* NWPA Military VETERAN EXPO: Calling All Military, Veterans Service Members and your Families. This first of its kind is coming to our area. June 8 from 2-6 p.m. at Cross Creek Resort, 3815 Rt. 8 Titusville, Pa. Organizations and agencies from the 6 county region ( Clarion, Crawford, Forest, Mercer, Venango and Warren ) will be there to answer all your questions and offer support. This is a one stop shop. There will be over 45 agencies there to help Veterans answer questions. Be sure to bring your VA Health Care card. And if you are not enrolled bring your discharge papers DD 214. This is a free event. Take advantage of this. If transportation is needed, call (814) 676-5840.
*Happy Birthday: Happy 241st birthday to the United States Army. Two hundred forty one years ago, our nation’s leaders established the Continental Army. Today the Army is the strategic land power of the joint force; called upon to prevent, shape and win against our adversaries. The U.S. Army’s birthday is June 14, 2016, a day we celebrate the Total Army Force. The strength of the Army is 475,000; Army National Guard 342,000; U.S. Army Reserve 198,000.
* Flag Day. June 14th: On June 14, 1777, The Continental Congress replaced the British symbols of the Grand Union Flag with a new design featuring 13 white stars in a circle on a field of blue and 13 red and white stripes – one for each state. President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation calling for a nationwide observance of the event on June 14, 1916. However, Flag Day did not become official until August 1949, when President Harry Truman signed the legislation and proclamation June 14 as Flag Day. In 1966, Congress also requested that the President issue annually a proclamation designating the week in which June 14 occurs as National Flag Week. If you have a American Flag that is torn and tattered, take it to a veterans organization, so it can be disposed of properly.
* USPS Unveils New Service Cross Stamp: The U.S. Postal Service released its new “forever” stamp this week to honor recipients of our nation’s second highest medal for valor, the Service Cross Medals — the Army Distinguished Service Cross, the Navy Cross, the Air Force Cross and the Coast Guard Cross. The DSC was first established in 1918, followed the next year by the Navy Cross, the Air Force Cross in 1960 and the Coast Guard Cross in 2010.
* MIA Update: The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Office announced the identification of the remains of three sailors and one Marine who had been missing in action since World War II. Returning home for burial with full military honors are: Navy Seaman 2nd Class Vernon N. Grow and Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Alfred F. Wells, had been missing since Dec. 7, 1941, when the battleship USS Oklahoma they were aboard suffered multiple torpedo hits and capsized as it was moored off Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Wells, 32, will be buried June 11 in his hometown of Syracuse, N.Y. Marine Corps Pfc. John Saini and Navy Pharmacist’s Mate 3rd Class Howard P. Brisbane, had died fighting on the Pacific atoll of Tarawa on Nov. 20, 1943. Saini, 20, was assigned to Company H, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division, and will be buried June 11 in his hometown of Healdsburg, Calif. Brisbane was assigned to Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines, 2nd Marine Division.
Until next week, praying for all service members.
– Charles Castelluccio
