rapidfire
W Never Stop Serving
hen Al Ransom came home from his combat tours in Viet- nam more than 40 years ago, he
returned to an unappreciative and hostile American public. To him, he was doing his duty. His comrades who were com- ing home disabled faced a differ- ent reality. Unfortunately, back then, he was unable to help them. Today, however, it’s a different story. The retired Marine Corps colonel and his wife, Cathie, own their own catering and wed- ding venue business, which allows them to provide free weddings for disabled servicemembers. How did you get started in this? When I retired, I bought a couple of pieces of land that happened to [be] in scenic locations in southern California. Pretty soon, friends were asking if they could have their weddings on my land, so that was the start. Soon thereaf- ter, we started a catering business to help.
When did wounded warriors come into the picture? Cathie and I never had any children, so in my volunteer work with the Balboa Naval Hospital [Naval Medical Center San Diego], I got to know a counselor there who told me about several disabled vets who wanted to get married. Unfor- tunately, they didn’t have the re- sources to do it right, so in a way we adopted these guys. That was all it took. Pretty soon, I went from being a Marine fighter pilot to the captain of a wedding boat on our property. Some might con- sider that a step down, but I’m having fun.
Has it been a lot of work to do this? We hold about 300 weddings each year. That’s a lot of accumulated know-how, but when it comes to taking care of our “kids,” it’s just a matter of scheduling the time and getting the needed dona- tions. The truth is, we’re proud to do it.
— Mike Michelsen Attention! Check out these military-related entertainment offerings.
BOOK AIRCRAFT CAR- RIERS: THE ILLUS- TRATED HISTORY OF THE WORLD’S MOST IMPORTANT WAR- SHIPS (Zenith Press, 2016) Filled with curated period photography and modern images showing aircraft carriers throughout
the decades, Aircraft Car- riers is a celebration of one of naval warfare’s most important innovations.
EVENT ARMY HERI- TAGE DAYS (U.S. Army Heritage & Education Center at Carlisle Bar- racks, Pa., May 21-22)
26 MILITARY OFFICER APRIL 2016
This free living-history event celebrates several centuries of Army history through lectures, displays, reenactors, demonstra- tions, and meet-and- greets. Special events also will take place to highlight the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War.
TV MERCY STREET (PBS, 2016) Mercy Street follows the lives of two nurses on opposing sides of the Civil War. This drama was inspired by memoirs and letters from real doc- tors and nurses at an Army hospital in Union-occupied Alexandria, Va. MO
PHOTO: HULSE PHOTOGRAPHY
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