Silke Martin, the administrative officer for Logistics Readiness Center Rheinland-Pfalz, has served with the U.S. Army as a German local national employee for nearly 38 years. After much personal deliberation, she has made the decision not to return to work but that hasn’t stopped her coworkers and her supervisors from making it very clear what a special person she is to them. “Every organization has a superstar,” said LRC Rheinland-Pfalz Director Gregory Terry. “For us that is Silke Martin.” (Photo Credit: U.S. Army courtesy photo)
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KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – Every organization has a hero or a superstar. For Logistics Readiness Center Rheinland-Pfalz, Silke Martin is both.
Silke Martin has served with the U.S. Army as a German local national employee for nearly 38 years. After much personal deliberation, she has made the decision not to return to work but that hasn’t stopped her coworkers and her supervisors from making it very clear what a special person she is to them.
“Every organization has a superstar,” said LRC Rheinland-Pfalz Director Gregory Terry, “a person who knows all the history and background of every issue the organization has ever encountered. For us that is Silke Martin.”
“She is a real life everyday hero for this LRC,” echoed Wade Orr, LRC Rheinland-Pfalz chief of supplies and services. “Silke is a pillar of knowledge – both historically and professionally. She has been a longstanding member of this LRC family and acts as its matriarch.”
The list of what Silke Martin has accomplished while working at LRC Rheinland-Pfalz is too long to capture. Just as an example, as the administrative officer she has processed thousands of personnel and budgetary actions. She has made countless Government Purchase Card transactions and completed hundreds of financial accounting reports. She has successfully validated multiple Installation Status Reporting – Services for yearend closeout, she has ensured every employee received the proper support and services, and she has tracked and submitted personnel actions for recruitments, promotions, reassignments, resignations, awards and bonuses at LRC Rheinland-Pfalz.
On her own initiative, she performed position description audits on all the positions at LRC Rheinland-Pfalz to validate required updates in accordance with U.S. Army Sustainment Command guidance. She continuously advised the director and the division chiefs on financial strategies, and she managed all of the administrative programs and support services, such as records management, time and attendance and scheduling.
“I have to say that Ms. Martin is by far the most knowledgeable administrative officer I have ever had the pleasure of working with over the span of my career,” said Tony James, LRC Rheinland-Pfalz chief of plans and operations. “Her depth and understanding of logistics programs and management far exceeds her pay grade. However, she performs her duties with such passion and dedication that any supervisor would be proud to showcase her talents.”
“Without superstars like Ms. Martin, there is no way LRC Rheinland-Pfalz could support a community this size as effectively as we do,” Terry added.
During her free time, it’s all about family, her coworkers said. The life-long resident of Kaiserslautern loves her daughter, Ramona, and her grandchildren, David and Nora, very much.
“For her, I would say family comes first,” said Terry. “Over anything else, that’s what she talked about the most.”
Silke Martin will forever be a part of her extended LRC Rheinland-Pfalz family. The entire team sends their very best wishes to her and her family.
“Most employees can only dream of becoming what Silke Martin is to us,” said James.
“We will miss her here at work every day – dearly,” added Terry.
A display of patriotic quilts at Lincoln County Quilters 2017 Quilts of Gratitude program. Lincoln County Quilters have made over 200 quilts and presented them to combat veterans since 2010. The organization disbanded this week. (LCN file)
Lincoln County Quilters are hanging up their cutting boards and rotary wheels after a dozen years of making patriotic-themed quilts and giving them away to combat veterans. They started their quilting group in 2010 under the Quilts of Valor umbrella, and then switched to Quilts of Gratitude in 2015.
In their 12 years, they made and gave away between 200 and 250 quilts to veterans who saw combat or had boots on the ground in a combat area.
Originally they gave quilts away to just Jefferson veterans, but quickly expanded to all of Lincoln County and beyond.
Founding members of Lincoln County Quilters were Lu Archer, Marge Bailey, Sheila Rancourt, Kathy Alley, Karen Zuchowski, and Sydney Faulkingham.
They held ceremonies for veterans, the first at the Nobleboro Community Center. They quickly outgrew the space and then held ceremonies at the Waldoboro VFW, Wells-Hussey American Legion Post 42 in Damariscotta, and at the Winslow-Holbrook Merrill Post 1 in Rockland.
When COVID-19 hit, it took the wind out of the group’s sails. Not being able to have quilting parties, or ceremonies to honor veterans, was hard on the group. Not being able to present their labors of love to veterans in person was the final straw and led to Lincoln County Quilters disbandment.
In 2021, they mailed quilts to veterans, with the exception of a few that were delivered in person. Receiving quilts were Richard Hays of Jefferson, Todd Musial of Jefferson, Charilyn Benner-Campbell of Jefferson, Creig Mills of Jefferson, Joseph Ames of New Jersey (family ties in Jefferson), Raymond “Butch” Joslyn of Whitefield, Richard Cosra of Augusta, and Howard Wiley of Warren.
“Not doing a decent presentation because we were worried about the elderly getting out in the public,” was the number one reason Rancourt, president of the group, said of getting done.
“We are getting older,” Bailey added.
“We have had a lot of support” over the years, Peggy Jones said.
“I will miss it,” Zuchowski said.
“It was time. We are all getting grandbabies and are making quilts for them,” Rancourt added.
Lincoln County Quilters disbanded on Feb. 11. The group made over 200 quilts and presented to combat veterans since 2010. Pictured are club members Marge Bailey, president Sheila Rancourt, Karen Zuchowski (front right), and Peggy Jones. (Paula Roberts photo)
Rancourt said they are grateful to the Jefferson Fire Department who let them meet in their space. “They supported us for years.”
They received support from the Wells-Hussey American Legion, Sons of the American Legion and the Legion Auxiliary, and from the Rockland Post.
In addition, the quilting group received financial support from many individuals, and gifts of fabric, batting and other materials. Longarm quilters donated their time, thread, and batting.
“They were willing to help us no matter what. They even helped bind” the quilts, Rancourt said.
“We are one of few charitable organizations that did not need money,” Rancourt said of donations they have received.
“We are grateful for all the support we received,” Jones said.
During the two years of COVID, the group used up most of their red, white, and blue material. The balance of funds left in their kitty will be given to House in the Woods, a retreat for veterans, located in Lee.
“It is an awesome organization,” Rancourt said.
Bailey said what she will miss the most about Lincoln County Quilters, is not seeing the people anymore.
Rancourt said she will miss getting together, the laughs, and the personal relationships.
Jones said she will miss meeting the veterans.
“These quilts are going to be heirlooms. They will be passed down through the generations,” she said.
Zuchowski said she will miss the quilt presentations to veterans. “Just the families and veterans and their reactions were priceless.”
One veteran who was a Marine that saw heavy fighting in WWII, held Rancourt’s hand through the whole presentation.
“He was scared. Quite a few veterans could not be there in person, because their memories were so traumatized they could not bear to be in public,” Rancourt said.
The organization’s memorabilia will be given to the Jefferson Historical Society, including Union Fair ribbons, newspaper articles, state awards, and the Spirit of America Award they received from Willow Grange.
“Times have changed,” Zuchowski said of COVID, and the closing of many quilting fabric shops.
Matching fabrics online is “hard,” Rancourt added.
“We want to thank everyone who has supported us throughout the years,” she said.
“We are going to miss it. It is time to let younger people take over. I used to be able to sew all afternoon and half the night, but not anymore,” Rancourt said.
College football viewers took to Twitter last night to mock the appearance of the Space Force flag ahead of the national anthem performance.
The Georgia Bulldogs faced off against Alabama Crimson Tide for the College Football Playoff National Championships on Monday.
However, the appearance of the Space Force flag alongside the other uniformed services of the U.S caused confusion and mockery on social media.
The Space Force was first introduced on December 20, 2019, when the National Defence Authorization Act was signed into law under then-President Donald Trump.
Some football fans questioned why the Space Force was still a service, while others highlighted that they were introduced ahead of the Coast Guard.
While the appearance surprised some fans, the College Football Playoff’s website (CFP) did announce that the Space Flag would be making an appearance.
It said: “In advance of [Natalie] Grant’s performance, the Nation’s Colors will be presented by a Joint Service Color Guard from the Military Department of Indiana’s Ceremonial Unit.
“Including Indian and Kentucky members of the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard.”
Sports blogger Mike Taddow wrote on Twitter: “Lmaoo ayo space force is still a thing? Joe aint fixed that? Joe really aint done sh*t huh.”
lmaooo ayo space force is still a thing? joe ain’t fixed that yet? joe really ain’t done shit huh
He later joked: “And when we gone get a space force flyover? I’m tired of the air force monopolizing that segment. Space force need to fly ET’s ship over the national game.”
Photojournalist Gregory Anderson also wrote: “I can’t believe ‘Space Force’ is still a thing. WTF POTUS.
“Get rid of that idiotic Trumpian leftover.”
Photographer Will Leverett offered a similar sentiment and wrote: “I forgot we had a Space Force. Like in my head it’s a joke from a bad dream.”
I can’t believe “Space Force” is still a thing. Wtf, @POTUS? Get rid of that idiotic Trumpian leftover. #CFPPlayoff
Comedian Chad Daniels also joked that the Space Force was announced ahead of the Coast Guard.
He said: “At the college championship they just announced the different branches of the military and Space Force was before Coast Guard hahaha they just can’t catch a break.”
At the college championship they just announced the different branches of the military and Space Force was before Coast Guard hahaha they just can’t catch a break
Music artist Troy Cartwright joked about the fact the Space Force is in the honor guard at all. He wrote: “So far the highlight of the natty has been them putting the Space Force flag into the honor guard during the national anthem.
So far the highlight of the natty has been them putting the space force flag into the honor guard during the national anthem.
The U.S Space Force also faced mockery from the public when the military branch unveiled its uniform. On January 18, 2020, the United States Space Force tweeted the brown and green camouflaged outfit.
Social media users latched on to the fact the outfit was camouflaged and questioned why it would ever be necessary, and if so, why brown and green colors.
One Twitter user wrote: “Camo in space? WTF? More wasted tax dollars. Great job!”
The Space Force Twitter page replied to this comment and explained that they were “utilizing current Amy/Air Force uniforms, saving costs on designing/producing a new one.
“Members will look like their joint counterparts they’ll be working with, on the ground.”
USSF is utilizing current Army/Air Force uniforms, saving costs of designing/producing a new one.
Members will look like their joint counterparts they’ll be working with, on the ground.
Chief Master Sgt. Roger Towberman (R), Space Force and Command Senior Enlisted Leader and CMSgt Roger Towberman (L), with Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett present US President Donald Trump with the official flag of the United States Space Force in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on May 15, 2020. College Football fans were left stunned after noticing the U.S Space Force flag ahead of the national anthem. Samuel Corum-Pool/Getty Images
The latest Department of the Air Force Military Service Award recipients were named during the 2022 Black Engineer of the Year Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics conference in Washington, D.C., Feb. 18, 2022.
An Airman and a Guardian were each recognized for their tremendous accomplishments and mentorship in STEM career fields over the course of the past year.
The recipients were Col. Jenise M. Carroll, the 75th Air Base Wing commander at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, and Brig. Gen. Devin R. Pepper, the deputy director for the U.S. Space Force’s Strategy, Plans and Policy Directorate.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown, Jr. provided the keynote address during the award ceremony that capped the event. He emphasized the impact STEM has on accomplishing the Air Force mission.
“Education is fundamental to the Air Force,” Brown said. “Never before in our history have we depended more heavily on the application of technology to fly, fight and win. Science and technology is vital to ensure we can deliver airpower – anytime, anywhere. The success of the Air Force depends on our continued innovation and technical excellence.”
During the three-day annual conference, selectees attend career fairs on behalf of Air Force and Space Force recruiting and witness multiple discussion panels. On the last day, the Stars and Stripes Youth Mentoring session and award ceremony take place.
This ceremony offers an opportunity to recognize the contributions of Airmen, Guardians and other Defense Department exemplars who have advocated and mentored in STEM-related fields. Brown paid special honor to Brig. Gen. Charles McGee, Tuskegee Airman and STEM advocate, who died recently.
BEYA’s mission is to ensure the nation’s security and global leadership by increasing the numbers of citizens pursuing STEM-based educational and career paths. The conference is intended to create connections between students, educators and STEM professionals, and honor individuals who have served with distinction, supporting the military’s efforts in mentorship and diversity.
“I’m very proud of Jenise for what she is able to do,” Brown said, congratulating the Air Force Military Service Award winner during the ceremony. “Particularly, being at the 75th Air Base Wing, when you think about the logistics we have there … Jenise is making sure we are able to do the United States Air Force mission of ‘Fly, Fight and Win … airpower – anytime, anywhere.”
Maybe the US Navy made a bad call in retiring the S-3 Viking?
Back in 2016 the U.S. Navy retired:
A) Its only dedicated carrier-based tanker;
B) its last dedicated carrier-based antisubmarine airplane;
C) a carrier-based plane with more than twice the range of its current jets;
D) all of the above.
With a maximum speed of only five hundred miles per hour—many airliners fly faster—the S-3 Viking wasn’t about to be the subject of any movies starring Tom Cruise. However, the long-legged jets proved extremely useful in a very wide variety of roles, whether as an electronic spy, submarine hunter, aerial tanker, cargo plane or even an attack jet. And many of those roles have not been satisfactorily replaced since.
The S-3 Viking was first conceived in 1960s to serve as a next-generation submarine hunter. In the event of a war between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, the U.S. Navy’s most important mission would have been combating the Soviet Union’s large submarine fleet. If the war went nuclear, Soviet ballistic-missile submarines could have wreaked terrible devastation on U.S. cities. And if the conflict remained conventional, then attack submarines would have done their best to sink convoys of American troop ships reinforcing NATO forces in Europe.
During World War II, carrier-based aircraft such as the TBF Avenger torpedo bomber played a major role in sinking Axis submarines. However, the diesel-electric submarines of that era needed to surface frequently to recharge their batteries, exposing themselves to air attack. By the late 1950s, the Soviet Union had begun to deploy its first nuclear submarines, which could remain submerged for weeks, and later months, at a time, and the current S-2 submarine hunters were no adequate for chasing them down.
Lockheed partnered with LTV—which had experience developing the carrier-based A-7 and F-8 jets—in producing a new antisubmarine plane with a sophisticated new design. The resulting twin turbofan jet seated a crew of four in a two-by-two configuration, including a pilot and copilot, a sensor operator and tactical coordinator. The long-legged plane had a range of 2,300 miles and came with an aerial refueling probe that could extend that even further—leading on one occasion to an S-3 flying thirteen hours from a carrier in the Mediterranean to Washington, DC, carrying a captured terrorist hijacker.
The plane’s twin TF-34-400 turbofans—an engine related to that on the A-10 attack plane—were infamous for their peculiar vacuum-cleaner-like whine, leading to the plane’s nickname of “Hoover,” which you can hear for yourself in the video below.
The Viking’s crew had access to a diverse array of sensors, starting with a APS-116 sea-search radar that could switch between a high-resolution mode for detecting submarine periscopes and a long-range mode that could extend up to 150 miles. A meters-long Magnetic Anomaly Detector boom could extend from the tail to scan the water for the metal in submarine hulls. The Viking also carried up to sixty sonar buoys to aid in tracking submarines, an infrared sensor and an ALR-47 ESM sensor that could track electromagnetic emitters. Most impressively, the Viking was one of the first U.S. planes to implement a degree of data fusion between the various sensors.
The Viking’s internal weapons bay and external wing pylons could carry a diverse array of weapons including homing torpedoes, CAPTOR antiship mines, Harpoon antiship missiles, unguided bombs, rocket pods and even nuclear gravity bombs.
The S-3A entered operational service in 1974 with VS-41, and soon each carrier had its own squadron of the antisubmarine planes. Though the U.S. Navy fortunately did not engage in any actual antisubmarine warfare in the subsequent decades, the records of S-3 squadrons suggest they might have proved pretty effective at their job. For example, in 1984 a Viking was the first NATO platform to detect a new class of Russian submarines, and in 1986, S-3s of VS-28 flying from the USS Independence detected submarines from eight different countries while on a cruise in the Mediterranean. Around that time the Navy began upgrading over a hundred Vikings to the S-3B model, which came with new APS-137 synthetic aperture radars with high enough resolution to identify ships by class.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy began assigning additional roles to the S-3 Viking. For example, taking advantage of the type’s large hull, six Vikings were modified into US-3A cargo planes modified to serve as special high-priority Carrier On-Deck Delivery planes, capable of carrying six passengers and up to four thousand pounds of cargo.
The Viking also took on a new role as an electronic spy, particularly with the sixteen modified ES-3 Sea Shadow aircraft that entered service in 1993. These signals-intelligence aircraft were capable of spying on enemy communications and determining the position of hostile transmitters so that friendly forces could target them. The Sea Shadows had a brief but eventful operational career, helping identify targets during the air wars over former Yugoslavia and enforcing the no-fly zone over Iraq before being retired from service in 1998 in favor of a replacement program that never materialized. There were also a half-dozen unique variants of the Viking, including “Aladdin” and “Beartrap” aircraft, engaged in intelligence missions that remain classified to this day.
Meanwhile, one of the Viking’s most important roles was serving as an aerial refueling tanker. After the Navy retired its KA-6 Intruder refueling planes in the mid-nineties, the S-3 remained the only carrier-based tanker plane available until the Navy began introducing air-refueling-capable Super Hornet fighters in 2002. Particularly during the U.S. intervention against the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001, the Viking flew countless refueling sorties to give short-ranged fighters aboard U.S. carriers the reach to participate in the conflict.
The poky S-3 even saw action in the antiship and air-to-ground role, starting with the destruction of an Iraqi Silkworm antiship missile during the 1991 Gulf War using AGM-84 SLAM missiles. Vikings also sank several Iraqi patrol boats and destroyed antiaircraft guns and coastal radars during the conflict. More than a decade later, an S-3 crippled Saddam Hussein’s 350-foot personal yacht Al Mansur in its harbor at Basra using an infrared guided Maverick missile. The boat was, however, subsequently hit by Tomcat fighters.
In fact, the airplane would soon play a pivotal role in the infamous “Mission Accomplished” speech, when an S-3A was filmed to great fanfare landing President George W. Bush aboard the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln on May 1, 2003. Though the carrier was only thirty miles away from shore, well within range of a helicopter delivery, the Viking was chosen for its dramatic appeal.
However, the Navy was intent on phasing the Viking out, skeptical that it was worth the effort to continually upgrade the aircraft’s systems. The last operational Vikings were actually flying out of Al Asad Air Base in Iraq’s Anbar Province in 2008, where they were using LANTIRN infrared targeting and navigation pods to identify ambushes and roadside mines in advance of friendly convoys, proving the type’s versatility until the very end.
The Navy finally retired its last S-3 squadron in January 2009, though three aircraft continued to serve on in the experimental VX-30 unit until 2016. Pilots in the unit remarked the onboard sensors remained so effective that they were detecting “schools of dolphins and patches of seaweed.” The retired airframes now lie in storage in the “Boneyard” facility in Arizona. An inspection revealed the airframes had only flown around ten thousand hours out of a potential twenty-three-thousand-hour service life. The last remaining S-3 in service is an experimental research plane flown by NASA.
This led Lockheed to propose refitting the S-3s to serve as replacements for the reliable C-2 Greyhound cargo plane the Navy was retiring from the Carrier Onboard Delivery role. However, in 2015 the Navy chose to instead purchase the tilt-rotor CMV-22B Osprey instead. The Osprey has much shorter range than either the Greyhound or the proposed S-3 variant, is slower and more expensive to operate per flight hour, and cannot fly high or in adverse weather conditions due to its unpressurized crew compartment. But using the Osprey does allow the Navy to directly resupply non-carrier-based ships directly, rather than having to land cargo on the carrier by plane and then redistribute to other ships via helicopter.
For several years, it also appeared likely that South Korea might purchase up to thirty-six refurbished S-3s to assist in its efforts to hunt down North Korea’s large submarine force, which includes numerous minisubmarines that have on more than one occasion caused considerable havoc. However, in March 2017 Aviation Weekly reported that Seoul had passed over the Viking and is now interested in the much larger P-8 Poseidon maritime-patrol plane.
The Navy is unlikely to return to the Viking, despite its demonstrated flexibility. This is out of a defensible preference for operating fewer different types of aircraft to maximize efficiency in training, maintenance and spare parts. However, the Viking’s retirements reinforces the Navy’s continued reliance on short-range carrier-based aircraft, which is becoming an increasing liability as more capable shore-based missiles threaten carriers at or beyond the maximum combat radius of their onboard aircraft.
Take, for example, the carrier air wing’s reliance on Super Hornet fighters to serve as air-refueling tankers. While it is to the Super Hornets credit that it can perform this role, it is hardly an optimal use of the flight-hours of a high-performance fighter plane. Furthermore, a Super Hornet tanker cannot carry as much fuel as a dedicated tanker.
In fact, missile-equipped Vikings would have slightly less than twice the combat radius of a Super Hornet equipped with extra fuel tanks. Of course, the Viking is not an airplane that wants to get to close to well-defended airspace, but it might still offer carrier air wings a useful capability for delivering stand-off attacks at much greater range.
Finally, there is the matter of the antisubmarine mission, which has no fixed-wing replacement onboard American carriers. While Navy SH-60 Seahawk helicopters provide antisubmarine protection, they can only operate over fairly short distances at low speeds, suitable for close protection rather than large area patrols. Long-distance patrol duties are now confined to large P-3 and P-8 maritime patrol planes, which operate from bases on land. This means the carriers can only make limited contributions to the antisubmarine mission, even though we live in a time when cheap and effective submarines are proliferating to an unprecedented degree in the Pacific, and submarines have repeatedly succeeded in slipping through defenses to sink carriers in naval exercises.
The Viking provided valuable service to the U.S. Navy by virtue of its very long range and adaptability to a wide variety of roles. It could likely have gone on doing so for many more years if newer, more expensive and more limited alternatives had not displaced it.
Sébastien Roblin holds a master’s degree in conflict resolution from Georgetown University and served as a university instructor for the Peace Corps in China. He has also worked in education, editing and refugee resettlement in France and the United States.
The American Eagle memorial at the Ardennes American Cemetery in Neupré, Belgium. Dedicated in 1960, the cemetery contains 5,329 American war dead and covers 91 acres. (Wikipedia Commons)
(Tribune News Service) — A white marble cross marks the grave of Sgt. Verdun Durant Smith of Orangeburg, S.C., one of more than 5,000 Americans who died in World War II and are interred at a cemetery more than 4,000 miles away.
Smith’s ultimate sacrifice is perpetually commemorated in the Ardennes American Cemetery in Neupré, Belgium. Dedicated in 1960, the cemetery contains 5,329 American war dead and covers 91 acres.
‘It is very heartwarming’
The Netherlands-based Fields of Honor Foundation has for more than a decade had a goal to honor the more than 30,000 American soldiers who have either been buried or listed at the Walls of the Missing at the following American WWII cemeteries in Europe: Ardennes, Epinal, Henri-Chapelle, Lorraine, Luxembourg and Margraten.
The goal of the nonprofit is to honor American World War II servicemen who fought and died for the freedom of others and who have been buried in overseas American cemeteries.
Through a partnership between the South Carolina State Library and the Fields of Honor Foundation, work began to add photographs and other memories to the headstones, including those soldiers from South Carolina such as Smith.
Smith was a sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Force and served in the 340th Bomber Squadron, 97th Bomber Group. He died on Sept. 13, 1944, after his B-17 plane was shot down over Blechhammer, Germany, and crashed during World War II.
Sebastiaan Vonk, chairman of the Fields of Honor Foundation, had collected soldiers’ photos and records in an online database but soon began to put a framed photo of them next to their headstones. That process started in 2014 in the Netherlands American Cemetery in the town of Margraten, when the Faces of Margraten program was started.
“The Fields of Honor Foundation is a group of people primarily from the Netherlands and Belgium, but we also have people from the United States who have volunteered their time to further our mission,” Vonk said.
“Our mission is to put a face to each and every soldier either buried in or memorialized at the six cemeteries that our foundation covers. Our key project is the Field of Honor Database, which now has a memorial page for over 30,000 U.S. WWII soldiers.
“Another project is the Faces of Margraten, a biennial tribute at Netherlands American Cemetery. During this tribute, we put photos of the men and woman buried and memorialized there next to their graves and the Walls of the Missing at the cemetery,” he said.
Hannah Majewski, a reference librarian at the S.C. State Library, was contacted by a gentleman from the Netherlands in 2020 about finding a photo of a South Carolina soldier whose grave his family had volunteered to look after.
“The soldier’s name was James Wise. … Once they got the photo, the Faces of Margraten organization reached out to us and wanted to know if we would be interesting in researching the soldiers who are buried over there from South Carolina and try to put a face with a name over there, and we did,” Majewski said.
It was a project she had a vested interest in.
“My father served in World War II, and he was a prisoner of war in World War II. So, of course, this was very interesting to me at the time. So I took on the project and was able to find several photos of soldiers and send them over to the cemetery, where they are now able to actually put a face with a soldier who was buried over there,” Majewski said.
“I first started with Margraten. So they said, ‘Would you mind doing some of the other cemeteries?’ Of course, I was happy to do. Verdun was one of them,” she said.
“I just happened to reach out and did a little bit of research. The research included, first of all, starting to look at newspapers articles. Sometimes back then they would include a picture of a soldier. They would have an article that this person is deceased or died in battle, and they would put a photo. A lot of time, they didn’t because maybe the family couldn’t afford a photo,” Majewski said.
It is not unusual for graves or names the Memorial Wall at the Ardennes and Henri-Chapelle cemeteries to be adopted and cared for by a family in Belgium, with the family encouraged to attend ceremonies to honor the soldiers and conduct research on them.
While Smith’s grave has not yet been adopted, Majewski said reaching out to his and other families has been “an amazing project to work on.”
“Exhilarating is not really the right word, but it’s very heartwarming. It is very heartwarming to me because I am bringing some kind of closure sometimes to these people, or at least letting them know that what their family member sacrificed is not forgotten,” she said.
“I’m happy to help with other soldiers as well. As matter of fact, I’m also helping research soldiers from both Alabama and Georgia who are buried at the Margraten cemetery. This research is something I enjoy, and it really brings some proud and strong emotions to know I’m helping to provide honor and respect to these soldiers who so willingly sacrificed their lives for not only their county, but for the country of others,” Majewski said.
‘It’s great that they honor them’
Smith and two of his brothers, Emmett and Blake, moved to Orangeburg from the Horry County town of Conway and worked at Jeffords Machine Shop.
Billie Smith married Blake’s son, John J. “BoBo” Smith, and worked with other family members to help Majewski gather photos and other information on Verdun.
“Durant and Mr. Blake both served in WWII. Mr. Blake passed away a number of years ago, but always said on one of the missions, he saw a plane go down. When they got back to base, he was informed that his brother was killed when they were shot down and thought all the rest of his years that he saw his own brother die,” Billie said in an email.
She continued, “We are so gratified by the honor being paid to these servicemen who gave their lives. I hope one day my husband and I will be able to travel there to visit the grave. Some family members traveled there a number of years ago to visit his gravesite and said it was well cared for.”
According to its website, the American Battle Monuments Commission administers and maintains 26 permanent American military cemeteries and 32 federal memorials, monuments and markers which are located in 17 foreign counties, the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the British Dependency of Gilbraltar; four of the memorials are located in the United States.
There are 207,621 U.S. war dead from World War I and World War II commemorated at ABMC sites; this includes 30,793 interments and 4,456 memorializations for World War I and 92,958 interments and 78,985 memorializations for World War II.
Smith had one daughter, Carol Ann Harward. He was the grandfather of three, including Trey Hinson of Davidson, North Carolina.
“My mom still lives in Charlotte in the same house she bought when I was born. Basically, my mom’s stepdad would be the gentleman that raised her. … She never knew her real dad. She basically had given me everything she had on him. I have his Purple Heart. There is some kind of air medal that I’m missing,” Hinson said.
“I have some of the letters that he wrote to my grandmother. I have the flag that was presented to my grandmother and a couple of pictures, but that’s about it. To me, I think it’s great that he served his country,” he said.
“We never really talked a lot about him. My mom only knew what my grandmother had told her, and I really don’t know how much my grandmother told her,” Hinson said, noting that he’s pleased that his grandfather’s remains are being kept sacred in Belgium.
“I think it’s great. I honestly wish that he was here on American soil. Since so many Americans were buried over there, it’s kind of considered American soil. I think that it’s great that he is put somewhere with other people, the people that he passed with. I think it’s great that they honor them,” Hinson said. “My plan one day is to go over there if I can ever slow down at work and COVID can ever slow down.”
Vonk said it is important to honor and remember Smith and other soldiers who have given so much of themselves in service to their country. This is why the Fields of Honor Foundation work continues.
“I think what drives us is that we believe that nobody deserves to be forgotten. Everyone has a story. Everyone played their part during the war. So we try to at least find a photo for every soldier, put a face to their name. Hopefully, we can even reconstruct a part of their life story,” he said.
Vonk continued, “While we primarily do this to honor the soldiers ourselves, it also helps the public both here in Europe and in the United States to connect with them on a very powerful, emotional level. So ultimately, it helps to pass on the stories to others.”
As foundation chairman, he said his work involves much coordination, “but we have over 25 people regularly devoting their time to the foundation.”
“It is probably not a surprise that for most of them, a lot of time is spent on researching — including reaching out to the soldiers’ families — and adding the fruits of that research to the database. It is probably a never-ending process. New information continues to become available now more and more archives are being digitized,” Vonk said.
“Moreover, we are revisiting soldiers we have researched years ago to not only see what new information has been put online since, but also to make another attempt to locate the family if we did not succeed before. Many thousands of soldiers have not even been researched yet by us at all,” he said.
Vonk said the mission is meaningful.
“I think we all feel that we are able to do something meaningful here, not just for the soldiers themselves, but also for the loved ones they left behind,” he said.
An Army contractor accidentally published “pre-decisional” information to the internet about potential changes to the Army Combat Fitness Test as April 1 — the date previously set for record fitness test implementation — draws nearer.
Army spokesperson Col. Cathy Wilkinson said in a statement to Army Times that the mistake happened “in the course of working a refresh to an Army.mil microsite,” emphasizing that the inadvertently leaked plan has “not been approved by the Secretary of the Army” yet.
Sometime during the weekend, the Army’s official ACFT website was updated to remove the leg tuck event and replace it with the plank. The information was posted sometime after Friday morning, according to the Internet Archive, and was removed on Sunday morning.
The site also said the ACFT would become the service’s official test of record on April 1, with it counting for active duty and Active Guard Reserve personnel actions effective October 1. Traditional part-time Reserve and Guard troops would have until April 1, 2023, to complete a record ACFT, the site said.
Moving forward, active duty troops would be required to pass two tests per fiscal year, and Guard and Reserve members would have to pass one.
An Army contractor accidentally updated an Army website with this timeline for Army Combat Fitness Test implementation. Army officials said the timeline was a pre-decisional draft and took it down Sunday morning. (Screenshot)
Lawmakers had previously directed the service to halt its implementation of the fitness test and conduct an independent review, which was recently completed by RAND.
Members of Congress were concerned about the test’s potential impact on women’s career advancement, in addition to the impact on reservists and those in far-flung geographic areas.
As a result, the ACFT, which has been in pilot form since early 2019, has been in limbo for more than a year, while the service has lacked a record fitness test.
“Army senior leaders are reviewing the report’s findings and recommendations and will announce a final decision on the ACFT and release the report at the appropriate time,” Wilkinson said.
She apologized for any confusion caused by the accidental website update.
“Once the Secretary of the Army makes the final decision on the Army’s fitness test, the Army’s priority is to clearly communicate the test of record and the timeline for implementation to the Total Force,” Wilkinson added.
Davis Winkie is a staff reporter covering the Army. He originally joined Military Times as a reporting intern in 2020. Before journalism, Davis worked as a military historian. He is also a human resources officer in the Army National Guard.
MELBOURNE, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) has been selected by the U.S. Space Force to continue efforts to upgrade and modernize its space domain awareness, which is used to help combat anti-satellite threats.
The U.S. Air Force began work in 2018 to replace the Space Defense Operations Center (SPADOC) with the Advanced Tracking and Launch Analysis System (ATLAS). L3Harris has been developing applications in a new architecture that will allow ATLAS to scale and handle the exponential growth of commercial constellations, increased debris, anti-satellite tests and adversarial threats. Now, L3Harris has been selected to integrate the government’s equipment and oversee ATLAS application deployment.
“Anti-satellite threats have increased and require attention now,” said Ed Zoiss, President, Space and Airborne Systems, L3Harris. “We are responding to the urgency by partnering with the Space Force to modernize space domain awareness assets that are key to understanding and acting on those threats.”
SPADOC became operational in the 1990s to monitor space objects, process space events like anti-satellite launches, and support safety of flight operations.
L3Harris space superiority capabilities provide the foundation for space domain control, protecting assets and preserving strategic advantages. A trusted partner of the Space Force and other agencies, L3Harris has served the space superiority mission for more than 30 years.
About L3Harris Technologies
L3Harris Technologies is an agile global aerospace and defense technology innovator, delivering end-to-end solutions that meet customers’ mission-critical needs. The company provides advanced defense and commercial technologies across space, air, land, sea and cyber domains. L3Harris has approximately $17 billion in annual revenue and 47,000 employees, with customers in more than 100 countries. L3Harris.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect management’s current expectations, assumptions and estimates of future performance and economic conditions. Such statements are made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results and future trends to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements. Statements about the value or expected value of orders, contracts or programs or about system or technology capabilities are forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties. L3Harris disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
There is pain when it comes to riding a motorcycle. On a bike, exposed to the elements, the little things are painful. At 75 miles per hour, raindrops batter exposed skin. A piece of road gravel kicked up by a passing car feels like a pellet fired straight into your nipple. On a motorcycle, the world hurts — sore butt, aching back, fingers cramping from gripping the constantly vibrating clutch and throttle. From frigid conditions to scorching heat to random gusts of wind trying to knock you off of the bike, everything is trying to kill you.
Maybe that’s why riding more than 1,000 miles on a motorcycle is good for the mental health of combat veterans. The possibility of death at any moment was our normal. Insurgent IEDs, mortar and rocket fire, the distinct sound of an AK-47. On a bike it’s the gravel in the next bend of the highway that could make the rear tire slip. It’s the heat of the day. It’s the ice on the road. Isolated within the helmet, listening to the road noise and wind and living in the seconds as they slap your helmet like Texas grasshoppers is a strange catharsis.
That’s motorcycle therapy.
The author on his loaner Indian Springfield Dark Horse in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Photo by Ryan Lundbohm/Coffee or Die Magazine.
While many American veterans have surely practiced something along the lines of “motorcycle therapy” for decades, taking to the open road with a tribe in search of a better tomorrow is a practice whose treatment potential Army veteran Dave Frey and his wife, Sue, realized in 2014 on the road to South Dakota for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, the mecca of biker pilgrimages.
After meeting a fellow paratrooper in Wyoming in 2014, Dave learned the man was in need of lodging for the night. Dave called Sue, a logistics maven, who found the vet the last room available in a hotel full of Hells Angels in Cody, Wyoming. Crossing paths with the soldier was the genesis of the Veterans Charity Ride, the Moab, Utah-based nonprofit the Freys run.
Since 2015, the Veterans Charity Ride has provided motorcycle therapy to veterans living with physical and psychological wounds, such as traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress, and other combat-related injuries and illnesses. Every summer, Dave and Sue bring a small group of veterans to southern Utah for an all-expenses-paid two-week retreat that culminates with the ride to Sturgis.
Army veteran Dave Frey co-founded the Veterans Charity Ride with his wife, Sue, in 2015. Photo courtesy of J.E. McCollough.
I’ve been riding motorcycles since I was 18, and Sturgis had been a dream of mine for years. When a friend connected me to Dave and Sue, I never thought they’d pick me to join the 2021 Veterans Charity Ride.
Over the phone, I shared some details of my combat experience — getting blown up in Ramadi, my time as a Marine interrogator and military intelligence analyst. I talked about drinking too much and some of the nights and days I’ve sat on the couch with a Glock in my mouth.
“We’d like you to come out to Utah,” Dave said after listening intently and asking a few questions. Later, Sue would tell me she and Dave knew almost immediately that I needed motorcycle therapy.
I arrive in Moab July 28. Taking in the landscape, I realize photos and other media do no justice to the breathtaking scale and natural beauty of the surrounding cliffs and red rock formations carved over thousands of years by wind and water. The neatly sliced landscape would make a master chef proud — if God were a chef. Boulders the size of warehouses are casually strewn along the canyons. Some spill into rivers while others teeter on tomorrow’s edge, waiting to be called down into a valley or the mighty Colorado.
The view from Needles Overlook in Canyonlands National Park in Utah. Photo by J.E. McCollough.
About 20 miles northwest of Moab, the Colorado River meanders past the aptly named Red Cliffs Lodge just outside Castle Valley, Utah. At the lodge, I meet Dave and Sue and the seven other veterans they’ve brought out for the 2021 Veterans Charity Ride.
Among the crop of first-time riders forming our proud band of merry misfits is a former Army medic with a penchant for sarcastic jokes and flamboyant flair, an Air Force veteran left paralyzed by what should have been a simple medical treatment, a Navy vet who proudly describes how she often FaceTimes with her cats, and a Marine vet who lost his left arm in a motorcycle wreck and now flaunts his preferred nickname: Lefty.
After some brief introductions and the traditional veteran butt-sniffing routine, a brown-eyed brunette greets me with a warm smile and keys to the bike I’ll be riding. Chief Warrant Officer 3 Katie Harrington made her first ride from Utah to Sturgis with VCR in 2018. One of several VCR alums who return each summer as volunteer mentors for the new class of vets, the nurse and South Dakota National Guard soldier easily infects those around her with her persistent positive energy.
Army National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 3 Katie Harrington made her first ride from Utah to Sturgis with the Veterans Charity Ride in 2018. Photo by Ryan Lundbohm.
Outside I mount a low-slung, sagebrush green Springfield Dark Horse provided by Indian Motorcycles and wonder what I’ve done to deserve such a beautiful bike. The black-on-green matte finish practically begs for a pinup detail on the tank with the name Dolly or Mary-Sue. It’s a war machine. The only things missing are a machine gun mounted on a swing arm and a shotgun in a leather scabbard.
Indian Motorcycles has sponsored the Veterans Charity Ride since the organization’s first ride in 2015. Sue says Dave earned the nickname “The Tenacious Bastard” around Indian’s corporate offices. No matter how many times Indian initially turned down Dave’s pitch to help him put a bunch of wounded veterans on motorcycles and ride to Sturgis, he kept coming back, unironically begging the question, What could go wrong?
Turns out, nothing. So now, every summer, Indian enthusiastically provides brand-new loaner bikes for the veterans making the ride to Sturgis with VCR for the first time.
Indian Motorcycles has sponsored the Veterans Charity Ride since the organization’s first ride in 2015. Photo by Chris Wolff.
It’s been a few years since I’ve been on two wheels, so I join the other vets for a quick ride to shake off the rust. The Springfield’s weight and riding position are much different from those of the sport bikes I’m used to, but after leaning into a few curves on the open road, I settle into the bike like it’s an old pair of jeans. The Springfield growls and shakes, eating up the asphalt until we roll back into the parking lot at the lodge and drop kickstands. Lightning cracks over the plateaus as a light drizzle falls, kicking up little eruptions of dust from the red dirt all around as the smell of wet sage and cottonwoods fills the air.
On our second night in Moab, we gather for dinner in the ballroom at the lodge and sit at a round dining table. My attention is immediately drawn to the gaudy Hawaiian shirt next to me and all the ways its wearer — a former Army medic named Cameron High — has invited a barrage of ribbing. It’s like blood in the water for those of us programmed to establish dominance quickly in the veteran-humor hierarchy.
“Pretty cool shirt, bro,” I say. “It would be better if it had dicks on it.”
“Actually,” he replies, “that’s a great idea!
Katie Harrington photo bombs Marine veteran and photographer Ryan Lundbohm, Army veteran Cameron High, Joe “Lefty” Martinez, and the author. Photo courtesy of J.E. McCollough.
I wonder if anyone sells those?”
Several vets immediately whip out their cell phones and consult Google to discover that dick-patterned Hawaiian shirts are in fact readily available online. Cam orders one on the spot, and Ryan Lundbohm, a Marine Corps veteran and photographer, quickly discovers a website that will print hidden dicks on pretty much anything, including a wingsuit.
“Did we just become best friends?” I say, grinning. Because nothing brings vets together quite like dick jokes.
We immediately fall into the familiar pattern of trading playful insults and constantly trying to one-up each other for ever bigger laughs. It’s like being back in the smoke pit, joking and telling stories, delivering sarcastic one-liners. As we earn our badge of honor as “the rowdy table,” it soon becomes obvious that Navy vet Khara Adams has the foulest mouth and the dirtiest jokes of the bunch.
Laughing and happy in a way I haven’t felt in a long time, I’m struck briefly by a thought: This feels like home. This is why we’re here.
Veterans Charity Ride founder Dave Frey rides with the pack, leading the motorcycle therapy he and Sue Frey provide each year. Photo by Ryan Lundbohm.
The Red Cliffs Lodge remains our base of operations for several days as Dave and Sue provide a world-class retreat. We ride horses on trails that snake around the lodge’s vast property. We spend a day offroading around Hells Gate outside Moab. We swim and lounge endlessly around the pool. And we raft lazily down the Colorado River, spraying water at each other from rifle-sized squirt guns and rediscovering the joy and camaraderie we found in the service.
One morning, Khara, the endearingly foul-mouthed former sailor, climbs into a sidecar attached to Katie Harrington’s baby-blue Indian. VCR sponsor Champion Sidecars provides the means to ride to Sturgis for amputees, paralyzed riders, and veterans who — like Khara — simply don’t have a motorcycle license (not yet, anyway!).
We start our bikes, and the rumbling, torquing machines roar to life. We set out for Canyonlands National Park on Highway 191. As I ride, the brutal desert air and searing sun suck the life out of me. I quickly become heat-sick and nauseated. When riding a bike with skin exposed to the sun, hydration is key. Even the experienced riders from the area, already accustomed to the fiery climate, seem to struggle with the heat. But the vistas are worth it. From Needles Point Overlook, the expanse of the gash carved in the earth by the Colorado River spreads out for hundreds of miles, all visible from the outcropping of red rock.
South Dakota National Guard Chief Warrant Officer 3 Katie Harrington pilots Navy veteran Khara Adams toward the front of the pack on the highway between Rapid City and Sturgis. Photo by Ryan Lundbohm.
After taking in the view, we make our way back to the 191 and head south to Newspaper Rock, one of the most famous rock art sites in the western US. Native Americans have been engraving and drawing on the rock for more than 2,000 years.
“Just looks like graffiti,” Cam quips irreverently.
“They’re not even good at it,” I reply, riffing along. “What deer has five legs?”
“That foot has four toes,” Joe adds. “I guess they took Math for Marines.”
We are philistines.
Katie Harrington, Chris Wolff, and Jared Thomas at Newspaper Rock, one of the most famous rock art sites in the western US. Photo by J.E. McCollough.
“Well, that’s clearly an alien. Look at the head — and the eyes,” says Ryan.
“How is this not on Ancient Aliens already?” I say.
As Lefty and I walk to a picnic area VCR’s support team has set up for lunch, I learn the 48-year-old Michigander runs his own veterans charity called Ascend Empowerment, can ride a snowmobile one-handed, and is determined to figure out how to do the same on motorcycles.
At the picnic area, VCR volunteers Sharry Billings — a heavily tattooed professional chef — and Annette Dearth have prepared impressive sandwiches for us. Who knew tuna fish could be gourmet? Billings and Dearth are members of the Litas, an all-women motorcycle group.
Katie Harrington soaks up some sun at a rest point on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. Photo by J.E. McCollough.
Lefty and I take our sandwiches and find a table to enjoy our lunch. As she saunters past, Katie flashes one of her brilliant grins and throws up her hand in what looks like a high-five but may be a wave.
“Uh, did you just try to give me a left-handed high-five?” Lefty asks playfully.
I snicker as a half-second look of embarrassment briefly disrupts Katie’s signature smile, which Lefty and I can’t help but reflect.
Back at the lodge, we all gather at the pool for drinks, cannonball competitions, and conversation. I learn that Jared Thomas — our beardy road captain whose cascading locks give him a Jason Momoa look — is a mechanic who’s starting his own shop. Cam does cybersecurity. Ryan (who looks dead sexy in a Stetson and cutoffs) is living the van life and working as a ranch hand in Moab. Chris Wolff, a paraplegic who was told he’d never be able to walk again, moves around in the water and at least pretends he’s walking.
As I sip my drink, surrounded by comrades who have all chewed some of the same sand at one time or another, life feels … normal again. I’m a fish in water, with people who can relate to my experiences — even the stuff I don’t usually share with others. All of us talk openly about things we aren’t usually comfortable saying out loud. This is our safe space, as the kids say these days. It feels good.
Veterans Charity Ride participants raft the Colorado River through Moab. Photo by Ryan Lundbohm.
On Tuesday, we set out for Sturgis, pulling out of Red Cliffs Lodge in a staggered column. We follow the Colorado River out of Utah, eschewing the interstate and sticking to highways and byways as much as possible as we wind through the seemingly endless desert. On a broken road outside the ghost town of Cisco, a tiny mule deer in the road stares at us as our bikes roar past. We are a column of leather-clad cavalry on iron horses. Our engines sing a guttural harmony as riders change gears and twist throttles.
Group riding requires organization. We’re all in our helmets, focused on the bike and the road — alone, together. Hand and arm signals become instinctive. We watch those ahead of us as they lean into turns or approach a stop — same as we would a point man on a patrol through Ramadi or Sangin. What one person does is relayed and communicated to all.
On the outskirts of Grand Junction, Colorado, a police escort and members of Patriot Guard Riders — the organization that provides funeral support and other services for veterans — join our column as we make our way to the Indian Motorcycles dealership, where the owners and community members treat us like kings and queens for a couple of hours.
Jared Thomas and Milt, members of Combat Vets Motorcycle Association, and other Veterans Charity Ride riders near Steamboat Springs, Colorado. Photo courtesy of J.E. McCollough.
From Grand Junction we fight intermittent rain showers on our way to Steamboat Springs, where we bed down for the night at the Rabbit Ears Motel before rolling on the next morning through western Colorado toward the Rocky Mountains.
We take Cameron Pass over the Rockies and down the Eastern Slope, which is still scarred by the recent wildfires, landslides, and flash floods that savaged cabins and bridges on the Poudre River.
As I ride, it occurs to me I’m seeing the American landscape with a fresh perspective. It’s dairy farms and sheep ranches. It’s the sweet smell of wet grass in the morning and the windswept cornfields. It’s the tiny towns and sacred war memorials that tell the story of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice so that others could live in peace.
From Fort Collins, Colorado, through Cheyenne, Wyoming, to La Grange, time doesn’t seem to matter. The road, the miles, and the countryside slip by — tall grass bending away as our herd roars past.
Veterans Charity Ride riders on their way to Sturgis. Photo courtesy of J.E. McCollough.
Traversing the Great Plains, I come to understand why the largest of the covered wagons that crossed these lands were called “prairie schooners.” Through eastern Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska, and north into South Dakota, the terrain isn’t perfectly flat. It rolls and roils — each long hill a solidified wave of earth and grass. The road ahead rises to a crest, falls into the trough behind, and crawls up the next crescendo only to fall again.
As we sail across the prairie waves, the wind picks up, and thick raindrops fall as we pull into a hotel parking lot in Fort Robinson, the old Army cavalry post where Crazy Horse died.
We’re all a little stiff. Chris Wolff moans from his sidecar as his pilot, Pat, retrieves Chris’ wheelchair from the back of the bike.
“Aarrgh! I can’t feel my legs!” Chris cries sardonically.
We all chuckle as Pat yells playfully, “Shut up, monkey!”
The column of VCR riders in the Black Hills of South Dakota toward the front of the pack. Photo by Chris Wolff.
On Aug. 6, we finally arrive in Sturgis, the tiny town at the foot of the Black Hills that’s home to about 6,000 South Dakotans. Over the next week, an estimated 700,000 people and more than 250,000 vehicles will converge on the town for the 81st Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Most will stay at nearby campgrounds and small towns, such as Deadwood, Lead, and Spearfish.
The rally is a major logistical undertaking. Security is a nightmare, and the city has to pay to bring in extra cops from all over the country. Since the Sturgis Police Department doesn’t have vehicles for the thousands of extra officers, they patrol on foot through the town and surrounding events.
The Hells Angels, Sons of Silence, Gypsy Joker, and other infamous motorcycle clubs are all present at Sturgis. Grandpas sporting club patches on their cuts (the vests club members wear to identify their affiliation) roll in with their grandkids on bikes. The rally is tamer than it was in the wild days of the 1970s and ’80s, but it’s still Sturgis. Violence among rival clubs as they compete for drug pipelines and territory remains an issue. Police will make 112 felony drug arrests before the 2021 rally concludes.
Members of the 2021 Veterans Charity Ride roll through Sturgis Aug. 6, 2021. The Sturgis Police Department gave the veterans a warm welcome, providing a personal police escort through town. Photo by Ryan Lundbohm.
At the Mystic Hills campground about 40 minutes south of Sturgis, we check into the cabins we’ll be staying at. We’re closer to Mount Rushmore than Sturgis, and for good reason. While the journey to the rally is a big component of motorcycle therapy, group bonding is the real medicine. Our cabin retreat among the hills and towering ponderosa pines is the perfect final destination for a bunch of American veterans in search of our Zen. Over the next few days, we ride through the Black Hills and strengthen the new friendships we’ve made.
On Aug. 8, Cam buys a 24-pack of Natural Light Beer, and we make Chris carry it on his lap for the ride to the Sturgis Buffalo Chip campground where Kid Rock is performing live. We tear through some beers and get a nice buzz going before heading inside, where we push Chris in his wheelchair like an unstoppable tank through the crowd as we keep repeating, “Sorry, folks. Fuckin’ lazy-ass veteran coming through.”
The 2021 Veterans Charity Ride cohort relax around the fire at the Mystic Hills campground Aug. 10, 2021. Photo by J.E. McCollough.
After a raucous and unforgettable concert, we head back to our cabins for some late-night poker, drunken zip lining, and general debauchery.
Dipping his hand into a bowl of Sharry Billings’ homemade whipped cream, Lefty calls out to get Cam’s attention, and when the Army vet turns, the Marine smothers a handful of whip cream in Cam’s face as the rest of us let out a collective “Oooooooh!” With cream dripping down his face, Cam casually takes another sip of his beer and shrugs.
I can’t remember the last time I felt this happy.
2021 Veterans Charity Ride members at the base of Mount Rushmore. Photo courtesy of J.E. McCollough.
The next day, we leave the cabin for our last group ride. We set out for Mount Rushmore early enough to have the road mostly to ourselves. We ride through the hills to Needles Highway and on to Iron Mountain Road and finally to that colossal mountain sculpture.
Taking in the marvel of American achievement is bittersweet. Our time together is almost over. After the ride back to the cabins, we’ll part ways.
Back at our bikes, kickstands go up, and we take to the road — alone, together, for one last ride. The familiar smell of pine trees mixes with motorcycle exhaust as we wring the sweetness out of every sweeping curve, hugging the turns like children clinging to our favorite toys and the hope that the comfort they bring will never leave us. Wild bison graze in grassy meadows, and gray granite boulders complement the vibrant, dancing leaves of elm, spruce, and birch trees. Time slows as the cool Black Hills air washes over us — flowing together on a river of asphalt.
The author takes a turn on the final ride of the trip. Photo courtesy of J.E. McCollough.
Turning in my Dark Horse hurts. After almost 1,500 miles, I feel like the bike is part of me. As I hand the keys to the Indian rep,
I struggle to suppress the tears forming in my eyes. Walking away, I try and fail to not look back at the bike. And from the matte-green metal of the machine, my mind wanders further back, to the sandbox and beyond — to the times and places when camaraderie and brotherhood were all around. Getting that feeling back is a gift I will cherish for all of my days.
Dave and Sue Frey’s motorcycle therapy did more for my mental health in two weeks than any clinical treatment or pharmaceuticals ever could. It provided the opportunity to break out of old, self-destructive patterns and build healthy relationships with others who don’t need an explanation for the whys and hows of a particular vet’s history. Where before I only saw darkness, the road ahead looks bright and open now. Next year, I hope to return and pay forward what’s been given and to bathe again in the brotherhood and brilliance of the Veterans Charity Ride.
This article first appeared in the Winter 2022 edition of Coffee or Die’s print magazine as “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Therapy: Finding Family on the Road to Sturgis With the Veterans Charity Ride.”
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The Navy must review thousands of general and other-than-honorable discharges awarded to sailors and Marines over the past decade for behavioral problems that may have stemmed from a military-related mental health condition or sexual assault.
U.S. District Court Judge Charles Haight approved a settlement Monday in a class-action suit known as Manker v. Del Toro, which alleged that the Navy and Marine Corps wrongly discharged members for behavior that may have been related to trauma or an injury they endured while serving.
Under the settlement, the Navy will be required to review and reconsider all discharge upgrade requests made from March 2, 2012, to Feb. 15, 2022, that were partially or fully denied.
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The review of these cases will be automatic; service members will not need to request one.
But the settlement also gives those who were discharged and denied an upgrade from Oct. 7, 2001, through March 1, 2012, the opportunity to reapply for a change in their status with the Naval Discharge Review Board.
The suit stemmed from the case of former Marine Cpl. Tyson Manker, who was dismissed from the service with an other-than-honorable discharge after he was caught using marijuana. Manker told The New York Times that he turned to the drug after being exposed to a series of traumatic experiences in Iraq in 2003.
Manker applied for an upgrade in 2016 but was denied, as have roughly 85% of requests filed to the Naval Discharge Review Board by sailors and Marines.
A general discharge under honorable conditions precludes a veteran from accessing their GI Bill benefits. An other-than-honorable discharge, also known as a “bad paper discharge,” prevents veterans from receiving medical care, disability compensation and education benefits through the GI Bill at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
These discharges also can affect a veteran’s long-term earning power, since many employers will not hire anyone with less than a good conduct discharge.
Monday’s ruling, in the U.S. District Court of Connecticut, follows Haight’s ruling in April 2021 that required the Army to review its other-than-honorable discharges dating back to April 17, 2011.
The Army already had initiated the review of an estimated 3,500 discharges, but the settlement in that case, Kennedy v. McCarthy, also required the service to notify soldiers given bad paper discharges from Oct. 7, 2001, to April 16, 2011, that they could apply for an upgrade or appeal a previous decision.
More than 51,400 discharges under other-than-honorable conditions were issued for active-duty personnel from fiscal 2010 through 2020, according to the Defense Manpower Data Center.
Under the Manker settlement, the Navy will allow veterans to appear before the Naval Discharge Review Board by video teleconference — a change from the requirement that they travel to Washington, D.C., for their hearings. The service also will be required to increase training for board members.
Navy and Marine Corps veterans, including members of the reserve component, who were discharged under general or other-than-honorable conditions and who also have a diagnosis of — or symptoms of — post traumatic stress disorder, a traumatic brain injury, mental health conditions or were victims of military sexual trauma may be eligible for the review.
Status upgrades will be decided on a case-by-case basis and are not guaranteed, noted Manker’s legal team, which included the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School and Jenner & Block LLP in a press release.
In granting approval of the settlement, Haight called it “an impressive example of the manner in which a class action can be made the vehicle for doing substantial justice.”
Brandon Baum, with the Veterans Legal Services Clinic, could not provide an exact number of veterans who may be affected by the ruling but said in an email that it could be in the “tens of thousands.”
Garry Monk, executive director of the clinic, said the settlement “helps bring accountability and justice for thousands of veterans suffering every day from the invisible wounds of war.”
“It is a recognition of their service, their value, and their dignity, and we look forward to the impact it will have on the lives of so many service members,” Monk said in a press release.
More information is available at the Manker Settlement website.
— Patricia Kime can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime.
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