MIGHTY CULTURE
Sgt. David Lietz

Woman honors husband's WWII service, 40 years after his death

In 1937, a young Chicago woman named Aida Garaffa lived across the street from a young man named Gerald "Jerry" Bonsonto.

A trip to a local shop would join the two hearts together in love.

"My sister and I were walking to the corner of Throop Street. There was a grocery store where we bought ice cream. When we came out of the store we saw Jerry," explained Aida Bonsonto who recalled that first meeting with her future husband.

"He asked me if I wanted to go to the movies with him. He wasn't a big fellow. He was about five-feet four-inches but he was handsome," she said.

But world events, specifically World War II, would interrupt their courtship.

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MIGHTY CULTURE
Sgt. Bradley Cooney

Oklahoma resident opens heart and home to guardsmen

Two weeks ago, a man named Bob and the soldiers of Headquarters Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 279th Infantry Regiment had never met. They would have never met. They would have continued being perfect strangers and never knowing of the other's existence. But due to torrential rainfall and catastrophic natural disasters occurring across Oklahoma and the surrounding states, Bob and these guardsmen were soon to meet.

On Friday, May 24, 2019, members of the 279th were sent to a site along a levee in Sand Springs, Oklahoma. There was severe flooding and the looming threat of homes being affected. The mission of these soldiers was to monitor and maintain the pumps that were placed on the property to move the water and put it into the creek on the other side of the levee.

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MIGHTY CULTURE
Zach Mott

Father and son strengthen bond while deployed together

Most fathers are happy to receive a tie or some other type of keepsake from their children for Father's Day — especially once their children are grown.

For Sgt. 1st Class Robert Scott, he will have something far more valuable to see while he is forward deployed to Qatar this Father's Day. He serves alongside his oldest son, Staff Sgt. John Scott, and both are members of Centurion Company, 1st Battalion, 114th Infantry Regiment, New Jersey Army National Guard at Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar.

"It's a satisfying feeling with your children being in the military and seeing their accomplishments," said Robert, who is the Base Defense Operations Center noncommissioned officer in charge for Area Support Group-Qatar. "If anybody has an opportunity to do it, do it. If you could, give it a shot because it's nice to have somebody around."

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MIGHTY TRENDING
Sgt. Jerod Hathaway

Army hero posthumously receives the Distinguished Service Cross

Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis, a 10th Mountain Soldier who gave his life shielding Polish Army Lieutenant Karol Cierpica from a suicide bomber while deployed to Afghanistan in 2013, was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen. James McConville, during a ceremony on Staten Island, New York June 8.

The Distinguished Service Cross is the second highest military honor that can be awarded to a member of the United States Army.

"Every generation has its heroes," McConville said during his remarks. "Michael Ollis is one of ours."

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MIGHTY TACTICAL
Devon L. Suits

Army accelerates delivery of directed energy, hypersonic weapon prototypes

The Army is accelerating its efforts to field a directed-energy prototype system by fiscal year 2022, and hypersonic weapon prototype by fiscal 2023.

For starters, the Army is fast-tracking the development and procurement of the Multi-Mission High Energy Laser, or MMHEL system, said Lt. Gen L. Neil Thurgood, director of hypersonics, directed energy, space, and rapid acquisition.

The MMHEL is a 50-kilowatt laser retrofit to a modified Stryker vehicle, designed to bolster the Army's maneuver short-range air defense capabilities, according to officials with the Army Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office.

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MIGHTY CULTURE
Sean Kimmons

Army considers leasing vacant facilities to private companies

The Army is interested in the possibility of leasing underutilized government facilities in an effort to help smaller companies start modernization projects, the Army's acquisition chief said last week.

Through conversations with industry partners, Dr. Bruce Jette, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, said he often heard the challenges some companies face in winning government contracts due to their lack of available investment capital.

While a company may have the engineering capacity to turn advanced ideas into reality, it may not have sufficient investor backing necessary to win a contract.

The Army is not likely to award a contract to a company without the facilities to carry out their project.

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MIGHTY CULTURE
Brandon OConnor

75 years later, accelerate West Point class of 1944 reflects on D-Day

June 6, 1944, is known throughout the world as D-Day, but for the Class of 1944 at the U.S. Military Academy, the day holds a second significance. It was the day they graduated from the academy.

Twenty-one members of the D-Day Class, as they have become known over the years, are still alive. May 21, 2019, retired Col. Doniphan Carter represented the class on the occasion of its 75th reunion by serving as the wreath layer during the annual ceremony prior to the alumni review parade.

Carter, who turned 96 in February 2019, was the most senior graduate in attendance at the parade.

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transition
Alexandra Shea

New Army program certifies soldiers as firefighters

Soldiers leaving military service have a lot to prepare for as they transition from active duty to the civilian workforce. Thanks to the Soldier for Life-Transition Assistance Program, this transition can set soldiers up for success through the sometimes tricky process of translating military service and military occupational specialties to civilian workforce skills, resume writing and opportunities to participate in vocational certificate programs.

One program available at Fort Jackson offers service members a chance to trade their Army Combat Uniform for fire retardant bunker gear, equipment regularly used by firefighters to protect them from the intense heat from fires. The program is called Troops to Firefighters, and one Fort Jackson soldier has taken full advantage of what the program has to offer.

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MIGHTY TRENDING
Sean Kimmons

Bob Dole promoted to Colonel

Longtime politician Bob Dole, who was severely wounded in World War II by German gunfire, was honorably promoted to colonel May 16, 2019, in a private ceremony at the WWII Memorial.

Dole, 95, served as a captain in the 10th Mountain Division before pursuing a political career that included nearly 30 years as a U.S. senator for Kansas and the Republican presidential nominee in 1996.

Surrounded by the memorial's pillars and arches, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley promoted Dole in front of a crowd of Dole's friends and family and other Army leaders.

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