Volcanoes' Jerry Howard Receives Distinguished Award from U.S. Army
Published on August 10, 2019 under Northwest League (NWL1)
Salem-Keizer Volcanoes News Release
KEIZER - The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes are very honored to announce that Jerry Howard, one of the longest-tenured members of the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes front office, has been awarded the extremely prestigious 2019 Award for Distinguished Service by the Association of the United States Army.
"For the last 11 years, the Volcanoes have Thanked, Honored and Saluted several thousands of outstanding service men and women from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Desert Storm conflict and the present Mid-East conflicts at their Annual Patriotic Tributes celebrated at their July 4th baseball games at the Volcanoes Stadium. These tributes complete yearlong planning efforts by the leadership and staff of the Volcanoes Team with Mr. Jerry Howard providing the vision, passion and energy for each tribute," said Curtis A. Loop, (USA Ret), Oregon State President in his official nomination letter. "At each tribute, the entire stadium is ringed with large American Flags and various military flags. The Columbia River Chapter supports the tributes and joins various military support organizations in manning tables where we talk with the fans about their service's roles and responsibilities and the critical and invaluable services provided to the communities during emergencies. This is one of our main recruiting events each year."
The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes fully stand by and support our veterans and active servicemen and servicewomen, and Jerry Howard's honor is as important to the franchise as any pennant, said Jerry Walker, Volcanoes Co-Owner. "The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, since day one, have been completely focused on honoring and supporting the community. The fabric of our community is deeply united with all those who bravely have served and are serving this great country," Jerry Walker said. "I can't tell you how proud Lisa, Mickey and myself are of this honor Jerry Howard has earned, and his continued commitment to all those who give so much for this great country."
Mitche Graf, Volcanoes President, said that one of the most inspiring experiences this season has been seeing how the Patriotic Weekend event, directly inspired by and organized Jerry Howard, has brought so many veterans, servicemen and servicewomen, and their families together to share, to be proud and to know that Volcanoes Nations truly stands with them.
"I don't know if our fans always see this, but our players and coaches are personally touched and inspired by what Jerry Howard does with this event and all the heroes we have the honor of saying, 'thank you'," Graf said. "When we heard of this award Jerry Howard was being recognized with, the first thing that came to my mind was what one of our Volcanoes starters recently said to me, 'the thing about Jerry (Howard) that is so great is that he does all his volunteer work for other people. He is such a humble man."
In the official Association of the United States Army recognition document, AUSA notes:"While each tribute focuses on a specific theme, they always involve a cross-section of The Old and The Young; Men and Women; Officers and Enlisted; and high-level Commanders and E-2 Soldiers; those that Deployed and those that were Non-Deployed; Combat tested and those providing critical supporting missions; and warriors of many colors and many nationalities. All Branches are represented. Examples of some of the veterans that have been honored include Pearl Harbor Survivors, four who parachuted into Normandy, a few that fought in the Battle of the Bulge, Marines that fought in some of the worst battles in Vietnam, as well as local National Guardsmen and Reservists who have deployed to the Middle East for numerous rotations. One year's celebration honored all Native American Veterans from all conflicts.
Included in each tribute is a memorial ceremony to honor and pay a final tribute to a family of a local fallen warrior. In the tenth year of the tributes, all previous Fallen Warrior families returned and were honored. Two such Fallen Warrior families in attendance were Ms. Cheryl Bennett, the mother of former Navy SEAL, Tyrone S. Woods, and Ms. Barbara Dougherty, the mother of former Navy SEAL, Glen Dougherty, who were two of the four men killed at the Benghazi diplomatic mission on September 11, 2012. Over 5,200 fans reverently stand and silently toast all Fallen Warriors at the MIA/POW Ceremony in the tribute. On July 4, 2019, the Volcanoes' unveiled and permanently installed a Fallen Warriors Memorial Statue on their main Stadium concourse in tribute to all Fallen Soldiers and to Thank, Honor and Salute the man who has made all the Stadium memorials so special - Jerry Howard.
At each celebration, many activities involving the local community are conducted; for example, posting of the colors by a Senior or Junior ROTC detachment or a local military organization, throwing out the ceremonial First Pitch by a dozen military honorees, performing an enlistment ceremony for those just entering military service, playing of patriotic music by military and bagpipe bands, recognizing individuals at special recognition ceremonies, interviewing veterans by the team announcer, just to name a few. The evening always culminates with fireworks after the game."
Let all of Volcanoes Nation take a moment and applaud Jerry Howard and all our veterans, servicemen and servicewomen. God Bless America.
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