ARMED FORCES

ARMED FORCES

VETERANS

Women’s conference set

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission is providing transportation to the Ohio Women Veterans Conference on Oct. 8 at the Aladdin Shrine Center, 3850 Stelzer Road, Columbus.

Call Brenda Polas at 330-740-2450, ext. 8384 for information about transportation and for assistance with registration. The cost is $10 per person. Registration begins at 8 a.m., and the event starts at 10 a.m.

The Ohio Department of Veterans Services Advisory Committee on Women Veterans and the VA Healthcare System of Ohio are sponsoring the conference. The keynote speaker is Janice Nark, a veteran of the Vietnam War and Desert Storm.

To register online, go to www.ohioamvets275.org., or download a registration form and mail a $10 check to: AMVETS Post 275, 423 North St., Steubenville, OH 43952. Indicate on the check that it is for the Women Veterans Conference. Anyone accompanying a veteran also must register and pay the registration fee. For any questions, call Karen Kish at 614-752-8941.

Special program planned

NEW CASTLE, PA.

Lt. Col. Douglas Etter, chief of staff for the deputy adjutant general for veterans affairs and chaplain for the Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s 28th Infantry Division, will present “Navigating with Ghosts,” a talk about the 18 months he spent in Iraq in Al Anbar Province with the 1st Battalion, 110th Infantry.

The event is from 9 a.m. to noon Aug. 29 at the Albert Gettings Annex, 430 Court St., across from the Lawrence County Courthouse, and is open to the general public as well as veterans and their families, employers and counselors. It is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Military, the Veterans Affairs Department and the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, and Gary Zarilla of Lawrence County CareerLink and Ryan Paglia, local veteran-employment representative.

Chaplain Etter, a Presbyterian minister, is a veteran of two combat tours in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and is a recipient of the Combat Action Badge and two Bronze Star medals.

BASIC TRAINING GRADS

Air Force: Airman Dionte Q. Moore, son of Chymika Redd of Youngstown.

Navy: Seaman Recruit Kierstyn A. Anderson, daughter of Elizabeth H. Anderson- Valdez of McDonald; Seaman Apprentice Ryan J. Gregory (Niles McKinley High School, ’09), son of Richard M. Lara of Niles; Airman Brock V. Gottuso (Hickory High School, Hermitage, Pa., ’08), son of Linda J. Cady of Sharon, Pa. and Richard A. Gottuso of Hermitage; Seaman Jonathan E. Eusanio (Ursuline High School, Youngstown, ’07), son of Donna M. and Mark E. Eusanio of Youngstown; Seaman Recruit Ashely N. Jewell (Greenville Area High School, Greenville, Pa., ’10), stepdaughter of Gary A. Hartman of Greenville.

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