This Citizen Soldier program features panelists retired Major General John Borling, Donald Casey, retired Brigadier General Rhonda Cornum, and is moderated John Barr.

John Borling is a highly decorated, retired Air Force Major General. He served worldwide in high level command and staff positions. A fighter pilot, he graduated from the Air Force Academy, National War College, and was a White House Fellow. During the Vietnam War, he was shot down by ground fire. Seriously injured, he was captured while trying to evade and spent over 6 ½ years as a POW in Hanoi. Currently, he occupies leadership positions in multiple civic and business organizations. He is the author of Taps on the Walls: Poems from the Hanoi Hilton.

Donald E. Casey volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Corps Aviation Cadet program in December 1942. After completing training on October 23, 1943 he flew as a navigator in B-17 "Flying Fortress" bombers on 28 missions until June 18, 1944 when his aircraft was shot down and he was captured by German soldiers, spending six months as a POW in Stalag Luft III. Returning to the United States in June of 1945, he mustered out of the Army in time to enroll in Dartmouth College the following fall where he received a degree in Economics in June 1948. In 1952 he returned to his home city Chicago, where he worked for a large life and health insurance company while attending law school at the University of Loyola, graduating in 1957.

Rhonda Cornum, Ph.D., M.D., recently retired from the US Army and now runs a large cattle and thoroughbred horse farm, as well as serving as a consultant for health strategy and wellness initiatives in both governmental and private organizations. She served in numerous positions over a 30 year career including: Commander of the Landstuhl Medical Center from 2003-2005. From 2008 to 2012, she founded and directed Comprehensive Soldier Fitness in the Army Staff G-3/5/7 division. During Operation Desert Storm, then Major Cornum served as a flight surgeon with an Apache unit. Sent on a search and rescue mission, her helicopter was shot down on February 27, 1991. Five of the eight man crew died in the crash; Major Cornum was taken prisoner, with both arms broken, a serious knee injury, a gunshot wound, and other injuries.

John Barr was born in Nebraska in 1943 and grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. Graduating from Harvard College with honors in 1965, he served as a line officer in the U.S. Navy for five years and made three cruises to Vietnam. Barr has served many years on the boards of arts organizations and was named, in 2004, the inaugural president of the Poetry Foundation. Recipient of a major financial gift from philanthropist Ruth Lilly, the Foundation publishes Poetry magazine and operates a family of programs that place poetry of the highest quality before more than 20 million Americans annually.