Van of Valor

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BARTELSO, IL — The Van of Valor project, dedicated to preserving the stories of Purple Heart recipients and Gold Star families, today announced the release of the official book trailer for A Wingman for Miss Universe. The novel, written by cultural anthropologist and Van of Valor founder L. Wright Wallace, will be published globally on April 21, 2026.

The book traces the remarkable true story of Marine First Lieutenant Dennis Peek and Miss USA Sylvia Hitchcock. In the summer of 1967, Peek was assigned as Hitchcock’s escort at the Miss Universe pageant. Before deploying to Vietnam, he gifted her his aviator wings—a promise to remember. Months later, he was killed in action. The novel follows Hitchcock’s fifty-year journey to honor that promise, a path that led her from the pageant stage to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

“This story emerged from a single photograph and the trust of the Peek family,” said L. Wright Wallace. “Dennis’s story is exactly the kind we at Van of Valor work to preserve—a reminder of the profound humanity behind the uniform. While this is a novel, it is deeply inspired by their memories and the reality of service during the Vietnam era.”

The official trailer is now available on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/DGXLFjvfEns

A Wingman for Miss Universe will be available worldwide on April 21, 2026. The author will be marking the launch from the story’s epicenter in Bartelso, Illinois. Pre-order information will be announced in the coming days.

About Van of Valor:
Van of Valor is a mobile historical preservation project that has traveled over 27,000 miles to conduct more than 317 interviews with combat-wounded veterans and their families, ensuring their sacrifices are documented for future generations.