Special Ceremonies

LVMAC Tidbit — Ritter Elementary School Seeks Veterans to Interview Now!

Ritter Elementary SchoolWhereas this once again a last minute notification for finding veterans to interview, the Ritter Elementary School in Allentown does conduct a well-regarded program worth a veteran’s contribution of his or her time to its students.  Interviews occur 4 October.  Therefore, sign up now.  See below for more information and who to contact.

The result of your effort will ultimately lead to one of the premier, annual Veterans Day period events in the Lehigh Valley.  This award-winning program was started over thirty years ago by a Principal and his teachers — well before the current war made appreciating our veterans popular — and has become part of the institutional culture of the school.  Help make that continue.

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Forward Observer — Honoring POW/MIA Day Locally

LVMAC Poster Art 2005POW/MIA Day fast approaches and will likely be buried under a blitz of other days and month of this and that announcements, to include Suicide Prevention Month.  Yet for some, this day is not forgotten and it is deeply felt, for the loss is still deeply felt.

While also it is to deny history to believe that we as a nation have always supported our troops or have been actively concerned about the missing, Governor Wolf nevertheless properly expresses the sentiment of the day in his proclamation below.  It would be appropriate that we, as individuals, pause and reflect some time during that day on his words. (more…)

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LVMAC Tidibit — Embassy Seeks Korean War veterans to Honor with the Ambassador for Peace Medal

Korean Ambassador for Peace MedalIf you served in Korean War, you may be eligible for the Korean Ambassador for Peace Medal. This commemorative medal is an expression of appreciation by the Republic of South Korea to  service members in the Korean War.  It has been sixty years since the signing of the Armistice. Originally, one had to travel to South Korea through the Revisit Program to collect this special special memento.  That is no longer the case. (more…)

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LVMAC Tidbit — Borinqueneer Gold Medal Ceremony

PABMC65th logoWe normally do not take note of or report on ceremonies outside the Lehigh Valley.  There are others who are more qualified to do so.  However, as one of our member organizations, the Borinqueneers 65th Motorcycle Club, Pennsylvania Chapter, was actively involved in securing the Congressional Gold Medal for the 65th Infantry Regiment — a labor requiring both persistence and devotion to doing the right thing — we thought you might like to know of an upcoming Philadelphia event. (more…)

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Forward Observer — Vietnam War Commemorative Lapel Pins Available

But Who is Going to Distribute Them?

LVMAC Poster Art 2005Are you aware that as part of the 50th Anniversary Commemoration Program,  living veterans who served on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces at any time during the period of November 1, 1955 to May 15, 1975, regardless of the location at which they served, are eligible to receive a lapel pin?  The Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA) wants you to know.

The hitch is these lapel pins must be presented during public events held in their communities by Commemorative Partners (those organizations which signed up to conduct at least two commemorative events a year till 2018.  In the rare instance when an honoree cannot attend a public event, the pin may be presented during a private ceremony. (more…)

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LVMAC Tidbit — Don’t Know What to Do With Your Loved One’s Funeral Flag?

Use it for a Higher Purpose at the Indiantown Gap National Cemetery

Lehigh County LogoThe Lehigh County Veterans Affairs Office is seeking donations of interment (casket) flags to be flown on the Avenue of Flags at the entrance to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ Indiantown Gap National Cemetery located in the vicinity of Annville.  The donations of these flags has dwindled over the years and the continuous need has not been well known. (more…)

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LVMAC News — Roll Call! Community Banquet to Honor Those Who Serve

LVMAC Logo (Best Small PNG)LVMAC Salute to the Troops Dinner Flyer 24Apr2016The Lehigh Valley Military Affairs Council’s annual “Salute to the Troops” dinner will be held on 13 May, starting at 6 p.m., at a new location this year:  the Holiday Inn at 7736 Adrienne Drive in Breinigsville.  Our member organizations are strongly encouraged to attend, but the event is open to any member of the community wishing the recognize the service of the current military and recently returned veterans.   Now the the time to reserve your seat(s).  We ask that you do this no later than 4 May. (more…)

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LVMAC Tidbit — Vietnam War Observance

A Commemoration of the Vietnam War at the State Capitol

VietnamLogo_50th_Circle_3-27-12 FinalOn March 29 at 11 a.m. in Harrisburg, the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs is conducting a Vietnam War 50-year commemoration ceremony in the Rotunda of the State Capitol.

Besides the eight Vietnam-era, state legislators and a part of the National Guard establishment who will be there,  the President of the Pennsylvania State Council of Vietnam Veterans, Tom Haberkorn and a color guard from VVA Chapter 542 will be in attendance. (more…)

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LVMAC — Photos of Lehigh and Northampton Vietnam Veterans Wanted for Vietnam Veterans Memorial

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Source: VVMF’s Education Center Webpage

The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA), in partnership with the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, Inc. (VVMF) — the nonprofit organization authorized by the U.S. Congress in 1980 to build a national memorial dedicated to all who served with the U.S. armed forces in the Vietnam War — is asking that you help them locate more than 600 photos of Pennsylvanians who sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War and for whom VVMF has no photos.  As of 14 August, twenty-eight on the list are from Lehigh and Northampton counties. (more…)

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