Gayle Alvarez came into this world as an Air Force brat at Idaho's Mountain Home Air Force Base and after chasing her dad across the country a couple of times, settled in Utah when he retired.   She joined the Utah Army National Guard in 1978 and after moving to Idaho in 1981, transferred to the Idaho Guard. 

Gayle served in the Guard for a combined total of 13 years rising to the rank of SFC.  She has been on the Board of Directors of the Idaho Military History Museum since 1994, and became interested in Medal of Honor research in 1999 when she began studying Idaho’s Medal of Honor Recipients.  Originally, it appeared that there were about 12.  She has since discovered that there are 43 recipients with significant Idaho attachments.  She also, quite painfully, learned along the way that much of what has been recorded about them is in error.  There was one particular recipient with so much misinformation recorded about him that she began to wonder if she had the right person.  She was also quite surprised to learn that eight Medals had been EARNED in Idaho.  Most sources only record four.

Gayle has published a book on Idaho’s recipients and has just published the 3^rd edition as a great deal of new information has since come to light.   She also coordinated with the Naval Historical Center the loan of the actual Civil War Medal of Honor of Gurdon Barter who is buried in Idaho, but not necessarily in Viola where he is recorded to be. 

In addition, when Korean War recipient David B. Bleak passed away, his family chose the Museum to receive his actual Medal.  Both Medals are now on exhibit there.  Gayle became a member of the MoHHS in 2001 courtesy of Charlie Chambers who was impressed with the research she had done to that point. The original Annals published four of her vignettes, and used some of her research in four others.   

Gayle developed a keen interest in all Medal of Honor recipients and has done extensive research on the missing information on a number of them.  She has also had the privilege of participating in Medal of Honor events in other states.  Gayle very much looks forward to working with each of you to preserve the history of the Medal of Honor and its recipients.

David Lotz is a amateur historian and history buff.  His hobby is to research and locate gravesites of notable people worldwide.  While the accumulation of information is his primary goal, a secondary hobby is to visit and photograph as many gravesites as possible.  David lives in Plano, Texas, just north of Dallas and began researching Medal of Honor graves roughly 15 years ago.  He also became acquainted with Charlie Chambers and about that same time discovered the Lang books at the Dallas Public Library.  Shortly thereafter he was roaming around the Sparkman Hillcrest Mausoleum and discovered a small brass plaque for Medal of Honor recipient Neel Kearby . . . with the Lang books, and Charlie as a resource, he hit the ground running.  The rest as they say is history!

 Bill Sweeney is a native of Woburn, MA, where he still lives.  He joined the Army in 1966, did his basic and AIT at Ft. Campbell, and was assigned to the 11th Artillery.  He and his unit went to Vietnam in December 1966, and Bill made it home a year later.  He finished out his 3-year hitch at a variety of bases including an Air Force base he hints was nicer than most Army bases.

When he returned home, Sweeney resumed his career with a subsidiary of Kraft Foods where he specialized in instrumentation, welding, and pipefitting.  He retired 7 years ago, and has enjoyed his retirement, traveling and researching the Civil War, and also our Medal of Honor recipients.

Although he says he “hasn’t done a day’s work since he retired,” he has been a tireless researcher with us.  Thanks, Bill.

Senior Master Sergeant Randy Wells currently serves as an Aerial Gunner Superintendent in the USAF Reserves, 920th Rescue Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, flying on the HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter.

He joined the Air Force in June 1982, and was assigned to the 549th Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base in September 1982 as an aircraft armament systems specialist.

Wells was selected as Airman of the Year for the 549th Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and the 549th Tactical Air Support Training Group in 1984.  In March 1985, he received the John Levitow award upon graduation from the NCO Preparatory Course.  Wells graduated from Rollins College in May 1987 with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice.

He completed active duty in 1988, and joined the USAF Reserves in September 1993.  Since August 1999, Wells has served as an air reserve technician, a full-time civil service employee serving within a military unit.  He was promoted to Senior Master Sergeant in October 2006. 

He deployed multiple times in support of Operations NORTHERN WATCH, IRAQI FREEDOM and ENDURING FREEDOM.  His most recent deployment in Afghanistan was in support of the battlefield medical evacuation role in conjunction with the Army’s 101st Airborne Division.

He has also done extensive research on Lt. Clyde Lassen (MOH, Vietnam) and participated in the ships commissioning ceremony (U.S.S. Lassen) in Tampa, FL .  He also worked with the family of Emory L. Bennett (MOH, posthumous-Korea) and the local community to erect a statue in his honor in a local park.  The statue was completed in 2007.