Thornell Billingslea was born in Detroit, Michigan, on June 29, 1947. In 1966 he was drafted and received his basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. He volunteered to be a paratrooper and received his Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Gordon,…

Tom Bilecki served in the Army National Guard in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. He did two tours, one in 2004 and another in 2012. He was stationed at Forward Operation Base Frontenac 26 miles north of Kandahar. He served as an…

Lin Bashford was born in Scott’s Bluff, Nebraska, on August 20, 1946. He was drafted in April 1969 and went to Fort Ord, California, for basic training and later advanced infantry training. He was selected for Non-Commissioned Officer School and went…

Margaret Akines was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 18, 1938. She married Bill Akines in 1978. He was one of the 317 men that survived the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, and in this interview she tells about his experience surviving that…