Namedropper 8-19-08

Harry A. Ford

Harry A. Ford of Yuma has made the dean's list for the recently completed spring semester at Azusa Pacific University in California, where he is majoring in nursing.

  The Yuma High graduate needed to maintain a 3.5 or better grade-point average to make the list.

  Azusa Pacific is a comprehensive, Christian, evangelical university, with its main campus near Los Angeles.

Leah Anne Goldstein

Leah Anne Goldstein, the daughter of Kathryn Shaffer of Yuma, has made the dean's list for the recently completed spring semester at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, N.Y., where she is a senior majoring in applied music.

  Goldstein previously graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Mich.

Yumans serving in Iraq
 
Two Marines from Yuma recently deployed to Iraq with Marine Wing Support Squadron 172.

  They are Marine Corps Sgt. Carlos A. Caniz, a 1998 graduate of Kofa High School, and Lance Cpl. Patrick F. Morales, a 2006 graduate of Kofa.

  MWSS-172, which joined forces with 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) in Al Asad, Iraq, is the first wing support squadron from III Marine Expeditionary Force to deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. All  previous MWSS deployments were from aircraft wings based in the United States.

  The Marines of MWSS-172 will perform aviation ground support aboard Al Asad Air Base and throughout the Anbar province and modify existing helicopter-landing zones while constructing new ones.Using heavy equipment, the Marines level the area and compact the soil, then lay down  a coat of soil-stabilizing substance to prevent excessive sand clouds. The process is designed to improve pilots' visibility, allowing them to land aircraft safely.

  Additionally, MWSS-172 and Alpha Company, 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion (CEB) teamed up with the Engineer Company, 7th Iraqi Infantry Division, to construct a new headquarters site from which Iraqi soldiers conduct operations.

 Caniz joined the Marine Corps in October 2000, while Morales joined in June 2006.