AprilDudash Keeping it on the record.

The best medicine

Posted April 23, 2012 at 20:08 in clips

Comedian and former paratrooper Bobby Henline is accustomed to the stares, the kids who run up and ask, “Are you OK?” before their parents can drag them away. His near-bald head is grooved with scar tissue, he can’t close his left eye and his left hand is missing because of an amputation.

These are the marks a roadside bomb left almost five years ago north of Baghdad.

“I got tattoos and scars. I’m hot,” Henline says, grinning. “If this ain’t rugged good looks, I don’t know what is.”

Learning to serve

Posted April 23, 2012 at 19:07 in clips

It’s a special kind of student who chooses to attend a military college. Many of them turn four years of structured, 18-hour days into a military career, but most don’t.

These cadets think pushups at 5:30 a.m. are fun. The regimen, restrictions, shouting and lack of identity as a bottom-rung freshman only fuel them to get stronger.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial traveling wall: History reflected

Posted November 11, 2011 at 20:08 in clips

“I’m finding too many of them.”

Moments before, Vietnam veteran Tom Swist ran his finger over the etched words “Eugene Hill,” the name of an Army buddy from basic training forever marked on the traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall.

Marker pays homage to the town of Averasborough

Posted June 14, 2011 at 23:11 in clips

DUNN – In the grassy fields bordered by crops off Chicora Road, a chiseled monument was unveiled Sunday afternoon to pay homage to the historical town of Averasborough.

Author and historian Bryan Avery led the efforts to have names of Averasborough ancestors laid in stone. The old colonial river port was founded in 1766 by his great-great-great-great-grandfather Alexander Avera.

Smooth flavors, music draws thirsty crowd to Blues-N-Brews

Posted June 14, 2011 at 23:11 in clips

A man sidled his nose up close to the fresh, creamy beer suds, took a whiff and then downed his drink in approval.

At the eighth annual Blues-N-Brews Festival on Saturday evening, a thirsty crowd filled up downtown Fayetteville’s Festival Park for a chance to sample an assortment of beers.

Elite Magazine: Military beer brewers

Posted June 14, 2011 at 23:11 in clips

It is said that good beer even has flavor in the foam. But getting to that point is a slow process requiring patience, careful calculation and enough equipment to satisfy a mad scientist – bottles, pots, kegs connected by clear tubes and thermometers swimming among the grains. But, eventually, the soupy mix matures, and a man can emerge with one hell of a beer.

Elite Magazine: Top companies actively recruit vets

Posted June 14, 2011 at 23:11 in clips

Whether your suit is green or tweed, April Dudash has business news you can use on and off post.

Fay Observer: Families get a look at Bragg behind the scenes

Posted June 14, 2011 at 23:11 in clips

As an A-10 Thunderbolt jet aircraft roared above Sicily Drop Zone, a crowd of hundreds oohed as its firepower stirred up the dirt.

Friday’s 82nd Airborne Division demonstration was the rip-roaring finale to All American Week, where the pounding of artillery was felt within the chest and 3rd Brigade Combat Team soldiers sailed through the skies.

Fay Observer: Neighbors help each other in hard hit sections of Fayetteville

Posted April 24, 2011 at 23:11 in clips

Kumyon Wade stood on the front porch of her sister’s ravaged home, arms crossed, watching as cars drove by and curious strangers snapped pictures in the Stonegate subdivision off Andrews Road.

Across the street, a neighbor hung this sign on his mailbox: “We’re glad our loss can be your entertainment today. Go home.”

Families along Ramsey Street and Andrews Road on Sunday were beginning to feel the aftermath of the tornado that swept through the area Saturday afternoon. Houses lost, property mutilated and people shaken, the tornado’s path altered the mood of an entire town.

Fay Observer: Robin Sage, the final test for Special Forces

Posted April 17, 2011 at 20:08 in clips

RAMSEUR – Papa Doc stepped out of the shadows, his camouflage cap covering his eyes as he confronted the sleeping soldier on guard duty.

“Already dead,” he drawled.