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Grandson Participates in Flyover at Grandfather’s Air Force Funeral Service

By Kevin M. Hymel on 12/22/2025

During the summer of 2021, 90-year-old retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Richard “G.P.” Erb bonded with his grandson, U.S. Air Force 2nd Lt. Nicholas Erb, who stayed at his home in Alexandria, Virginia. While driving Nicholas to his internship at the Pentagon, he opened up about his own Air Force career. “All I knew growing up was that my grandpa was an engineer and that he worked on the F-15 Eagle fighter,” Nicholas, now a captain, said. “Then, that summer, he started sharing all these stories.” 

Kevin M. Hymel

Soldier Who Survived Two IED Blasts in Afghanistan Advocated for Wounded Veterans

By Kevin M. Hymel on 12/22/2025

U.S. Army Sgt. Michael Verardo wanted to return to the fight. After sustaining wounds from an improvised explosive device (IED) attack in Afghanistan on April 10, 2010, the 82nd Airborne Division paratrooper refused to be medically evacuated and asked to remain with his unit. Two weeks later, while Verardo was on a patrol, a second IED explosion left him with catastrophic injuries. As a helicopter airlifted him off the battlefield, everyone in his unit thought they would never see him again. 

Kevin M. Hymel

“It’s Heartfelt:” Volunteers Lay Wreaths at Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery

By Kevin M. Hymel on 12/17/2025

More than 500 people gathered at the United States Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home National Cemetery (SAHNC) in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 13, 2025, to take part in the annual Wreaths Across America Day event. Bundled up against the cold, they honored those who sacrificed for their country by laying wreaths at nearly 14,000 headstones. Some people read the name on the headstone out loud. Others touched or rested a hand on the headstone and reflected on the lives and service of the fallen.  

Kevin M. Hymel

A Daughter's Quest: “Bittersweet” Return of World War II Soldier

By Kevin M. Hymel on 12/8/2025

U.S. Army Tech Sgt. Joseph Ruffin Moore died in one of World War II’s bloodiest campaigns. His unit, the 8th Infantry Division, had been fighting in Germany’s Hürtgen Forest for almost a month when he was killed near the town of Kleinhau on Dec. 11, 1944, at the age of 28. His remains were never identified during the war.  

Kevin M. Hymel

From Vietnam Veteran to Marine Historian

By Kevin M. Hymel on 12/4/2025

Charles R. “Rich” Smith served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, but spent most of his professional career as a civilian historian for the U.S. Marine Corps. Working for the U.S. Marine Corps History and Museums Division, he wrote numerous books and articles, including “Marines in the Revolution: A History of the Continental Marines in the American Revolution 1775-1783.” 

Kevin M. Hymel

Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Founded “Duck Squad” of Traveling Friends

By Kevin M. Hymel on 11/17/2025

U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Troy Lamarlowe Hall II considered the Air Force one big family. As a non-commissioned officer (NCO) working in fuels and training in battle management operations, he traveled the globe, making friends everywhere he went. He even created the Duck Squad, a group of 20 Air Force and civilian friends who traveled together internationally each year. Squad members wore yellow duck lapel pins, and some, including Hall, sported duck tattoos.  

 

Kevin M. Hymel

Marine and Air Force Veteran Who Served in Two Wars Passes at 104

By Kevin M. Hymel on 11/12/2025

U.S. Air Force Capt. Elizabeth “Liz” Franklin Orser served her country in two different wars and two different military branches. She was a communications officer in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II and a flight nurse in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. Orser, who always believed in her country and took great pride in her service, passed away on June 10, 2025, at the age of 104. 

Kevin M. Hymel

U.S. Marine Corps’ Longest-Held Vietnam War POW Laid to Rest

By Kevin M. Hymel on 11/7/2025

U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Harlan Chapman’s F-8E “Crusader” fighter jet spun so violently that he could not reach the ejection handles over his head. “I was sure I was going to die,” he told an interviewer in 2018. Chapman was attacking targets deep in North Vietnam on Nov. 5, 1965, along with 31 other strike fighters, when enemy anti-aircraft fire tore into his Crusader. He blacked out, and when he woke up, he found himself floating to the ground under his parachute. After landing in a rice paddy up to his knees in mud, North Vietnamese soldiers quickly surrounded him. The first Marine shot down in the Vietnam War, Chapman became the war’s longest-held Marine POW—enduring more than seven years in North Vietnamese prison camps before his release on Feb. 12, 1973. 

Kevin M. Hymel

A Pilot’s Homecoming

By Kevin M. Hymel on 11/4/2025

On a Wednesday during the first month of the Korean War, U.S. Air Force Capt. Howard Odell led three F-80 fighter jets to intercept four North Korean fighters, as the enemy forces attacked the South Korean town of Taejon. In the ensuing dogfight on July 19, 1950, the American forces shot down the North Korean fighters. Odell’s jet, however, suffered numerous hits. As he tried to land his damaged craft on an American-controlled airstrip, it slid into a riverbank and exploded, killing him. North Korean forces captured the town the next day, preventing the recovery of Odell’s body.

Kevin M. Hymel

The Guardians of Living History: Touring Arlington National Cemetery’s Memorial Arboretum in the Fall

By Kevin M. Hymel on 11/3/2025

Charged with the stewardship of over 9,800 trees, Army National Military Cemeteries (ANMC) expert horticulturalists are more than caretakers; they are guardians of living history. Every spring and fall, ANMC’s horticulture team offer a series of free public walking tours, allowing visitors to enjoy the cemetery’s natural beauty while learning about the history and ongoing care of this memorial landscape.   

Kevin M. Hymel