August 21, 2025 • 37 mins
VFW Post 9916 Commander Wilbur England on flood damage to their building and how you can help.
Frank Vitale, President and CEO of Forge Business Solutions, Civilian Aid to the Secretary of the Army (CASA), and author of the book "Forge Ahead: The Blueprint to Creating a Winning Strategy in Business, Life, and Wrestling,” talks about his new title as President of the West Virginia National Guard Foundation.
Frank Vitale, President and CEO of Forge Business Solutions, Civilian Aid to the Secretary of the Army (CASA), and author of the book "Forge Ahead: The Blueprint to Creating a Winning Strategy in Business, Life, and Wrestling,” talks about his new title as President of the West Virginia National Guard Foundation.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
This is the Talk of the Town from Morgantown to Klucksburg.
If it's happening, we're talking about it. Call the show
toll free at one eight hundred and seven sixty five
eight two, fivey five. Now Here is your host for
the Talk of the Town, Mike notlting O.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Good Thursday morning, cloudy sky's seventy one degrees in Morgantown.
Metro News ACI Weather says could see a late day
thunderstorm today. Plenty of clouds in a high of eighty degrees.
Of course, we'll keep our eye to the sky. Metro
News excuse me, West Virginia five one one reports an
(00:46):
incident free interstate system at this hour. And just to
draw your attention to a point, about a month ago,
we spoke with the District for manager with the doh
Eural Gas about some issues there in Marion County that
were as a result of the Father's Day torrential rains
(01:07):
they experienced.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
And taking a.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Look at five one one, it looks like they are
addressing those issues and there are only two remaining in
the Marion County area to be rectified from those storms. Well,
welcome to Talk of the Town on AM fourteen forty
FM one oh four point five w AJR Mike Nolton.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
You'll find me on X as.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Your news guy, our producer this morning, Mia Hinkins. She
is at eight hundred seven six five Talk. We also
have a text line we'd love to hear from you
that number three oh four Talk three oh four out.
Two weeks ago or thereabout, we received another downpour now,
this one dumped nearly three inches of rain, causing flooding
(01:52):
at the Morgantown High School and the west Over VFW
Post nine nine sixteen in Westover. Now that post, it's
really become a hub for community events of all types.
You know, recently WVU Medicine Children's just had a fundraiser
for the Tony Renter Genteel Foundation that included country music artist.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Wade Hayes and some up and coming talent as well.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
I've also it's been a place for political candidates to
meet with the public. I think the League of Women
Voters has used that facility as well. And you know,
let's not forget about what they're known for, and that
is a socialization and a place for veterans to meet,
have meetings or maybe have a dinner or a fish fry. Well,
(02:38):
we're going to welcome Commander Wilbur England at nine point fifteen.
We're going to talk about some damage that they suffered
during that reign two weeks ago. There go fundme account
and how you can help them repair those damages. And
I think what we're going to find out is that
damage happened just after a lot of that work was completed.
(02:59):
So we'll welcome Commander Wilbur England at nine point fifteen.
At nine thirty, we've got Morgantown resident Frank Vital. Among
other things, he is the Civilian Aid to the Secretary
of the Army, as the president and CEO of Forge
Business Solutions, the author of the book Forge a Head
(03:19):
the Blueprint Creating a Winning Strategy in business, life and Wrestling,
and also he is an adjunct professor at WVU. Well,
he's added another title to his name. He's been selected
as the president of the West Virginia National Guard Foundation.
He'll join us at nine thirty to talk about that
role and we'll get an update on Army recruiting. In
(03:42):
his activities working as the Aid to the Secretary or
the Civilian Aid to the Secretary of the Army.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
A couple of headlines.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
The Dominion Post is reporting one of the most successful
developers in the state, west Ridges filed for Chapter eleven bankruptcy.
Of filing was made the same date as some of
their creditors were set to pull the trigger on a
hearing to put them into receivership. Now, this is a
(04:14):
developing situation and it pretty much locked up in the
courts until the courts make a few decisions. Now that
information is going to be public, I'd like to read
you this statement from the Mond County Commission. The Commission
is aware of the situation and our legal counsel is
in active communication with west Ridge. We expect Westridge to
(04:35):
prepare a refinancing plan related to the bankruptcy of the
affected entities, which will be submitted to the courts for approval.
West Ridge has assured us and the Commission. We'd like
to reassure the public that all obligations and commitments were
made by west Ridge in the partnership with the Commission
(04:57):
will be honored. That is the statement from the Mond
County Commission and will of course be watching.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
That and provide updates as we can.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Oh the Town of Blacksville facing some major issues with
their sanitary sewer system. Mond County Delegate Joe Statler says
he and the County Commission are working to find the money,
I guess, in order to finance an effort to locate
that problem then go and address it. One of the
great things about this particular effort is they're in Worthington.
(05:28):
They're right next to the river out in Blacksville, but
not so much the case, so they don't have those
kinds of concerns, but the concerns they do have two
biggest customers, Mason Dixon Elementary School and the Clay Betel
High School that could certainly create some issues. So we'll
(05:49):
be watching that as well. And don't forget that the well,
we've got ten stations in the WVRC Media family that's
the parent company of w JR that are participating in
the WVU Medicine Children's Miracle Network radiothon. I'm gonna get
(06:10):
that right now. You can get involved by calling eight
seven seven seven one nine kids now. That's eight seven
seven seven nine five four three seven that will run
through tomorrow and during the course of the program today
or tomorrow, likely tomorrow because they've hit the airwaves pretty
heavy today and will in the next hour as well.
(06:31):
We'll welcome someone from WVU Medicine Children's Hospital into the
program to talk about their effort and the great things
that they do in the community. Of course, remember we
kind of we got to enjoy a blizzard and talk
about their efforts here just about that. It was July
thirty first, on Miracle Blizzard Day. Coming up next, we'll
(06:54):
learn more about the effort to repair damage at Westover
VFW Post ninety nine sixteen as a result of torrential
range two weeks ago. It's coming up next on Talk
of the Town right now, clouds seventy one on AM
fourteen forty f M one oh four point five WAJR.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred seven sixty five
eight two five five.
Speaker 5 (07:32):
This is the Talk of the Town.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Well, good Thursday morning.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
It is nine seventeen some clouds and seventy one degrees
in Morgantown and Mike Nolting and with me in studio,
I've got Wilbur England. He's the commander of Westover VFW
Post at ninety nine sixteen. Wilbur, good morning, sir, how
are you.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
Good morning, Mike.
Speaker 6 (07:52):
I'm pretty good this morning.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Well, it's good to see you. And now let's see
you've got your uniform on today. Uh, tell us about
your uniform.
Speaker 6 (08:00):
Yes, sir, this is the Honor Guard uniform. This is
what we wear when we do military funerals, which I
have one right after we're done here. We do it
for the biggest part of Montongee County, sometimes go into
Preston County or Marion County.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
And of course we're losing veterans at a very high rate.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
If I may ask, is this World War two or
Korean or.
Speaker 6 (08:24):
World War two veterans are getting very few left. For
a while, it was three four funerals every week here.
Lately it's cut down quite a bit, but we are
getting deep into well Korea vetter also or getting to
be very few, but we're starting to get pretty heavy
(08:47):
into Vietnam veterans.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Okay, all right, and we'll talk more about your service
here in just a few minutes.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
I would like for you to share some of that
with us.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
But first go back two weeks ago.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
I think it was a Wednesday afternoon.
Speaker 6 (09:04):
Or no, Wednesday Wednesday morning.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yeah, yes, sir, started about nine thirty in the morning
lasted till noon. Some areas National Weather Services got two
point seven inches of rain.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
What happened to the post.
Speaker 6 (09:17):
Well, our post sets up on a bank about fifteen
twenty feet higher than what the road in the sewage
system is. But I got up to the post probably
around eleven o'clock because we had a funeral that morning
and it was really pouring rain. But when I got
into the post, I smelled a strong smell of something
(09:39):
that I know wasn't supposed to be there. So I
looked around and in behind the bar there was some
water and it really smelled well. I started back out
to my truck and I looked over toward the bathrooms
and there was water coming out of the bathrooms. I
opened the door of the bathroom and there was water
shooting up out of the commodes. This is lady bathroom.
(10:02):
There was water shooting up out of the commodes almost
two feet high. We had just spent three years putting
the post back together. We put it back together with
volunteers and donations, and to stand there and be helpless
to watch what was happening, it was one of the
(10:25):
most disheartening days I've had in my life because a
lot of veterans put in on a lot of well
not the only veterans. We had others come down there.
Operation Welcome Home came down help us clean up. That
was three years ago. We had a really devastating water leak.
It filled up the upstairs when it came downstairs. The
(10:47):
place is full of metal rafters. When it got into them,
they it just followed them everywhere in that post and
it brought down our ceilings, took down our walls. We
have no idea how long the water run, but it
was I guess it was quite a while because we
got in there there was close to four inches on
the floor and we recovered from that.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
In this particular situation, there is a GoFundMe page that
has been set up, so I wanted to let the
listeners know about that. But what is the majority of
the damage that you're dealing with in this event?
Speaker 6 (11:25):
Most of this is our floors. We actually had sewage
come out on our into our main it's our canteen. Okay,
it came out there. We were shoving it out the
door with two snowshovels to get rid of it. It
was coming in that fast and we couldn't We couldn't
(11:48):
handle it. But mainly the sewage stayed in the bathrooms
and on the floor right in front of our main door.
We had professionals come in and clean it up. That's
gonna cost us fourteen thousand dollars. We've already managed to
get seven five hundred together, but we have the other
(12:10):
half to pay. We're working with the city of Westover.
Mub has told us that it's not their problem, which
it was pure Sorry, Jean, whose problem is it? But
I've got a good bunch of people over there. They've
worked hard to keep us going and we're not giving up. Well,
(12:32):
we're planning on being there.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
And I think that's an important thing to bring up.
And you and I talked about this on the phone
before the interview, and that is the fact that the
VFW over there, and it's been a conscious effort on
your part, has really become an important part of the
community in terms of everything from going out and having
a dinner with your wife or even I know that
(12:58):
the WV YOU Medicine Children's Hospital recently just had benefit there.
Speaker 6 (13:04):
Yeah, we were running out our upstairs room to a
lot of people, some veterans groups and people like that,
or others that are doing a benefit, we either cut
the price or we give it to them for free.
We're trying to be a community active. And last year
(13:26):
we had a trick or Trump trunk or treat or
whatever they called it. But it turned out it was fantastic.
We even had a guy in World War One doughboy
outfit and it just turned out really nice. We had
a benefit over there for veterans. This one company in
(13:49):
Morgantown gave away a whole house generator and installed it,
but it had to be a veteran that wonted or
somebody else could win it, but they had agree to
give it to a veteran. Of course, like you said, Wu.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Attorneys, haven't you had some candidate forums there as well?
Speaker 4 (14:13):
What but political candidate forums?
Speaker 3 (14:15):
No? Okay, uh.
Speaker 6 (14:17):
We we rent the room downstairs to the Republican Wantege
County Republican Republican Executive Committee. They meet they meet there
once a month. The FOP meets there. We don't charge them.
We charge your Republicans, but it's it's open. If the
(14:46):
Democrats want to come in and pay for it, they're
welcome to. We're non political we try to keep politics
completely out of it.
Speaker 5 (14:56):
Ah.
Speaker 6 (14:57):
We have the f o P meets there, we have
um we have the United steel Workers, There's there's several
other groups, Shriners, they all meet there. We we have
a room downstairs. We try to keep it at a
low price.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
And sure, how can people help come up? Help you
come up with some of this cash that you need?
Speaker 6 (15:22):
Well, I take checks, okay, but I appreciate every dollar
that's coming in. The Other day, at my UMW meeting,
which I am a member of the UMW post that
meets there, two of the guys after after my post
give five hundred dollars. Two of the guys come up
(15:44):
and handed me cash, one hundred dollar bill and a
fifty dollar bill. Uh, that's really appreciated, especially out of
people that I've worked with and know.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Sure, but how how important is it going to be
to get these repairs made before you head into the
holiday season.
Speaker 6 (16:02):
Well, with a little bit of luck, we should be
able to get these repairs done. We should be back
up by next week. Okay, Well that's gonna take. It's
gonna take a work party down there sometime this weekend,
and we're gonna get it cleaned up and get back
in business. Okay, right, I mean the smell is going
and everything.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Okay, Well, that's that's good news.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Wilburgh, England is with a season commander of VFW Post
ninety nine sixteen over in west Over Litz, shift gears
and talk about aircraft carriers.
Speaker 6 (16:34):
You want to they're big.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
They're big, Yes, they are.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Hey, I guess tell us a little bit about your
experience with aircraft carriers.
Speaker 6 (16:42):
I went into the Navy in the first part, well,
the third day of nineteen sixty seven, went in on
my wife's birthday, January second, got on a greyhound bus
down here in Morgantown when the greyhound was still going,
and head it for Acshally, Kentucky, where I was inducted.
(17:02):
They flew me from Nashland, Kentucky in a small Cessna.
They had overbooked the big plane, so they put four
of us in the Cessna and flew us up to
Great Lakes. When we landed O'Hare, it was snowing like
you wouldn't believe. Anyway, After thirteen fourteen weeks of boot camp,
(17:24):
chief petty Officer comes around and he said, I need volunteers. Well,
first thing, I'd been told when I joined the Navy,
don't volunteer, Okay, he said, well no, he said, really,
if you want to go into aviation, you have to volunteer.
So a bunch of us put our hands up. From there,
I went to jet school at Memphis, Tennessee. Then I
(17:48):
had to wait for my orders, and everybody else had
their orders. They were going. I was the only guy
stealing in the barracks. And he come back one day
and he said, your orders. He said, you got some
great orders. He said you what trade? So they sent
me to at Sugi, Japan. My first thing there was
(18:11):
where the heck is that Sugi, Japan? Well, it was
right within view of Mount Fujiama, beautiful view of mout Fujiama.
It was a naval air station. So I was assigned
to a squadron It's called VRC fifty, which was Fleet
Tactical Support squadron. And from there I worked on the
(18:32):
line for a few days, about a week or so,
and learned how to handle aircraft and move aircraft around
and give signals to the pilots and stuff. And then
my line officer come in. He said, England, he said,
been watching you? He said, you take your job seriously.
He said, would you like to volunteer for aircrew I
thought for a minute and I said yeah, I would.
(18:55):
So from there they trained me as an air crewman.
We had a detachment in the Philippines. I ended up
down there flying from the Philippines out to the aircraft carrier.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Now, tell us, because we're running out of time, tell
us about landing on a carrier.
Speaker 6 (19:10):
Well, you're going about somewhere around one hundred and seventy
miles an hour. When you go across the back of
the aircraft carrier, you feel a sudden drop and then
all of a sudden that when that tailhook catches that wire,
you go from one hundred and seventy miles an hour
to zero in less than around two seconds. You're pulling
(19:33):
four g's which is four times body weight.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
Wilbur, thank you for your service, sir, Thank you, sir.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Absolutely, clouds in seventy one degrees and we'll get some
information on our website and we'll be talking about how
you can help the west over VFW.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
Post ninety nine to sixteen in their hour of need.
Speaker 5 (20:05):
Now back to the talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Well, good Thursday morning, Cloud East guys, and seventy one degrees.
In the University City it is nine thirty five and
of course, uh today is the start of the WVRC
Media Cares for Kids radio thon to benefits the patients,
(20:34):
benefit the patients and the families and of course the
workers at WVU Medicine Children's Hospital. You can reach out
and help this effort by calling eight seven seven seven
one nine Kids Now.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
That number again is.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Eight seven seven seven nine five four three seven And
of course, let's see it'll be coming up next weekend
that wv U Medicine Children's Hospital will be celebrating their
third birthday. It was just three years ago, coming up
here in just I guess less than ten days that
(21:14):
had the big groundbreaking, the ribbon cutting, and people from
all across the state, including a large contingent from the
Children's Miracle Network, all banded together to cut the ribbon
on that facility, and they offered tours that day, and
it's probably maybe the one and final day that the tours.
(21:39):
The public at large could go in and tour everything
from the tenth floor Hostetler Family Resource Center and all
the other objects and things that are left there on
all of the other floors that serve the patients, the families,
and the doctors and the nurses, and now the broadcasts
(22:01):
that are happening during the event.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
Currently they're happening on.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
The tenth floor in the Hosteler Family Resource Center, that
of course has an absolutely magnificent view of the Milin
Pushcar Stadium and all of the memorabilia up there from
every you name it, just to every WVU sport and
including of course Super Bowl winning quarterback Jeff Hostetler as well.
(22:32):
And of course that number to call is eight seven
seven seven one nine. Kids, that number is eight seven
seven seven one nine five four three seven. We talked
just a little bit about some of the issues happening
in Blacksville and compared that with what's happening in Worthington,
(22:52):
and that one clarification is that the Clay Betel High School,
that would be the building that is on on the
Blacksville sanitary sewer system. Now the Mason Dixon Elementary School
is on its own system. And just receive that clarification
(23:15):
just minutes ago. But one of the things that they're
dealing with is number one, the age of the system
and the type of construction of the system, and what
they really need to do is they need to be
able to dig into that system and find out what
the problems are and address them that way.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
And one of the issues.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Is is that they're not sure maybe if there's intense
flooding that has water logged the lines, or maybe if
it's a clog in some portion of the system. But
they're certainly working in order to raise the money. And
I had the opportunity to speak briefly with Mary Dean
(23:57):
yesterday and they're very, very concerned about it. We're going
to speak again today and possibly bring her on the program. Well,
take a quick break, and when we come back, spend
a few minutes with Frank Vatal, the civilian aid to
the Secretary of the Army and also picking up a
(24:18):
brand new title. Well actually he is also the president
and CEO of Forge Business Solutions, the author of the
book Forge Ahead, The Blueprint to Creating a Winning Strategy
in business, life and Wrestling. We're going to talk to
him about his new role as president of the West
Virginia National Guard Foundation. It's coming up next on top
(24:38):
of the Town AM fourteen forty f M one four
point five WAJR.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
We are talking about your town.
Speaker 5 (24:58):
Now back to the talk.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Good Thursday morning.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
That text line that is three h four talk, three
four clouds and seventy one degrees on the phone. We've
got the civilian aid to the Secretary of the Army,
also president and CEO of Forge Business Solutions, the author
of the book Forge Ahead, the Blueprint to Creating a
Winning Strategy in business, life and wrestling. And now we
(25:24):
can add the President of the West Virginia National Guard Foundation,
Frank Vitel. Frank, good morning, how are you.
Speaker 7 (25:31):
It's great to be with you today. I'm doing very
very well. Okay, well, we're starting to wrap up here
and I'm glad, glad to have the kids off the school.
So thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (25:39):
Absolutely, it's a pleasure to have you on.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Frank, I guess first off, talk about your role at
the West Virginia National Guard Foundation.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
What does the president of the Foundation do, sir.
Speaker 7 (25:51):
Yeah, So, you know, I have you a great opportunity
to serve in a variety of roles, and today we're
focusing on the National Guard Foundation. So the National Guard
Foundation was established in the nineties here in West Virginia
to you know, quite frankly support members of the Guard
of both the Army National Guard and the Air National
Guard and their families. You know, I can remember when
(26:14):
I enlisted in the Army back in the early nineties,
nineteen ninety one. You know, so many people were going
off and being deployed and leaving their homes, but yet
their families remain behind and sometimes they have a need.
Maybe it's a car that breaks down, or they need
a new washer, and it's very difficult when when you're
worried about your family and you're not home and you've
(26:37):
been deployed. So the National West Virginia National Guard Foundation,
you know, established itself, stepped up to start meeting the
needs of those families, and they have developed and evolved
over the years, and now they support the gold Star
Family Retreat at Camp Dawson every year, in a variety
of other scholarships and educational opportunities, and so it's a
(26:59):
great organization. And now it's you know, the foundation is
stepping up. We've established you know, new board members and
new officers, and so I have the honor now of
serving as president of the West Virginia National Guard Foundation.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Frank I tell us with us and now Frank, you know,
you play a key role in that network that supports
those who remain here on the home front when a
deployment occurs. And I guess my question to you is
how do people know that you're there?
Speaker 7 (27:31):
Well, that's an excellent question because one of the things
that we realized, you know, and it's so you know
West Virginian in a way, that we're a proud, humble people,
and we don't always do the greatest job of shining
a light on ourselves and the great things that we're doing.
So the Foundation has actually done amazing things over the
past many years, but you know, we realize as a
(27:52):
board that it is time to really start to shine
a light. And so you're going to see the Foundation
start to let people know we are right now today
thanks to your help, who we are and what we're doing.
We're going to let them know about our events like
the gold Star Family Weekend that is coming up at
Camp Dausin on September the twenty fifth through the twenty eighth.
(28:12):
And also we're going to be looking for partners. So
if you're a business or an interested person that likes
to help support veterans and their families, we have opportunities
for you. So we're working, we're establishing a website, and
we're going to start working on developing social media. So
in many ways, it's about taking this organization to the
(28:34):
next level. And that's where I'm hoping that I, as
a leader and my fellow board members can step up
and really start to put the foundation out in the
forefront so that other West Virginians know what we're doing,
but most importantly, that our soldiers and airmen and their
families know where to come for resources. So we have
a good bit of work ahead of us, but I'm
(28:55):
excited about it.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Yeah, Frank you bringing up a great point, because in
my preparation for our conversation, you know, I did find
kind of a I found a lot of brief cursory information,
but I really didn't find, you know, contact. I know
that the foundation is on Coonskin Drive, I think in Charleston,
(29:18):
but other than that, there really wasn't a lot out there.
But one of the things that I did see that
I wanted to get you to come in on are
something called Patriot Gardens. And now gardens is kind of
a play on words because it's actually spelled g A
U D E N S as in gardens.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
I left out the R.
Speaker 7 (29:41):
Sorry, Yeah. So so Patriot Garden is an outstanding program
that that you know, the Foundation partners with or one
of our partner organizations, and they're doing amazing things with
veterans and their families, and so you know, I'm just
learning about them myself, so as we can continue to evolve,
we want to support their efforts because they're actually you know,
(30:04):
working with their boots on the ground with our our
soldiers and our veterans. So I would definitely recommend having
them on the show sometime to talk more about the
offerings that they have. But again, the reason that we
support them as well as the gold Star Family Retreat
is because you know, that's a way for the Foundation
to actually thank and impact our our active and veteran
(30:29):
you know, active military and veterans and their families. So
we really want to continue to promote those programs. You know,
we we provide relief and emergency assistance to Guard members
and their families. As I said, support gold Star Weekend,
preserving you know, we preserve our history as a West
Virginia National Guard, which you know stems back to the
(30:49):
b Line March that I spoke to you about around
the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Army. So
we have a proud history of service and support in
West Virginia for our military, and we want to continue
moving that along real quick.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Tell us what you do for gold Star Families over
at Camp Dawson in September.
Speaker 7 (31:08):
Yeah, So, you know, the idea of gold Star family
stems back from World War One, and so interestingly enough,
you know, being in the mountaineer community here, the gold
star and the blue star, right, so the blue star
when when families had their loved ones go off to war,
they would they would hang blue stars and and and
(31:29):
in the event that one of them died in service,
they replaced the blue star with the gold star. And
that's how we got to the Gold Star families. And
now the Gold Star families are recognized, you know, by
our government, you know, by the Pentagon and and and
by our communities across America. So so what we do
here is in West Virginia we have an unbelievable thanks
(31:53):
to the leadership of a Commands art to Major Dusty
Jones and so many others here in the West Virginia
National Guard, we put on a gold Star Weekend at
Camp Dawson, and we have folks even come from Pennsylvania,
and these are family members of those that have lost
the loved one in the service of our nation. And
they come together and they have programs and entertainment, and
(32:15):
most importantly, they have community. They get together and they
share stories about their loved ones and they help one
another heal. So we're really proud to support that and
anyone that would like to be a sponsor or be
involved with gold Star Family Retreat at Camp Dawson, and
again that's on September the twenty fifth through the twenty
eight I would invite them to reach out to me.
(32:36):
I can give my contact information and I'd be happy
to plug them into that opportunity. So we're very proud
to support the West Virginia National Guard gold Star Family
Retreat at Camp Dawson.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
Absolutely, Frank, And in addition to that, you also said
you're looking for partners to partner with you at the
foundation level for other events as well, So please give
us your contact information for any individual or business who'd
like to reach.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
Out to you.
Speaker 7 (33:05):
Yeah, yeah, please reach out to me at f V
I T A L E. F Vitally at forge f
O r G e Bsanbravoszsanzebra dot com and I'd be
happy to help you in any way that I can.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Okay, Frank, thank you for your service, and thank you
for your time, and as always, keep up the good work.
You know, your your title and everything that we have
to say. Almost takes a segment to do the introduction
for you.
Speaker 7 (33:33):
Yes, I enjoy service, but I need to I need to.
I need to learn when to say no once in
a while, but when it comes to veterans and their families,
I will never say no.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
Excellent Frank Vitally. He is now the president of the
West Virginia National Guard Foundation, and we thank you for
your time today.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
Frank, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 7 (33:54):
I have a great day.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
Absolutely take care of yourself.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Frank Vitali now the president of the West Virginia National
Guard Foundation.
Speaker 3 (34:02):
Frank brings up a great point.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
A lot of times deployments can come off very very quickly.
A wife can find herself alone with children and obligations
and certainly problems that crop up. And we just had
Eddie Campbell in here Tuesday. We were talking about Murphy's Law,
and that's exactly the kinds of things that happen as
(34:26):
soon as a deployment is announced and the breadwinner of
the home leaves the home, and that those family members
that remain need to have a resource in order to
keep the home fires burning, so to speak. It is
nine point fifty three. We'll be back to wrap things up.
(34:46):
Coming up after this on Talk of the Town on
AM fourteen forty f M one four point five WAJR.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two finy five.
Speaker 5 (35:14):
This is the Talk of the Town.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Well good Thursday morning, cloud seventy three degrees in the
University City Metro Newszaki Weather says a possibility today of
a late day shower or thunderstorm and hive just around
eighty degrees coming up on October the sixteenth, that is
a Thursday night. Mont County Republican Executive Committee will be
(35:38):
holding their fifteenth annual Reagan Dinner that'll be at the
Lakeview Golf Resort. Their keynote speaker this year gentleman by
the name of Johnny Joey Jones, Marine Corps staff sergeant
retired and also a Fox News contributor and New York
Times bestselling author. Now, those tickets are on sale now
(36:01):
at the Montcounty Republican Party Executive Committee website. Now, the
way that event is going to going to play out
is it looks like they'll have a special VIP reception
included with that event and chance and they also have
(36:21):
a complete level of sponsors for individuals or businesses to
get involved. Individual seats are one hundred dollars and there
will be a limited number of veteran tickets available at
a discount. You can go to montcountygop dot com or
(36:43):
you can contact Dale Sparks. His number is three zero
four two eight two nine eight nine. Once again, that's
the fifteenth Annual Reagan Dinner coming up on October the
sixteenth at the Lakeview Resort in Morgantown. Tickets are on
sale now. And don't forget the WVRC Media Cares for
(37:09):
Kids radiothon to benefit families and patients in need at
wv Medicine Children's Hospital is going on right now and
that'll happen throughout the day today, tonight, and tomorrow. And
that number you'll need eight seven seven seven nine kids,
it's eight seven seven seven one nine five four three seven,
(37:32):
make it a great Thursday. It's time now for Metro
News talk Line on the Voice of Morgantown WAJR.
This is the Talk of the Town from Morgantown to Klucksburg.
If it's happening, we're talking about it. Call the show
toll free at one eight hundred and seven sixty five
eight two, fivey five. Now Here is your host for
the Talk of the Town, Mike notlting O.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Good Thursday morning, cloudy sky's seventy one degrees in Morgantown.
Metro News ACI Weather says could see a late day
thunderstorm today. Plenty of clouds in a high of eighty degrees.
Of course, we'll keep our eye to the sky. Metro
News excuse me, West Virginia five one one reports an
(00:46):
incident free interstate system at this hour. And just to
draw your attention to a point, about a month ago,
we spoke with the District for manager with the doh
Eural Gas about some issues there in Marion County that
were as a result of the Father's Day torrential rains
(01:07):
they experienced.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
And taking a.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Look at five one one, it looks like they are
addressing those issues and there are only two remaining in
the Marion County area to be rectified from those storms. Well,
welcome to Talk of the Town on AM fourteen forty
FM one oh four point five w AJR Mike Nolton.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
You'll find me on X as.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
Your news guy, our producer this morning, Mia Hinkins. She
is at eight hundred seven six five Talk. We also
have a text line we'd love to hear from you
that number three oh four Talk three oh four out.
Two weeks ago or thereabout, we received another downpour now,
this one dumped nearly three inches of rain, causing flooding
(01:52):
at the Morgantown High School and the west Over VFW
Post nine nine sixteen in Westover. Now that post, it's
really become a hub for community events of all types.
You know, recently WVU Medicine Children's just had a fundraiser
for the Tony Renter Genteel Foundation that included country music artist.
Speaker 4 (02:13):
Wade Hayes and some up and coming talent as well.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
I've also it's been a place for political candidates to
meet with the public. I think the League of Women
Voters has used that facility as well. And you know,
let's not forget about what they're known for, and that
is a socialization and a place for veterans to meet,
have meetings or maybe have a dinner or a fish fry. Well,
(02:38):
we're going to welcome Commander Wilbur England at nine point fifteen.
We're going to talk about some damage that they suffered
during that reign two weeks ago. There go fundme account
and how you can help them repair those damages. And
I think what we're going to find out is that
damage happened just after a lot of that work was completed.
(02:59):
So we'll welcome Commander Wilbur England at nine point fifteen.
At nine thirty, we've got Morgantown resident Frank Vital. Among
other things, he is the Civilian Aid to the Secretary
of the Army, as the president and CEO of Forge
Business Solutions, the author of the book Forge a Head
(03:19):
the Blueprint Creating a Winning Strategy in business, life and Wrestling,
and also he is an adjunct professor at WVU. Well,
he's added another title to his name. He's been selected
as the president of the West Virginia National Guard Foundation.
He'll join us at nine thirty to talk about that
role and we'll get an update on Army recruiting. In
(03:42):
his activities working as the Aid to the Secretary or
the Civilian Aid to the Secretary of the Army.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
A couple of headlines.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
The Dominion Post is reporting one of the most successful
developers in the state, west Ridges filed for Chapter eleven bankruptcy.
Of filing was made the same date as some of
their creditors were set to pull the trigger on a
hearing to put them into receivership. Now, this is a
(04:14):
developing situation and it pretty much locked up in the
courts until the courts make a few decisions. Now that
information is going to be public, I'd like to read
you this statement from the Mond County Commission. The Commission
is aware of the situation and our legal counsel is
in active communication with west Ridge. We expect Westridge to
(04:35):
prepare a refinancing plan related to the bankruptcy of the
affected entities, which will be submitted to the courts for approval.
West Ridge has assured us and the Commission. We'd like
to reassure the public that all obligations and commitments were
made by west Ridge in the partnership with the Commission
(04:57):
will be honored. That is the statement from the Mond
County Commission and will of course be watching.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
That and provide updates as we can.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Oh the Town of Blacksville facing some major issues with
their sanitary sewer system. Mond County Delegate Joe Statler says
he and the County Commission are working to find the money,
I guess, in order to finance an effort to locate
that problem then go and address it. One of the
great things about this particular effort is they're in Worthington.
(05:28):
They're right next to the river out in Blacksville, but
not so much the case, so they don't have those
kinds of concerns, but the concerns they do have two
biggest customers, Mason Dixon Elementary School and the Clay Betel
High School that could certainly create some issues. So we'll
(05:49):
be watching that as well. And don't forget that the well,
we've got ten stations in the WVRC Media family that's
the parent company of w JR that are participating in
the WVU Medicine Children's Miracle Network radiothon. I'm gonna get
(06:10):
that right now. You can get involved by calling eight
seven seven seven one nine kids now. That's eight seven
seven seven nine five four three seven that will run
through tomorrow and during the course of the program today
or tomorrow, likely tomorrow because they've hit the airwaves pretty
heavy today and will in the next hour as well.
(06:31):
We'll welcome someone from WVU Medicine Children's Hospital into the
program to talk about their effort and the great things
that they do in the community. Of course, remember we
kind of we got to enjoy a blizzard and talk
about their efforts here just about that. It was July
thirty first, on Miracle Blizzard Day. Coming up next, we'll
(06:54):
learn more about the effort to repair damage at Westover
VFW Post ninety nine sixteen as a result of torrential
range two weeks ago. It's coming up next on Talk
of the Town right now, clouds seventy one on AM
fourteen forty f M one oh four point five WAJR.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred seven sixty five
eight two five five.
Speaker 5 (07:32):
This is the Talk of the Town.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
Well, good Thursday morning.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
It is nine seventeen some clouds and seventy one degrees
in Morgantown and Mike Nolting and with me in studio,
I've got Wilbur England. He's the commander of Westover VFW
Post at ninety nine sixteen. Wilbur, good morning, sir, how
are you.
Speaker 5 (07:51):
Good morning, Mike.
Speaker 6 (07:52):
I'm pretty good this morning.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Well, it's good to see you. And now let's see
you've got your uniform on today. Uh, tell us about
your uniform.
Speaker 6 (08:00):
Yes, sir, this is the Honor Guard uniform. This is
what we wear when we do military funerals, which I
have one right after we're done here. We do it
for the biggest part of Montongee County, sometimes go into
Preston County or Marion County.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
And of course we're losing veterans at a very high rate.
Speaker 3 (08:20):
If I may ask, is this World War two or
Korean or.
Speaker 6 (08:24):
World War two veterans are getting very few left. For
a while, it was three four funerals every week here.
Lately it's cut down quite a bit, but we are
getting deep into well Korea vetter also or getting to
be very few, but we're starting to get pretty heavy
(08:47):
into Vietnam veterans.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
Okay, all right, and we'll talk more about your service
here in just a few minutes.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
I would like for you to share some of that
with us.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
But first go back two weeks ago.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
I think it was a Wednesday afternoon.
Speaker 6 (09:04):
Or no, Wednesday Wednesday morning.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yeah, yes, sir, started about nine thirty in the morning
lasted till noon. Some areas National Weather Services got two
point seven inches of rain.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
What happened to the post.
Speaker 6 (09:17):
Well, our post sets up on a bank about fifteen
twenty feet higher than what the road in the sewage
system is. But I got up to the post probably
around eleven o'clock because we had a funeral that morning
and it was really pouring rain. But when I got
into the post, I smelled a strong smell of something
(09:39):
that I know wasn't supposed to be there. So I
looked around and in behind the bar there was some
water and it really smelled well. I started back out
to my truck and I looked over toward the bathrooms
and there was water coming out of the bathrooms. I
opened the door of the bathroom and there was water
shooting up out of the commodes. This is lady bathroom.
(10:02):
There was water shooting up out of the commodes almost
two feet high. We had just spent three years putting
the post back together. We put it back together with
volunteers and donations, and to stand there and be helpless
to watch what was happening, it was one of the
(10:25):
most disheartening days I've had in my life because a
lot of veterans put in on a lot of well
not the only veterans. We had others come down there.
Operation Welcome Home came down help us clean up. That
was three years ago. We had a really devastating water leak.
It filled up the upstairs when it came downstairs. The
(10:47):
place is full of metal rafters. When it got into them,
they it just followed them everywhere in that post and
it brought down our ceilings, took down our walls. We
have no idea how long the water run, but it
was I guess it was quite a while because we
got in there there was close to four inches on
the floor and we recovered from that.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
In this particular situation, there is a GoFundMe page that
has been set up, so I wanted to let the
listeners know about that. But what is the majority of
the damage that you're dealing with in this event?
Speaker 6 (11:25):
Most of this is our floors. We actually had sewage
come out on our into our main it's our canteen. Okay,
it came out there. We were shoving it out the
door with two snowshovels to get rid of it. It
was coming in that fast and we couldn't We couldn't
(11:48):
handle it. But mainly the sewage stayed in the bathrooms
and on the floor right in front of our main door.
We had professionals come in and clean it up. That's
gonna cost us fourteen thousand dollars. We've already managed to
get seven five hundred together, but we have the other
(12:10):
half to pay. We're working with the city of Westover.
Mub has told us that it's not their problem, which
it was pure Sorry, Jean, whose problem is it? But
I've got a good bunch of people over there. They've
worked hard to keep us going and we're not giving up. Well,
(12:32):
we're planning on being there.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
And I think that's an important thing to bring up.
And you and I talked about this on the phone
before the interview, and that is the fact that the
VFW over there, and it's been a conscious effort on
your part, has really become an important part of the
community in terms of everything from going out and having
a dinner with your wife or even I know that
(12:58):
the WV YOU Medicine Children's Hospital recently just had benefit there.
Speaker 6 (13:04):
Yeah, we were running out our upstairs room to a
lot of people, some veterans groups and people like that,
or others that are doing a benefit, we either cut
the price or we give it to them for free.
We're trying to be a community active. And last year
(13:26):
we had a trick or Trump trunk or treat or
whatever they called it. But it turned out it was fantastic.
We even had a guy in World War One doughboy
outfit and it just turned out really nice. We had
a benefit over there for veterans. This one company in
(13:49):
Morgantown gave away a whole house generator and installed it,
but it had to be a veteran that wonted or
somebody else could win it, but they had agree to
give it to a veteran. Of course, like you said, Wu.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Attorneys, haven't you had some candidate forums there as well?
Speaker 4 (14:13):
What but political candidate forums?
Speaker 3 (14:15):
No? Okay, uh.
Speaker 6 (14:17):
We we rent the room downstairs to the Republican Wantege
County Republican Republican Executive Committee. They meet they meet there
once a month. The FOP meets there. We don't charge them.
We charge your Republicans, but it's it's open. If the
(14:46):
Democrats want to come in and pay for it, they're
welcome to. We're non political we try to keep politics
completely out of it.
Speaker 5 (14:56):
Ah.
Speaker 6 (14:57):
We have the f o P meets there, we have
um we have the United steel Workers, There's there's several
other groups, Shriners, they all meet there. We we have
a room downstairs. We try to keep it at a
low price.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
And sure, how can people help come up? Help you
come up with some of this cash that you need?
Speaker 6 (15:22):
Well, I take checks, okay, but I appreciate every dollar
that's coming in. The Other day, at my UMW meeting,
which I am a member of the UMW post that
meets there, two of the guys after after my post
give five hundred dollars. Two of the guys come up
(15:44):
and handed me cash, one hundred dollar bill and a
fifty dollar bill. Uh, that's really appreciated, especially out of
people that I've worked with and know.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Sure, but how how important is it going to be
to get these repairs made before you head into the
holiday season.
Speaker 6 (16:02):
Well, with a little bit of luck, we should be
able to get these repairs done. We should be back
up by next week. Okay, Well that's gonna take. It's
gonna take a work party down there sometime this weekend,
and we're gonna get it cleaned up and get back
in business. Okay, right, I mean the smell is going
and everything.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Okay, Well, that's that's good news.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
Wilburgh, England is with a season commander of VFW Post
ninety nine sixteen over in west Over Litz, shift gears
and talk about aircraft carriers.
Speaker 6 (16:34):
You want to they're big.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
They're big, Yes, they are.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
Hey, I guess tell us a little bit about your
experience with aircraft carriers.
Speaker 6 (16:42):
I went into the Navy in the first part, well,
the third day of nineteen sixty seven, went in on
my wife's birthday, January second, got on a greyhound bus
down here in Morgantown when the greyhound was still going,
and head it for Acshally, Kentucky, where I was inducted.
(17:02):
They flew me from Nashland, Kentucky in a small Cessna.
They had overbooked the big plane, so they put four
of us in the Cessna and flew us up to
Great Lakes. When we landed O'Hare, it was snowing like
you wouldn't believe. Anyway, After thirteen fourteen weeks of boot camp,
(17:24):
chief petty Officer comes around and he said, I need volunteers. Well,
first thing, I'd been told when I joined the Navy,
don't volunteer, Okay, he said, well no, he said, really,
if you want to go into aviation, you have to volunteer.
So a bunch of us put our hands up. From there,
I went to jet school at Memphis, Tennessee. Then I
(17:48):
had to wait for my orders, and everybody else had
their orders. They were going. I was the only guy
stealing in the barracks. And he come back one day
and he said, your orders. He said, you got some
great orders. He said you what trade? So they sent
me to at Sugi, Japan. My first thing there was
(18:11):
where the heck is that Sugi, Japan? Well, it was
right within view of Mount Fujiama, beautiful view of mout Fujiama.
It was a naval air station. So I was assigned
to a squadron It's called VRC fifty, which was Fleet
Tactical Support squadron. And from there I worked on the
(18:32):
line for a few days, about a week or so,
and learned how to handle aircraft and move aircraft around
and give signals to the pilots and stuff. And then
my line officer come in. He said, England, he said,
been watching you? He said, you take your job seriously.
He said, would you like to volunteer for aircrew I
thought for a minute and I said yeah, I would.
(18:55):
So from there they trained me as an air crewman.
We had a detachment in the Philippines. I ended up
down there flying from the Philippines out to the aircraft carrier.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Now, tell us, because we're running out of time, tell
us about landing on a carrier.
Speaker 6 (19:10):
Well, you're going about somewhere around one hundred and seventy
miles an hour. When you go across the back of
the aircraft carrier, you feel a sudden drop and then
all of a sudden that when that tailhook catches that wire,
you go from one hundred and seventy miles an hour
to zero in less than around two seconds. You're pulling
(19:33):
four g's which is four times body weight.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
Wilbur, thank you for your service, sir, Thank you, sir.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Absolutely, clouds in seventy one degrees and we'll get some
information on our website and we'll be talking about how
you can help the west over VFW.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
Post ninety nine to sixteen in their hour of need.
Speaker 5 (20:05):
Now back to the talk of the town.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Well, good Thursday morning, Cloud East guys, and seventy one degrees.
In the University City it is nine thirty five and
of course, uh today is the start of the WVRC
Media Cares for Kids radio thon to benefits the patients,
(20:34):
benefit the patients and the families and of course the
workers at WVU Medicine Children's Hospital. You can reach out
and help this effort by calling eight seven seven seven
one nine Kids Now.
Speaker 3 (20:48):
That number again is.
Speaker 2 (20:50):
Eight seven seven seven nine five four three seven And
of course, let's see it'll be coming up next weekend
that wv U Medicine Children's Hospital will be celebrating their
third birthday. It was just three years ago, coming up
here in just I guess less than ten days that
(21:14):
had the big groundbreaking, the ribbon cutting, and people from
all across the state, including a large contingent from the
Children's Miracle Network, all banded together to cut the ribbon
on that facility, and they offered tours that day, and
it's probably maybe the one and final day that the tours.
(21:39):
The public at large could go in and tour everything
from the tenth floor Hostetler Family Resource Center and all
the other objects and things that are left there on
all of the other floors that serve the patients, the families,
and the doctors and the nurses, and now the broadcasts
(22:01):
that are happening during the event.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
Currently they're happening on.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
The tenth floor in the Hosteler Family Resource Center, that
of course has an absolutely magnificent view of the Milin
Pushcar Stadium and all of the memorabilia up there from
every you name it, just to every WVU sport and
including of course Super Bowl winning quarterback Jeff Hostetler as well.
(22:32):
And of course that number to call is eight seven
seven seven one nine. Kids, that number is eight seven
seven seven one nine five four three seven. We talked
just a little bit about some of the issues happening
in Blacksville and compared that with what's happening in Worthington,
(22:52):
and that one clarification is that the Clay Betel High School,
that would be the building that is on on the
Blacksville sanitary sewer system. Now the Mason Dixon Elementary School
is on its own system. And just receive that clarification
(23:15):
just minutes ago. But one of the things that they're
dealing with is number one, the age of the system
and the type of construction of the system, and what
they really need to do is they need to be
able to dig into that system and find out what
the problems are and address them that way.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
And one of the issues.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Is is that they're not sure maybe if there's intense
flooding that has water logged the lines, or maybe if
it's a clog in some portion of the system. But
they're certainly working in order to raise the money. And
I had the opportunity to speak briefly with Mary Dean
(23:57):
yesterday and they're very, very concerned about it. We're going
to speak again today and possibly bring her on the program. Well,
take a quick break, and when we come back, spend
a few minutes with Frank Vatal, the civilian aid to
the Secretary of the Army and also picking up a
(24:18):
brand new title. Well actually he is also the president
and CEO of Forge Business Solutions, the author of the
book Forge Ahead, The Blueprint to Creating a Winning Strategy
in business, life and Wrestling. We're going to talk to
him about his new role as president of the West
Virginia National Guard Foundation. It's coming up next on top
(24:38):
of the Town AM fourteen forty f M one four
point five WAJR.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
We are talking about your town.
Speaker 5 (24:58):
Now back to the talk.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Good Thursday morning.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
That text line that is three h four talk, three
four clouds and seventy one degrees on the phone. We've
got the civilian aid to the Secretary of the Army,
also president and CEO of Forge Business Solutions, the author
of the book Forge Ahead, the Blueprint to Creating a
Winning Strategy in business, life and wrestling. And now we
(25:24):
can add the President of the West Virginia National Guard Foundation,
Frank Vitel. Frank, good morning, how are you.
Speaker 7 (25:31):
It's great to be with you today. I'm doing very
very well. Okay, well, we're starting to wrap up here
and I'm glad, glad to have the kids off the school.
So thanks for having me.
Speaker 4 (25:39):
Absolutely, it's a pleasure to have you on.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Frank, I guess first off, talk about your role at
the West Virginia National Guard Foundation.
Speaker 3 (25:48):
What does the president of the Foundation do, sir.
Speaker 7 (25:51):
Yeah, So, you know, I have you a great opportunity
to serve in a variety of roles, and today we're
focusing on the National Guard Foundation. So the National Guard
Foundation was established in the nineties here in West Virginia
to you know, quite frankly support members of the Guard
of both the Army National Guard and the Air National
Guard and their families. You know, I can remember when
(26:14):
I enlisted in the Army back in the early nineties,
nineteen ninety one. You know, so many people were going
off and being deployed and leaving their homes, but yet
their families remain behind and sometimes they have a need.
Maybe it's a car that breaks down, or they need
a new washer, and it's very difficult when when you're
worried about your family and you're not home and you've
(26:37):
been deployed. So the National West Virginia National Guard Foundation,
you know, established itself, stepped up to start meeting the
needs of those families, and they have developed and evolved
over the years, and now they support the gold Star
Family Retreat at Camp Dawson every year, in a variety
of other scholarships and educational opportunities, and so it's a
(26:59):
great organization. And now it's you know, the foundation is
stepping up. We've established you know, new board members and
new officers, and so I have the honor now of
serving as president of the West Virginia National Guard Foundation.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
Frank I tell us with us and now Frank, you know,
you play a key role in that network that supports
those who remain here on the home front when a
deployment occurs. And I guess my question to you is
how do people know that you're there?
Speaker 7 (27:31):
Well, that's an excellent question because one of the things
that we realized, you know, and it's so you know
West Virginian in a way, that we're a proud, humble people,
and we don't always do the greatest job of shining
a light on ourselves and the great things that we're doing.
So the Foundation has actually done amazing things over the
past many years, but you know, we realize as a
(27:52):
board that it is time to really start to shine
a light. And so you're going to see the Foundation
start to let people know we are right now today
thanks to your help, who we are and what we're doing.
We're going to let them know about our events like
the gold Star Family Weekend that is coming up at
Camp Dausin on September the twenty fifth through the twenty eighth.
(28:12):
And also we're going to be looking for partners. So
if you're a business or an interested person that likes
to help support veterans and their families, we have opportunities
for you. So we're working, we're establishing a website, and
we're going to start working on developing social media. So
in many ways, it's about taking this organization to the
(28:34):
next level. And that's where I'm hoping that I, as
a leader and my fellow board members can step up
and really start to put the foundation out in the
forefront so that other West Virginians know what we're doing,
but most importantly, that our soldiers and airmen and their
families know where to come for resources. So we have
a good bit of work ahead of us, but I'm
(28:55):
excited about it.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Yeah, Frank you bringing up a great point, because in
my preparation for our conversation, you know, I did find
kind of a I found a lot of brief cursory information,
but I really didn't find, you know, contact. I know
that the foundation is on Coonskin Drive, I think in Charleston,
(29:18):
but other than that, there really wasn't a lot out there.
But one of the things that I did see that
I wanted to get you to come in on are
something called Patriot Gardens. And now gardens is kind of
a play on words because it's actually spelled g A
U D E N S as in gardens.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
I left out the R.
Speaker 7 (29:41):
Sorry, Yeah. So so Patriot Garden is an outstanding program
that that you know, the Foundation partners with or one
of our partner organizations, and they're doing amazing things with
veterans and their families, and so you know, I'm just
learning about them myself, so as we can continue to evolve,
we want to support their efforts because they're actually you know,
(30:04):
working with their boots on the ground with our our
soldiers and our veterans. So I would definitely recommend having
them on the show sometime to talk more about the
offerings that they have. But again, the reason that we
support them as well as the gold Star Family Retreat
is because you know, that's a way for the Foundation
to actually thank and impact our our active and veteran
(30:29):
you know, active military and veterans and their families. So
we really want to continue to promote those programs. You know,
we we provide relief and emergency assistance to Guard members
and their families. As I said, support gold Star Weekend,
preserving you know, we preserve our history as a West
Virginia National Guard, which you know stems back to the
(30:49):
b Line March that I spoke to you about around
the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Army. So
we have a proud history of service and support in
West Virginia for our military, and we want to continue
moving that along real quick.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Tell us what you do for gold Star Families over
at Camp Dawson in September.
Speaker 7 (31:08):
Yeah, So, you know, the idea of gold Star family
stems back from World War One, and so interestingly enough,
you know, being in the mountaineer community here, the gold
star and the blue star, right, so the blue star
when when families had their loved ones go off to war,
they would they would hang blue stars and and and
(31:29):
in the event that one of them died in service,
they replaced the blue star with the gold star. And
that's how we got to the Gold Star families. And
now the Gold Star families are recognized, you know, by
our government, you know, by the Pentagon and and and
by our communities across America. So so what we do
here is in West Virginia we have an unbelievable thanks
(31:53):
to the leadership of a Commands art to Major Dusty
Jones and so many others here in the West Virginia
National Guard, we put on a gold Star Weekend at
Camp Dawson, and we have folks even come from Pennsylvania,
and these are family members of those that have lost
the loved one in the service of our nation. And
they come together and they have programs and entertainment, and
(32:15):
most importantly, they have community. They get together and they
share stories about their loved ones and they help one
another heal. So we're really proud to support that and
anyone that would like to be a sponsor or be
involved with gold Star Family Retreat at Camp Dawson, and
again that's on September the twenty fifth through the twenty
eight I would invite them to reach out to me.
(32:36):
I can give my contact information and I'd be happy
to plug them into that opportunity. So we're very proud
to support the West Virginia National Guard gold Star Family
Retreat at Camp Dawson.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
Absolutely, Frank, And in addition to that, you also said
you're looking for partners to partner with you at the
foundation level for other events as well, So please give
us your contact information for any individual or business who'd
like to reach.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
Out to you.
Speaker 7 (33:05):
Yeah, yeah, please reach out to me at f V
I T A L E. F Vitally at forge f
O r G e Bsanbravoszsanzebra dot com and I'd be
happy to help you in any way that I can.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Okay, Frank, thank you for your service, and thank you
for your time, and as always, keep up the good work.
You know, your your title and everything that we have
to say. Almost takes a segment to do the introduction
for you.
Speaker 7 (33:33):
Yes, I enjoy service, but I need to I need to.
I need to learn when to say no once in
a while, but when it comes to veterans and their families,
I will never say no.
Speaker 2 (33:44):
Excellent Frank Vitally. He is now the president of the
West Virginia National Guard Foundation, and we thank you for
your time today.
Speaker 3 (33:52):
Frank, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 7 (33:54):
I have a great day.
Speaker 3 (33:55):
Absolutely take care of yourself.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Frank Vitali now the president of the West Virginia National
Guard Foundation.
Speaker 3 (34:02):
Frank brings up a great point.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
A lot of times deployments can come off very very quickly.
A wife can find herself alone with children and obligations
and certainly problems that crop up. And we just had
Eddie Campbell in here Tuesday. We were talking about Murphy's Law,
and that's exactly the kinds of things that happen as
(34:26):
soon as a deployment is announced and the breadwinner of
the home leaves the home, and that those family members
that remain need to have a resource in order to
keep the home fires burning, so to speak. It is
nine point fifty three. We'll be back to wrap things up.
(34:46):
Coming up after this on Talk of the Town on
AM fourteen forty f M one four point five WAJR.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven sixty
five eight two finy five.
Speaker 5 (35:14):
This is the Talk of the Town.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Well good Thursday morning, cloud seventy three degrees in the
University City Metro Newszaki Weather says a possibility today of
a late day shower or thunderstorm and hive just around
eighty degrees coming up on October the sixteenth, that is
a Thursday night. Mont County Republican Executive Committee will be
(35:38):
holding their fifteenth annual Reagan Dinner that'll be at the
Lakeview Golf Resort. Their keynote speaker this year gentleman by
the name of Johnny Joey Jones, Marine Corps staff sergeant
retired and also a Fox News contributor and New York
Times bestselling author. Now, those tickets are on sale now
(36:01):
at the Montcounty Republican Party Executive Committee website. Now, the
way that event is going to going to play out
is it looks like they'll have a special VIP reception
included with that event and chance and they also have
(36:21):
a complete level of sponsors for individuals or businesses to
get involved. Individual seats are one hundred dollars and there
will be a limited number of veteran tickets available at
a discount. You can go to montcountygop dot com or
(36:43):
you can contact Dale Sparks. His number is three zero
four two eight two nine eight nine. Once again, that's
the fifteenth Annual Reagan Dinner coming up on October the
sixteenth at the Lakeview Resort in Morgantown. Tickets are on
sale now. And don't forget the WVRC Media Cares for
(37:09):
Kids radiothon to benefit families and patients in need at
wv Medicine Children's Hospital is going on right now and
that'll happen throughout the day today, tonight, and tomorrow. And
that number you'll need eight seven seven seven nine kids,
it's eight seven seven seven one nine five four three seven,
(37:32):
make it a great Thursday. It's time now for Metro
News talk Line on the Voice of Morgantown WAJR.
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