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Memorial Day

Troops

The 28th Infantry Division Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade poses with a VFW flag in front of a Blackhawk helicopter. The flag has traveled around the world to units with care packages. It hangs at PA VFW HQs with these photos around it. David Sandman, former Director of Communications, began the tradition. U.S. Army 1st Lt. Claudia Morin is a UH-60 Black Hawk pilot but currently serves with 4-4th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, an Apache unit. She is a battle captain and organizes much of the chaos that comes through the battalion's tactical operations center. Although she doesn't fly Apaches, she says seeing things from her U.S. Army Sgt. Sitara Dodd originally joined the military because she played soccer in high school and missed being part of a team. She says she would have joined the infantry but the Army was not yet accepting females into that role at the time. She then looked to joining the Marines as a medic. When she learned she would have to join the Navy as a corpsman she dropped the idea because she doesn't swim. Having been introduced to the medic world, she was happy to join the Army as a combat medic. She volunteered to serve as a flight medic for this deployment, from her normal role as a ground medic. Her favorite part of deployment has been using the hoist. Her least favorite part has been the time away from her wife and dog. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2017 with a degree in emergency medicine and worked in emergency medical services for three years. She currently serves in law enforcement on the civilian side. Dodd is deployed as a flight medic with Charlie Company, 2-104th General Support Aviation Battalion, 28th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade. Army Reserve Pfc. Mena Khalil, a wheeled vehicle mechanic and native of Easton, Pennsylvania, assigned to the 300th Chemical Company, 485th Chemical Battalion, 76th Operational Response Command keeps an eye out for the enemy during unit training operations at the Joint Readiness Training Center in Fort Polk, Louisiana, April 10. More than 40 Army Reserve Soldiers from the 300th Chem. Co., are spending two-weeks conducting a variety of training at Fort Polk to hone their individual and collective readiness. (Official U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. 1st Class Brent C. Powell) Brig. Gen. Phillip N. Frietze, the outgoing commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces, South, and Col. Michael E. McWilliams, the incoming commander of MARFORSOUTH, stand at the position of attention during the MARFORSOUTH change of command ceremony in Miami, Florida, April 12, 2021. Brig. Gen. Frietze relinquished command to Col. McWilliams after serving as commander of MARFORSOUTH since August 2020. MARFORSOUTH is the Marine Corps component to U.S. Southern Command, which is one of the 11 combatant commands in the Department of Defense. The staff of nearly 150 Marines, Sailors and civilian employees are responsible for planning exercises, operations and overall support for the SOUTHCOM assigned area of responsibility, which covers Latin America and the Caribbean. Brig. Gen. Frietze is a native of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Col. McWilliams is a native of Downingtown, Pennsylvania. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Daniel A. Barrios)