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VA Military Memories Competition

MAJ Terrance (TP) Pitts, U.S. Army (1998-2025)

MAJ Terrance (TP) Pitts, U.S. Army (1998-2025)

Do You Have A Favorite Photo From Your Military Service? What Memories Does This Photo Bring Back For You?:

In a world often divided by political turmoil and cultural differences, moments of human connection transcend barriers and remind us of our shared humanity. This image captures a poignant scene as I was engaging with a group of Syrian children. What might seem like a simple interaction reveals profound lessons about freedom, servant leadership, and humility values that shape the ethos of military service and resonate deeply in contexts of conflict and need.

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1SG Randy Jr. Taylor, U.S. Army (2002-2023)

1SG Randy Jr. Taylor, U.S. Army (2002-2023)

Do You Have A Favorite Photo From Your Military Service? What Memories Does This Photo Bring Back For You?:

My favorite photo from my military service is the picture taken in 2006 of my Battalion, 1-18 Infantry Vanguards in flight to Kuwait where we would spend a short transitional period enroute to Baghdad Iraq. For some of us in this image this is a second deployment in theater to include myself and you can see the confidence of youth in my face during this air movement. Leading up to this image was a series of movements, baggage carries, weapons draw and close postured accountability while chain smoking with my Platoon. I am seen with a snack in my mouth towards the front. I can remember the smell of the jet fuel, the sounds, feel of being on the C130 and the excitement of going back to Iraq to do my trade as an Infantryman. This whole situation just felt so simple and familiar to me.

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RM2 Michael A. Harris, U.S. Navy (1967-1971)

RM2 Michael A. Harris, U.S. Navy (1967-1971)

Do You Have A Favorite Photo From Your Military Service? What Memories Does This Photo Bring Back For You?:

I served in the Navy Mobile Riverine Force (Task Force 117) in the Mekong Delta from July 1968 to July 1969. In October 1968, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, Commander Naval Forces, Vietnam (COMNAVFORV) launched Operation SEALORDs. The purpose was to interdict enemy soldiers and supplies from coming into South Vietnam from Cambodia. I was a Radioman/.50 Caliber Machine Gunner on Armored Troop Carrier 152-1 or T-152-1. It was an old ironclad LCM-6 that was modified to carry U.S. and Vietnamese infantry troops.

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SSgt Kevin C. Anders, U.S. Air Force (1978-1983)

SSgt Kevin C. Anders, U.S. Air Force (1978-1983)

Do You Have A Favorite Photo From Your Military Service? What Memories Does This Photo Bring Back For You?:

I grew up in a large city and yet was near a river and spent a lot of time in the woods and banks surrounding it. I love animals and the outdoors. A training assignment was Survival School in Fairchild, Washington. My team was mostly my age from the South East US and mostly rural communities. To enforce the survival mentality, we were given very little to eat before they kicked us loose in the woods of Washington. I found a Snowshoe Rabbit huddled in the deep snow and quickly converted him into a grocery item.

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MUCS James E. Richards, U.S. Navy (1971-1995)

MUCS James E. Richards, U.S. Navy (1971-1995)

Do You Have A Favorite Photo From Your Military Service? What Memories Does This Photo Bring Back For You?:

This photo was taken of a COMNAVAIRLANT Band called “Third Wire” resting on the tarmac at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily in February 1973. We were assigned to Commander Task Force 60.1 (ADM Turner) stationed aboard the flagship USS Forrestal CVA-59. We had flown from Forrestal to NAVSIG for a performance there and other locations in Sicily, but had returned to the Naval Station for our flight back to the ship. When we arrived, they shuttled us out to the Flight Line to our aircraft and dropped us off. Unfortunately, the aircraft was not ready to depart, and we had about an hour to kill before boarding and flying out.

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SGT Zach Pierce, U.S. Army (2002-2008)

SGT Zach Pierce, U.S. Army (2002-2008)

Do You Have A Favorite Photo From Your Military Service? What Memories Does This Photo Bring Back For You?:

This was taken some time in the summer of 2004, FAAAR FAR outside Bagram, Afghanistan. We were on some sort of multi-day mission to explore distant villages from our very remote outpost in the Tarin Kowt region. My unit, A Co (QUICKSTRIKE!) sent our platoon with minimal supervision, to a village that, it was said, had never seen American forces during the entire Afghanistan war, to that point. In this photo, we had just been dropped off and had wandered a few clicks when we came across this village. There were a few camels and me, being a touchy-feely kind of specialist, just had to see the camels. My squad leader and I both got camel rides thanks to my charisma!

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IT2 Teresa Reeder, U.S. Navy (1984 – 2002)

IT2 Teresa Reeder, U.S. Navy (1984 – 2002)

What Was Your Most Memorable Xmas From Your Military Service? What Made It So Memorable?:

In my years of service as an U.S. Army chaplain, rooted in a childhood spent among the values and rhythms of a Green Beret family, I learned the power of presence. My father, a retired Special Forces officer, demonstrated the art of being fully engaged wherever he was, whether in the thick of an overseas mission or at our kitchen table. That steady, attentive presence shaped me deeply, and it’s a habit I strive to keep alive in my own ministerial calling within our pluralistic organization.

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Cpl Paul Scimone, U.S. Marines (1964 – 1968)

Cpl Paul Scimone, U.S. Marines (1964 – 1968)

What Was Your Most Memorable Xmas From Your Military Service? What Made It So Memorable?:

Xmas Eve 1967 at PhuBai 3rd Med Bn. In triage, where I was an ambulance driver and stretcher-bearer, several casualties came in. We moved one young Marine with a GSW through and through the head back into Shock and debridement where he could pass away quietly and comfortably in the dimly lit room. It was an eerie scene, where he lay as if in state on the litter in the center of the S&D room. Although he had a strong heartbeat and pulse, they were sure I would take him to Graves in the morning. After settling down, I returned to my hooch, where everyone was telling stories of home and crying in their beer. After a few shots of Kessler with beer chasers, I tried to sleep but couldn’t put that young Marine out of my head for some reason. I went back to triage to check and see if he had crossed over yet and was surprised to find him chugging along as he was before. I started to leave when something pulled me back. The thought of this poor kid dying alone on Christmas Eve stabbed me deep in the chest, and I decided he wouldn’t die alone that night. I pulled up a chair and took his warm hand, whispering to him that it was okay to let go. I could have sworn that I felt him squeeze my hand one time but reasoned that it must have been the alcohol. I don’t know what time I dozed off, but early next morning, a corpsman came in to check on him, only to find me asleep and holding his hand, and thinking maybe I knew and recognized him. When I told him why I spent the night there, HE broke down crying and hugged me. Surprised that his vitals were still strong, they readied him for the medevac to Danang. My only regret was that I never knew his name. I fancied being able to tell his parents/family/wife that he was not alone on Christmas Eve. Semper Fi

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SGT Irvin Moran, U.S. Army (1965 – 1968)

SGT Irvin Moran, U.S. Army (1965 – 1968)

What Was Your Most Memorable Xmas From Your Military Service? What Made It So Memorable?:

I have enjoyed many beautiful and heartfelt Christmases in my life, but one stands out as my most memorable. It was Christmas 1967, and I was a 20-year-old paratrooper serving in Vietnam with the 173rd Airborne Brigade’s Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP). In December 1967, our LRRP teams were conducting seven-day reconnaissance missions in the rugged jungle rainforest mountains along the borders of South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Our mission was to locate the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) units that were infiltrating South Vietnam along the infamous “Ho Chi Minh” trails. We would attempt to observe these units until our Brigade’s Parachute Battalions and/or air assets could engage them. Our team’s survival in this environment depended on complete stealth.

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SGT Bruce Kevin Blair, U.S. Army (1979 – 1991)

SGT Bruce Kevin Blair, U.S. Army (1979 – 1991)

What Was Your Most Memorable Xmas From Your Military Service? What Made It So Memorable?:

It was December 1990. I was at Fort McCoy, WI, getting ready to be deployed to the sandbox for Desert Shield in Saudi Arabia. It was a couple of days before Christmas, and the CIA gave us a briefing. The agent told us that if fighting breaks out over there, 1 out of 3 of us probably won’t come back home. On Christmas Eve, a major snowstorm and ice storm hit the Midwest. Many of our wives were carpooling in a van and driving a great distance to get a chance to see us one last time, which would be on Christmas day since we were deploying right after Christmas. We were allowed to see our wives on Christmas Eve and Christmas night only. On Christmas Eve, my first sergeant called me into his office to let a few other soldiers and me know that the Red Cross had contacted them with bad news. Our wives were in a terrible accident, and the van they were traveling in was involved in a slide-off on the interstate about 4 hours away near Chicago and, tumbled over a couple of times and landed upside down in a ditch. All were taken by ambulance to the hospital; however, we did not know who was injured and how badly injured we already had in the back of our minds we might never see our wives again once we deployed if war were to break out.

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BM3 Aaron Wayne, U.S. Navy (1964 – 1968)

BM3 Aaron Wayne, U.S. Navy (1964 – 1968)

What Was Your Most Memorable Xmas From Your Military Service? What Made It So Memorable?:

My first child, Cindy, was born on December 24, 1967. On Christmas Day I went to see my new daughter and to give my wife Shelley a watch that I had bought her for Christmas. On December 27, the USS Yorktown left for the 1968 WestPac cruise that was to become a part of the history books. First to San Diego, then on to Hawaii. When we were a few days out of Pearl Harbor on our way to Yokosuka, Japan, we received the news about the capture of the USS Pueblo and were informed that we were now headed for the Sea of Japan.

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