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VFW Post 6488 to pay tribute to Judge Milich on Memorial Day
YOUNGSTOWN
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6488 and its Ladies Auxiliary will pay tribute to Youngstown Municipal Judge Robert P. Milich at their Memorial Day observance at 1 p.m. Monday.
The program, for which Susan Skrzynski, executive director and service officer with the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission, is keynote speaker, will be conducted at the post home at 2065 Coitsville-Hubbard Road on the city’s East Side.
There also will be special recognition of widows of departed comrades.
Judge Milich, a retired Air Force Reserve lieutenant colonel who served as the administrator of the 910th Airlift Wing’s Medical Squadron, spearheaded the creation of a Veterans Treatment Court here in 2010.
The veterans-court program gives nonviolent offenders the option of treatment in lieu of jail time. The court also has mentors who help veterans navigate the judicial system.
The tribute to Judge Milich will be conducted by Ulyses Rucker, VFW 6488 commander, and Sandra Smith-Graves, Ladies Auxiliary president.
Skrzynski, of Boardman, enlisted in the Army in 1982 and retired as a sergeant first class Sept. 30, 2007. Her military career, which included numerous domestic and overseas duty stations, concluded with a 15-month tour in Iraq, where she was headquarters platoon sergeant and operations noncommissioned officer responsible for coordination of all construction activities in the theater of operations. She also was the commander’s driver on numerous convoys.
Raleigh Ruppert, Post 6488 trustee, is the master of ceremonies and will introduce Skrzynski.
Mahoning County Commissioner Anthony Traficanti and Ray Ornelas, a member of the veterans service commission, will lead the recognition of the widows of fallen comrades.