Military Personnel

Knitted helmet liners to help keep soldiers warm By MARLO BARNHART marlob@herald-mail.com HALFWAY - Just back from a tour of duty in Korea, Melissa Barrett Morrow knows all too well how cold it can get in today's war zones. "In Korea, it is either winter or summer - there is no spring or fall," the Williamsport High School and U.S. Military Academy graduate said. With little or no protection between a military helmet and the wearer's head, discomfort often mounts as the temperature drops, Morrow said.

HANCOCK - Daisy Girl Scout Troop 903 began last week with a simple advertisement in the local paper asking for names of local military personnel serving overseas. "We had cookies that we did not sell and wanted to send them to military personnel serving our country as a service project for our troop," said Heather Unger, troop leader. After two phone calls that night, Unger said she began to realize just how important these care packages are and how the military personnel really look forward to getting them.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The top noncommissioned officer of the U.S. Army Materiel Command toured Letterkenny Army Depot and said that his former post can handle more of the workload of overhauling military equipment. "They are positioned to take on more work, they just need the money to do it," Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel Elder said Thursday during a visit to Chambersburg. "They have the skills and the work force and the lean manufacturing principles to make it happen," said Elder, who was a sergeant major when he served at the depot in 1997-98.

WILLIAMSPORT -- On Dec. 2, the Ladies of Harley group mailed 50 boxes to military personnel overseas for the Christmas holidays. "We take the names of local soldiers for these care packages," said Roberta Nave, president of the ladies group that is affiliated with Harley-Davidson Chapter 1544 in Williamsport. A typical package contains a Christmas tree, nativity scene, garlands, candy canes, nuts, a canned ham accompanied by a full nonperishable Christmas dinner, cards and personal items not always available in a war zone.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The Letterkenny Chapel will be the site of a special Community Memorial Day Vesper Service at 7 p.m. Monday. The speaker will be Chaplain Lt. Col. Lonnie S. Southern, head of the Operation Nobel Eagle Unit Ministry team based at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md. His duties include providing worship and study opportunities and counseling services to military personnel stationed at Letterkenny Army Depot. The title of his message will be "Good Mourning America.

AMVETS, Department of Maryland, will present the PNC A. Leo Anderson Memorial Free State Award of Excellence to CSM Bran Thompson, president of the Maj. Gen. Boyd Cook Memorial Foundation Inc., at a ceremony April 2 at Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City, Md. The award honors Thompson’s more than 10 years of advocating for veterans and 9/11 military personnel and for those of their family members. Thompson spent more than 38 years in the U.S. Army Air Force Reserves and Army Reserves before retiring.

WASHINGTON COUNTY - When Gail Smith found out cooling scarves would cost her $14 each, she decided to make them herself. "I looked up directions and tried to make one," said Smith, president of the Washington County chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans. "It was not hard at all and I realized we could make them for less than 50 cents a scarf. " Smith and about 40 other volunteers from 10 area churches gathered July 7 at Mount Zion Lutheran Church in Rohrersville to help fashion about 675 scarves for U.S. military personnel serving in Iraq.

Employees at Letterkenny Army Depot are facing fewer furlough days than originally expected - workers are looking at 11 days without pay rather than 14. The 11 days are down from the 14 that the Pentagon advised would be needed, and only half of the 22 days originally anticipated, according to a statement released by the depot. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced in a town hall Tuesday that Department of the Army civilians will be furloughed up to 11 days, beginning no earlier than July 8. The furlough is scheduled to begin July 8 at the rate of one furlough day per week through the end of the current fiscal year, Sept.

scottb@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN, MD. - To make it easier to recognize and honor the families of active duty military personnel, the Morris Frock American Legion post will present Blue Star Service Banners to those families as part of a Memorial Day program. The Blue Star Service Banner, designed and patented in 1917 by a World War I officer, has become the unofficial symbol of a child in active military service. Families of military personnel can post the banners on doors or windows, said Linda Caudell, spokeswoman for the Morris Frock American Legion Auxiliary, which is sponsoring the event.

It's always amazing to me as a military veteran to hear the perspective of politicians and some current and former military officers on matters pertaining to using the armed services in conflicts that will primarily be supported by military personnel they simply do not relate to. Former House of Representatives candidate Andrew Duck's article, "Why the 'Surge' won't work in Iraq," was no exception! While I agree totally with several points of his strategy, his overall plan is based on flawed logic and an inaccurate assessment of the war, the Iraqi people, and the Middle East in general.

Employees at Letterkenny Army Depot are facing fewer furlough days than originally expected - workers are looking at 11 days without pay rather than 14. The 11 days are down from the 14 that the Pentagon advised would be needed, and only half of the 22 days originally anticipated, according to a statement released by the depot. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced in a town hall Tuesday that Department of the Army civilians will be furloughed up to 11 days, beginning no earlier than July 8. The furlough is scheduled to begin July 8 at the rate of one furlough day per week through the end of the current fiscal year, Sept.

The JFK 50 Mile began as more of a forced march, with 11 male participants, four of whom finished the grueling trek. Almost half a century later, the ultramarathon draws more than 1,000 men and women, some of them elite runners from across the country and around the world. As the level of competition increased, winning times have been cut in more than half - from 13 hours and 10 minutes the first year to a record 5 hours, 40 minutes, 45 seconds last year. Saturday is the 50th running of the JFK 50 Mile ultramarathon, which takes participants from Boonsboro to Williamsport along paved roads, the Appalachian Trail and the C&O Canal towpath.

Obama has ignored fundamental problems To the editor: I am appalled after watching the Democratic National Convention. President Obama ignored fundamental problems: 1) Wall Street and top banks dominating politics; 2) the economy; 3) $16 trillion national debt that keeps rising; 4) America's credit rating dropped; 5) jobs and home foreclosures; 6) security leaks. Instead, Obama takes facts out of context and throws up smoke screens - gay rights, Social Security, Medicare, Romney raising taxes on the middle class.

Jo Ann Rankin is a woman who heeds that tug on her heart. A couple years ago, when her husband, William Rankin, closed his golf cart shop on National Pike, Jo Ann felt inspired to convert the building into a flea market. William Rankin was apprehensive, he said, but Jo Ann made a go of it. Right off the bat, having the market wasn't enough. Jo Ann, who William said has “a heart for community service,” began hosting fundraisers at the shop to benefit various organizations.

A private university with a branch campus in Martinsburg announced Tuesday that it has signed a formal agreement with the U.S. Department of Defense that makes the college's programs more accessible to military service members. For example, the memorandum of understanding allows for the college to provide college credit for military training, Mountain State University President Charles H. Polk said in a news release. “We take great pride in being a military-friendly institution, and this MOU takes our long-standing relationship with the military to the next level,” Polk said.

“This is to the person or persons who stole the road sign from the Indian Springs Road and Lanes Run Road over the weekend. The Indian Springs sign also had a memorial for a veteran — that happened to be my dad — bolted onto it, and how apropos of you to pick the Fourth of July weekend to do your dastardly deed, on a weekend that should be for all military personnel. If you need the road sign, so be it, but please return the veteran’s (memorial).” — Indian Springs area “I see in the paper that Congressman Roscoe Bartlett is going to run for his 11th term in Congress.

Tom Gorzelanny allowed only three hits in eight sharp innings against a struggling San Francisco lineup, and Michael Morse and Jerry Hairston Jr. drove in runs for Washington, helping the Nationals beat the Giants 2-0 Monday on Military Appreciation Night. Gorzelanny (1-2) hadn’t lasted eight innings in a game since Aug. 12, 2007, when he threw a shutout for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the Giants. On Monday, he gave up Aaron Rowand¿s double leading off the game and single in the third, as well as Cody Ross¿ single in the eighth.

The Washington County chapter of the American Red Cross kicked off its annual Heroes fundraising campaign Wednesday morning during a breakfast at its headquarters on Conrad Court in Hagerstown. Maria I. Johns, director of financial development for the Red Cross of Washington County, said 21 people pledged to raise $12,716 toward the organization's $30,000 goal. The money will be used to support Red Cross services, including disaster relief, assistance for fire victims, emergency military communications, and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation and first-aid training.

AMVETS, Department of Maryland, will present the PNC A. Leo Anderson Memorial Free State Award of Excellence to CSM Bran Thompson, president of the Maj. Gen. Boyd Cook Memorial Foundation Inc., at a ceremony April 2 at Turf Valley Resort in Ellicott City, Md. The award honors Thompson’s more than 10 years of advocating for veterans and 9/11 military personnel and for those of their family members. Thompson spent more than 38 years in the U.S. Army Air Force Reserves and Army Reserves before retiring.

HANCOCK - Daisy Girl Scout Troop 903 began last week with a simple advertisement in the local paper asking for names of local military personnel serving overseas. "We had cookies that we did not sell and wanted to send them to military personnel serving our country as a service project for our troop," said Heather Unger, troop leader. After two phone calls that night, Unger said she began to realize just how important these care packages are and how the military personnel really look forward to getting them.