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Week of November 8, 2012
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Vol. 5, No. 45v – FREE
Honoring Veterans Recent Events Give Community Special Opportunities to Thank Service Members personal feelings about the sacrifices made by American veterans. Organized by Pete Carlo, a Korean War veteran and past commander of DAV Chapter 47, the ceremony honored veterans for their service and sacrifice to our country. The new stone was donated by Matt and Julie Harper of Four Seasons Nursery, with the removal and placement of the stone in Memorial Veterans Park being donated by Steve and Kim Lundsten of Jensen and Haglund Memorials. A bronze plaque that reads “In memory of all disabled American Veterans For-Get-Me-Not” was purchased by the Disabled American Veterans chapter. While numerous elected officials from various levels of government spoke at both events, the speeches given by New York State Assemblyman Andy Goodell were found by those in attendance to be particularly moving because Goodell has a daughter who has served abroad so he has personally acquired
By DANIEL MEYER Star Contributing Writer
A pair of special events recently provided Chautauqua County residents some unique opportunities to thank those who have bravely served their country. A new stone was placed in Memorial Veterans Park in the City of Jamestown to honor disabled American veterans of all wars, while dozens of people gathered to honor a wounded veteran who lives in the Town of Gerry. Both of the events were attended by veterans of foreign wars, elected officials and Chautauqua County residents who gave thanks and showed their gratitude for the sacrifices that have been made by our veterans. Members of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 865 and the Veterans of Modern Warfare Chapter 20 were among those who got together last month and held a benefit to honor United States Army Specialist Tim Newman, a local wounded veteran who served overseas for two years.
Newman served in the United States Army as an infantryman from 2005 until 2011. Originally from Texas, Newman served in Iraq in 2008 and 2009 when he was wounded. The benefit for Newman was held at On the Hill, a new handcrafted gift store located just outside of Gerry. The event featured an official military service, games and food vendors.
The service itself began with a benediction and musical renditions of both “Taps” and “The Star-Spangled Banner” and also offered a full military salute performed by the color guard and firing squad. The ceremony held in Memorial Veterans Park in Jamestown included various speeches from veterans and Continued on page 11 dignitaries who expressed their
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From Army to Binary
Incubator Businessowner, Veteran, Shares His Story
Veteran’s Day
By Patricia Pihl Managing Editor
Having survived the 9/11 attack at his high school 500 feet from ground zero, Ryan Wolf became an enlisted man and member of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, serving from 2002-2004. On his way to becoming an officer, Wolf was injured during a night jump, his left knee and ankle incurring numerous fractures. With his military plans dashed, he was given the opportunity to “fly desk” or get out, Wolf decided to leave military service. After being discharged, fate would hand him another blow back in the United States. While riding his motorcycle home from work on the Los Angeles 101 freeway, he was sideswiped by a driver at 70 miles an hour, compounding the injury to that same bad leg. “I was very happy that I survived the incident and walked on crutches a few hours later,” Wolf says while speaking at his business, Silicon Wolves, inside SUNY Fredonia’s business incubator. “I couldn’t work anymore and couldn’t go to school because I didn’t have the money.” Instead, Wolf re-focused his attention back to a longtime interest: computers. “I had worked with computers since I was 9 and had one of the first Intel based computers at the time. Bored after “catching” up in the field, Wolf set his sites on something larger, in fact quite a bit larger. “I thought it would be nice to play with a supercomputer; I understood the concept, but knew nothing about
White Daisy
White Daisy
See Pages A9 & A10
Inside This Week
Ryan Wolf, President of Silicon Wolves Computing Society, located in SUNY Fredonia Technology Incubator in Dunkirk.
them.” It was Wolf ’s method of learning more about supercomputers, which exemplified his chutzpah, and lack of concern for orthodoxy. Wolf said he decided to contact the Air Force, saying “you’ve got a supercomputer in upstate New York, you give out accounts to military personnel, I’m a veteran, I like to tinker and play with stuff, and I’m stuck. Can I have an account on your million dollar super computer?” Never thinking anything would come of it, he says he received an email
from a tech sergeant. Wolf was then put in touch with the tech’s commanding officer, and captain of the Air Force. With tongue-in-cheek, Wolf said he explained, “ I’m prior service, my legs are broken, I can’t go to school and can’t work, can I have the keys to the candy store?” He was eventually put in touch with the Deputy Director of High Performance Computing for the Department of Defense and given access to the Arctic Region Super Computing Center in Alaska. At which point he
was told, ‘we got our information from Langley (referring to the CIA background check)- you’re good to go.’ “Before I knew it, I’ve got a login and special security ID card and pin. Imagine 3,000 laptops at your disposal and you can make them do whatever you want simultaneously. For a computer nerd, it’s like I have God at my disposal, what do I do with it?”
Westfield Christmas See A-12
Continued on page 10
High School Football See B-1