veteran

Hometown Hero – Pei Ren

Syracuse University Army ROTC Cadet and U.S. Army veteran Pei Ren was born in New York City and grew up in Macon, Georgia. Cadet Ren enlisted in the U.S. Army in November 2015 and served on active duty from 2016 to 2019 as a 35N (November), Signal Intelligence Analyst.

Hometown Hero – Anthony Ruscitto

United States Marine Corps Anthony Joseph Ruscitto was born in Syracuse, New York and graduated from Bishop Grimes high school in 2013. Tony enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 2013 at the age of 17 and would serve a total of five years on active duty. He completed Marine Corps Recruit Training and earned the title of United States Marine at Parris Island, South Carolina in February of 2014. He then completed Marine and Naval Aircrew flight training as a CH-53E Helicopter Crew Chief at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) New River, North Carolina in 2015.

Dr. Ruth Chen and COL (Ret.) Ron Novack Attend Ceremony for WWII Veteran Whose Remains Were Recently Identified

S. Army 1st Lt. Myles Esmay ’40 was killed on June 7, 1944, while fighting against Japanese forces in Burma (now Myanmar). He and others were unable to be identified at the time of his death, but in 2021 Esmay was formally identified by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. This allowed Esmay to not only be brought back home to the United States, but also buried alongside his brothers in arms at Arlington National Cemetery.

Hometown Hero: Nadia Morris-Mitchell

United States Navy veteran, currently serving New York State Air National Guardsman, and Syracuse University undergraduate student veteran Nadia Morris-Mitchell hails from Syracuse, New York. She enlisted in the United States Navy in 2004 as a heavy equipment operator, Seabee. Also in 2004, Nadia married her high school sweetheart, Cody Stasko.