Current Leadership
Our President
DWIGHT JON ZIMMERMAN has had a wide-ranging career: a best-selling and award-winning author, radio show host, and award-winning television and movie producer. He began his career at Marvel Comics, and has written stories about most of its famous characters including Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, amongst others.
He is the bestselling co-author of the #1 New York Times bestselling book, Lincoln’s Last Days, a young adult adaptation of Bill O’Reilly’sNew York Times #1 bestselling history Killing Lincoln.
Zimmerman is the host of “At Ease,” an hour-long program about authors and their projects for Veterans Radio Network. His guests have included bestselling authors such as Larry Bond, Dick Couch, Jake Tapper, and many others.
Zimmerman has written hundreds of articles on military history subjects. He is the author of a series of World War II 70th anniversary articles for the Defense Media Network website that chronologically recount that conflict.
Zimmerman is the co-author, with John D. Gresham of Uncommon Valor: The Medal of Honor and the Six Warriors Who Earned It in Afghanistan and Iraq, which received the Military Writers Society of America’s most prestigious honor, the MWSA Founder’s Award for 2010.
Zimmerman’s other award-winning and critically acclaimed books include The Hammer and the Anvil: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln and the End of Slavery in America, Saga of the Sioux the authorized adaptation of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown, co-author, The Vietnam War: A Graphic History, Beyond Hell and Back: How America’s Special Operations Forces became the World’s Greatest Fighting Unit, The Book of War about pivotal battles, leaders, and strategies from ancient to modern times, The Book of Weapons, a critically acclaimed sequel about important weapons, weapon designers, and arms manufacturers and merchants throughout history, and First Command: Paths to Leadership, which presents the pivotal challenges and events that occurred in the early careers of generals from George Washington to Colin Powell and how they overcame them.
Zimmerman was the co-executive producer of the Military Channel mini-series, First Command, based on his award-winning book of the same name. The miniseries debuted in 2005 and has been regularly aired on the Military Channel ever since. It won the 2005 Aurora Platinum Best of Show Award for Historical Programming. The book First Command is on the U.S. Army Chief of Infantry Recommended Reading List: Junior NCOs. He was a producer for the independent film, Trooper, which has received numerous film festival awards.
Zimmerman has lectured at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the Naval War College, and has appeared on the FOX programs DEFCON-3 hosted by K.T. McFarland, and AMERICA NEWS HQ discussing military subjects. He lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife Joëlle. They have two adult children.
Vice-President: Betsy Beard -
Betsy Beard’s writing career began on October 14, 2004 immediately after notification that her only son, Specialist Bradley Scott Beard had been killed in action in Ar Ramadi, Iraq. Finding some solace in pouring her heartache into a journal, she called it “hemorrhaging on paper.”
Shortly thereafter, she discovered Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), a national nonprofit Veterans Service Organization providing compassionate care for the families of America’s fallen military heroes. She began contributing articles about survivorship to TAPS Magazine, the national quarterly magazine of Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors.
Since that time, she has continued to write and has published articles in newspapers, TAPS Magazine, Living with Loss Magazine, and Hospice Foundation of America’s 2008 Living with Grief, 2012 Journeys with Grief, and 2013 Living with Grief.
Betsy became the editor for TAPS Magazine in 2008. In 2010, she wrote the award-winning children’s book, Klinger, A Story of Honor and Hope. The book earned gold medals from Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards, Young Voices Foundation, and MWSA.
In addition to writing, Betsy has presented workshops on bereavement for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Regional and National Trainings and participated in the Casualty Notification training for the United States Army Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Operation Center (CMAOC).
Prior to the death of her son, Betsy worked in the banking industry, home-schooled her children through high school, and spent 21 years working in hospital laboratories as a medical technologist. She currently serves as the vice president for MWSA and lives in North Carolina with Randy, her husband of 34 years.
Treasurer
Louis Intres - Retired Career banker; Returned to Arkansas State University where I presently teach in the Department of History while completing my Ph. D. in Heritage Studies. For the past four years, I have studied and researched the issue of Cultural Property Crime as a Visiting Interpol Scholar, regarding the international smuggling of artifacts out of the Middle East into Europe and America. I live and work in the Wadi Rum desert of southern Jordan where much of the smuggling occurrs. The Bedouins are my instructors, the locals, my friends, and I camp on the mountains overlooking the desert..
Secretary
Ron Camarda -
After 28 years in the Coast Guard and Naval Reserves, Ron retired in DEC 2005. Ron graduated from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in 1981 with a direct commission in the U.S. Coast Guard, a B.S. in Nautical Science, and a License as a Third Mate for all Oceangoing Vessels Unlimited Tonnage. Ron qualified as a Marine Inspector and Senior Investigating Officer. In 1987, he left for the seminary and was ordained a Catholic priest for the Diocese of St. Augustine in 1990. That same year he became a Navy Chaplain. Ron earned an MA and a Masters of Divinity in Theology from St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, Florida. He also has an EdS in Counseling and will be soon be completing a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Pastoral Counseling from Loyola University Maryland.
Father Camarda was ordained in 1990 for the diocese of St. Augustine, FL. He has served in many parishes and capacities in the diocese. He served on Active Duty from 1994 to 1997 in Japan, Puerto Rico and Guantanamo Bay Cuba.
While a pastor at St. Patrick’s in Jacksonville, Ron was given two weeks to pack up and serve as the Catholic priest in Fallujah Iraq with the First Marine Expeditionary Force (2004). He was attached to Bravo Surgical Company and provided pastoral care for the troubled, fatigued, sick, wounded, and deceased for 7 months during the Battle for Fallujah. He provided Catholic priest support for Camp Fallujah, and MEF units in the Area of Operation. He presided over 240 Masses in the field and Baptized, Confirmed and gave First Eucharist to 24 service members.
Father Ron is past State Chaplain for the VFW in Florida. Ron has led many retreats including 9 to the poorest of the poor in Haiti and Honduras.
Other Board Members
Bill McDonald, Founder and Member of Board - flew with the 128th Helicopter Assault Company out of Phu Loi, South Vietnam. He was awarded numerous medals, including: the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star, fourteen Air Medals and the Purple Heart. He is the author of "A Spiritual Warrior's Journey", "Purple Hearts", and "Sacred Eye." Bill is MWSA's founder, and served as the Society's first president.
Joyce Faulkner lives in Pittsburgh, PA. She published her first article in high school back in 1965. Her writing credentials include many magazine, newspaper & web articles. She also wrote columns -- "The History of Aerial Applications" for AG Pilot International and one on writing topics for webzine "Scribe & Quill." She is a ghostwriter, an editor and a web, newspaper & book designer. Her published books include "USERNAME" (Thriller, 2011), "Chance ... and other horrors" (Collection of dark fiction), "Role Call: Womens' Voices" (with Pat McGrath Avery and Branson Stars and Flags 1st Place for Anthology 2011), "Sunchon Tunnel Massacre Survivors" (with Pat McGrath Avery, Branson Stars and Flags 1st Place for Non-fiction/biography 2010), "In the Shadow of Suribachi" (2006 MWSA Gold Medal for Historical Fiction and Honorable Mention, Branson Stars and Flags, 2010), "For Shrieking Out Loud" (a collection of humorous creative non-fiction essays), "Losing Patience" (a collection of short fiction and Writers Notes' Runner UP 2007).
Her educational background includes a Major in Writing at the University of Arkansas (3 years) in the 1960s, an Associates Degree in Engineering Science, a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and an MBA from Cleveland State University. She worked in the Gas Industry for many years...first as an Engineer and then as a Supervisor of Gas Supply and then Manager of Information Services. When she left industry in 2000, she was the Director of eCommerce with many years experience in web development and design.
She has been a member of MWSA since 2006 and has served as Secretary and MWSA Webmaster since January of 2008. Her skills include Management, Project Management, Web Site Design, Writing and Layout. She volunteered for the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center for several years and has led various corporate, community and volunteer committees & organizations. Her goal is to help veterans record their piece of history -- for themselves, their families, their communities -- and our country.
"It all started when I wrote 'In the Shadow of Suribachi'," she says. "It's basically the story of my father's experiences as a young Marine at the Battle of Iwo Jima. That book has my heart. It was also the beginning of my working to get veterans' stories written and published. Working with MWSA is an extension of that dream...to make sure that all of our history is recorded and recognized. MWSAPresident@gmail.com
Mike "Moon" Mullins - is a graduate Clinch Valley College of the University of Virginia (now U. Va., Wise). He earned an undergraduate degree in English in 1974 after serving in the U. S. Army. He later completed an Associate’s Degree in Operations Supervision at Indiana University, Kokomo, Indiana.
Mullins is retired from Chrysler, LLC, where he was a supervisor/team leader. He served in other management positions prior to his employment in the auto industry.
In March of 1968, Mullins was assigned to South Vietnam as a soldier in the 199th Infantry Brigade, where he served as in infantry solder until March, 1969. He was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in action during September, 1968. The experience led to his award winning book, Vietnam in Verse, poetry for beer drinkers, in 2007. He followed that book with 2 more in 2011. He co-authored Kings of the Green Jelly Moon and published Out of the Mist, Memories of War. Those books also earned special honors. He has done 2 award winning audio books and an award winning poem/poster. He has a new book out in 2013. He co-authored Pass the Salt Doc with jim greenwald, which was released in February, 2013. Married for 42 years, he is the grandfather of five. He is a board member of Military Writers Society of America.
His website is MichaelDMullins.com and his e-mail is mullins.m.1@comcast.net.
jim greenwald - served in the Navy in a variety of capacities. whether you want to or not. It provided an opportunity to see much of the world and too meet two presidents. He holds degrees in Computer Science, Business Administration, Business Management and a Masters in Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations. He is happily divorced, his three children quickly growing older than he, and has four beautiful teenage granddaughters. He is a two time survivor of cancer who enjoys each and every vertical day, crediting the Creator and a positive attitude for his survival. His writing is a reflection of his multicultural background; Ojibwe, French and German. A professional photographer for many years who now takes pictures almost exclusively at Native American powwows.
His poetry has been published extensively in e-zines, magazines and anthologies here and internationally. He has published seven books of poetry to date mixing emotional poetry and Native American oriented poetry and stories, he co-authored a volume of Native poetry and stories. He has received several awards for his writing, including two gold medals from the MWSA for his books titled Tears for Mother Earth and Across the Bridge, four Editors Choice awards from the International Library of Poetry and two Honor Scroll Awards from Angels Without Wings Foundation, Inc., he is a lifetime member of the Military Writers Society of America, Canadian Federation of Poets, American Authors Society, Academy of American poets, and the Native American Rights Fund. He lives by a quiet stream in the middle of nowhere in Bedford County, PA where he can hear the water speak.
Maria Edwards, MWSA Consultant - Maria was the first Executive Vice President of Military Writer’s Society of America. Well known among authors and publishers as an innovative book marketer, she specializes in teaching authors how to leverage the power of cooperative book promotion events.