Military Base

Editor's note: The following story about the former Fort Ritchie U.S. Army Base is one in an occasional series of stories about some of the treasures of Washington County's past. CASCADE - What was to become Fort Ritchie U.S. Army base in Cascade started out as the Buena Vista Ice Co., became a National Guard camp and then was taken over by the U.S. Army to train soldiers in military intelligence and psychological warfare during World War II. It wound up its military years as a command center for Site R, a government installation known locally as the Underground Pentagon, built under Raven Rock Mountain in neighboring Pennsylvania.

pepperb@herald-mail.com Former employees and residents of Fort Ritchie gathered by Lake Royer on Sunday for the former military base's first reunion, but some said they weren't happy with the way their old stomping grounds look. Charlotte Selman, the event organizer, said she ran into many people who said they missed seeing old co-workers and neighbors that they lost once the military base was closed in 1998, which prompted her to hold the reunion. Selman, 74, who worked on the base for 24 years, said about 2,000 people lost jobs at the base when it was closed by the federal government about five years ago. Those people were sent mostly to neighboring Army bases, but others were scattered throughout the country.

A decommissioned military base came alive with local culture this past weekend for the Mountain Top Heritage Days festival. The two-day event started with a parade Saturday morning, and featured 60 craft and business vendors, 15 food vendors and lots to do for the whole family at the former Fort Ritchie Army base. Bill Carter, chairman of the One Mountain Foundation, which is the umbrella organization for the festival, said the event typically draws 10,000 to 15,000 people from four intersecting counties — Washington and Frederick in Maryland and Adams and Franklin in Pennsylvania — at the top of Blue Ridge Summit each year.

"We built this church with our bare hands and faith in God," Alfred Tonolo told a large audience in a tent beside Letterkenny Army Depot Chapel on Saturday. Tonolo and other men of the Italian Service Units who were held as prisoners of war at the depot during World War II, built the ecumenical chapel as volunteers, after their work day. Tonolo, 83, who lives in Berwick, Pa., now, helped clean the native fieldstone used in the Florentine-style belfry, which stands 65 feet tall and is 6 feet square.

FORT RITCHIE - The military base that has served the U.S. Army and the National Guard over the years will have one last bash on Friday. Fort Ritchie will stage an hour-long closing ceremony at 5 p.m. followed by a "Twilight Tattoo," according to Army spokesman Steve Blizard. The base will not officially close until Sept. 30, when the post will be handed over to civilian authorities. The featured speaker for the closing ceremony will be retired Lt. Gen. Vernon Walters, a former U.N. ambassador who received military intelligence training at Fort Ritchie during World War II. During the Twilight Tattoo, 300 troops from the 3rd U.S. Infantry and 60 musicians from the U.S. Army Band will demonstrate drills, Blizard said.

PenMar Development Corporation officials on Tuesday announced the U.S. Army had awarded a grant of almost $2 million to help with the conversion of Fort Ritchie to Lakeside Corporation Center. A cooperative agreement between PenMar and the Army also includes options that would increase to $5.8 million the amount the corporation could receive over the next three years, said Robert P. Sweeney, executive director of PenMar Development Corporation. --cont. from front page -- PenMar is a private/public company that is heading the effort to redevelop the base, which closed on Oct. 1. The goal is to attract businesses and create jobs, Sweeney said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A Clear Spring man has been cleared of allegations that he threatened to deliver a bomb to the West Virginia Air National Guard's 167th Airlift Wing base south of Martinsburg in June, according to Berkeley County Magistrate Court records. The felony count of threatening to commit a terrorist act filed against Jeffrey L. Myers of 12477 Big Pool Road was dismissed Aug. 16 by Magistrate Jo Ann Overington. A UPS Freight truck driver, Myers told court officials that he lost his job because of his arrest and subsequently applied for a court-appointed attorney, according to court records.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - Officials with the 167th Airlift Wing in Martinsburg can uncross their fingers and release their pent-up breaths of anxiety since the Department of Defense announced Friday that the base would not lose any personnel or be forced to close. Still, though, news from the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) report left officials with the West Virginia Air National Guard unit scratching their heads. The report indicates that the base will gain 10 new employees - seven military personnel and three full-time civilians - but does not indicate who the personnel are or where they're coming from.

To donors who contributed almost $20,000 during a Jan. 24 phone-a-thon to keep Holly Place, the senior-assisted-living center in downtown Hagerstown, from closing its doors. To the Washington County Commissioners, for their quick decision to hire a consultant o prepare a program plan for a proposed University of Maryland campus for this area. May every step of this project go as smoothly. To the Home Builders' Association of Washington County, for seeking legislation to require that members of their profession be licensed to protect citizens against fraud and shoddy work.

Fort Ritchie vandalized By KIMBERLY YAKOWSKI kimy@herald-mail.com Vandals have broken into vacant housing units and smashed windows at Fort Ritchie, causing more than $25,000 in damage, police said. Washington County Sheriff's deputies have been called to the former U.S. Army base to investigate vandalism and burglary incidents at least five times since Jan. 1, Sgt. Mark Knight said. The most recent reports of damage were made Tuesday, after windows of a Mountain Road home on the base were shattered, and on Jan. 16, when several windows of building 700 were smashed, he said.

When a young man or woman makes a decision to enter military service, they do so for a lot of reasons. They know, however, that this commitment means protecting American freedoms like many generations before them have done. Some of them might sacrifice their lives; some might experience lifetime injuries; and some might suffer mental scars. Thirty years ago, while working at a prison south of Hagerstown, I met a correctional officer named Jack E. Padgett. Jack was a tall, lanky and likeable fellow from South Carolina.

I always anticipate what each new day will bring to me. It's like waiting on a gift. Last week, I had a friend call and ask me if I would drive her to her grandson's graduation from the Joint Anacostia Bolling military base near Washington, D.C. I remembered Kalin Thomas as a young lad many years ago staying with his grandparents, Phyllis and Linn, as well as his Aunt Rose and Uncle Hank, who lived up the road from me. Kalin was a short...

Recruiter thanks community for welcoming him To the editor: I wanted to take a moment to give a special thanks to the Washington County community. I had the honor of serving as a local Army recruiter for active duty and the Reserves from May 2008 to August 2011. I had the privilege of shaking hands with thousands of Washington County residents and students, and have wonderful memories that I will carry with me for years. I want to thank the community for always welcoming soldiers with open arms.

State and local leaders are bracing for another possible fight to protect military bases, including Letterkenny Army Depot in Chambersburg. The U.S. Department of Defensewill request that Congress appoint a commission to study the future of military bases around the country, possibly in 2013 and 2015, Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Melinda Morgan said Wednesday. “We're in the process of making those requests,” she said. The Base Realignment and Closure Commission would identify military installations to be closed or changed in size.

A decommissioned military base came alive with local culture this past weekend for the Mountain Top Heritage Days festival. The two-day event started with a parade Saturday morning, and featured 60 craft and business vendors, 15 food vendors and lots to do for the whole family at the former Fort Ritchie Army base. Bill Carter, chairman of the One Mountain Foundation, which is the umbrella organization for the festival, said the event typically draws 10,000 to 15,000 people from four intersecting counties — Washington and Frederick in Maryland and Adams and Franklin in Pennsylvania — at the top of Blue Ridge Summit each year.

State Sens. Richard Alloway II and John Blake announced last week the formation of a legislative caucus to help preserve the state’s 11 military bases and defense jobs in the face of potential base realignment. The primary goal of the Military Installations and Base Development Caucus will be the preservation of Pennsylvania’s 11 military bases and more than 164,000 defense-related jobs, according to a news release. The caucus will work to strengthen the dialogue with federal lawmakers and military and civilian leadership at military facilities throughout the state, and prepare and plan for future Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, activities, the news release said.

KUWAIT CITY (AP) -- Kuwaiti authorities announced Tuesday they have arrested an al-Qaida-linked group that was planning to attack a key U.S. military base in the small oil-rich state. The Interior Ministry said in a brief statement that State Security detained a "terrorist network" of six Kuwaitis who gave "detailed confessions" about plans to bomb Camp Arifjan, the main U.S. base in the country, as well as the headquarters of the country's security agency, in addition to other facilities it did not name.

Editor's note: The following story about the former Fort Ritchie U.S. Army Base is one in an occasional series of stories about some of the treasures of Washington County's past. CASCADE - What was to become Fort Ritchie U.S. Army base in Cascade started out as the Buena Vista Ice Co., became a National Guard camp and then was taken over by the U.S. Army to train soldiers in military intelligence and psychological warfare during World War II. It wound up its military years as a command center for Site R, a government installation known locally as the Underground Pentagon, built under Raven Rock Mountain in neighboring Pennsylvania.

Editor's note: Each week, The Herald-Mail invites readers to answer poll questions on its Web site, www.herald-mail.com . Readers also may submit comments about the poll question when voting. Each Sunday, a sampling of edited reader comments will run in The Herald-Mail. There were two poll questions last week. The first question was: Is the redevelopment of the former Fort Ritchie Army base important to the economic growth of Washington County and surrounding areas? "Nope, too far away and who wants to drive to town in winter on those roads.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A Clear Spring man has been cleared of allegations that he threatened to deliver a bomb to the West Virginia Air National Guard's 167th Airlift Wing base south of Martinsburg in June, according to Berkeley County Magistrate Court records. The felony count of threatening to commit a terrorist act filed against Jeffrey L. Myers of 12477 Big Pool Road was dismissed Aug. 16 by Magistrate Jo Ann Overington. A UPS Freight truck driver, Myers told court officials that he lost his job because of his arrest and subsequently applied for a court-appointed attorney, according to court records.