John Wells was born in Omaha, Nebraska in 1930 and his family moved to Michigan in 1931, graduating from high school in 1949 in Grand Rapids. He then attended Grand Rapids Community College and served in the Michigan Army National Guard. After…

Unmanned aerial drone in the center of the picture on the airfield at FOB Diamondback.

Tigris river south of Mosul

The former Iraqi VIP building on FOB Q-West showing Cruise missile damage.

Simeon Switzer is a veteran of both the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan. He was born in 1985 in Bogota, Colombia and was adopted by a Michigan family in1987. He grew up with his adoptive family in Jenison, Michigan then Grandville, Michigan.…

Donald Stout was born in Muskegon, Michigan on July 20, 1923. He grew up in Muskegon and enlisted in the Michigan National Guard on June 30, 1939. In October 1940 his unit, G Company of the 126th Infantry of the 32nd Division was mobilized and sent…

SSG Ortiz posing with the Iraqi Army soldiers guarding the rear gate of FOB Q-West

Spent shell-casings at the firing range at FOB Q-West. An M-249 LMG (Light Machine Gun) is in the background

Rachel Shilakes was born in 1983 in Rochester, Michigan. In 2005, Rachel joined the Army and went directly into the National Guard as it allowed her to follow on with her civilian career. She did her basic training at Ft. Leonard Wood in Missouri in…

Sandstorm approaching FOB Q-West

Ronald Sabin, Jr. was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and joined the Air National Guard in 1981. Ronald went through basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas for 8 weeks and then went through advanced firefighter training for another 8…

Ken Rondeau, born in Grand Rapids Michigan in 1962, served in the National Guard during the 1980s. During this time Ken served mostly as a sergeant training mortar crews.