I don’t normally write war stories about myself, but since this is “Black History Month” I thought it was appropriate to talk about my first time away from home in the integrated U.S. Army. This story was first published in the Charlotte Sun daily newspaper on Feb. 23, 2004.
The 34-year-old reserve sergeant is a member of Headquarters Company, 800th MP Brigade. This is the outfit that took part in the infamous Abu Ghraib Prison debacle.
For more than three decades Col. Jeff Ponkratz of Punta Gorda Isles, Fla. served as an Army Reservist in the 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion based in Green Bay, Wis. His job in the military was one of rebuilding and preserving what was left of the half dozen war-torn countries he served in during the U.S.’s…
Like millions of other young men before and after him, Howard Mack joined the Navy right out of high school. It was 1954, he was 18, and the Korean war had been over for a year.
Before he completed his 30-plus years in the Army, Bob Dickinson was a an artillery officer, a fixed-wing airplane pilot, a helicopter pilot, a military intelligence officer, a transportation officer and a colonel serving as an assistant commander of the New Jersey National Guard’s 50th Armored Division.
Cupid is getting a little extra help these days from the U.S. Army and the winds of war.
Charles Brox Jr. of Punta Gorda, Fla. was a “Citizen-Soldier” in the U.S. Army Reserves for almost 30 years. He retired a full colonel and commander of the 1209th Garrison Command, headquartered in New York State.
War Tales 