The Everyday Patriot Project

  Staff Sergeant Kenneth Blane Gentry was born in Danville, Virginia, on February 13, 1959. He attended Dan River High School before enlisting in the US Army in 1984. Training as a gunner, he was assigned to the 7th Cavalry as a Bradley gunner. Staff Sergeant Kenneth Gentry deployed to the Persian Gulf in January 1991 for Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield and the Gulf War. Staff Sergeant Kenneth Blane Gentry was killed on February 26, 1991, when his Bradley struck a landmine. He resets at the Floral Hills Memory Garden in Danville, Virginia. * Read about a.d. elliott's Everyday Patriot Project here* ****** ********************************* a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller living in Salem, Virginia.  In addition to her travel writings at  www.takethebackroads.com , you can also read her book reviews at  www.riteoffancy.com  and US military biographies at  www.everydaypatriot.com Her online photography gallery can be found at ...

  Coxswain Nicholas Thomas Colasanto was born on January 19, 1924, in Providence, Rhode Island. He attended Central High School, leaving early to enlist in the US Navy on January 22, 1943, in response to World War II. He was assigned to the USS Syncline and deployed to the Mediterranean Sea, supplying fuel to Allied troops in Corsica, Sardinia, Algeria, Italy, and France. Coxswain Nicholas Colasanto returned to Rhode Island after his service in 1945. Coxswain Colasanto attended Bryant College and worked as a construction worker to pay his tuition. He graduated in 1949 and began working as an accountant. When he was 28, Coxswain Nicholas Colasanto saw a Peter Fonda performance on Broadway and became an actor. He moved to New York and began performing in Off-Broadway productions and advertisements before moving to Los Angeles in 1965. Coxswain Nicholas Colasanto took guest roles in Bonanza, Columbo, Swat, and Starsky and Hutch before he landed his final and most well-known role, that...

Major Marie Therese Rossi was born on January 3, 1959, in Oradell, New Jersey. She graduated from Riverdell Regional High School in 1976 before attending Dickinson College, where she majored in Psychology and was a member of the US Army ROTC. She graduated in 1980. She trained as a CH-47 Chinook pilot and was assigned to the 18th Aviation brigade. Major Marie Rossi rose through the ranks to hold command positions and was the commanding officer of B Company when the 18th Aviation Brigade deployed to Saudi Arabia for Desert Storm/Desert Shield and the Gulf War. On February 24, 1991, when the ground assault began, Major Marie Rossi led the Chinook pipeline, ferrying the supplies, ammunition, and communications equipment to the soldiers on the ground, and became the first American female aviation combat commander to fly into battle. Major Marie Therese Rossi would be killed on March 1, 1991, when her helicopter collided with an unilluminated tower during a night mission.   She res...

  Commander Beatrice Vivian Ball was born in Garden Valley, Idaho, on December 2, 1902. Her family relocated to Vici, Oklahoma, where she graduated from high school and played basketball for the high school team.  She was a talented singer and poet. She was also an accomplished horseback rider and basketball player. Commander Beatrice Ball would coach and participate in community basketball leagues throughout her life and regularly published poems in local periodicals. While at college at Northwestern Oklahoma University, Commander Ball taught literature at the Wiley Consolidated Schools and was a member of the Alpha Sigma Alpha Sorority and the Phi Kappa Delta Fraternity. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in 1929. Commander Beatrice Ball accepted a position at the YWCA in Grand Junction, Colorado, shortly after her college graduation. She established several local athletic clubs and swimming classes.   She accepted an appointment in 1931 with the US Capitol pol...

  Aviation Structural Mechanic 2nd Class Troy Josiah was born on May 9, 1965, in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. He enlisted in the US Navy on February 2, 1985. ASM2 Troy Josiah served as a mechanic and rescue swimmer aboard the USS Shasta, Caron, and Jason. He deployed to the Persian Gulf with the USS Tripoli on December 1, 1990, for Operation Desert Storm/Desert Shield and the Gulf War. On December 19,1990,  ASM2 Troy Josiah was killed after the UH1N Huey Helicopter crashed into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Guam. * Read about a.d. elliott's Everyday Patriot Project here* ****** ********************************* a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller living in Salem, Virginia.  In addition to her travel writings at  www.takethebackroads.com , you can also read her book reviews at  www.riteoffancy.com  and US military biographies at  www.everydaypatriot.com Her online photography gallery can be found at  shop.takethebackroa...

  Major Martin Robison Delany was born in Charleston, West Virginia, on May 6, 1812. He was educated illegally in West Virginia until 1822 when his books were discovered by authorities. He and his family had to escape to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, where Major Martin Delany was allowed to finish grammar school. Major Delany then studied privately until his enrollment in the African Methodist Episcopal Church cellar school at 19.  After an unsuccessful attempt to enter Harvard Medical School, Major Martin Delany apprenticed with a doctor of Anglo descent. He also began writing and attended his first National "Negro" Convention in 1835.  In 1843, Major Martin Robison Delany began publishing "The Mystery," an African American newspaper in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He also began working with Fredrick Douglas on developing "The North Star," another journal focused on the Black perspective. Major Delany was finally accepted to Harvard Medical School in 1850 but ...