armed forces
armed forces
VETERANS
Information at fair
CANFIELD
Representatives from the Sandusky Veterans Bonus Team and the Ohio Veterans Home will offer information about eligibility and benefits at the Canfield Fair from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Aug. 31-Sept. 1, at the Mahoning Veterans Memorial in the southwest section of the fairgrounds.
Ohio military veterans who served between Aug. 2, 1990, and March 3, 1991, or from Oct. 7, 2001 to the present, can receive assistance accessing up to $1,500 from the Ohio Veterans Bonus. Disabled and senior- citizen veterans may learn details of our state’s long-term care facility in Sandusky,
For information, call Barry Landgraver, head of the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission, at 330-740-2450, ext. 8390.
Grant received
NEW CASTLE, PA.
The Lawrence County Community Action Partnership recently received an $842,000 grant from he U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to assist former active duty veterans and family members with housing options in six counties in Western Pennsylvania.
The grant will be operational starting Oct. 1 in Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Clarion, Lawrence and Mercer counties. Veterans seeking to enroll in the program should call LCCAP at 724-658-7258 to speak with a veteran housing advisor.
This regional housing project is designed to maximize funding by working in partnership with local community action agencies to provide temporary assistance and case management to a minimum of 100 veterans each year who are experiencing a housing crisis, officials said.
Women’s conference
COLUMBUS
Friday is the deadline to register for the Ohio Women Veterans Conference set for Sept. 28 at the Aladdin Shrine Center, 3850 Stelzer Road, Columbus.
Keynote speakers are Jessica Lynch, who was severely injured in the ambush of her unit early in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, became a prisoner of war and was rescued by Special Operations forces from an Iraqi hospital; and Ohio Adjutant General Maj. General Deborah Ashenhurst.
The registration fee for the event to recognize and honor female veterans for their service and provide them an opportunity to associate with other women from all branches and all eras is $10 per person. The theme of the event, hosted by the Ohio Department of Veterans Services’ Advisory Committee on Women Veterans, is “Interesting. Informative. Intrigued?”
The Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission is providing transportation to the event. For assistance with registration and information about transportation and the agenda, call Brenda Polas of the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission at 330-740-2450, ext. 8384, or visit http://dvs.ohio.gov/home/committees/women_veterans_advisory_committee/ohio_women_veterans_conference.aspx.
The North Coast WAVES Unit 21 is part of the conference as an exhibitor. Several of the unit’s members are part of the Ohio Department of Veteran Services Women Veterans Advisory Committee.
RETIREMENT
Leaving the Navy
Navy Capt. Mark Samuels, a native of Boardman, recently retired after 24 years of military service. His last assignment was as commanding officer of the Navy Operational Support Center in Fort Worth, Texas.
Samuels is the son of Terry and Marilyn Samuels of Poland. Terry was a teacher at Market Street Elementary School, principal of West Boulevard Elementary School, and retired in 1994 as principal of Boardman Center Middle School. Marilyn was a teacher in the Poland and Western Reserve Local school districts.
Commissioned upon graduation from the Naval Academy in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, Samuels became a Naval aviator in 1991. During his career, he flew the P-3C Orion, a four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft, and the C-130T Hercules, a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft, and was a pilot-training officer and advanced-flight instructor.
In 1998, Samuels moved to the Training and Administration of Reserve program, and in 2002 was deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and during the major combat phase of Operation Iraqi Freedom, as officer-in-charge of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron Six Two (VR-62) in Brunswick, Maine. During his tenure with the squadron, the unit was awarded the Holcombe Award for C-130T maintenance excellence.
His awards include the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal and Navy Achievement Medal.
Samuels is married to the former Jennifer Dillon of Pensacola, Fla. They have two daughters, Kaitlyn and Danielle, and a son, Jake.
BASIC TRAINING GRADS
Navy: Seaman Daunisha M. Tatum (Austintown Fitch High School, ‘07).
Items 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