VETERANS

VETERANS

Laying of the Roses

AUSTINTOWN — Korean War Veterans Chapter 137 is conducting a Laying of the Roses ceremony at 1 p.m. June 29 at the Austintown Veterans Memorial on Wickliffe Circle off Mahoning Avenue. The ceremony is to honor the 120 veterans killed in action whose names are inscribed on the memorial.

As part of the event, the Tri-State Marine Corps Detachment Honor Guard and Korean War Veterans Chapter 137 members will unveil and dedicate a newly placed memorial honoring Marine Pfc. John D. Kelly of Youngstown, who was killed in action in Korea in 1952. For his gallantry and valor, Kelly was awarded posthumously the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military honor.

The speaker is Maj. Michael Stull, commander of the Youngstown State University Reserve Officer Training Corps program.

Family members wishing to place a rose on the memorial are encouraged to do so by calling Richard Koker at (330) 792-6497 or Bob Vitullo at (330) 792-5151.

U.S. flags retired

AUSTINTOWN — VFW Post 4237 retired some 3,200 unserviceable U.S. flags on Flag Day. The disposal event is conducted every Flag Day, and the collection of flags is year round, Post Quartermaster Dave Daisher said.

IAVA joins coalition

NEW YORK — Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America has become a member of The Military Coalition.

TMC has been improving service members’ lives for 20 years, and IAVA looks forward to adding its voice to such an important organization, said Paul Rieckhoff, IAVA executive director.

The Military Coalition consists of 35 military and veterans organizations, including American Veterans, the Military Order of the Purple Heart and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, that focus their efforts on improving military and veterans’ personnel, compensation and benefits programs, Riechkhoff said.

Group plans meeting

YOUNGSTOWN — The Tri-State Marine Detachment of the Marine Corps League will meet July 1 at 7 p.m. at ITAM Post 3 on Meridian Road in Youngstown. For information, call (330) 549-9322.

Enrollment opened

WASHINGTON — The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans has opened the 2008 enrollment period for its college scholarship program for veterans who have served in Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The enrollment period ends Sept. 1. Applications can be found at ttps://www.horatioalger.org/scholarships_military/.

Scholarship recipients will each be awarded $5,000 to support their undergraduate education. Eligible applicants must demonstrate the following: United States military service in Afghanistan or Iraq beginning Sept. 11, 2001, or later; honorable U.S. service record; critical financial need; intention to pursue a bachelor’s degree at an accredited college or university in the U.S.; no more than 60 cumulative semester/credit hours by the end of the 2007 term; minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0; integrity and perseverance in overcoming adversity, and U.S. citizenship.

Scholarships available

YOUNGSTOWN — College scholarships are available for children of deceased veterans or veterans receiving 60 percent or greater Department of Veterans Affairs service-connected disability compensation who served in the armed forces during a period of declared war or conflict. Combat duties are not required. To be eligible, a student must be enrolled for full-time undergraduate study at an eligible Ohio college or university, must be Ohio residents under 25. The application deadline is July 1. Call the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission at (330) 740-2450 or (330) 740-2451.

Benefit exhibition set

OIL CITY, Pa. — The Capt. Erick M. Foster Memorial Fireworks Exhibition to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project is Aug. 22 at Oil City High School, Oil City, Pa.

The event features displays set to music from five United States fireworks exhibitors, all donating their products and services for the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to raise awareness and enlist the public’s aid for the needs of severely injured servicemen and servicewomen.

Foster, a 1996 graduate of North Allegheny High School in Wexford, Pa., and a 2000 graduate of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, died at 29 on Aug. 28, 2007, of injuries sustained from small-arms fire while he was leading his troops on a hostage rescue mission against al-Qaida in Muqdadiyah, northeast of Baghdad, Iraq. Foster was the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Robert S. Kellner of Oil City, and Mr. and Mrs. Taylor W. Foster of Franklin, Pa.

DEPLOYED

Back from Persian Gulf

Naval Hospital Corpsman Petty Officer 1st Class Scott A. Maltonic has returned from a seven-month deployment to the Persian Gulf, where he served aboard the USS Germantown. A graduate of Austintown Fitch High School, Maltonic is the son of Nancy and George Maltonic of Austintown.

ADVANCED TRAINING

Master’s in meteorology

Air Force Capt. KrisopherKripchak has graduated from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif., where he received a master’s degree in meteorology. He is stationed with the 14th Weather Squadron, Federal Climate Complex, Asheville, N.C., as officer in charge of technology exploitation flight.

Kripchak, a 1996 graduate of Chaney High School and a 2000 graduate of the University of Akron, is a member of a technology development team working on the advanced climate modeling and environmental simulations program. He is the son of Joe and Ethel Kripchak of Youngstown.

BASIC TRAINING

Army: Reserve Pfc. Allison R. Coney, daughter of Michele Coney of Stow, and Marshall Coney Jr. of Youngstown; Reserve Pvt. Elizabeth J. Seltzer (Mercer High School, Mercer, Pa., ’07), Jay Seltzer and sister of Susanna Seltzer, both of Mercer, Pa.

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.