ARMED FORCES

ARMED FORCES

VETERANS

Laying of the Roses

YOUNGSTOWN

The annual Laying of the Roses Ceremony, sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans of America Youngstown Chapter 135, is at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Vietnam Memorial adjacent to PNC Bank in downtown Youngstown.

The event, in which roses are placed on the monument to honor those who were killed or gone missing in action during the Vietnam War, takes place the Sunday before Veterans Day.

The Vietnam Memorial is a place where many come to reflect and remember those who were lost during the Vietnam War; a place where families step toward the wall with a broken edge and touch the names of their loved ones, as if touching their loved ones once again.

Guest speaker is Judge Robert P. Milich of Youngstown Municipal Court, a retired Air Force colonel. Other program participants are: colors posted by Lowellville American Legion Post 247; invocation, the Rev. Jim Carmony; national anthem, Riley Burke; POW/MIA table, Ray Ornelas; bag pipes, Theresa Glen Duncan; taps and rifle squad, Marine Corps League Tri-State Detachment 494; benediction, Father Carmony; and bugler, Spec. Raymond Hartsough. American Legion Post 472 will provide refreshments after the ceremony.

The event is co-sponsored by American Legion Post 472 and AMVETS Post 44.

DEPLOYED

Nuclear deterrence

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Logan Trent of Garrettsville is serving as part of the nation’s nuclear deterrence mission at Strategic Communications Wing ONE. Trent is an aviation electrician’s mate assigned to Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City, where the Navy command is headquartered.

Puerto Rico support

COLUMBUS

Two Ohio Army National Guard helicopters and their crews have been transported to Puerto Rico on a C-17 Globemaster III to provide logistical support to the Hurricane Maria response.

The 16 soldiers and two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters from the 1st Battalion, 137th Aviation Regiment, departed from Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base.

BASIC TRAINING GRADS

Air Force: Airman Chelsea Combs, 2017 graduate of Lakeview High School, Stoneboro, Pa., daughter of Sandra Rhoades and stepdaughter of Richard Melat of Stoneboro, Pa.

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