Now it’s time for me to go back to the world – in my case, leaving The Journal News to pursue my interest in covering national religion news and regional trend stories.

Many thanks to my colleagues and sources for all their assistance, especially with my Return to Vietnam project and launching the At Ease! blog. From now on, please send information about Lower Hudson Valley veterans events and issues to At Ease! bloggers Rich Liebson (rliebson@lohud.com) and Hema Easley (heasley@lohud.com).

Goodbye, and good luck.

The restored building, formerly part of the Putnam County Poor Farm, will be run by the Putnam County Joint Veterans Council. As with the Memorial Day weekend watchfires event (photographed below), veterans representing a range of organizations from the region will attend the group’s ceremony.

According to Karl Rohde, council chairman, the museum will feature a rotation of displays, to be determined based on items loaned or donated by members of the community.

The 200-acre park, off Route 301 in Carmel, NY, is home to several military memorials, including the nation’s first monument to Gold Star Mothers (according to Rohde) and an all-services monument featuring etched bricks honoring individual veterans, which still has room for more names. The Joint Veterans Council is also in the process of completing a chapel and meeting house at the park.

For more information, call the park office at 845-225-3650.

The “Remembering Our War Dead” database currently offers information about the 15 troops from our region killed in combat, beginning with Cpl. Bernard G. Gooden (photographed on right), 22, killed in an ambush on 4/4/03, to Sgt. Merlin German (photographed below), 22,
who succumbed to severe injuries on 4/11/08, three years after an roadside bomb burned most of his body.

The “Search U.S. Forces deaths” database provides a way to search the 4,500-plus American casualties by name, hometown, year of death, and whether they served in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Try them out, and let us know what you think.

Here’s one from Putnam County, submitted by Karl Rohde, chairman of the Putnam County Joint Veterans Council:

The Putnam County Joint Veterans Council held a three-day event this Memorial Day weekend, the Putnam County Veterans Watchfire Vigil. Local veterans stood guard from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m., Friday through Sunday, at the Putnam County Veterans Park. One of the main events was the retirement of more than 4,000 tattered American flags, which were properly burned at the watchfires.

Feel free to post comments or submit more information, including digital photos, about events you attended.

The event, organized by the city’s United Veterans Memorial & Patriotic Association and boasting the theme “We Remember,” will include representatives from the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Montrose VA Hospital, New Rochelle police and fire departments, sailors and Marines from Fleet Week, and Union Army re-enactors.

The Grand Marshal is Ronald Tocci, retired state deputy commissioner of veterans affairs. Speakers are Leonard Weiss, decorated by Gen. Douglas MacArthur; New Rochelle native Bruno Gaita of the Air National Guard; and Capt. Hank Pudley from Camp Smith.

The day will conclude with an afternoon a “Picnic in the Park” featuring food from MacMenamin’s Grill and music in the Hudson Park Bandshell including the 15 pc. Bob Thoesen Orchestra and contemporary rock bands A2Z and Third Stone, and high school student band Backlash.

While covering the story, I took this quick photo of Strawberry schmoozing with two doctors from the Keller Army Community Hospital at West Point: Col. Andrew Friedman (left) and Col. Van Coots (right).

Both Coots and Friedman said their hospital’s partnership with the center, which will offer a range of inpatient and outpatient treatment programs, will be especially valuable because West Point only offers outpatient programs. They also appreciate plans for the center to reach out to veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, struggling with substance abuse problems as they try to readjust to civilian life.

The events include a 1:30 p.m. honor guard, firing squad and bugler at the Music Tower Theater, then a Fleet Week military helicopter demonstration from 2 to 4 p.m. by Marines from Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Veterans will be entitled to ride discounts (2 for 1 Fun Bands) for the entire family and free parking at the amusement park, located off I-95 Exit 19. Military personnel in uniform get free rides all day.

Registration will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Veterans must show their DD-214 papers, a VA ID or a current membership card to a veteran organization. Pre-register and get a pass for free parking. Stop by the Veterans Service Agency, 112 E. Post Road, Room 442, White Plains, or call (914) 995-2146.

The 60-year-old nonprofit organization has distributed a public service announcement about the campaign, starring retired Marine Cpl. Michael Jernigan, blinded by a roadside bomb while serving in Iraq. Jernigan, recently featured in HBO’s Alive Day Memories documentary, is now attending Northern Virginia Community College with help from RFB&D audio textbooks.

Founded in 1948 to help World War II soldiers who were blinded attend college via the GI Bill, RFB&D now serves more than 185,000 people nationwide with various print disabilities, including visual impairments and dyslexia. Due to medical advances, today’s soldiers are increasingly surviving serious combat injuries; according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, more than one million American veterans now have either a visual impairment or another type of print disability.

The annual event, the city’s celebration of the sea services, features military demonstrations and tours of participating ships, many open to visitors from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. between Pier 88 and Pier 92 (along the Hudson River between West 47th and West 53rd streets).

Some highlights from the schedule of events:

May 21

9:30-noon: Parade of Ships & Aircraft fly-over Hudson River from Verrazano Bridge to George Washington Bridge

May 23

9 a.m.-11 a.m.: Two-mile run and wreath ceremony at the World Trade Center site

5 p.m.-6 p.m.: Navy Band performs at the Times Square Recruiting Station

6 p.m.-10 p.m.: Memorial Day Parade in Larchmont

May 25

2 p.m.-4 p.m.: Helicopter Raid Demo at Playland Park

May 26

10 a.m.-1 p.m.: Memorial Day Parade in Pelham

10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Memorial Day Parade in New Rochelle

During a presentation to the academy’s Board of Visitors, Hagenbeck proposed finding alternatives for “sons” and “men” in the lyrics of the school’s “Alma Mater” and “The Corps,” noting that more than 3,000 women have graduated from West Point since 1976, including two female graduates killed in Iraq and buried at the academy.

So, does anyone out there have any good suggestions for ways to make the songs more inclusive? (The comments posted by readers on the AP story on LoHud.com last week unfortunately devolved into political rhetoric.) It’s too bad that English has such few gender-neutral options; one columnist has even suggested singing the songs in Latin. I’m certainly stumped…