CRESTVIEW — Air Force Airman Michael I. Pasternak has graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, San Antonio, Texas.

The airman completed an eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.

Pasternak is the son of John and Gloria Pasternak of Crestview.

He is a 2009 graduate of Crestview High School. He earned an associate degree in 2012 from Northwest Florida State College’s Niceville campus.

Airmen who complete basic training earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Pasternak completes basic military training

CRESTVIEW — Veterans and civilian residents will pause to remember America's war dead Monday morning at ceremonies at Liveoak Park Memorial Cemetery and American Legion Post 75.

In preparation, and to commemorate their comrades lost in battle or missing in action, Post 75 members erected their annual Flanders Field of poppies, flags and crosses Saturday.

The memorial recalls the World War I poem of Dr. John McCrae, who wrote of red poppies that grew over his fallen comrades’ graves.

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow/ Between the crosses, row on row," the first lines read.

The city's commemorative events — free and open to the public — include a lunch provided by the American Legion following the Flanders Field dedication.

Want to go?

Memorial Day May 27 observances in Crestview include the Disabled American Veterans Ladies Auxiliary ceremony, 10 a.m. at Liveoak Park Memorial Cemetery, 112 E. North Ave.; and the American Legion Ladies Auxiliary Flanders Field dedication afterward at Post 75, 898 E. James Lee Blvd., followed by lunch.

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview to honor war dead May 27

LAUREL HILL — A disabled World War II Navy veteran now has easier access to his home after three area churches helped build a ramp for him.

First United Methodist Church of Crestview’s United Methodist Men built the wooden ramp for Mickey Givens’ home south of Almarante Cemetery using funds donated by Laurel Hill Presbyterian and Hopewell Methodist Church.

"Mickey loves his ramp," Anne Campbell, who frequently delivers donated food to Givens, said. "He is so appreciative."

The United Methodist Men constructed the ramp on May 11, dodging rain as they worked.

"We had about 11 of us up there," Woot Campbell, Anne’s husband, said. "We got it done in half a day."

"That's a real fine ramp. I was real surprised when the churches got together and put it up," Givens said. "They did a 4-0 job. In the Navy, that's as good as it gets."

Givens was hospitalized in January following a fall in his home and spent three months rehabilitating before returning to Laurel Hill three weeks ago.

It had been difficult for Givens to climb up or down five steps leading to his front door.

Givens and seven of his brothers simultaneously served in the Navy in World War II. He believes that is a record for number of siblings in the same branch of the service at the same time.

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Three churches build ramp for disabled WWII vet

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Marine Pvt. 1st Class Corey Haarmann, a 2011 Baker School graduate, has graduated from training at Parris Island, S.C.

For 13 weeks, the Marine studied the Marine mission, history, tradition and core values and physical fitness.

Haarmann's parents are Joe and Christie Haarmann of Crestview. His sister is Alysa Haarmann of Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Haarmann graduates from Marine basic training at Parris Island

CRESTVIEW — The Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Committee’s Military Appreciation Recognition Ceremony is 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Old Spanish Trail Park on Stillwell Boulevard. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs.

Live entertainment on the main stage under the pavilion will include Crestview High School’s jazz band and the men's ensemble choir from First Baptist Church of Crestview.

Multiple booths from local churches and government entities, including the county tax collector's office and the supervisor of elections office, are expected.

  Several city officials will be present at the opening ceremony, which will include the sung National Anthem and the color guard presentation from the Emerald Coast Young Marines.

There also will be family friendly activities including bounce houses and face painting.

An explosive ordnance disposal unit from the U.S. Navy will display a robotic unit used to disarm explosive devices.

 Food will include hamburgers, hotdogs and barbecue. A local boy scout troop will cook cobbler for dessert.

"Every year it gets bigger and better," said MAC member Bob Lynn. "We have more displays and more people involved."

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown at 850-682-6524 or matthewb@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbMatthew.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Military Appreciation Recognition Ceremony coming Saturday to Crestview park

CRESTVIEW — Given a life full of achievements, William Oneby has earned the right to sit on his Crestview porch and rest on his laurels.

But the spry 90-year-old refuses to do that.

Instead, he sings karaoke four nights a week and has been perfecting his speech-making skills as he works toward the local Toastmasters Club’s next level.

Oneby turned 90 on April 20, Adolf Hitler's birthday, "But I outlived him," he said. "I turned 22 in Germany on his 56th birthday. Eight days later he committed suicide."

Friends at the American Legion threw Oneby a karaoke party and gave him a polo shirt emblazoned "chick magnet" on the back.

Oneby hits one of his four favorite local karaoke nightspots, including the Legion post and AmVets, about four nights a week. There, he entertains from a repertoire of 600 songs and not quite as many jokes.

Memories of war

His memories of World War II in Germany, including the time his sergeant saved his life, are still vivid.

Oneby was relaxing in the back of the radio repair van soon after his unit arrived in Germany in 1944. German gunfire set alight the gasoline tank wagon his vehicle was pulling.

"The only exit was out the back through the gasoline flames," Oneby said. "It was a giant Bunson burner from top to bottom. I heard my sergeant's voice, 'Stay in there, Oneby! That's an order!'"

Tech. Sgt. Frank Gregorin unhitched the tank wagon, which threatened to explode at any moment, and pushed it over a hill just before it blew sky high.

"He would accept nothing from me except a haircut” in gratitude, Oneby said.

Another time, he and a fellow radio technician were sent into the German town of Kolmar to repair a broken radio truck. In the confusion of a snowy day, the soldiers drove right through the town  — and into the middle of a raging battle.

Zigzagging their way back through the gunfire, they found a bunker occupied by Americans. Oneby and his friend tumbled into safety.

"And then the big guns opened up," Oneby said. "I was a kid from Milwaukee. It looked like the Fourth of July. I was enjoying the show until somebody grabbed me and said, 'Get your head down, you idiot!'"

Injury and civilian life

After Germany surrendered, Oneby, following injury in a truck accident, recuperated in the same hospital where Gen. George Patton succumbed to wounds sustained in a car crash three days earlier.

Oneby came home and attended Marquette University, where he majored in electrical engineering and got a job at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Laboratory.

There he developed the concept of global positioning satellite technology, or GPS, and became project engineer for the study of the system.

He also conceived phased-array radar, which today is the main technology behind the U.S. Air Force's AWACS — airborne warning and control system — radar planes.

Oneby also worked for the Navy at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center in the Bahamas, where he held a part-time job teaching oceanography.

"My wife said, 'What do you know about oceanography?'," Oneby said. "I said, 'I'm learning oceanography. I'm a month ahead of my students.'"

Chess master and Toastmaster

Oneby has been a Crestview resident for 35 years. He has delivered more than 30 Toastmasters speeches.

A rising chess champion as a teenager, he still enjoys the game, which he now often plays against his computer.

"I can beat the computer pretty easily if I play white, so now I play black and the computer beats me," Oneby said. "I discovered I have to learn all its nasty tricks."

He was first matched against a computer in a Florida state tournament.

"I said, 'I did not agree to play a computer,'" Oneby said. "They said, 'If you beat the computer you win $50 and I said, 'Oh.' And I beat the computer and they took me to dinner as well."

90 and counting

Upon turning 90, Oneby received several birthday cards, including one from President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama.

Oneby is replying to all those who sent him greetings.

"Being 90 years old, I am always afraid I'm getting Alzheimer's, but then I remembered I had this problem when I was young," Oneby said, his eyes twinkling. "I was always forgetful."

Oneby then shared a joke.

"Before I sing a karaoke song I tell a short joke," he said. "Last week somebody stole the toilet from the Crestview Police Department. This week the police still have nothing to go on.

"You have to have a sense of humor in this life," he said.

Want to go?

The Crestview Toastmasters Club will honor William Oneby’s recent 90th birthday, along with his many accomplishments, at an open house 5:30-7 p.m. May 14 at the Holiday Inn Express, 125 Cracker Barrel Rd. For information call 974-3662. The public is invited.

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview World War II vet recalls war stories, innovations (VIDEO)

CRESTVIEW — After retired U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Gene Payne died, his family discovered that he had finally been awarded a Purple Heart for injuries sustained during service in Vietnam.

Sgt. Payne died April 30 at age 69, having been married for 47 years to Rachel Payne.

While a sergeant in Vietnam, Payne was hit by a hand grenade, his brother-in-law, Tony Bigbie of Columbus, Ga., said. However, Payne never received the Purple Heart to recognize his injuries.

While his family arranged services with Whitehurst-Powell Funeral Home, director Chuck Jordan researched Payne's military history and discovered that after more than 45 years, he had at last been recognized for his injuries.

"I didn't find out until we were at the funeral home," Payne's daughter, Janice Payne Roberts, of Crestview said. "It said, 'Purple Heart recipient.' He should have received it but it had never been issued."

"That's the way things work in the military," Bigbie said.

Payne retired from the Army in 1984 and became a property manager. He retired and moved from Pensacola to Crestview.

He and Rachel Payne had two children, Roberts and her brother, Gene R. Payne, who lives in Dadeville, Ala., and four grandchildren, Kimberly, 14, Gabriel, 12, Matthew, 8, and Samantha, 4.

Payne, who was born on the Fourth of July, 1943, was interred Thursday at Barrancas National Cemetery in Pensacola.

"He was probably drill sergeant for some of the guys he's with now," Roberts said.

Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview man earns Purple Heart, family learns after his death

COLUMBIA, S.C. — Army Pvt. Matthew P. Whitehead has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C.

During nine weeks of training, the soldier studied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values and physical fitness.

He received instruction and practice in basic combat skills, military weapons, chemical warfare and bayonet training, drill and ceremony, marching, rifle marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics, military courtesy, military justice system, basic first aid, foot marches, and field training exercises.

Whitehead — a 2004 graduate of Choctawhatchee High School, Fort Walton Beach — is the son of Albert Whitehead and Juanita Trawick, of Crestview, and the brother of Andrew Whitehead, of Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Whitehead graduates from military combat training

WASHINGTON — The American Legion has submitted to Congress three recommendations for reducing a Department of Veterans Affairs disability claims backlog.

They are as follows:

•Fix a broken work-credit system for VA employees, which gives the same credit for work, whether it is correct or incorrect.

•Collect common errors in claims processing, and use the information to create a training plan for employees.

•Hire more veterans to process claims, to increase military understanding among claims interpreters.

Currently, 900,000 Veterans Benefits Administration claims are pending; more than 70 percent are in backlog, or pending more than 125 days.

In 2010, 509,000 claims were pending, with 39 percent in backlog.

Legion executive director Peter Gaytan last month said the Legion and VA are working to fix the claims process. The problem, he said, is VA regional offices’ inconsistent performance in adjudicating claims.

James Koutz, the Legion’s national commander, challenged the idea of prioritizing claims applications by war era.

“Not only does prioritization based on war era violate federal law, it (also) imposes value judgments on the wartime service of veterans,” he said. “Do we really want to make that kind of call? Is this something that would help to simplify the claims process?

“We need to honor the service of all veterans by giving them all fair and timely access to the benefits they are due under the law.”

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: American Legion seeks change for VA claims process