When Gen. Burwell Baxter (B.B.) Bell retired from the U.S. Army last year, he was one of only 11 four-star generals in the U.S. Army and the commanding general of U.S. Forces, Korea. Bell’s military career spanned 39 years with service in peace and war in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and at many posts across the United States.
Born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Bell received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Chattanooga and later a master’s degree in systems management from the University of Southern California.
During a military career which encompassed four decades, Bell commanded various infantry, cavalry and armored units in numerous foreign countries. His major command assignments included tenure as the commander of the Army’s Armor Center at Ft. Knox, the III Armored Corps in Texas, NATO’s Allied Land Component in Heidelberg, Germany, and commander of the U.S. Army in Europe and Seventh Army.
From February 2006 until his retirement, he commanded all U.S. Forces in Korea, as well as the U.S. / South Korean Combined Forces Command, which included the South Korean million man military during any wartime contingency. His deployments also included Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm, as well as Operation Joint Endeavor in the Balkans.
As a career Army officer, Bell and his wife, Katie, actually relocated 32 times in 39 years. His experience has provided a unique opportunity to assess other cultures and their impressions of the United States.
“First, foreigners see it (the United States) as a place of freedom and democracy, where everybody can achieve their goals and dreams,” he says. “That is a universal belief about America; we are a revered country in that regard.
“All too frequently, on the other end of the spectrum, is a misunderstanding that we are not respectful of the plight of the rest of the world, that we are excessive consumers,” Bell continues. “So it is kind of a dichotomy. Most people that I have met have enormous respect for America, our way of life, and the opportunities we provide our citizens.”
Bell’s awards include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Army Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit with Four Oak Leaf Clusters, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with One Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Army Commendation Medal with Two Oak Leaf Clusters. Bell has also been awarded the NATO Meritorious Service Medal, the Polish Army Medal (Gold Award), the Spanish Great Cross on Distinguished Military Service, the Knight Commanders Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the Order of National Security Merit, Tongil Medal, Republic of South Korea.
Bell and his wife, Katie (herself a recent double lung transplant patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center) live in Ooltewah. They have one son who lives in Florida.
Rear Adm.
Robert C. Crates
Supply Corps, United States Naval Reserve (Ret.)
After 38 years of service, Rear Adm. Robert C. Crates retired from the U.S. Naval Reserve in April 2000.
Following graduation from the University of North Carolina, Crates served three years of active duty prior to returning to his hometown of Chattanooga to work in the family business, SIMCO (later Crates) Leather Co. Crates was elevated to flag rank in 1992 and Rear Admiral (upper half) in 1996. During his career, he was recalled to active duty four times, including service as deputy commander and chief of staff of the Navy’s Cargo Handling Force during Operations Desert Shield / Desert Storm. During that deployment, he worked closely with fellow Chattanoogan Rear Adm. Vance H. Fry, who commanded the Cargo Handling Force.
As a flag officer, Crates has held numerous logistics billets, including Deputy Commander, Logistics Task Force Atlantic; Commander, Naval Expeditionary Logistics Support Force; Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Fleet Supply and Ordnance, U.S. Pacific Fleet; Commander, Logistics Task Force Pacific; Commander Naval Logistics Forces, Korea; and Assistant Commander for Mobilization, Naval Supply Systems Command.
“Really, the most gratifying experience was the 1990 to1991 period in Desert Shield and Desert Storm,” he recalls. “The Reserve component was called on heavily for expeditionary shore-based logistic support, and it was gratifying to see how the Reserve component worked so well. We essentially had a steel bridge between the East Coast and Saudi Arabia, taking about 95 percent of all cargo movement by ship. That was true then, and it is true now in Iraq and Afghanistan. Only about 5 percent of the cargo is moved by air.”
Also a former member of the Navy Seabees (Construction Battalions), Crates is the current regional and past area president of the Navy League and past president of the Sixth Naval District, Naval Reserve Association, the Tennessee Department of the Reserve Officers Association, and vice president-elect of the Chattanooga Chapter, Military Officer’s Association of America.
Crates’ military decorations include the Legion of Merit with Three Gold Stars, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, and the Seabee Combat Warfare Officer designation.
Crates is active locally in numerous charitable and civic organizations, serving as chairman of the board of the Chattanooga Area Food Bank, a volunteer at the Episcopal Metropolitan Ministry, chairman of the Chattanooga Board of Sign Appeals, past president of the World Trade Council of Chattanooga, past chairman of the East Chattanooga Council of the Chamber of Commerce, past vice president and board member of the Hosanna Community of Chattanooga, and a board member of Chattanooga Area Crime Stoppers. In 2004, he received a McCallie School Alumni Achievement Award.
The father of two sons, Crates was married to the late Dr. Gladys Crates for more than 46 years. He lives in Chattanooga.
Col. Billy G. Edens
United States Air Force (Ret.)
U.S. Air Force Col. Billy G. Edens’ military career spans more than 30 years of service as a fighter pilot in combat assignments that included three major wars - World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War – as well as other minor confrontations.
Within weeks of joining the 62nd Fighter Squadron of the famous 56th Fighter Group, known as the “Wolfpack,” Edens became an ace, shooting down seven enemy aircraft between April and June of 1944.
During his military career, Edens flew legendary fighter aircraft, including the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, a propeller-driven plane; the Republic F-84 Thunderjet, a turbojet aircraft; and the jet-powered North American F-100 Super Sabre.
During one memorable mission in the skies above war-torn Korea, Edens found himself alone and confronted by what he thought were North Korean MiG-15 fighters, heavily armed and faster than his own plane. He damaged several of the enemy aircraft before they broke contact.
Years later, he received a letter from members of a Communications Unit stating that the voice of a Soviet pilot had been heard during the dogfight urging his comrades to “get out of there and leave that crazy American alone! He’s already shot three of us down and he’s going to get the rest of you!” The voice of the Soviet pilot confirms that although the Soviet Union did not officially participate in the Korean War, Red Air Force pilots did fly many combat missions against U.S. and United Nations forces. Although Edens was not credited with a single victory, his gun camera film recorded hits on as many as 11 enemy planes.
After flying 153 combat missions during World War II and the Korean War, Edens completed two tours of duty in Vietnam.
“I call myself a survivor after that many years – I had well over 500 combat missions,” recalls Edens. “I have been shot down five times in enemy territory, captured three times, escaped twice, and was a POW for almost a year in Germany.”
Edens’ military decorations include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross with Three Oak Leaf Clusters, Bronze Star, Air Medal with Three Oak Leaf Clusters and Purple Heart with One Oak Leaf Cluster. His military background has been recorded for Timeless Voices of Aviation, a major video history project of the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin (www.timelessvoices.org).
Edens moved to Chattanooga in 1974 and worked as a financial planner and advisor for 30 years. He retired at the age of 80. Today Edens stays busy with family and is active in the Lions Club.
Edens has been married to his wife, Kitty, for 64 years and they have four children.
Vice Adm.
Ronald M. Eytchison
United States Navy (Ret.)
By the time he retired from the U.S. Navy in 1991 following 33 years of active service, Vice Adm. Ronald M. Eytchison was perhaps as familiar with the nuclear deterrent capability of the nation’s strategic forces as any other military officer. Graduating with distinction from the United States Naval Academy in 1958, he served aboard the destroyer USS Leonard F. Mason and nuclear submarines USS Skipjack, USS Sam Houston, USS Abraham Lincoln, and USS Skate, which he commanded for four years. He was an Olmsted Scholar at the University of Sao Paulo and is a graduate of the American University School of International Service.
Eytchison reached flag rank in 1982 and achieved the rank of vice admiral in 1988. Among his command positions were those of Commander Submarine Squadron Six and Commander Submarine Group Eight; NATO Commander Submarines Mediterranean; Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Sixth Fleet; and Commander Area Anti-Submarine Warfare Forces, U.S. Sixth Fleet.
Ashore he served as Head of Submarine Officer Personnel Distribution and Director, Nuclear Power Personnel Programs, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations; Director, Attack Submarine Division and Coordinator Attack Submarine Programs, Office of the Chief of Naval Operation; and as Director, Strategy, Plans and Policy Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations.
“My last duty station was as Director of Strategic Targeting, in which I was responsible for targeting all of the nuclear B-52 bombers, ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles) and submarine ballistic missiles,” Eytchison says. “I was responsible for the three legs of the strategic nuclear triad, for preparing the war plans, assigning the weapons to targets and coordinating the whole thing. It was all for the purposes of deterring the Soviet Union, but if we ever had to use the weapons, to use them effectively.”
Eytchison was also responsible for annually briefing President George H. W. Bush on the comprehensive nuclear targeting plan. “Strategic submarines were designed to deter nuclear war,” he remarks. “They and the other nuclear forces accomplished that. There could very well have been a World War III if it had not been for them – a terrible thing to contemplate, but it is a fact.”
Eytchison’s military decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit with Four Gold Stars, Commendator of the Naval Merit Order of the Republic of Brazil, Meritorious Service Medal with One Gold Star, Navy Commendation Medal with One Gold Star, Joint Service Commendation, Navy Unit Commendation, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Navy “E,” Navy Expeditionary Medal, National Defense Service Medal with One Bronze Star, and Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.
Eytchison is a ruling elder of Signal Mountain Presbyterian Church and serves as president of the Cherokee Area Council, Boy Scouts of America. He is a board member of the Public Schools Bible Study Committee and has served on the personnel and playground committees for the Town of Signal Mountain.
Admiral Eytchison and his wife, Patricia, have three sons and live on Signal Mountain.
Rear Adm.
Vance H. Fry
United States Navy (Ret.)
When he was selected for flag rank in 1987, Rear Adm. Vance H. Fry took command of the Navy’s Cargo Handling Force. Three years later, he was engaged in the deployment of hundreds of thousands of troops and millions of tons of supplies during Operations Desert Shield / Desert Storm. Eight of his command’s 14 Cargo Handling Battalions, the Combat Stevedores, were mobilized during the effort.
“One of the most stressful times of my Naval career was as we deployed all of these reservists in Desert Storm,” Fry remembers. “Young men and women - who a few weeks prior worked in banks, hospitals and factories - were now headed to support the Marine Corps’ amphibious invasion of Kuwait city. The Marines were predicting 30 percent casualties. I went to meet with the family groups in New Orleans and San Francisco. The families did not know the location of their loved ones. I knew… but could only tell the families they were okay and that we were in touch every day.”
Subsequently, Fry was selected to lead the Naval Reserve component during the operation’s victory parade held in Washington, D.C., in May 1991. Rear Adm. Robert Crates, also a Chattanooga resident, served as deputy commander of the Cargo Handling Force and chief of staff to Fry during the same period. Prior to Fry’s departure in 1992, his command had transitioned into the Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Force, encompassing numerous additional logistics units.
A 1960 graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Fry served 35 years, including active and reserve service. His five-year active duty career included a tour on the destroyer USS Maddox and three years as an instructor at the Navy Supply School.
Among Admiral Fry’s individual military decorations are two Legions of Merit, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, and the Armed Forces Reserve Medal.
As a civilian, Fry worked for IBM Corporation and later founded Electronic Computer Programming College in Chattanooga and served as its president. He graduated in 1980 from the University of Tennessee College of Law and has practiced estate planning, probate and real estate, and has provided consulting services for small business owners.
A tireless volunteer, Fry was selected as the Tennessee Bar Association’s “Pro Bono Attorney of the Year” in 2004. He is also active in Christian mission work, having traveled several times to the Ukraine, Philippines, Hungary, Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic and China. He currently serves as chairman of both the Chattanooga Area Crime Stoppers and Volunteers in Medicine, Chattanooga, Inc.
Fry and his wife, Charlynne, live in Harrison.
Col. Nathaniel F. (Frank) Hughes
United States Marine Corps. (Ret.)
“It was a privilege to serve with 120 Marines who went out there and did their job,” states Col. Nathaniel F. (Frank) Hughes of his experience during Operation Desert Storm. “It was something that no one actually wanted to do, but everyone decided to bear down and said, ‘We’re going to get this done.’
“I was in-country for three or four months, and the total time away from home was about six months,” Hughes continues. “We were part of the assault on Kuwait, and the tactic the senior commanders used was like a hammer and anvil. The Marines were the anvil and assaulted and fixed the enemy so they could not move. The Army units were the hammer.”
While serving as executive officer of Chattanooga-based M Battery, attached to the 2nd Marine Division, Hughes and his unit advanced to within five miles of Kuwait City during the liberation of that country. The battery deployed
155 mm self-propelled guns and fired more than 500 rounds in action.
“The way Chattanooga treated its returning Marines, soldiers and sailors made the experience probably one of the most fulfilling experiences in my life,” Hughes says. ”It was a great honor to be part of a group of people who performed so well.”
A Baylor School graduate, Hughes was a running back for the University of Kentucky Wildcats and graduated with a degree in finance in 1980. He was one of three brothers commissioned as second lieutenants in the Marine Corps. Upon graduation, Hughes held numerous posts, eventually rising to command the 4th Battalion, 14th Marines. He retired in 2003 after 23 years of active and reserve service.
Hughes’ military decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Southwest Asia Service Medal, Kuwait Service Medal, Select Reserve Service Medal, Reserve Medal, Service Medal and Overseas Deployment Ribbon.
Hughes, who has a master’s degree in business administration from Vanderbilt University, has enjoyed a successful banking career. He currently serves as president and chief operating officer of Cornerstone Bancshares. He is active locally with the Boy Scouts of America, Allied Arts and the Chattanooga Rotary Club.
Hughes and his wife, D’Arcy, have three children and live on Lookout Mountain.
Col. Roger
Dean Ingvalson
United States Air Force (Ret.)
Few military personnel are forced to endure the harrowing experience of enemy captivity. Col. Roger Dean Ingvalson was held as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for nearly five years, surviving torture, deprivation, and 20 months in solitary confinement. His career in the U.S. Air Force spanned 26 years as a fighter pilot and in various command roles. He retired in 1976.
Ingvalson was shot down over North Vietnam during his 87th combat mission while flying a Republic F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bomber on May 28, 1968.
“I was on a strafing mission firing a 20 mm Gatling gun at a convoy of trucks and was most likely hit by anti-aircraft fire,” he recalls of that harrowing day. “I was flying very low - probably about 40 or 50 feet off the ground - and traveling about 550 knots. I flew over the target and, while in the process of holding down the trigger, felt an explosion. I tried to pull up and get some altitude, but then the aircraft really blew.
“It was instinctive to reach for the ejection seat handle,” he continues. “You pull that thing and it shoots you out of the plane and the seat goes with you. I should have been killed or badly injured at that speed, but I floated down unconscious until just before I hit the ground.”
Almost immediately, soldiers, guerrillas, women and children – most of them armed – were surrounding the dazed Ingvalson, whose Christian faith sustained him as a prisoner of war.
During his time in captivity, his wife, Jacqueline, succumbed to complications from multiple sclerosis. He thought often of his son Craig, in the care of an aunt and uncle, who was only 8 years old when he lost his mother.
A strong Christian, Ingvalson wondered why the Lord sustained and protected him during such a difficult period. “I thought He must have had a plan for me,” he says, “and I kept thinking and praying about that. When I had been home a while, a good friend told me that a prison ministry was needed here and asked me to pray about starting and directing that. I said, ‘Wow! That was the plan.’ ” Ingvalson founded Chattanooga Prison Ministries and was active with the organization for 15 years.
Ingvalson’s military decorations include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross with Two Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Medal with Six Oak Leaf Clusters, and the POW Medal.
Ingvalson and his wife, Booncy, have four sons and live in Chattanooga.
Brig. Gen. Carl E. Levi
United States Army (Ret.)
Thirty-five years after entering the U.S. Army as a recruit, Brig. Gen. Carl Levi, whose civilian occupation has been that of Chattanooga City Treasurer and Hamilton County Trustee since 1978, retired from the Tennessee Army National Guard.
During his years of military service, Levi participated in the Field Artillery Basic and Advanced School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma; the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas; the U.S. Armed Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia; Industrial College of the Armed Forces at Fort Leslie McNair, Washington, D.C.; the Inspector General’s School at the Pentagon; and the NATO Defense School in Rome, Italy.
“The Army made me grow up – in a hurry,” Levi remembers. “I got drafted, and then after I came back to Chattanooga and graduated from the University of Chattanooga, I went back in the Army as a second lieutenant. Then I joined the National Guard and went to work for the City of Chattanooga.
“My best assignment was as commander of the 196th Field Artillery Brigade,” says Levi, “and the most rewarding thing was when they named the drill hall at the National Guard Armory in Chattanooga after me when I retired in 1987.”
Levi’s military decorations include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and the Army Commendation Medal.
Levi was recently recognized by trustees across the state of Tennessee as “Trustee of the Year.” He is currently the president of the Tennessee County Trustees Association and commander of American Legion Post 14. He is a Mason and past state commander and national executive committeeman of the American Legion.
Levi is also active with local Armed Forces Day activities and chaired this year’s luncheon, noting proudly that he believes no other city has continually observed Armed Forces Day as long as Chattanooga.
Levi and his late wife, Peggy, have one daughter. Levi lives in Chattanooga.
Rear Adm.
Noah H. Long Jr.
United States Navy (Ret.)
Rising to a high level of responsibility in both military and civilian life, Rear Adm. Noah H. Long Jr. retired from the architectural and engineering firm of Rosser International Inc. in 2006, having served as president and CEO. He also completed 31 years of service with the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Naval Reserve, five of those on active duty.
Long served in a Naval Construction Battalion during the Vietnam War and retired from the service in 1996 after serving as Commander of the Second Naval Construction Brigade and achieving the rank of rear admiral in the U.S. Navy Civil Engineer Corps. During both his military and civilian careers, he has supervised numerous major construction and development projects.
“For me, a couple of things that stand out in my military career were during my command of a Reserve Naval Construction Battalion for two years,” Long recalls. “We won ‘Best of Type’ that second year. That meant we were the best Construction Battalion in the Navy.
“Another highlight was at the change of command when I was commander of a Construction Support Unit,” he continues. “All the junior enlisted men chipped in a quarter apiece, bought a plaque, and presented it to me with the inscription, ‘Best Damned CO in the Seabees.’ ”
Long’s military decorations include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal with One Gold Star, the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat “V” and Two Gold Stars, and the Combat Action Ribbon.
Long currently serves as chairman-elect of the Chattanooga Area Veterans Council, first vice president of the Navy League, chairman of the Tree Board for the Town of Signal Mountain, and chairman of the Seabee Memorial Scholarship Association.
Long and his wife, Marilyn, have two adult sons and reside on Signal Mountain.
Maj. Gen. William
B. Raines Jr.
United States Army (Ret.)
A native of Chattanooga and alumnus of Red Bank High School, Maj. Gen. William B. Raines Jr. is a 1968 graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. Upon his retirement on April 15, 2000, his military career spanned nearly 32 years on active duty and in the Army Reserves.
In addition to combat experience in Vietnam, Raines commanded the 3397th U.S. Army Reserve Garrison at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, which facilitated the deployment of over 8,000 soldiers to Saudi Arabia during Operations Desert Shield / Storm. His last assignment was with the Joint Forces Command, interacting with U.S. and NATO officers.
Raines recalls vividly his experience in Vietnam, particularly spending his first night there at a small U.S. fire base at Xuan Loc. The base came under fire from Viet Cong mortars and the young captain, who was unarmed and without a flak jacket, was told to seek cover under his bunk. “I thought to myself that this was certainly going to be a long year if every night was like that one,” he recalls.
Later, Raines commanded an Artillery Battery at Dong Ha near the Demilitarized Zone, and the experience of leading other men in a combat situation has stayed with him through the years. “There were many nights that we came under attack by rockets and mortars and I had to make sure that everybody was in their place and doing what they were supposed to do,” he says. “You pray that God gives you the strength to show the character needed to command other men.”
As a commercial real estate professional since 1973, Raines formed The Raines Group Inc. in 1984 with former U.S. Ambassador to France, Joe M. Rodgers. He purchased the company in full in 1988 and has since provided professional real estate services to more than 10 million square feet of commercial property in six states. In 2001, Raines founded Commercial Network Magazine, which is published monthly and received by a readership of more than 75,000. He continues to serve as the magazine’s publisher.
Raines’ military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal with One Oak Leaf Cluster, Meritorious Service Medal with Four Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal with One Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Achievement Medal, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal with Three Oak Leaf Clusters, National Defense Service Medal with Service Star, and the Parachutist Badge.
Raines has been active in numerous local civic and charitable organizations, including the Chattanooga Association of Realtors, United Way of Greater Chattanooga and Rotary International.
Raines and his wife, Dr. Jerrie J. Raines, D.D.S., have five children and live in Chattanooga.
Lt. Gen. Thurman
D. (Don) Rodgers
United States Army (Ret.)
“First, I will tell you that it was a real honor to serve our country and to serve with such great people,” says Lt. Gen. Don Rodgers about his 36 years of military service with the U.S. Army. “I am really biased about the military. They are the finest young men and women I have ever had the chance to work with, and I am convinced that the soldier, sailor, airman or marine can do anything asked of them. They never disappointed me one time. It was amazing to serve with such men and women.”
A native of Cookeville, Tennessee, and a graduate of Tennessee Technological University, Rodgers rose to general rank in 1981, received his second star in 1983, and was appointed to lieutenant general in 1986. His career included duties as commander of Fort Huachuca, Arizona, and Global Information Systems Command. He was responsible for the world’s largest military communications and automation organization of its kind, as well as for 50,000 military personnel.
In 1990, Rodgers assumed the duties of director of the Defense Communications Agency and manager of the National Communications System. In that role, he assisted the president of the United States in the planning and provisioning of national security and emergency preparedness telecommunications for the federal government.
“I had many years overseas: a year in Korea, two in Vietnam, four in Italy and five in Germany,” says Rodgers. “In Vietnam, I was attached to the III Marine Amphibious Force during my last year. We had sites all over the region and had to provide our own security, and there was never a dull moment.
“After serving overseas in several places, I will tell you that we have the most unbelievable military in the world,” Rodgers explains. “It is superior to anything else I came in contact with anywhere. The British, French and Germans are good, but nothing like us.”
Rodgers’ military decorations include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Defense Distinguished Service Medal, French Order of National Merit, several awards from Vietnam, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Identification Badge, Army General Staff Identification Badge, Ranger Tab and Parachutist Badge.
Rodgers and his wife, Dr. June Scobee Rodgers, are both members of the board of directors of Guideposts magazine. Rodgers also serves on the board of the Tennessee Tech Foundation and has contributed many years of service to Chattanooga Neighborhood Enterprise.
While these individuals have each shouldered great responsibility as high-ranking military officers, they are all quick to recognize the men and women who have bravely given their lives for our country and those who are currently serving in the military today. Each of these men served their country with distinction and valor and each has made a tremendous contribution to our national security and to the defense of freedom around the world. They are patriots and military heroes at home in Chattanooga.
For more information about our country’s military veterans, be sure to check out the Veterans History Project through the Library of Congress at www.loc.gov/vets.