Jim Belcher Jr teaches and speaks frequently at DOD and veterans’ events, public & private schools, universities and defense contractor facilities. He has authored numerous magazine articles, a book chapter, hosted a newspaper column and appeared in international history documentaries, YouTube videos, radio and news stories.  

Jim was a duel citizen at birth, born at Yokosuka Naval Hospital, Japan.  His father, who passed away in 2001, was one of 1195 men on the final voyage of the famous but ill-fated WWII heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis.  Jim’s mother, is a WWII survivor and war bride, his grandfather a Nagasaki bomb survivor and uncle a sergeant in the Imperial Japanese Army. Jim is the only Japanese-born son of a USS Indianapolis Survivor. During our show, Jim’s presentation will be ‘Two Hearts, One Flag: The USS Indianapolis Tragedy & Aftermath’.

Speaking all 3 days

Bob Krauss, and his wife Amelia, published “The 509th Remembered”, which profiles the service members of the 509th Composite Group and the events that surrounded the group and its role in dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Elected an Honorary Member in 2001 and the official historian of the 509th Composite Group in 2017, he has dedicated himself to preserving the history and images of the group.

Appearing all 3 days

Speaking on Friday

John Cappello, Halyard Mission Foundation

The goal of the Foundation is to educate, commemorate, and increase awareness of the Halyard Mission, the rescue of over 500 US airmen during WWII, and the role the Serbs played in the success of the mission.

Speaking all 3 days

Michael Coon, a Muscogee Creek Citizen, joined the US Army on February 26, 1971.  His first duty station was Fort Leonardwood, MO for basic training and Advanced Individual Training, subsequently receiving orders to go to Vietnam.  He decided to volunteer for Airborne School at Fort Benning, GA after completion of his training.  Michael was a paratrooper assigned to Airborne Unit HHSXVIII ABN Corps at Fort Bragg, NC.  He completed his military career on December 14, 1973 and received an Honorable Discharge.

Michael’s father, Phillip Coon, enlisted in the US Army in 1941 and received training as a Heavy Machine Gunner and in jungle warfare.  He was assigned to the 4th Squad, H Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, and was stationed in the Philippeans.  Following the American surrender of the Bataan Peninsula, Phillip Coon was captured by the Japanese.  He and 75,000 Filipino and US troops were forced to march 65 miles to POW camps, an arduous march known today as the Bataan Death March.  After being transferred to several different Japanese POW camps during the course of the war, he was finally liberated following the Japanese surrender in September 1945. Phillip Coon is recognized as an Honored Native American Warrior.  In April of 2013, Michael went to the Philippeans to do a documentary about his father and to publish a book about his military service entitled “A Soldier’s Silent Prayer”.  Michael will share his father’s story during our WWII Weekend show.

Speaking all 3 days

Clinton M. Davis, a family historian and public speaker. His is very knowledgeable of local African American history having lived in the days of segregated Staunton, Virginia, as well as through the early days of integration. His is a member of the Augusta county Historical Society and a former member of the the Augusta County Genealogical Society. From these connections, Clinton has shared his experiences and knowledge through local newspaper articles and speaking engagements, including local middle school students and veterans groups.

Clinton’s father, Ralph H. Davis, served at the Tuskegee Airfield in Alabama throughout WWII as a mechanic. He enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in 1941, and joined a select group of African American men in the 99th Pursuit Squadron. Despite having a private pilot’s license, he did not qualify as a pilot, most likely because he did not have a college degree. Clinton Davis will speak about his father’s contributions to the mission of the Tuskegee Airmen during WWII.

Speaking all 3 days

Cindy Silverman is the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors who fled Vienna. Her grandparents were reluctant to share their story with others despite repeated requests. After the death of her grandparents’, Cindy’s family discovered an archive in her grandparents’ apartment with letters, documents, and paperwork spanning the years of 1935-1947.  She has spent the last several years piecing together their story using the archive and research.  Cindy not only shares Karl and Mathilde’s story to honor and remember them but to educate others about intolerance. 

Karl and Mathilde, like many Jews in Germany and Austria, lived under Nazi persecution years before the Final Solution was implemented. Their story reveals the escalating loss of rights, the violence targeting Jewish communities, and the heart-wrenching choices they faced. In a desperate search for safety, Karl and Mathilde fled Vienna in 1939, leaving behind loved ones who tragically became victims of the Holocaust.  Their story is one of resilience, sacrifice, and survival, offering powerful lessons about the past and its relevance today. 

Speaking all 3 days

Jess Braverman is the incredibly proud granddaughter of Israel Mandel of Komarów, Poland, and Krisha Gold of Stąporków, Poland, two Holocaust survivors.

She grew up with fragments of their stories, brief mentions, long pauses. As an adult, she began researching in archives across Europe and the United States to understand what they endured and what they chose not to share.

Her grandparents survived on entirely different paths. One fled east, endured imprisonment in Siberian gulags, and, alongside his brother, made an extraordinary journey across continents before the war ended. The other survived persecution in occupied Poland through forced labor, loss, and time spent in hiding as her family was torn apart. They met after the war in a Displaced Persons camp and began rebuilding from nothing.

By profession, Jess spent more than two decades in health tech and now runs a successful executive search practice focused on healthcare innovation. The work of researching and telling her grandparents’ story is deeply personal and undertaken alongside her professional career. She is currently writing a memoir about uncovering their history and what it means to inherit it.

Jess speaks about survival, faith, silence, and resilience. Not as distant history, but as family memory that still shapes the present.

Speaking Friday and Saturday

William R. Hogan is a fourth-generation U.S. Army officer and the award-winning author of Task Force Hogan. He brings a deeply personal perspective to World War II history as the youngest son of Samuel M. Hogan, one of the 3rd Armored Division’s most dynamic and successful tactical commanders in the European Theater.

Over a 22-year career, Hogan served worldwide in armored, special operations, and airborne units, experience that informs his writing with an authentic soldier’s voice. He retired from the U.S. Army in the summer of 2024 after serving on the French Army Staff in Paris as a liaison officer. Anyone interested in researching WWII relatives, the Battle of the Bulge and the 3rd Armored Division should not miss this.

Attending All 3 Days, Speaking Sunday