Mayor honored for support of Guard duty

NILES -- Mayor Ralph A. Infante was honored Thursday by Gov. Bob Taft and the Ohio National Guard for releasing patrol officer Christopher Mannella to help with Hurricane Katrina relief.
Mannella, a master sergeant in the guard, spent September in southern Mississippi. He is a member of the 437th Military Police Battalion based in Youngstown.
Mannella presented Infante with a certificate of appreciation from Taft and Maj. Gen. Gregory Wayt for the mayor's employer support of the Guard.
Mannella said he was assigned to the 437th Military Police Battalion's headquarters operations center on the Mississippi-Louisiana border.
The guard provided food and security to the region. Mannella said police there had lost their homes, uniforms and cruisers and were forced to commandeer vehicles from a car dealership.
Guard members from 11 states fell under Joint Task Force Buckeye.