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
VOM – January 2023
Loyd Ray Barnes U.S. Army National Guard 1954 – 1991 Loyd Ray Barnes was born on March 15, 1935, and enlisted in the Army National Guard on April 1, 1954. He completed boot camp at Fort McClellan, Alabama, before returning home to Tennessee to serve his state. Although most of
VOM – July 2025
Valarie R. Bennett U.S. Navy 1966 – 2004 Valarie was born in May 1966 in Tuskegee, Ala., the third of her mother’s four children. The name on her birth certificate was Blank Blank Bennett, a common way to complete a birth certificate for a baby not expected to survive. Eighteen years
VOM – March 2023
Brian J. Styer U.S. Navy 1985 – 1996 Brian J. Styer grew up on a farm in rural Pennsylvania and was a 1985 graduate of Warrior Run High School in Turbotville, PA. Despite receiving a full-ride scholarship to college, college life had to wait. The invasion of Grenada and the
VOM – September 2024
Billy Thomas Rickard U.S. Army 1962 – 1965 Billy Thomas Rickard, the son of William Rickard, Jr., and Mary Elizabeth Rose, was born Jan. 6, 1945, in Shelby County, Tenn. He was a sophomore student at Byars Hall High School when he made the decision to enter military service, joining
VOM – June 2024
Cory Norwood USMCR / ANG Cory Norwood joined the United States Marine Corps Reserve (USMCR) for three primary reasons: (1) to serve his country, (2) to carry-on his family tradition of military service, and (3) to assist with paying for his post high school education. After four years in the
VOM – October 2016
Warren Richard “Rick” Willers US Army 1969-1973 / US Navy, 1973 – 1993 Our October Veteran of the Month is Warren Richard “Rick” Willers. He was born in Pensacola, Florida, and attended Livingston College (now the University of West Alabama) after graduating from Demopolis High School. During his Junior year
VOM – March 2019
Victoria Outlaw-Coone US Marine Corps, 1981-1987 Born and raised in Alabama, by the age of seventeen Vickie knew she wanted to leave Alabama and felt that joining the Army would provide that opportunity. However, once she arrived at the recruitment center and saw the Marine recruiter in his dress blues,