But Loverro isn’t taking up a Kalashnikov rifle. He’s manning a truck and delivering humanitarian aid to some of Ukraine’s hardest hit towns, including Bucha, the site of alleged Russian war crimes that came to global attention earlier this month.

From his Los Angeles home, Loverro had been watching the Russian invasion unfold on TV when he decided he had to do something.

“Like so many other veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan — and military vets in general — we feel compelled to do something,” Loverro told Military Times in a Signal call.

His journey to Ukraine started with research to see who he could volunteer for.

“Another veteran I served with in Mosul with the 2nd Infantry Division, Juan Rodriguez — I saw that he was working at the border providing safe passage to refugees wanting to relocate and so I contacted him,” Loverro said. “I linked up with him, bought a plane ticket and came out.”

Loverro carries with him a strong sense of service. That same mindset compelled him decades ago to become a police officer and also pushed him to volunteer to fight after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

“You know, for payback,” he explained of his reasoning years ago.

“At the time, I was a Berkeley police officer and my reserve unit got mobilized and attached to the 2nd Infantry Division out of Fort Lewis, Washington,” Loverro said. “We were with the first Stryker brigade that was ever stood up and we actually got sent to Iraq instead.”

Loverro’s Post-9/11 service was his second tour in the Army. He first served as a military policeman between 1985 and 1988, according to official records shared with Army Times. After that, he was in the California National Guard for about six months in 1991 and then the Army Reserve for four years until 2005 as a civil affairs specialist.

After being activated with the Army Reserve and spending a year in Iraq from 2003 to 2004, Loverro got out as a staff sergeant. He went back to his police career and became involved in theater a short time later.

“Now I run a theater company in Los Angeles called Warriors for Peace Theater,” Loverro said. “And our mission statement is to use the theater arts to help veterans reintegrate and find healing and catharsis through the arts.”

For Loverro, doing humanitarian work in Ukraine is all about service over self, something veterans are familiar with.

“And because of our background as veterans, we have certain skills that enable us to navigate war zones,” Loverro said.

Loverro coordinated with different organizations before ending up with Volunteer 100 Lviv, which sprang forth in 2014 during the War in the Donbas. The group is based in Lviv, one of the more populated cities in western Ukraine with some 721,500 residents.

For the past two months, Lviv remained relatively safe from the conflict until four missile strikes hit military installations and an auto repair shop in the northwestern part of the city on April 18. Seven people were reportedly killed and 11 were injured. Hundreds of thousands have sought refuge there since the beginning of the conflict on Feb. 24.

“I’m spending my own money and raising money back home to donate to this organization and a couple others to essentially buy food and medical supplies,” Loverro said.

Donated goods go to a warehouse, where the supplies are organized into categories.

“This corner over here is the children’s corner and it has diapers and baby formula, baby food, and this corner has medical supplies, and this corner has winter clothing, and this corner over here has supplies going to the military,” Loverro said of the process.

“Then what we do is organize convoys to go deliver it. We deliver to some of the hardest hit areas, where the need is most desperate,” he added.

Loverro has been on about a dozen convoys during his month-long stay in Ukraine.

Each day before a convoy, the team conducts planning and logistics. They place phone calls, pick up supplies and organize them for distribution.

“Most of that is done on the off days,” Loverro said. “But everything is fluid. We have to deal with multiple vehicles at multiple locations, sometimes crossing the border, constantly getting threat assessments, and tracking the areas that are hardest hit and the most in need of supplies.”

Loverro said he’s formed a tight bond with the group he’s volunteered with over the course of a month.

“The organization … has taken me in as family,” Loverro said. “I worked with some volunteers from Sweden and they invited me to go visit them at Stockholm.”

Having also served in Iraq and Afghanistan, Loverro said, the Swedes “are here because, like so many U.S. veterans, they want to help.”

One of the regular convoy destinations includes the town of Bucha, located some 326 miles east of Lviv, near the northwestern outskirts of Kyiv city.

With a modest population of almost 37,000, Bucha is one of the hardest hit by Russian aggression, according to some estimations.

When Russian forces pulled back from Bucha and Ukrainian troops moved in, graphic photographs and videos surfaced of alleged war crimes, including bodies that appeared to be those of handcuffed civilians shot at close range.

Ukrainian officials have asked the International Criminal Court to investigate what happened in Bucha, though the Russian government has denied responsibility. The alleged crimes, in addition to the costs of the war itself, have sparked outrage in the European Union and NATO.

According to the UN Human Rights Office, some 5,718 civilian casualties have been recorded in Ukraine, with 2,665 killed and 3,053 injured. Among those casualties are children.

“It’s not just a war between Ukraine and Russia,” Loverro said. “I think it’s something that the whole world needs to stand up to and most of the world is.”

Marine Corps Gaming is the service branch’s unofficial platform to connect Marines to military esports and to one another, said Capt. Michael Maggitti, who is spearheading what he hopes will become an official esports program within the Corps.

In addition to community building, the website will be used to identify gaming talent for the Dec. 10 Call of Duty Endowment Bowl, an annual tournament pitting the best in Call of Duty service branch teams against one another.

“The C.O.D.E. Bowl is the biggest stage to highlight the community … in a way that the Marine Corps will understand it,” Maggitti, the emergent technologies officer for Recruiting Command, told Marine Corps Times. “It will open a lot of eyes in a good way.”

In 2021, the tournament will be held aboard the aircraft carrier Intrepid in New York City and will include a Coast Guard team for the first time. In all, nine esports teams from the U.S. and U.K. will be competing.

“It’s inspiring to see the growth of gaming within our military along with the connectedness, resiliency and esprit de corps it drives,” Dan Goldenberg, executive director of the Call of Duty Endowment, said in a press release. “Whether deployed or distant from friends and family, gaming brings people together, and I’m excited for the C.O.D.E. Bowl this year to allow all the US and UK branches to compete against one another for a great cause.”

One arm’s distance

Though Marine Corps Gaming isn’t affiliated with the Marine Corps, the only way Marines can register to play in the C.O.D.E. Bowl on the Marine Corps team is by confirming active-duty status via it’s Discord channel, Maggitti said.

“Marine Corps Recruiting Command is aware of what we’re doing, so we’re kind of in this gray area,” Maggitti said.

This is new territory for the Marine Corps, which has been slow to take the plunge into the rising waters of military esports.

It’s not the first time the Marine Corps has been present at esports events, or even had its members compete against other service branch teams. There just hasn’t been any real indication that the Marine Corps would form an official esports team.

Even in 2020, the Marine Corps only dipped a toe into the second annual C.O.D.E. Bowl.

The Corps’ not-an-esports-team, or “quick reaction force,” was composed of Marines from its recruiting command. No scouting was done in the seemingly rich talent pool of junior Marines who game during their off-time.

Before the 2020 tournament, the Call of Duty Endowment approached all the branches.

Maggitti was told by his leadership, “‘You’re the gaming guy, figure this out,’” he said.

An internal tournament was then opened up to Marine Corps Recruiting, where top talent was tested and its best players put forward, and during the Call of Duty tournament “we did fairly well,” Maggitti said.

“But I knew right out of the gate, we needed to open the aperture because the feedback, while positive, was like ‘I didn’t know about this event’ or ‘Why can’t I play? I’m not a recruiter.’”

Though the fledgling esports program isn’t endorsed by the Marine Corps or tied to its recruiting efforts, Maggitti admitted the C.O.D.E. Bowl and other esports tournaments could benefit the service branch in that regard.

Gaming age gap

“The Marine Corps is getting younger and younger every year,” Maggitti said. “If anyone should have a community of gamers, I would think it’d be the Marine Corps. It blows my mind that we’re almost last to this venture and we should have been the first.”

Much of Maggitti’s job entails educating leadership on how the Marine Corps can use video games and how the games positively affect morale, he said.

“What gaming was when senior leaders grew up is very different than what gaming is now,” Maggitti said. “Part of that is connectedness. What does that do for Marines? What does it do for their mind, their body, their spirit of being able to stay connected?”

Video games have been shown to increase morale among troops in the military, according to a 2015 study. By immersing in video games and connecting with other like-minded players, participants are “removed from the worries of society,” wrote the study’s authors, from Brigham Young and Weber State universities.

The platform’s next test comes Saturday, when it will be used to organize a Call of Duty Warzone “community game night” as a means to prepare its new Marine gamers for the C.O.D.E. Bowl qualifiers on Sept. 25.

“We’ve laid the groundwork for this,” Maggitti said. “At this point it’s just about just getting enough people to continue the momentum.”

Sgt. Gunnar I. Naughton’s duty was to oversee and safeguard the ammunition ― a job he said he unfairly undertook more often than any of the others on his team.

“I was the ammo tent guy,” Naughton told the judge during his general court-martial on Thursday.

But instead of guarding the ammo, the reconnaissance Marine was later charged with stealing ammunition and eventually dumping it into a ravine.

The Marine had been arrested as part of a sting by federal agents, which allegedly caught Marines trying to sell ammunition and explosives online. Seven Marines and one sailor were investigated by NCIS, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

In five charges that included the theft of military explosives and obstructing justice, Naughton, 28, was sentenced Thursday, and will receive a bad conduct discharge with a reduction in rate to E-1 and spend 16 months in confinement, minus the 147 days he already has spent in the brig. The judge’s sentencing included more time in confinement for each charge, but Naughton’s plea agreement held that he would serve it all concurrently.

In total, Naughton had been charged with dumping 3,724 cartridges of 5.56 ammunition with a value of about $1,079; 6,000 cartridges of .45 caliber ammunition with a value of about $2,041; 1,826 cartridges of 9 mm ball ammunition with a value of about $401; 120 cartridges of 12 gauge ammunition with a value of about $60; 160 cartridges of 12 gauge door breaching ammunition with a value of about $350; 80 cartridges of frangible 5.56 ammunition with a value of about $31; two training grenades and one smoke grenade.

Though he pleaded guilty to stealing the ammunition while guarding a forward supply station at range 110, Naughton testified that he was peer pressured into doing so by other Marines and that he had been negatively influenced by the recon community in general.

‘So they can shoot it later’

A group of Marines pocketing extra ammunition from the range for personal use — though he spoke generally, that was the picture Phillip Stackhouse, Naughton’s civilian attorney, painted in a June 16 phone interview with Marine Corps Times.

“This is about infantry guys taking ammunition,” Stackhouse said. “It’s so they can shoot it later.”

Then one of them usually gets greedy and tries to sell the ammo, Stackhouse said, “which is dumb, especially in California.”

The Golden State has some of the most restrictive gun laws in the nation. As is required with the purchase of a firearm, California requires ammunition buyers to go through federally licensed vendors and requires the purchaser to undergo a background check.

It was Marine Cpl. Jason Peters who allegedly tried selling ammo in this case — allegedly trying to sell ammunition to undercover federal agents. He was subsequently arrested on Feb. 2 and his apprehension led investigators to Naughton.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service confirmed Peters’ investigation was ongoing and declined to comment in an email to Marine Corps Times on Wednesday.

Los Angeles Police and explosive ordnance disposal teams reportedly were sent to the L.A. apartment of Peters’ girlfriend on Feb. 3.

Since the case is being handled at the federal level, local police and explosive ordnance were likely only there on standby and no incident report would have been generated, an LAPD spokesperson told Marine Corps Times on Wednesday.

Peters is set to enter a guilty plea on July 7, according to court documents.

Tampering with evidence

At range 110, a Forward Ammunition Supply Point had been set up for temporary storage while the training continued, NCIS Special Agent Gunnery Sgt. Chaz Hatton testified Thursday, laying out the events leading up to Naughton’s trial.

It was there that Naughton was working the ammo tent.

Additionally, on or about Feb. 2, Naughton removed ammo cans from the residence of Staff Sgt. Brian Newport, who was apprehended by NCIS shortly after Peters’ arrest.

Naughton said he was instructed to do so by Newport and did it to prevent the evidence from impacting the senior Marine.

In another obstruction charge, Hatton said Naughton instructed Hospital Corpsman Third Class Arthur Goldsborough to delete Signal and WhatsApp messages in groups he managed in order to avoid investigation.

Naughton testified that “shenanigans” in the social media group messages “had to go away” so as not to incriminate those involved.

‘They compromised his character’

“How in the world did I end up here?” Naughton said at the court-martial in an unsworn statement he read aloud.

Naughton spoke of being an outcast in a line company of mostly infantry Marines.

He was certainly no infantry Marine, nor did he fit into the rebel recon community where “rule followers were branded as cowards,” he said, offering some examples.

Soon after checking into the recon unit, Naughton testified he was asked to strip naked by a staff sergeant in “some kind of recon ritual.” He also was constantly encouraged to cheat on his wife, “because then you’d have a head start when she cheats on you,” Naughton said. To earn a “cool” point or two, Naughton said he would tell the other Marines that certain items in his possession were stolen when he actually had purchased them.

Naughton and his defense painted him as a good Marine negatively influenced by the recon community.

Theft of ammunition is common practice, especially on ranges, where rounds can change hands so quickly that shoddy accountability is almost inevitable, they said.

When retired Col. Steven Redifer found out about Naughton’s trial, “It was a complete and utter shock,” he said in a phone call to the court on Thursday.

Redifer was Naughton’s commanding officer of the Chemical Biological Incident Response Force in Indian Head, Maryland, where in March 2016 Naughton was meritoriously promoted to corporal.

Redifer spoke of Naughton’s character, upholding the highest standards of CBIRF, which sends its Marines to work for the FBI and Capitol Police after their military service, he said.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 John Earnie also was with CBIRF at the time and worked with Naughton on a daily basis.

“He was the best Marine I had, period,” Earnie said.

It was the culture of the recon community that put Naughton in the position he’s in, Earnie said.

Anyone who stands out from the norm tends to get teased, Earnie said, to which Naughton nodded his head in response. Recon Marines think they’re special or above the law, Earnie said, they challenge the status quo.

Naughton doesn’t fit the bill for the “cool guy recon Marine,” Earnie said, and they “compromised his character.”

The Space Force took first place in the Call of Duty Endowment’s second annual video game competition, the C.O.D.E. Bowl, which raised funds primarily through sponsorships from big names like USAA and Ram Trucks. The endowment has not released final numbers, but estimates about $1 million was brought in through the tournament.

And because Call of Duty publisher Activision covers all of the endowments operating costs, all the money raised goes toward its mission, according to the organization.

To date, the Call of Duty Endowment has placed some 77,000 veterans in jobs, according to its head executive. The organization estimates it spends about $499 per veteran to get them employed, or a sixth of what it costs the Labor Department.

This is done “by finding and the highest-performing nonprofits in this space to do this work,” Call of Duty Endowment Executive Director Dan Goldenberg told Military Times during a Twitch livestream on Thursday.

Several years ago, the endowment partnered with financial consulting firm Deloitte to create a methodology to find the highest-performing nonprofits and help them grow, Goldenberg said.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the veteran unemployment rate was 6.3 percent in November, up from 5.9 percent the previous month, lower than the national non-veteran unemployment rate of 6.6 percent.

Goldenberg said those numbers are “incredibly unreliable” and were never meant to collect data on veterans employment.

“The situation is actually far, far worse for veterans than is reflected there,” Goldenberg said. “It’s not just about the job, it’s about the quality of the job.”

BLS unemployment numbers come from the survey sent out every month by the U.S. Census based on one question: last week were you paid for work? If you answer yes, you’re counted as fully employed.

Those numbers don’t accurately reflect veterans working in a gig economy or National Guard members who work part time but may not have a job in the civilian world.

“It’s a bogus number,” Goldenberg said. “It doesn’t measure the quality. It doesn’t measure whether you’re making enough to pay the rent.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the endowment has seen a 30 percent increase in veterans seeking work in the third quarter compared with last year, Goldenberg said.

“Veterans are more vulnerable to underemployment than non-veterans,” he said.

About 1 in 3 vets are unemployed, according to a 2017 study conducted by the Call of Duty Endowment and ZipRecruiter.

“Underemployment, that’s the bugaboo we watch,” Goldenberg said. “Don’t put any stock in those BLS veteran unemployment numbers. They’re worthless.”

As for the tournament, the final match brought the Space Force and Royal Air Force to a tie with the decision going to the Space Force.

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This “quick reaction force” is set to compete in Friday’s second annual Call of Duty Endowment Bowl, a spokesperson said in an email to Marine Corps Times on Tuesday. The event will be streamed live on the Call of Duty Twitch and YouTube channels beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific.

The tournament marks the first time in 245 years the Marine Corps will stand up a quick reaction force for esports as it competes against other military branches’ teams in the newly released Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, according to a press release.

An esports team of Marines did recently compete against civilian players in a July online tournament hosted by the Esports Stadium Arlington in Texas, which serves as North America’s largest dedicated esports facility. The event offered players from across the country an opportunity to play Call of Duty: Warzone online with active-duty Marines.

Sgt. Brian Kunst participated in that event and will be representing the Marine Corps in Friday’s tournament. He was one of 70 Marines who volunteered to represent the Marine Corps in the tournament. The four primary and two supporting Marines were selected based on overall competitive performance, the Marine Corps said. Three are staff sergeants and three are sergeants.

Though the six Marines participating are from the Marine Corps Recruiting Command, the Corps reiterated it has no plans to form a permanent esports team, and doesn’t want to be seen as gamifying the professional interactions young people expect when working with Marine recruiters, Capt. Michael Maggitti, director of the Corps’ esports and gaming efforts, said in an email to Marine Corps Times.

“Most readers assume all military branches now have full-time esports teams; that is not the case with the Marines,” Maggitti said. “We are still active within the gaming ecosystem and will continue to add value where it makes most sense for the participants but recognize an official esports team is not a tactic we want to deploy at this time.”

The Marine esports quick reaction force will be disbanded once this competition is over, but could be used again in future gaming events, the Marine Corps said.

Until recently, the Army was the only branch with an official esports team, which initially was formed under its marketing and recruitment efforts. The Air Force has taken a different approach, by first building video game lounges at bases across the country and forming interservice teams for competition, but plans could be in the works to form an esports team for competition, the Air Force told Military Times in November. The Navy also recently formed its own esports team.

The above branches and the Space Force will be competing in Friday’s online tournament, as will counterparts in the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy, Army, and Air Force. The U.S. Coast Guard will not be represented at the event.

Friday’s C.O.D.E. Bowl will be the first trans-Atlantic esports competition pitting the military services against one another, according to organizers.

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“Food is emotional, and this year more than ever, it’s so important that DLA Troop Support got the turkeys, hams and all the trimmings to our troops wherever they are stationed,” said Army Col. Eric McCoy, the Defense Logistics Agency’s Troop Support subsistence director, in a statement emailed Tuesday. “Our supply chain takes the holidays very seriously. Our troops are far away from home, and they definitely look forward to this meal. Disappointing them is not an option.”

DLA Troop Support spends some $19 billion annually on food, uniforms, protective equipment, medicine and medical supplies, repair parts, and construction and equipment for the armed forces, according to a press release.

During the pandemic, when large gatherings could potentially put troops and their units at risk, some could forego the big events and opt for grab-and-go style takeout if they want to, a Defense Department spokesperson told Military Times in an email on Tuesday.

When asked in an email if any deployed units were not holding large Thanksgiving dinners for their troops because of the coronavirus, a Defense Department spokesperson referred Military Times to Central Command and pointed to the DoD coronavirus guidance policy, adding that decisions at military installations are made by the local commanders and based on several factors.

CENTCOM did not reply to a Tuesday email by article publication.

“The holidays will look quite different this year for everyone,” said DLA Troop Support Commander Army Brig. Gen. Gavin Lawrence, in an emailed statement. “I’m proud that our workforce is doing everything possible to make sure our warfighters get a proper holiday meal, especially since many of us will not be able to be with our family and friends. We want to make sure they get that taste of home no matter where they are in the world.”

However Thanksgiving will look for deployed servicemembers this year, the DLA’s troop support program is providing warfighters with Thanksgiving meals, as it does annually.

DLA said its troop support program has been providing “traditional Thanksgiving food” to field kitchens, dining facilities and galleys for troops stationed around the world for more than 50 years.

This year, the haul DLA is sending out includes 9,000 whole turkeys, 51,000 pounds of roasted turkeys, 74,000 pounds of beef, 21,000 pounds of ham, 67,000 pounds of sweet potatoes, 19,000 pounds of pies and cakes and 7,000 gallons of eggnog.

Units overseas begin receiving their shipments of turkeys and more than 100 tons of trimmings in October and November, with logistical planning beginning as early as March, DLA said in a Monday press release.

About 15 years had passed since the Vietnam War began. Along with the raid on the prison camp, located just outside of Hanoi, the U.S. concurrently sent three Navy carriers as a distraction and to help suppress potential enemy air support on Nov. 21, 1970. The support mission is heralded as the largest night carrier operation of the almost 20-year conflict.

It turned out the prisoners had been moved to other camps prior to the raid, but the mission, known as Operation Kingpin, has stood as a stellar example of planning and coordinated execution for similar covert attacks since.

Son Tay was “the best modern example of a successful spec op [which] should be considered textbook material for future missions,” retired Navy SEAL Adm. William McRaven wrote in his 1995 book “Spec Ops: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare: Theory and Practice.”

Sixteen years after that book was first published, McRaven, as the three-star commander of Joint Special Operations Command, devised the daring Navy SEAL raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

A new documentary about the raid, “Kingpin: 27 minutes at Son Tay,” is in post-production and features interviews with some of the special operators who were there.

Terry L. Buckler was the youngest on the teams that that made up the almost 60 raiders selected for the mission. His book, “Who Will Go: Into the Son Tay POW Camp,” published earlier this month, details the raid and the events leading up to it. Buckler was a radio operator who went through Green Beret special operations training. He knew how to use a multitude of weaponry, handle explosives and jump out of airplanes, like the others in his cadre.

Months of training at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida at a mock-up compound build by the Central Intelligence Agency made the complex plan relatively easy to execute, Buckler told Military Times in a Friday phone call.

Though the raiders weren’t able to rescue any American prisoners of war, the Viet Cong began treating its prisoners more humanely, likely because it didn’t want to suffer another covert raid, Buckler said.

The Raid

The C-130 was their mothership. It cruised slowly in front of six rescue helicopters in formation and carrying teams “Red Wine,” “Green Leaf” and “Blue Boy” just above the North Vietnamese canopy. It was a dangerous flight for the plane, but the airmen piloting it were skilled. Dip a bit too low and the plane would clip the tops of the trees. Reduce speed by 5 knots and the bird would stall. The air group had to stay together.

The plan was clear, and each team had its mission set.

Blue Boy was to land inside the compound and eliminate any guards, then locate and release the prisoners. Green Leaf was the assault team. They were primarily charged with clearing guard buildings.

Red Wine was to pull security, locate and secure the communications building to prevent any potential reinforcements from Hanoi being called in.

In the dead of night, with no lights to guide them, no communications between aircraft, “Apple-1,” Green Leaf’s helicopter broke from formation early and mistakenly landed at a building which looked similar to that of Son Tay.

“So, we were short 22 guys with some good firepower,” Buckler said.

This put the task of initial assault on Red Wine, Buckler’s team.

When the group neared the target, their C-130 increased altitude and dropped flares, illuminating the compound.

As the newly-designated assault element, the Red Wine helicopter’s minigun opened fire on the guard building.

“When we got out, the structure was on fire,” Buckler said.

Once off the helicopter, his training kicked in. The helicopters flew off to safety about a mile away.

“It was just like we were training back at Eglin, the only difference was that bullets were coming back at us,” Buckler said.

The team executed its mission, just as planned, until Buckler got a call over the radio. “Negative items” was code for no POWs at the compound.

“It was a shock for us after three months of training,” Buckler said. “We hit a dry hole.”

About the time the call was transmitted, Apple-1 arrived and crashed inside the compound. Members of Green Leaf set explosives charges to destroy it, Buckler said.

With the mission scrapped, the birds were called back in for extraction.

“The lights of Hanoi looked like a major city in the States,” Buckler said. “It was amazing to me how big that city was.”

Just then, a surface to air missile zoomed past his helicopter, narrowly missing the aircraft.

Overhead, an A-1E circled the group with orders to destroy anything that crossed a nearby bridge.

“Having never seen one, it was pretty intense there for a few minutes,” he said. “It was actually scarier in the chopper than it was on the ground. As an Army guy, you can kind of roll around and hide but up there them flyboys are just sitting ducks.”

Documentary in the works

Over the weekend, the film crew will work with the Silent Warrior Association to film re-enactments of the training that led up to the Raid and a portion of the mission execution, Army veteran and documentary producer Dan Smith told Military Times in an email. The organization is holding a raider reunion, which will also feature day and night ranges with the weapons used during the raid, Smith said.

Smith and others are also working to turn the raiders’ stories into a podcast series.

“In both projects we have been working directly with raiders, POWs, and other service members who supported the mission,” Smith said. “We began with the Son Tay Raider Association at the invitation of one of the raiders, Command Sgt. Maj. Pat St. Claire who I served with in Iraq and the Horn of Africa in 2003.”

The film still needs funding for completion, Smith said, and its producers have set up Paypal and Go Fund Me accounts for that effort.

The largest software company in the world launched a toolkit on Veterans Day with resources and tips for veterans looking to transition into civilian tech careers during the pandemic.

Microsoft’s Transition Toolkit is meant to give veterans who may not know where to start in a potential tech career the first steps. It was developed by the software giant’s Military Affairs division, headed by Chris Cortez as its vice president.

“For years, Microsoft Military Affairs has been committed to helping veterans learn to apply their military experience to meaningful technology careers,” said Cortez in an emailed statement. “I’m very pleased to share our new Tech Transition Toolkit to help those who have served take their next steps toward building those careers. Even in such uncertain times as these, we believe in the power of perseverance and we know the value veterans bring to our industry is as important as ever.”

Cortez retired from the Marine Corps as a major general in 2004 after more than 33 years of service. Cortez led the Marine Corps Recruiting Command in Quantico, Virginia, recruiting more than 75,000 Marines before retiring. He also spent time as director for the Pacific Command, where he oversaw operations for 300,000 military personnel.

The software company claims when companies focus on veterans, that attention yields higher retention rates.

Microsoft credits its high retention rates of veteran employees to being not just veteran-friendly, but “veteran-ready,” by providing the unique resources veterans need to thrive in the civilian world, the company said.

“The expertise and strengths veterans gain through service often align with what private companies are commonly recruiting for: logistics, operations, finance, and human resources,” Cortez said. “There’s a close connection between military background and industry need.”

Microsoft’s toolkit provides tips on how to create a LinkedIn page that stands out to recruiters, which tech terms to learn and use in your resume and how to optimize your virtual workspace.

One of the most important tactics for securing any job involves networking. Microsoft suggests veterans sign up for a free year of LinkedIn Premium, which will help in growing their network and increase their job search prospects. To sign up, you have to first log in with your “Troop ID,” which can be obtained by creating a new account if you don’t already have one.

Once on LinkedIn, job seekers should join groups that pertain to the job their looking to secure. Reach out to people you’ve worked with in the past, Microsoft said, and don’t be afraid to make new connections. Find out how you can help others before asking them if they can get you a job.

Microsoft has created solutions for veterans and their families before, with support for transitioning service members and veterans, military spouses and military children.

Each year, some 200,000 active duty service members transition out of the military, according to a 2018 report from the Congressional Research Service.

“Those shifting out of military service are often overwhelmed when seeking civilian employment,” Cortez said. “It’s not always clear to them that their skills and experiences align with what the private sector seeks. Especially in tech, veterans are uniquely qualified for some of the most in-demand and under filled roles—and often have the security clearances companies need and want.”

She and about 200 other veterans and community partners participated in Operation Bayou City Blitz, a volunteer initiative organized by veteran nonprofit The Mission Continues. The series of service projects spanned five days in several Houston neighborhoods from Nov. 7 to Sunday and saw up to 50 veterans and community volunteers per socially distanced project.

“My family and I have taken all safety precautions since the first COVID-19 shutdown, but the effects of this pandemic were straining my mental health,” Kiel said in an emailed statement. “After being home since March, getting out to serve others will be the highlight of my year.”

Kiel is a Houston native and director of alumni engagement for the veteran service organization. She said it felt good to get out and make a difference in her community.

“The Mission Continues has always been a place where I have felt I belonged, can be my best self and am part of a movement working for the greater good,” Kiel said.

Volunteers on Sunday worked to restore the Veterans Retreat Center, a 20-acre facility for veterans and their families that offers outdoor, therapeutic, educational and entertainment programs. The center was severely damaged during Hurricane Harvey. On Saturday, volunteers worked in Kashmere High School’s gardens, where they landscaped and added fresh coats of paint on buildings and also added uplifting murals, organizers said.

Volunteers worked in the Gulfton neighborhood’s Jane Long Academy and Los Americas Newcomers School, the teams built outdoor seating, put flood mitigation measures in place and built a serenity garden for student use. At Blodgett Urban Gardens in the Third Ward, the veteran-lead group built garden beds, signage and seating.

The Mission Continues is a national organization with 65 chapters, or platoons, and more than 40,000 volunteers across the country. Operation Bayou City Blitz is just one of some 9,000 service projects The Mission Continues has launched, according to its website.

“Operation Bayou City Blitz is a testament to the deep commitment our veterans have to the city of Houston despite the obstacles that 2020 continues to throw at them,” said Mary Beth Bruggeman, Marine Corps veteran and president of The Mission Continues, in a press release. “Our veteran volunteers are showing up with the skills, energy and passion to revitalize their city alongside their fellow service members, neighbors and community partners. Our country needs this kind of inspiration right now more than ever.”

This latest series of service projects started Nov. 7 and will see the volunteers working each weekend in November, named Veterans and Military Families month in an annual proclamation by the White House.

Like many of its service projects, The Mission Continues has partnered with Houston’s city officials, community organizations and donors for five projects to address critical community needs in Kashmere Gardens, Independence Heights, Gulfton, the Third Ward and Suburban Heights.

The mission is to provide assistance to these communities that lack the resources for hurricane recovery efforts and much needed ongoing revitalization efforts, organizers said.

Some 900 volunteers have conducted service projects in Houston since 2015 to address issues like food insecurity and access to safe community spaces.

Much of the team is taking a well-deserved break, said Mission Continues spokesperson Jen Parravani, but they will be supporting The Astros Foundation on Nov. 24 by providing food to some 300 families. On Dec. 5, The Mission Continues will host a mural painting and community park upkeep service project in Third Ward. In January, the organization is also planning a big initiative in Houston over MLK Day weekend.

Likely to attend events is Earl Lundy, Houston Platoon leader for The Mission Continues and a third-generation Army 82nd Airborne veteran. Lundy manages a gym in Houston and is an active volunteer within the organization.

“Serving with The Mission Continues gives me a sense of purpose. I get to give back and help the youth and the community,” Lundy said in an emailed statement. “If I can do that alongside my brothers-and-sisters-in-arms who have the same service mindset as me that’s just the icing on the cake.”

Col. Gail S. “Hal” Halvorsen, also known as the Berlin Candy Bomber, delivered food and other goods to West Berlin during 1948-1949 as the Soviet Union worked to consolidate its hold on eastern Germany.

“He literally helped bind U.S. and German relationships after World War II because he made it about the kids and captured the heart of the American people,” said Duncan McNabb, a retired four-star general and former commander of Air Mobility Command and U.S. Transportation Command, in an email to Military Times.

A petition on the White House website calls for the president to award the medal on Halvorsen, who turned 100 last month.

“I can’t believe it,” Halvorsen told Military Times on a Tuesday evening phone call. “It’s just beyond my imagination if I were to receive an award from the head man of the government.”

The Medal of Freedom was established by President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and is the nation’s highest honor bestowed on civilians. The medal is awarded to those who make especially meritorious contributions to either “security or national interests of the United States,” “world peace” or “cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”

“Col Halvorsen’s accomplishments throughout his life encompasses all of these areas,” the petition reads. “With this petition, we are requesting the White House consider Col Halvorsen for the Presidential Medal of Freedom as soon as possible to honor this extraordinary man.”

As of Wednesday, the petition had less than 1,500 signatures with a total of 100,000 signatures needed by Nov. 22 for a response from the White House.

Despite the low number of signatures on this petition, organizers of the effort say some 35,000 signatures were collected separately last spring.

Air Force veteran Geno Carvotta submitted this most recent package to the White House and told Military Times in a Monday email he has received a response. A letter which appears to have been autosigned by President Donald Trump dated Oct. 22 acknowledged receipt of the package.

“I have known Col. Halvorsen for 25 years and I am trying to get this honor bestowed on him as soon as possible, which was why I decided a White House petition needed to be started to keep the momentum going,” Carvotta wrote.

Though the White House has confirmed receipt, Carvotta said it is still important people sign the petition and that when doing so must click on the activation link subsequently emailed from the White House to have their signature counted.

“While this nomination has the attention of the White House, having the petition reach its goal of 100,000 signatures will force the Administration to address the petition and hopefully send a message that this Humanitarian is deserving of this honor,” Carvotta wrote in an email. “This is no clearer message than having all these people support this effort with their support and signatures.

Carvotta, a retired Air Force master sergeant, said it was after the Airlift/Tanker Association convention last year when he decided to take action and get the medal for Halvorsen. Carvotta reached out to Col. Jim Stewart, executive director of the Gail S. Halvorsen Aviation Education Foundation, for help. Stewart informed him that the governor of Utah had previously submitted a similar request.

“With the current political climate, we are asking that people put politics aside and support the PMoF for Col. Halvorsen regardless of who the President is now or in the future,” Carvotta wrote. “This initiative is about honoring the Berlin Candy Bomber and the wonderful man and humanitarian he is.”

Delivering smiles, not ordnance

Barbed wire separated Col. Gail Halvorsen from a group of about 30 children, who were excited to see him. They huddled up on him as best they could, gripping the twisted wire and peering at him through the manmade border at the Tempelhof Airport in Berlin.

It was July 1948 and a Berlin blockade enforced by the Soviets during the previous month had starved the children of Berlin and their families of much-needed supplies from Western Allies. Following World War II, the Soviet Union had annexed about a third of eastern Germany. Berlin, located in the middle of the Soviet-controlled region, was split in half, with the west holding its own for democracy. The communists controlled the east and choked out all western allied access by land and water.

All roads, railways and waterways going into West Berlin were tightly controlled by Soviet forces and the sky was the only viable avenue into the democratic section of the city.

In that moment, the barbed wire fence and the expressions on the children’s faces were a stark reminder of that reality.

Halvorsen, a C-54 Skymaster airlift pilot, was impressed with the resolve of those outspoken children in the group. They cautioned him not to land if the weather got too bad, willing to forego flour for freedom, Halvorsen said. “Just don’t give up on us,” he recalled them saying.

Halvorsen pulled out two sticks of gum — all he had on him — and split them in two. He passed them through the fence. The children who had a piece of gum began tearing off strips of the wrapper and passed them around. The children pressed the shreds of gum wrapper to their noses for the lingering scent.

He was so moved by what he saw that he promised the kids he would drop enough gum for each of them the next day. They would know his plane because he would “wiggle” the wings as he flew over the airport, Halvorsen said.

Halvorsen enlisted the help of his co-pilot and engineer to gather up candy from their rations that night. The next day, Halvorsen attached the gum and chocolate bars to three handkerchief parachutes.

“Somehow there’s something magical about a candy bar coming out of the sky over getting it over-the-counter at a drug store,” Halvorsen said.

As the crew flew over the children, Halvorsen manipulated the rudders to dip the wings of the plane left and right a few times before dropping the sugary goods.

“It was easy to do and an obvious signal that I had the stuff and it was about to drop,” Halvorsen said. “They ran after it like they never had any candy. Kids love to see parachutes come out … running around like mad trying to catch parachute.”

After landing, a lot of the kids would hang around for up to an hour talking to Halvorsen about his work, he said. They were fascinated with the workings of his plane.

“They got a kick out of that,” especially because it concerned what they might be having for dinner that night, Halvorsen said.

The kids didn’t know English, but Halvorsen knew just enough German to get by, he said. He’d keep a German phrase book on him and practice at night.

For several weeks, Halvorsen and a handful of other pilots dropped candy goods on the children of West Berlin before they were finally caught by their command. Halvorsen knew he should have requested permission first but was unsure of how long it would take for him to get the go-ahead. Halvorsen was compelled by the children’s desperate faces and had to act, he said.

The pilots could have faced court martial but were quickly pardoned, Halvorsen said.

“General Tunner said, ‘Keep it up and keep me informed,’” Halvorsen said.

Gen. William Tunner, then commanding general of the Atlantic Division of the Military Air Transport Command, saw this as an asset to the Berlin airlift resupply efforts and he signed off on the mission, dubbing it “Operation Little Vittles.”

“Oh boy, I came right off the floor,” Halvorsen said. “He could have court marshalled me, throwing stuff out of an airplane without permission.”

News spread and Americans lent their support for the Candy Bomber. The American Confectioners Association reportedly donated 18 tons of candy which was first sent to school children in Chicopee, Massachusetts, who attached little parachutes before sending it off to Berlin.

“I took a few chances,” said Halvorsen when asked if he’d have done anything differently. “I was pretty sure there’d be a good reaction. I wasn’t sure, but I think I would have done the same thing.”