The winners of the 2024 PBS Kids Writers Contest at WVPB have been announced!
Nominate an exceptional West Virginia teacher today!
On Demand
On Demand
Watch locally produced documentaries & more.
On Demand
On Demand
West Virginia Morning
Inside Appalachia
West Virginia Week
Mountain Stage
Us & Them
The Legislature Today
Send us your comments and questions.
Stream our board meetings.
Come and meet us!
Check out the latest WVPB news.
Meet the WVPB staff.
WV Educational Broadcasting Authority, the WVPB Foundation, and the Friends of WVPB.
Come work with us!
Sign up for our newsletter and get weekly updates.
Sponsor impactful and engaging media and entertainment.
Use your IRA to make a gift to WVPB.
Become a member with your gift of $1,000 or more.
Sergeant Gene A. Vance Jr. of Morgantown was killed in combat in Afghanistan on May 19, 2002. Vance was the only member of the West Virginia National Guard to die in the Afghan War, but 14 other West Virginians in active duty also lost their lives in the conflict.
The war was triggered by the terrorists’ attacks on the United States on 9/11/2001. The West Virginia Air National Guard’s Tactical Airlift Wings out of Charleston and Martinsburg flew hundreds of missions for the Air Force. The West Virginia National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne), with headquarters in Huntington, was one of the first units sent to Afghanistan. Sergeant Vance was a member of this unit.
Reserve and National Guard units were dispatched to both Afghanistan and Iraq to reinforce active military forces. In addition to the 15 West Virginians who gave their lives in Afghanistan, another 24 soldiers and marines from our state lost their lives in the Iraq War. Virtually all elements of the West Virginia Army and Air National Guard were mobilized for at least one deployment to the Middle East.
