178 FW members honor veterans

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio -- We honor veterans. That was the name of the program and the message delivered to veterans at Eaglewood Village on Armed Forces day, May 18. Staff Sgt. Dawn Evans and several other members of the 178th Logistics Readiness Squadron volunteered their time to participate in a pinning ceremony at the assisted living facility in Springfield, Ohio.

The ceremony consisted of presenting each veteran with a pin, flag, certificate and cookie. Evans, who volunteers with Hospice of the Miami Valley coordinated the presentation to the veterans by the members of the LRS.

Evans explained the reason for the ceremony. "Most of the veterans are from the Korean War, Vietnam, and World War II era. So they were not recognized for their service the way that we do today so that is why we are doing this."

Hospice of Miami Valley has been holding these ceremonies since it opened in 2008. This is the first for the recently opened Springfield satellite office.

"We embrace veterans," Pamela Sullivan, operations manager for the Springfield office, stated. "This is something that is very, very important because of what they have done for us and our freedom."

Besides Armed Force day, Hospice conducts these events on military themed holidays, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and the Fourth of July.
 
Another member of LRS who was happy to help out was Chief Master Sgt. Joseph Monovich. Monovich has a grandfather who was a World War II veteran so when he was asked to volunteer he said it was an "easy choice to make."

The group of Airmen presented the awards in a common room to ten veterans and then they were lead in a salute by 2nd Lt. Amy Adduchio. The Airmen then went to make further presentations to veterans who could not leave there rooms. The veterans were happy to have the Airmen recognize their service. Navy veteran Robert Schmidtower even commented that this was the first time he had received recognition for his service.

The other LRS airmen who participated in the ceremony were Senior Master Sgt. Jay Buinicky, Senior Master Sgt. Jeffrey Schetter, and Master Sgt. David Falkenbach.

Sullivan was excited to have the Airmen participate "I am honored for you to be here. Hopefully we can do this some more."