March 2010
WHIRL Features
As each new day dawns, we are filled with hope and great gratitude. Today, those feelings are deepened as we honor and remember the service and sacrifice of our nation’s military forces with a sunrise salute.
By Nicole Barley | Photography by Michael Sahaida
Row One: Staff Sgt. Erin Murphy, Army; Sgt. Jennifer Duck, Army; Petty Officer 2nd Class January Clark, Coast Guard; Chief Hospital Corpsman Richard Weinman, Navy; Staff Sgt. Jill McKenzie, Air National Guard; Airman 1st Class Heather L. Reynolds, Air Force Reserve; Staff Sgt. Kristin McGeorge, Air Force Reserve; Sgt. Lynn Kinney, Marines
Row Two: 1st Lt. Jamie Bell, Army; Staff Sgt. Lindsey Stentz, Army; Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeffrey McConnell, Coast Guard; Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Patrick Covert, Navy; Senior Airman Rebecca Holyfield, Air Force Reserve; Tech. Sgt. Lisa Custer, Air National Guard; Lt. Col. Edward A. Tarquinio, Air Force Reserve; Master Sgt. Mark Winklosky, Air Force Reserve; Staff Sgt. Donald Kimball, Marines; Sgt. Jan Donnelly, Marines; Staff Sgt. Morgan Dickey, Marines
Row Three: Staff Sgt. Michel Sauret, Army; Petty Officer 1st Class Brad Dawson, Coast Guard; Lt. Todd McKinney, Navy; Master Sgt. Peter Rose, Air Force Reserve; Senior Master Sgt. Marshall Martindale, Air Force Reserve; Sgt. Anthony Eichler, Marines
It is the morning of April 24, 2009, and we are gathered on the expanse of grass and concrete that sweeps before the doors of Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum. We are here today to pay tribute and give great thanks to our local military men and women. The glow of pre-dawn moon and starlight shines off the lawn, not yet green in the darkness of early day. It bathes the trees and their tangles of limbs twisting toward the sky above the plot of land upon which we have set up our cameras and equipment.
This marks our second annual sunrise tribute, and in the office on the days before the shoot, we communicate our hushed hopefulness for a clear and perfect morning like that which we shared one year ago to the day, exactly.
When planning this year’s location, we first thought to return to the original site, the West End Overlook. But then, managing editor, Katie Mavrich, offered her idea at a roundtable meeting way back in March. “Soldiers & Sailors,” she said with a confident decisiveness, her eyes suddenly alight.
And so we are here, huddled in small cliques on the steps of the memorial on Fifth Avenue, our call time 4 a.m. At 5:30 a.m. sharp, the men and women of Western Pennsylvania’s military ranks begin to arrive in full uniform. Some have come alone, others walk the steps toward us with their spouses, daughters, friends, and even a 10-month-old baby girl in a carry-along crib. In the United States, the military community is comprised of more than 3 million people, approximately one percent of the total populace. Today, we have gathered 26 of those who have promised to serve both God and country.
“Why did you join the military?” we ask each of the service men and women in attendance, gathered from the U.S. Army Reserve, Navy, Air Force Reserve, Marines, Coast Guard, and Pennsylvania Air National Guard.
Whatever the reason they share with us — for service to country, for family, for opportunity, adventure, education, or employment — each is offered up truthfully, with pride. They’ve been stationed everywhere, from Iraq to Guam, Istanbul to Germany.
The team at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum specially lit the memorial for our morning shoot.
Sergeant Lynn Kinney is the mom toting the aforementioned baby carriage, and her dark-haired daughter, Kate, sleeps snugly in her small cocoon for the duration of the shoot. She’s awake during breakfast, cooing and smiling while her mom is interviewed. Now the Marketing and Public Affairs Representative for Recruiting Station Pittsburgh, she joined the U.S. Marine Corps in July 2003. “I wanted to challenge myself,” she shares.
Today, we also meet Lieutenant Todd McKinney. During his eight years of service with the U.S. Navy, he has been stationed in San Diego for several of his duty stations. He is returning to live in Pittsburgh after 13 years away from home. “I went to North Catholic High School, and it’s great to be back. I think Pittsburgh is the biggest military town that’s not a military town. The patriotism is great,” Lt. McKinney says.
Due in part to Western Pennsylvania’s lack of a military base and facilities like those in Fort Bragg, N.C., or Fort Benning, Ga., the fact that our region’s military community is substantial is not immediately obvious. In Western Pennsylvania, “we probably have a higher concentration of military serving, active duty, reserve, National Guard, and retired [than any other part of the state],” says retired U.S. Air Force Full Colonel Jerry L. Kintigh of Mt. Lebanon, who now works as an advocate for military families in the region.
As for the “military community,” which is composed of any person holding a military ID issued by the Department of Defense and includes family members of military personnel, Col. Kintigh estimates that “within 100 miles of your desk [located on Pittsburgh’s North Shore], there are 170,000 military ID card-carrying individuals.” This area extends into Eastern Ohio and Northern West Virginia. “People who consider them part of this military community include residents of Western Maryland and Southern New York,” he adds.
Col. Kintigh points to the region’s numerous military engagements, citing all the way back to the French and Indian War and the Whiskey Rebellion, and notes that “Western Pennsylvania is a region with a great military tradition.”
Another reason the large size of our military force is not inherently apparent is the fact that many in this community are retired or reservists. Those Pennsylvania residents who are actively serving duty are numbered in excess of 9,000. U.S. Army Captain Kevin McNamara explains that in addition to the presence of U.S. Coast Guard, Air Force Reserve, Navy, Marine Corps, and PA Army National Guard, there are three large military units, located right in Moon Township. The 171st Air Refueling Wing, Pennsylvania Air National Guard is 1,400 airmen strong and is run by the state. There is the 911th Air Lift Wing, Air Force Reserve, which employs close to 1,200 people and is a federal entity. Finally, the region is home to the 316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, which is the logistics headquarters for all Army units reaching from Virginia to Maine, commanding the movements of 11,000 soldiers across 13 states. “That is really a feather in the cap for our region,” says Capt. McNamara.
Air Force Reserve Airman 1st Class Heather L. Reynolds and Air National Guard Maj. Jason Luhn.
Before day has fully broken, before the sun has begun to blaze through the horizon, we’ve gotten our shots. The structure, which stands majestically behind the selfless men and women in these photos, honors each branch of the military, and next year marks the 100-year anniversary of its original dedication on October 10, 1910. It also holds the designation of being the largest memorial building in the country “dedicated solely to America’s fighting personnel.”
First built to commemorate the service of Allegheny County’s Civil War veterans, the museum is now home to statues and exhibits, which honor all of America’s wars and all of Pennsylvania’s veterans. “We consider ourselves a living memorial,” says John McCabe, Executive Vice President and C0O of Soldiers & Sailors. “The fact that we are now reaching out to the rest of state, it gives all veterans and their families and military supporters a place they can call their own.”
According to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s “Sketch of the Origin” of Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum, the committee that was convened by the Allegheny County Grand Army Association to establish a monument to memorialize the county’s Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines, “found a deep and unanimous sentiment in this community favoring the erection of a memorial, which should be of a character so imposing and impressive as to represent the wealth, intelligence, and patriotic sentiment of our great industrial center.”
The original intent and emotion on which the structure was built stands as tall as the grand memorial upon which we set our stage today, this clear, crisp morning, nearly a century later.
In May 2009, Soldiers & Sailors set plans in motion for Remembrance Park, a redesign of this very lawn, a plan set to allow the hall and museum to further honor our county and our troops. “This project will revitalize and create a rebirth for Soldiers & Sailors, so that we can start with something new and fresh and exciting for the next 100 years,” says McCabe. “At the same time, and most importantly, it will prepare our building to honor those men and women of our military who are serving in our most recent conflicts. The building started as a tribute to the Civil War veterans, and we have a focus that Remembrance Park will be the beginning of a tribute to our more recent freedom fighters.”
We’re nearly finished, save for a few more individual portraits, which art director MacKenzie Hoops and our photographer, Michael Sahaida, are setting up on the concrete steps that blaze a bright white path through the emerald lawn. Last year, a friend forewarned us — a 50-degree, sunless morning is not the same as a 50-degree afternoon. It holds true once more and so, a small, quietly conversing crowd is gathered in the foyer of the museum for warmth, yummy bites of bagels, and sips of juice and coffee. Now, at a bit past 7 a.m., we receive an equally portent text message from this friend. “If you see rain, take cover,” Mavrich reads from her phone.
Quickly wandering back outside, our eyes are turned to the sky. The horizon, hidden behind buildings, is a blue gray, just starting to glow golden. Not a dark cloud in sight. What we do see are news vans from KDKA-TV, WPXI-TV, and WTAE-TV. We hurry to greet Ari Hait from WTAE-TV. He takes his time interviewing members of the military who’ve joined to share their stories with us this morning.
At 7:45 a.m., we wrap. Every one has left the shoot. The news crew is on its way back to the station, the soldiers and sailors, on their way to work or home. A few people from our office have yet to go, along with Sahaida. From the ledge separating the grass and steps, he grabs his Macintosh laptop used for viewing images as they were snapped, swoops it deftly under his arm and waves goodbye with the other. We smile and wave back, and head to our cars.
Thunder cracks high above. We freeze, look up to the sky, then scurry fast, before a pounding and thorough rain pours down. Dry in our cars, we are most thankful for the hours we’ve been able to share together on this beautiful and blessed morning.
Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum, 4141 Fifth Ave., Oakland. 412.621.4253.
Behind the Scenes WHIRL’s Art Director MacKenzie Hoops gives direction, while WHIRL’s Graphic Designer Jason Solak holds the American flag aloft as if it was waving in the wind.
Special Thanks to Public Affairs Officers YN2 Candace Groce and PO1 Brad Dawson of the Coast Guard, Shawn Walleck and Master Sgt. Mark Winklosky of the Air Force Reserve, Capt. Dicie Hritz of the Air National Guard, MC1 Jeremy Siegrist of the Navy, Capt. Kevin McNamara and Lt. Col. John Dowling of the Army Reserve, and Sgt. Lynn Kinney of the Marines. Thanks also to Jim Gubash of Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum.
Just before daybreak, the entire WHIRL staff joined with the military personnel for a group shot.
Wounded Warrior Project
The Wounded Warrior Project supports veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Pennsylvania residents are showing their patriotism this summer by partaking in the PA Hero Walk, benefiting the non-profit group. Following the throwing of the ceremonial first pitch at the Philadelphia Phillies game against the Baltimore Orioles on June 21, supporters stepped off on a 342-mile trek. The group is busy making 15 stops, including a visit to the Coatesville VA Medical Center and various VFW Posts across the state. They’ll reach the finish line on July 4 at the PA Hero Walk Benefit Concert. The Fourth of July, all-day festival of music starts at noon in New Kensington’s Valley High School Stadium. Proceeds from the $25 admission will go toward the Wounded Warrior Project and a canned goods collection will be taken at the gate for the Pittsburgh and Westmoreland County Food Banks, and plenty of kid-friendly activities are planned. Says Kimberly Racan of studio e entertainment, “It will not only be a great family day for the community, but it will also be a great benefit.”
Jeremy Feldbusch with Gary Racan. Feldbusch is an injured veteran of the war in Iraq and national spokesperson for the Wounded Warrior Project.
Taking the stage throughout the day will be American Pie, The Buffettmen, On The Ridge, The Barn Hill Band, and Rush Hour. As the sun goes down, settle in for the musical stylings of The Jaggerz and The Little River Band, whose shows will bookend a concert by Gary Racan and the studio e band. Have a front row seat for their set, scheduled to include a performance of “God Bless the USA,” during which, Racan will invite all veterans in attendance on stage. Finishing off the day with a bang will be Zambelli Fireworks’ show at 10 p.m.
For more information, visit paherowalk.org or woundedwarriorproject.org.
To purchase the rights to reprint this article, please email Jennifer Diamond.