We honor all those away from their families this holiday season with a replay of our 2016 conversation with Colonel Douglas Dillard. Doug joined the Army at the age of 16 and held every rank from private to Colonel. He spent many holidays away from his family – including his first at the Battle of the Bulge. For his service in three wars, Doug was inducted into the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame.
He succumbed to pancreatic cancer on September 9th, 2017 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery next to his wife of 63 year Virginia.
John Gilstrap was bored with his “day job” writing for trade journals so he decided to become a volunteer firefighter. Over the course of the next fifteen years he became an expert on explosives safety and hazardous waste. He never stopped writing and is now a New York Times bestselling author of action novels.
Christopher Paul Meyer’s off Broadway play has a successful opening weekend. The following Tuesday the 9/11 attacks took place and his life took a different direction, including proving Special Operations Support as a member of the US Army.
Twenty years later he has returned to the arts, founding the Veterans Repertory Theater to bring Veterans and First Responders into theater.