VFW MO Post 5993 - Ava

Ava VFW Post 5993 Conducts Flag Dedication To The Ava Victory Academy

Posted at 08:00 PM on Thursday, November 12, 2009 by post5993 in Recent News

Members of VFW Post 5993 attended the Veterans Day Appreciation Day Dinner on Sunday, November 8th, at the Ava Victory Academy.  During the Ceremony the Post Members learned that the Victory Academy did not have an American Flag or a Missouri State Flag and were taking dontaions to purchase these flags for the school.  The American Chairman, Joe Mosklay, was able to get the flags and the Post dedicated the flags to the School on Veterans Day. 

Honor Guard Commander Shannon Willhaus dedicates the flags to the Ava Victory Academy.

Members of the Honor Guard are present at the Flag Dedication.

Commander Jerry Garrison, American Chairman Joe Moskaly, and Sr. Vice Richard Stitt are present at the Flag Dedication to the Ava Victory Academy.

Ava VFW Attends West Plains "Listening Post"

Posted at 10:41 AM on Friday, October 23, 2009 by post5993 in Recent News

Bill Moriarty, Post 3009; Ed Hawley, Post 3770 and Jerry Garrison, Post 5993

    District 18 VSIO Ed Hawley, Ava Post 5993  Commander Jerry Garrison and Mountain View Post 3009 Service Officer Bill Moriarty attended a Missouri Veterans Commission "Listening Post" in West Plains on Tuesday 20 October.  The presenter/moderator was Brigadier General Larry Kay, Missouri Deputy Adjutant General/Executive Director of the Missouri Veterans Commission.   Other Veterans organizations were also in attendance as well as Service Officers from the Commission.  The presentation focused on service to our nations veterans with an emphasis on the facilities and resources available to support this mission.
    Photo courtesy of Bill Moriarty

    More story and photos available at District 18

Sgt. Richard E. Herrera from Ava, Mo

Posted at 08:17 AM on Friday, August 21, 2009 by post5993 in Recent News

    Sgt. Richard E. Herrera, a combat engineer squad leader with Battalion Landing Team, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, and native of Ava, Mo., unpacks blocks of C-4 explosive during a demolition course at a training area near Camp Buehring, Kuwait, Aug. 17. The 22nd MEU is ashore conducting sustainment training in Kuwait and is currently serving as the theater reserve force for U.S. Central Command.

22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit Public Affairs
Photo by Cpl. Theodore Ritchie

Date: 08.17.2009
Location: CAMP BUEHRING, KW

Source:  DVIDS

Ava VFW Post Will Help Welcome Home MIA SGT Charles "Leo" Wilson

Posted at 11:13 AM on Wednesday, August 5, 2009 by post5993 in Recent News

Media Release

PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE

FORT LEONARD WOOD, MISSOURI  65473

VOICE:  (573) 563-4145

FAX:            (573) 563-4012

martha.yoshida@us.army.mil

Release No. 09-073                                                                    July 31, 2009

MIA identified after sixty years

Coming home

Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. – The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced earlier this week that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Korean War, killed in action, have been identified.  The remains will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors including escort by the Patriot Guard Riders.

He is Sergeant Charles “Leo” Wilson, U.S. Army, assigned to H Company, 2nd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He will arrive at Lambert Airfield on Aug. 5 at 2:30 p.m. by Delta Airlines.  Memorial services will be held at the Clinkingbeard Funeral Home, 407 NE Fifth Street, Ava, MO, on Aug. 8 at 2:30 p.m., interment will be in the Vera Cruz Cemetery near Ava, MO. 

The date of Sgt. Wilson’s death is estimated to be on our about Nov. 27, 1950, five months after North Korea invaded the South, when the U.S. Army committed its first divisions to battle by battalion. The battalions usually fought often without artillery, heavy mortar or air support.

Representatives from the Army’s Casualty Assistance Office have been in contact with Sgt. Wilson’s next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.

According to Sgt. 1st Class David Lynch, the casualty assistance officer assigned to work with Wilson’s family, “this presents closure to a family that has not experienced their family member coming home in a traditional way.”  Lynch added, “It also shows that the government is making a sincere effort to bring honor to these Veterans and their families—even after nearly sixty years.” 

Wilson received the Purple Heart Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal with 2 Bronze Stars, the United Nations Service Medal, the Republic of Korea War Service Medal, the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

 Between 1991-94, North Korea gave the United States 208 boxes of remains believed to contain the remains of 200-400 U.S. servicemen. Sgt. Wilson’s remains were found in 2000 by a North Korean farmer who was tilling soil at the time.

 Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA and dental comparisons in identifying some of the remains as Sgt. Wilson.

 

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.

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Reporters interested in obtaining more information, including the route and timing of the airport escort on Aug. 5, should call the Fort Leonard Wood Public Affairs Office at (573) 563-4145.

Ava VFW Post 5993 New Officers Elected

Posted at 01:37 PM on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 by post5993 in Recent News

At the July monthly meeting new Officers were elected due to recent resignations.  The new officers of VFW Post 5993 are:

Commander-Jerry Garrison

Senior Vice-Richard Stitt

Junior Vice-Gene Crites

Quartermaster-Shannon Willhaus

Adjutant-Gene Crites