Brookpark Marines to Reunite

by | | Jacob Arnett

October 2005: I remember being half-standing in the seat behind the driver, my left leg numb from countless hours of flying, my right leg tapping the floor nervously as we coasted down the streets of Cleveland’s West Side. The sidewalks were packed with local...

Vietnam Vet Counts His Blessings at the Wade Park VA Medical Center

by | | Louis Pumphrey

For the umpteenth time, I was at the Wade Park VA Medical Center recently for yet another injection of medicine in my right eye to keep my age-related macular degeneration from worsening. As usual, I wore my black baseball cap with an embroidered patch on the front...

Remembering Lieutenant John Runkle

by | | Zoltan "Z" Krompecher

One semester, while teaching at West Point, I gave cadets an assignment to find a veteran’s grave and research that individual to learn who they were —to breathe life into them, even if only on paper —and to share their stories.  Little did I know I would one day be...

Veteran Owned and Operated

by | | Jacob Arnett

“You won’t make it. I don’t think you know the first thing about running a business!” said Karl Jones, a Royal Marine and teammate of mine on our security escort team in Baghdad, Iraq. Karl said it with a laugh, but I knew better. “I’ll do it, mate,” I said, with a...

Vet Connect Save The Date

by | | Events

Please save the date! This year we will be hosting our annual Vet Connect event on Saturday September 27, 2025 from 09:00am to 2:00pm at the Browns Huntington Bank Field. This is a Save the Date only. Notification will be sent out when registrtation for vendors and...

AO Cleveland Nov Dec 2024 Events

by | | Events

JC Sullivan

by | | Jim Riley

Sadly, we have to say goodbye to one of our own…. Our good friend and frequent contributor to this paper, John (JC) Sullivan, passed away in Cleveland on September 22, 2024 surrounded by his family. Everyone who met JC will remember his humor, his patriotism, and his...

A Connection at the Heart

by | | Books, Mary Reynolds Powell

By Mary Reynolds Powell Author: A World of Hurt: Between Innocence and Arrogance in Vietnam In May, 1971, I was stationed at the 24th Evacuation Hospital in Vietnam. In July 2018, John Schaninger, a patient, found me after securing hospital records for a VA claim. Our...

War Correspondent Shares Stories Soldiers Won’t Tell You

by | | Books, Nancy Peacock

By Nancy Peacock He never fired a weapon. But journalist Kevin Sites is haunted by what it feels like to kill someone in combat. And it is why he felt compelled to write The Things They Cannot Say: Stories Soldiers Won’t Tell You About What They’ve Seen, Done or...

Update: Afghan Allies Await Evacuation

by | | Jacob Arnett, News

By Jacob Arnett One year ago, I wrote an article for the DD214 Chronicle entitled “Christmas, Afghanistan,” in which I described the perilous situation Afghan translators have faced since the Taliban’s takeover of the country in August 2021. Since then, American...

Lorain County Leads In Veteran Suicide Prevention

by | | Health, JC Sullivan, Stories

By JC Sullivan In May 1886, after the Civil War was over and the US was in the period of reconstruction, the Ohio Legislature created the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Relief Commission. The state legislature felt a need to repay the debt owed to Ohio’s Civil War...

Lou and Browns Fans Resume Their Acquaintance

by | | Louis Pumphrey, Stories

By Peace Action Cleveland | posted in: Travels With A Peace Flag August 11–For the first time since the last NFL season ended, I was downtown yesterday evening greeting folks headed to Cleveland Browns Stadium, formerly the politically incorrect FirstEnergy Stadium,...

Orange Juice, Memories, Tears & a Salute to the Women of the VietNam War

by | | Brian Albrecht, News, Stories, Women

In 1971, in the life-or-death confines of an intensive care unit of the Army’s 24th Evacuation hospital in Vietnam, a mortally wounded soldier asked nurse Stephanie Genthon for a glass of orange juice. When she told him he couldn’t have anything to drink because of...