U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs CMV - News Update

Today we recognize U.S. Army veteran and Medal of Honor recipient Milton Lee Olive III. On October 22, 1965, Pfc. Olive demonstrated his selfless bravery when he sacrificed his life by falling on an enemy-thrown grenade to save his fellow infantrymen during a patrol in Phu Cuong, Vietnam. Milton Lee Olive III Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient. [From VAntage Point]

The Naval command that oversees all of the service’s shore installations across six states welcomed its new commander to San Diego on Friday as Rear Adm. Bette Bolivar assumed the role of the “Navy Mayor” at Naval Air Station North Island. Bolivar replaces Rear Adm. Yancy Lindsey, whose next tour will take him to Naples, Italy, where he’ll lead Navy Region Europe, Africa and Southwest Asia. [From The San Diego Union-Tribune]

Seventy-five years after his fighter plane crashed in Austria, Tuskegee Airman Capt. Lawrence E. Dickson was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery on Friday as four Air Force jets roared overhead and his daughter and grandchildren looked on. A stiff wind rustled nearby magnolia trees as the mourners sat before his silver casket and his 76-year-old daughter, Marla L. Andrews, received a folded flag from an Army general who knelt before her. [From Stars and Stripes]

Ricardo Delano Whitehead isn't your average 69-year-old. The U.S. Army veteran still practices martial arts. On Feb. 13, Whitehead happened upon a man he saw tackle a woman before repeatedly punching her. [From Stars and Stripes]

The Providence Regional Office of Veterans Business Administration has named retired U.S. Army Major and Lincoln resident Michele Diamond the 2019 Woman Veteran of the Year, for her “remarkable military service and continued efforts in service of local Veterans.” Diamond’s military career began in 1995, when she joined the Army Reserves. [From The Valley Breeze]

The first Voorhees College Veterans Resource Center (VRC) officially opened its doors on March 14, 2019. Abraham J. Turner, retired United States Army major general, spoke on the importance and establishment of the VRC. [From Carolina Panorama]

Corey Fenyo, a cadet in the Bowie State University ROTC program, explains why he chose to seek a commission as an Army officer and shows how he balances life as a cadet and as student at the Maryland university. [From U.S. Department of Defense]

Hundreds of Soldiers, including many from 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, honored World War II Soldiers from the historic Bataan Death March by participating in a memorial ruck marathon at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, March 10, 2019. The Camp Buehring Morale, Welfare and Recreation office hosted the memorial ruck as a smaller version of one that takes place annually in White Sands, New Mexico. [From Fort Carson Mountaineer]

After war broke out between Japan and the United States in 1941, Liban Brillantes was a young Filipino farmer who appeared to get along with invading Japanese troops. But he also was a guerrilla and courier who patrolled and reconnoitered enemy-held areas and on occasion mounted ambushes. [From San Antonio Express News]

More than 8,700 participants from around the world gathered to either run or walk the 30th annual Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. The grueling trek through the high desert is held in honor of the service members who defended the Philippine Islands during World War II. [From U.S. Department of Defense]

There are two environments the Iskra family grew up in – logging and farming. Before I left for boot camp, I grew up around my grandparents’ farms in Washington state. [From VAntage Point]