Clara Barton and the American Red Cross

by J Michael Waller / Serviam / January 2, 2009. First Sergeant Roland Williston lay on a gurney in the 100-degree Virginia heat, with gangrene consuming the amputated stumps of his shattered left hand and leg. The 26-year-old barber from Holyoke, Mass., had been among the first volunteers to answer President Abraham Lincoln’s call to save the … Read more

An officer and a businessman: Captain Parrott and his guns

by J Michael Waller / Serviam / December 30, 2008. After a successful if rather uneventful career as a U.S. Army artillery officer, Capt. Robert Parker Parrott went into the private sector. That’s where his real contribution to American national defense began. Thanks to his West Point education and his 12 years as a commissioned officer, Parrott amassed … Read more