Inspirational

Taking Chance is an HBO original film that chronicles the experiences of Lt. Col. Michael Strobl while escorting the remains of fallen Marine Pvt. Chance Phelps to his hometown for burial. The film was HBO’s most watched original in five years and starred Kevin Bacon in the lead role as Mike Strobl. Pvt Phelps’s unit was providing convoy escort duty April 9, 2004 near Ar-Ramadi Iraq. The convoy came under heavy fire. Despite being wounded, Phelps continued to man his [...]

The HER Campaign was founded by Britney Higgs and her husband Sammy in 2016 after Britney returned from filming a documentary in Iraq. The mission of the HER Foundation is to help survivors of human trafficking heal, grow and find purpose. They operate shelter/recovery facilities in Billings, Montana and Denver, Colorado. Britney and Sammy were hired by a Non-Governmental Organization to produce a documentary regarding the victims of human trafficking in war torn regions. They went to Iraq right after [...]

The Fuji Fire is considered by many to be one of the most serious peacetime disasters suffered by our United States Marine Corps.  Among the 54 Marines badly burned, thirteen Marines lost their lives. Yet, many people have never heard of it. Marine Corps Veteran Chas Henry has written a book to try and remedy that situation. It is called “Fuji Fire; Sifting Ashes of a Forgotten U.S. Marine Corps Tragedy”. Chas is a combat decorated Marine Corps Veteran himself [...]

Athletes who have served in our military has always been a fascinating topic for me. Hence, I was extremely excited to read Bill Brown’s book “Wartime Athletes; Stories of Sports Stars Who Joined the US Team.”  Bill had an extensive career as a sports broadcaster including calling games for both the Cincinnati Reds and the Houston Astros. Bill also served in Vietnam as a sports broadcaster for Armed Forces Network Vietnam. They would record contests and then rebroadcast them to [...]

The Van of Valor program is the brainchild of Kevin and Lauren Wallace. Their mission is to travel to all of the lower 48 states and record the stories of at least 100 Purple Heart recipients or Gold Star families. Kevin had served in the Air Force for seven years when the opportunity came up to become a Combat Photographer. On April 3, 2011 Kevin was attached to a team of 12 cavalry scouts tasked with establishing an observation post [...]

Terry “Ranger” Johnson’s path toward fulfilling his dreams was a rocky one. His “comeback” story is one of resiliency, commitment to one’s goals and is full of messages that should inspire every one of us. Terry grew up off of a dirt road five miles outside of a tiny town in east Texas. While Terry is a dedicated patriot, he admits he joined for the money and to get out of that small town. While serving at his first [...]

Coast Guard pilot John Whiddon has been awarded two Distinguished Flying Cross medals. But the enemy he faced was not the Viet Cong or Iraqi air defenses. It was 30 foot seas, 70 knot wind gusts and freezing waters off the coast of Alaska. John was born in England and his father served in the Royal Navy.  Having finished college, he had applied for the US Coast Guard but had not received an answer. So he applied to the Royal [...]

The Gouge is a term derived from the second World War. Many of the World War II Navy crews were inexperienced. The Gouge developed as a culture where sailors shared important knowledge and proactively trained each other in their duties to prepare to emergency situations. The Gouge philosophy guided Vice Admiral Robert Harward through forty years in the Navy and a successful career as an international corporate executive. Much of Hayward’s career was spent with the Navy SEALs.  During his [...]

FREEDOM COFFEE COMPANY Freedom Coffee Company was born out of tragedy. Hope Harrison’s husband Dustin was killed by terrorists while operating an Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance drone for the Department of Defense in Kenya. Hope and Dustin had just started a family and had agreed that this would be Dustin’s the last overseas assignment so he could spend more time with his family. He was killed nine days before being scheduled to come home. Like many Gold Star widows, the [...]

Jeff Nelligan is an Army Veteran that is recognized as one of the foremost commentators in the world of American Parenting. His book “Four Lessons from My Three Sons; How You Can Raise Resilient Kids” spent four months on the Amazon Parenting Best Seller’s List. His works have also been cited in numerous parenting magazines. In addition to his Army Service, he formerly worked for three members of our US Congress and was twice a Presidential appointee. He currently works [...]