On April 23, 1908, Congress created the Medical Reserve Corps, the official predecessor of the Army Reserve. After World War I , under the National Defense Act of 1920, Congress reorganized the U.S. land forces by authorizing a Regular Army, a National Guard, and a Organized Reserve (Officers Reserve Corps and Enlisted Reserve Corps) of unrestricted size, which later became the Army Reserve. The size of the Army Reserve is 205,000. Garrison H.Q. Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
VA To Host National Baby Shower
Throughout the month of May, in celebration of Mother’s Day, the VA will host baby showers at 60 different sites across the country. VA also plans to provide more than 2,400 veterans – who are new parents or expecting – with baskets that will include a diaper bag, new baby toiletries, hair brush and comb set, bib, layette, blanket and hat. VA is currently accepting donations for these baskets which cost $50 each. Women veterans make up approximately 10 percent of the veteran population in the United States, and nearly half of our nation’s two million women veterans are of reproduction age. The days for local VA Medical Centers Baby Showers are May 8 in Erie and May 10 in Pittsburgh. For more information, call your local VA Medical center and tell them you want to be a part of the Nationwide Baby Shower for Veterans May 2018.
POW/MIA Update
Air Force Col. Roosevelt Hestle, Jr., a Vietnam veteran, 38, of Orlando, Fla., whose identification was previously announced, was buried April 13 in Arlington National Cemetery. Hestle was a pilot assigned to the 388th Tactical Fighter.
Army Master Sgt. George R. Housekeeper, Jr., a Korean war veteran, 28, of Lansdale, Pa., whose identification was previously announced, was buried April 11 in Arlington National Cemetery. He was declared missing on Dec. 12, 1950.
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Frank Wood, a WWII veteran, 25, of Jackson, Ohio, whose identification was previously announced, will be buried April 14 in Franklin, N.C. Wood was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored off Ford Island, Pearl Harbor.
Navy Reserve Lt. j.g. Irwin E. Rink, a WWII veteran, 25, of Wichita, Kan., whose identification was previously announced, was buried April 16 in his hometown. Rink did not return to base and would be reported missing in action on Aug. 4, 1943.
Navy Steward Mate 1st Class Ignacio C. Farfan, a WWII veteran, was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored off Ford Island, Pearl Harbor. Interment services are pending.
Navy Chief Machinist’s Mate Dean S. Sanders, a WWII veteran, was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored off Ford Island, Pearl Harbor. Interment services are pending.
Air Force Col. Peter J. Stewart, a Vietnam veteran, was a member of Headquarters, 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, and the pilot of a two-seater F-4C aircraft. Stewart was assumed to have been shot down on March 15, 1966, along with his aircraft commander Col. Martin R. Scott, whose remains were identified in June 2017.
Army Staff Sgt. Marshall F. Kipina, a Vietnam veteran, was assigned to the 131st Aviation Company, serving as an observer aboard an OV-1C aircraft, on a night surveillance mission. Search efforts were initiated, but no crash site was found.
Till next week, praying for all service members.
– Charles Castelluccio
