1. Vaccine Trials
Three Army hospitals have been selected for participation in COVID-19 vaccine trials. They are the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital in Virginia and the Walter Reed National Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.
Volunteers are needed to take part in the trials. They are being overseen by Operation Warp Speed, which has a goal of delivering safe and effective vaccines by January. More information on volunteering is available here: https://info.ausa.org/e/784783/2020-09-14/4bcww/310448576?h=Ywt2Gn4o1QDXQ1x5Ns_fxA0KK_dXFsdr5To_OYGdIC0
2. Curbside Commissary
The Defense Commissary Agency launched a curbside shopping option in 2019 that’s now available at locations like Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, where you can order online and pick up your items at the curb. The pre-COVID-19 service has been popular, with many requests for expansion.
Commissary officials have announced plans to expand their “Click2Go” program to 60 installations within two years. Service at Fort Lee, Virginia, began in August and service in Fort Polk, Louisiana began in September.
3. Women Veterans’ Park
Okaloosa County, Florida, officials have picked eight women veterans to be honored with statues at a memorial park. Included will be 1st Lt. Sharon Lane, the only American military nurse killed during the Vietnam War by direct hostile fire, along with women who served as far back in history as the Revolutionary War.
The bronze, life-sized statues are due to be in place on Okaloosa Island by Nov. 11, 2021, for a Veterans Day dedication. One of the statues will be of Army National Guard Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester, an Iraq War veteran, who was the first woman awarded a Silver Star since World War II.
4. Utah Hero
Utah National Guard Sgt. Chasen Brown has received the Utah Medal of Valor—the state’s highest military award—for his actions during the 2017 Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting in Las Vegas in which a lone gunman rained down fire on a crowd, killing 59 and injuring 860. Brown helped evacuate people and treat the injured.
The 24-year-old, a gunner with 2nd Battalion, 222nd Field Artillery Regiment, was a “little reluctant to be honored,” said Gov. Gary Herbert. But Col. Steven Fairbourn, 65th Field Artillery Brigade commander, said the award is important for the National Guard because it shows “dedication isn’t limited to when they are deployed, but rather is just a part of their character.”
5. Medal of Honor
On Sept. 11, Sgt. Maj. Thomas Payne received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor, for his part in a daring 2015 hostage rescue in Kirkuk Province, Iraq. After already leading the rescue of 38 hostages, the then-sergeant first class stormed a burning building to free another 37 hostages as the building collapsed.
