Veterans Spotlight

From Mogadishu and Port-au-Prince to football and wrestling, Jason Bush is giving back. Jason Bush’s enlistment started in a familiar way. At the end of high school, he did not want to attend college, nor did his family have the means…
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Owen Ragland followed his father into the Air Force and led all three of his children along the same path. The frequent moves the military requires can be challenging, especially for the spouse who is organizing them and managing the…
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Larry and Kathy Winters draw from the past to prepare a new generation for the future. As the UTV sprints up the hill to the open field serving as the overflow parking lot at Melton Hill Park in Hardin Valley, I can see that there is…
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Rich Gross discusses his legal career and his current work with local veterans https://vimeo.com/356011119 As a young man, Rich Gross knew deep down that he wanted to be a lawyer. He also knew that there was no money set…
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Bradley Walker might hesitate to pronounce the Latin motto of the Wounded Warrior Regiment, of which he is a member, but he lives its message every day. Etiam in pugna. Still in the fight. Despite losing his legs to an IED explosion in Iraq…
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U.S. Army Captain Michael Trost’s Path to the Farm The hilltop house of Michael and Stephanie Trost in Maryville is in transition. They are slowly cleaning out, packing, and preparing to sell the Maryville property in order to realize…
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By Stuart Holland | Photo by Hobe Brunson Paul Soares spent 25 years hunting hurricanes & Soviet submarines Knoxville resident Paul Soares served 3 tours of duty in naval aviation. He spent one year as a command…
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Flying, Teaching, and Leading in the 134th Lee Hartley gets up every day knowing exactly what he needs to do. “We’re here to fly airplanes,” says the tall, lanky Doyle High School graduate. In 2018, Col. M. Lee Hartley Jr. became…
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Jonathan Williams, Navy Veteran and business owner, had just returned from his third cross-country bicycle tour. The tours have added up to more than 11,000 miles across 25 states. This latest tour was the 2018 Unity Ride, filming a…
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Stephanie Welch believes everything is connected; the evolution of her life and career in Knox County proves it. She grew up in Boscawen, New Hampshire, "a one-stoplight town" in a rural farming community, north of Concord. She came to…
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