VETERANS

VETERANS

D-Day re-enactment

CONNEAUT — On Saturday, nearly 400 re-enactors and several thousand spectators are expected to attend the eighth annual re-enactment of D-Day, the June 6, 1944, invasion of Normandy, France, conducted on the beach at Conneaut Township Park off state Route 532, west of state Route 7.

Navy landing craft operated by Naval reservists pick up hundreds of World War II re-enactors, dressed in period uniforms and carrying authentic weapons and equipment, and put them ashore on a flat, barricade-strewn beach. German re-enactors fight to repel the Allied invaders.

That night there will be a 1940s-style, re-created USO show at the Conneaut American Legion Hall Post 151 ballroom where GIs in Class A uniforms and women in 1940s-style dress and makeup will dance and socialize to a big-band sound. The show is open to the general public for a $5 fee. Re-enactors in uniform and period dress, veterans and active duty personnel will be admitted free.

Here is the 2008 D-Day Conneaut Re-enactment schedule of events:

9 a.m., opening ceremonies; 9:05 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., encampment and displays open to the public; 11:30 a.m., tour of the German defensive Atlantic Wall; noon, Allied weapons demonstration; 12:30 p.m., Axis weapons demonstration; 1 p.m., Allied troops form up for embarkation to the landing crafts with the playing of the national anthem by the Conneaut High School Marching Band; 3 p.m., re-enactment of the Normandy landing begins; 6 p.m., re-enactor dinner at the Conneaut American Legion; 8 p.m. to midnight, USO dance at the Conneaut American Legion Hall.

PROMOTION

Austintown graduate

Navy Lt. Christopher J. Elias, son of Janet and William Elias of Austintown, was recently promoted in a ceremony in Baltimore, Md. He was commissioned as an information warfare officer through the Naval Officer Candidate School in 2004, and after attending the Naval Cryptologic Officer Basic Course, he was assigned to the National Security Agency/Central Security Service at Fort Meade, Md., as a cryptologic watch officer.

In 2007, Elias reported onboard the USS Sterett, a guided missile destroyer, as an information warfare officer. The Sterett is sailing from Bath, Maine, where the ship was built, to its home base in San Diego, Calif.

Elias, a 1995 graduate of Austintown Fitch High School, received a bachelor’s degree in economics and as master’s degree in industrial engineering from Youngstown State University and a master’s degree in economics from Florida State University.

DEPLOYED

Local Marine heads to Iraq

Marine Corps Cpl. Nathan G. Zimmet, a 2004 graduate of Joseph Badger High School in Kinsman, recently deployed with Marine Wing Support Squadron 172 (MWSS-172), Marine Wing Support Group 17, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, Okinawa, Japan. MWSS-172, which joined forces with 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) in Al Asad, Iraq, is the first wing support squadron from III Marine Expeditionary Force to deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Marines of MWSS-172 will perform aviation ground support at Al Asad Air Base and throughout the Anbar province and modify existing helicopter-landing zones while constructing new ones. Zimmet joined the Marine Corps in January 2005.

ADVANCED TRAINING

Dental degrees

Navy Lt. Cmdr. Dr. Rebecca M. Ortenzio, assigned to the Naval Dental Corps, recently received her Certificate in Orthodontics and Master of Science degree in dentistry from Indiana University.

Dr. Ortenzio, the daughter of Dr. Joseph and Mrs. Nancy Ortenzio of New Middletown, is a graduate of Springfield Local High School and Youngstown State University.

She received her dental degree from the University of Michigan, where she was commissioned an officer. She completed an advanced education in general dentistry residency at the Naval Dental Center, San Diego, Calif., and was dental department head on board the USS Duluth, which was deployed during Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

Dr. Ortenzio’s military honors include Naval Surface Warfare Officer Qualified, two Navy/Marine Corps Commendations Medals, the Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal and various unit honors. She is currently assigned to the Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., where she is head of the Orthodontic Department.

BASIC TRAINING

Navy: Seaman Recruit Breylon L. Stubbs (The Rayen School, 2007), son of Lisa J. McDowell and Anthony S. Stubbs, both of Youngstown.

XItems of note for the Armed Forces Digest can be sent to The Vindicator, Regional Desk, P.O. Box 780, Youngstown 44501-0780, or e-mailed to alcorn@vindy.com.