Showing posts with label military personnel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label military personnel. Show all posts

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Old Soldiers -- April 2010

Dorian Lee "Chic" Anderson, 79, passed away April 21 at his home in Ocean Springs. He was born April 28, 1930.
Anderson was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 1954 with the rank of aviation electronics technician first class. He flew in missions off the USS Boxer CVA 21 and USS Oriskany CVA 34 during the Korean Crisis.



Thursday, October 15, 2009

Gulf Coast Chamber Gives Salute to the Military

BILOXI -- More than 1,000 people were reported to have attended the annual Salute to the Military on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at the Mississippi Coast Convention Center.

The event, in its 31st year, pays tribute to all military branches including veterans and active personnel extending from WWII through today's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.



The Mississippi Gulf Coast Chamber of Commerce sponsors the military salute, along with business and community partners. The chamber includes the cities of Biloxi, Gulfport, Long Beach and Pass Christian, and Leadership Gulf Coast and Coast Young Professionals.

Admiral Gary Roughead, chief of U.S. Naval Operations, was the guest speaker. He attended with his wife, Ellen.


Roughead, who lived in Ocean Springs during the early 1990s, thanked the community for its appreciation and support of the Navy and Seabees stationed in Gulfport, according to a media report at sunherald.com. More than 400 military members and families live in South Mississippi.

He was commander of the USS Barry, the first Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, that was built at Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula (now Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding).

Apollo 13 astronaut Fred Haise and Congressman Gene Taylor were among the dignitaries who attended the Salute to the Military.
Clarence Hartenstine, a first class aviation electronics technician, received the Thomas V. Fredian Award for Outstanding Community Service.

According to www.prambeach.org, the Tom Fredian Memorial Scholarship is offered in memory of Thomas V. Fredian, a founding member, senior practitioner and former president of PRAM Mississippi Beach.

PRAM is the acronym for Public Relations Association of Mississippi.

Fredian, a native of Chicago, resided on the Mississippi Gulf Coast from 1976 until his death in 1999. Fredian began his 23-year career in public relations after retiring from the Navy in 1974. He spent his entire civil service career as the public affairs officer of the Naval Meteorology and Oceanography Command Headquarters at Stennis Space Center, Miss. He retired from civil service in 1997.

At the time of his death, Fredian was working as a parttime special projects assistant for Analysis & Technology in Bay St. Louis.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Flying Jennies to Support War Effort in Asia

BILOXI -- Air Force reservists left on Tuesday for Southeast Asia to help the U.S. with its war effort, according to local media.

The Flying Jennies, which is the 815th Airlift Squadron at Keesler Air Force Base, included about 150 military personnel who will be deployed four months or more.

Read about the emotion -- pride and concern -- of family watching their military relatives depart.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Colonel Promoted to Brigadier General

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE -- Col. Ian Dickinson was promoted to the rank of brigadier general on July 20 at the Dragon's Lair.

Dickinson is commander of the 81st Training Wing at Keesler Air Force Base.

Keesler personnel were invited to the ceremony and a promotion party at the marina park. The party included free food and drinks, music and a "bouncy dragon" for children. Civilian attire was allowed.

A shuttle transported people home to Thrower Park, West Falcon and Bay Ridge housing areas.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Mississippi's Fallen Honored For Memorial Day

MOSS POINT – During late May veteran Charles Roithmayer delivers to local media outlets a list of soldiers who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I feel it is just appropriate for all of the service men and women who died in Afghanistan and Iraq to have their names published,” he said this morning.

It's something he started two years ago to commemorate Memorial Day, something he wanted to do for the military personnel of South Mississippi.

Roithmayer, who served in Germany and Austria during the post occupation of WWII, said his aim is to bring public attention to military personnel across the state who have given their lives since March 2003, when the U.S. launched Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Roithmayer served two years in the Army and was a staff member for the adjudant general's office.

The Moss Point man's tribute was among many made to American troops this Memorial Day Weekend in honor of military service personnel who have died or were wounded during numerous American wars, military conflicts and operations foreign and domestic.

Commemorations have included special ceremonies, concerts, and roll calls of soldiers' names. Flags, flowers, crosses and other memorabilia have been placed at gravesides, and dozens of military leaders and family members have given speeches to pay homage to the fallen. 

Celebrations started as early as Thursday, May 21, when ROTC students in Bay St. Louis dedicated the Veterans Memorial Garden they built at Bay High School.