Meet Your Military
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Army 2nd Lt. Audie L. Murphy, World War II Medal of Honor recipient. Photo by Army
Pentagon, (Jan. 27, 2025): Army Maj. Audie Leon Murphy is a World War II legend whose name is still easily recognizable today. Murphy was a movie actor, a country-western songwriter and a poet, but it was his wartime heroics and the Medal of Honor he received for them that first made him a household name.
Murphy was born June 20, 1924, on a sharecropper farm near Kingston, Texas. He was one of 12 children born to Emmett and Josie Murphy. His father floated in and out of his life until he eventually abandoned the family when Murphy was still young. After only five years of schooling, Murphy left school to chop cotton for $1 a day to support his family. His mother died when he was 16, leaving him and his siblings orphaned.
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Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Angel Segarra poses for a photograph at in San Diego, Sept. 19, 2024. Photo by Austen McClain, Navy
Pentagon, (Nov. 1, 2024): "Growing up, I knew I wanted more," Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Angel Segarra recalled. "Where I come from, people don't usually make it out. The Navy was my way out and my way forward and joining was a decision that truly saved my life."
Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Angel Segarra
- Job Title: Information Systems Technician, Systems Administration Course Supervisor.
- Hometown: Philadelphia
- Stationed: Naval Base San Diego, Calif.
- Unit: Information Warfare Training Command San Diego.
Read more: FACE OF DEFENSE: SERVICE LIFTS SAILOR FROM CHALLENGING BEGINNINGS
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Pentagon, (May 6, 2024): When it comes to their careers, Marine Corps Cpls. Alex and Andres Lopez are quick to say they're blessed: They are a dual-military couple who are assigned to the same place and the same unit. And because of the jobs they pursued — both are military working dog handlers — they each have an additional partner at work who always has their back. The Lopezes sat down to talk with us a bit about their marriage and their four-legged partners.
Read more: FACE OF DEFENSE: PARTNERS IN LIFE, PARTNERS IN CRIME FIGHTING
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FORT BRAGG, N.C. —By Walter Ham—A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy is leading an elite group of airborne Explosive Ordnance Disposal Soldiers who are able to deploy on short notice in support of the 82nd Airborne Division.
As the 1st Platoon leader for the 722nd Ordnance Company (EOD), 1st Lt. Delanie A. Weliver leads ten Army EOD technicians who deploy with the storied airborne division as part of the Immediate Response Force.
Read more: West Point graduate leads elite rapid response EOD platoon
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Master Sgt. Diana Layne, unit supply specialist, 1st Theater Sustainment Command, wears her sash before being crowned United States of America Ms. Kentucky 2022 at a pageant in Tifton, Georgia, Oct. 24, 2021. Layne has been deployed twice to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan during her 21 years serving in the U.S. Army.
FORT KNOX, Ky. –
A Soldier serving in the 1st Theater Sustainment Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky was recently crowned United States of America Ms. Kentucky 2022 at a pageant held Oct. 24 in Tifton, Georgia.
Master Sgt. Diana D. Layne, executive assistant for the command sergeant major of the 1st TSC, officially received her crown at the USOA Georgia pageant, because Kentucky did not hold an in-person pageant due to COVID-19 pandemic conditions.
Layne described being crowned as a magical moment for her. “It was overwhelming to have someone crown me,” she said.
The master sergeant, who is a unit supply specialist by trade, elected to make her platform for the pageant “being the voice of domestic violence, especially for those who are re-victimized and labeled as the assaulter,” she said. It was her own experience as a domestic violence survivor that led her to select this platform.
For the Ms. Kentucky pageant Layne was nominated and interviewed with the USOA pageant judges via Zoom. She was judged 100% on her personal interview. Before the pandemic, the personal interview contributed to 50% of the total points with the other 25% coming from the evening gown competition and 25% from the swimsuit competition.
Layne ultimately won over the judges with her attitude, achievements, volunteerism, resiliency, character, community service, and military service.
No stranger to the pressures of competition, Layne was also crowned Miss Washington Fitness 2021, competing and winning this fitness pageant when she was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McCord, Washington.
Master Sgt. Diana Layne, unit supply specialist, 1st Theater Sustainment Command, sports her crown and sash at the 2022 United States of America pageant held in Tifton, Georgia, Oct. 24, 2021. Layne was born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago until age 14 when she moved to Brooklyn where she graduated third in her high school class. She has served in the Army for 21 years.
Born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago – the home of the limbo dance, she moved to Brooklyn at age 14 and graduated third in her high school senior class. Layne has one son, Michael, who attends school in Trinidad and lives with his great grandmother.