Senator Lisa Murkowski

Tina Trosper served in the Army from 2005 to 2010 and was deployed to Baghdad, Iraq as an Aviation Specialist and radio transmit operator. Since serving, Trosper has devoted herself to helping Alaskan soldiers transition back into the civilian workforce. Read more.

In the 3rd grade, Suellyn Wright Novak was asked to draw a picture of what she wanted to be when she grew up. She told her teacher she wanted to be a colonel in the Air Force in Alaska – and the teacher was so shocked at the clarity of her vision that she convened a parent-teacher conference where Novak’s parents. Read more.

After getting out of the Navy, Ron Travis used the GI Bill to go to college in Washington state where he recalls his professors, during the height of the Vietnam War, organized protests to the war. In this interview, Travis recalls that difficult time. See more.

Jim VanOss is a U.S. Army Veteran, drafted during the Vietnam War who served as a military police officer and an embassy guard in Saigon during the Tet Offensive. During his Veteran Spotlight interview, VanOss recalls being 20-years-old when he was drafted into the Army after failing a college class. Learn more.

Senator Lisa Murkowski is releasing her tenth Veteran Spotlight installment, showcasing Jim Vance, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Purple Heart recipient who served in Vietnam. Full Interview.

Hugh "Bud" Fate, is a U.S. Army Veteran who was drafted during the Korean War. Fate never made it to Korea. When his commanders found out he was from Alaska, they tapped him for the Army mapping of the ALCAN Highway. Read more.

Father Norman Elliott, a U.S. Army veteran of World War II, put seminary school on hold to join the National Guard and then the U.S. Army in 1942. Now nearly 94-years-old, Elliott recalls living in Michigan at age 22 when the war broke out and the calling he felt to defend his country. Read more.

Paul Shirey is an Army infantry veteran living in Eagle River, Alaska who was inspired to join the Army after 9/11 and did tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. In this compelling and honest Veteran Spotlight interview, Paul recounts his experiences while serving with the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division based at Fort Richardson. Learn more.

In his Veteran Spotlight interview, Benno talks about volunteering for the U.S. Army in 1968 under the Great Society Choice after running into trouble with the law in Fairbanks. He served two tours in Dong Tam, Vietnam, earning the Purple Heart before being discharged for medical reasons in 1970.

Harold Bahr began serving in the Alaska Territorial Guard (ATG) in Nome, Alaska during World War II in 1942 when he was just eleven years old. ATG members were often men and boys too old or young to be drafted, who volunteered to be the first line of defense for Alaska. Learn more.