ARMED FORCES

ARMED FORCES

VETERANS

Pearl Harbor attack survivor dies at 90

HOWLAND

Pearl Harbor survivor Alfred M. Gaskell, 90, of Howland Township, died March 14. Until his death, he was one of only four members of the local Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, of which he was a past president and secretary.

Gaskell served in the Navy during World War II in the Pacific Theater and was aboard the USS Curtiss during the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He was a lifetime member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1090 in Warren and a member of American Legion Post 700 in Howland. He had been a Howland Township volunteer firefighter, was a 32nd degree Mason and was a retired member of Sheet Metal Workers Local 33.

A celebration of his life took place Friday in Christ Episcopal Church in Warren.

Leadership class sponsors Stand Down

LISBON

The Leadership Columbiana County Class of 2013-14 is coordinating a Stand Down and food giveaway for homeless, low-income and at-risk veterans and their families who do not have permanent housing free access to a meal, shelter and housing referrals, medical and mental-health services, and other resources.

The Stand Down, a community-based intervention program designed to help the nation’s estimated 67,000 homeless veterans, will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 5 at Columbiana County Career and Technical Center, 9364 state Route 45.

Un-Happy Birthday rally for POW

YOUNGSTOWN

An Un-Happy Birthday rally for prisoner of war Army Sgt. Bowe R. Bergdahl’s 28th birthday will take place between noon and 1 p.m. Friday on Central Square near the Vietnam War Memorial in downtown Youngstown.

Participants, interested and concerned residents and veterans are asked to be there as close to 11:30 a.m. as possible.

Bergdahl, born March 28, 1986, in Sun Valley, Idaho, was captured June 30, 2009, in Afghanistan and is now believed to be held by the Taliban in Pakistan, said Leo Connelly, a Vietnam War veteran and one of the speakers at the event sponsored by Disabled American Veterans chapter from Mahoning, Trumbull and Mercer counties.

Other speakers will be Vince Darcangelo , commander of the Mercer County chapter, and national chairman of the DAV’s POW-MIA Committee, and Wayne Stratos, a Vietnam War veteran and a member of the Mercer county DAV chapter.

The public is invited to the rally. For information, call 724-981-3429 or 724-981-7509.

Space shuttle exhibit

DAYTON

National Museum of the U.S. Air Force’s new Space Shuttle Exhibit, which features NASA’s first crew compartment trainer, enables visitors to experience the size and shape of a space shuttle orbiter by entering the payload bay and looking into the flight deck and mid-deck levels.

Photos of the Space Shuttle Exhibit and Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Learning Node are available at www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/cct.asp., and interior photos of the flight deck and mid-deck also are available at www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/virtualtour/cockpits.asp. For information, visit www.nationalmuseum.af.mil or call 937-255-3286.

DEPLOYED

Damage control

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Devin Martin, a Youngstown native, is serving as a damage-control man aboard a San Diego-based guided-missile destroyer, which returned in November 2013 from a seven-month deployment supporting security and stability in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

ROTC

Language training

Adam J. Hoover, a Youngstown State University student and an Army ROTC cadet, is involved in Cadet Language and Cultural Immersion Training.

After a week of training at Fort Knox, Ky., cadets are deployed to partner nations where they are immersed in the local cultures and languages and spend three weeks assisting with Army missions that range from helping build community projects to teaching English to local children.

Hoover is the son of Cathy Hoover of Canfield and is a 2011 graduate of Heartland Christian School in Columbiana.

Marshall Award

Lorin M. Delgros, a student at Youngstown State University and an Army ROTC cadet, received the George C. Marshall Award during a ceremony at the Marshall Center, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Va.

The award is presented annually to the most outstanding senior Army Reserve Officer Training Corps cadets in military science studies and leadership values in each battalion at host universities or colleges. It is a national award, and it is the highest award an ROTC cadet can receive.

Delgros, a 2009 graduate of Hickory High School, Hermitage, Pa., is the daughter of Edward S. Delgros of Hermitage and Anne M. Leali of Sharon, Pa.

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