SMETHPORT — Tom Van Giesen of Kane, a Navy and Pennsylvania National Guard veteran, will be the guest speaker at the McKean-Cameron American Legion Memorial Day Service at 1 p.m. on Sunday at the McKean County Courthouse.
Van Giesen said he plans to speak briefly about the history of Memorial Day, which was founded in Boalsburg in 1864, but Waterloo, N.Y., was the first community to recognize Memorial Day as a national holiday in 1873.
During part of his four-year career in the Navy, he served aboard the former USS Leahy, a destroyer commissioned as a guided missile frigate and later reclassified as a guided missile cruiser in 1975.
“We sailed on a goodwill cruise to the Caribbean and South America before leaving for 34 days in Jordan,” he said.
He attained the rank of machinist mate by the time he was honorably discharged.
In 1973, Van Giesen joined the Pennsylvania National Guard. Before rounding out his military career, he had served 11 years at the Kane Armory, as well as assignments at the Cambridge Springs Readiness Center, a part of the state Department of Military Affairs, Co. F Armory of the 728th Maintenance Battalion in Lock Haven and the Clearfield Armory.
In his 21 years with the National Guard, Van Giesen’s unit was sent to assist the cleanup efforts after the second Johnstown flood in 1977, a disaster that claimed 88 lives and cost millions of dollars in damage.
He also received advanced schooling at the Redstone Arsenal at Huntsville, Ala., where he trained in the use of the TOW missile, a tube-launched, optically tracked, wire guided anti-tank missile, one of the most widely used anti-tank weapons.
He closed out his 25 years of military service in 1994, when he retired from the National Guard as a 1st sergeant.
Van Giesen is a Gold Star Father indicating one of his children has died in service to the nation.
His son, Staff Sgt. Ken Van Giesen, was in the National Guard deployed to Afghanistan, serving with the 131st Transportation Unit out of Williamsport and Philadelphia, when he was killed on July 18, 2011, after an improvised explosive device hit his vehicle.
At the time of his death, Ken was one of only 16 Pennsylvania National Guardsmen who had accumulated more than 1,400 days in overseas deployment.
Among his military medals are the Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars. An additional honor came with his induction into the National Infantry Association’s Martyrdom of St. Maurice.
Ken was a member of the Class of 1999 at Kane Area High School, where earned three letters in football and played in the Big 30 Charities Classic Football Game. KAHS has retired his jersey.
Bi-County Commander Bill Blauser of Ludlow Post #489 will offer the welcome.
Mike Bish, also of the Ludlow post, will offer the invocation.
The following American Legion posts will be recognized: Bradford #108, Emporium #194, Ludlow #489, Eldred #887, Smethport #138, Mt. Jewett #574 and Crosby #976.
The Smethport Area High School Band, directed by Sarah Koist, will play “America.”
Following Van Giesen’s remarks, Smethport Post 138 Commander Pat Miesowicz will place a wreath at the veterans’ memorial marker on the courthouse lawn.
The Mount Jewett Veterans of Foreign Wars/American Legion Honor Guard will conduct the Salute to Our Fallen Heroes, followed by the playing of “Taps” and “Armed Forces Salute” by the SAHS Band.
Bish will offer the Benediction and Blauser will make concluding remarks.
