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World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” - officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”
Soldiers of the 353rd Infantry near a church at Stenay, Meuse in France, wait for the end of hostilities. This photo was taken at 10:58 a.m., on November 11, 1918, two minutes before the armistice ending World War I went into effect
In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"
The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m.
The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, with these words:
Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and
Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and
Whereas the legislatures of twenty-seven of our States have already declared November 11 to be a legal holiday: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that the President of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.
An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday—a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as "Armistice Day." Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen in the Nation’s history; after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting in its place the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.
Later that same year, on October 8th, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first "Veterans Day Proclamation" which stated: "In order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans' organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to join hands in the common purpose. Toward this end, I am designating the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs as Chairman of a Veterans Day National Committee, which shall include such other persons as the Chairman may select, and which will coordinate at the national level necessary planning for the observance. I am also requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch of the Government to assist the National Committee in every way possible."
President Eisenhower signing HR7786, changing Armistice Day to Veterans Day. From left: Alvin J. King, Wayne Richards, Arthur J. Connell, John T. Nation, Edward Rees, Richard L. Trombla, Howard W. Watts
On that same day, President Eisenhower sent a letter to the Honorable Harvey V. Higley, Administrator of Veterans' Affairs (VA), designating him as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee.
In 1958, the White House advised VA's General Counsel that the 1954 designation of the VA Administrator as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee applied to all subsequent VA Administrators. Since March 1989 when VA was elevated to a cabinet level department, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has served as the committee's chairman.
The Uniform Holiday Bill (Public Law 90-363 (82 Stat. 250)) was signed on June 28, 1968, and was intended to ensure three-day weekends for Federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. It was thought that these extended weekends would encourage travel, recreational and cultural activities and stimulate greater industrial and commercial production. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holidays on their original dates.
The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on October 25, 1971. It was quite apparent that the commemoration of this day was a matter of historic and patriotic significance to a great number of our citizens, and so on September 20th, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed Public Law 94-97 (89 Stat. 479), which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of November 11, beginning in 1978. This action supported the desires of the overwhelming majority of state legislatures, all major veterans service organizations and the American people.
Veterans Day continues to be observed on November 11, regardless of what day of the week on which it falls. The restoration of the observance of Veterans Day to November 11 not only preserves the historical significance of the date, but helps focus attention on the important purpose of Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.
U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs
On Thursday, Applebee's locations nationwide will offer veterans free meals from a special menu, which will feature a sirloin steak, among other items.
Many local restaurants are also participating.
Zia's Italian Grill in Salisbury will give out a free lunch on Thursday from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. to anyone who's ever served in the military, said owner Alex Bubas.
Bubas served in the U.S. Army infantry during the Vietnam War from 1967-70. He saw action in the Tet Offensive, he said.
"Who said there's no free lunch? There is at Zia's on this special day," Bubas said.
Larry Layton, the owner of Layton's Restaurant in Ocean City, said vets should have an easy time finding his restaurant -- it's the one flying nine American flags. Layton serves in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves and plans on giving all veterans a 20 percent discount Thursday.
"I think we all know that too many people forget why we're all here and how we have this beautiful beach here and why we haven't had five more 9/11s. People think it's all free, but it's not," Layton said.
Golden Corral restaurant will hold its free Military Appreciation dinner for all veterans Monday night.
BJ's on the Water in Ocean City will give veterans a free meal during the restaurant's traditional Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving day.
Stewart Davis, the president of the Local Owners Restaurant Association, said his restaurant, Chef Stewart of Flannery's in Fruitland, will give veterans Thursday the special of buy one pit sandwich, get one free.
Davis said he realizes that a free sandwich is a small token of respect for the sacrifices made by America's military men and women.
"A lot of the time, they're really underappreciated. Anybody that comes up here, I'm always shaking their hand and thanking them, saying 'thank you' for my freedom," Davis said.
Carol Nicholson, the club manager for the American Legion Post 64, said her father served in the U.S. Navy for several decades and would have appreciated the growing support from American businesses during Veteran's Day.
"It's a good feeling, being a child of a veteran, seeing this more and more. I wish my dad was still alive to see it," Nicholson said.
Although, Oglesby received 75 votes to Todd’s 86, he still maintains the lead with 10,505 votes, while Todd holds 10,409; a margin of 96.
In the State Senate race, Jim Mathias gained 97 votes and Michael James gained 67; leaving Mathias in the lead by a margin of 494 votes.
Two additional absentee counts have yet to take place to count an additional 171 ballots. The first will be held on Friday, followed by the final count on Nov. 22.
www.delmarvanow.comWhat is now called "Veterans Day" began as "Armistice Day." It is historically significant that this day continue to be observed on the month, day and hour that the guns fell silent in World War I.
While the day has strong historical roots, current events continue to add meaning to the day. Today, thousands of Americans are serving in uniform.
They sacrifice in the war on terror and in hundreds of locations around the globe so that we may remain free. They, too, are veterans.
To mark Veterans Day in Northampton County, American Legion Posts 56 and 400 will be conducting a Veterans Day Service on Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. at the Veteran's Memorial on Mason Avenue in Cape Charles.
All members of the community are invited to attend.
The Mavericks (8-6-1) pressed on for the tying goal, but it never came as Pocomoke was able to keep the ball in or near the Manchester Valley circle as time ticked away.
When the final horn sounded the Pocomoke sideline erupted with joy, as the Warriors raced on to the field to revel in their accomplishment and the chance to play in yet another state championship.
"No one can explain this feeling really -- they never get old, keep them coming," said Pusey of her multiple state final appearances. "I'm fortunate to have good kids that play hard, play well, and do what I ask them to do. As long as we keep on playing like we are, hopefully we will come out on top again."
Video posted on the CBS News website shows an object flying through the evening sky Monday that left a large contrail, or vapor trail. A news helicopter owned by KCBS, a CBS affiliate in Los Angeles, shot the video.
Pentagon officials were stumped by the event. "Nobody within the Department of Defense that we've reached out to has been able to explain what this contrail is, where it came from," Pentagon spokesman Col. Dave Lapan said.
While the vapor cloud captured on video resembled that created by a rocket in flight, military officials said they didn't know of any launches in the area.
One expert called it an optical illusion. "It's an airplane that is heading toward the camera and the contrail is illuminated by the setting sun," said John Pike, director of the U.S.-based security analyst group globalsecurity.org.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, issued a statement jointly with the U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM, saying no Department of Defense entities reported a missile launch — scheduled or inadvertent — at the time of the contrail, and no foreign military missile launch was detected.
NORAD said it determined there was no threat to the U.S. homeland.
The Federal Aviation Administration ran radar replays from Monday afternoon and they "did not reveal any fast-moving, unidentified targets," the statement said. No pilots reported unusual sightings to the FAA.
NORTHCOM is the U.S. defense command and NORAD is a U.S.-Canadian organization charged with protecting the U.S. from the threat of missiles or hostile aircraft.
Pike said the object could not have been a rocket because it appeared to alter its course.
"The local station chopped up the video and so it's hard to watch it continuously," Pike said. "But at one place you can see it has changed course — rockets don't do that."
Pike said he didn't understand why the military had not recognized the contrail of an aircraft. "The Air Force must ... understand how contrails are formed," he said. "Why they can't get some major out to belabor the obvious, I don't know."
Chincoteague Assistant Chief Harry Stanley Thornton was the first to arrive on the scene within two to three minutes of the fire being reported and was the officer in charge.
A nail salon next door to the restaurant also was left with damage to its exterior as a result of the fire, but Bowden credited the quick action of firefighters with preventing the blaze’s spreading to other nearby businesses.
“All the men and women did a fantastic job,” she said.
Firefighters extinguished the flames in less than an hour but remained on the scene for two to three hours, Bowden said.
An investigator from the Virginia State Police also was at the scene of the fire, the cause of which is not known as yet.
Units and personnel from Chincoteague, Greenbackville, Atlantic, New Church, Wallops and Saxis responded to the fire.
"These complaints also raise the question of whether Verizon has, or is devoting, sufficient resources to maintain reasonable adequate service quality and to comply with standards in the rules," the SCC said.
The commission, which regulates public service companies such as Verizon, will hold a hearing on the issue Dec. 14.
Though neither Verizon nor the commission would release the figures on repair-service complaints, total complaints rose 44 percent in the first nine months of 2010, compared with the same period in 2009.
According to Verizon, the average number of out-of-service complaints has been about 100 per month this year, though the problems spiked to unacceptable levels in the summer months, Verizon spokesman Harry J. Mitchell said.
The phone company has taken steps to correct the problems, and "customer complaints have come down significantly since the summer months," he said.
Although it has told the commission, the communications giant would not say publicly what measures it had taken to fix the problems.
"Verizon classified virtually all of its reports as confidential," according to the SCC staff, which has objected to keeping the information from the public.
Its customer service measures are competitive secrets, the New York-based company said. Verizon also would not disclose how many customers it has in Virginia, though it did say it had lost 40 percent of its hardwired phone lines over the past decade.
According to the SCC, the increased out-of-service complaints involve:
• how long Verizon tells customers without phone service that they will have to wait before service can be restored;
• how Verizon gets customers to agree to go without service for extended periods;
• how long customers are without service while waiting for Verizon to make repairs;
• how often customers are without service;
• how long customers wait on the phone when trying to contact Verizon; and
• the effect on customers with medical needs.
In case of a service interruption, the SCC said, most Virginia phone customers should expect their landline service to be restored within 48 hours and no longer than 96 hours. Any customer who has a medical need should be back in operation within 24 hours.
The SCC said it continues to receive complaints from customers and government officials about Verizon's service.
From Jan. 1 to Oct. 31, the SCC received 3,601 complaints for all causes about Verizon Virginia Inc. and Verizon South Inc.
Verizon Virginia and Verizon South make up Verizon's landline operations in the state, and the commission refers to them both as Verizon in its proceedings.
The commission said it could direct the company to comply with current regulations or with other service standards. The commission also said it could fine the company or apply other penalties.
However, Mitchell said, "Verizon is both complying with the commission's rules and meeting its service obligations under Virginia law."
Fewer than 2 percent of the company's customers on average have an out-of-service problem in any given month, Mitchell said, and only a small fraction -- fewer than six in 100,000 -- file complaints about being out of service with the SCC.
"I'm not minimizing these complaints," Mitchell said. "Verizon is focused on delivering quality service for all its Virginia customers and, overall, we do just that."
Last year, the commission revised its rules governing the quality of local phone service in Virginia.
The new rules established minimum standards for protecting the public health and safety, the SCC, said, while allowing competition to offer customers choices exceeding the minimum requirements.
FBI spokesman Jason Pack said 69 children were removed from prostitution and 99 suspected pimps were arrested in 40 cities across 30 states and the District of Columbia. Authorities arrested 785 other adults on a variety state and local charges, Pack said.
All the children found in the last three days have been placed into protective custody or returned to their families.
The children were found during Operation Cross Country V, a three-day roundup targeting child traffickers and pimps. The largest group of child prostitutes, 24, was found in and around Seattle, according to the FBI.
Henry said child prostitutes are often recruited by loose-knit groups that seek out kids who may be involved in drugs or runaways looking for a "responsible adult" to help them.
"There are groups of people out there preying on naive kids who don't have a good sense of the way of the world," Henry said. "Sometimes there's a threat of force, threats of violence. A lot these kids operate out of a sense of fear."
Since 2003, when the FBI and the Justice Department launched the Innocence Lost National Initiative, about 1,250 child prostitutes have been located and removed from prostitution.
Cal-Maine Foods Inc., the nation's biggest egg seller and distributor, said it is recalling 288,000 eggs the company had purchased from supplier Ohio Fresh Eggs after a test showed salmonella at the Ohio farm.
No illnesses have been reported. According to Cal-Maine Foods, the Ohio Fresh eggs were distributed to food wholesalers and retailers in Arkansas, California, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.
In a statement from company officials, Ohio Fresh Eggs said the farm had held back eggs from the Croton, Ohio, barn where the salmonella was found. However, through discussions with the FDA, the company discovered that some eggs from that barn were mistakenly sent to a distributor.
"Ohio Fresh Eggs sincerely regrets the error made on our farm, and we apologize to our customer and to consumers who may have purchased the eggs," the officials said. "We are redoubling our efforts to ensure thorough and ongoing training of our workers so that this situation is not repeated."
Cal-Maine Foods said the FDA told them about the positive sample.
Earlier this year, salmonella was found on two Iowa egg farms, Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms. The two companies recalled 550 million eggs in August when the products were linked to as many as 1,600 illnesses.
Austin "Jack" DeCoster owns Wright County Egg and has lent money to Ohio Fresh Eggs.
Ohio officials yanked the permits after learning about that, but an environmental appeals panel overturned that decision.
DeCoster has often tangled with the government. He has paid millions of dollars in state and federal fines over at least two decades for health, safety, immigration and environmental violations at his farms.
The biggest change occurred in the number of doctors who accept drug company money for attending medical meetings, including covering travel to sometimes exotic locations. That fell from 35 percent in 2004 to 18 percent in last year, the survey found.
Other declines included a drop from 83 percent to 71 percent in the portion of doctors who said they let drug companies pay for food or drinks; and the portion who got free drug samples, which fell from 78 percent to almost 64 percent. Those were the two most frequently reported practices.
"These relationships often raise concerns that doctors' actions are motivated by what is best for their industrial partners rather than what is best for patients," said Eric Campbell, a researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He led the study and was part of a research team that conducted a previous survey in 2004.
Since then, concerns that financial ties to drug companies improperly influence doctors' treatment decisions have led to increased media attention, legislation, and policy changes at medical schools and even in the pharmaceutical industry.
Last year, a drug industry trade group enacted new voluntary restrictions including a recommended ban on giving doctors noneducational gifts and taking them to restaurants.
Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman, an outspoken critic of doctor-drug industry relationships, called the survey results "really good news."
"It reflects physicians' growing awareness that industry is an inappropriate partner in patient care," said Fugh-Berman, an associate professor at Georgetown University. She was not involved in the study.
Results were compared with the earlier survey and are published in Monday's Archives of Internal Medicine.
Despite the downward trend, the survey suggests most doctors still accept some drug company freebies, including brand-name drug samples. While patients may appreciate getting free medicine, those freebies strongly affect doctors' prescribing habits, Fugh-Berman said.
Doctors surveyed were asked how often they prescribed brand-name drugs when patients requested them, instead of cheaper generics. Doctors with industry ties were more likely to say they did so often than those without ties.
The study was funded by the Institute on Medicine as a Profession, which runs an online database detailing conflict of interest policies at academic medical centers nationwide.
As the associations of Maryland sheriffs and chiefs of police meet for a joint training conference in the resort next week, about 150 of them from 88 police agencies will spend Tuesday afternoon running and diving into the cold ocean water.
Though they'll be more than four miles north of the Boardwalk, the event will be known as the Chiefs & Sheriffs Boardwalk Plunge. Only members of law enforcement are eligible to participate. Each swimmer has to raise at least $50 to enter.
So far, police have raised about $14,000 with pre-registrations. Ocean City Police Chief Bernadette DiPino so far is in the Top 5 among all fundraising participants.
"I'm excited about it," she said. "I'm hoping the water's going to warm up a little bit. It's going to be kind of cool to be doing it in Ocean City."
Next week, the ocean temperature will be about 56 to 58 degrees, as long as there isn't a cold snap, according to Lee Gerachis, owner of Malibu's Surf Shop.
Several other chiefs also will participate, including Chief Michael Tabor of the Crisfield police and Chief Scott Keller of the Princess Anne police.
Keller said the annual police chiefs conference brings viewpoints of police all over the state and makes for great interaction among his peers for networking and training.
"It's close to here, so we don't have to drive all the way up to Sandy Point for that other one," said Keller, who also will be joined by his second-in-command, Capt. Warren Gadomski. "We got our bathing suits ready. It might be a little colder than we're used to."
Keller was referring to the Polar Bear Plunge held annually at Sandy Point State Park, in the shadow of the Chesapeake Bay bridge, an event hosted annually by Maryland State Police as a fundraiser for Special Olympics of Maryland.
Jumping into the Atlantic Ocean for charity isn't new to Ocean City. The annual Penguin Swim to benefit Atlantic General Hospital will celebrate its 17th year on New Year's Day.
All the police Special Olympics fundraisers fall under the umbrella of the Law Enforcement Torch Run, the signature fundraiser for cops and Special Olympics worldwide.
Howard County Police Lt. John Newnan, who is chairman of Maryland's Torch Run, said the state of Maryland raises the most money worldwide for Special Olympics and that Maryland cops raised $4.1 million in the 2009-10 fundraising year, which ended in September.
"It's a pretty amazing movement, and we're all dedicated to it in our communities," he said.
Not every conference attendee will be braving the icy shorebreak on Tuesday.
"It's too damn cold," said Somerset County Sheriff Bobby Jones. "I might watch it from a balcony window. I got nothing against people who want to jump into the ocean in November, but I'm not going to do it."
Visit www.boardwalk plunge.com.
WHAT. Inaugural Maryland Chiefs & Sheriffs Boardwalk Plunge
WHERE. Clarion Resort Fontainebleau Hotel, 10100 Coastal Highway, Ocean City
WHEN. 4:30 p.m. Tuesday
INFO. www.boardwalk plunge.com; 410-789-6677, ext. 103
Those were mantras of Virginia's Republican congressional candidates who won big in Tuesday's elections. But within weeks, the critics will move to the corridors of power and it will be their unbalanced budget and their national debt.
Within their immediate control are their $174,000 annual salary and an office budget of roughly $1.5 million. We asked Virginia's three Republican congressmen-elect what they personally are willing to cut.
Scott Rigell, who defeated Rep. Glenn Nye, D-2nd, promptly issued a series of reforms he says he will follow whether they are enacted into law or not.
The car dealer from Virginia Beach says he will roll back his congressional office budget to 2008 levels and allow government trips only on official business -- "real official business."
He has pledged a 12-year term limit and he wants to "reduce the incentive to stay in Congress" by replacing the current retirement system with a 403(b) match program.
He has even sketched out rules on mail -- "Only two direct-mail pieces will be sent each year, no closer than three months prior to an election, standardized in form and content, one page only, using recycled paper and black and white ink."
That kind of up-front commitment is smart politics on Rigell's part, said Steve Farnsworth, a political analyst at George Mason University.
"I think the one thing that voters cannot stand about politicians is hypocrisy," he said. "A congressman-elect who promises to cut his own office expenditures, that's absolutely a smart move for congressmen looking ahead to 2012. That's what people want to see."
A challenge for Republicans over the next two years will be to demonstrate that they can make change happen while they control the House but not the Senate or White House, he said. That split in power makes it virtually impossible to repeal the health-care legislation, for example.
"That's why it's such smart politics for Republicans to look at things that are more directly under their control, like their own office expenditures," he said.
. . .
Rigell's plan is pretty specific, and while the other congressmen-elect did not offer the same level of detail, they gave some insight during the campaigns.
State Sen. Robert Hurt, who defeated Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th, has said he would vote to reduce the salary of members of Congress. His campaign also says he will use the franked mail system "only for legitimate constituent services."
The lawyer from Chatham said last week in a news conference about his transition plans that he doesn't anticipate greatly altering the number of district offices. There are four in addition to the Washington office.
"Right now I have no reason to believe that we'll change anything [that's] in place, but we will take a fresh look at that because obviously we want to make sure we're as accessible as possible," he said.
Congressman-elect H. Morgan Griffith of the 9th District has advocated for a 10 percent pay cut for Congress, and he wants to end the practice that allows members of Congress to lease a vehicle through the House of Representatives.
"There's got to be a lot of other things like that," he said.
If his pay-cut idea doesn't go over well with his colleagues, Griffith said he will donate the equivalent of a 10 percent cut into the 9th District to not-for-profit charitable organizations.
He said of his early ideas: "They're not going to solve the budget problem, but you've got to start somewhere."
The office budgets for the new Congress have not been decided, but Perriello's for 2010 was $1.46 million, Nye's was $1.48 million and Rep. Rick Boucher's was $1.5 million.
That allowance will not likely vary dramatically for the new members. It is supposed to cover the expenses congressmen incur as part of their official role, and it is based on three major components: staff salaries, office expenses and official mail.
Funding for salaries made up the largest component in 2010, at $944,671. House members can decide how many employees they hire and how much they pay them, but there are caps on how many and how much.
Office expenses include a travel stipend that varies based on the distance of the representative's district from Washington, as well as district office rental expenses. That also varies by member -- space in downtown Los Angeles will cost more than on Main Street in Chatham.
In general, however, members can spend the money as they see fit, as long it complies with federal and House rules. Spending on campaign or political purposes is a no-no, for example.
Voters serious about the spending-cut message this year likely will keep tabs on how their new congressmen operate on Capitol Hill.
"In the new Congress, the tea party's influence will be far larger than their numbers," Farnsworth said, "because so many Republicans are going to be looking over their shoulders wondering if the tea-party activists are going to run a Republican nomination opponent against them the next time they face the voters."
Mover Moms, a Bethesda-based community services group, packaged extra Halloween candy to send to members of the military stationed overseas in their annual "Treats for Troops" drive.
"I really want to put a smile on soldiers faces," says 8-year-old Amanda, whose mother, Rebecca Kahlenberg, put out the call for extra Halloween candy again this year to send to troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kuwait.
This year is the biggest, involving thousands of people, she says. The group managed to fill up a 16-foot truck with candy.
"This one is about to bust," Kahlenberg says, adding her group will need an 18-wheeler next year.
Along with the candy, the group also collected notes to the soldiers from children in the D.C. area.
"Some of them say, 'My dad serves in the Navy, and I was so worried about him. And I am so happy to share my candy with you," says Kahlenberg.
Jason has been on three different deployments, but said this is the first since he's had his son, and they did a lot to prepare for this goodbye.
"We celebrated our birthdays together. We went out and did a bunch of stuff together, as much as we could possibly do to, I guess, kind of make up for the time we'll miss and be going through."
The time these men and women will miss during their six month deployment includes the holidays. For 19 month-old Hayley, this will be her first time away from daddy.
"It's hard, but you just deal with it and move on and be back as soon as we can," said FC2 Dustin Pelzel.
This is a routine mission for the sailors aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Mahan.
"The main thing we'll be heading out to do is maritime security operations and that kind of runs the gamut, everything from humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, to promoting peace and security and stability in the maritime areas around the world," said Commander Kurt Mahan.
This deployment is something the Dominguez's have never experienced.
"It's his first deployment, I'm a first time wife, so, navy wife, first time being separated for this long, so, it's getting kind of emotional and it's just that I'm pregnant, so," said Mrs. Dominguez and her husband.
It was an emotional day for everyone pierside. Fathers and mothers held their little ones tight, preparing for that six month separation. Everyone made the same promise.
"I love her and I'll be back soon enough," said one sailor.
Prescott comes to Pocomoke City from Hagerstown, Md., where he served as program director and senior director of that YMCA. He also served a stint in Farmville, Va. The new director learned of the opening in Pocomoke City from Rich Stover, CEO of the Mid-Delmarva Family YMCA; they had collaborated on several programs.
Prescott said his first task is to find ways to get more involved with the community. This includes working with organizations in the Pocomoke City area. He's hoping in this way, more people will visit the YMCA to take advantage of the facility.
The Y includes many facilities -- a large indoor pool, three gym courts, a fitness center and an aerobic center -- under its roof. The outdoor facilities include a pond, a ropes course, a paved walking/running track and four bike trails through the forest.
Programs for kids include an after-school program and a day camp during the summer. At present, 34 kids are signed up for the after-school program, which is still not at full capacity. Some of their activities include schoolwork, a fitness program and swimming.
Because Pocomoke High School is being renovated, the sports teams have been using the fields at the YMCA. While using the fields, the school has been maintaining them and has helped in installing lights for nighttime use.
Once the new fields at PHS are completed and the teams return, the YMCA fields will be available for use by the center for such sports as soccer, baseball and softball.
Prescott said all programs at the YMCA are available for members and nonmembers. There are scholarships for people who cannot afford the cost of the membership.
The branch Prescott now manages includes people from southern Worcester County, southern Somerset and northern Accomack County. Anyone who has a membership here is also a member of the Mid-Shore YMCA in Salisbury and the newly-opened branch in Chincoteague.
Two major fundraisers for the local YMCA are the Masquerade Ball in late winter and a triathlon in early June. The branch also plans to begin its annual campaign for funds sometime next month.
The Lower Shore Family YMCA has also been the host for the South Worcester Relay for Life for the past several years, which has attracted hundreds of participants.
"Come talk to us if you have an idea for a program," Prescott said.
According to investigators, the body appears to have washed ashore within 24 hours of the discovery.
WCBI described the body to be that of a white male, 5'7" and 140 to 160 pounds. They said the body was clothed in Levi blue jeans and a black Patagonia belt.
A check with local law enforcement agencies revealed there were no reports of any missing person or reports of any missing crew members off of local vessels.
The body remains have been sent to Baltimore for an Autopsy. Anyone with any information regarding the description given, please contact Cpl Johnson of the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation at 443-783-0441 or the MD State Police, Berlin Barrack at 410-641-