One commonly overlooked place to send your travel stories is military magazines. Whether you have ties to the military, you’re a history enthusiast, or you simply enjoy museums and areas that might be of historic interest to soldiers and veterans, consider writing for a magazine like Airborne Quarterly.
Calling itself “the voice of the American Airborne Association,” this quarterly magazine features pieces about and of interest to airborne soldiers from World War II onwards. It ranges from 80 to 96 pages long and sees its mission as publicizing the contributions brave military men made to their countries by jumping out of perfectly good airplanes.
Following the “Band of Brothers” TV miniseries a few years ago — about a Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division fighting in World War II — public interest in this special brand of soldiers has greatly increased. If you’ve been to any airborne museum in Europe, the US, or anywhere else in the world where airborne soldiers trained, fought, or had reunions, the magazine will consider your article.
Airborne soldiers can be Glider troopers, Paratroopers, Air Assault Troopers, Rangers, US Army Special Forces, USMC Recon, US Navy Seals, US Air Force Special Operations, and Troop Carrier Command. If you know anyone who has served or is serving in these forces, a story about him might be a good start.
The topics vary tremendously. A recent issue includes a divisional history, a personality piece, a documentary review, a description of Russian paratroop operations on the Eastern front in World War II, a humor section, an article about an airborne regiment in the Korean War, book reviews, Vietnam airborne soldier’s experiences, a first-person account of the D-Day paratroop landings, and a description of a joint exercise with Chinese airborne troops.
Other sections and features include a news section about recently deceased airborne soldiers and other news of them, how to find information about veterans from Army records, and a memorable story about airborne re-enactors who located a special WWII rifle and gave it as a gift to a WWII veteran who was in the Band of Brothers, 101st Airborne.
Airborne Quarterly does not pay for contributions, but being published in it is a surefire way to increase your bylines and hone your writing skills about military or history topics. You retain all rights for stories published in Airborne Quarterly, so you can sell them to any other magazine.
The magazine has a circulation of 6,000 avid aficionados of the airborne creed. They are a knowledgeable audience, so it helps if you have some military background, although this is not absolutely essential to getting published in Airborne Quarterly. The readership is fiercely patriotic, and would not appreciate anti-war articles or political comment.
Editor, retired Colonel William (Bill) Weber, a WWII veteran, is a pleasure to work with. He responds quickly to query emails, is enthusiastic, and will give you quick comments on your article. Should you have photos to contribute, he prefers them in black and white and sent by email. Articles should be submitted as a Word document attachment.
Before submitting, read the website to get a feel for what this organization is about. There are no official writer’s guidelines, but I recommend you keep your writing simple and avoid overusing flowery prose. These are no-frills military readers.
The website is http://www.americanairborneassn.org . Colonel Weber can be contacted at eagle187@hughes.net. Please call him Colonel Weber in your query email.
[Editor’s Note: Learn more about opportunities to profit from your travels (and even from your own home) in our free online newsletter The Right Way to Travel.]
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