This month's coffee call was sponsored by Nick and Cora Patterson
and Bill and Ruth Coulter. With 145 guest at the March 5th Coffee Call, the rainy weather
didn't keep many from attending. Plus there were some new visitors and
some we hadn't seen in a while.
Active Duty Staff Sergeant Jason Sanders, a Tanner graduate, attends Coffee Call when he is
home visiting from his job with the U.S. Army's premier musical
corps "Pershing's Own." Jason has been the Trumpeter/Bugler
with the United States Army Band since Jan 2004. The Museum is
always proud to have Jason play the National Anthem and Taps and
appreciates his dedication and service in the Army.
Mrs. Montgomery an Army Nurse from WWII attended Coffee Call for
the first time. She did promise to come back later this month to
attend the "Women in History" program the museum is celebrating on
March 26th.
Ret. USMC Lt. General Frank Libutti also made his first visit to
the Alabama Veterans Museum for Coffee Call. Libutti attended with
Joe Bongiovanni and joined Tony Lindeman and 2nd District State
Senator Bill Holtzclaw. Libutti is a retired United States Marine
Corps Lieutenant General who also served as the head of the New York
City Police Department's Counter Terrorism Bureau, Deputy Police
Commissioner, and oversaw the Department of Homeland Security's
intelligence operations as Undersecretary for Information Analysis
and Infrastructure Protection. Libutti's military career included
time spent in Vietnam, Japan, Korea, Kenya and Somalia among
assignments within the United States during which he oversaw more
than 80,000 Marines.
Tony Linderman served 20 years as a naval aviator and acquisition
workforce member in the U.S. Marine Corps and in 2003 began working
for NASA. Within one year Linderman was senior systems engineer for
the X-37 flight demonstration project at the Marshall Center in
Huntsville.
State Senator Bill Holtzclaw, another Ret. U.S.
Marine Corps, is a frequent guest of the Veterans Museum. Senator
Holtzclaw served two combat tours; one in 1991 during Operation
Desert Storm and again in 1992–1993 during Operation Restore Hope,
where he served in
Mogadishu, Somalia. Bill retired from active duty in 2003 as a
Chief Warrant Officer 3 with 20 years of service. In November 2010
he was elected to the 2nd District Alabama State Senate.
Joe Bongiovanni, born in Italy, came to the US at age 11 with
his mother and siblings to join his dad who arrived in the states 3
years earlier. After living in Niagara Falls, N.Y., he joined the
Marines at age 19. Bongiovanni became a combat squad leader, and was
stationed in the Leatherneck Square region of the Quang Tri
Province. Today Bongiovanni is general manager of Serra Toyota and
works with the Semper Fi Community Task
Force, vice president of the Semper Fi Riders motorcycle club,
member of the VFW and American Legion, and is a supporter of the
Marine Corps Toys for Tots and Operation Stand Down.
Please come and join our
Veterans at the next Coffee Call April 2nd at 8AM!
Teresa Todd
AthensPlus.com
March 5th 2011
