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Joint Base Langley-Eustis Editorial Staff Joint Base Langley-Eustis Commander Col. John J. Allen Jr. Joint Base Langley-Eustis Public Affairs Officer Capt. Kevin Whitlatch • kevin.whitlatch@us.af.mil Joint Base Langley-Eustis Editor SrA Jason Brown • jason.brown.80@us.af.mil Fort Eustis Managing Editor Staff Sgt. Katie Gar Ward • fteustismain@gmail.com Per Air Force Instruction 35-101/Army Regulation 360-1, only stories and photos submitted by members of the Department of Defense community and DOD news services may be printed inThe PeninsulaWarrior. Any stories, photos or announcements must be submitted eight days prior to publication. Stories and photos should be submitted to the editor and/or assistant editor at 633abw.paedit@langley.af.mil or Public Affairs Office, 601 Hines Cir., Fort Eustis,VA 23604. Announcements for the Community Section should be submitted to fteustismain@gmail.com. Announcements for the Outside the Gate Section should be submitted to fteustismain@gmail.com. For more information call 757-878-4920. Authors’ names may be withheld, but all letters must include the authors’ signatures and telephone number. The Peninsula Warrior is an authorized publication for all the members of the U.S. military. Contents of The Peninsula Warrior are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department of Defense, Department of the Air Force or the Department of the Army. The PeninsulaWarrior is printed every Friday by offset as a civilian enterprise newspaper for the Public Affairs Office, U.S. Air Force by Military Newspapers of Virginia at 150 W. Brambleton Ave. Norfolk, VA 23510 under exclusive written contract with the commander, Joint Base LangleyEustis. MNV is a private firm in no way connected with the Department of the Air Force or Department of the Army. Printed circulation: 25,000. Everything advertised in this publication shall be made available for purchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, physical handicap, political affiliation or any other non-merit factor of the purchaser, user or patron. A confirmed violation or rejection of this policy of equal opportunity by any advertiser will result in refusal to print advertising from that source. All editorial content of The Peninsula Warrior is prepared, edited, provided and approved by the Public Affairs Office Joint Base LangleyEustis. All photographs are Air Force or Army photographs unless otherwise stated. The appearance of advertising in this publication, including inserts and supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense or MNV of the products or services advertised.
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• The Peninsula Warrior - Army
MARCH 21, 2014
)RUW (XVWLV FKDSHO NLFNV RII VSULQJ \RXWK PLQLVWU\ SURJUDP By Senior Airman Teresa J.C. Aber 633RD AIR BASE WING PUBLIC AFFAIRS
In order to provide religious education for younger community members, the Regimental Memorial Chapel at Fort Eustis kicked off their spring non-denominational youth ministry program for youth ages 12-18 beginning Feb. 23. RMC reaches out to the local military community through church services, prayer breakfasts, youth groups, choirs, Bible studies and relationshipbuilding programs. Genevieve Hughes, RMC religious education director, has been recruiting volunteers and preparing for the kick-off since her arrival at Fort Eustis last October. “I served the community [at Langley Air Force Base] for more than five years and developed a youth ministry program that currently serves as the model for Fort Eustis,” said Hughes. “We have been training our future volunteers for Fort Eustis every Sunday at Langley during their congregation, which has given our folks some hands-on training and allowed some of our teens at Fort Eustis to participate as well.” Teens who participate in the program will have opportunities to attend retreats and worship services to discuss topics they may be struggling with relevant to school, home and society.
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Members of the Joint Base Langley-Eustis Disciples Ready-In Mobilized Evangelization team perform during the annual Diocesan Youth Conference at the Richmond Convention Center, March 15.The JBLE DRIME team provides unity among youth who reach out to the community through their faith.
Topics include the Christian response to bullying, challenges to discipleship, making moral decisions, justice and truth, dating with purpose and dignity, finding their path and choices and commitments. Sessions include chaplain activities, such as icebreakers and small and large group discussions. The program also integrates the use of technology using Youtube clips and an online curriculum. The chapel has implemented joint activities with the Langley Chapel, which will help offset the costs of the program and provide unity and shared experiences among the youth. One of these programs is the Disciples Ready-In Mobilized Evangelization Team, a group Hughes describes as a form of “body worship combined with flash mob dance.” “We have a group of teens ages 14-18
Heritage Spotlight For nine months, Petersburg Va. was under siege by the Army of the Potomac and the Union commander, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. The two great armies fought a bloody campaign in the spring of 1864, then settled into trenches that eventually stretched for 50 miles around Petersburg and the Confederate capital of Richmond. Lee could not win this war of attrition, but his men held out through the winter of 1864 to 1865. Lee realized the growing Yankee army could overwhelm his diminishing force when the spring brought better weather for an assault. He ordered Gen. John B. Gordon to find a weak point in the Federal defenses and attack. Gordon selected Fort Stedman, an earthen redoubt
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who have performed in various venues including Busch Gardens in 2012,” said Hughes. “The DRIME team consists of both Catholic and Protestant teens working together to reach out through their faith to the community and perform.” The youth ministry program sessions meet at the RMC every Sunday through May 11. Hughes and the volunteers plan to implement a summer program and continue services into the fall and throughout the school year. “The chaplains, volunteers and I look forward to expanding the youth ministry programs and working with the youth of the Fort Eustis community,” said Hughes. “The only thing they have to do now is show up and get involved.” For more information, call the Fort Eustis Regimental Memorial Chapel at 878-5482.
The Battle of Fort Stedman with a moat and 9-foot walls. Although imposing, Gordon believed it offered the greatest chance for success since it was located just 150 yards from the Confederate lines--the narrowest gap along the entire front. On March 25, 1865, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee made Fort Stedman his last attack of the Civil War in a desperate attempt to break out of Petersburg, Va. Some 11,000 Rebels hurled themselves at the Union lines. They overwhelmed the surprised Yankees at Fort Stedman and captured 1,000 yards of trenches. After daylight, however, the Confederate momentum waned. Gordon’s men took up defensive positions, and Union reinforcements arrived to turn the tide. The Reb-
els were unable to hold the captured ground, and were driven back to their original position. The Union lost around 1,000 men killed, wounded, and captured, while Lee lost approximately three-times that number, including some 1,500 captured during the retreat. Lee wrote to Confederate President Jefferson Davis that it would be impossible to maintain the Petersburg line much longer.The attack failed, and within a week, Lee evacuated his positions around Petersburg. On March 29, Grant began his offensive, and Petersburg fell on April 3. Two weeks after the Battle of Fort Stedman, Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House, Va.
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