Veterans' Day observances Monday; well decorated soldier to speak

The members of the local veterans posts here are again inviting the community to join them in remembering our veterans at the Veterans Day ceremony on Monday, Nov 11 at 11a.m. at the veterans park on Park Street.

Also at 2 pm, post leaders will be honoring our veterans at Mercy Living Center. The public is invited to each event. In the event of inclement weather, the 11 a.m. ceremony will be moved to the TLHS auditorium.

Guest speaker at the 11a.m. service will be Sergeant First Class Michael D. Fouse, a native of Pittsburgh, PA.

He enlisted into the United States Army in November 1992 and attended Basic Training at Fort Benning, GA. He attended Advanced Individual Training at Fort Benning, GA as an 11B (Infantryman). In 1996 he attended the United States Army Special Forces Qualification course (Green Beret) from which he was awarded Honor Graduate.

Sergeant First Class Fouses' assignments include: Long Range Recon Patrol (LRSD), 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg North Carolina; 1 st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Campbell; 96th Civil Affairs Battalion, Fort Bragg North Carolina; 1st Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group, Fort Bragg North Carolina; 2nd Battalion, and 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Campbell. Michael has served in South and Central America as well as the Middle East and Central Asia as part of nearly 20 overseas deployments or missions. Six of those deployments were combat operations during Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan OCT 2001 to FEB 2002) in the initial stages of the mission (Horse Soldiers); Operation Iraqi Freedom (3 tours) and Operation Enduring Freedom (Horn of Africa.)

Sergeant First Class Fouses' military education includes: Airborne school, Infantry Officer's Basic Course, US Army Ranger Course, Pathfinder Course, Military Freefall Parachutist course, Static Line Jump-master course, Military Freefall Jump-master course, Survival Evasion\ Resistance and Escape (SERE) level C, USMC High Risk Personnel course, Civil Affairs course, Peacetime Governmental/Hostage Detention course, US Army Instructor training course, Special Forces Qualification Course (18B).

Sergeant First Class Fouses' awards and decorations include: three Bronze Star Medals, three Meritorious Service Medals, one Army Commendation Medal with V device (for valor), six Army Commendation Medals, two Joint Service Achievement Medals, two Army Achievement Medals, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with one Bronze Arrowhead device and two Bronze Star devices, Iraq Campaign Medal with three Bronze Star Devices, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary and Service Medals, Special Forces Tab, Ranger Tab, Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, Pathfinder badge, MFF Parachutist & Jumpmaster Badges, Parachutist Badge, and the Master Parachutist Badge.

Sergeant First Class Fouse is married to the former Erin Mahoney of Malone, and together they have four daughters; Katelyn (22), Loryn (20), Ashley (19) and Sydnie (17).