VETERANS

VETERANS
Korean War monument
AUSTINTOWN -- Korean War Veterans Association Chapter 137 of the Mahoning Valley will dedicate a memorial to Korean War veterans at 1 p.m. July 27 at Wickliffe Circle Veterans Park.
Etched into the stone of the memorial, which was set in place June 14, are the names of 113 residents of Columbiana, Trumbull and Mahoning counties who were killed in the Korean War, and the names of five who are still listed as missing in action.
Chapter 137 raised $70,000 to build the monument, but still needs another $40,000 to have Poland artist Tom Antonishak design and create a 6-foot-high bronze statue of a soldier.
The soldier will be a replica of one of the statues at the National Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C., said Robert H. Brothers, a member of Chapter 137.
Also, still to be placed are a 10-foot-wide "path of honor" leading from the sidewalk to the monument; three flag poles behind the monument that will fly the United States, Ohio and POW/MIA flags; and landscaping.
Brothers praised Austintown Township trustees for their help with the excavation for the project. He said trustees have pledged to personally pay for the flag poles. The monument also must be landscaped.
ADVANCED TRAINING
Mineral Ridge graduate
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Kristopher J. Conaway, a son of Alice A. Conaway of Niles and John Conaway of Mineral Ridge, has completed a two-week bilateral training exercise with Albanian military forces while assigned to the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based in Camp Lejeune, N.C. The unit is aboard the USS Iwo Jima.
Conaway is a 2000 graduate of Mineral Ridge High School.
ACADEMY GRADUATES
2nd lieutenant
Army 2nd Lt. Adam Harris, a son of Richard and Diane Harris of Poland, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy on May 31 and was commissioned to his current rank.
Harris received a bachelor of science degree in military history and environmental engineering and plans to become an artillery officer. Home on leave now, Harris, a 1998 graduate of Poland Seminary High School, will leave in July for Officer's Basic Training at Fort Sill, Okla.
Chosen for elite school
Air Force 2nd Lt. John D. Macrae was commissioned to his present rank upon graduation from the Air Force Academy, where he received a bachelor of science degree in management.
Macrae has been selected to attend the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program conducted by the 80th Flying Training Wing at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. Only the top 30 pilot candidates of each graduating class get to attend the 55-week training program sponsored by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Macrae is a son of Thomas and Julia Macrae of Grove City, Pa. He is a 1999 graduate of Grove City High School.
910TH AIRLIFT WING
From Grove City
Air Force Reserve Airman 1st Class Keith L. Lenkner has arrived for duty with the 910th Airlift Wing at Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Vienna.
Lenkner, a 1988 graduate of Grove City (Pa.) High School, is a son of Beverly A. Lenkner of Grove City.
His wife, Melinda, is the daughter of Ken and Genevieve Stitt of Mercer, Pa.
Western Reserve grad
Air Force Reserve Staff Sgt. Paul J. Murray has arrived for duty at Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Vienna, as a personnel journeyman assigned to the 910th Mission Support Squadron.
Murray is a son of Johnnie Mae and Shed Murray of Warren. He is a 1985 graduate of Warren Western Reserve High School, Warren.
PROMOTIONS
Plays in Air Force Band
Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brett E. Miller was promoted to his current rank while assigned as a musician with the Air Force Band at Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C.
He is a son of Larry E. and Diane L. Miller of Boardman; and his wife, Laura, is the daughter of Robert and Peggy Stefko of Poland.
Miller graduated in 1995 from Boardman High School, received a bachelor's degree in 1999 from Youngstown State University and earned a master's degree in 2001 from Indiana University at Bloomington, Ind.
DEPLOYED
Siblings serve overseas
Army Reserve Capt. Michael E. Curtis and his sister, Air Force Technical Sgt. Mary Curtis, are serving overseas.
Capt. Curtis, of Struthers, a member of the 402nd Quartermaster Battalion in New Castle, Pa., was assigned to the 316th Quartermaster Co. in California. The unit, which provides water purification and fuel, was deployed to Iraq on March 2.
He graduated in 1986 from Struthers High School and in 1991 from Slippery Rock State University, where he participated in the Reserve Officer Training Corps and received a bachelor of science degree in community health. He is an employee at Delphi Packard in Warren, where he has worked since 1994, and is working on his master's degree at Geneva College, Beaver Falls, Pa.
Sgt. Curtis, a 1990 graduate of Struthers High School, joined the Air Force in 1990 and is stationed in Guam, from where she is expected to be deployed to the Middle East.
She attends the Asian Division of the University of Maryland studying psychology, and plans a career in social work when she retires from the military.
Their parents are Eunice and Daniel Curtis of Struthers.
XItems of note for the Military Roundup can be sent to The Vindicator, Regional Desk, P.O. Box 780, Youngstown 44501-0780, or e-mailed to alcorn@vindy.com.