Extra Bucks

Authors

Joseph Stanley MaslankaFollow

Document Type

1981-2000 Marines

Date

2025

Date of Submission

October 2025

Keywords

Mighty Pen Project, Veteran, Army, Marine Corps

Abstract

A young married man, fresh out of the Marine Corps, has to decide whether it's worth joining the Army Reserves just for a few extra bucks every month. For a Marine, that's a heavy lift.

Articles, stories, and other compositions in this archive were written by participants in the Mighty Pen Project. The program, developed by author David L. Robbins, and in partnership with Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, Virginia, offers veterans and their family members a customized twelve-week writing class, free of charge. The program encourages, supports, and assists participants in sharing their stories and experiences of military experience so both writer and audience may benefit.

Author Biography

Joe Maslanka has been involved with the Mighty Pen Project since 2017. He has several short stories published on the VCU website for the Mighty Pen and in 2023 his screen play ‘Dress Code’ was performed in 2023 as part of the ‘War in Pieces’ series. He is US Marine Veteran, married to Holly 39 years, father of two, grandfather of two. He formed the Righteous Outlaws as a non-profit rock and roll band in 2009, they discontinued playing after raising over $175,000.00 from 2009 through 2019 for several charities; primarily they supported Veteran Organizations and Poverty initiatives. Joe has worked in the Private Security Industry for 35 years and is a PT Pastor for the UMC.

Rights

© The Author(s)

Is Part Of

Mighty Pen Project