Dcmilmag 102715 flipbook by DCMilitary.Com

CONTENTS 4 6

VETERANS CORNER

SPOTLIGHT: Gordon Peterson, Vietnam

Her service continues . . . This Air Force veteran stirs up hope, fellowship for those in need

jene swierk Iraq-GI Jane Hippie

Matter, Marines, Mindfulness: Malone Wilson in World War II

23 Team red, white & blue

26 29

Al Ullman: Marine recalls Korean service

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VETERANS CORNER DC Military Magazine is published by DC Military, a Civilian Enterprise media company serving 13 military installations and the Pentagon in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia. DC Military Magazine has a circulation of 110,000 printed by offset as a civilian enterprise bi-monthly magazine for installations within the national capital region. The publisher is a private firm in no way connected with the Department of Defense. Opinions expressed herein are those of the contributors to this marketing publication, and they are not to be considered an official expression of the Department of Defense. The appearance of advertisements in this publication does not constitute an endorsement by the Department of Defense of the products or services advertised. Maxine Minar, executive editor and president (mminar@dcmilitary.com)

Alice Swan, On the Homefront columnist Karen Finucan Clarkson, events and calendar columnist Chuck Lucas, retired U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt., Veterans Corner columnist Contributing Writers Jim Mahaffie, Julia LeDoux, Leslie Smith, Ellen Ternes Send press releases and editorial submissions to editorial@dcmilitary.com.

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Jennifer Trinch, sales account representative Welcome Guide customers (jtrinch@dcmilitary.com) For advertising information, call 301-921-2800.

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Your Care Choice

Tricare Online and MiCare Secure Messaging are designed to enhance access to care for military beneficiaries. Both programs are endorsed by the Military Heath System. In both programs beneficiaries can validate medication lists and obtain test results, including labs. Both systems facilitate appointments. With Tricare Online, beneficiaries schedule appointments themselves, whereas MiCare, beneficiaries request appointments via secure messaging. Once the request is made, clinic staff schedules an appointment with the provider. Tricare Online allows patients to track their claims and deductibles, and to obtain proof of medical insurance. In comparison, MiCare is focused on secure messaging communication between patients and their health-care teams. MiCare eases communication between patients and clinical staff and allows patients to access robust patient education materials regarding their medical conditions. For more information on Tricare Online and MiCare Secure Messaging, contact a local military treatment facility.

World War I Memorial

The World War I Centennial Commission was established to plan, develop, and execute programs, projects, and activities to commemorate the centennial of World War I. A memorial to honor the World War I generation is planned in Washington. The proposed site is Pershing Park on Pennsylvania Avenue between 14th and 15th Streets NW. Already there is a statue of General of the Armies John J. Pershing — the leader of the American Expeditionary Force during World War I. A design concept is expected in January. The “War to End All Wars” began in 1914 and lasted more than four years. More than 17 million people had died and 20 million

VETERANS CORNER By U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Chuck Lucas, Retired Photo by Rick Chavez

wounded before the armistice Nov. 11, 1918. The United States entered the war April 7, 1917. A total of 116,516 Americans were killed and more than 204,000 wounded.

Retiree Dental Coverage

The Tricare Retiree Dental Program (TRDP) offers comprehensive dental coverage to retired service members and family members, retired National Guard and Reserve members and family members, Medal of Honor recipients and family members and survivors. Coverage includes diagnostic and preventive services, like exams and cleanings, at 100 percent. Emergency services and basic restorative services, like fillings, are covered at 80 percent. The annual deductible is $50 per person, each benefit year, and $150 per family per benefit year. The annual maximum benefit is $1,300 per person per year for enhanced enrollees. The annual maximum for orthodontia is $1,750. Premiums must be deducted through a monthly allotment from retirement pay. Electronic payment is available only as an alternative for beneficiaries who do not receive retired pay or whose retired pay is insuffi-

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cient to cover the allotment amount. There is a 12-month commitment for initial enrollments. After a year, beneficiaries can continue on a month-to-month basis, if no additional family members have been added to the plan. If a beneficiary and spouse are already enrolled, adding a child or any other family member resets the 12-month period. For full information, visit www.tricare.mil/TRDP or call 888 838-8737.

Commissary Costs Studied

The Defense Commissary Agency operates 241 stores, including 178 in the United States, offering groceries to service members and retirees at cost plus a 5 percent surcharge. The surcharge does not cover the full operating costs, so each year an appropriation is required to cover this deficit. In 2014, DoD contributed $1.4 billion to subsidize the commissaries. The President’s budget proposed reducing this subsidy, suggesting changes in operations which would reduce the subsidy by $322 million in FY 2016 and save $4.4 billion over five years. A House bill prohibits these changes and includes funds to pay for the FY 2016 costs of the current program. The Senate does not add additional funds and allows some of the proposed reforms to be implemented. Defense officials suggest a replacement formula that would allow prices to vary from store to store while maintaining attractive savings for patrons. Variable pricing would seek to keep savings consistent across the commissary system with prices below those of “lowest price” civilian competitors.

Veterans ID Cards

Congress has approved the creation of a veterans’ identification card, making it easier November/December 2015

for veterans to prove military service without having to produce a military service record or some other document. Previously, individuals needing to prove military status normally had to provide a DD-214, a Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty. A number of states, and some counties, already issue veterans’ ID cards. Included are Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Virginia. Retired service members receive ID cards upon separation. Veterans Affairs issues IDs to veterans enrolled in VA health care.

DHA Up and Ready

The Defense Health Agency, in its second year, has full operating capability as a combat support agency. “We are the joint force solution that will enable our service surgeon generals to present medically ready forces and readily medical forces to the service chiefs and combatant commanders,” said Air Force Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Douglas J. Robb, DHS director. The agency is a one-stop shop for medical training in one location on one learning system, he added. Headquartered in Falls Church, Va., DHA’s innovations and efficiencies saved the government $350 million in 2014 alone, Robb said, with projected savings of $3.5 billion over the next four years.

Exchange Pays Dividends

The Army & Air Force Exchange Service last year paid dividends totaling $224 million to military morale, welfare and recreation activities. In the past 10 years, the AAFES has provided more than $2.4 billion to such programs as youth services, family counseling and other activities that make life better for military families. Support goes beyond soldiers and airmen. Because AAFES operates at Marine and Navy locations, funds also are returned to marines and sailors. The fiscal 2014 dividend: Army, $125.3 million; Air Force, 74.1 million; Marines, 19.5 million; Navy, 5.1 million. The Exchange opened a new shopping center and Express at Fort Meade, Md. Also, Expresses were opened at Homestead ARB, Fla.; Tyndall

November/December 2015

AFB, Fla.; and Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. A troop store opened in Moon Township, Pa., serving military members and their families in western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia.

Pharmacy Help

Your pharmacist should be the first resource to answer questions about your drugs. If you are taking an over-the-counter (OTC) medication like acetaminophen (Tylenol), cough medicines, herbal supplements or aspirin, those drugs can interfere with other medications. Because you purchased these products OTC, there is no record in the pharmacy’s computer system to prevent harmful drug interactions. Tell your pharmacist about taking OTC products when you fill a prescription. Most frequently asked questions include: possible side effects of my medicine; where can I find information about the drugs I take; are generic drugs the same as brand name drugs; how can I find out when a generic will be available for a medicine I take; and how do I discard medicine that I no longer need? If you get your prescriptions from Tricare Home Delivery, you still have access to a pharmacist 24/7. Call Express Scripts with your questions at 1-877-363-1303.

School Enrollment

Nearly 75,000 students are enrolled in the 2015-2016 School Year in Department of Defense Education Activity schools around the world. The schools educate children of service members and the civilians who support them in 12 nations, seven states and two territories. Through its Educational Partnership Branch, DoD provides support to more than 1 million military-connected students who attend public schools throughout the United States. DoD operates 172 schools in the United States, Europe and the Pacific through a worldwide network of 14 school districts and about 14,000 employees. All DoD schools are accredited by AdvancED, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that conducts rigorous, on-site external reviews of schools and school systems.

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Matter, Marines, Mindfulness:

Malone Wilson in World War II Malone Wilson, today at age 92, reflects on his service in the US Marine Corps during WWII By LESLIE SMITH

ike many small towns in the South during Jim Crow, rural Thomaston, Ala., offered little opportunity for blacks. Many families would head north, becoming a part of what would later be called the Great Migration, to carve out an opportunity in many of America’s larger urban cities. Malone Wilson arrived in Chicago in 1936 at the age of 14. Even as a young man, Wilson was well acquainted with hard work: he held down jobs from feeding chickens to cleaning movie houses and working in a stock yard. For the next several years while living with relatives, he would forge a path for himself in the city. His working roots went back to Alabama where, as a small child, he worked for the town doctor running errands and working around the doctor’s office. War in a changing world World War II required the total effort of citizens in all capacities. This new era of conflict presented new challenges to the American military. Many citizens were called to serve in an even greater role: the military. The oldest of 10 children, Wilson was drafted at age 20. “I remember there were those big old signs everywhere — ‘Uncle Sam Wants You!’ They would send you that letter; you would get that letter that they want you down at the draft board,” Wilson recalled. He grins recalling the day he “became” a Marine. “I was all set to go into the

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army when they called out, ‘We need one more for the Marines; we need one more!’ I finally said, ‘All right, all right — I’ll go.’” Wilson was sent to boot camp and became a part of the Montford Point Marines. This unit was specifically formed after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a directive allowing blacks to be recruited into the Marine Corps. From 1941 to 1943, this segregated unit saw thousands of black soldiers transition through the camp. Many were noncombatant supply units but, when needed, these black units were allowed into combat. In 2012, these men were later recognized with the Congressional Gold Medal. When asked what he was thinking when he first got to boot camp, Wilson laughed. “I was thinking about the girl I left behind. I was in love,” he recalled. “Whatever I got to do, I’m gonna do it to get back to my girl.” From Montford Point, Wilson was sent to Oceanside, Calif. Wilson was then stationed in New Caledonia. It would be Guadalcanal with its heat, mosquitoes “the size of birds” and 16-hour work days that would call next. As the war escalated in both theaters, Wilson headed to Okinawa. There, he was a part of the motor transport, driving trucks to pick up supplies and materials from ships. “When things really got rough, we went to Okinawa where things were really happening,” Wilson said. “I never went to the front, but we did have to run for cover because they used to bomb every night. The Japanese planes would fly over and we had to run for the fox holes. We spent every night on the ground. We would stay sometimes for a whole week in the same clothes — and ooh, it would rain every day. You didn’t have time to change,” Wilson recalled.

When fighting became fierce and opponents started gaining inroads into allied territory, Wilson’s unit was called to fight. “We had our gear ready to invade Tokyo, but they dropped the bomb the same night we were called to go,” Wilson said. After waiting in Okinawa for three weeks for a ship to bring them back to the U.S. and spending another 21 days aboard ship, Wilson was honorably discharged from the Marines as a Private First Class. Although many blacks returned home to find military service did not necessarily turn the tide of racism directed toward them, Wilson said he really didn’t experience it so much. “When I got out, things began to change — they were slowly promoting more blacks. It’s really something to see now when I go out and I see all these officers and non-commissioned officers,” he said. Wilson would go on to see two other brothers, Clinton Barber and Richard Smith, serve in the Korean War in the Army. Two more broth-

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ers, William Smith (who served in Vietnam) and Theodore Smith, went on to serve in the Air Force. Time and perspective Often romanticized in movies and shows, WWII was the first of the new age of progressive weaponry and battle tactics and held its own atrocities and hardships. Time and life experience have shaped views and wounds for Wilson, who saw his share of what war can bring — the good and bad. Although Wilson can still vividly recall the memories of war and his service, at the age of 92, he says the horror of it doesn’t bother him as it once did. “It used to come back to me, the bombings, but not any more like it did, say, 40 or 50 years ago,” he said. “I used to have these really clear bad dreams, but I don’t have them anymore. I’m at ease now.” One thing he still carries that hasn’t changed with time - Wilson Continued on 7 -

November/December 2015

- WILSON, CONTINUED FROM 6 -

and distance is what the military gave him. Already a hard worker, he credits the military with making him even more independent. “It made a man out of me, made me more responsible,” Wilson said. “I knew no one was going to give you anything — you can’t expect anything but a chance and an opportunity. The military made me more determined to work hard and take advantage of my opportunities.” Thank you for your service When asked what he thinks when people say, “Thank you for your service,” Wilson remarked, “I think it’s nice they thank me; it means a lot. I really think about it. It gives you a sense of pride. It’s better than them saying something else!” Wilson also credits the military for the life he’s been able to lead. “If it hadn’t been for my military service, I might have been dead,” he said. “With all

the stuff I’ve had done, there is no way I would have been able to pay for it all without the VA. My military service is responsible for my longevity. The care I’ve received has made me very

grateful in my old age.” By the way . . . That girl he was in love with? Well, she married someone else (he even received a

“Dear John” letter). But a year later, as he says, he got the better deal. He met Lorraine, his wife of 30 years, mother to his four children: Letitia, Patrice, Ronald and Rita.

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Al Ullman: Marine recalls Korean service PHOTO BY JULIA LEDOUX

Marine veteran Al Ullman poses in front of a photograph depicting helicopters landing in Korea during the height of the Korean War at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Va. Ullman was sent to Korea in 1952, six months after he graduated from boot camp.

BY JULIA LEDOUX

l Ullman had dreams of becoming a Marine from a young age. And those dreams would take him to the battlefields of a distant land. “I graduated high school on June 26, 1951 and on my birthday, June 29, I enlisted in the Marine Corps on my 18th birthday,” the Brooklyn, N.Y. native said. “It was something I always wanted to do.”

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Ullman spent a total of eight years in the Corps, four of them on active duty and four in the active reserves. “Having been born in 1933, I grew up during World War II, and of course the Marines were in the forefront of the World War II response,” he said. “I would have been very disappointed with myself had I not been able to join the Marines.” Ullman was sworn into the Corps on July 6, 1951 and on that same day he traveled by

train from New York City to Parris Island, S.C., for boot camp. When the train arrived in Yemassee, S.C., a young Marine outfitted in a starched khaki uniform jumped aboard. “Using expletives I’d never heard before, he ordered us off that train in no uncertain terms,” continued Ullman. “The first reaction of everyone was, ‘My God, what have I done?’” Ullman said boot camp was a trying, testing — but ultimately, a rewarding experience.

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“My first two weeks there, I couldn’t eat. It was just such a cultural shock,” he explained. “I was 18 years old, I’d never been away from home before.” Ullman said the Marines brought out in him abilities he did not know he had. “You felt so good because you graduated, I guess the word is you ‘survived’ boot camp,” he said. “You got through it and you were still in one piece and we were thankful for that.” Unlike today’s 13-week book camp, NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

back in Ullman’s day, Marine basic training was eight weeks. “They needed people because of the Korean War,” he said. Following graduation, Ullman was assigned to the infantry and was sent to Camp Pendleton, Calif., for additional training. “I got assigned to Weapons Company, specifically the Assault Platoon,” he said. Ullman learned about 3.5 inch rockets, demolitions and flamethrowers – knowledge that would prove invaluable when he deployed to Korea.

The road to Korea Ullman said when he signed his enlistment papers, he was told he did not need to worry about going to Korea because peace talks would soon begin in P’anmunjom. “Six months later, I was in Korea,” he said. On Feb. 2, 1952, Ullman’s troop transport ship landed in Korea and he was trucked to the town of Inje. “I was assigned to the 7th Marine Regiment, specifically 1st Battalion, 7th Marines. We all went to Weapons Company,” he said. Ullman was handed an 81mm mortar — a weapon he had no experience with. “I didn’t know anything about it,” he said. “They were giving me a whole new learning experience. I really learned that gun. I still have the field manual at home.” Two months after arriving in Korea, Ullman was promoted to the rank of corporal and in another month was squad leader for Able Company. “We were there because these bad guys jumped over on these good guys and we’re here to help these good guys, that’s it. And we’re Marines and Marines do these things,” he said. “I didn’t sit around pondering the political implications of why I was there or why that decision was made for us to go. I wanted NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

to be a Marine and that’s what Marines do.” Ullman and his division were soon shifted from Inje to a position along the Han River north of Seoul. “The expectation was the Chinese were going to come down that hill, so they put the division in there,” he said. “It was a dumb, silly war after that. All we did was take that hill, then they’d take it back, then we’d take it back. We just shelled the hell out of everybody, killed everybody we could kill. They were trying to kill everybody they could kill and were successful, as we were.” Even with that, nobody said the war was a dumb thing, Ullman continued. “In retrospect, it was a dumb thing,” he said. “What the hell are we doing fighting for these damn hills? The rationale being, whatever we held when the armistice was signed, would be the new line (between North and South Korea). So, the word was, get as much as you can.” Ullman said there were some really “nasty fights” at places called Bunker Hill, the Hook and the Nevada Outposts. “The Nevada Outposts, they were terrible,” he said. “They were out in front of the main line of resistance and were close to the enemy.” Ullman’s time in Korea came to an end in January 1953, when he returned home. “War is hours and hours of boredom and seconds of terror,” he said. “I tend to remember the good stuff, the people, the guys.” Today, he lives in Woodbridge and volunteers his time at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Va., where he instructs the facility’s new docents on the Korean War.

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Gordon Peterson, Vietnam

BY ELLEN TERNES

hirty-eight years after Gordon Peterson returned from his combat tour in Vietnam, he read a newspaper article that called that conflict “a war without heroes.” “It stuck in my craw,” said the retired Navy captain, who flew helicopters in the Mekong Delta with the heralded Navy Seawolves of Helicopter Attack (Light) Squadron 3 (HAL-3). Flying close cover for SEALS, U.S. and South Vietnamese ground units and Navy river patrol boats, the Seawolves lost 44 pilots and door gunners in five years. More than 200 were wounded. “To anyone who fought there, who was

in a combat unit, we knew who the heroes were,” said Peterson, “and most of them didn’t come home.” America is now officially commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War, which claimed the lives of more than 58,000 Americans. Now aging Baby Boomers, many Vietnam veterans were drafted. Most volunteered. For many, it has been a long road from the 1970s protests of the unpopular war to public recognition of Vietnam veterans for their service. Peterson, who lives in Springfield, Va., was one of those who wanted to serve in Vietnam. The son of a career Navy man, Peterson was a member of the U.S. Naval Academy class of 1968. “We were very

mindful of what was happening,” he said. “In the rotunda of Bancroft Hall, there were poster boards with the names and photos of all the alumni who had been killed in Vietnam. It was not uncommon to see someone you knew.” He thought about the Marine Corps, but in his senior year decided that, like a lot of his classmates, he wanted to go Navy air. “When I told my parents, my mom teared up,” Peterson remembered. “She asked me to fly low and slow. Little did I realize that I would one day do just that, although it certainly wasn’t a less dangerous flying environment.”

Low and slow

For Peterson, low and slow would come to mean helicopters and flying with the Seawolves, a light attack squadron that had established a reputation for daring and success in combat. “I believed in the mission and the cause,” Peterson said. “It’s what I was getting - PETERSON CONTINUED ON 14 -

Nha Be HAL-3 Det 2 March 1970

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HAL-3 Det 2 Gunners, January 1971

- PETERSON, CONTINUED FROM 12 -

paid to do, and that’s where the action was.” In January 1970, three months after earning his Navy wings and a week after his final aerial gunnery training with combat-tested Army pilots on UH-1B “Huey” helicopter gunships, LTJG Peterson arrived in Vietnam. A month later, he was flying with the Seawolves in the Mekong River Delta, about 10 miles south of Saigon. “The area was strategically important, politically and economically for shipping and supply routes,” Peterson said. The Seawolves’ mission was to give air cover to U.S. and Vietnamese forces operating along rivers and canals. That meant flying low — 1,000 feet or less — and slow, taking enemy fire and giving it back. “The Huey was the ‘jeep’ of Vietnam,” Peterson said. Manned by two pilots and two door gunners, the Huey was often under-powered under the weight of crew, am-

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munition and weapons. “We flew with the doors removed,” Peterson said. “They offered no protection from enemy rounds, and it was one less thing to worry about if we ditched in a river or canal.” Peterson says his training prepared him well, but actually flying in combat was a different beast from the training field. “It’s not that it was terrifying,” he said, “but when you’re in combat, you’re totally engaged, physically and mentally. There’s no time for fretting.” Peterson described many of his daily missions as “routine,” but there were the hair-raising moments, such as barely getting airborne when the aircraft was struggling with too much weight. And there were some intense encounters. “We supported Vietnamese Provincial Reconnaissance Units that were employed flushing out senior Viet Cong cadre,” said Peterson. “We would fly at a very low level D C M i l i t a r y. c o m / m a g a z i n e

to serve as a blocking force. We put down door gun fire to bar any route of escape, with hope they would be captured. Those missions were unfolding before my eyes, at treetop level.” In Peterson’s last two months in Vietnam, because he was also a fire team leader and one of the most combat-experienced pilots in his four-helicopter detachment, he said, “I was flying 100 hours a month, multiple missions every day and at night, because they hadn’t trained up some additional fire team leaders. For a young LTJG, that was a significant responsibility.” On some of those nights, there was little time for sleeping. When they were on call for 24-hour periods, the crews would sleep in their flight suits and boots in the ready room. “When we were getting scrambled from a sound sleep at two in the morning, we didn’t wait to get a briefing,” Peterson - PETERSON CONTINUED ON 16 -

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America is now officially commemorating the 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VIETNAM WAR, which claimed the lives of more than 58,000 Americans. Now aging Baby Boomers, many Vietnam veterans were drafted. Most volunteered. For many, it has been a long road from the 1970s protests of the unpopular war to public recognition of Vietnam veterans for their service.

Seawolf 27 - PETERSON, CONTINUED FROM 14 -

said. “If someone is calling you in the middle of the night, they need someone in a hurry. We immediately grabbed our helmets, raced out and put on our survival vests. By then, the enlisted men had taken the rotor tie-downs off, and we cranked and tried to be airborne in three minutes.” Peterson credits those enlisted crew for much of the Seawolves’ success. “Our door

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gunners were enlisted, they were volunteers. I believe they were the most potent weapon system we had. The rockets we were using had been developed decades earlier and were intended to be launched from an aircraft flying two to three times as fast we were flying. We didn’t exceed 90 knots during our rocket runs. The door gunners were putting down covering fire the whole time.” One of Peterson’s door gunners, Petty Officer Third Class James A. “Jim” Wall, D C M i l i t a r y. c o m / m a g a z i n e

would come to symbolize heroism for Peterson and many other Seawolves. Shortly before the end of Peterson’s tour, Wall was severely wounded when he was flying as door gunner on a different aircraft. While Wall was rushed to the infirmary, Peterson took it on himself to clean up Wall’s blood that covered the helo’s cabin floor. “A crowd gathered along the runway,” Peterson recalled. “I yelled at them to get the hell away. I wanted to be left alone. I didn’t NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

Seawolf Helo and PBR know what fate awaited Jim, a door gunner I had flown with many time since his first days in-country — one whom I felt especially close to after months of flying together.”

Coming home

In February 1971, after 515 missions, Peterson left Vietnam. Still wearing his jungle fatigues because there hadn’t been time to change before he boarded the military charter at Saigon’s Ton San Nhut air base, he landed at JFK airport on a cold winter morning. “One day I was in [another] country, the next day I was home,” Peterson said. “It felt somewhat surreal to be back at my home, see my parents, my dog, my friends.” Peterson said he was treated well. “The cab driver who took me from JFK to my home in Wantagh, New York, said ‘Welcome home,’ and only charged me half fare. When we drove up to my house, there was a ’Welcome Home Seawolf‘ sign in the front window. “I felt very fortunate, but my experience wasn’t shared by everyone who came back,” Peterson said. “One gunner who had been wounded went through convalescence, therapy, recovery, then went to college and was subjected

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to anti-war sentiment and behavior. Here was someone who very nearly gave his life.” Peterson soon reported to his next assignment, a helicopter squadron based in New Jersey. “I had a home. I was in the Navy. I was coming back to a squadron.” He married Diana, the young woman he had fallen in love with when he was a midshipman, and went on to a successful Navy career, retiring in 1998. He remains active with the Seawolf Association (www.seawolf.org). In addition to several civilian jobs, including senior editor of Sea Power Magazine, Peterson served as military legislative assistant for his Naval Academy classmate, Virginia U.S. Senator Jim Webb.

Heroes

Shortly after Peterson returned from Vietnam, there would be hard news from the Seawolves. Gunner Jim Wall had recovered from his wounds, but when he returned to flight duty, he was killed on his first mission. “He hadn’t even had time to unpack his seabag,” Peterson said. In 2000, Peterson helped lead the effort that named an enlisted barracks after Wall at the Norfolk Naval Station. D C M i l i t a r y. c o m / m a g a z i n e

Jim Wall Peterson said, “Vietnam shaped me. The men I led and the admiration and affection I had for them stuck with me, made me a more confident officer. The devotion to a common cause, the intensity, trusting your life to your fellow pilots and gunners — you never forget those experiences.” Peterson was awarded three medals for heroism in Vietnam, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, but, he said, “Those of us who served and who came home, we don’t like to be saddled with the notion of being a hero. We did our jobs, we did our mission. It’s those who did not come home with us who gave the last measure of devotion who are the heroes in our minds. Jim Wall was a hero.”

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Her service continues . . . This Air Force veteran stirs up hope, fellowship for those in need Jeanie Cross during her time as 95th Transportation Squadron commander, Edwards Air Force Base and in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, from 1994 to 1996.

BY ALICE SWAN

26-year Air Force career that took Jeanie Cross to Strategic Command assignments around the country and from the Philippines to Europe, Saudi Arabia and to Moscow hadn’t prepared her for this puzzle. Even the skills she’s gained in her new career as a policy analyst for the federal government can’t help her this Friday morning. What should she do with the crate of okra sitting in front of her in the kitchen of Central United Methodist Church in Arlington, Va.? For the past five years this decorated officer, who served in Desert Storm and the early years of the Global War on Terror and helped stand up the NATO military liaison mission in Moscow in 2002, has volunteered as chief cook at the church’s Friday morning breakfast for Arlington County’s homeless veterans and street people. Working in coordination with Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network (A-SPAN), Cross and her crew of dedicated volunteers provide a place where those in need can escape the heat or cold and enjoy a home-cooked meal featuring Cross’s culinary magic. Cross reports she began helping at the breakfasts in 2010. Previously, her husband Gene Cross, the former church pastor Reverend Richard Cobb and other men of CUMC had opened the church on Friday mornings, handing out hot coffee, juice and doughnuts. Going in to help one Friday on a day off from work, Jeanie Cross thought the group could do better by offering a hot and nutritious meal. Using all of her Air Force logistics training, Jeanie took over the kitchen and helped the men’s outreach program really take off. From those early days of welcoming 10 to 20 individuals for coffee and pastries, the CUMC breakfast now draws about 100 people each

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week. Everyone also leaves with a bag lunch. Through A-SPAN, the church receives donations from the Arlington Food Assistance Center that help guide Cross’s menu planning. In addition, A-SPAN uses the space and time to bring support services directly to those who need help. A veterans’ representative, community health nurse and case managers are always on hand to directly connect individuals to available resources. As Angelica Patrick, A-SPAN’s Rapid Rehousing case manager, shared recently, “This mission has been a good way for us to interact with people. Meals bring people together in a welcoming way and we always see those who come here bring others, so A-SPAN can help

PHOTO BY ALICE SWAN

Jeanie Cross works with fellow volunteers Luke Killian, Hannah Briscoe and Amber Wilhelm preparing bag lunches to be distributed during a Friday morning A-SPAN breakfast at Central United Methodist Church in Arlington, Va.

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them.” Having a place to engage with potential clients in a comfortable, non-threatening environment helps the organization reach more people than they’d be able to just trying to find them on the streets, Patrick added. Cross gives credit to understanding bosses, who’ve made it possible for her to have continued this volunteer mission for so long. Along with some of her co-workers, many often lend a hand at the breakfasts. She works from 5:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. or later Monday through Thursday in order to have Fridays off. She is still up in the early hours with husband Gene to open the church and start cooking every Friday morning, including the day after Thanksgiving and during the Christmas holidays. Plus, the Crosses lead a meal prep volunteer group each Thursday evening to get all the chopping, peeling and mixing done ahead of time. Not many of us can boast the energy and motivation that Jeanie Cross seems to possess, to keep serving our country through her government job and helping fellow veterans with a meal and a smile each week. What drives her? “I saw a need. How many of us drive or walk by a street person, maybe with a ‘Homeless Vet’ sign? If you give spare change, you are just facilitating and not solving the problem. These breakfasts are helping solve the problem,” Cross explained. “We are helping people into housing, into jobs. We are making a difference. The success stories make you feel great, seeing a veteran get a key or have someone come in to tell us they got a job.” Cross said she and her husband will continue to lead the breakfast mission until it’s no longer needed, which may occur when Arlington County opens its permanent homeless shelter. But for now, Cross will be working her magic behind the big stove, making nutritious meals out of the loaves and fishes provided. And that okra problem? She just had it chopped, mixed with a little egg and cream, dredged in corn bread mix from the AFAC donations, then stir-fried for a healthy version of fried okra. Another mission accomplished for this retired Air Force vet.

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Want to help a veteran? There are many ways to aid veterans in need within the local community. If you’d like to learn more about the Friday morning breakfasts at Central United Methodist church, go to www.cumcballston.org/ministries/ aspan. On the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website, you will find links to veteran service organizations looking for volunteers. Go to www. volunteer.va.gov for information. There are links to veterans’ homes and President Obama’s program, United We Serve. Find a list of veteran organizations and service groups providing assistance in the Greater Washington D.C. area at ova.dc.gov/page/ veterans-organizations. The Vets Group, www.vetsgroup.org, is a non-profit 501(c) 3 community-based organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C. According to the program, it helps veterans and their families achieve economic empowerment through education, entrepreneurship and employment. Assistance with affordable housing, family strengthening and health rehabilitation is also offered. Make a difference in the lives of some of the area’s oldest veterans and military retirees by volunteering at the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington, D.C. From joining in on games, calling Bingo numbers to just sharing a quiet conversation, your service would be welcome. Visit www. afrh.gov/volunteer to learn more.

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Jen Swierk – Iraq – GI Jane Hippie

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JEN SWIERK

BY ELLEN TERNES

hen Jen Swierk was in high school in Alaska, she could have been voted the class member least likely to go into the military — let alone volunteer to enter a war zone. A self-described hippie in high school, Swierk said she openly protested the government’s decision to invade Iraq. She was so adamant about her feelings that after an argument with an Army friend who would soon be in one of the first units to be deployed to Iraq, the two stopped talking. “When she got back from Iraq,

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we got into another heated debate,” Swierk said, “and she told me, ‘The only thing you know is what see is on the news.’ I realized she was right. A couple of months later I decided to join the military so I could see with my own eyes.” In 2005, Swierk enlisted in the Army and trained as an MP. “I knew being an MP was one of the two ways that as a woman I could go into a combat area,” she said. In 2007, she deployed with the 10th Mountain Division to Northern Iraq, where she spent the next 14 months finding out for herself what her soldier friend had been talking about. “Once I was there, it gave me a whole new perspective on what our

men and women do for our country,” Swierk said. “I don’t know about politically in the big scheme, but what I do know is that we were making a difference.” FOB Warrior Kirkuk Swierk arrived at FOB Warrior Kirkuk at a time when there were fewer hostilities than in the southern part of the country. She was one of only a few women in a unit of 25 MPs who handled protective services for the Brigade staff and high-ranking visitors. “I got to travel to a lot of places,” she said. “They would go out into communities and meet with high government officials or the head of

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the police force in that town.” She started out as a driver, waiting with her vehicle while the command staff met inside the village. Then, one day, they needed a scribe to take notes at the meetings. Swierk got the job. “Everyone else had to sit in the truck while I actually got to go into the village,” she said. “I got to be on the ground, go to the meetings, go into the orphanages. I got to hear the gratitude coming from the Iraqis. A lot of us may have seen the negative, that the people didn’t appreciate us being there, but what I heard from the officials in Iraq was thanking us, thanking us for making it safer for their children.” NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

Honor

Courage Commitment

It wasn’t long after arriving in Iraq that Swierk’s unit was reminded that they were in a combat zone. “I think in the beginning we all felt a little more nonchalant going on missions, because we hadn’t felt the impacts of the war yet,” Swierk said, “but in the first few months of our deployment, in November, we lost a truck full of people to an IED. They were in my platoon. One of them was a fellow Alaskan, Rooster, who I cared for deeply. “I remember when they first told us, there was a lot of crying. The next day, we had a little gathering with the chaplain before they sent them back to the United States. To have to carry one of my brother’s bodies into that airplane was one of the hardest and darkest experiences of my life. “But then we had to get ready for the next mission. It was kind of ‘suck it up and go back out there.’” GI Jane Hippie Swierk’s fellow soldiers called her GI Jane Hippie. “I’m competitive, hard-charging,” she said. Only 5’4” with a small build, she regularly finished in the top 1 percent in physical training. In 2011, she was the only woman in the 39 teams in the grueling Military Police Warfighter ComNOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

petition. She says that helped her fit in as a woman. “I tended to do very well PTwise,” Swierk said. “I think that’s really what it comes down to with a male soldier. If you can shoot, do the same aspects they can, I think that gets a lot of respect from them.” Swierk says all Army women didn’t share her experience. “I know a lot of women dealt with being sexually harassed. It was my job to talk with lower-ranking females, and I heard stories. I was never belittled or treated differently, but I never gave them a reason to.” Swierk relishes the camaraderie she found in her platoon. There was one tough day when she helped a medic try to save a man who had been shot nearby. Swierk ended up covered in his blood. “Later that night, some of the guys and I huddled in one of their rooms, nothing crazy, just five people talking about the situation that happened,” Swierk said. “There were always nights like that.” There also was Girls’ Night. “Some of the women in my battalion were on the other side of the FOB, and you had to take a bus to

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get there. My girlfriends would come over and pick me up on the bus and we would have Girls’ Night. We tried to do it once a week if I wasn’t on mission.” Women of Iraq Being a woman gave Swierk a chance to do something a male soldier could not have done. She and her female platoon sergeant trained the first Northern Iraq contingent of women police. She says it was one of her favorite things about her time in Iraq. “There was a group of Iraqi women who stood up for their country,” Swierk said. “They knew that no one in their country supported them in doing that job, but it was a job that needed to be done. For instance, due to their customs, men can’t search women the way other women can. We taught them basic rioting tactics, how to search other females. “We attempted to teach them physical fitness — I don’t think any of them had ever done that. The male instructors who were there wouldn’t even look at them while they were doing it, because it’s considered disrespectful to see women moving like that.” Swierk said, “It was really cool to work with these women, they really took us in. It made me feel like I was capable of giving something to the country on a personal level.” That experience would have a bittersweet outcome. Swierk is still in touch with the interpreter who helped them in the police training. “He tells me that the area has been completely taken over by terrorists and that most of the women we trained have been killed,” she said. Today Swierk left the Army at the rank of Staff Sergeant in 2013, after serving in the Criminal Investigative Division (CID) and, in 2011, being named the CID Soldier of the Year. As a gay woman, she had wrestled with the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that was in effect during most of her time in. Now 31, Swierk is a student at the University of Maryland, College Park, and married to another Army veteran. She switched her major from criminal justice to kinesiology, with the goal of doing physical therapy

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for veterans. The first in her family to graduate from college, Swierk will get her bachelor’s degree in May, then start work on a doctorate of physical therapy. She’s found a new home in the university’s 800-member veterans’ group, Terp Vets. “This is probably the number one school for veteran support,” Swierk said. “People on campus will bend over backward to help. The vets help each other out, whatever you need.” Swierk also stays in touch with the guys in her platoon in Iraq. She says the experiences she had with them and in the Army “gave me confidence I wouldn’t have had. I met some of the best people. Those men took me in as one of their own. They showed me open mindedness, open-heartedness, compassion and respect.” As for finding out what war was all about, Swierk said, “When I look back, I don’t have some of the regrets that I know other people do. I knew there were good things being done there, but I wonder to myself if certain sacrifices were worth it, especially when November comes around, and I think about those friends I lost.”

Photos courtesy of Swierk

Swierk liked when they went out on a mission, saw dogs and cats and could play with them. “They were lighthearted moments, which you didn’t have too often,” she said. “The puppy brought so much happiness to us that day.”

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November/December 2015

PHOTOS COURTESY OF TEAM RWB

Members of Team Red, White & Blue pose for a photo right after completing hike in Maryland.

TEAM

Red,White & Blue

BY JIM MAHAFFIE

his past July, I participated in the Register’s Annual Greater Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI), riding a bike from the western side of Iowa to the east, touring tiny towns and sampling Iowa niceness. I spent an afternoon riding with an Iraq War veteran named Kevin Smith. He was charging hard and encouraging the three others with him. He had on a bright red Team Red, White & Blue shirt and a big smile, and he told me all about Team RWB. He and tens of thousands of other vets return from deployments with the now-known effects of their experiences, ranging from a feeling of hopelessness and not belonging to severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Smith had returned from his deployments vowing not to let his experiences in Iraq keep him down in any way. A competitive athlete, he chose to give NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

back volunteering his time to “helping other vets out of their funk,” he told me. This past July he joined a loose bunch of veterans and military friends from Georgia to ride around Iowa for a week. Team RWB organizes weekly runs, bike rides, triathlons, running races, climbing, hiking, watersports . . . the list goes on. Completely volunteer-driven, their mission is to enrich the lives of America’s veterans by connecting them to their community through physical and social activity. Former US Army officer and vet Bill Rausch leads a weekly Tuesday night run in Old Town Alexandria, Va. “It’s not as much a running group as a cool community. We started two years ago, looking for a way to bring the community together and connect military vets and families,” he said. “I know from personal experience how being part of a community matters, especially if you struggle after

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Members of Team Red, White & Blue pose for a group photo just before competing in the Firecracker 5k race in Reston, Va. - TEAM, Continued FROM 23 -

being deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.” So every Tuesday at 6 p.m., a group meets in front of City Hall under the big American flag and fountain there. “We started with two to three people, and now have groups of over 50 show up,” said Rausch. “That’s our rally point, and we have all kinds of other activities in and around Alexandria.” That includes rock climbing every Monday at SportRock, a program run by another vet. Team RWB is closely connected with the American Legion, Team Rubicon and Volunteer Alexandria, promoting volunteerism of all kinds. “It’s the simple concept of connecting good people to a great community,” said Rausch. “Last year the mayor declared year of the veteran. The support network is there and we have really grown and blossomed.” After his tours in Iraq, Army veteran Adam Silver lives in Springfield, Va., and is another volunteer athletic director of all fitness-related events for

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Photos courtesy of Team RWB

A member of Team Red, White & Blue Washington, D.C. makes his way down the Potomac River during a stand-up paddleboarding event sponsored by the chapter. Team RWB DC. He met another vet while participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, learned about Team RWB and is now prepping to run the Marine Corps Marathon this fall –

his first. “I was struggling to get back into civilian life, and mentally and physically I was in a bad spot,” said Silver. “I went and checked out the Tuesday Alexan-

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dria run and kept going back. No one judges. No one asks dumb questions. But you realize how many people relate to your experiences and are interested in the same things you are.” November/December 2015

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A member of Team Red, White & Blue takes a moment to reflect on the events of Sept. 11, 2001 during a 9/11 Moving Tribute group run.

An avid hiker and outdoorsman, Silver started as an outdoor coordinator. “When I was going hiking, I’d invite other people through our Facebook page,” he said. “We’ve built up the program from nothing to two or more events a month now.” Events range from short three-mile kid- and dog-friendly hikes to a three-day overnight trip to West Virginia that included camping, hiking and kayaking. Everyone’s invited. “We always have a good mix of veterans and others who just want to join,” said Silver. Research on Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom veterans suggests that 10 to 18 percent are likely to have PTSD after they return, as well as anxiety and depression, according to the U.S. DepartNOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015

ment of Veterans Affairs. Team RWB builds a community of like-minded individuals who refuse to let PTSD or any other combat-related injury stand in their way to living a normal life. Founded in 2010, Team RWB has 82,543 members in over 120 communities, in the U.S. and across the globe, according to their website. “Physical activity can jumpstart recovery from a lot,” said Adam Silver. “No one doesn’t have anything going on in their heads. We have people that come to RWB because they need help themselves. Others come because they want to help others and better themselves. At the end of the day, everyone is getting something out of this.” D C M i l i t a r y. c o m / m a g a z i n e

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Way, Way, Way Oﬀ Broadway BY KAREN FINUCAN CLARKSON

hile it may not have a theater district per se — such as New York’s Broadway — the Washington, D.C. area is home to 80-plus professional theaters that mount more than 350 productions and play to a combined audience that exceeds 2 million people each year, according to Destination DC, the District’s convention and tourism bureau. The nation’s capital has the second-highest per-capita number of theater productions annually. From the grand to the intimate, local theaters play host to touring companies of current and future Broadway shows, produce their own renditions of Broadway classics, and premiere new and cutting-edge musicals, dramas and comedies. Live theater does not come cheap. Tickets to Broadway touring company productions can run $150 or more apiece. But there’s no reason to pay full price. Many theaters offer military discounts, and the USO provides free tickets through a lottery. Some theaters dedicate an entire performance to the military and others have special packages that give wounded warriors and their spouses a theatrical night to remember. Fourteen local venues are members of the Blue Star Theatre initiative, which is designed to recognize the contributions of service families and strengthen connections between the theater community and military families across the country, according to the program’s website. Each the-

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ater sets its own discount policy. For example, Olney Theatre offers both discounts and complimentary tickets, depending on the show, while Folger Theatre provides half-off tickets and Signature Theatre marks down tickets by 20 percent. All 14 theaters accept phone reservations and a few — such as Signature, if you plug in the code MIL20 — take online reservations. A valid military ID is required to pick up tickets, which generally are held at the theaters’ will-call window. Just because a venue isn’t a Blue Star Theatre member doesn’t mean that military discounts aren’t available. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts offers 50 percent discounts to enlisted military personnel, grades E1-E4, through its Specially Priced Tickets program (www.kennedy-center.org/tickets/spts.cfm) and discounted and complimentary tickets to active-duty members of the armed forces through the MyTix program (www. kennedy-center.org/mytix/about). Sometimes it is theater companies and not the venue that offer military discounts. Two of the Hylton Performing Arts Center’s resident art partners — Manassas Ballet and Prince William Little Theater — offer reduced-price tickets to military families, according to Jessica Pettit, the theater’s public relations and media coordinator. While not exclusive to the military, other programs offer significant discounts. Round House Theatre offers two pay-what-you-can (PWYC) performances during the first week of each production. PWYC tickets, which go on sale at the box office one hour prior

to curtain, are limited to two per person and must be paid for with cash.Theater J has one or two PWYC preview performances for each of its shows and Woolly Mammoth offers PWYC tickets for the first two performances, usually Monday and Tuesday, of every production two hours prior to curtain, with a limit of two tickets per person and payment by cash or check. If you can attend a performance at the start of the week, discounts are deeper. Round House has $10 Tuesdays, where side section seats can be purchased with a bill featuring Alexander Hamilton, and Signature Theater has $22 Tuesdays during the first two Tuesdays of a show’s run. Signature also has rush tickets. “Any seats not sold one hour prior to the show are sold for $30,” said Jen Buzzell, Signature’s director of marketing. The Shakespeare Theatre offers $25 rush tickets for any unsold seat beginning two hours before show time, and Olney Theatre has $15 rush tickets for students. Stampede tickets is how Woolly Mammoth refers to seats available two hours prior to curtain. The theater makes 10 or more side balcony seats available for all main stage performances for $15 each with a limit of two per person. Theater J’s 10 for $10 program sets aside 10 tickets for every performance, each of which is sold for $10. “We believe that live theater is for everyone — and should be accessible to everyone, too,” noted the theater’s website.

Blue Star Theatres Arena Stage 1101 6th St., SW Washington, DC 20024 202-554-9066 arenastage.org Center Stage 700 North Calvert St. Baltimore, MD 21202 410-332-0033 www.centerstage.org Chesapeake Shakespeare Company 7 South Calvert St. Baltimore, MD 21202 410-244-8570 chesapeakeshakespeare.com Constellation Theatre Company 1835 14th St., NW Washington, D.C. 20009 202-204-7741 www.constellationtheatre.org Everyman Theatre 315 West Fayette St. Baltimore, MD 21201 410-752-2208 www.everymantheatre.org Folger Theatre 201 East Capitol St., SE Washington, DC 20003 544-4600 www.folger.edu Ford’s Theatre 511 10th St., NW Washington, DC 20004 202-347-4833 www.fords.org Olney Theatre 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road Olney, MD 20832 301-924-3400 www.olneytheatre.org Round House Theatre 4545 East-West Hwy Bethesda, MD 20814 240-644-1100 www.roundhousetheatre.org Signature Theatre 4200 Campbell Ave. Arlington, VA 22206 703-820-9771 www.sigtheatre.org Studio Theatre 1501 14th St., NW Washington, DC 20005 202-332-3300 www.studiotheatre.org Theater J 1529 16th St., NW Washington DC 20036 202-518-9400 www.washingtondcjcc.org Woolly Mammoth 641 D St., NW Washington, DC 20004 202-393-3939 www.woollymammoth.net Young Playwrights’ Theater 2437 15th St., NW Washington, D.C. 20009 202-387-9173 www.youngplaywrightstheater.org

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Some theaters offer shows or concerts that are free or close to the price of a movie ticket. Hylton doesn’t charge to see The U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own.” “We’ve made a commitment to keeping things affordable,” said Pettit. Tickets to shows in Hylton’s family series are $15 for adults and $5 for students. Committed to expanding the contexts in which poetry and literature are experienced, Folger Theatre offers tickets to its PEN/Faulkner Reading and O.B. Hardison Poetry series for $15, or $7.50 with its military discount. “You’ll hear celebrated authors read their works, learn about their inspirations, and get a book signed,” said Peter Eramo, Jr., marketing and PR manager for Folger Shakespeare Library. Several websites offer reduced-price theater tickets. While you can score discount tickets at TICKETPLACE. org, culturecapital.tix.com, the website is a great resource for learning more about the D.C. arts scene. DC Theatre Scene’s website, dctheatrescene.com/ hot-tickets, lists PWYC and other discounted performances to D.C. shows. Goldstar, www.goldstar.com/washington-dc, and Theatre Mania, www. theatermania.com/washington-dc/ discount-tickets, offer cheap tickets to theatrical events. The USO of Metropolitan Washington-Baltimore’s Ticketline (www. usometro.org/tickets) provides military families with free tickets to performing arts and sporting events. Among the venues contributing tickets are the Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts, the 9:30 Club, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Arena Stage and the Shakespeare Theatre, according to Amy Altersitz, center coordinator for the Warrior and Family Center at Fort Belvoir. Those who register with Ticketline receive emails whenever show and event tickets become available. The names of those who indicate an interest in a particular show are entered into a random drawing. When ticket winners are notified, they can accept or reject the tickets. Those who accept must use the tickets or risk being put on probation, a 90-day period during which they are ineligible to receive tickets. “Tickets received from USO Metro are not transferable and may not be resold,” says Michelle Shortencarrier, communications manager for the USO of Metropolitan Washington-Baltimore.

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DC Military M A G A Z I N E

Holiday Performances A Christmas Carol Nov. 19-Dec. 31 Performance times vary Ford’s Theatre 511 10th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 202-347-4833 www.fords.org Lemony Snicket’s The Lump of Coal Nov. 20-Dec. 31 Performance times vary Adventure Theatre Musical Theater Center Glen Echo Park 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, Md. 301-634-2270 www.adventuretheatre-mtc.org A Christmas Carol Nov. 27-Dec. 27 Performance times vary Olney Theatre Center 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Olney, Md. 301-924-3400 www.olneytheatre.org Chanticleer: A Chanticleer Christmas Nov. 29 • 4 p.m. Hylton Performing Arts Center 10960 George Mason Circle, Manassas, Va. 703-993-7759 hyltoncenter.org Swing Machine Big Band: Fourth Annual Christmas Extravaganza Dec. 3 • 7:30 p.m. Hylton Performing Arts Center 10960 George Mason Circle, Manassas, Va. 703-993-7759 hyltoncenter.org A Fairtytale Christmas Carol Dec. 4-6 Gunston Arts Center 2700 South Lang St., Arlington, Va. 703-548-1154 www.arlingtonarts.org Lee Greenwood: A Lee Greenwood Christmas Dec. 4 • 8 p.m. Hylton Performing Arts Center 10960 George Mason Circle, Manassas, Va. 703-993-7759 hyltoncenter.org

During the holiday season, the number of tickets available to shows via Ticketline increases, according to Altersitz. And sometimes, there are shows where many of the tickets are available only through Ticketline. Such was the case last year when Northrup Grumman and GEICO sponsored a performance for 500 military personnel and their dependents of the Washington Ballet’s “The Nutcracker.” Indications are that the performance will recur this year, she said. Date night — complimentary dinner at Carmine’s in Penn Quarter followed by a performance at

Dave Koz Christmas Tour 2015 Dec. 4 • 8 p.m. The Music Center at Strathmore 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, Md. 301-581-5100 www.strathmore.org Manassas Chorale: The Spirit of Christmas Dec. 5 • 5 p.m. Hylton Performing Arts Center 10960 George Mason Circle, Manassas, Va. 703-993-7759 hyltoncenter.org Christmas with Nova Y. Payton and Friends Dec. 8-24 Performance times vary Signature Theatre 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington, Va. 703-820-9771 www.sigtheatre.org NSO Pops: The von Trapps & Ashley Brown Family Holiday Dec. 10-12 Performance times vary The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St. NW, Washington, D.C. 202-467-4600 www.kennedy-center.org American Festival Pops Orchestra: Holiday Pops: Songs of the Season Dec. 11 • 8 p.m. Hylton Performing Arts Center 10960 George Mason Circle, Manassas, Va. 703-993-7759 hyltoncenter.org WNO: Holiday Family Opera: Hansel and Gretel Dec. 12-20 Performance times vary The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts 2700 F St. NW, Washington, D.C. 202-467-4600 www.kennedy-center.org

Compiled by KAREN FINUCAN CLARKSON

Sweet Honey in the Rock® — Celebrating the Holydays Dec. 13 • 4 p.m. The Music Center at Strathmore 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, Md. 301-581-5100 www.strathmore.org Afro Blue Christmas Dec. 13 • 5 p.m. BlackRock Center for the Arts, 12901 Town Commons Dr. Germantown, Md. 301-528-2260 www.blackrockcenter.org NSO: Handel’s Messiah Dec. 17-20 Performance times vary The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts 2700 F St. NW, Washington, D.C. 202-467-4600 www.kennedy-center.org Handel’s Messiah Dec. 19-20 • 8 p.m., Sat.; 3 p.m., Sun. The Music Center at Strathmore 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, Md. 301-581-5100 www.strathmore.org Savion Glover: Dance Holiday Spectacular Dec. 19 • 8 p.m. George Mason University Center for the Arts 4373 Mason Pond Dr., Fairfax, Va. 703-993-8888 www.gmu.edu/cfa Stars of David: Story to Song Dec. 22-27 Performance times vary Theater J 1529 16th St. NW, Washington D.C. 202-518-9400 www.washingtondcjcc.org

Joy of Christmas (feat. Cathedral Choral Society) Dec. 12-13 • 4 p.m. Washington National Cathedral 3101 Wisconsin Ave. NW Washington, D.C. 202-537-2228 www.cathedralchoralsociety.org

the Shakespeare Theatre — allows wounded warriors and their spouses “to regain a sense of ‘us,’” said Noreen Major, the theater’s associate director of development. “They can hold hands, be intimate, and get a feel for what is their new normal. Date night — a partnership between the theater, USO Metro and Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors — is supported by Booz Allen Hamilton and M Powered Strategies. Live performances of shows such as “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Potted Potter” are at the heart of the Shakespeare Theater’s free military

D C M i l i t a r y. c o m / m a g a z i n e

family day. Pre- and post-performance activities engage children and adults and reinforce the show’s theme. “With ‘Potted Potter,’ we had a live owl and children could try on sorting hats and capes,” said Major. On any given night in the national capital region, curtains rise on upwards of 200 performances throughout the District, Virginia and Maryland, according to Destination DC, and tickets often are available below face value. But, agree theater administrators, you have to ask. With a little planning, flexibility and luck, you can take in show here in the nation’s capital for a song. November/December 2015

FUN (& IMPORTANT) STUFF TO DO The Price of Freedom: Americans at War

Ongoing

The National Museum of American History 14th Street and Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. americanhistory.si.edu/exhibitions/price-of-freedom Jews in the American Military

Ongoing

National Museum of American Jewish Military History 1811 R St. NW, Washington, D.C. 202-265-6280 www.nmajmh.org

Nov. 27-Dec. 31 (except Dec. 25)

•Wine Under the Lights: Nov. 20, 6-10 p.m. •Run Under the Lights: Nov. 21, 6:15 p.m. •S’more Lights & Trolley Rides: Nov. 22, 5:30-9 p.m. •Leashes ‘n’ Lights: Nov. 24, 6-9 p.m. Seneca Creek State Park 11950 Clopper Road Gaithersburg, Md. 301-258-6350 www.gaithersburgmd.gov/ leisure/special-events/winter-lights-festival Lights on the Bay

Nov. 21-Jan. 6 5-10 p.m.

Sandy Point State Park 1100 E College Pkwy Annapolis, Md. lightsonthebay.org

Christmas at Mount Vernon

Nov. 27-Jan. 6

9 a.m.-5 p.m. •Mount Vernon by Candlelight (weekends only, through Dec. 20) •Christmas Illuminations at Mount Vernon (Dec. 18-19, 5:30 p.m.) George Washington’s Mount Vernon 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway Mount Vernon, Va. 703-780-2000 www.mountvernon.org

Nov. 27-Dec. 23

Nov. 21-Jan. 3 Nov. 20-24 (special events)

201 Waterfront St. National Harbor, Md. bit.ly/19hMWbk

11th Annual Downtown D.C. Holiday Mart

ICE! Christmas on the Potomac Winter Lights Festival

Compiled by Karen Finucan Clarkson

Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center

Noon-8 p.m. 8th and F Streets NW Washington, D.C. downtownholidaymarket.com

Zoolights

Nov. 27-Jan. 1 (except Dec. 24, 25, 31) 5-9 p.m. National Zoological Park 3001 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, D.C. 202-633-4888 s.si.edu/1g5HL83 Festival of Lights

Nov. 27-Jan. 1

5-9:30 p.m. Watkins Regional Park 301 Watkins Park Drive (Route 193) Upper Marlboro, Md. 301-699-2456 www.pgparks.com/Festival_of_ Lights.htm Other Festivals of Lights Dates and hours TBD •22nd Annual Symphony of Lights Merriweather Post Pavilion, Broken Land Pkwy and Hickory Ridge Road, Columbia, Md. bit.ly/1bSd1ni - Calendar Continued on 30 -

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*Subject to 10% entertainment tax and transact ion fee per ticket. **Per room plus tax, resort fee and parking. Package pricing, components, show schedules and entertainment subject to change without notice. See website for restrictions. Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town © Classic Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. PEPSI and Pepsi Globe are registered trademarks of PepsiCo, Inc.

November/December 2015

D C M i l i t a r y. c o m / m a g a z i n e

DC Military M A G A Z I N E

| 29

- Calendar, Continued FROM 29 -

•38th Annual Festival of Lights The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 9900 Stoneybrook Drive Kensington, Md. 301-587-0144 dctemplelights.lds.org •Bull Run Festival of Lights 7700 Bull Run Dr. Centreville, VA 703-631-0550 www.bullrunfestivaloflights.com •Meadowlark’s Winter Walk of Lights Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, 9750 Meadowlark Gardens Court, Vienna, Va. 703-255-3631 www.winterwalkoflights.com •The Garden of Lights Brookside Gardens 1800 Glenallen Ave., Wheaton, Md. 301-962-1400 www.montgomeryparks.org/ brookside/garden_lights.shtm

•Holiday Designer Tour of Homes: Dec. 5, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Alexandria, Va. Deck the Halls with Santa (tickets required)

Dec. 6, time to be announced The Campagna Center 418 S. Washington Street Alexandria, Va. 703-549-0111 www.campagnacenter.org/ scottishwalkweekend Holly TrolleyFest

Dec. 5-20 (Sat. & Sun. only)

12:30-4:30 p.m. National Capital Trolley Museum 1313 Bonifant Road Colesville, Md. 301-384-6088 www.dctrolley.org Breakfast with Santa

Dec. 5

8-9:30 a.m. and 10-11:30 a.m. The Clubs at Quantico 3017 Russell Road Quantico, Va. 703-784-2249 www.quantico.usmc-mccs.org Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

Dec. 6 Annmarie Garden In Lights

Dec. 4-Jan. 2 (except Dec. 7-9, 14-15 and 24-25) Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center 13480 Dowell Road / 99 Dowell, Md. 410-326-4640 bit.ly/1KWYIP0

December 45th Annual Scottish Christmas Walk Weekend & Parade

Dec. 4-6

Old Town Alexandria •Taste of Scotland: Dec. 4, 8 p.m. The George Washington Masonic Memorial Temple 101 Callahan Drive Alexandria, Va. •Heather and Greens Sale: Dec. 4, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Dec. 5, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. The Campagna Center 418 S. Washington St. Alexandria, Va. •Holiday Marketplace Dec. 5, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The Campagna Center 418 S. Washington Street Alexandria, Va.

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4-6 p.m. Lejeune Hall, Quantico, Va. 703-784-3004 www.quantico.usmc-mccs.org Holiday Concert (featuring the U.S. Army Field Concert Band & Soldiers’ Chorus)

Dec. 9

7 p.m. Meade Senior High School 1100 Clark Rd, Fort Meade, Md. 301-677-5550 www.armyfieldband.com Eastport Yacht Club Lights Parade

Dec. 12

6-8 p.m. Eastport Yacht Club 317 First Street Annapolis, Md. 410-267-9549 www.eastportyc.org NatsFest (Washington Nationals Fan Festival)

Dec. 12-13

10-11:30 a.m. (season plan holders) 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. (general public) Walter E. Washington Convention Center

801 Mt Vernon Pl NW Washington, D.C. 202-675-6287 www.nationals.com/natsfest Reindeer Run 5K

Dec. 19

8 a.m. Murphy Field House Fort Meade, Md.

6th DC Tattoo Expo

Jan 15-17

12 p.m.-11 p.m., Fri.-Sat.; 12 p.m.8 p.m., Sun. Crystal Gateway Marriott, 1700 Jefferson Davis Hwy. Arlington, Va. 571-606-3866 www.dctattooexpo.com

www.meade.armymwr.com

Washington Wedding Experience

Family New Year’s Party

Jan. 17

Dec. 31

5-8 p.m. The Lanes at Fort Meade, 2788 MacArthur Rd Fort Meade, Md. 301-677-5541 www.ftmeademwr.com Adult New Year’s Party

Dec. 31

9 p.m.-1 a.m. The Lanes at Fort Meade, 2788 MacArthur Rd Fort Meade, MD 301-677-5541 www.ftmeademwr.com

EagleBank Arena (Patriot Center) 4500 Patriot Circle Fairfax, Va. 703-425-1127 www.weddingexperience.com The Washington Auto Show

Jan. 22-31

Hours vary Walter E. Washington Convention Center 801 Mt Vernon Pl NW Washington, D.C. www.washingtonautoshow.com Home + Remodeling Show

New Year’s Gala Celebration

Jan. 22-24

Dec. 31

Hours vary Dulles Expo Center, 4320 Chantilly Shopping Center, Chantilly, Va. 703-378-0910 www.homeandremodelingshow.

8 p.m.-1 a.m. The Clubs at Quantico 3017 Russell Road Quantico, Va. Reservations required. Email mccsquanticoclubs@ usmc-mccs.org or call 703-784-4264 www.quantico.usmc-mccs.org

January NBC4 Health & Fitness Expo

Jan. 9-10

9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat.; 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Sun. Walter E. Washington Convention Center 801 Mt Vernon Pl NW Washington, DC 512-522-2435 www.networkevents.tv/ events/2016-nbc4-health-fitnessexpo-washington-dc

com Sugarloaf Craft Festival

Jan. 29-31

Hours vary Dulles Expo Center, 4320 Chantilly Shopping Center, Chantilly, Va. 301-990-1400 www.sugarloafcrafts.com 2016 Maryland State Police Polar Bear Plunge!

Jan. 30

Sandy Point State Park, 1100 E College Pkwy Annapolis, Md. www.plungemd.com

Washington Wedding Experience

Jan. 10 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Walter E. Washington Convention Center 801 Mt Vernon Pl NW Washington, D.C. 703-425-1127 www.weddingexperience.com

D C M i l i t a r y. c o m / m a g a z i n e

November/December 2015

for those who stand watch over our nation ON VETERANS DAY, WE HONOR AND REMEMBER THE DEDICATION AND SERVICE OF ALL U.S. MILITARY VETERANS. NO GREATER APPRECIATION CAN BE RENDERED TO THESE GREAT AMERICANS THAN BY PROVIDING THEM WITH OUR VERY BEST TECHNICAL AND ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS.

we have counted on their sacrifice and they can count on our commitment to deliver on our promise.

honoring veterans day