| Staff Sgt. Richard Kollar will serve in Afghanistan in a joint task force. |
United States Army Staff Sgt. Richard T. Kollar is deploying to Afghanistan to serve as a member of Combined Joint Task Force-76 (CJTF-76). The soldier is regularly assigned to the 173rd Airborne Brigade based at Caserma Ederle, Vicenza, Italy.
CJTF-76 is a combined and joint rotation unit supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Kollar will join other units that comprise CJTF-76 to help the Afghan people continue their progress to a free society.
Mission objectives of the combined joint task force include establishing security, defeating Al-Quaida and Taliban forces and deterring the re-emergence of terrorism in Afghanistan. Military leaders say soldiers are committed to staying the course in Afghanistan and standing firm with the Afghan people against forces actively working to prevent the establishment of a stable and secure environment.
Kollar is recognized for his skill with a Sigholtz award. The annual award recognizes a non-commissioned officer showing marksmanship and physical and mental toughness.
Soldiers competing for the awards completed a 10-mile march, an Army physical fitness test, weapons qualifications and a board test administered by four command sergeant majors and one first major.
Kollar is the first non-infantry soldier to attain the award.
A medic with seven years of military service, Kollar is the son of Cyndi and stepson of Danny Brotherson of Price.
His wife, Wendy is the daughter of David Kobe of Spring Glen and Delinda Kobe of Price.
| Pfc. Daniel A. Colonna |
Pfc. Daniel A. Colonna will return to the Price area for a two-week leave to visit with friends and family.
Colonna was wounded in action on April 2, 2005 during an attack by Al-Quaida insurgents at the Abu-Ghraib prison in Iraq while serving with the 2/10 U.S. Marine detachment from Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Colonna was presented with several awards including a Purple Heart for his efforts during the assault.
While Colonna was off duty, the insurgents attacked the prison from four sides. Upon hearing the sirens, Colonna aborted his off-duty status and ran to the aid of fellow Marines who were pinned down in prison tower No. 4.
After refusing to abort his defensive position until his fellow Marines in the tower had been carried to safety, he sustained shrapnel wounds in his arms, legs and face.
After all the Marines had been cleared from the tower, Colonna was taken out and driven to the local Baghdad Hospital, where he remained for two days.
He was then flown to the German Military Hospital where he remained for three days. After spending three days in his final hospital room in Washington, D.C., he returned to Camp Lejeune, N.C., for further treatment.
Colonna is now in excellent condition and has returned to active duty with his Echo Battery at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
In honor of his efforts a community homecoming is planned for his return on April 29 at the Masonic Lodge in Price, located at 39 N. 100 East. It is the family’s request that all those who are able can join in the event.
The reception will be from 7 to 9 p.m. with a DJ to follow providing music for dancing and socializing from 9 p.m. to midnight.
An award presentation is scheduled for 8 p.m. that night by the Marine Corp. League.
The family wishes to honor other heroes currently serving their country from the area by doing a photo tribute that evening.
Those with loved ones who are currently serving or have previously served please call Shauna at (435) 637-3612 or mail or deliver a photo along with the current service address to 295 W. 500 South, Price, UT 84501 before Thursday, April 28.
| Helper councilmember Bob Farrell stands in the filter room of the old Helper Pool just before it was closed indefinitely last year. |
Concerns by a group of citizens that have been working toward building a new pool in Helper were alleviated on Thursday night when the city council voted to put a request for money for the pool from the states Community Impact Board (CIB) at the top of their list.
The confusion on the issue came when the city also made a request to the CIB for money to replace one of the towns water tanks and then the council voted to not place a priority on which project was most important.That action caused concern because citizens for a new pool were worried that should both the requests come before the CIB at during the same meeting the pool might lose out on any money at all.
Mayor Joe Bonacci said that the entire situation was a misunderstanding and that the city did support the pool. However, the entire thing was resolved when it was learned first that the water tank request may not make into the next request cycle because an engineering report requested by the CIB would probably not be in on time for that. In addition, CouncilmemberChuck Buchanan made a motion that the council support the pool as it’s number one consideration at the next meeting of the CIB.
The citizens group has already collected well over $2,000 in private donations toward the pool and also have secured a $75,000 grant from the Eccles Foundation for use in building a new pool. However, according to Erica Kardelis, the spokesperson for the group, the CIB funds are critical to not only have enough to build the kind of pool the group wants, but must come in so the Eccles grant can be matched by Dec. 31 of this year.
She also reported that concerns over the number of requests to the CIB have emerged because Helper is requesting just over $1 million for the new pool and the CIB has imposed a limit of $2.5 million for granting money during any one funding cycle. She reported that at present the CIB has $9 million in requests to review at their next meeting.
“We will represent you well,” the mayor told the assembled group. “But remember we aren’t out of the woods yet on this situation. However the pool will be our first priority.”
The discussion was, however, part of a larger discussion concerning grants, applications and priorities concerning those in the name of Helper.”The reason I am concerned about the situation with grant applications is that we have a number of groups applying for them,” said Councilmember Bob Farrell. “We just need to be sure the right hand knows what the left hand is doing.”
Farrell along with others are concerned because in the case of CIB grant requests must be placed on a county priority list as well. He was also concerned about general grants that are written for other funding sources.
The council decided that all grant applications that are written for Helper must come through the council before they can be submitted.
Last Thursday the Sun Advocate ran this photo asking if anyone knew who the people in the photo were. The first response came from Terry Zorn who named the woman second from the right in the front row as his mother, Julia Sluga. Then on Monday one of the women that is actually in the photo called to say she remembered everyone. From left to right on the front row are Ann Billos, Edna Beckstrom, Helen Lewis, Sluga, and Mamie Black. On the back row is Irene Olsen, Lila Marsh, Ann Lindsey and Lorraine Brown. Lindsey was the one that called and named all these women, who acted as “bony pickers” during World War II.