VETERANS

VETERANS

Free program

YOUNGSTOWN — Park Vista Retirement Community, 1216 Fifth Ave., is offering a free program for military veterans and their surviving spouses about eligibility for assistance with expenses for assisted living, personal home health care and skilled nursing home care. The main speaker for the program, which is at 10 a.m. June 26, is Moses Murphy, service officer with the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission. Call (330) 746-2944 ext. 1553 for a reservation by Friday.

Post honored with citation

YOUNGSTOWN — Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6488 received the Golden Anniversary Citation from the National VFW. Post 6488 will be 50 years old Friday.

RETIREMENT

Army Colonel steps down

Army Col. James L. Holloway Jr. retired after 30 years of service. At his retirement ceremony, Holloway was decorated with the Legion of Merit Medal, the nation's fifth highest medal.

Before retiring, Holloway served as deputy director of the Army Special Operations Command Futures Center at Fort Bragg, N.C. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1977 upon graduation from the Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

The Special Forces officer held numerous command and staff positions in locations including Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.; the former Fort Devens, Mass.; MacDill AFB, Fla.; Fort Campbell, Ky.; Fort Sherman, Panama; Fort Hood, Texas; and two tours at Fort Bragg. Holloway is a veteran of Operation Continue Hope in Somalia and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Some of his other major military awards and decorations include the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Defense Meritorious Service, Meritorious Service, Army Commendation, Army Forces Expeditionary, United Nations (Somalia) and the Iraqi Campaign medals. He also earned the expert and combat infantryman, master parachutists, pathfinder and air assault badges and the Special Forces and Ranger tabs.

Holloway, the son of Regina I. Holloway of Niles, graduated in 1973 from Niles McKinley High School and earned a master’s degree in 2001 from the Naval War College, Newport, R.I.

Other local relatives include Thomas F. Holloway of Howland and John C. Hollowayand Bruce E. Holloway, both of Niles.

Holloway and his wife, Catherine, have three children: Tara, Jimmy and Gary. They plan to retire to Parrottsville, Tenn.

HONORS

Peacetime defense award

Air Force Staff Sgt. Nathaniel J. Rahter has been decorated with the Joint Service Achievement Medal, the fifth highest peacetime defense award.

Rahter is an air transportation craftsman assigned to the 817th Global Mobility Squadron, McGuire Air Force Base, N.J. Members of the unit distinguished themselves by providing outstanding humanitarian services in support of noncombatant evacuation operations during July and August of 2006, when some 15,000 American citizens were evacuated from Lebanon to Cyprus.

Rahter is the son of John S. Rahter of Columbiana and Catherine A. Rahter of Lancaster, Ohio.

ADVANCED TRAINING

Ammunition specialist

Army Pvt. Robert A. Love graduated from the Ammunition Specialist Advanced Individual Training course at Redstone Arsenal, Ala. Love is the son of Robert W. Love of Polk, Pa., and Kathy Zischkau of Stoneboro, Pa., and is a 2001 graduate of Lakeview High School, Stoneboro.

910TH AIRLIFT WING

New arrival at station

Air Force Reserve Staff Sgt. Katie A. Sponsler arrived for duty at Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Vienna. Sponsler, a services helper, is assigned to the 910th Services Squadron. She is the daughter of Mary B. Sponsler of Vienna and a 1998 graduate of Mathews High School in Vienna.

BASIC GRADS

Air Force: Airman 1st Class Aaron M. Jenkins (platoon honor graduate), (Hickory High School, Hermitage, Pa., ’02), son of John Jenkins of Egg Harbor Township, N.J., and Patricia Palumbo of Hermitage; Airman Daniel A. Howell (Niles McKinley High School, ’01, and Trumbull Business College, Warren, ’04), son of David Howell of Niles; Airman 1st Class Ashley M. Pajon, daughter of Miguel Pajon of Chester, Md., and Julie Masajada of New Castle, Pa.

Army: National Guard Pvt. Kevin W. Harris (Maplewood High School, Cortland, ’06), son of Delores A. Perks of Cortland.

ROTC

Marshall award

Army ROTC Cadet Kaitlyn K. Brye is one of 273 cadets who received the 2007 George C. Marshall ROTC Award at the George C. Marshall Foundation in Lexington, Va. She is the daughter of Kathy L. Hart of East Liverpool. Her husband, Eric, is the son of Courtney and E. Brye of Winona. She is a 2003 graduate of Beaver Local High School, Lisbon.

ACADEMY NEWS

WVU graduation

Army 1st Lt. Vito Abruzzi graduated with honors from West Virginia University’s College of Law. Abruzzi, son of John and Phyllis Abruzzi of Niles, is a 2000 graduate of John F. Kennedy High School in Warren and a 2004 graduate of WVU, where he was a member of ROTC and a recipient of the George C. Marshall Award. Abruzzi has been assigned to the Army’s Judge Advocate General Corps.

Top of his class

Navy Ensign Erik E. Moss, son of Edward and Anne Moss of Poland, was commissioned upon graduation from Miami (Ohio) University, where he received a bachelor of science degree in business and Naval sciences. He graduated at the top of his ROTC class as a surface warfare officer. Moss, a 2003 graduate of Mooney High School, will be stationed in San Diego, Calif., and will serve on the USS Mobile Bay.

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.