Colonel

Catonsville native William Roberts III was recently promoted to the rank of colonel in a ceremony at Fort George Meade Army Base. He has served for more than 27 years in both active and reserve capacities. In 1975, Roberts graduated from Catonsville High School, where he was the first black male to win the school's Scholar Athlete Award. After earning a degree in sociology at Towson State University, he worked for the Anne Arundel County Department of Corrections for more than 25 years.

Herman G. "Hank" Tillman Jr., a retired Air Force colonel and pilot who flew in World War II, Korea and Vietnam and was one of Maryland's most decorated veterans, died Sunday of liver failure at his Chester home. He was 89. He was born in his immigrant grandparents' Anne Arundel County farmhouse, and later moved with his family to a home at Pontiac Avenue and Sixth Street in Brooklyn. After graduating from Polytechnic Institute in 1940, he attended the Johns Hopkins University at night and worked at Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s engineering department during the day. "As a kid, he was fascinated with flying.

On November 8, 2005 BISHOP, COLONEL PERCY ELDER loving husband of Theresa Elder. He is also survived by two daughters Shirley and Mercedes Elder; two sons Colonel II and Jesse Elder; sisters Josephine Parrish-Wren, Love Cornelius Watkins, C. Ophelia Cooper, Cherry Elder Smith (Randolph) and brother Clarence L. Elder (Barbara); two grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and a host of other relatives and friends. Friends may call at the family owned MARCH FUNERAL HOME WEST, INC., 4300 Wabash Avenue on Friday after 9. Family will receive friends on Saturday at St. John Baptist Church, 2929 Dupont Street at 10 followed by funeral services at 10:30.

Catonsville native William Roberts III was recently promoted to the rank of colonel in a ceremony at Fort George Meade Army Base. He has served for more than 27 years in both active and reserve capacities. In 1975, Roberts graduated from Catonsville High School, where he was the first black male to win the school's Scholar Athlete Award. After earning a degree in sociology at Towson State University, he worked for the Anne Arundel County Department of Corrections for more than 25 years.

The garrison commander of Fort Meade, under investigation for allegedly using profanity and telling lurid stories in speeches at the post, is getting support from employees who deny his remarks were offensive or constituted sexual harassment.Rather, they said, Col. Robert G. Morris III gave an "uplifting" talk using strong language that convinced them the Army post, itself the subject of seven criminal investigations, will be cleaned up."He was giving his philosophy on what would really upset him," said Joan Daughety, chief of non-appropriated funds in the civilian personnel office.

Fort Meade commander Col. Robert G. Morris III urged soldiers and their families attending yesterday's services honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday to welcome changes in society as a chance to make a difference."

In the process of embracing his homosexual son in front of the entire nation, Marine Col. Fred Peck has inadvertently called heterosexuals a bunch of slobs. Or maybe it wasn't so inadvertent. Maybe Colonel Peck has simply been paying attention to heterosexuals.On Tuesday, Colonel Peck urged a U.S. Senate committee to scratch all notions of ending the military ban on gays. You've heard about war being hell? According to the colonel, so is sexuality. He envisions American soldiers killing each other over it.Because his son Scott, a senior at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, is gay, life in the military would be "hell" for him if he joined up, Colonel Peck declared.

SEATTLE -- Margarethe Cammermeyer, the decorated Army nurse who was discharged from the Washington National Guard after disclosing that she is a lesbian, was reinstated yesterday by the U.S. Army acting under a court order.But her legal battle with the military is not over. The colonel with 26 years in uniform would be discharged again if the Army prevails in court, according to an Army memorandum.Colonel Cammermeyer won the first round June 1, when U.S. District Judge Thomas Zilly of Seattle rejected the government's contention that the presence of a homosexual would harm military effectiveness.

The 1st U.S. Army inspector general's office is investigating allegations that Col. Robert G. Morris III, the garrison commander of Fort Meade, used profanity and told lurid stories about Army nurses during briefings in front of hundreds of civilian workers.An anonymous letter sent to the Defense Department last month prompted the investigation, said Lt. Col. Baxter Ennis, a 1st Army spokesman, who confirmed the probe yesterday.The letter, from "a concerned soldier," also was sent to The Sun. It details the incidents, which allegedly occurred during meetings at the Post Theater in August and at the Officers Club in September.

Alvin Lucchi, a retired Army colonel who helped initiate an educational program focusing on drinking and driving for the state Motor Vehicle Administration, died of kidney failure Saturday at Anne Arundel Medical Center. The Annapolis resident was 87. Born in the Bronx, N.Y., he earned a bachelor's degree in English from Fordham University and a master's from Columbia University. He taught English at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y., before enlisting in the Army during World War II. He served as a battalion commander in coastal artillery in the Philippines and New Guinea.

Most will remember the late William Donald Schaefer as Baltimore's mayor, Maryland's governor, and even the state's comptroller. But, I remember him most as Lt. Col. W.D. Schaefer, my executive officer in the 457th General Hospital and 2290th USA Hospital, reserve units out of Turners Armory. Colonel Schaefer and I managed to transfer out of the 457th (into the new 100th Station Hospital) in 1961 just before the Berlin Wall crisis froze everyone in on active duty and called up about a quarter-million reservists and National Guard troops (including the 457th)

Gov. Martin O'Malley, facing mild criticism of his Iraq trip from his likely re-election opponent, deployed a bona fide colonel - who happens to be his lieutenant governor - to defend him yesterday. " Bob Ehrlich's comments were inappropriate and in some ways an affront to men and women who have gone to Iraq in uniform," said Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, an Army Reserve colonel and Iraq War veteran. Brown added that he is "bothered and very disappointed" by the criticism, "which really demonstrates his lack of understanding of the role and the relationship between the governor and the guard."

In the end, a quaint watercolor painting of a young town full of promise yielded the final key to unlocking a mystery dating back more than 130 years. The artwork, depicting the proposed community of Sanborn as part of a decades-old real estate ad, is an aerial perspective of existing homes and never-developed lots off Ryan Avenue in Hanover, just east of Elkridge. But one detail in the landscape turned the souvenir into a pseudo-treasure map for the community. The 19th-century Anderson Chapel on Ryan Avenue, claimed by the ravages of time and neglect 40 years ago, faced the B&O Railroad tracks.

Lt. Col. Simon Joseph "Joe" Avara, a retired Baltimore police official who was deputy chief of the operation bureau and later was director of safety and special services at a local hopsital, died Friday of a stroke at St. Agnes Hospital. He was 84. Colonel Avara, who was the son of a barber and homemaker, was born in Baltimore and raised near Hollins Market in Southwest Baltimore. After graduating from Polytechnic Institute, he enlisted in the Army and served with the 69th Infantry Division in Europe.

On April 4, 2009, Colonel Edward B. Cummins A viewing will be held on Monday, April 13 from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 P.M. at Zellman Funeral Home, P.A., 123 South Washington Street, Havre de Grace, Maryland 21078. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, April 14 11:00 A.M. at Grace United Methodist Church, 110 West Bel Air Avenue, Aberdeen, Maryland, 21001. Dr. Paul Grant and Dr. Robert T. Clipp will officiate. Interment to be held at Bel Air Memorial Gardens. Pallbearers will be Edward Cummins, Mark Cummins, Andrew Cummins, Larry Harris Sr., Tevis Hoke and Randy Rudy.

James A. Jones, a retired Maryland State Police lieutenant colonel who was an early advocate of alcohol and drug testing to reduce highway accidents, died of an embolism Dec. 19 at his Perry Hall home. He was 78. Born in Baltimore and raised in Overlea, he was a 1948 Calvert Hall College High School graduate. He joined the Navy and became an aviation electrician aboard an aircraft carrier. Among other decorations, he received the Korean Service Medal with two battle stars. He joined the Maryland State Police in 1957 and was stationed at Waldorf, Upper Marlboro, Bel Air and Golden Ring, before moving on to the state police headquarters in Pikesville.

WASHINGTON -- The colonel who steered the Marine Corps' war-fighting strategy away from frontal assaults and toward the speed and maneuvering that marked Operation Desert Storm has been forced into early retirement.Col. Mike Wiley, 51, was passed over for promotion to general on March 19. In the military, this means mandatory retirement. His dismissal takes effect in October.Some officers say they fear that the dismissal of Colonel Wiley may mean a reversion to old-fashioned thinking and could send a message to other young officers that innovative ideas do not promote careers.

Col. Kent D. Menser, the garrison commander of Fort George G. Meade who has been changing the base from a training ground for soldiers to a "federal office park," confirmed last night that he has been asked to retire.The 49-year-old garrison commander may be falling victim to the same military downsizing that triggered changes at Fort Meade. He has been transforming a base once used to prepare soldiers for war into one that functions primarily as an administrative post.Fort Meade officials have declined to comment for the past several weeks on Colonel Menser's future, stressing that a decision is not yet final.

NAIROBI, Kenya - The ringleader of the 1994 Rwanda genocide was sentenced yesterday to life in prison for his role in the early days of an ethnic slaughter that eventually killed an estimated 800,000 people. Theoneste Bagosora, 67, was the highest-ranking military officer convicted at the U.N. International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. The former colonel's prosecution was viewed as a significant step in efforts to punish war crimes. "This victory sends a message to people like the warlords in Darfur or those committing horrendous rapes and killing in Congo," said Barbara Mulvaney, a Southern California attorney who served as chief prosecutor.

Col. James Curtis Burris, a highly decorated career Army officer who fought in the Vietnam War, died Nov. 13 at his Havre de Grace home of cancers related to exposure to Agent Orange. He was 78. Colonel Burris, who was born and raised in Tulsa, Okla., graduated from Tulsa Central High School in 1948. Born into a military family, Colonel Burris was the grandson of two Civil War veterans and the son of a World War I veteran. He enlisted in the Army in 1948 and was selected to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., from which he graduated with a bachelor's degree in engineering in 1954.