Fairbanks fetes military community

News: Fairbanks fetes military community

United States Army Alaska

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Story by Staff Sgt. Patricia McMurphy Subscribe To This Journalist

Staff Sgt. Patricia McMurphy

The Army award recipients of the evening: Chief Warrant Officer 4 Allen Mays and 1st Sgt. Luis Porres with 16th CAB (AK), 1st Lt. Thomas Bowcutt and Sgt. 1st Class Sydney Carpenter with 1-2 SBCT and Sgt. 1st Class John Knott III and Sgt. 1st Class Bradford Bunnell with WTB.

FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska - The greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce and Boeing Company hosted the 44th annual Military Appreciation Banquet at the Carlson Center, April 27, to pay tribute to some of the most deserving Fairbanks residents.

Lt. Gen. William Troy, director of the Army staff, and former commander of U. S. Army Alaska, returned to Fairbanks to serve as guest speaker and to present awards.

The event recognized 12 service members and three civilian volunteers from Fort Wainwright and Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, for their accomplishments.

The local community sponsored more than 200 military service members and their families to the formal event.

The annual banquet is a tradition that started more than 50 years ago by Jim and Rosemary Messer, who hosted dinners at their home as a way to say “thank you” to those who served.

"We not only honor their achievements here tonight but their presence and willingness to serve," Lorna Shaw, Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce board member said. “We are eternally grateful for those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in the fight for freedom.”

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