HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, BEDFORD, MA. January 12, 2010. After finishing a fantastic repast in the Hanscom Minuteman Club, MA State Chair, Mr. Tom Boyle, convened the quarterly meeting of the twenty six MAESGR Committee Members in attendance. Chairman Boyle's first order of business was to introduce two very distinguished guests of honor. The guest speaker of the evening was Massachusetts Secretary for Veterans' Services Captain, (USN) (RET) Thomas G, Kelley, Medal of Honor Recipient. He earned the gratitude of our nation for his actions in the Ong Muong Canal, Kien Hoa Province, Republic of Vietnam, on June 15, 1969. The committee then welcomed another guest, who is also a Medal of Honor recipient, Captain (USN) (RET) Thomas Hudner Jr. CAPT Hudner was awarded the Medal of Honor during the Korean War as a Navy pilot who crash landed his own aircraft to save a fellow pilot who was shot down. He was the Secretary of MA Department of Veterans' Services prior to Secretary Kelley's appointment and is also Past Chair of The MAESGR Committee.  

Secretary Kelley discussed the many programs Massachusetts has for military members and veterans. He thanked all the members for their outstanding support of the reserve forces and their employers. He stressed the vitally important roll ESGR plays in the lives of the mobilized warriors and their families as well.  Mr. Kelley spoke about how Massachusetts takes care of the veteran. He said that each of the 351 cities and towns has a veterans’ agent and that Massachusetts is the only state with this service available. Capt. Kelley also addressed the MA Total Warrior Program. He lauded the program which is an expansion of the national Yellow Ribbon Program and emphasized that the MA model should be a guide for all other states. In response to member questions, The Secretary humbly, and with a touch of humor, told of the actions that earned him the Medal of Honor.  

Secretary Kelley was on a tight schedule and was due at another event that evening. Chairman Boyle moved the agenda and asked CAPT Kelley, CAPT Hudner and Ken Forchielli, State Chair Emeritus to participate in presenting various awards earned by committee members this past fiscal year. Mr. Boyle noted that the MA Committee logged over 6,300 volunteer hours during the year. Chairman Boyle, with the assistance of the two Medal of Honor recipients and Ken Forchielli, presented Presidential Volunteer Service awards to committee members who earned them during FY 2009 based upon the number of volunteer hours they expended and recorded. Thirteen members earned an award during the past fiscal year. Of this total, eight were present to receive their well deserved recognition. They were:

Bronze (100 to 249 hours)

Paul Keane, Leo Lazo and Dr. Tom Mulvaney

Silver (250 to 499 hours)

Tony Ingrisano and Wayne Theroux

Gold (500 or more hours)

Earl Bonett, Tom Boyle and Bill Napert

Members who earned PVSAs and were not available to receive their awards were: Joachim-Ingo (Ski) Borowski and John Pelose (Gold), Roger Fortin (Silver) and Holly Boyko and Bob Pomeroy (Bronze).

Chairman Boyle and the guests continued with presentations of additional awards to members. The highly prestigious Seven Seals Award must be approved by the committee chair for outstanding support to members of the National Guard and Reserve Forces.  Three committee members were recognized for their superior efforts with presentation of the Seven Seals Award. They were: 

Bill Napert, Frank Reidy and SFC Richard Reynolds

The presentations continued with Peter Cinq Mars receiving the new member package.

Ken Forchielli, State Chair Emeritus, provided an update on the US Army Reserve's Employer Partnership Initiative. The program was started in April 2008 and now has 835 employers signed up. Eight of the fifteen 2009 Freedom Award winners have signed agreements including the Cambridge Fire Department, the MA Committee nominee. The program has been expanded to include the Army National Guard and will soon include all reserve components. Ken asked that members presenting Patriot Awards or obtaining SOSs forward to him employer contact information so he can pursue them for this program.  

Emanuel Ingram and Jack Sherman from the Army Soldier System Center at Natick Labs discussed their tentative plans for initiation of a retire appreciation day at their facility. Natick Labs is the only active duty Army facility in Massachusetts. They are reaching out to various organizations for ideas on how to best thank military retirees for their service.   

After finishing up the rest of the business meeting, Chairman Boyle thanked the members for coming out on such a cold night in the middle of the week. The group all gathered together for a committee photograph.