All Stories — More Than A Headstone

From Campus to Camp Atterbury

Nolan Lee Ashburn was born on April 8, 1923, in Wilder, Tennessee. He was the son of a coal miner and a coal miner’s daughter, George and Effie Ashburn.

Love War & a Suitcase, Youth and WarJulianna BeckertSeptember 26, 2025Battle of the Bulge; Golden Lions; 106th Infantry Division; Denver; Tennessee

Wings and Roots

In the dusty expanse of southeastern New Mexico, where the wind carries the scent of mesquite and open skies stretch endlessly, Buster Tom Chidester was born on February 4, 1923, in the small town of Tatum.

Lifetime of ServiceJulianna BeckertSeptember 26, 2025Operation Chowhound; Tatum High School; New Mexico College of Agricultural and Mechanical Arts; Gadsden High School, Lowry Air Force Base; Mesilla Valley Retired Officers Club; Las Cruces Community Theater

101 Years of Valor: The Colonel Who Flew into History

Francis Robert "Frank" Royal Sr. was born on June 17, 1915, in the quiet town of Manzanola, Colorado—a place small in size but large in the shaping of a man who would grow to become one of America’s most decorated and enduring fighter pilots.

Lifetime of ServiceJulianna BeckertSeptember 26, 2025Rocky Ford; University of Colorado; Selfridge Field; Port Moresby; Bell P-39 Airacobra; 39th Fighter Squadron

A Throughline of Faith

Duane Richard Sjaardema’s story begins in Buena Vista, but not the Colorado city; instead, he was born in the Buena Vista Township in Iowa. Sjaardema would be raised in Pella, Iowa, a moderately sized town just over forty miles outside of Des Moines. Starting young, his parents raised him religious, sending him to the Pella Christian High School, where each student was required to have a Bible class each semester.

Lifetime of ServiceJulianna BeckertSeptember 26, 2025Christian, Reformed, Korean War, Engineering, Rocky Mountain Arsenal, Calvin University

Call Sign Misty 73

Major Seiler is pictured during his service with the 120th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Phan Rang Air Base in Vietnam.

In Erie, Pennsylvania, on May 24, 1931, Clyde Kia Seiler was born into a world still reeling from the Great Depression.

Lifetime of ServiceJulianna BeckertSeptember 26, 2025US Air Force; Colorado Air National Guard; Vietnam War; F-100 Super Sabre; 120th Tactical Fighter Squadron; Phan Rang Air Base; Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Across Oceans and Canyons: The Engineering Legacy of Angelo Siccardi

Angelo “Joe” Siccardi was born on October 30, 1926, in Paterson, New Jersey, to Anthony and Rose Siccardi. His father, Anthony, was an Italian immigrant, born in Italy according to the 1940 United States Census.

Campus Connections, Lifetime of ServiceJulianna BeckertSeptember 26, 2025Quartermaster Third Class Petty Officer; Newark College of Engineering; New York University;

A Titan in Cold War Aeronautics

John A Rasey was born in Fostoria, Ohio, on March 17, 1929, to parents Corrine and Hilles Rasey. John lived his childhood under the looming presence of the Great Depression and World War Two.

Lifetime of ServiceJulianna BeckertSeptember 26, 2025Cold War, Korean War, Aeronautics, Aviation, Universities, Air Force, Lockheed Martin, Nuclear Missiles.

The woman who did it again, and again… and again

Betty O. Bowman was born on May 27, 1922 in New York. Her family settled in Staten Island, where she would grow up doing a plethora of activities such as swimming, bowling, tennis, and singing.

Sisters in ServiceJulianna BeckertAugust 31, 2025Cornell University, Walter Reed Hospital, Dietitian, U.S. Army Women’s Medical Service Corps, Red Cross, Yale University School of Nursing, Army Nurse Corps, Lieutenant Colonel, medical-surgical nurse, Korean War, Vietnam War, Women’s Overseas Service League

Continuing The Conde Name

Conde Benoist Pallen, born in 1933, was given big shoes to fill early in his life. He was named after his grandfather, also named Conde Benoist Pallen, who was a prolific Catholic writer in America with multiple published books and articles.

Lifetime of ServiceJulianna BeckertAugust 31, 2025Knights of Columbus, Catholic, Manhattan University, Pope, Rotary Club, Bronx

Sowing Good, Reaping Good

The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 changed everything. The devastating, surprise attack by Japan marked the end of the isolationist ideals of many citizens of the United States and ushered in a period of domestic unity across America during the Second World War.

Obstacles & Opportunities, Know Your Enemy, Lifetime of ServiceJulianna BeckertAugust 31, 2025Nisei, World War II, Military Intelligence Unit, Japanese-American, Japanese internment, weightlifting

A Renaissance Man with Global Gallantry

Gerald Broida was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on February 21, 1918, to Lucy and Theodore Broida.[1] Soon after Gerald was born, Lucy and Theodore moved to Denver, where Gerald grew up with his brother Herbert, attending elementary school and graduating from North High School in 1936.

Lifetime of ServiceJulianna BeckertAugust 31, 2025Flying Tigers 14th Air Force, Denver North High School, Aurora, Heather Gardens, North African Campaign, China, Austria

Native Soil, Foreign Flag

After World War One, Germany was a miserable place to live. Inflation was through the roof, the nation’s military was limited, and people starved in the streets.

Know Your EnemyJulianna BeckertAugust 31, 2025Ritchie Boys, Butler University, Indiana University, Marathon Oil, Colorado Soccer, National Soccer Hall of Fame

Breaking Glass Ceilings and Rising in Ranks

Viola and Abe Sherman could still hear the boom of fireworks on July 5th, 1918, as they welcomed their first child into the world.[1] Iona Sherman was born in Valentine, Nebraska, a quaint rural area where her grandfather had previously built a sod cabin.

Sisters in ServiceJulianna BeckertAugust 31, 2025Nebraska State Normal School, Pearl Harbor, Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, Fort Des Moines, WAAC/WAC, Normandy Invasion, Company Commander of a WAC Detachment, Conference of Women, Army Missile Command, WAC Coordinator for Army Air Defense Command, WAC Staff Advisor to the Commanding General of Third Army, Fort McClellan, North Colorado Springs Rotary Club

Healing the Wounds of War

Jeanette M. Wullenschneider (nee Reichenberger) lived a life of service. Born just three years after the end of the First World War on May 26, 1921, in a farmhouse outside of Andale, Kansas, Jeanette was the seventh of what would be eight children of Nicholas John Reichenberger and Regina Agnes Reichenberger.

Sisters in Service, Youth and WarJulianna BeckertAugust 31, 2025World War II, nurse, Victory Day, Kansas, female veteran

Hero Without a Cape

“He was a fun-loving individual,” “a hero with a big heart,” “he always thought of others over himself…he was very special,” “he was just a light.” These remembrances are but a small testimony of the feelings individuals had for the beloved, selfless, and righteous United States Air Force Staff Sergeant Jesse Evan Childress.

Lifetime of ServiceJulianna BeckertAugust 31, 2025Gulf War, sacrifice, Aurora theater shooting, 310th Force Support Squadron

Gone Too Soon, But Never Forgotten

On October 29, 1978, Adele and Edward Scutellaro would welcome their first and only baby girl into this world. Lynn Scutellaro would start her life in the quaint town of Mercerville, New Jersey, until her brother Richard was born in 1980, and the Scutellaros moved north to Lawrenceville, New Jersey.

Sisters in Service, Youth and WarJulianna BeckertAugust 31, 2025Reserve Officer Training Corps, Colorado National Guard, Fort Rucker, Helicopter Pilot, Bell UH-1 Iroquois, Fort Indiantown Gap, Veteran Reintegration, Iraq War, 101st Airborne Unit, Colorado, Air Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Captain Lynn M. Scutellaro Memorial Book Scholarship.

Nearly Thirty Years of Trailblazing Service

On the night before Christmas, a baby girl was born who would dedicate her life to protecting this country. John Cuthbert had immigrated to the United States from Ireland in 1888 and eventually would meet his wife, Mary Carter. On December 24, 1914, they would welcome their first and only child, naming her after her mother. They lived their lives in Suffolk, Massachusetts; it is here that Mary would attend high school for all four years and work as a bookkeeper and cashier after graduation.

Sisters in ServiceJulianna BeckertAugust 31, 2025Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, WAAC/WAC, WWII, Master Sergeant, Vietnam War, Korean War, G.I. Bill, Cold War, Fort Logan.

Mountain Air to Monsoon Skies

Theodore William Van Deest Jr. was born in Denver, Colorado on June 26, 1932, to Viola and Theodore Van Deest Sr. During his childhood, Theodore was the third eldest of seven children, he had four sisters (two older and two younger) and two younger brothers.

Linked in DeathJulianna BeckertAugust 31, 2025Air National Guard; Vietnam War; Manuel High School; 140th Wing; Bronze Star; Fort Lupton

From Landlocked Childhood to Service at Sea

Harley Lee Walker was born on the 25th of August 1925 in Henderson, a small community in Northeastern Colorado. His father, Harley B Walker, came from Indiana and his mother, Thelma Laura Walker, was from Georgia.

Linked in DeathJulianna BeckertAugust 31, 2025Henderson CO; World War Two; Atlantic War; Coast Guard; Brighton CO; USS Calcaterra.

Overcoming Obstacles Over and Over Again

Harry Nelson Jr. had just celebrated his fifteenth birthday when he got the best present of all, a little sister. Pauline Vonda Nelson was born on March 3, 1934, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Harry Sr. and Dorothy Nelson.

Sisters in ServiceJulianna BeckertAugust 31, 2025Vietnam War, Army Nurse Corps, Meritorious Service Medal, Tuy Hoa, Persian Gulf Wars, Colorado. Army Nurse Corps Captain.