Latest news with #AmericanVeterans
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Hundreds gather at Memorial Day services in Grand Forks to remember 'high price of freedom'
May 26—GRAND FORKS — Hundreds gathered for Memorial Day events in Grand Forks on Monday, May 26, to remember those who have given their lives in service to the country. On a sunny day with hardly any breeze — a stark contrast to the rainy weather that played havoc on events in 2024 — the crowds honored the fallen men and women during events that included Honor Guard salutes, speeches, music and readings. "It's not about the veterans who are living, but the ones who have passed," emcee Bobby Beauchamp said after the VFW/Disabled American Veterans event at Memorial Park Cemetery South late Monday morning. "That's what we don't want to forget." The first of the two events was the American Legion Post 6 service at Memorial Park North Cemetery. Col. Timothy Monroe, commander of the 319th Reconnaissance Wing, Grand Forks Air Force Base, addressed a crowd of more than 200 people. He implored attendees to remember the true meaning behind Memorial Day. "It is about courage, it is about sacrifice and it most certainly is about remembering the high price of freedom," Monroe said. Every headstone tells a story, and every name represents a life cut short, he said. It is the duty of those who still live to ensure these stories are not forgotten and the gift of freedom is never lost, he said. Organized by the Grand Forks American Legion Post 6, the morning ceremony featured performances by the Grand Forks City Band, Post 6 Color Guard and Grand Forks Air Force Base Color Guard. Taps and Echo was performed by Joel Ness and Sandra Iverson, while Post 6 Vice-Commander Chris Davis served as emcee. A firing squad salute was carried out by the Grand Forks Air Force Base Honor Guard. There were a number of readings and prayers shared throughout the event and wreaths were presented in honor of all who have died in their respective lines of service. Jenny Jansen, attending the Post 6 ceremony in support of her sister — who is a member of the Air Force — said she was struck by Monroe's speech. "Every word is true," she said. "(The people who fought) need to be honored. Every country should have a day like this, so that people think about what (others) did for them." Jansen recalled how the U.S. has helped protect Europeans in the past, and said she hopes for continued support during the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. "The Ukrainian war is giving us a lot of fear," Jansen said. "Everybody hopes that America and Europe will still be a unit, that they will not go away and that they still care for Europe. This is my prayer — that Americans and Europeans will stick together." Jansen said she felt blessed to be at the ceremony, tearfully recalling her father, who she said served in the Vietnam and Korean wars. Jansen was born in Germany, and still lives there with her husband, but her father was an American and she considers the United States to be her home as well. "It's the land of the free," she said. Later Monday morning, at the VFW/Disabled American Veterans event at Memorial Park Cemetery South, keynote speaker Joel Medd spoke about his experiences with the Honor Flight program, which provides complimentary flights for veterans from the region to see veterans-related sites in Washington, D.C. "When we got home, many of you perhaps were there at the airport to welcome us home. There was a band, flags waving, and many of you were there. As we came down the escalator, many of us had tears in our eyes, including myself," Medd said of the flight's return to Grand Forks. "Many of us Vietnam veterans didn't get a welcome home." That event in Grand Forks, Medd said, thus became that missing welcome home. Beauchamp, a past state commander of the DAV, said he enjoyed handling the emcee duties at the VFW/DAV ceremony, which drew more than 150 attendees. "We couldn't have ordered a better day. The crowd was very uplifting for this solemn occasion," Beauchamp said after the event concluded. "I just really enjoy taking part in this type of occasion. It's what we all live for. For people to show up, that's what it's all about." Last year, the American Legion event was canceled due to rain, while the VFW/DAV event was moved indoors and shortened.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
DAV adds parking spot to county lot to improve services
EBENSBURG, Pa. – Disabled American Veterans now has a permanent parking spot at the Cambria County Human Services building parking lot on Candlelight Drive that officials said Thursday will help improve services. 'It just cuts down on so much time,' said John Clay, James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center chief of the center for development and civic engagement. Elected officials and representatives from the VA gathered at the new spot at the lower end of the lot in Ebensburg to celebrate the new partnership. Clay said one DAV vehicle will remain in Ebensburg and the other will stay at the VA Clinic on Galleria Drive in Richland Township. This will cut down on the six drivers' travel time when helping veterans get to appointments both in Cambria and Blair counties and other engagements, he added. DAV drivers are volunteers who pick up and drop off veterans as a free service to those who served the country through the military. Clay said partnering with the county and making a vehicle for use at a location easily accessible just made sense. Commissioner Keith Rager, who helped to coordinate this partnership, is also really excited about the prospects of the relationship. 'We're just trying to do our part to help veterans,' Rager said. During Thursday's event, Clay took the opportunity to note DAV needs more drivers. Bob Skyrock, a volunteer who started in March, said lending his time to the organization has been rewarding. He noted that the vehicle parked in Ebensburg will be a lot of help. At this time, the service runs Tuesday through Thursday. For information on how to volunteer, call 814-943-8164, Ext. 17141. For veterans interested in utilizing the service, use Ext. 17383.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Plattsburgh Barracks Veterans Park improvements coming this year
PLATTSBURGH — Work on the Plattsburgh Barracks Veterans Park is expected to kick off later this year. Last Veterans Day, the City of Plattsburgh and members of the Plattsburgh's Disabled American Veterans chapter were presented with a $125,000 Dormitory Authority of New York or 'DASNY' grant by Assemblyman Billy Jones (D-Chateaugay Lake) to improve the Plattsburgh Barracks Veterans Park, which is located on the former Air Force Base where the North Country Honor Flight ceremonies take place. 'It is so important to honor our local veterans for all their sacrifices, and this park is one way to not only recognize their dedication and service, but also to celebrate Plattsburgh's military history,' Jones said. 'Members of the DAV and the City of Plattsburgh work diligently to maintain and preserve this park, and I am honored to help them in their mission.' With the state funding, the city and members of the DAV plan to make renovations to the park, including improving the sidewalks and installing new lights. 'We're going to redo the lights and do a lot of the groundwork there,' Mayor Wendell Hughes said recently. 'I'm hoping, if we can get it done by, in between the second and third (Honor) flight, would be amazing so we can have it for the second half … but again, I'm not promising that.' The first flight of the year took place May 17. The next three will fly out of Plattsburgh on June 28, Sept. 6, and Oct. 4. According to a recent city resolution, the DASNY grant budget did not include funding for professional services to oversee the project and compile engineered design specifications before it goes out to bid for construction, so the city had to hire someone for these services. At their May 15 meeting, city councilors awarded a $2,500 Professional Service Agreement to Barton & Loguidice, which will now include providing oversight for the implementation of the DASNY grant. The council approved the resolution unanimously.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Yahoo
Heartless Long Island driver mows down family of geese — despite pleas from good Samaritan to slow down
A fowl scene unfolded on a Long Island highway when a heartless driver slammed into a family of geese despite pleas from a good Samaritan to slow down — killing the adults and two of their goslings. The massacre on Veterans Highway in Islandia left Coleen DeLorenzo in tears. DeLorenzo, 58, was on her way to work and heading north Thursday morning when she spotted the two adult geese and their six feathery babies crossing the four-lane thoroughfare just before the Long Island Expressway. 'Everybody stopped,' the Patchogue resident told The Post. 'These geese were in a very perilous part of the road. . . . I saw them from a mile away.' She put her hazard lights on and was getting out of the car when she looked over her shoulder and saw a blue van that wasn't slowing down. 'It was a Disabled American Veterans van, and they were flying,' DeLorenzo said. 'I waved my hands, they never even looked up. They hit the entire family of geese. They obliterated them at 50, 60 miles per hour.' 'This van never even tapped the brake.' Devastated, DeLorenzo 'started running around trying to save the goslings. 'I picked up one baby that was hit, I thought maybe we could save it,' she said. 'It died in my hands.' A young couple eventually helped her gather four surviving goslings, while workers doing construction nearby stepped in and used their trucks to block traffic. 'I was sobbing, covered in blood. They came over and blocked the traffic and used tarps to cover the bodies and move them, made sure I was ok.' DeLorenzo and the couple helping her eventually made contact with Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown, which took in the survivors and posted about the incident on social media. Janine Bendicksen, director of wildlife rehabilitation at the center, said the surviving Canada geese are doing fine. 'The thing is, you know when you hit and kill something. You hear it, feel it. And to just keep going?' she said. 'That is the tragedy of it all.' The center, which posted an emotional video of DeLorenzo pleading with people to slow down, takes in nearly 3,000 animals a year, 'everything from eagles, hawks, owls, foxes, you name it,' she said. The incident has left DeLorenzo shaken. 'I'm sick over it. It was such a violent act it will never go out of my head,' she said. 'That any human being could lay their head down and sleep at night after doing what they did — I feel lost.' Disabled American Veterans, the organization whose name was on the van, could not immediately be reached for comment.
New York Post
17-05-2025
- General
- New York Post
Murder so fowl: Long Island driver mows down family of geese
A fowl scene unfolded on a Long Island highway when a heartless driver slammed into a family of geese despite pleas from a good Samaritan to slow down — killing the adults and two of their goslings. The massacre on Veterans Highway in Islandia left Coleen DeLorenzo in tears. DeLorenzo, 58, was on her way to work and heading north Thursday morning when she spotted the two adult geese and their six feathery babies crossing the four-lane thoroughfare just before the Long Island Expressway. Advertisement 4 The goslings were brought to Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown. Sweetbriar Nature Center 'Everybody stopped,' the Patchogue resident told The Post. 'These geese were in a very perilous part of the road. . . . I saw them from a mile away.' She put her hazard lights on and was getting out of the car when she looked over her shoulder and saw a blue van that wasn't slowing down. Advertisement 'It was a Disabled American Veterans van, and they were flying,' DeLorenzo said. 'I waved my hands, they never even looked up. They hit the entire family of geese. They obliterated them at 50, 60 miles per hour.' 'This van never even tapped the brake.' Devastated, DeLorenzo 'started running around trying to save the goslings. 'I picked up one baby that was hit, I thought maybe we could save it,' she said. 'It died in my hands.' Advertisement 4 The van which struck the goslings' parents and two siblings 'didn't even tap its brake,' DeLorenzo said. Sweetbriar Nature Center A young couple eventually helped her gather four surviving goslings, while workers doing construction nearby stepped in and used their trucks to block traffic. 'I was sobbing, covered in blood. They came over and blocked the traffic and used tarps to cover the bodies and move them, made sure I was ok.' DeLorenzo and the couple helping her eventually made contact with Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown, which took in the survivors and posted about the incident on social media. Advertisement 4 The goslings were brought to Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown. Sweetbriar Nature Center Janine Bendicksen, director of wildlife rehabilitation at the center, said the surviving Canada geese are doing fine. 'The thing is, you know when you hit and kill something. You hear it, feel it. And to just keep going?' she said. 'That is the tragedy of it all.' The center, which posted an emotional video of DeLorenzo pleading with people to slow down, takes in nearly 3,000 animals a year, 'everything from eagles, hawks, owls, foxes, you name it,' she said. 4 Coleen DeLorenzo was on her way to work when she spotted the family of geese, including six goslings, on the side of busy Veterans Highway in Islandia. Sweetbriar Nature Center The incident has left DeLorenzo shaken. 'I'm sick over it. It was such a violent act it will never go out of my head,' she said. Advertisement 'That any human being could lay their head down and sleep at night after doing what they did — I feel lost.' Disabled American Veterans, the organization whose name was on the van, could not immediately be reached for comment.
