This is the forward of my book, Unsung Patriot. My editor thought it would be a good idea to tell people why they might want to read it.

You are probably wondering why you should read about a man whose name you can not pronounce. Guy Thomas Viskniskki was my grandfather a fact that may induce some of my relatives to read the book. But why should you?

Have you ever heard of The Stars and Stripes, the newspaper of our armed forces? It has been in continuous existence since 1942, and today it is possible to read it on the Internet. The newspaper did not magically spring up just as our country entered World War II. The version of the paper we know today had been started back in 1918 during the trench warfare of the Great War (World War I).

Back in 1917 my grandfather volunteered for service in the American Expeditionary Forces. He had spent about thirty years in the newspaper business, working his way up from being a printer's devil, to being a reporter and, finally, to being a partner in a syndicate that sold big-name columns to various newspapers. He was experienced in all aspects of the newspaper business. He was aware of how a newspaper could shape opinions and could meld diverse individuals into a cohesive group.

Guy arrived in France in November, 1917. In his travels as a field censor, he found the troops discontented and their morale very low. It was certainly not an army ready to do battle. Based upon his knowledge of newspapers, he believed a newspaper for the A.E.F. would increase morale and help turn the troops into a cohesive, fighting unit.

My grandfather, Guy T. Viskniskki, was the first officer-in-charge and the first editor-in-chief of The Stars and Stripes during the fight months of the A.E.F.

This is his story.

Virginia Gillespie Vassallo was born in Montclair, New Jersey, on April 11, 1951. She graduated cum laude from The Kimberley School in June, 1969, and spent her freshman year of college at Jackson College, Tufts University, Medford, MA. After marriage she attended Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, PA, and, two children later, she graduated from Montclair State University in 1979 with a BA in history.

As a single mother looking for a better job with more income, she entered Seton Hall University School of Law in 1982 where she obtained her JD and was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1986.

Virginia's roots hail back to the founding of our country. Her Quaker relatives arrived in Pennsylvania with William Penn and some of them ultimately owned most of the colony of Delaware. Another relative is believed to have captained a supply ship for Jamestown colony. Eleazer Robinson and Henry Clayton fought in the Revolutionary War. The artist, Benjamin West, is probably the most well-known of her ancestors. And, of course, there is her grandfather, Guy T. Viskniskki, who founded The Stars and Stripes newspaper during World War I.

Of English, Irish, Scottish, Polish and German ancestry, Virginia never intended to write a book of any kind. But in her search for the grandfather she never know, she uncovered his personal memoirs and historical data which compelled her to write her grandfather's story, a process that lasted almost ten years.

Virginia's interest in history is evidenced by her membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Kentucky Historical Society and POINT. She is also a member of the Kentucky Mountain Saddle Horse Association and the European-Pacific Stars and Stripes Association.

Virginia and her husband, Russell, who is also an author, reside on a large farm in south-central Kentucky where she rides her horse, Diablo, and cares for her rescued animals. She is the grandmother of six, including two sets of twins.

An avid reader, she has propelled her husband into their newly founded company, Krazy Duck Productions. Like her grandfather who took failing newspapers and sculpted them into profitable operations, Virginia is the administrative backbone of the company and a formidable writer in her own right.

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