Everyday Patriot

Captain Paul Richard Eichenlaub was born on October 29, 1961, in Altoona Pennsylvania.   He briefly lived in Hacienda Heights California before settling down in Northwest Arkansas. He graduated from the University of Arkansas, where he was a member of the Arnold Air Society.

He enlisted in the US Air Force and trained as an electronics war officer for the EF-11A Ravens.

Captain Eichenlaub deployed to the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield.  On February 14, 1991, his plane, while avoiding fire, crashed.

Captain Paul Eichenlaub rests at the Benton County Memorial Park in Bentonville Arkansas.

The Spanish American War was a brief conflict that occurred in 1898, between Spain and the United States in Cuba.  While not a long term conflict, it did shape much of the foreign policy of America for years to come,  particularly in the Caribbean and the Philippines. 

Here are the stories of five who served.


Major General Smedley Butler was a character.  He lied about his age to enlist in the Marines at the outset of the Spanish American War.  He would serve through most of the conflicts in the Caribbean and Pacific.

He also sported quite the tattoo.




Private Benjamin Horace Colbert was a member of the Chickasaw tribe and was actively recruited for the cavalry.

He would deploy to Cuba with Colonel Theodore Roosevelt and the 1st Volunteer Cavalry, also known as the "Roughriders."


Private Goode Taurman was raised on a farm in rural Virginia.  He enlisted in the Marines quite young and would deploy to Cuba aboard the USS Panther.

He would also be an early casualty in the confli…

Captain Alfred Hiram Agan was born on July 6, 1919, in Carterville Iowa.  He attended Iowa State University before enlisting in the US Marine Corps in 1942.

He trained as a Corsair pilot and was the first marine pilot to use a proximity fuse.

Captian Alfred Agan would die in service on January 20, 1951, after his plane was damaged during a bombing run near Inchon South Korea.

He rests at the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetry in San Diego Calfornia.

Major Earl Kagie Stribling was born on January 2, 1956, in Monroe Louisiana.  He graduated from Gilbert High School, where he played basketball.

He enlisted in the US Army on February 11, 1979, and was assigned to the Quartermaster General.
Major Earl Stribling deployed to the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield with the HHD 142ND Corps Support Battalion and on March 7, 1991, died in service from an infection.
He rests at the Richwood Memorial Garden in Monroe Louisiana.

Private First Class Corey Lee Winkle was born on May 26, 1969, in Raton, New Mexico.  
He and his family moved to Lubbock Texas while he was young, and he graduated from Coronado High School. PFC Winkle had always been interested in a military career and enlisted on August 25, 1989.
As a driver of the Bradley Fighting Vehicles, he would deploy to the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm / Desert Shield.  
PFC Corey Winkle would die during his service on February 25, 1991, after a grenade explosion. He rests at the Resthaven Memorial Park in Lubbock Texas.

Colonel Robert Rutherford McCormick was born on July 30, 1880, in Chicago Illinois.

His early education was spent at the Ludgrove School in London England (his father worked for the Secretary of State).  When he returned to the states he attended the Groton School, and then Yale University, where he was a member of the Scroll and Key society.  After his 1903 graduation from Yale, he went on to Northwestern University School of Law.

Colonel McCormick began his activity in politics very early, acting as an Alderman in 1904 and in 1905, was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Chicago Sanitation Department. In 1907, the year he passed the bar, he was appointed to both the Chicago Permanent Charter Commission and the Chicago Plan Commission. 

In 1908 he co-founded the law firm, Kirkland and Ellis and in 1910 took over as head of the Chicago Tribune, after the death of his grandfather and the abdication of his older brother.

In spite of his position, Colonel McCormick chose, in Februa…