Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

Veteran Stories

Can You Be A Veteran Detective?

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by Kimberly A. Cook           (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

With the holidays only hours away, perhaps you can be a veteran detective this year. What’s that? If you’re with family members or friends who are veterans, see if you can get them to tell you a story or two. Some may not want to talk about their experiences, perfectly okay, but if you can find out their military unit and what years they served, you can do research on your own.

Maybe someone will remember a stash of military letters this holiday season, like these found by my family in my Dad's dresser drawer. Gold mine!
Maybe someone will remember a stash of military letters this holiday season, like these found by my family in my Dad’s dresser drawer. Gold mine!

Many times we don’t ask people about their military stories and they are lost forever.

When journalist Mark Bowden interviewed the soldiers and wrote the book about Somalia  titled “Blackhawk Down,” he found that out first hand. When he asked the military personnel involved why their amazing stories had not been told before, they replied, “Nobody asked.”

If you have time this holiday season, ask some questions and find out a few stories you can write down to keep for memories and t0 honor the veteran who told them, whether she or he even thinks they’re important. Truly listening to someone is an act of love. What better way to celebrate the holidays?

Update: Promised to let you know how the great military records hunt turned out. I filled out the forms and sent them off for my Dad’s World War II records. Found out his were in the fire which destroyed many WWII Army records. I paid $25 to have copies made of what they had and it turned out to be about six pages, two items we already have. So now, more hunting. I’ve actually got more than the archives from Dad’s personal record stash.

We requested my Mom’s military records and she received those. Now I am waiting for my grandfather’s and uncle’s.  Here is the link to the blog post I wrote about how to request military records. https://kimberlyacook.com/2014/07/22/know-how-to-request-military-records/

Wishing all of you a safe and wonderful holiday season.

Blog Programming Note: I’m posting an early Quirky Friday blog post on Christmas Eve, so I’ll be posting again next Tuesday. Thanks for reading!

 

Happy Veterans Day To All Who Have, Are Now And Will Serve

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by Kimberly A. Cook                         (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Happy Veterans Day! To all my warrior sisters and brothers who have served in the Army, Navy, National Guard, Marines, Coast Guard, Air Force and Merchant Marine, active duty and reserve, thank you for your service. While we are veterans everyday, it is nice the nation sets aside one day to say thank you.

Our fabulous pink (me) and purple (Karen) fleece outfits before the 5K walk. Notice my first ever bib race number!
Our fabulous pink (me) and purple (Karen) fleece outfits before the 5K walk. Notice my first ever bib race number!

In honor of this day, I decided to do something I had never done before. This past Saturday I entered the first ever Veterans 5K Run/Walk at Camp Withycombe in Clackamas, Oregon.

My power walker sister Karen agreed to go with me and we were registered and off. The Nov. 8 race was 3.1 miles on the Camp Withycombe grounds with luckily a flat as a pancake course.

We got there at 8:30 a.m., got our race numbers and swag then hit the course after the kids. For some reason there were more walkers than runners, but works for me. We got to walk by the display tanks, through the motor pool, a fun time was had by all. They even had a fabulous drummer halfway through the course to help us keep a beat.

Coming attractions: Re-opening August 2015.
Coming attractions: Re-opening August 2015.

Now we did stop and take our pictures with the tanks. Since $10 of each entry fee went to the Oregon Military Museum slated to reopen in August, 2015, you know I was happy to support the tanks and their museum.

Once you’ve served in an Army mechanized division, you always love the tanks. It was a fun event and now we have to plan for next year. Maybe I can reduce my time by a minute or two.

 

A girl and her tank,,,, a true love story.
A girl and her tank….. a true love story.

I’m not a runner, with old joints and big boobs it’s just not a good thing for me to do. But walking is for me! Think I am going to frame my race number, we never got those when we did the PT tests in the Army or Air Force Reserve.

I also earned the coveted dog tag by completing the course – jewelry! My friends will faint when they’ve learned I competed in an organized athletic event. I’m not known for group games and competitions ever since surviving combat volleyball in the Army.

I’m lucky to have today off from the day job, so I’m going to meet with family for a Veterans Day lunch to honor my Marine Mom, my Army brother-in-law Gordon and my sister Karen for putting up with all of us. We will also have in our hearts my Army Air Corps Dad, my Marine Uncle Rod, my Army Grandpa John, and my brother-in-law’s Army brother David for their past service. We’re a joint service family!

Thank you to all who have served, those currently serving and those who support us. Today is your day!

Karen gets her own tank too! Best sister ever!
Karen gets her own tank too. Best sister ever!

Know How To Request Military Records?

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by Kimberly A. Cook              (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Sent off my snail mail request on Saturday to get copies of my Dad’s military and medical records. Have been meaning to do it for a couple months now, but finally made it happen. It’s a pretty simple process, but most folks won’t realize they need to deal with the National Archives, not the military branches.

New treasure! My Mom and sister discovered this bunch of letters my Dad wrote to his Mom during World War II tucked away in his dresser. More projects for me!
New treasure! My Mom and sister discovered this bunch of letters my Dad wrote to his Mom during World War II tucked away in his dresser. More projects for me!

Couple of things to know:

  • If the veteran is living, they have to request their own records.
  • If the veteran is deceased, only next of kin can request the records. Next of kin is limited to unremarried surviving spouse, father, mother, son, daughter, sister or brother.

Proof of death must be provided by a death certificate or obituary or death notice, coroner’s report of death, funeral director’s signed statement of death, or verdict of a coroner’s jury.

If you want to request military records for service completed before World War I, National Archives Trust Fund forms must be used to request those records. You can get the forms by email.

While there is a way to file electronically for the records if you’re next of kin, I went with old-fashioned snail mail. Filled out the pretty simple one page form, then figured out based on Dad’s service time where to mail it.

So that envelope is on its way to the National Personnel Records Center in St Louis, MO. They receive between 4,000 and 5,000 record requests a day, so they say not to even ask about status until 90 days have gone by. I will let you know what happens!

Link to National Archives veteran service records – http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/

Link to SF180 Request Form – http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/standard-form-180.html

 

 

Once A Paratrooper, Always A Paratrooper

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by Kimberly A. Cook                            (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Today is the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day Invasion and my hat is off to Jim ‘Pee Wee” Martin. This 93-year-old paratrooper jumped in again with troops of the current 101st Airborne. A salute and heartfelt thanks to all World War II veterans, men and women, and all who worked on the home front to keep us free.

See the video and story at the link below.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/05/world/europe/d-day-paratrooper-jumps-again/

 

Remembering Our Heroic Military Animal Warriors

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by Kimberly A. Cook                (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

Monday is Memorial Day to honor and remember all who have given their lives defending our nation. Along with the brave women and men who have given the ultimate sacrifice during war and peace, during and after service, we also honor the heroic military animals who stand beside our warriors and pay the price of freedom.

This Monday remember the sacrifices of all our warriors and veterans. Military animals and especially military dogs have shown their love and duty by giving their lives to protect their country and fellow troops.

Remember; Freedom isn’t Free.

(You have to watch this video on YouTube, but here is the link)

http://youtu.be/gSa5KZtb5To

 

 

Can You Climb A Mountain?

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by Kimberly A. Cook           (Twitter@ WarriorTales)

It’s been a bit of a weird Spring here in the good old USA and in other parts of the world. Seems the wackier it gets out there, the more I retreat to my books and happy ending tv shows. Then I come across a story that puts my perspective firmly in place.

These veterans accomplished an amazing feat in February and I wanted to share it. Through grit and determination, they climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. That may sound like a bit of a task, but these military foot soldiers are missing body parts which would make the climb a challenge even if they had all their digits.

Even the “normie” cameraman had a hard go of it and he had all his appendages. The documentary should be out the end of this year, you can catch up with this group at

www.kilimanjarowarriors.com

When it comes to being WIA, wounded in action, the hard road begins afterwards. The long hours and months it takes to not only get physically well, but to also deal with the mental and emotional scars. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have left us with many wounded warriors, each one an important story.

These are the kind of tales which make me write about my fellow veterans and talk about the day-to-day courage of veterans that most folks never see. It seems veterans and especially wounded warriors have been climbing this mountain for years now. Go grunts!

I salute these hard-charging men and women who are still fighting, for themselves and others who can’t make the trip. Take a look. Freedom isn’t free and these veterans are the best of the best.

KILIMANJARO WARRIORS: Teaser Trailer 1 from Bevan B. Bell on Vimeo.