Board of Directors
Gary Wilson, President
Gary was born and raised in Illinois and is a retired physician and healthcare executive. After living in several different states, he presently resides in Kentucky. Gary is the longest tenured present Board member and is serving as president for the second time. He has had a passion for history from a young age and has traveled extensively, visiting historical sites in the U.S.
Major General Bill Terpeluk, US Army Reserve (Retired), Vice-President
A 1974 graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, Bill is a former Infantry Officer and published military author. In his 36 years of service on both active duty and the Army Reserve, he has had seven command assignments from the company to division-level. In his civilain professional career, he held several positions in the biomedical research field. Also holding an M.B.A. from Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, Bill is currently a member of the Adjunct Faculty at Drexel University College of Medicine.
Mary K. Adams, Secretary
Mary founded M.K. Adams Associates, Inc. in New York City, a recruitment firm that specializes in placing marketing professionals in the architecture/engineering/construction (AEC) industry. She is a graduate of the University of Kansas at Lawrence, with a degree in psychology. Her passion for scuba diving has taken her to many areas around the world, where she acquired an equal passion and appreciation for history and preservation.
Laurie Burgett, Treasurer
Laurie is a native San Diegan and holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from San Diego State University. Now retired, she worked as an engineer for Convair (formerly, General Dynamics’ missile division) and then at Solar Turbines (a Caterpillar Company), which is a supplier of industrial gas turbines. There, she held leadership roles overseeing various engineering, manufacturing, and customer service departments. In her final role, she and her team reorganized Solar’s international indirect supply chain and implemented ethics and compliance risk mitigation. She also earned a Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional (CCEP) credential. Over the years, she has held positions with various local civic and nonprofit organizations. After retirement, she began researching soldiers of the 86th Illinois Volunteer Infantry and quickly developed a passion for studying all aspects of the Civil War.
William M. McKinnon M.D.
William, “Bill,” grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, after a childhood in Roanoke, Virginia. Sunday afternoon would often mean a trip with his dad to a battlefield or museum, which instilled an interest in the Civil War from an early age. He attended Emory University for three years for college and then entered the Emory University School of Medicine. After six years of surgical training, Bill performed vascular surgery for thirty-eight years at Emory University Hospital Midtown. A longtime member of Blue and Gray, Bill served for years on the Board, including two years as Board President. Now Past President, he continues Board service and support, working in philanthropy and strategic fundraising.
Laurence (Laurie) D. Schiller
Laurie is a resident of Deerfield, Il and is a retired Adjunct Professor of African History at Northwestern University where he received his Ph.D. and taught for 40 years. He has been President of the Northern Illinois CWRT several times and he and his wife Cathy have supported the American Battlefield Trust and its predecessor organizations virtually from their beginning. In addition, he has given multiple talks to a variety of CWRTs and the Kenosha Civil War Museum, as well as publishing a monograph on cavalry with BGES, Of Sabres and Carbines: The Evolution of Federal Cavalry Tactics in the Civil War, and several articles in North and South Magazine. He is currently working on a book on the evolution of cavalry tactics in the American Civil War. Laurie has also been a Civil War reenactor for over 30 years.
In addition to his academic career, Laurie is a member of both the Northwestern Athletic Hall of Fame and USA Fencing Hall of Fame for his successful career as the Head Fencing Coach at Northwestern. He held numerous positions at the NCAA and for USA Fencing in a career spanning 61 years. He continues to referee in his retirement at the National level.
Dr. Joseph V. Trahan, III
The New Orleans native has forty-four years of public relations/affairs experience in governmental, association, and educational and non-profit public relations and current CEO of Trahan & Associates providing expert training on Media Relations, Crisis and Risk Communications. Additionally, Dr. Trahan is also LTC(R) Joe Trahan, United States Army Reserve (USAR), former Commander of the 314th Public Affairs Operations Center (PAOC) (USAR) located in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. (LTC-USAR) Trahan has successfully operated four Joint Information Bureaus (JIBs) and one Joint Information Center (JIC) from 1991-94. Some of Dr. (LTC) Trahan’s JIB/JIC Assignments were: Joint Logistics over the Shore (JLOTS)-1992; Presidential Task Force Andrew-1992; The National Boy Scout Jamboree -1993 and the 50th Anniversary of Operation Overlord-1994. Since 1998, Dr. Joe Trahan has superbly Media Relations trained over 3,500 people yearly in: 46 US states, England, Norway, France, Belgium, Paraguay, Mexico and The Netherlands.
Dr. Joe Trahan, APR graduated from Tulane University with a BA degree in American Military History, a MA degree in Public Relations from Ball State University and a Ph.D. in Mass Communication with an emphasis in Public Relations and Advertising from The University of Southern Mississippi. Currently, Dr. Trahan is a lifetime Board Member of The PRSA Public Affairs & Government Section. Finally, Dr. Joe Trahan is an accredited member of Public Relations Society of America, a former National PSA Board of Director and National PRSSA Faculty Advisor. Dr. Trahan was Inducted into The Defense Information School (DINFOS) in September 2025. He was inducted into The Rowan University Public Relations Hall of Fame for lifetime distinguished contributions to The Public Relations Profession in 2019. He was inducted into The Southern Public Relations Federation (SPRF) Hall of Fame for bringing distinction to The Public Relations Profession in 2016. He was awarded The Lloyd B. Dennis Award by PRSA in 2009 for Distinguished Leadership in Public Affairs. He was awarded The U.S. Army Ancient Order of St. Gabriel in 2022 for outstanding achievements and accomplishments in the spirit, dignity and sense of sacrifice and commitment epitomized by a career that so singularly distinguishes the individual as a contributor to Public Affairs that they few peers. He’s also a longtime fan of the 2010 World Champion New Orleans Saints!
Hal LitchFord
Ed Schneider
Commander Ed Schneider, U.S. Navy, served 15 years on active duty, primarily as a test pilot. He then joined NASA as a research pilot on multiple programs, including the Mach 3 SR-71. Ed has flown over 7800 flight hours in 91 models of aircraft. He retired in 2004.
He is a Fellow and former President of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, a member of the Kentucky Aviation Hall of Fame, and was awarded NASA’s Distinguished Service Medal, the Agency’s highest award.
His interest in the Civil War began in grade school and continues to grow to the present day with many battlefield tours. He and his wife, Ginger reside in Union, Kentucky.
Ed Urban
Staff
Johnny Wade Sokolosky, Executive Director
Colonel Wade Sokolosky (Ret.), a native of Beaufort, North Carolina, is a graduate of East Carolina University and a 25-year veteran of the U.S. Army. He is the author of North Carolina’s Confederate Hospitals, 1861-1865, volumes 1 and 2. Wade co-authored (with Mark A. Smith) “To Prepare for Sherman’s Coming”: The Battle of Wise’s Forks, March 1865, and “No Such Army Since the Days of Julius Caesar”: Sherman’s Carolinas Campaign from Fayetteville to Averasboro, and the compiler of “Final Roll Call” Confederate Losses during the 1865 Carolinas Campaign, vol. 1 (North Carolina), the first in a multi-volume series.
A staunch battlefield preservationist, for the last several years Wade has helped lead the effort to save the Wyse Fork Battlefield in Kinston, NC, from destruction. Additionally, he serves as the vice president of the Friends of Bentonville Battlefield and is a member of the Brunswick County Civil War Round Table Advisory Council. Wade lives in Beaufort, North Carolina.
Doug Cumins, Special Projects Director
Norman Dasinger, Communications Director
Norman Dasinger, owner of a real estate title company, has been active in Civil War history, preservation, and interpretation since 1985. He is a member of the SCV, SUVCW, and SAR and has been leading tours of Civil War sites across Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee since 2004. Norman brings substantial knowledge of the region’s history, spanning the Civil War, pioneer settlement, Native American heritage, and the Civil Rights movement. He lives in Rainbow City, Alabama, and is the father of two grown sons.
Robert D. Jenkins Sr., Field University Director
Robert D. (“Bob”) Jenkins, Sr. is an attorney practicing in Dalton, Georgia, where he has maintained a general and civil trial practice since 1990. Bob was graduated from Georgia Southern University in 1987 with a B.B.A degree in Business Management with Minors in History and Geography. Bob received his Juris Doctor degree from Mercer University in 1990 and regularly practices in the courts throughout Northwest Georgia. In addition to serving as Field University Director, Bob is active in battlefield preservation and in research and writing. He is President of Save the Dalton Battlefields, LLC and is Vice Chair of Whitfield County’s Historic Preservation Commission where he has led efforts to preserve and protect civil war earthworks and sites in and around Dalton. Through their efforts, the County has acquired and
opened Mill Creek Gap Park, Potato Hill Park and Rocky Face Ridge Park.
Bob has authored The Battle of Peach Tree Creek, Hood’s First Sortie, (Mercer University Press “MUP”, Macon, GA: 2013), To the Gates of Atlanta, (MUP, 2015), and The Cassville Affairs: Johnston, Hood and the Failed Confederate Strategy in the Atlanta Campaign, (MUP, 2024).
Barbara Noe Kennedy, Copy Editor
Jarred Marlowe, Social Media & Video Production Manager
Jarred Marlowe is a historian and resident of Collinsville, Virginia where he lives with his wife and two daughters. He is also a member of the Col. George Waller Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution and is the committee chair for the Martinsville-Henry County 250 Committee.
Karen Needles, Rev War Video Project Editor
Director of the Lincoln Archives Digital Project and Education Specialist at the Library of Congress. Karen is an Air Force Veteran and Former teacher, as well as an education consultant for IBM, Discovery Channel, Turner Learning, and Cable in the Classroom.
Burford Smith, Field University Logistics Manager