Buchanan Honors 30 Local Veterans With Congressional Veteran Commendation

Congressman Vern Buchanan today announced the honorees of the second annual Congressional Veteran Commendation ceremony. Buchanan established the awards to honor the wartime sacrifices and peacetime community involvement of veterans residing in Florida’s 16th Congressional District.

“These awards are just one small way we can help pay tribute to our local heroes who put it all on the line to defend our country and way of life,” said Congressman Buchanan. “While we will never be able to fully repay the honorees for their selfless sacrifices, I hope the Congressional Veteran Commendation helps express how grateful our community truly is for their service.”

An independent panel of veterans reviewed nominations and chose the following 30 veterans for their wartime and post-military service:

• Angel Alvarez of Riverview, who served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam and Gulf Wars.
• Angelo Barnello Sr. of Riverview, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.
• Stephen Browning of Apollo Beach, who served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War.
• Delford Connell of Sun City Center, who served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
• Geoffrey Cordes of Bradenton, who served in the U.S. Army during the Gulf War.
• Angel Davila Lopez of Lithia, who served in the U.S. Army during the Gulf War.
• Harry Demeza of Sun City Center, who served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
• Jerry Estes of Wimauma, who served in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War.
• Brenda Gaines of Bradenton, who served in the U.S. Army outside of war time.
• Jeffrey Gaines of Bradenton, who served in the U.S. Army during the Gulf War.
• Lloyd Grable of Sun City Center, who served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
• Dwain Hannah of Brandon, who served in the U.A. Army during the Vietnam War.
• William Hodges of Sun City Center, who served in the U.S. Air Force outside of war time.
• Carl Hunsinger of Palmetto, who served in the U.S. Air Force during the Gulf War.
• Bruce Johnson of Valrico, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War
• William Kirkpatrick of Sun City Center, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam and Gulf Wars.
• Jim Klocke of Bradenton, who served in the U.S. Coast Guard during the Vietnam War.
• Maurice Lanouette of Sun City Center, who served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
• Robert Marasco of Valrico, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Gulf War.
• Thomas Moncrief of Apollo Beach, who served in the U.S. Air Force outside of war times.
• Joseph Muhlberger of Valrico, who served in the U.S. Air Force outside of war times.
• Jerry Neff of Bradenton, who served in the U.S. Army outside of war times.
• Sean Powers of Bradenton, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps outside of war times.
• Robert Putnam of Sun City Center, who served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.
• Thomas Reichard of Valrico, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Gulf War and outside of war times.
• Gill Ruderman of Bradenton, who served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.
• Milton Shattuck of Bradenton, who served in the U.S. Army during the Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf Wars.
• Vincent Spanicciati of Lakewood Ranch, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War.
• George Tamburello of Wimauma, who served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
• Lonnie Vona of Valrico, who served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam and Gulf Wars and outside of war times.

Additionally, during today’s ceremony, Congressman Buchanan presented three veterans with meritorious medals received for service to our country:

• Charles McMurtry was presented with the U.S. Army’s Good Conduct Medal and the Expert Infantryman Badge.
• Errol Brady Ross was presented with the U.S. Marine Corps’ Southwest Asia Service Medal (3 Stars), Good Conduct Medal with Expert Badge Rifle Bar, National Defense Service Medal and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (1 Star).
• Joseph Pereira was presented with the U.S. Army’s Purple Heart for wounds received in action on November 9, 1970, in the Republic of Vietnam.

Buchanan has a strong record of fighting for veterans and military families. In December 2021, a Buchanan measure to reduce military training accidents following the death of Bradenton soldier Nicolas Panipinto was enacted into law. Buchanan also reintroduced the Veterans Overmedication and Suicide Prevention Act, which requires the VA to study the link between addictive opioids and the alarmingly high rate of suicides among veterans, and the Veterans Eligible to Transfer School (VETS) Credit Act, which helps student veterans by ensuring they are able to quickly and easily transfer their course credits to another institution should their school close or program end suddenly. The VETS Credit Act was unanimously passed by the U.S. House with broad bipartisan support in 2022. Currently, Buchanan is a co-sponsor of the National POW/MIA Memorial and Museum Act.