Orientation Set for Gulf Coast Honor Flight 4 to D.C.

WOOLMARKET -- Orientation for the fourth Mississippi Gulf Coast Honor Flight has been set for Saturday, Aug. 25, at the Joppa Shrine Temple.

A pancake breakfast will be served for everyone involved.

Volunteers are asked to arrive between 6:30 and 7 a.m. for set-up. Guardians and veterans should arrive by 8 a.m.

Information may be obtained from Jennifer Presley Walton, secretary for Honor Flight, at 251-709-7378.

Honor Flight: Last Call for the Big Day

Bilbo Rodgers of Pascagoula, James Beasley of Natchez, and Henry Little of Pascagoula are among the WWII veterans making the first Mississippi Gulf Coast Honor Flight. (Photos from Meet the Heroes)

SOUTH MISSISSIPPI -- Today marks the final day before nearly 90 veterans from World War II will board a flight to Washington, D.C., where they will view the monument built in their honor as well as several other war tributes.

The first Mississippi Gulf Coast Honor Flight begins about 5 a.m. at the Joppa Shrine Center in Woolmarket, where members will load buses to Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport for the trip to the nation's capital.

MEET THE HEROES: A tribute and history of the veterans vailable at The Mississippi Press.

The veterans are expected to receive a coastwide send-off in the morning and a hearty Welcome Back at the airport when they return Wednesday night about 7:30 p.m.

ROTC students and various other military groups, cheerleaders, high school bands and other students, businesses, residents and coast government officials are expected to number about 3,000, according to Wayne Lennep of Moss Point, vice president and spokesman for Honor Flight.

Highest Veteran Count in Mississippi Declines

GULFPORT -- The highest number of veterans in Mississippi live in Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties, but the total had fallen since 2000, according to the lastest figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The bureau said the decline is partly due to Hurricane Katrina, which in general has reduced the population of the three coastal counties since the storm five years ago.

Full Story:
Coast Has Most Vets, But Numbers Show Decline
The Sun Herald/Dec. 29, 2010
Story by Michael Newsom

Volunteers Work to Bring Honor Flight to Mississippi Veterans

About 500 veterans of World War II living in South Mississippi would be eligible to participate in the Honor Flight program that flies the former military members to the Washington, D.C., for a daylong trip. Residents are working to bring the program to local veterans.

Booth Hopes High for Honor Flight

M.L. McCormick Jr. listens to Dr. Barry Booth speak about Honor Flight South Alabama and its program to fly World War II veterans to Washington, D.C. for a one-day visit. Booth spoke to about 100 residents attending a meeting of Jackson County United Methodist Men at Dantzler United Methodist Church in Moss Point on Thursday, Nov. 18. (Harlan Kirgan/Mississippi Press).

Read the full story:

Mississippians challenged to launch Honor Flight

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.

Veterans Day Festivities Planned For Nov. 11

The 10th Annual Jackson County Veteran’s Day Parade, Program & Exhibits has been set for Nov. 11. Festivities will be held in Moss Point.

Celebrations will start with a parade that rolls from the Southgate Shopping Center at the corner of Main and Jefferson streets at the Pascagoula and Moss Point city limits.

The procession will travel north on Main Street to the Jackson County War Memorial Monument in downtown Moss Point, where ceremonies will honor veterans of all past and present military conflicts fought by American personnel.

Parade Line-up: 8:30 a.m. – Southgate Shopping Center, Moss Point

Parade Rolls: 10:00 a.m. – Jefferson Avenue and Main Street

Parade Disbands: 10:45 a.m. – Downtown Moss Point, Riverfront Recreation Center

Program: 11:00 a.m. – Jackson County War Memorial Monument, Downtown Moss Point

Purpose: Recognize and honor our veterans – past and present

Exhibits: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Moss Point Riverfront Community Center, Downtown

Parade units will include floats, banks, automobiles, trucks, military vehicles, classic cars and trucks, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles, horses, and other units.

Carla Todd, president of the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, said parade participants will include veterans' groups, youth groups, churches, businesses, governments, law enforcement, bands with NJROTC marching units, and a float honoring fallen soldiers.

"The program will feature exhibits from wars past and present, a keynote address, refreshments, classic car exhibit, 21-gun salute, POW/MIA ceremony and entertainment," said Todd.

Veteran exhibits may be viewed at the Moss Point Riverfront Community Center. Displays will include memorabilia from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan.

The Jackson County Chamber of Commerce and Moss Point resident John Welch, founder of the Veteran's Program and Parade and a WWII Marine Corps Vet, are co-sponsors of the event.

Todd said Welch has always reminded everyone that the emphasis for the program as in years past is "freedom is not free."

Gulf Coast residents interested in participating in the Jackson County Veterans Day Parade, Program & Exhibits should contact the chamber of commerce. Information and forms may obtained at the chamber office or by email.

Fax your completed form to the chamber at 228-769-1726. For additional information call 228-762-3391.

E-mail to johnsonl@jcchamber.com or chamber@jcchamber.com. Mail completed form to Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 480, Pascagoula, MS 39568.

New Facilities, Services Coming for Veterans

Four years later, Hurricane Katrina helps push Veterans Administration to expand facilities, provide new and extended services in South Mississippi.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs announces over $153 million for Biloxi

www.sunherald.com Aug. 12, 2009

Veterans Projects are Bankrolled

www.sunherald.com Aug. 12, 2009

Last Trench Soldier in Britain Dies

by saluteandhonor

photo courtesy wikipedia.org

Harry Patch at age 109

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Unless you're in the military, over 90 years old, or really good at world history, trench soldier is not a word that's part of your usual vocabulary. Not like national guardsman or marine is familiar to most Americans today.

However, trench soldier is well-known to American and British citizens who lived through World War I, during which trench warfare was a standard method of battlefield strategy.

Britain’s Last Veteran of the WWI Trenches

Aug. 06, 2009 www.blogs.abcnews.com

In honor of Britain's last trench soldier, crowds lined the streets of Wells, Somerset, to watch the funeral procession for Henry Patch, who died July 25 at 111 years old. The memorial was held at Wells Cathedral.

ABC reporter Maeva Bambuck said Patch "was a plumber who found himself in the light infantry at the beginning of the war, and later fought in some of the bloodiest trenches, including in the battle of Ypres. Patch defended his country until a piece of shrapnel lodged itself in his groin in 1917.'

Born in 1898, Henry John "Harry" Patch had celebrated his birthday June 17.

Patch's life was chronicled in the 2005 BBC TV program "The Last Fighting Tommy," which told the story of six of the WWI veterans still alive at the time. Excerpts were read during the memorial.

Three WWI veterans are still alive: 108-year-old Frank Buckles in Charlestown, W.Va.; 109-year-old Canadian John Babcock in Spokane, Wa., and 108-year-old Englishman Claude Choules living in Perth, Australia.

World War I started after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, on June 28, 1914.

According to www.wikipedia. org, World War I is abbreviated as WW-I, WWI, or WW1, and is also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars. It was a global military conflict that embroiled most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance.

More than 70 million military personnel were mobilized in one of the largest wars in history. The main combatants descended into a state of total war, pumping their entire scientific and industrial capabilities into the war effort. More than 15 million people were killed, making it one of the deadliest conflicts in history.

The immediate or proximate cause of war was the assassination on 28 June 1914 of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist. Austria–Hungary's resulting demands against the Kingdom of Serbia activated a sequence of alliances. Within weeks the major European powers were at war; their global empires meant that the conflict soon spread worldwide.

By the war's end, four major imperial powers—the German, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires—had been militarily and politically defeated, with the last two ceasing to exist as autonomous entities. The revolutionized Soviet Union emerged from the Russian Empire, while the map of central Europe was completely redrawn into numerous smaller states.

The League of Nations was formed in the hope of preventing another such conflict. The European nationalism spawned by the war, the repercussions of Germany's defeat, and the Treaty of Versailles would eventually lead to the beginning of World War II in 1939.

Mississippi's Fallen

MILITARY PERSONNEL WHO HAVE DIED IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

• Sgt. Larry R. Arnold Sr., 46, Carriere, June 11, 2005.
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• Pfc. Stephen P. Baldwin, 19, Saltillo, May 9, 2005.
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• Spec. Bryan Edward Barron, 26, Biloxi, May 23, 2005.
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• Spec. Benjamin Brosh, 22, Gautier, April, 18, 2008
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• Staff Sgt. Kenneth R. Bradley, 39, Utica, May 29, 2003
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• Staff Sgt. Scott Bright, 36, Jackson, July 5, 2005
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• Spec. Larry K. Brown, 22, Jackson, April 5, 2003
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• Cpl. Henry L. Brown, 22, Natchez, April 8, 2003
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• Spec. Lerando J. Brown, 27, Gulfport, March 15, 2008
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• Spec. Joshua I. Bunch, 23, Hattiesburg, August 6, 2004
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• Staff Sgt. Jerry C. Burge, 39, Carriere, April 4, 2007
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• 1st Lt. Donald C. Carwile, 29, Oxford, August 15, 2008
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• Lance Cpl. Casey Lynne Casanova, McComb, May 3, 2008
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• Spec. James A. Chance III, 25, Kokomo, November 6, 2003.
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• 2nd Lt. Therrel S. Childers, 30, Harrison, March 21, 2003
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• Sgt. 1st Class Sean M. Cooley, 35, Ocean Springs, February 3, 2005.
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• Cpl. Justin Cooper, 22, Eupora, May 18, 2008.
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• Staff Sgt. Travis S. Cooper, 24, Macon, July 16, 2005.
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• Spec. Raphael S. Davis, 24, Tutwiler, December 2, 2003.
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• Staff Sgt. Jeffrey F. Dayton, 27, Caledonia, April 29, 2004
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• Lance Cpl. Roger W. Deeds, 24, Biloxi, November 16, 2005
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• Spec. Jeremia J. Digiovanni, 21, Tylertown, November 15, 2003
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• Capt. Kermit O. Evans, 31, Hollandale, December 3, 2006
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• Staff Sgt. Clint D. Ferrin, 31, Picayune, March 13, 2004
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• Staff Sgt. Brian L. Freeman, 27, Caledonia, November 7, 2005
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• Major Michael L. Green, 36, Gautier, January 7, 2008
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• Sgt. Taurean T. Harris, 22, Liberty, August 2, 2007
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• Pfc. Damian L. Heidelberg, 21, Batesville, November, 2003
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• Spec. Melvin L. Henley Jr., 26, Jackson, November 21, 2007
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• Sgt. Courtland A. Kennard, 22, Starkville, November 9, 2006
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• Sgt. Joshua S. Ladd, 20, Port Gibson, May 1, 2004
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• Sgt. Jonathan W. Lambert, 28, Newsite, June 1, 2003
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• Cpl. Dustin J. Lee, 20, Quitman, March 21, 2007
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• Spec. Terrance D. Lee Sr., 25, Moss Point, June 11, 2005
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• Sgt. Donnie Leo F. Levens, 25, Long Beach, February 17, 2006
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• Spec. Audrey Daron Lunsford, 29, Sardis, May 23, 2005
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• Pfc. Christopher D. Mabry, 19, Chunky, April 7, 2004
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• Pvt. Barry W. Mayo, 21, Ecru, March 5, 2007
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• Cpl. Robert T. McDavid, 29, Starkville, March 10, 2008
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• Master Sgt. Brian P. McAnulty, 39, Vicksburg, December 11, 2006
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• Spec. Robert A. McNail, 30, Meridian, February 11, 2005
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• Sgt. 1st Class Clarence D. McSwain, 31, Meridian, June 8, 2006
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• Cpl. Clifton B. Mounce, 22, Pontotoc, July 14, 2005
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• Staff Sgt. James D. Mowris, 37, Aurora, January 29, 2004
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• 1st Lt. Robert C. Oneto-Sikorski, 33, Bay St. Louis, October 31, 2005
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• Sgt. Timothy R. Osbey, 34, Magnolia, February 16, 2005
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• Staff Sgt. Saburant Parker, 43, Foxworth, May 23, 2005
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• Engineman 1st Class Vincent Parker, 38, Preston, Novoember 18, 2001
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• Sgt. Willard T. Partridge, 35, Natchez, August 20, 2005
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• Cpl. Michael Be. Presley, 21, Batesville, December 14, 2005
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• Spec. Robert S. Pugh, 25, Meridian, March 2, 2005
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• Spec. Joseph A. Rahaim, 22, Laurel, February 16, 2005
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• Staff Sgt. Christopher L. Robinson, 36, Brandon, March 26, 2006
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• Staff Sgt. John T. Self, 29, Pontotoc, May 14, 2007
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• Sgt. 1st Class William C. Spillers, 39, Terry, February 17, 2007
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• Sgt. 1st Class George Stanciel, 40, Greenwood, August 19, 2008
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• 2nd Lt. Matthew R. Stovall, 25, Horn Lake, August 22, 2004
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• Lance Cpl. Marc L. Tucker, 24, Pontotac, June 8, 2005
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• Sgt. Daniel Ryan Varnado, 23, Saucier, May 23, 2005
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• Sgt. Jason W. Vaughn, 29, Iuka, May 10, 2007
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• Staff Sgt. Joe N. Wilson, 30, Crystal Springs, November 2, 2003