By Blair Drake, MOAA Contributing Editor
The Mahoning and Shenango Valleys (Ohio) Chapter (MSVC) honored local Junior ROTC (JROTC) and ROTC students at its annual Cadet Night Dinner on May 2 at the Consolidated Activities Club, Youngstown Air Reserve Station.
More than 30 members and guests attended the event, which “provides an opportunity for cadets and their parents and instructors and chapter members to meet and share their experiences, as well as for the chapter to hear directly from the cadets about their JROTC and ROTC experiences and goals,” says Cmdr. David Di Tallo, USN (Ret), chapter board member.
The chapter presented Army JROTC Cadet Kimberly McCann and Air Force JROTC Cadet Michael Redmond with MOAA JROTC Medals and $50 awards. Army ROTC Cadet Nicholas Armeni, a junior at Youngstown State University (YSU), received a MOAA ROTC Medal and $300 award.
Additionally, three prospective Army second lieutenants from YSU attended and received class “A” uniform insignia and copies of the Army Officers Guide.
Di Tallo says since the MSVC’s founding, support for local JROTC and ROTC programs has been at the forefront of the chapter’s efforts to “never stop serving.”
And many members of the chapter have a personal connection to these programs.
“MSVC boasts no fewer than two dozen YSU Army ROTC alumni among its ranks, and many more chapter members were commissioned through ROTC,” he explains. “The chapter also includes a former YSU Army ROTC professor of military science, YSU manager, veterans service center, and a former Army JROTC senior military instructor.”
