VOM – November 2023
Georgia Kathrine Desjarlais U.S. Navy Born in Chattanooga, Tenn., to Lowell and Lucy Lawson, Kathy was raised in Fayette County, where she joined the Navy at 17, shortly before graduating from high school. Since Hospital Corpsman “A” school “female billets” were filled for the near future, Kathy signed up for
VOM – June 2023
William “Bill” Joseph Maillet, Jr. U.S. Navy 1954 – 1962 / 1967 – 1978 Born December 14, 1936, in Rumford, Maine, Bill was the oldest boy and one of seven children. Growing up, he worked on his grandfather’s farm feeding and milking cows and helping with the planting. When not
VOM – November 2024
Kenneth Wayne Terry U.S. Marine Corps 1970 – 1991 In April 1970, Kenneth enlisted in the United States Marine Corps’ delayed enlistment program under an “Aviation Guarantee Contract.” He attended Marine Corps Boot Camp at San Diego, Calif., in September 1970 before completing training as an Aviation Ordnance Man in
VOM – September 2025
Phillip Farmer U.S. Army / TN Air National Guard 1968 – 1974 & 1980 – 2005 Phillip Farmer was born on Oct. 6, 1949, in Memphis, Tennessee. He grew up in Covington where he graduated from Byars Hall High School in 1967. During the height of the Vietnam conflict in
VOM – July 2024
A. Jason Fleming U.S. Army / TANG 1989 – 2021 Born in 1963 in Covington, Tenn., Jason is a 1981 graduate of Covington High School. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resources Management from the University of Tennessee at Martin. After college graduation, he began his career
VOM – August 2025
Sami Lynn Phillips U.S. Navy 1978 – 2020 Retired Navy Chief Petty Officer Sami Lynn Phillips was born on Oct. 29, 1960, in Elgin, Illinois. After her June 1978 graduation from Palatine High School in Palatine, IL, she joined the Navy Delayed Enlistment Program and turned eighteen during bootcamp at
VOM – August 2023
Kirk Phillip Snyder U.S. Navy 1969 – 1989 Kirk was born on 28 June 1949 in Towanda, Penn. He grew up in Montrose, Penn., where he graduated from Montrose Area High School in 1967. He was accepted to Boome Technical Community College in Johnson City, New York, where he earned
VOM – February 2023
William Bradley Vanstory U.S. Army 2008 – 2015 William Bradley Vanstory was born 3 February 1987 in Memphis, Tenn., and graduated from Covington High School in 2005. As a child, he knew he wanted to be a soldier and practiced almost every day with his G.I. Joe soldiers. He joined
VOM – August 2024
Chad Austin Bohnert U.S. Army 2015 – 2019 Chad joined the United States Army in January 2015 and served in Germany as a Military Police Officer. He was honorably discharged as a Specialist (E4) after three and a half years of active service and placed in the Individual Ready Reserve
VOM – May 2023
Benito Bernardo Diaz, Sr. U.S. Marine Corps 1976 – Benito Diaz was born in 1956 in Cuba, a nation filled with year-round sunshine, international tourists, and gorgeous beaches. Two years later, Fidel Castro’s regime took over the island and his world turned dark and dangerous. Memories of intimidation, oppression, inhumane