Hilltop Times – Hill Air Force Base Weekly Newspaper Since 1948

WASHINGTON — First lady Michelle Obama unveiled the new Information Technology Training and Certification Partnership April 30 to put thousands of service members to work with industry-recognized IT certifications in hand before they leave the military.

Obama, who made the announcement at the White House Forum on Military Credentialing and Licensing at the White House, said a public-private partnership will offer the certification program.

"This new partnership will provide up to 161,000 service memb

KANSAS CITY, MO -- Applebee's and CMT Artists of the Year have joined the Thank You Movement, an ongoing initiative to collect millions of thanks for U.S. veterans and active duty military all year long.

In a series of vignettes that launched this week, Applebee's and CMT's national call to volunteerism, CMT One Country, celebrate the five CMT Artists of the Year --Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisley and Taylor Swift -- and salute the nation's military with messages from the stars.

"The Pacific," HBO's newest World War II series, which premiered on March 14, tells the story of three real-life Marines and their experiences in places like Guadalcanal, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and more.

The series, created by the producers who made "Band of Brothers", is partly based on the books "Helmet for my Pillow" by Robert Leckie, "With the Old Breed" by Eugene B. Sledge, and "Red Blood, Black Sand" by Charles W. Tatum, along with original interviews conducted by the filmmakers.

HBO will be airing "The Pacific" on Sundays at 10 p.m. through May 16.

A Vietnam veteran contacted Hill Air Force Base wanting to thank an "Angel in Camo" who recently came to his assistance at a crucial time in his life.

Sid Stroud Jr. found himself lost on the side of a road, somewhere near Santaquin, Utah, after heading home after a visit to the George E. Wahlen Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salt Lake City. A man, dressed in camouflage with sergeant's stripes on his sleeve, stopped to ask him if he needed help.

Utah veterans will share their compelling and very personal memories in "Untold Stories" -- the fifth and final episode of KUED-Channel 7's award-winning series, Utah World War II Stories.

The documentary will air March 8, at 7 p.m. and again, March 21, at 7 p.m.

After KUED's original broadcast of the four-part series, dozens of Utah veterans and their families contacted producers to tell their own very personal experiences.

ROY -- Ray Matheney lied about his age to serve in World War II, like many teenagers did back then.

Matheney, now 84, spoke before a packed house at Hill Aerospace Museum's Plane Talk on Feb. 6. He recently published a book, "Rite of Passage: A teenager's chronicle of combat and captivity in Nazi Germany," about his service in World War II and his time as a prisoner of war.

He was 17 and had dropped out of high school when he enlisted in the Air Corps in 1943.

When Tech. Sgt. Paul Cocanour, 419th Maintenance Squadron Phase Dock coordinator, was attending Westminster College, he recalled the stories his grandfather told him about flying Search and Rescue missions over the "hump" in B-25s during World War II.

Like planes? Got a little spare time on your hands?

"Women are veterans, too," said Marine Tech. Sgt.