VETERANS

VETERANS
Women's football cards
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The National Women's Football Association has announced Operation Football Pals, which provides free women's-football trading cards to U.S. troops both stateside and in foreign countries.
The cards feature a player's picture and her statistics on the back. Also, the league will provide free collectible schedule cards to all military personnel, and players and coaches of the league and its 35 teams will provide pen pals to service members deployed abroad.
Military personnel who would like player cards, schedule cards or a pen pal should contact Debby Lening, vice president of media and marketing, at (615) 582-2994 or e-mail her at footballmedia@cs.com.
RETIRED
Army sergeant 1st class
Thomas D. O'Connor Jr. retired Feb. 1 from the Army as a sergeant first class after 20 years of service. His last assignment was at the Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, Ky.
O'Connor, an Austintown resident and 1981 graduate of Youngstown Ursuline High School, lives in Columbus with his wife, Michelle. The couple has three children, Jonathan, Jason and Jessica.
During his career, O'Connor, a son of Kathleen A. O'Connor of Austintown, was stationed overseas in Germany and Belgium, and stateside in Columbus and in Illinois, Texas and Kentucky.
Among his decorations are the Meritorious Service Medal, three Army Commendation Medals, two Joint Service Achievement Medals, six Army Achievement Medals, two National Defense Service Medals and the Gold Recruiter Badge.
He graduated from the Army Battle Staff Noncommissioned Officer and Personnel Sergeant Advanced NCO courses. In April, he is scheduled to receive a bachelor's degree in business management from Trinity College, which provides an online program through the Fort Knox Education Center. He will begin working at the Chalmers P. Wylie Veterans Outpatient Clinic in Columbus this month.
BASIC GRADS
Navy Seaman Apprentice Alyssa L. Jones (Leetonia High School, '01), daughter of Lynda J. Bloor of Washingtonville, and David C. Jones of Leetonia.
ADVANCED TRAINING
Combat engineer course
Marine Corps Pvt. Jonathan J. Sanford, son of Phyllis R. and Max E. Sanford of Cortland, graduated from the five-week Basic Combat Engineer Course at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Sanford is a 2002 graduate of Mathews High School in Vienna.
PROMOTIONS
Petty officer 2nd class
Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Sarauw, a 1989 graduate of Beaver Local High School, Lisbon, was promoted to his current rank while serving at Navy Recruiting District, Boston.
DEPLOYMENTS
Navy dental officer
Navy Lt. Rebecca M. Ortenzio, daughter of Dr. Joseph and Nancy Ortenzio of New Middletown, is deployed to the Persian Gulf as a dental officer on the USS Duluth, part of the USS Tarawa Battle Group.
Dr. Ortenzio is a 1993 graduate of Springfield Local High School, a 1997 graduate of Youngstown State University and a 2001 graduate of the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. She attended dentistry school under a Navy scholarship program, and is midway through a four-year service obligation.
Her fianc & eacute;e, Petty Officer 1st Class Troy Roat, a Navy diver, recently returned from the Persian Gulf.
Sent to Afghanistan
Several Army Reservists based in New Castle, Pa., have been deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. They include:
USgt. Elizabeth M. Milani, 326th Quartermaster Detachment water purification supervisor, a sister of Scott J. Milani of Newton Falls and daughter of Richard and Joann Milani of Brookfield. She is a 2000 graduate of Bristol High School, Bristolville.
USpecialist Andrae Lattimore, 326th Quartermaster Detachment water purification specialist, son of Wanda L. Gilmore of Youngstown and a 2001 graduate of Youngstown Woodrow Wilson High School.
UFirst Lt. Jefferey L. Marsteller, commander, 326th Quartermaster Detachment, son of Leroy and stepson of Ginger Marsteller of Sharon, Pa. He graduated in 1981 from Farrell High School, Pa.
USpec. Aston M. Tedford, water treatment specialist, 307th Forward Support Battalion, a daughter of Sue Richardson of Vienna, W.Va., and the granddaughter of Prudence Kinney of Beloit. She is a 2001 graduate of West Branch High School, Beloit.
Unit in Southeast Asia
Marine Corps Reserve Gunnery Sgt. Steve M. Gallegos, a member of the Third Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, has been deployed.
His unit, based in Terminal Island, Calif., was deployed as part of a larger Marine force currently going to Southwest Asia in support of the global war on terrorism.
Gallegos, son of Barbara A. and George L. Hern of Lisbon, is a 1983 graduate of David Anderson High School, Lisbon.
Maintenance company
Florida Army National Guard Pfc. Caprice N. Berry, a daughter of Nicholas G. Frazeskos of Campbell and stepdaughter of Geraldine C. Frazeskos of Warren, has been mobilized with her unit, the 743rd Maintenance Company, for possible duty in the Persian Gulf.
Berry, a generator mechanic in the military and a motor mechanic in civilian life, attended Youngstown Woodrow Wilson and Campbell Memorial high schools, and subsequently earned her high school equivalency diploma. She and her son, Raymond, live in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
4th Marine Division
Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Matthew P. Banks, a 2000 graduate of Liberty High School and a junior at Miami University, Oxford, was called to active duty as a member of the 4th Marine Division Communications Company Reserve Unit in Cincinnati.
Banks, a son of Dr. Virginia Banks-Bright of Liberty and Atty. Kenneth E. Banks Jr. of Beachwood, has completed the first half of Officer Candidate School and plans to become a Judge Advocate General officer.
XItems of note for the Military Roundup can be sent to The Vindicator, Regional Desk, P.O. Box 780, Youngstown 44501-0780.