By: Lindsay Church Service. It’s all I’ve ever known. Before I knew anything about the military or about what it meant to serve my country, I watched my mom embody what it meant to be a military woman. She was strong, she was resilient, she was a force to be […]
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By: Timothy Phillips As a child, I never dreamed I’d go to college. Actually, I did dream of college, quite a bit. Growing up as a young Black male in Pittsburgh under challenging economic, personal, and familial conditions, I was lucky enough to be very cognizant of the world around […]
By: David Keener I wasn’t always the most confident kid growing up in Georgia. Discovering early that I was gay certainly didn’t make life any easier. Most of my childhood was spent hiding. I’m no psychologist but I’m going to bet that it didn’t do any good for my transition […]
By: Venita R. Thomas Recently I was introduced to an audience, and I was asked to share some information about myself. The response starts the same way, every time. “Thank you. I’d like to start with the fact that I’m most proud of – I am a Veteran. I was […]
By: Eric Ballentine I was 17 years old. I stood inside a small room with about twenty others at the Philadelphia Military Entrance Processing Station in Philadelphia as I swore that solemn oath. As far back as I could remember, I always wanted to be in the military. My father […]
By: Trina McDonald In 1987 I made the decision to join the Navy, I was on delayed enlistment for a year and during that time I prepared for the big day to leave which was October of 1988, just a few months after graduation. I had no idea what to […]
FOB Hope: One Vet’s Story of Finding Purpose After Service By: Monique Brown In 1987, I was literally sitting on my bed contemplating the next move I would make in my life. I was about to start my fourth year in a two-year college and I just could not see […]
A Veteran Finds Solace in the Outdoors By: Lornett Vestal Working with Sierra Club… What Veterans Day Means to Me Every year on November 11th, America celebrates a day that honors men and women who currently or used to wear the uniform of the United States Armed Forces. We as a country, […]
The VA is Denying Me Lifesaving Healthcare Because I am a Transgender Veteran By: Nicole Vanderheiden I faithfully served six years in the U.S. Air Force as an Arabic language intelligence analyst. I achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant and deployed to Baghdad in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I […]
“Legally Black” By: Fontaine Wilson I remember my senior year of high school, I had just received my acceptance letter to my #1 college choice. I was beyond excited and couldn’t wait to tell my parents. Then my mother let me know we couldn’t afford it. I was crushed. I […]