing in Iraq as bad as that sounds. It was just making hard cider, my buddy’s wife sent us some cider yeast and we started fermenting apple juice, and that turned into a love of brewing for me. I got home, became a homebrewer, and really got into it. It was one of the few things that I found that distracted me from my demons, but it was something I couldn’t do all the time because I had a regular job at that point. My goal was to start a brewery, but the money we had set aside for it, unfortunately, all went to healthcare bills because I wasn’t service-connected. I didn’t know anything about how to work with the VA at that point because it was never properly explained to me. So I lost a lot of my money. But, through the Wounded Warrior Project, I learned about the VOC Rehab program, it’s a chapter of the GI Bill now. Basically, if you’re service-connected disabled over 20% they pay for any kind of school you want to go to. There is some counseling that goes along with it prior to you leaving things you kind of have to do to try to figure out where you should really be going to school. So I connected there and I went to Siebel Institute of Technology, which is the oldest and probably the most renowned brewing school in the United States. It’s in Chicago. And you know, I learned how to become a professional brewer because of the VA.”
Alexandria Brewing Company is in Alexandria, Kentucky, and has won multiple awards for its beer. They are also a 2024 Hops for Heroes brewery! Here’s the Tribute to our Heroes interview we did with Andy if you want to hear his full story.
CLICK ON THE RED BAR TO READ THE OTHER PTSD RECOVERY STORIES.......
Oregon Army National Guard Flight Medics Help Design
the Future of MEDEVAC Technology
By Staff Sgt. Emily Simonson
SALEM, Ore. – Oregon Army National Guard flight medics are contributing critical field data to the Army’s development of the MV-75 MEDEVAC cabin, evaluating the 20-foot Future Medical Evacuation Cabin Technical Demonstrator to inform the final design of the next-generation Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) patient handling system.
The Army announced the MV-75 as the new FLRAA, replacing the UH-60 Black Hawk as the preferred medevac aircraft. The results of these flight medics’ evaluations will impact the MV-75’s medevac cabin.
The most recent stop on the FMC-TD’s tour was in Salem, Oregon, where flight medics with the Oregon Army National Guard G Company, 189th Aviation, gave their feedback on the design.
“Due to the Oregon National Guard’s high proficiency and familiarity with medevac missions, it is the only reserve unit participating in this unique opportunity,” said Lt. Col. Nathan Edgecombe, Oregon Army National Guard state aviation officer.
Flight medics are the key to the unit’s success, Edgecombe said. Unlike active component medevac units, Oregon Army National Guard flight medics can supplement their medical knowledge with their civilian careers. Many flight medics in the Oregon Army National Guard practice medicine in their civilian lives, serving as firefighters, paramedics and nurses in their communities. This diversified knowledge gives Oregon Army National Guard flight medics a more well-rounded perspective when evaluating the FMC-TD.
“Our crew members are helping to shape the future of the medevac mission,” said Maj. Tim Heater, Oregon Army National Guard medevac commander base operations officer.
The flight medics evaluate the FMC-TD by performing medical interventions on mannequins, testing the cabin’s design. An operator team monitors the scenarios and surveys the medics about their experiences throughout the Special User Evaluation.
With 30% more cabin space compared to a Black Hawk, the Special User Evaluation collects data on things like ease of patient loading, litter configuration and equipment organization. It also tests new technologies, such as a modular rail system and the use of articulated litter pans that allow medics to pull patients away from the cabin walls for easier access.
SOME OF THESE STORIES MIGHT CATCH YOUR ATTENTION...
Why troops secretly relate to SpongeBob’s ‘I’m a Goofy Goober’ spiral
Lessons from the Air Force Kitchen Police: Volunteer for Everything. Even Pots and Pans
Observation Post by Clay Beyersdorfer
It happens about 80 minutes into “The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.” SpongeBob, denied a promotion and humiliated in front of his co-workers, wanders into the Goofy Goober Ice Cream Party Boat. He proceeds to spiral.After a binge of sundaes and shame, he stumbles on stage, belting out a shredded guitar solo rendition of “I’m a Goofy Goober (Rock!)” in front of a confused crowd. There’s glitter. There’s foam. There’s full-throttle emotional release.
And if you’ve spent any amount of time in uniform, you’ve likely seen that clip — or at least a meme of it — shared with eerie sincerity. Maybe you laughed. Perhaps you rolled your eyes. But maybe, just maybe, it hit a little too close to home.
For all its absurdity, SpongeBob’s “Goofy Goober” breakdown has become an unlikely touchstone in military circles, particularly among those who know what it feels like to carry more than they’re allowed to say.
It’s the screaming catharsis that never happens in a formation. The ridiculous meltdown captures the quiet, internal ones that don’t make it into war movies. Every service member who’s ever needed to cry and didn’t, who’s ever felt out of place in their own civilian life and who’s ever tried to joke their way through pain that had no good language. SpongeBob just says it louder.
Military culture breeds stoicism. You learn quickly not to complain, hesitate or show weakness. And when the mission ends and the uniform comes off, all that armor doesn’t just evaporate. It calcifies. You carry it home, to your relationships, jobs and silence.
SpongeBob, in contrast, is absurdly open. He is the emotional inverse of everything military training drills into you. He’s hopeful. He’s naive. He wears his feelings on his sleeves — and when those sleeves get dirty, he cries about it in a room full of strangers.
And that’s the point. Strangely, that scene feels honest. Honest about what it feels like when you’ve been holding it together for too long. Honest about what happens when the ridiculousness finally outweighs the rules. SpongeBob’s meltdown is a stand-in for the veteran who doesn’t drink to party, but to forget. It’s the laugh-before-you-snap moment familiar to anyone who’s ever been “fine” until they weren’t.
The song “I’m a Goofy Goober” isn’t just silly. It’s defiant. When SpongeBob shouts, “I’m a kid, you say? When you say I’m a kid, I say: Say it again!” he’s rejecting the labels people assign to him. He’s rejecting the structure. He’s saying, “I’m still me, even if I don’t fit what you think I should be.”
That hits hard when you’ve gone from commanding missions to being told to use the kiosk at the DMV. When you’ve gone from decision-making in high-pressure scenarios to being passed over for jobs because “you don’t have corporate experience.” When you’ve buried friends, you get asked to “tone it down” in staff meetings.
It’s easy to laugh at SpongeBob’s dramatics. But a lot of veterans would tell you it’s the closest thing to what their emotional breakdown might look like — if they ever let themselves have one.
Lessons from the Air Force Kitchen Police: Volunteer for Everything. Even Pots and Pans
Lessons from the Air Force Kitchen Police: Volunteer for Everything. Even Pots and Pans
by Ed Meagher - The War Horse
When I reported to Air Force basic training on June 15, 1966, I was a 19-year-old college dropout. Despite two years of college ROTC, I really had no idea what to expect.
The first few days at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, consisted of brutal heat, a blur of shouted commands never executed correctly, endless marching from one place to another, screamed instructions to get organized, get in line, get in formation, move faster, fill out this form, listen to this lecture, eat quicker, sleep faster.
And do it all again.
At the end of one very long day, just before lights out, we were formed up, yet again, and told that the following morning at four we would start a week of KP, kitchen police, mess duty. After being roused at 3:45 a.m. and marched quietly across a dark, hot, silent base to the rear of the chow hall, our cadre turned us over to a mess sergeant and departed.
We were told to be at ease, perhaps for the first time, and it came as a bit of a shock. We could relax in place and even talk if we wanted. It was literally the first unsupervised, unstructured period since we had arrived.
I had noticed the recruit next to me several times during the previous several days. He was a slick-sleeve like the rest of us, but that is where the resemblance to any of us stopped. His uniform was a slightly different, lighter shade of green than the rest of ours. His hair was just a bit longer than the rest of our bald heads. He knew how to march, how to organize his locker, and how to make his bed perfectly. He always seemed to know what was going to happen next and was completely prepared for it.
The strangest thing though was how the instructor cadre treated him. They never screamed at him and never seemed to need to correct him. At one point, I even saw him have a brief conversation with one of the drill instructors.
I was curious, so I asked him. He told me to mind my own business.
We were called back to attention and marched into the kitchen area where we were given a lecture about the rules for KP duty, everything from hygiene to safety. Then we were told that we would be assigned to various duties and what they entailed. We were once again put at ease, and my slightly different recruit must have felt bad about telling me to mind my own business. He told me his name was Greg. I introduced myself as Ed. And just then we were called back to attention by a mess sergeant with a clipboard.
That time the US military burned down one of its own bases with a ‘bat bomb’
WILD BATS WITH NAPALM,
WHAT COULD GO WRONG????
by Joshua Skovlund, Task & Purpose
Bats use echolocation to find food and places to rest. Add in an incendiary device glued to their chest, and you now have a firestorm that can wreak havoc on any enemy. Or so Pennsylvania dental surgeon Dr. Lytle S. Adams thought during World War II.
The problem is that you don’t know where they will go once released. Add to it that it’s generally a bad idea to mix explosives, adhesives, and wildlife.
On Dec. 7, 1941, Adams made a fateful trip to the Carlsbad Caverns National Parkduring a vacation to New Mexico. He was awed by the hundreds of thousands of bats that nested in the caves.
The bats were still on his mind later in day as he drove away when news came across the car’s radio of the attack on Pearl Harbor. According to the National Institute of Health, he was “outraged over this travesty, [Adams] began to mentally construct a plan for U.S. retaliation.
The idea Adams came up with — a ‘bat bomb,’ with 1,000 bats carrying napalm into a city full of wooden buildings — led to one of the U.S.’s most bizarre weapons development programs of all time, one that Adams believed could bring about a quick end of the war but did little more than burn down a flight training base in the U.S.
Adams knew that buildings in Japanese cities were predominantly built of wood. His idea was to develop an empty bomb case that, rather than hold explosives, would hold 1,040 bats toting napalm-like incendiary gel with timed fuses. Dropped over Tokyo, the bats would create a hellish cyclone with incendiary devices throughout Tokyo, hopefully bringing about an end to World War II
Adams put his idea in a letter to the White House, where he had professional contacts who got the letter to President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was interested, if cautious, telling staffers, “This man is not a nut. It sounds like a perfectly wild idea but is worth looking into,” according to author Jack Couffer’s book, “Bat Bomb: World War II’s Other Secret Weapon.”
Couffer was a young filmmaker who had grown up studying bats and other birds as a teenager. He would go on to a career making dozens of nature documentaries, but he was drafted into the Army early in World War II and assigned to the bat bomb project and witnessed much of its three-year development.
The development and testing, dubbed Project X-Ray, was based in New Mexico. The program developed a metal bomb casing with three horizontal layers, similar to upside-down ice cube trays, where bats would nest. To keep them docile — or as docile as a bat strapped with a bomb can be — they would be placed in an artificial cold-induced hibernation. The “bat bomb” was designed to be released from high altitudes just before dawn, when bats naturally seek out a place to sleep during the daylight hours.
Tips to achieve the ultimate dirty Navy-style coffee mug
Sarah Sicard MilitaryTimes
The Navy may have the most complicated rank structure when it comes to its ratings system, but there is another, much more uncouth method for establishing hierarchy among sailors: Filthy coffee mugs.
It is a commonly-held truth in the seafaring service that one can tell a higher-up from a newbie based on the amount of sludge that lives in the bottom of one’s coffee cup.
So, in the interest of salt, here are some professional tips, from Navy veterans, to get an optimally seasoned mug.
1. Always drink black coffee. Milk or creamer curdles and introduces bacteria into the mix. Sour lactose creates a hostile environment — not ideal for going years without washing your mug.
2. Drink the whole cup of coffee. Don’t leave even a drop behind. You want to season the mug with a faint film, not swigging day-old coffee every morning.
3. For extra flavoring, take the leftover coffee grounds from the filter and let them rest in the cup for a few days before dumping it out. Treat your mug like a cast iron skillet.
4. If you need to, rinse it lightly with just a little water. This is only to be done in cases where the buildup is starting to become untenable.
5. Don’t wash the mug with the soap. Ever. You might be tempted every now and again to give it a good soak. Don’t. You will lose all the flavoring, respect from your near-peers and any chance at an honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy.
VA's updated list of Agent Orange sites outside of Vietnam
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released in January an updated Department of Defense (DOD) list of locations outside of Vietnam where tactical herbicides were used, tested or stored by the United States military.
“This update was necessary to improve accuracy and communication of information,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “VA depends on DOD to provide information regarding in-service environmental exposure for disability claims based on exposure to herbicides outside of Vietnam."
DOD conducted a thorough review of research, reports and government publications in response to a November 2018 Government Accountability Office report.
“DOD will continue to be responsive to the needs of our interagency partners in all matters related to taking care of both current and former service members,” said Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper. “The updated list includes Agents Orange, Pink, Green, Purple, Blue and White and other chemicals and will be updated as verifiable information becomes available.”
Veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides during service may be eligible for a variety of VA benefits, including an Agent Orange Registry health exam, health care and disability compensation for diseases associated with exposure. Their dependents and survivors also may be eligible for benefits.
How a WW2 banana shortage changed the course of Twinkie history
by Sarah Sicard, Observation Post
Is there anything sweeter — literally or figuratively — than biting into the plastic-wrapped chemical compound of luxuriously spongey cake with vanilla cream that is a Twinkie?
Perhaps not. But the original Hostess delicacy was once something else entirely. The preservative-filled dessert that many once believed could withstand nuclear war got its start as a banana cream shortcake, until World War II changed everything.
In 1930, a baker named James Dewar began experimenting while serving as manager of Continental Baking Company’s Chicago area plant in River Forest, according to the Chicago Tribune. He wanted to prove that shortbread could serve a purpose outside strawberry shortcake.
“The economy was getting tight, and the company needed to come out with another low-priced item,” he told the paper. “We were already selling these little finger cakes during the strawberry season for shortcake, but the pans we baked them in sat idle except for that six-week season.”
While in St. Louis on a work trip, Dewar saw a billboard for “Twinkle Toe Shoes,” and thus found the name for his compact confections.
Why food insecurity is a challenge for troops & families
The challenges result in a disproportionate rate of food insecurity
By - Shannon Razsadin and Dave
Flitman - MilitaryTimes.com
Our national defense is strong because of the incredible men and women who raise their hands to serve and the people who love and follow them throughout their service. Military service comes with incredible opportunity and sacrifice. Our all-volunteer force has been preserved by generations of military families who believe in a cause bigger than themselves and a bright future for themselves, their family and our nation.
While many thrive in service, we must grapple with the reality that too many military families, particularly junior and middle enlisted families, are experiencing food insecurity, defined as the inability to consistently afford or access adequate meals.
According to Military Family Advisory Network’s latest research, one in four (27.7%) active duty military families are food insecure compared to 13.5% of U.S. households. MFAN’s findings are consistent with the Defense Department’s own research, which found that 24% of service members experienced food insecurity in 2022.
While the military is a microcosm of the broader population, the unique challenges and lived experiences of service members result in disproportionate rates of food insecurity. The nuances and complexities of military life, including the consequences of financial hardship, lead many to skip meals or choose less nutritious options.
How is it that those who put country before self experience food insecurity at more than twice the rate of civilians? The answer may be traced to the unique demands of military life, most notably frequent moves.
Military families move every two to three years on average. During a permanent change of station, families undergo a complete reset. Many military spouses are forced to leave their jobs and find new employment opportunities. Families must also pay first- and last-month’s rent to secure their next home and stock up on household essentials while also navigating new doctors, schools, child care and community — all without the support of an extended network.
Simply put, this reset is taxing on both pocketbooks and overall well-being.
Policy efforts to address food insecurity in the military are underway, pointing to a significant step in reducing the stigma surrounding this issue.
The Defense Department’s Taking Care of Our People initiative seeks to strengthen economic security for service members and their loved ones. The basic needs allowance, a monthly payment for military families whose household income falls below 150% of federal poverty guidelines, has been rolled out force-wide.
Some Stories that Inspire, and have 'Positive Energy'
U.S. military’s longest-serving woman 4-star general retires from Air Force
U.S. military’s longest-serving woman 4-star general retires from Air Force
U.S. military’s longest-serving woman 4-star general retires from Air Force
by Patty Nieberg, Task & Purpose
The first woman to lead the U.S. military’s massive logistical enterprise and one of just a handful to ever reach the rank of four-star general in the U.S. military retired Friday. Air Force Gen. Jacqueline Van Ovost passed command of U.S. Transportation Command to Gen. Randall Reed in a ceremony at Scott Air Force Base attended by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
Promoted to General in August of 2020, Van Ovost was the senior officer in that rank among the four women four-star generals and admirals across the U.S. military.
As the head of TRANSCOM, Ovost was responsible for coordinating nearly all movement of U.S. troops, weapons and supplies around the globe. The logistics command dispatches hundreds of military and civilian-owned planes, ships, trains and trucks every day.
“Just a few days ago, we celebrated the 37th birthday of TRANSCOM — a command that was born out of necessity that was built to deploy U.S. forces. Over time, our mandate has expanded to project, maneuver and sustain the joint force at a time and place our nation’s choosing,” Van Ovost said at the change of command ceremony. “If we were a necessity, we are indispensable now.”
At the ceremony, Austin spoke of Van Ovost as a trailblazer for women in the service.
“You’ve always had a message for women in uniform. And that message is: ‘Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do it,’” Austin said. ”Every time that you encountered an obstacle, you kept at it.“
CBS News reported in 2023 that only 10 women have ever reached the four-star rank across the military, including the Coast Guard. Of those, Van Ovost was the fifth woman in the Air Force to reach the rank. However, the military she retired from Friday holds far more opportunities for women than when she joined, an era when women not yet allowed to fly fighter jets, Van Ovost’s lifelong goal.
So she found a workaround.
“You wanted to fly Mach 2. But back then, women weren’t allowed to fly fighters. So once again, you made the path wider,” Austin said. “You became a test pilot. And you flew more than 30 aircraft, including F-15s and F-16s.”
Van Ovost retired with more than 4,200 flight hours in more than 30 aircraft.
100 Marines showed up for an Iwo Jima veteran’s 100th Birthday
U.S. military’s longest-serving woman 4-star general retires from Air Force
U.S. military’s longest-serving woman 4-star general retires from Air Force
by Matt White - Task & Purpose
Eddie Vincek landed on Iwo Jima about an hour after the first wave of Marines hit the beach. A member of 1st Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, it was his first taste of combat, he told an interviewer with his Veterans of Foreign Wars post.
“Working on a dairy farm,” he told the VFW, “I was used to seeing animal blood, but not human blood covering over the ground.”
On Sept. 29, Vincek celebrated his 100th birthday at a Ruritan Club in Chesapeake, Virginia, where he was a farmer for most of his life after leaving the Marine Corps in 1946.
For the party, 100 active-duty Marines showed up to help him celebrate. The Marines came from Training Company, Marine Corps Security Force Regiment, in Yorktown, Virginia, about an hour from Chesapeake.
The Marines stood in formation to sing Happy Birthday for “Corporal Vincek.”
On Feb. 19, 1945, Vincek was assigned to A Company, 1st Battalion, 28th Marine Regiment, 5th Marine Division for the Iwo Jima landing. In fierce fighting, the 28th Regiment was the only Marine unit to reach its objective for the day at the base of Mount Suribachi.
It was also Marines from the 28th Regiment — though not Vincek’s battalion — who first planted a flag on top of the mountain (and a second one the next day), leading to the iconic photograph and design of the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial.
Two men from Vincek’s 1st Battalion were awarded the Medal of Honor at Iwo Jima. Of the battalion’s 22 officers, only two emerged from the battle uninjured.
“I was one of the few that walked off carrying my own gear,” Vincek told the VFW. “So many others had been killed or wounded and weren’t able to carry their own gear off the island.”
We found 4 bottles of whiskey made by airborne paratroopers
U.S. military’s longest-serving woman 4-star general retires from Air Force
The origin of the military’s iconic mantra: ‘Embrace the suck’
Whiskey has likely been around for some of your most memorable late-night shenanigans in the barracks or downtown. If there’s anything America’s airborne paratroopers know, it’s how to fight and how to drink good whiskey.
So we talked to four Airborne-qualified master distillers who took their well-researched opinions and made some of the best whiskeys out there. Although they make good whiskey, remember that you have gone too far if you find yourself in the brig. Drink responsibly.
First, a brief history of whiskey in America
In the aftermath of the Revolutionary War, America was struggling to pay off its war debt (ah, the good ol’ days when America cared about keeping the nation’s debt under control). Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton proposed a tax in the late 1700s on domestic liquor as a means of paying it off — which was met with opposition from whiskey makers in Pennsylvania.
The Whiskey Rebellion that resulted was short-lived, but it was not the last time whiskey would be involved in war. The brown elixir fueled soldiers throughout the Civil War, especially the North, who were paid better and could afford it.
Gen. Ulysses S. Grant slammed Old Crow whiskey, and President Abraham Lincoln allegedly likened the General’s success on the battlefield to his liquor consumption. The New York Herald reported in a Sept. 18, 1863 edition of the newspaper that Lincoln was approached by a group calling for Grant to be removed from his position, claiming he was a drunk.
The tall hat-wearing president allegedly responded with a quirky quip, asking the group if they knew what Grant was drinking.
“If I can only find out, I will send a barrel of this wonderful whiskey to every general in the army,” Lincoln allegedly said. Historians contest the legitimacy of the quote because of the anonymous sources, but the legend lives on to this day.
Whiskey’s relationship with soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen is not a coincidence, in Derek Sisson’s opinion.
The origin of the military’s iconic mantra: ‘Embrace the suck’
The origin of the military’s iconic mantra: ‘Embrace the suck’
The origin of the military’s iconic mantra: ‘Embrace the suck’
by Sarah Sicard, Observation Post
One of the best pieces of advice, for people in careers both in and out of service, is to learn to deal with things or take the bad in stride.
But the military, famed for its ability to turn a phrase or ruin anything with an absurd acronym, came up with its own colloquialism for making the best of any situation: “Embrace the suck.”
Though it’s impossible to trace back the phrase definitively to its first user, it became popularized in 2003 by Marines in Iraq.
Retired U.S. Army Reserve Col. Austin Bay authored a book in the mid-2000s called “Embrace the Suck,” in which he explains the meaning of the phrase.
“The Operation Iraqi Freedom phrase ‘embrace the suck’ is both an implied order and wise advice couched as a vulgar quip,” Bay wrote.
He likens the slang phrase back to legendary military strategist Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz and his views on “friction.”
“Clausewitz went to war when he was 12 years old,” Bay wrote. “Over the last few decades, critics have argued that his treatise ‘On War’ is a bit dated in terms of theory. However, everyone with military experience agrees that Clausewitz understood ‘the suck.’ He called it ‘friction.’”
For Clausewitz, it’s this “friction, or what is so termed here, which makes that which appears easy in war difficult in reality.”
Troops, in their resilience, in effect, mitigate the chasm of difference between training or planning and the often harsh realities they face on the ground. And they do it with aplomb, because they must.
Marines: 0, Samurai sword: 1
The origin of the military’s iconic mantra: ‘Embrace the suck’
Air Force Veteran Finally Graduates 50 Years Later
The U.S. military may be a professional war-fighting organization, but it is also filled with people, and people can be very stupid sometimes. That’s why last week, Task & Purpose put out a call for readers to share the dumbest moments they had in uniform. We were not disappointed.
From drunken samurai sword fights to bored forklift drivers, a clear theme emerged: boredom is one step away from a chewing-out by the nearest platoon sergeant.
The best example of this is a story that one Marine veteran named Mike Betts sent us about the time he and his buddies got drunk on salty dogs (a cocktail of gin or vodka and grapefruit juice) in Vietnam. One of the Marines pulled out “a cheap samurai sword he got in Japan,” Betts recalled. Our reader then took the sword and, as one does while inebriated, “commenced my best samurai impression, slashing at anything and everything in the hooch.”
You can see where this is going: at some point during the demonstration, our brave Samurai smacked something that loosened the blade and sent it flying from the handle, striking the sword owner in the chest “and inflicting a pretty nasty wound.”
Nobody wants to have to explain that kind of trouble to someone in charge, so our reader and his fellows snuck the wounded Marine past the officer and sergeant on duty that night and “hustled him off to the hospital” before anyone could notice. Luckily, he was “stitched up and pronounced fit for duty,” Betts said.
“Needless to say, I felt terrible about hurting him,” he added.
Air Force Veteran Finally Graduates 50 Years Later
The origin of the military’s iconic mantra: ‘Embrace the suck’
Air Force Veteran Finally Graduates 50 Years Later
Vietnam War kept Bob Kroener from walking across stage with USC classmates in 1971.
Having to wait an extra year to participate in his graduation ceremony due to the coronavirus pandemic paled in comparison to the 49 years that had already passed for Bob Kroener, 78, who finally attended his graduate-school commencement on May 17.
The now-retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and civil engineer missed his pomp and circumstance in 1971 due to his deployment during the Vietnam War. So, when he was thumbing through the University of Southern California's alumni magazine a few years ago and saw pictures of that year's graduation festivities he felt it was finally his time to walk across the stage.
"I was sitting there looking at it and I thought, You know, I never got to go through graduation,” he said. “So I picked up the phone, and I called over to the Marshall School of Business."
During the call, USC officials inquired if he had received his diploma and whether he had other information that would help them locate his decades-old records. The school also asked for his student ID number, to which he replied, “I'm too old for that, we only had a Social Security number."
Back to school
The road to Southern California started north of the border. Then a captain in the Air Force after receiving an undergraduate degree from the University of Detroit, Kroener was stationed at a military base in Canada when he learned that he secured one of 26 government-funded spots offered to Air Force officers for graduate school. From a snow-covered mountaintop in Newfoundland he was informed of the schools he could apply to.
"I heard the University of Southern California and I said, ‘I'll take it. I'm going back to sit on the beach after being in 110 inches of snow for a year.’ It wasn't too hard of a decision to make,” said Kroener.
However, it wasn't just the weather that Kroener appreciated about going to school in Los Angeles. He was able to take advantage of the wide variety of corporations that would open doors to students like himself.
"I went to [oil company] Atlantic Richfield to do a paper, I went to Mattel toy company to do a paper, I went to Continental Airlines to basically write a master's thesis, myself and another captain,” he said. “All you had to do was say you're a student doing graduate work at USC. And I mean, they just opened the doors."
Kroener earned his MBA in 1971, but before the graduation ceremony took place he was deployed to Robins Air Force Base in Georgia. As part of his duties, he managed combat engineering teams by setting up their directives and getting them all the equipment needed to prepare for combat in Vietnam. He eventually retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1993.
Our Campus Headquarters, Ontario, Oregon
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We really appreciate your interest too, in 'Who we are and What we do'. If you have any questions or suggestions or would like to 'volunteer' or 'donate', well please contact us with an email or a phone call. Our hours are 9am to 4pm, M/F, so come on in enjoy the conversations and coffee and browse our Museum.
We are a "No Dues' nonprofit organization with the coffee pot always on and lots of conversation always available. Bring your questions regarding any veteran services you are concerned about, and we will do our best to steer you in the right direction.
Our phone is 541-889-1978, and we are located in Ontario, Oregon at 180 W. Idaho Ave.