The father of an Illinois soldier who died in Iraq has reached an agreement with a cemetery that will allow him to fly the American flag atop the 10-foot flagpoles that bookend his son’s memorial.

Army Cpl. Albert Bitton was killed by a roadside bomb in 2008. For the past two and a half years the poles have displayed an American flag and an MIA/POW flag, one on each side of Bitton’s headstone. It’s a monument that his father, Elie Bitton, visits three times a day.

Elie Bitton told Fox News it felt like he was “burning inside” when the cemetery’s new manager, Ron Graeff, told him last week he would have to take down the flags and flowers around the grave because they violate the cemetery’s rules.

The cemetery permits American, Israeli and Army Airborne flags to be displayed, but flagpoles may not be taller than 4 feet.

“My heart is broken,” Bitton said Wednesday. “He was my only son.”

Read the whole story here.

Marine corporal Justin Bajema, representing the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) program, will visit NASDAQ MarketSite in Times Square and preside over the NASDAQ closing bell.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/entrepreneurship-bootcamp-for-veterans-with-disabilities-representative-to-ring-the-nasdaq-stock-market-closing-bell-2010-07-22?reflink=MW_news_stmp

By: Susan Katz Keating

A short while back, the esteemed (now retired) Senator from Virginia, John W. Warner, entrusted me with a remarkable gift for the forthcoming American Wartime Museum. If memory serves me, I telephoned Senator Warner while working on a PEOPLE magazine story – and at some point, we began talking about the museum, for which I am Secretary of the Board of Trustees. In the course of our chat, the senator and I said something along the lines of, “gee, wouldn’t it be great if the museum had a library….”

The Wartime Museum, its Chairman, Allan Cors, and its President, Craig Stewart, cordially invite you to attend the Museum’s Open House.  Enjoy this rare opportunity to view dozens of vintage and fully operational armored vehicles from World War I to the modern era.  The event features vehicle demonstrations, live-action military reenactments, a special activity zone for young children, and more.

We hope you can join us for this unique experience!

Day 1:                        10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.,   Saturday, August 21, 2010

and/or

Day 2:                        10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.,   Sunday, August 22, 2010

Location:                   Aden Field (aka the “Tank Farm”)

This event is free. Parking is available onsite and also is free. 

The event is outdoors. Please dress appropriately for the weather.

All-American picnic food (hot dogs, hamburgers, beverages, etc.) will be sold onsite.

RSVP:             You must register online to attend this event. Click here to register.

A motorcycle ride benefitting the Women’s Military Service Memorial at historic Fort Douglas in Utah is slated for Saturday.

The ride, which costs $15 per rider, will begin at Harley-Davidson of Salt Lake City, 2928 S. State St., and end at South Valley Harley-Davidson in Sandy. On-site registration is available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday.

A charity auction benefitting the memorial will follow the ride.

Riders will depart SLC Harley-Davidson at 11:30 a.m. and ride to the state capitol, west to Tooele, south to West Jordan, and east to Sandy. At several stops, riders will conduct patriotic observances.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/49922944-76/ride-davidson-harley-memorial.html.csp

“On a stifling July day in 1918, 18,000 officers and soldiers posed as Lady Liberty on the parade [drill] grounds at Camp Dodge.” [This area was west of Baker St. and is currently the area around building S34 and to the west.] “According to a July 3, 1986, story in the Fort Dodge Messenger, many men fainted-they were dressed in woolen uniforms-as the temperature neared 105 degrees Farenheit. The photo, taken from the top of a specially constructed tower by a Chicago photography studio, Mole & Thomas, was intended to help promote the sale of war bonds but was never used.” (Grover 1987)

http://www.iowanationalguard.com/Museum/CDStory/CDstory/LibertyStatuepage.htm

 By Craig Stewart

Two weeks ago, Chairman Allan Cors and I went to New York City to visit with Peter Miller, who is a Special Projects Manager for the Port Authority of NY & NJ.  He is in essence the keeper of the remaining unclaimed pieces and artifacts from the attack on the World Trade Center towers on 9/11.   His mission is to distribute items to museums and other venues around the country that will respect, preserve, and display them or to dispose of in a reverent manner the pieces the authorities decide should not be distributed.

Peter’s domain is a huge aircraft hangar at JFK Airport that is filled largely with twisted and disfigures pieces of steel beams.  Perhaps the most striking metal item was one block of steel inside a relatively small room that was actually the compressed remains of three floors from one of the towers.  My understanding is that the Port Authority will not release this piece in respect to the families of those who lost their lives that day.

When we first got there, another Port Authority employee, Paul Johnke, who was a real hero on 9/11, mentioned something about “meteors.”  Allan and I had no idea what he was referring to until Peter took us into a secured area where several large and small pieces resembling burned boulders or meteors from space were stored.  He explained that under the weight of the collapsed buildings, fires burned for weeks in an environment devoid of oxygen that created a lava-like substance of melted metal and other materials.  When the crews finally reached this level, the material they pulled out hardened into the “meteors” we saw in the hangars.  Again in deference to the families, the Port Authority is taking great care to preserve and respect these remains.  Here is a photo of Peter Miller by some twisted beams and one of a meteor that fused with some metals rods as it was being excavated. 

Allan and I were particularly affected when we saw a burned fire truck and a badly damaged police vehicle in the hangars. These vehicles brought home again the mental picture of so many brave firemen and police officers who rushed in to serve and save lives.  Sadly, so many of them were lost when the towers collapsed.

We were allowed to “tag” several pieces of metal and the two vehicles for the American Wartime Museum and hope that the authorities will convey them to us.  They will be dramatic reminders of not only the attacks on 9/11 but also the two wars that they spawned. 

So this July 4^th I will be thinking about a day in September…

Like countless war veterans before him, Carl DeVasto willingly entered the annals of history when he signed up to serve his country in World War II.

The Army radio man from Roslindale fought the four final European campaigns with the 26th Infantry Yankee Division, 101st Infantry Regiment, and, in an all-American success story, came home and married his sweetheart. They settled in Westwood, where he opened and ran a grocery store like his father before him.

For six decades, the memories of bloody battles waged and old friends lost were mostly private for the former technical sergeant. Tomorrow, the stories come alive in public, as DeVasto becomes a chevalier of the Legion of Honor, France’s highest award for merit and accomplishment.

Often family members contact the museum about loved ones who served.  I met Teena Jessup at our site announcement event on April 23 in Prince William County.  She introduced herself and spoke with pride about her dad’s military service and a footlocker of his personal items.  Below are a follow up email that Teena sent me and a write up and photo that she willingly offered to share about her dad, King Olen Mayfield.

Craig Stewart

Mr. Stewart, 

I talked to you after the announcement of the “Americans in Wartime” museum on Tue. 4/13.  I have my father’s WWII footlocker.  It is like a time capsule with uniforms, the flag from his coffin, the picture under the trunk lid of his flight.  I have his flight log books and all his paperwork.  I even have his letter sweater from either high school or college (I’m not sure which).  I can provide a picture of him in his uniform.  My mother sent him a pinup picture of her and I can provide that also.

Dad was a pilot.  Nothing fancy just transports and a flight instructor. 

I would like to donate all of this to the museum if you can use.  If you want to look at it, that is fine.  I just want to know that it is going for a good cause and can be used.  It would be typical of the young men that went to war to serve their country and never came back.  He was from New Mexico, born in Ala. and going to college in New Mexico when the war broke out. 

Why am I here?  I retired in 2008, a civilian worked for the Navy in acquisition for 23 years. 

Teena Jessup

King Olen Mayfield was born 1915 in Alabama, third in a family of six siblings.  When he was very young the family moved to the Texas panhandle to homestead a farm.  Olen played football in high school.  He attended and played football at Harden Simmons 1933 and 1934 majoring in Engineering.  In 1935 and 1936 he played football on a scholarship for Texas Tech.  Olen transferred to Western New Mexico College playing football where he was named a Little All American in 1936 and 1937.  Olen always wanted to learn to fly and when the college offered flying lessons he jumped at the chance.  Olen met at Western New Mexico College Charlcive Smith also attending college and they were married in 1938.  Olen worked as a chemist at the copper mines in Hurley NM while attending college.  World War II broke out and the US became involved, Olen joined up.  He wanted to fly and was trained and became part of the Army Air Corp.  Olen flew transports during the war and in 1944 attended OCS.  Olen was killed in an airplane accident at the end of the war.

Due to some technical difficulties I wasn’t able to get this post up last week, but I wanted to make sure it got up on our site.  Even if it is a little late.

Courtney Keating on Restrepo: A Guest Post

Greetings, blogging community. As the title may suggest, I (being the devoted daughter that I am) have agreed to temporarily step in for my mother…an unfortunate series of events led her to miss the private film screening on which she was going to base this post. Fortunately, however, she selected her sixteen year old daughter (me) as The Chosen One – the guest who got to accompany her to the showing of Restrepo: the real life story of a platoon’s year in Afghanistan. This, I promise, is a film worth writing about, and definitely a film worth watching.

First, a little background: the title Restrepo comes from the name of a platoon’s outpost. The name of their outpost comes from the name “Doc” Restrepo. Medic. KIA. The cameras follow these men for one year. There is no narration, and as the official website points out, “no interviews with generals or diplomats.” This style of documentary puts you right there in the action. And action is one thing there is just enough of. The boys were put in Korengal Valley…one of the most dangerous places to be in Afghanistan.

From the moment the lights went down to the last second of credits, there was a hush across the audience. Yes, there were only about twelve people, and yes, it’s polite to quiet down during a movie. But this was a different kind of hush…maybe it was out of respect, or maybe out of anticipation for something America hasn’t been able to see until now – the real deal. I can’t peg what it was, but it was noticeable. And I know that I took part in it as well.

Restrepo beautifully shows the unbreakable bond that these men form. They behave like a family, love each other like a family. And the bitter reality when a family member dies is not overlooked – remorse and pain is not avoided; emotions are not hidden. This is real, and this is what our soldiers go through. In addition to fighting and mourning with each other, the guys, well….had their moments. They made immature, inappropriate, and ridiculous jokes. They did unbelievably silly things, and it’s hilarious. In what’s considered the deadliest valley in Afghanistan, the spirit they had is uplifting. The film captures it all. From grief to joy, it captures it all.

I’d have to say my favorite part was when I spotted a bracelet on one of the soldiers. A bracelet exactly like the one I was wearing. This being a war and all, though, this wasn’t no designer piece of jewelry. The soldier and I were wearing a paracord survival bracelet, an intricately knotted bracelet that contains more than 700 feet of rope when totally unwound and gutted. My boyfriend, Cailean, made the bracelet for me a couple of weeks ago, and it hasn’t left my wrist since. Hey, you never know when someone might need some survival rope! Anywho, as you might be able to imagine…seeing a bracelet EXACTLY like the one I wear everyday on a deployed American soldier was pretty awesome. Another detail that caught my attention took place about halfway through the movie – December for them. A soldier was talking into the camera, and behind him on his bunk were colorful Christmas lights, wound around the posts. A completely natural thing to do. But for some reason, it really struck me…

Hours after the movie ended, I’m still thinking about the guys from Outpost Restrepo. You get to know them and really come to appreciate what they go through on a daily basis. This is an important film. It’s eye opening, revealing, and true. I believe that after watching this movie, you’ll walk out of that theater with a better understanding. A better understanding of absolutely anything.

Well, hope I didn’t bore everyone to tears. My mother will be resuming her position very shortly. Thanks for reading…now promise you’ll watch it!
This has been Courtney Keating…over and out.