VETERANS

VETERANS
AMVETS chief to visit
YOUNGSTOWN -- AMVETS National Commander W.G. Kilgore of Kingsport, Tenn., will be touring this area Wednesday and Thursday with the organization's Department of Ohio Commander, John Brown III of Youngstown. They will be at AMVETS Post 45 in Salem at 8 p.m. Wednesday. On Thursday, they will visit the Mahoning Veterans Memorial at the Canfield Fairgrounds at 8:30 a.m. and the VA Outpatient Clinic on Belmont Avenue at 11a.m. Also during their tour, they will visit the 910th Airlift Wing at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station, the Navy and Marine Reserve Training Center and AMVETS Post 290 in Vienna. They will also visit Clear Channel radio studios to record a local veterans' program.
Laying of wreath
WEST MIDDLESEX, Pa. -- The Mercer County Korean War Veterans will celebrate Veterans Day by laying a wreath at the Korean War Memorial at 1 p.m. Nov. 10. The memorial is located west of West Middlesex on state Route 318 near the entrance to Oak Tree Country Club, or east of Hubbard on state Route 304 near the state line. The public is welcome.
Free flu shots
BUTLER, Pa. -- The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 325 New Castle Road, is offering free flu shots for veterans on a walk-in basis in the medical center auditorium. Veterans who are not currently being treated by a VA physician must bring their discharge papers (DD214). The shots will be given from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Oct. 21; Nov. 6, 12, 22 and 25; and Dec. 2, 9 and 13; and from noon to 6 p.m. Oct. 30.
BASIC GRADS
Air Force:
Army: Reserve Pvt. Jesus Duron, son of Dollie Moore and Jesus Duron of Lisbon;
Navy:
Marine Corps: Pfc. Gabriel F. Delgros, son of Linda R. and Joseph E. Delgros of Hermitage, Pa.; Pvt. Shane P. Ledsome (John F. Kennedy High School, Warren, '97), son of Theresa Y. Misemer of New Port Richey, Fla., and William B. Ledsome of Cortland; Pvt. Christina L. Sereday, daughter of Joann and William R. Sereday of New Wilmington, Pa.; Marine Pvt. Corey Bloss, of Damascus, a 2002 West Branch High School graduate, and a son of Kirk and Mary Bloss of Damascus. Bloss will attend biological warfare detection and decontamination school.
ADVANCED TRAINING
Leadership grad
Air Force Senior Airman Robert D. Blett Jr. graduated from the five-week Airman Leadership School at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M. Blett is an avionics sensors maintenance journeyman assigned to the 27th Component Maintenance Squadron. He is the son of Ann M. Tecta of Canfield and Robert D. Blett Jr. of Austintown, and is a 1997 graduate of Canfield High School.
ROTC graduates
Several area residents graduated from Army ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) National Advanced Leadership Camps at Fort Lewis, Wash., and Fort Knox, Ky. They include:
U Derrick E. Lucarelli, son of Robert and Charlene Lucarelli of Ellwood City, Pa., a 1997 graduate of Lincoln High School, Ellwood City.
U Frank B. Wanat, son of Frank Wanat of Poland, a 1993 graduate of Youngstown Cardinal Mooney High School.
U Christopher R. Green. son of Deborah Caldwell of New Castle, Pa., a 1995 graduate of Laurel High School, New Castle.
U Joshua M. McClimans, son of Michael L. and Cindy M. McClimans of Jamestown, Pa., and a 1998 graduate of Jamestown High School.
PROMOTIONS
Donnelly a colonel
Army Col. Michael P. Donnelly was promoted to his present rank while serving as inspector general for the Army Reserve Personnel Command in St. Louis. The son of Edward C. and Mary Pat Donnelly of Canfield, Donnelly graduated in 1974 from Boardman High School and received a bachelor's degree in 1978 from Kent State University. In 1988, he earned a master's degree from Webster University, St. Louis.
Air Force selects Hall
Air Force Technical Sgt. David M. Hall was promoted to his present rank while assigned as a plans and implementation supervisor with the 607th Combat Communications Squadron at Camp Humphreys, Pyongtaek-Gun, South Korea. He is the son of George W. Hall of East Liverpool, and a 1990 graduate of East Liverpool High School.
HONORS
Commendation
Airman 1st Class Adam A. Yankush, a 1995 graduate of Ursuline High School, and a son of Alex Yankush and Karen Conklin, both of Liberty, received a commendation for outstanding performance while serving with the 962nd Airborne Air Control Squadron in Saudi Arabia, and is now stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska.
ENDURING FREEDOM
Off to Arabian Gulf
Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class William C. Price and Navy Chief Petty Officer Mark A. McElhaney, recently departed on a six-month deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and Arabian Gulf while assigned to the guided missile frigate USS Kauffman, home ported in Norfolk, Va., participating in Operation Enduring Freedom.
Price is a son of Kimberly A. Moody of Warren and Charles M. Price of Streetsboro, and is a 2000 graduate of Newton Falls High School of Newton Falls.
McElhaney, son of Eileen I. McElhaney of Brookfield, is a 1983 graduate of Brookfield High School.
Headed to Afghanistan
Army Pfc. Benjamin R. Stiffler has deployed to a forward operating location in Afghanistan to support the mission of Operation Enduring Freedom. Stiffler is a combat infantryman with the 3rd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment at Fort Bragg, N.C. He is the son of Sherry A. and stepson of Mike Kinkead of Ellwood City, Pa., and is a 2000 graduate of Lincoln High School, Ellwood City.
XItems of note for the Military Roundup can be sent to The Vindicator, Regional Desk, P.O. Box 780, Youngstown 44501-0780.