OCTOBER – DECEMBER 2008 NEWSLETTER

IRON GATE CHAPTER, NO. 275

AIR FORCE ASSOCIATION

Carol Nelson, Secretary & Coordinator IronGateAFA.org President, Frank Hayes

Our September 25th anniversary luncheon was a special event that will be long remembered. We had a sold-out crowd to honor our speaker, USCG Captain Dan Ronan, who gave us an impressive presentation on the myriad of operations included in the U.S. Coast Guard mission. He told us about monitoring intelligence, boarding vessels to enforce maritime laws, his armed Coast Guard Cutters, big Ice Breakers, and the long-dreamed of “Northwest Passage” through the Arctic that is about to become a reality, due to Ice Cap melting. Diplomats must now hammer out a new international treaty that will determine who has jurisdiction over the route, whether it is a possession of Canada, or if it lies within International Waters.

Through the generosity of Geoffrey Hellman, a Jimmy Doolittle Fellow was presented posthumously to the family of Sgt. Nelson Rodriguez-Ramirez, Iron Gate member Laly Rivera’s first cousin, who was killed in Afghanistan last June while deployed with the New York National Guard’s 101st Battalion from Fort Drum, Five members of Laly’s family were present to accept the Jimmy Doolittle plaque. We thank Geoff Hellman for his thoughtfulness and for his eloquent remarks that expressed all of our feelings in words.

At the suggestion of General Stan Holtoner, we presented a well deserved Jimmy Doolittle to Pamela Freytag for her strong support of Iron Gate. We applaud Pamela for her noble efforts to carry on the work of her late husband and former President of Iron Gate, Major General Richard A. Freytag. Pamela serves on her U.S. Congressman’s Service Academy Review Board in selecting candidates for the U.S. Military Academies. She helps to continue Dick’s work at the National Defense University Foundation at Fort McNair, VA, which brings together dedicated individuals, corporations, organizations, and groups committed to advancing America’s national security, defense capabilities, and watching for issues of strategic importance. Pamela is one of those Good Samaritans who never misses a chance to give a helping hand or moral support. We only regret that General Holtoner was not here to make the presentation. He was in N.C. visiting his daughter.

Making our luncheon extra special, was Strategic Air Command Veteran and foremost Air Force Museum Docent at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH, Bob Ladislaw. During the Korean War, Bob served in the RB-47E equipped 91st SRW with Iron Gate members Paul Kardian, Phil Van Deusen and myself. Please welcome Bob as our newest Iron Gate member, thanks to the salesmanship of Phil Van Deusen. Another special guest was two-tour Iraq-War veteran Sgt. John Chalker from the Port Washington Police Department, who was wounded during his last combat tour with the New York National Guard’s 69th Infantry.

We welcomed Lt. Col. Mark Adair, newly assigned ROTC Det. Commander at Manhattan College, and he surprisingly met his former colleague from Langley AFB, VA, Iron Gate member Howard German. Lt. Col. Jack Wesley from the New York City Air Force Outreach Office also attended. We were honored with the presence of 105th AW Commander Brig. Gen. Verle Johnston and his wife Lt. Col. Ada Johnston, who commands the NY ANG 139th Aero Medical Evacuation Squadron, one of those wonderful teams of medical specialists who transform big C-17 transports into flying ICUs that expedite the movement of wounded GIs from field hospitals to Medical Centers at Ramstein AB, Germany, the reason big hospitals like Walter Reed are being over-crowded. We salute Lt. Col. Ada Johnston and the men and women of her 139th Squadron. Also from the 105th AW was Lt. Col. John Chianese. General Johnston said he wants to help Iron Gate every way possible. You can’t buy that kind of PR. We welcome new Iron Gate member Ken Norris, a Docent at the Cradle of Aviation Museum and Tony Lee. We were further honored with the presence of Andy Parton, Executive Director of the Cradle of Aviation Museum, Old Mitchel Field, in Garden City. We applaud Andy, along with Carol Nelson and Tom Gwynne for their successful turn-around of museum operations. And, for a great advocate of the U.S. Air Force, look no further, Maxine Rauch, NYS Historian and Vice President, who just last week completed a very busy two-year term as, president of the AFA Northeast Region, with travel and meetings every week. Maxine, we are grateful for having you represent Iron Gate so elegantly all over the North East. See Web Site IronGateAFA.org.

Very Respectfully, Frank Hayes