ARMED FORCES

ARMED FORCES

VETERANS

Silent Watch

MANSFIELD

The third annual Silent Watch to bring public awareness to suicides among veterans is 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday at the Richland County Courthouse in downtown Mansfield. When a veteran dies, a moment of silence is given to them during the watch.

Statistics show that more than 6,000 suicides happen every year among veterans, and over the past five years, that would equal out to 30,000 veterans, Silent Watch organizers say. To give each one of them one second of silence means standing in silence for 8 Ω hours, For more information, call Ohio Air National Guard Master Sgt. Timothy Chandler at 419-606-4129.

Speaking at Shepherd

POLAND

Moses Murphy, senior service officer for the Mahoning County Veterans Service Commission, will speak at Shepherd of the Valley-Poland, 301 W. Western Reserve Road, about Department of Veterans Affairs Aid and Attendance benefits available to veterans and their caregivers.

The program is at 10 a.m. Wednesday and is open to the community. Refreshments will be served. For more information, call 330-726-7110, ext. 0.

The Aid and Attendance benefit offered by the VA allows veterans and surviving spouses who require the regular attendance of another person to assist in eating, bathing, dressing, undressing, medication dosing, or taking care of the needs of nature to receive additional monetary benefits. Assisted care in an assisted-living community qualifies as do individuals who are blind or reside in a nursing home because of mental or physical incapacity.

This is a pension benefit and is not dependent upon service-related injuries for compensation. Aid and Attendance can help pay for care in the veteran’s home, a nursing home or an assisted-living community. Based on qualifying criteria, a veteran can be eligible for up to $1,632 per month, while a surviving spouse is eligible for up to $1,055 per month, with couples eligible for up to $1,949 per month.

Seeking nominations

MERCER, PA.

The Mercer Memorial Day 500, a nonprofit organization established in 2003 to honor servicemen, past and present, is seeking nominations for four veterans to be honored at its event on Memorial Day 2011.

Nominees must live in or have lived in Mercer County. The Mercer County Office of Veterans Affairs will select three living veterans and one deceased veteran to represent all county veterans.

Nomination forms may be downloaded at www.mercermemorialday500.org or obtained by calling Mark or Linda Brown at 724-662-2786. Completed forms should be mailed to the Browns at 228 South Erie St. Mercer, Pa. 16137.

HONORS

Trumpet soloist

SALEM

Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sgt. Andrew Schuller, a Salem native, will be a featured trumpet soloist when The President’s Own Marine Corps Band performs Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Defiance College Community Band’s “A Star Spangled Salute to Our American Heroes.”

Schuller, who graduated from Salem High School in 1976, became a member of The President’s Own Marine Band in 1986, was appointed trumpet-section leader in 1998 and high-brass section commander in 2003. He also performs with the Marine Band, Marine Chamber Orchestra and Marine Chamber Ensembles at the White House, in the Washington, D.C., area and across the country.

Beginning his musical instruction at age 6, he received a bachelor’s degree in music education from Youngstown State University. In 1993, he earned a master’s degree in conducting from George Mason University.

DEPLOYED

Helping in Pakistan

HUBBARD

Navy Fireman Joseph M. Cummings, son of Cathy and Williams Cummings of Hubbard, recently deployed aboard amphibious transport dock ship USS Ponce, home ported in Norfolk, Va., in support of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief in Pakistan. Ponce is attached to the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group. Cummings is a 2006 graduate of Hubbard High School.

ADVANCED TRAINING

JAG assignment

LIBERTY

Marine Corps Capt. Matthew P. Banks, a 2000 graduate of Liberty High School, recently graduated from the Naval Justice Center Basic Lawyer Course 10030 in Newport, R.I., and has been assigned as a Judge Advocate General (JAG) defense counsel at Cherry Point, N.C. Banks, the son of Dr. Virginia Banks and Prof. Alfred Bright, both of Liberty, is also a 2004 graduate of Miami University and graduated from Thomas Cooley Law School in 2008.

The Judge Advocate General’s Corps is the legal branch of all the United States armed forces, including the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy. JAG officers serve primarily as legal advisers to the command to which they are assigned.

BASIC TRAINING GRADS

Air Force: Airman Joshua J. Kreinbrook (Austintown Fitch High School, ’10), son of Linda Kreinbrook of Austintown and Dennis Kreinbrook of Youngstown.

Army: Pvt. Jacquelyn T. Mason (West Middlesex High School, West Middlesex, Pa., ’10), daughter of Michael Mason of West Middlesex, and the niece of Carolyn Janosko of Hermitage, Pa.

Navy: Seaman Apprentice Halee R. Collins (West Middlesex High School, West Middlesex, Pa., ’07), daughter of Tracy J. Fazekas of Wheatland, Pa., and Robert M. Collins of Mercer, Pa.

MISCELLANEOUS

Nominations sought

ARLINGTON, VA.

Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a Department of Defense agency, is seeking nominations for the 2011 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award.

Guard and Reserve service members and their families may nominate employers who have provided exceptional support of military employees above federal-law requirements. Nominations are being accepted at www.FreedomAward.mil through Jan. 17. The Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award is the highest recognition given by the U.S. government to employers for the outstanding support of their employees serving in the Guard and Reserve.

For more information, visit www.FreedomAward.mil or contact Beth Sherman, ESGR public affairs, at 703-696-1171, ext. 539.

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