Capt. Vaughan presents Certificate of Appreciation and MOAA Challenge Coin to Lisa Hopper. Also pictured is new chapter member retired Lcdr. Steve Didio, USN. (Photo by George Bone)
Former Lt. William Myers, CEC, USN
The Catalina Mountain Chapter (CMC) of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) held a luncheon meeting on March 18 at SaddleBrooke Ranch. The meeting began with a business session presided over by retired Capt. Charles Vaughan, U.S. Navy, president, during which members were updated on the chapter’s current and upcoming activities.
The day’s speaker was Lisa M. Hopper, the executive director of the Arizona Heroes Memorial. Ms. Hopper was born in Chicago and is an Armed Forces Veteran. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Radiology Administration/Physics from George Washington University.
The intent of the Arizona Heroes Memorial is to create a space in which to honor and celebrate our heroes, while educating future generations about the meaning of service and sacrifice to our country and our community.
The memorial will provide a space for visitors to remember and learn. A Pathway of Heroes will contain multiple walls representing the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Coast Guard, Space Force, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, and the U.S. Public Health Service, as well as first responders and health care workers. The memorial will occupy 2.5 acres of land in Oro Valley’s Naranja Park. For additional Information, please visit the website azheroesmemorial.org.
The April luncheon meeting of the CMC was held at SaddleBrooke Ranch Grill on April 15. The speaker was retired Capt. Kelly Gavin, U.S. Army. Capt. Gavin enlisted in 1975 and served as an infantryman and medic before graduating from Officer Candidate School in 1985. As an officer, Capt. Gavin had both Medical Corps and Signal Corps assignments, retiring in 1996.
Kelly then had a second career as a health care administrator and manager of information systems at the Georgia War Veterans Home before fully retiring in 2004 to Green Valley. Kelly then became active with both the Green Valley MOAA Chapter and the MOAA Arizona Council of Chapters.
Then surprisingly, in 2009, the Army recalled Kelly to active duty for Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) where he served in the Multi-National Corps—Iraq, Joint Operations Center C3 Operations cell, and Interpreter management cell.
Kelly’s presentation discussed his “retiree recall” to active duty after 13 years out of uniform and his deployment to Baghdad. He also discussed his 2019 fictional work, PowerPoint Ranger: My Iraq War Logs, based on this experience.
If you are a former or present officer of the uniformed services interested in joining our organization, please contact Membership Chair former Lt. j.g. David Bull, U.S. Navy, by email at [email protected] or by telephone at 520-825-0604.
The membership of CMC encompasses the areas of Catalina, Oracle, parts of Marana and Oro Valley, SaddleBrooke, SaddleBrooke Ranch, San Manuel and Sun City. For additional information, please visit our website at catalinamountainsmoaa.org.
The CMC and MOAA are non-profit veterans’ organizations dedicated to maintaining a strong national defense and preserving the earned entitlements of members of the uniformed services and their families.