Message Center

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the nation’s first and largest nonpartisan Iraq and Afghanistan veterans’ group, is teaming up with the Mayhem Music Festival and Live Nation to offer IAVA members exclusive access to the national concert tour.

The Mayhem Music Festival, which features hard rock’s most influential bands including Disturbed and Slipknot, kicked off July 9 in Seattle. The tour will stop in 30 cities in the U.S. and Canada between July 9 and August 19. At each location, Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and currently serving military members can purchase half-price tickets and qualify for an exclusive backstage experience. Ten veterans and servicemembers in each city will be invited to watch the show from the stage and go behind the scenes for a meet-and-greet with the artists.

For more information on the festival, please visit www.mayhemfest.com or www.livenation.com.

Operation Homefront Village, a multi-million dollar wounded warrior housing complex, is set to open near Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., and will enable wounded soldiers to live rent-free with their families during treatment at Walter Reed and the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda.

Servicemembers now can recuperate in furnished apartments with their families thanks to the generosity of donors such as Lockheed Martin, Bank of America, and BAE Systems. This housing helps servicemembers transition from the military back to civilian life and bridges the 18 to 24 months it often takes for their disability benefit payments to begin.

Operation Homefront Village is key to keeping families together and out of financial crisis that sometimes can lead to homelessness. This project follows the success of Operation Homefront Village-San Antonio near Brooke Army Medical Center, which opened earlier this year.

Wounded warriors and their families will be honored at a dedication ceremony for Operation Homefront Village at 10 a.m. Tuesday, July 15 at 11225 Oak Leaf Drive, Silver Spring, Md. Vice Adm. John Cotton, chief of Navy Reserve, is scheduled to speak briefly. Other speakers include Gordon Mansfield, deputy secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of defense, and Command Sgt. Maj. David Ray Hudson, Army National Guard Bureau.

For more information, please visit <a href=”http://www.operationhomefront.net/”>http://www.operationhomefront.net/</a> or contact Meredith Leyva at (757) 410-4926 or meredith@operationhomefront.net.

The Geneseo Air Show, Geneseo N.Y., being held this weekend, July 12-13, will gather the largest fleet of Curtiss P-40 Flying Tigers assembled since World War II.

The group that organizes the air show, the 1941 Historical Aircraft Group Museum, has invited all remaining planes and pilots. There are approximately two dozen planes capable of flight remaining from a fleet that once numbered nearly 14,000, and there are only four pilots still living, all of whom are well into their 90s.

“This year marks the 70th anniversary of the P-40’s introduction,” said Frank Schaufler, Geneseo Air Show organizer. “More and more planes are becoming static displays in museums, this is an exciting and powerful way to view history.”

Air show admission at the gate is $15 for adults, $5 for children 6-12, and free for children under 6 Children 6-12, $5.00; Under 6: Free

Wegmans is selling advance sale tickets through 2 p.m. Sunday, July 13 for $12 for adults and $4 for children 6-12.

For more information about the air show, visit www.1941hag.org/files_airshow/airshow2008.html

Military Spouse magazine now is accepting nominations for the 2008 Who’s Who of Military Spouses.

The Who’s Who of Military Spouse (WWMS) list is comprised of military spouses who have made significant contribution in the military community for all military spouses. These leaders of the military spouse community are trailblazers who pave the way for military spouses and are in leadership roles on a national scale. The WWMS are selected based on their service-wide appeal, commitment to military spouses, and professional development.

The procedure of nomination succeeds in highlighting individual spouses and service to the entire community. These individuals must enhance the positive image of military spouses through their contributions to the national military spouse population. A colleague or administration member must endorse each nomination. Each nomination will be considered based on the following:

Weighted Methodology:

National commitment and contribution to military spouses: 50%
Service-wide appeal: 25%
Professional and personal development: 25%

Along with your nomination’s name and organization, please include a brief, 500-word or less, essay about why you are nominating this individual. You may submit your nomination via e-mail to Babette Maxwell, babette.Maxwell@milspouse.com.

Please submit your completed nomination for review not-later-than close of business, Friday, July 11, 2008.

More than 12,000 reenactors, 450 mounted cavalry, and 100 full-size cannons are registered to come together in Gettysburg this July 4th weekend to create one of the largest Civil War reenactments held in many years.

According to Gettysburg Anniversary Committee event spokeswoman, Andrea DiMartino, “The reenactors are traveling from across the United States and many foreign countries including Canada, England, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, and Australia.”

There will be six major battles during the three-day event, including a massive Pickett’s
Charge on Sunday, with all 100 cannons on the field. There will also be two Living History activities tents that feature a variety of continuous programs, a Living History Village, a large and diverse Sutler Village, and military camps open to the public.

The Gettysburg 145th National Civil War Reenactment will be held on the Redding Farm just 3 miles north of Gettysburg on Table Rock Road. Gates open at 8:30 a.m. each day, and reserved seating is available in advance.

Complete event information and tickets are available at the official event Web site, <a href=”http://www.gettysburgreenactment.com/”>www.gettysburgreenactment.com</a>, or by calling the Gettysburg Anniversary Committee at (717) 338-1525. Tickets should be ordered in advance as seating normally sells out prior to the event.