As You Were: To War and Back with the Black Hawk Battalion of the Virginia National Guard
A new non-fiction book by a Washington Post military affairs reporter prominently features one of our alumni, Ray Johnson, a retired chief warrant officer and pilot with the Virginia Army National Guard. The book, As You Were: To War and Back with the Black Hawk Battalion of the Virginia National Guard, was written by Christian Davenport, who was embedded with the unit. According to Ray, the book covers the story of five soldiers who were or are still in the National Guard and how their lives are disrupted when they are called up to serve, time and again, and then try and return to their families and civilian jobs.” In this case, the regiment was called in 2006 for a year-long tour of duty in Iraq. Ray, a Vietnam Vet, was 58 when the call came for the Iraq deployment. Both Ray (‘80) and his wife praise the book, and were glad to hear the responses of friends who read it: “a lot of my friends and co-workers said the book is great, and they did not realize the sacrifices our citizen soldiers have to make, even if it is for a short time.”
ABC News also reported on the book, the author, Ray, and some of the other guard members in a segment produced for Memorial Day. It is still available for viewing by clicking here.
