Face of Defense: Daughter Continues Family Tradition

See the best United States Army books written by real Army veterans!

By Kari Hawkins
Redstone Arsenal Public Affairs

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala., Nov. 7, 2011 – As a little girl, Lakisha Scott said she didn't want to be like her mom or dad when she grew up. But destiny has a way of changing things.

Today, Army Pvt. Scott is very much like both her parents, wearing a soldier’s uniform.

"I wanted her to join day one," said Scott's father, Command Sgt. Maj. Larry Turner, of the Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command.

"She comes from a military background and I always believed that after high school and college she was going into the military," he said.

Scott’s mother, Barbara, also served in the Army. Both parents thought the Army could offer their daughter career and personal development opportunities she couldn't get anywhere else.

"The military is really good for young people," Turner said. "It gives you a good start, a good job. It trains you with a skill. It gives you a place to live and pretty much takes care of you. It prepares you for a career and for life, and it prepares you if you do decide to get out after a few years. I think every young person should give the military two years. It can really make a difference for them."

But for Scott, that vision was not so clear. There were a lot of stops and starts along the way to Scott putting on the uniform. She had some difficult memories of growing up in the military, such as being left with other family members when her parents were both deployed. Even when her mother was home, her father often was not there. A three-time Bronze Star recipient, he deployed multiple times in 33 years of service, mostly with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C.

"I held that against my parents, especially when my mother deployed,” she said. “I was against the military because of those memories. But when I saw the bigger picture, I could see what the military could do for my family."

As a teenager, Scott toyed with the idea of joining the Army, and imagined herself as a soldier.

"I wanted to join in 11th grade when we lived at Fort Leonard Wood [Mo.]," Scott recalled. "On Bring Your Child to Work day, I visited a basic training unit there and the drill sergeant started teasing me about 'We're going to get you.' So, I was scared and I said 'Nope, I'm not doing it.'"

In 12th grade, while living on Fort Bragg, Scott started thinking again about military service and took the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. The possibility of being deployed to Iraq scared her off a second time. She went on to college for a while, had a child and entered cosmetology school.

"I started talking about joining again. But I didn't want to leave my son at such a young age," she said. "When he turned 3, I really got serious about it, but my parents didn't believe I would do it. Then, I went to a recruiting station."

Scott’s father had given up trying to convince his daughter about the positives of a military career long before she finally visited a recruiting station.

"I told her I just didn't want to hear about it anymore," he said. "I was really proud of her, though, when she went to the recruiting station. She was getting kickback, but she still kept trying."

Some issues with scheduling the entry test at the recruiting station made it more difficult for Scott to finally take the plunge into military service.

"I kept crying to my mom about it, and she just said 'Oh, just go ahead and do it,'" Scott said.

"Around Thanksgiving last year, they offered me military occupational specialties as a military police or truck driver when I wanted dental specialist, human resources or supply,” she said. “When they offered me a 42 Alpha -- human resources specialist -- that's when it became serious."

Though in good physical shape, Scott was also worried about passing the Army physical fitness test.

"I had a push-up scare. I just couldn't do it and I was freaking out about it," she said. "But Wii Fit (the Nintendo physical fitness game) helped me get some muscles and I was knocking out those push-ups. I got up to 27 push-ups in one minute. That's when I was good."

Though she finally decided a soldier's life was her path, it wasn't an easy decision to live up to. She got a stress fracture in her knee during the first week of training, and struggled with homesickness.

"It was hard, but my mom helped me," she said. "She told me before I left that boot camp was a mind game, and that they would break you down and build you back up. So, I knew what I went through was nothing personal.

"My mom tried to give me advice about what she and Dad did, and about what I should do in the Army,” she continued. “But I want to make my own mistakes. I want to do it my way."

There were letters home that gave Scott's father a glimpse of what today's boot camp is all about.

"It's not the same. I look at me as a private and I see her as a private, and it's not the same. Of course, I didn't have a dad who was a command sergeant major," he said.

"Basic training has changed. The Army has changed. The soldier has changed,” he added. “But the final results -- the impact basic training had on me, and on her -- that's pretty much the same. Army training still makes soldiers understand they can go above and beyond what they think they can do. The Army still teaches discipline, respect and all the Army values."

Some of the changes Turner has seen through his daughter's experience are in response to the type of person who is now entering military service.

"The soldier that comes in today is a lot smarter walking in the door. They know so much more because of the Internet and all the different ways to communicate," he said. "When I went to basic training, it was a total shock. Now, young people can visit the Future Soldiers website and see what they are getting into. "

"There were 45 in my unit when we started and 15 when we graduated," Scott said. "In the first letter I wrote home, I said I was in the worst camp ever. But I learned to appreciate my time in that unit, and what my drill sergeant taught me about myself and about being part of a team."

Scott again injured her knee while running just before Mother's Day. On that Sunday, her drill sergeant told her the military police were coming to talk to her.

Scott was worried, afraid she’d done something to jeopardize her father’s career. Instead, she found he was just coming to visit her. "I felt I hadn't seen him for 30 years,” she said. “I jumped up and hugged him. My knee wasn't hurting anymore. But I was crying."

Turner admits to taking some advantage of his rank to see his daughter. But the very brief visit made all the difference for Scott.

"It just convinced me that this is where I need to be," she said.

Turner took the few minutes they had together to give his daughter some fatherly advice.

"I told her 'I know what you are going through. You're going to make it. You're going to be OK. You're doing good.' I think that really helped her," he said.

Besides having a command sergeant major for a father, Scott, at 25, was older than most recruits.

"At advanced individual training, some people called me Mama Scott because they thought I was old,” she said. “But at basic there were 35-year-old females, and they could still hustle just as hard as anyone else.”

Along with her son, Scott also left her husband behind during her training. The family is now united at Redstone, where Scott is assigned to the 308th, Bravo Company, Military Intelligence Battalion. Scott's husband works as a contractor.

After her five-year commitment, Scott is not sure whether she will rejoin. It's too early to tell if she'll try to top her father's 33 years of service. For now, she is using every opportunity the Army has to learn and better herself.

"My main focus will be to get back in school and get my degree in business marketing," she said.

So far in her young career, Scott has not leaned on her father to help her along the way. Likewise, her father has kept their relationship quiet in Army circles.

"He didn't tell my recruiter who he was until it was all done and I was signed up, and then as we were leaving the recruiting station he gave the recruiter a coin," Scott said.

Even though their secret is just now getting out, Scott felt her family’s support from the moment she joined.

"They supported me the whole way. My mom was excited. She was happy. My dad was just glad I had made a decision," Scott said. "In boot camp, I wrote them tons of letters and they wrote back."

It seems some things never change.

NBK Hosts 2nd Annual Women's Symposium

Women took a large role in the armed forces during WWII. Discover the best World War Two books written by veterans from combat zones and the home front!

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW/AW) Scott A. McCall, Navy Public Affairs Support Element, Det. Northwest

BREMERTON, Wash. (NNS) -- Sailors and Coast Guardsmen from around Navy Region Northwest participated in the second annual Women's Symposium Mentorship Program on Naval Base Kitsap (NBK), Oct. 7.

The program is designed to provide mentorship to female service members stationed in the Northwest by providing them support and guidance.

"It's very important on NBK in general. A large population of our Sailors here are female," said NBK Command Master Chief (SS) Shaun Peirsel. "If they don't feel like they're a part of the command and being utilized, then I'm going to lose out. And I'm not going to be able to accomplish my mission."

The symposium's primary focus was to highlight the role women have played in the military throughout history.

"Women have always found a way to impact the military, and they were doing it even when people would tell them, 'no you can't do this,'" said Peirsel.

Coast Guard Command Master Chief for the Maritime Force Protection Unit Bangor Penny Koons said that women have been pioneers for a long time, and there's a lot of history for women in the military.

"Women have been involved in every military conflict since the American Revolution in 1775," said Koons. "However, it was really in 1942, during World War II, when men were being shipped overseas that women were needed to step up and fill factory jobs - they were even needed to fill in for the military. WWII was a really important time for our women because it opened the doors."

The symposium included a panel discussion which gave service members the opportunity to ask senior enlisted leadership questions on various topics including professional and personal conduct and raising a family while on active duty.

Master-at-Arms 1st Class (SW/AW) Elisha Chandler said attending the symposium was not only beneficial to women but, indirectly, for men as well.

"We're here not only to support each other, but to be better Sailors for our junior peers [and that includes] men, too."

Piersal said symposiums like these impacts more than the Navy, but the armed forces in general.

"This country will be better protected by the armed forces if we are all working together," said Peirsal. "It's not about male, female, race or [anything else]. It's about people caring about protecting their country."

CNO Speaks at 22nd Annual Women in Aviation International Conference

By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Stephen Watterworth, Chief of Naval Operations Public Affairs

RENO, Nev. (NNS) -- Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Gary Roughead was a keynote speaker at the 22nd Annual Women in Aviation, International (WAI) Conference, Feb. 26.

During his remarks for the 2011 Scholarship Awards Banquet and WAI Pioneer Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, CNO highlighted the important role Naval Aviation has played in our military and the crucial contributions that females have made since their original admittance into the military.

"Looking back, we must applaud those early aviators for pursuing their goals, for anticipating a need in our nation, and for having a vision of the benefits that would accrue to a military which truly sought the nation's best and brightest that continues to propel the Navy today," said Roughead. "The resulting accomplishments of women in Naval aviation are undeniable, and their positive impact on the professionalism of our Navy is indeed profound."

CNO praised early aviators for their dedication to the advancement of aviation, and stressed that it was their resilience that continues to inspire young men and women to seek new opportunities in aviation.

"The ingenuity and determination of those who have gone before are alive and well in today's aviators, as technological hurdles are overcome and new possibilities incorporated successfully into a force that aims to keep leading," said Roughead.

WAI is a nonprofit organization providing networking for the education, mentoring and scholarship opportunities for women and men seeking careers in aviation and aerospace fields. Some of the scholarships offered for 2011 are in; aerospace engineering, flight and aviation maintenance.

History: Women at the Coast Guard Academy

Posted by: LTJG Stephanie Young

Post written by Scott Price, Coast Guard historian

The recent Compass post on the selection of Rear Adm. Sandra L. Stosz as the next superintendent of the Coast Guard Academy marked a historic occasion but brought up some questions on the history of the Coast Guard, its Academy, and the introduction of women to the Corps of Cadets. Since “first” exclamations draw considerable attention I’ve put together a timeline of events that led to the integration of the Class of 1980 in the summer of 1976. Below is a brief summary of those events and what in fact the Coast Guard may claim as “firsts.”

It may be hard for some to believe, given the overall success of integration efforts, there was a time not very long ago when women were restricted in what they were permitted to do if they wanted to serve their nation in uniform. They’ve only been able to serve in the active-duty and reserve components of the Coast Guard since December 5, 1973, when the separate Women’s Reserve was abolished. Even then, there were still limits to women’s service.

At that time, women were still barred from attending the service’s academy, from entering certain rates, and serving aboard cutters. Nonetheless, the elimination of the Women’s Reserve as a separate and distinct component was the watershed “Women’s Equality” event of the era for the Coast Guard. From that point forward, all remaining restrictions to women’s service were inevitably going to fall by the wayside—it was only a matter of time.

The social, cultural and political forces demanding equality for women had reached a national crescendo by the early 1970s and, after the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972, changes came more quickly. Ratification seemed certain and with the open support of the Nixon Administration, institutional barriers to women’s service were targeted.

Efforts centered on the integration of the federal academies by the mid-1970s. The distinction of being the first federal academy to admit women belongs to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. They did so in 1974—two years ahead of the other service academies. The movement to admit women into America’s service academies had now begun in earnest. Members of Congress continually introduced bills to force the Naval Academy, West Point, and Air Force Academy to open their doors to women while other Congressmen introduced separate bills that would force open the doors of the Coast Guard Academy.

In late 1974 and early 1975, Coast Guard Academy Superintendent, Rear Adm. Bill Jenkins, upon orders of the Commandant, Adm. Chester Bender, established a planning committee to study the issue of integrating women into the corps of cadets—an issue they had been informally studying for a few years already.

On July 8, 1975, Congressman Lester R. Wolff of New York introduced H.R. 8414 that called for the admission of women to the Coast Guard Academy. Wolff’s efforts were communicated to William Thaddeus Coleman, Jr., the Secretary of the Treasury at the time, who asked the Commandant, Adm. Owen Siler, “Admiral, are there any really valid reasons why women should be kept out of the Coast Guard Academy?” Siler replied in the negative. Coleman then asked “Do we have to wait for Congress to act upon this?” Again, Adm. Siler responded in the negative.

On July 29, 1975, Representative Charles H. Wilson of California introduced H.R. 9011 “A Bill Relating to the Admission of Female Individuals to the Coast Guard Academy.” On the same day Wolff introduced H.R. 9013 with the same name as Congressman Wilson’s bill. Three similar bills introduced in less than two months—the Coast Guard (and DOT) needed to act on their own or Congress would force the issue. But the bureaucratic wheels were already in motion.

On August 11, 1975, the Department of Transportation issued a press release announcing Adm. Siler’s proclamation “that women will join the Corps of Cadets at New London” and noted that “his decision to admit women to the Academy was based on the many contributions he expected women to make in the peacetime missions of the Coast Guard.” To placate Congress, “he noted that current statutes do not bar the admission of women to the Coast Guard Academy and that action by Congress will not be required. This decision is also in keeping with the strong commitment of the leadership of the Department of Transportation to assure equal rights for women.”

The other service academies followed suit on October, 7 1975, when President Gerald Ford signed Public Law 94-106 (DOD Authorization Act) that carried an attached rider which authorized the admission of women into the other three armed service academies, two months after the Coast Guard made their announcement.

On February 3, 1976, the Coast Guard Academy announced the first round of appointments for the Class of 1980, and the list included three women. The Coast Guard News Release announcing the appointments proudly stated: “Of the four largest federal service academies (Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard) the Coast Guard Academy is the first to offer an appointment to a woman.”

So the Coast Guard may legitimately claim two “firsts” regarding the introduction of women to federal armed service academies:

1) They were the first to open the application process to women.

2) They were the first to issue appointments to women.

The Academy cannot claim to be the first to have women become part of the Corps since the Class of 1980 reported to New London the same day as cadets at the Air Force Academy on June 28, 1976.

One factor to take into account regarding the success of these efforts though and one that is often overlooked is the pragmatism, foresight, professionalism, and devotion to duty of the Coast Guard’s senior leadership. Although many privately (and some even publicly) admitted they did not agree with the integration efforts at the Academy, they still implemented, with minimal disruption to the service’s abilities to fulfill its missions, the new policies as mandated by their civilian leaders.

This Day in Naval History - Dec. 22

From the Navy News Service

1775 - Congress commissions the first Naval officers: Esek Hopkins, commander in chief of the fleet, Capts. Dudley Saltonstall, Abraham Whipple, Nicolas Biddle and John Hopkins. Lieutenants appointed included John Paul Jones.

1841 - USS Mississippi, the first U.S. ocean-going side-wheel steam warship, is commissioned in Philadelphia.

1942 - Pharmacist's Mate 1st Class Thomas A. Moore performs an appendectomy on Fireman 2nd Class George M. Platter aboard USS Silversides (SS 236).

1942 - Sue Dauser takes the oath of office as Superintendant of the Navy Nurse Corps, becoming the first woman with the relative rank of captain in U.S. Navy. She was promoted to the rank of captain on Feb. 26, 1944.

1944 - The first two African-American Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service officers, Harriet Ida Pickens and Frances F. Wills, are commissioned.

1960 - USS Valley Forge (CV 45) helicopters rescue 27 men from oiler SS Pine Ridge. Pine Ridge was breaking up in heavy seas off of Cape Hatteras.

Veterans’ Reflections: Following in Her Father’s Footsteps

By Ian Graham

Emerging Media, Defense Media Activity

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3, 2010 – Marie Peckham is a small woman. While it wouldn’t be technically inaccurate to assume she wears military-themed pins and jewelry because her husband served in the military -- he did -- it would be an underestimation of Peckham’s strength.

Even though she stands only somewhere between four and five feet tall, she was a Marine Corps staff sergeant, following in her father and brothers’ footsteps.

“It was only natural I became a Marine, and thank God I did,” she said.

Through her service and subsequent involvement in the U.S. Marine Corps League, Peckham met her husband, a fellow Marine who survived five major campaigns in the Pacific and went into Nagasaki mere weeks after it had been bombed.

Peckham, who grew up with dual U.S.-Canadian citizenship, ultimately embraced America when she took the oath of enlistment and joined the Corps in 1943. After basic training, she served with the Marine air wing at Congaree Field, S.C., as a link trainer. She also taught plane and ship recognition to fighter pilots.

“We taught pilots to fly by their instruments,” she explained. “When they were ‘undercover,’ as we called it, and they couldn’t see very well, they had to learn to fly by instruments. So I sat at a desk and watched what they did in the trainer and made sure they were doing it right.”

Peckham’s service changed her outlook on people, she said. A lot of cultural norms were changing at the time, she added, and being in an integrated force helped her adjust.

“My service taught me camaraderie, it taught me to not be prejudiced, and it taught me to appreciate all of the blessings of this country,” she said.

That appreciation, she said, is something that isn’t as prevalent today because a gap between civilians and servicemembers needs to be remedied.

“I’m a bit prejudiced,” Peckham said of the nation’s current conflicts when asked if she has any advice for today’s servicemembers. “We want all of it to be over as soon as possible, but while it’s going on, do your part.”

Civilians don’t need to feel pressured to serve in uniform, she said, but they need to do everything they can to support those who do don the uniform. Members of the all-volunteer force are putting themselves at great risk, she added, and the least people can do at home is to create an environment of support and caring.

“Read more about veterans issues – read about their problems, what they need, and what they deserve,” she said. “And always, always support them – always.

“All you veterans out there, especially you Vietnam guys, if you want to be loved, accepted and belong to a group where we’re brothers and sisters, come and join a veterans organization,” Peckham added, noting that she is a member of the U.S. Marine Corps League, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary and the American Legion.

(“Veterans’ Reflections” is a collection of stories of men and women who served their country in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, and the present-day conflicts. They will be posted throughout November in honor of Veterans Day.)

Navy Selects First Submarines for Female Officer Assignments

From Commander, Submarine Group 10 Public Affairs

KINGS BAY, Ga. (NNS) -- USS Wyoming (SSBN 742) and USS Georgia (SSGN 729) homeported in Kings Bay, Ga., and USS Maine (SSBN 741) and USS Ohio (SSGN 726) homeported in Bangor, Wash., are the initial four submarines that have been selected to integrate female officers into their crews.

The blue and gold crews of the four submarines will each be assigned three female officers.

Two of the women will be submarine officers, and the third female officer will be a warfare qualified supply officer.

They will be assigned to their first submarine duty station after completing training, which consists of nuclear power school, prototype training and the Submarine Officer Basic Course. They are expected to report to their assigned submarines beginning December 2011.

"Rosie the Riveter" Turned Soldier Salutes Women Veterans at Cincinnati

The Cincinnati VA Medical Center celebrated Veterans Day this year with a special event saluting women Veterans from conflicts past and present.

The Cincinnati facility, where 99 staff members are women Veterans, hosted the special activities as a special tribute to those women who have served their county in times of war and peace.

At a dinner hosted by the medical center, the staff heard an inspiring address by Dr. Lynn Ashley, a World War II woman Veteran and educator, facilitator, and consultant, who praised the work of women Veterans and reflected on the vital work they do today in all areas of government service.

Dr. Ashley's career provides a unique perspective on the roles women Veterans have held throughout American history.

Hers is a colorful story, which begins 65 years ago:

Gas Mask Day

It was a Wednesday, gas mask day, at Carlsbad Army Air Corps Base in Carlsbad, N.M. The base teemed with new recruits and among them was Marilyn Haynes. Years later she would become Lynn Ashley, Ph.D, but in 1944, she was simply a 23-year-old clerk typist in the Women's Army Corps (WAC).

"Back then, we had gas mask day because the mindset was that we could be overrun by Japanese or Germans at any time," said Ashley. "We had to wear gas masks all day, no matter what we did."

That particular Wednesday was Ashley's lucky day. Because pilots and bombardiers stationed at the base were paid per flight, they were eager to take to the skies as often as possible, but they had to have observers in the plane to verify their flight. A captain asked Ashley if she would be his observer. She had never been on a plane before, and even better, she wouldn't have to wear a gas mask, so she immediately agreed.

Ashley was watching the cacti and the rocks whizzing past far below when the pilot noticed something was wrong with the bomb bay doors.

"He told me to take the controls while he checked the doors," said Ashley. "And he said, 'All you have to do is keep the wings level with the horizon.' I was looking at the mountains in front of me and thinking, 'How on earth am I going to do this?'"

What could she do but follow orders? Ten minutes later, the pilot returned to his seat, eyed the controls, and told a shaken Ashley she had only climbed 1,000 feet, so she "didn't do too badly."

From Rivets to Mission Logistics

Ashley, who had been working as a riveter at a Chicago defense plant the year before, enlisted in the WAC to support her brother's military service. Another reason for her enlistment had to do with the union moving into the plant and her being a bit, well, opinionated. "I was a little outspoken about it," she admitted. "And it looked like if I didn't leave, they'd ask me to. So I left and joined the Army. I thought it would get me overseas."

It got her as far as Georgia for six weeks of basic training, which included 238 hours of clerical training, learning about the organization of the Army along with touch typing, company records and reports, military discipline, personnel administration and finance.

After basic training, Ashley was assigned to the New Mexico airbase, where she was promoted to a corporal.

She worked "on the line" at the tarmac where aircraft pulled up for inspection and repair. It took Ashley 30 minutes to walk from her barracks to the office, bracing herself against the sandstorms that sometimes swept the airbase. Ashley's job was to figure out the mechanical logistics of missions, developing training schedules, determining which aircraft were available for exercises, and tracking the number of planes needed for each mission.

"You Just Did Your Job"

Looking back 65 years later, Ashley said she didn't experience any difficulties as a woman in the military. "It was just like working any place else. You just did your job and went home each evening," she said. "I was never aware of a lot of things that women in the military are going through now, being challenged physically, morally, and sexually."

Ashley is very involved in supporting today's military women. She's a member of an all-women's American Legion Post, assists deployed soldiers and their families in a military support group, and is on the Governor's Advisory Committee on Women Veterans.

"When I returned from war, I wasn't treated any differently as a Veteran, but you have to realize that there were hundreds and hundreds of us back then," said Ashley. "Now, some people don't realize there's a war going on and it's sad. It's my mission to do everything I can to try and educate people that we need to support the people who are over there."

By Stephanie Strauss, VA Staff Writer

"Forgotten Women" of Valley Forge

Book About “Forgotten Women” at Valley Forge Is Subject of Discussion

“Following the Drum” Is Story of Encampment During Winter of 1777-78

"Following the Drum: Women at the Valley Forge Encampment" (Potomac Books, 2009) is the untold story of the women – from those on society’s lowest rungs to the women of the upper class – who spent the winter of 1777-78 with the Continental Army at Valley Forge, Pa.

Author Nancy K. Loane will discuss and sign her book on Tuesday, Oct. 26, at noon in the Mary Pickford Theater on the third floor of the James Madison Building,

101 Independence Ave S.E., Washington, D.C.

The event, a Books & Beyond program sponsored by the Center for the Book, is free and open to the public; no tickets are required.

Many of the camp women were soldiers’ wives who worked as the army’s washerwomen, nurses, cooks or seamstresses. Though these women’s written correspondence is scarce, author Loane uses sources such as issued military orders, pension depositions after the war and soldiers’ descriptions to bring these women to life.

Other women were part of the "numerous and splendid" audience who enjoyed the camp theater and had their portraits painted by Charles Willson Peale. They were not subject to the harsh conditions of camp life, and they came and went as they and their husbands, George Washington’s generals and advisers, saw fit.

Nancy K. Loane, who lives in Valley Forge, is a former seasonal ranger at the Valley Forge National Historical Park and has studied more than 500 Revolutionary War-era diaries, journals, letters, orderly books and records, many of them at the Library of Congress.

Her book is also the subject of a discussion on Facebook. The new Books & Beyond Book Club is available at www.facebook.com/booksandbeyond/. Here readers can discuss books, the authors of which have appeared or will appear in this series. The site also offers links to webcasts of these events and asks readers to talk about what they have seen and heard.

Since its creation by Congress in 1977 to "stimulate public interest in books and reading," the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress (www.Read.gov/cfb/) has become a major national force for reading and literacy promotion. A public-private partnership, it sponsors educational programs that reach readers of all ages, nationally and internationally. The center provides leadership for 52 affiliated state centers for the book (including the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and nonprofit reading-promotion partners and plays a key role in the Library’s annual National Book Festival. It also oversees the Library’s Read.gov website and administers the Library’s Young Readers Center.

General Officer Announcement

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announced today that the President has made the following nomination:

Army Col. Flora D. Darpino has been nominated for appointment to the rank of brigadier general.  Darpino is currently serving as staff judge advocate, U.S. Forces-Iraq, Operation New Dawn, Iraq.

Women's Memorial Hosts Soldier, Marine Photo Exhibit

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

May 28, 2008 - Duty, courage, camaraderie and sacrifice are on display at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial here. The public can view a collection of 115 black-and-white and color photographs that depict U.S. soldiers and Marines in action spanning from the Civil War to the present day. The photos were culled from more than 4,000 images that were reviewed by exhibit curator Cyma Rubin.

The free exhibit is titled, "The American Soldier: A Photographic Tribute to Soldiers and Marines." The traveling exhibit will be featured inside the women's memorial building through Labor Day.

Passers-by often comment on the raw emotions expressed in the faces of the photo's subjects.

"They are very moving pictures that you don't normally get to see of the troops" in action, Bobby Bookwalter, from Clinton, Md., said after he and his family viewed the exhibit on Memorial Day.

The photo exhibit "is nicely done and in chronological order," said Mark Swallow, a native of Pittsburgh who now lives and works in Washington as an intern with a local construction design firm.

"Being a 20-year-old male, I see a lot of people that look just like I do," Swallow said as he looked over photos of the Korean War. "It's fascinating that young men, like I, shaped this great nation. You can see the expressions on their faces -- the tough turmoil and times that they went through."

Linsey Longstreth, 24, was taken with a black-and-white photo of "California Joe," who was one of the North's deadliest sharpshooters during the Civil War. She gave the exhibit high marks for organization and authenticity.

The exhibit's often-intimate photos depict "exactly what the soldiers have gone through, whether they are triumphs or really hard times," Longstreth said. It was especially appropriate, she said, to be able view the exhibit on Memorial Day.

Navy Reserve Petty Officer 1st Class Gustavo Santa, a Gulf War and Iraq war veteran, wore his uniform and took his children Megan, 10, and Justin, 8, along to view the photo exhibit during a holiday away from their home in southern Florida.

"I'm a veteran of the Iraq war, and I want to pay my respects to my friends," said Santa, who served as a medical corpsman with the Marines in Hit, Iraq, during 2004 and 2005.

"I also wanted to show my kids what myself and other people have gone through," Santa added.

At the Vietnam-era portion of the exhibit, Air Force veteran Edward Leckey Jr. eyed a black-and-white photo depicting a somber serviceman getting ready to depart on patrol and another image showing a snakelike line of "grunts" making their way across a rain-drenched rice paddy.

The Vietnam images brought back memories, Leckey said, noting that after he enlisted in 1959, he was among the first group of U.S. servicemembers to serve in South Vietnam as advisors.

"The exhibit is excellent," said Leckey, an Alexandria, Va., resident who was accompanied by his Russian-born wife, Natalia Kozlova. "Some of it is what some people would perceive is graphic -- which I don't.

"It just shows the real world," Leckey emphasized, as he pointed to the photo of the lone infantryman. "You can tell that this guy right here with the M-14; he is preparing to go into the field."

Joyce Shambley, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, and her niece, Amber Cooper, an Army veteran who performed two duty tours in Iraq, spent some time at the Iraq war photo exhibit. Cooper's husband, Calvin, is an Army noncommissioned officer getting ready to depart on another deployment to Iraq.

"Because I am a veteran, I like to come and pay my respects to those who have given their lives for all of us," said Shambley, who served as a hospital administrator at the time of her Army retirement in 1998. Seeing the sometimes intense photos in the Iraq exhibit "brings back memories," said Cooper, now in the Army Reserve. "It's also making me a little anxious, because my husband is getting ready to deploy for the third time."

This time, Cooper is staying home to care for her 9-month-old son, Calvin, named after her husband. Cooper said she sometimes wishes that she could accompany her husband to Iraq.

"If I didn't have my baby boy, I would do it again," Cooper said.