May15, 2011

                                                 http://joe.freethrowsforheroes.org/    

I need your help on a project. As you may know, my cousin Lance Corporal Ryan Joseph Cantafio USMC 2/24 was killed in action in Iraq on Thanksgiving Day (Nov 25th) 2004. I promised his dad nobody would ever forget Ryan. In 2008, with the help of the Exchange Club of Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, we created "The American Hero Music Festival;" scheduled around September 11th annually, to keep Ryan and all "real heroes" memories alive. This year will be the 3rd annual event, however, the economy is putting some pressure on the good people of Beaver Dam, WI, Ryan's hometown, where the event is held, and funding for this event is hard to come by.

                    
                    American Hero, Ryan Joseph Cantafio-USMC 2/24 KIA, Baghdad, Iraq November 25, 2004

So, I am stepping from “center stage” to “center court,” and with the help of Mitch Salzstein and his great organization; "The Charity Stripe." I will be shooting free throws to raise money for this year's event. Funds raised will go to producing the event and to the high school-college scholarship programs in the name of the three fallen troops who graduated from Beaver Dam High School. If a $50,000.00 goal is met, every dollar after that will go to the Vietnam Veterans “Welcome Home 2011 – Chicago” – June 17 – 19 - www.ServiceandHonor.org

Believe it or not, I am a 90% free throw shooter, and I will be shooting 100-free throws on June 8, 2011 at an event called "Free Throws For Heroes." This charitable event/initiative, created by The Charity Stripe, will directly support The American Hero Music Festival, and I will be the only one shooting free throws. People can pledge 50-cents, $1.00, $2.00, $5.00, $10.00, $20.00, $25.00, $50.00, $100.00 per free throw, or make a straight donation. All donations are tax exempt. This event is sponsored by The Barrington Park District.

Please click on this link http://joe.freethrowsforheroes.org/  and make a pledge. ALSO please help by contacting at least ten of your military-supporting friends and ask them to pledge as well.

I’m asking my friends here on my blog because I know you could help with this project and help make it a huge success. Your influence with your networks of Troop Supporters could really make a difference.

                    
Joe Cantafio will be shooting "Free Throws for Heroes" at the Barrington, IL Park Dist. on June 8, 11:30 AM

If you live in the Chicago-area, you are invited to watch me shoot the free throws ~ 11:30 AM on Wednesday, June 8, 2011 at Langendorf Park, Barrington Park District Fitness Center, basketball court; 235 Lions Dr, Barrington, IL (@ Rt 59 {Hough Street} and Rt 14 {Northwest Highway})   

I hope you can help.

Thanks so much ~

Joe

By: Stephaine Penick - Positively Naperville


Thanks to 600 heroes who served the 672nd in the Phillipines during World War II

On a cool, breezy autumn weekend in October 2010, the annual reunion of the 672nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion was held at the Naperville Holiday Inn Select. 

The revolving reunion, usually held in cities back East, was organized by Naperville resident and World War II Army veteran Paul Junkroski, Sr., with the assistance of his son, Paul Junkroski. The Naperville event to share a common bond that dates back to 1945 attracted five veterans from the 672nd and their families and friends from across the nation.

The 672nd participated in one of the most notable rescues in history during WWII as they liberated 2,147 internees from the Los Banos Japanese Prison Camp in the Philippines. 

As the story was told, before dawn on on Feb. 23, 1945, the soldiers boarded 54 tracked amphibious assault vehicles of the 672nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion commanded by Lt. Col. Joseph W. Gibbs and ventured into Laguna de Bay, heading for Mayondon Point, near San Antonio, some two miles from the interment camp. Several hours later, they made their way to the camp, about 40 miles behind enemy lines. They loaded about 30 internees into each of the amphibious tractors and carried the internees back to Mayondon Point in the largest release of civilian prisoners ever.

The day of the rescue, the Phillipines "went to bed under the rising sun and woke up under the stars and stripes," said one of the attendees.

Friday evening, four members of the battalion and about 40 family members attended the opening reception in the Bailey-Hobson Room at the Holiday Inn Select.

Singer Joe Cantafio entertained with patriotic music and songs from the World War II era. Cantafio, an active veterans' advocate, shared stories of his travels to entertain the troops here and there. Photographers and videographers also recorded the event for a USO show Cantafio hosts titled "Stories of the USO."

                  

                             
Cantafio exchanged stories with two reunion attendees who had been held prisoner at Los Banos for three years as children of missionary parents. During the reunion Friday evening, a video crew filmed the event for an upcoming show titled "Stories of the USO."

Tables provided an exhibit for mementos, pictures of all 600 members of the battalion, photographs, books, scrapbooks, training films, etc.

On Saturday, Oct. 2, the veterans and their families visited Cantigny where they toured the informal and formal gardens in all their autumn splendor, watched a Civil War Enactment and toured the World War II museum.

Late Saturday, a fifth veteran who served in the 672nd arrived.

Their annual meeting, held Saturday afternoon after the tour of Cantigny, included the charge to host the 2011 672nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion Reunion in late September or early October in Sharon, PA. Inspite of declining numbers, the veterans want to continue hosting their reunion, said Paul Junkroski, Jr.

That evening, a quartet from the Chorus of DuPage entertained in barbershop harmony as attendees arrived for the banquet.</span>

Mayor George Pradel stopped by to greet the World War II veterans with a warm welcome and to express his appreciation for their service.

Father Dindo Billote, Parochial Vicar at St. Raphael Catholic Church, was the featured speaker at the Saturday evening banquet. Billote's family came to America from the Philippines, not far the where Junkroski and the 672nd served in World War II.

"If if weren't through the men we're having dinner with tonight, we wouldn't be here," said Billote during his remarks, noting that he was born in the Philippines 47 years ago and recognizing his Filipino parents were in attendance at the dinner, too.

Hudson Hess, a missionary who traveled from Houghton, NY, to attend the reunion with his brother and two sisters, also presented thoughts on behalf of his family. His parents were missionaries in the Philippines and his parents and three siblings had been internees in Los Banos Japanese Prison Camp for more than three years.

"We come to these reunions because we love you guys," said Hess, who was 10 years old at the time of the rescue. "We want to tell you how much you mean to us as I was one of 2,147 internees liberated that day."

Several stories about the rescue are featured online. Here's one:

World War II: Liberating Los Baños Internment Camp

Editor's Note: At the invitation of Mary Ann Junkroski and Paul Junkroski, PN had the priviledge to meet five American heroes, all World War II Veterans from the 672nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion. We are ever so grateful for the service of all men and women who have served in the military.

There will be about 30 members of this rescue team in Naperville, Illinois Friday night. "Stories of the USO" porducer Bill Izzo will be filming Friday night as Lise Dominique and I will be interviewing these American Heroes for our show.

For those who don't know this incredible story, below is an "eye witness" account of what happened in February, 1944, written by Los banos internee - Robert A. Wheeler.

THE ANGELS CAME AT DAWN ~

by Robert A. Wheeler, Los Banos Internee

On February 23, 1945, the Marines raised the flag on Mt. Suribachi, on the island of Iwo Jima. On that same morning, about 25 miles south of Manila in the Philippine Islands, the 11th Airborne Division began an operation about which Army Chief of Staff Colin Powell proclaimed, “I doubt that any airborne unit in the world will be able to rival the Los Banos prison raid. It is the textbook airborne operation for all ages and all armies.”

As that day dawned at Los Banos Civilian Internment Camp, it held two thousand one hundred and forty-six US, British, Canadian, French and other Allied civilian prisoners of the Imperial Japanese Forces. After several years of imprisonment, they were the remaining survivors, who were slowly but surely going to join their predecessors in starving to death. Among the remaining survivors were my father, mother, younger brother and myself.

We were down to one official meal a day; living on a bug-filled rice mush (mostly water) called lugau, banana tree stalks, papaya tree roots, slugs and in some cases, dogs and cats.

My father, who was almost six foot tall, weighed about 90 pounds, and my mother as she recalled said, “I stopped weighing myself when I weighed 80 pounds”. I myself weighed about seventy-nine pounds.

As we went to bed the night before, little did we know that as we slept, the men of the Recon Platoon of the 511th were sneaking up to their positions at key points outside the camp – the men of the 187th and 188th Regiments were busy keeping the Japanese troops occupied in a diversionary operation. The Men of the 672nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion were making their way in the dark with hand-held compasses across Laguna de Bay transporting the balance of the First Battalion of the 511th Regiment, and that “B” Company 511th was getting a little sleep at Nichols Field under the wings of the 65th Troop Carrier Squadron’s C-47s that were to carry them to their moment of history.

That morning, as I walked out of the barracks with my family to line up for 7:00 AM roll call, I looked up into the sky over a field near our camp and saw several C47 transport planes.

Suddenly, the sky filled with the “Angels”; the men of “B” Company of the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment, floating down as if from heaven in their white parachutes.

At that same moment, the Recon Platoon, which as I mentioned previously had infiltrated in during the night, hit the guard posts and began the race to the guard room where the off-duty guards had their rifles stored. Those guards were outside doing their regular 7:00 AM morning exercises.

By the way, the troopers won the race.

We all ran back into the barracks. With bullets flying just over my head through the grass mat walls, I lay on the floor under my bunk, eating my breakfast. I was so hungry that not even bullets could keep me form that pitifully meager portion of watery, buggy rice mush.

Soon one of the “Angels” came into our barracks shouting, “Grab only what you can carry and hurry outside to the Amtracs”.

Those Amtracs were manned by the men of the 672nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion which had brought the balance of the attacking force across Lake Laguna de Bay.

They had to get us back safely across the lake to US lines, before two thousand crack Japanese troops of the infamous Tiger Division, just over the hill, found out what was going on.

On that day, all 2,146 of us, including a newly born baby girl who was carried out in a helmet liner, were saved. All of us were rescued!  Not one of us was lost!

Some time later, I read that they had come to get us because General Douglas MacArthur had received information, from three men who had escaped from our camp, that our guards had been making preparations to dispose of us – digging trenches for our graves and placing oil barrels which could be rolled down the hillside onto the barracks to set them afire – then machine-gunning any of us who ran outside.

I also read that this execution had been scheduled for that very morning of February 23, 1945.

To this day, fifty-seven years later, this singular event of history, this magnificent military operation, this unmatched rescue of starving civilian prisoners of war from behind enemy lines, has been overshadowed by a flag raising; which although meaningful and representing a terrible battle was, as has been reported – the replacement of a previously placed flag by a larger one.

They were and are a special breed, those men who came that day. Superbly trained, thank God – men who went home after they served – going on with their lives – not complaining, humble, proud that they served.

When I meet one of my “Angels” for the first time, I take his hand and say, “Thank you for my life”. To a man, they immediately insist, “I was just doing my job. You guys were the heroes”.

But for the pilots and crews of the 65th Troop Carrier Squadron, the troopers of the 11th Airborne and the men of the 672nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion, I would not have survived Los Banos Internment Camp. There would have been no opportunity for me to have a wife, son, daughter and nine wonderful grandchildren.

The Wheeler family – as it exists today – would never have been. I WILL NEVER FORGET.

Robert Wheeler

It's be nine-years since the cowardly attacks on New York City, Washington DC and Shanksville, PA. September 11th, now known across our great nation as "Patriot Day," is a time to for us to remember, reflect and celebrate the real American heroes who have sacrificed so much for our country.

Osama bin Laden's twisted dream, banking America would just let it go after a few months, backfired in many ways. The Taliban were thrown out of power within a month after the USA and coalition forces brought the fight to them, on their turf. Although the fight is not over, the Taliban is still NOT in power for almost nine-years.

 Bin Laden's dream of tearing America apart backfired as well. Every time I hear the words "September 11th," I see images of those incredible FDNY Firefighters and NYPD Police Officers rushing to aid of the 25,000 people who worked in the World Trade Center, in the largest life-saving evacuation in history. One of the greatest quotes of that day, was when an FDNY Firefighter was asked by a reporter; " ... when you saw that the building was beginning to fall, why did you run back in?"  American is more patriotic today, then we were on September 10th 2001.

 The firefighter answered, " ... because we were trained to run into fire to save lives, we do not run away from it."

I think back to my year with the FDNY Firefighters from Engine 55. The days spent with FF's John Olivero, Bobby Yost, Richie Cippolleti, Capt. Tom Toomey, Lt. Rocko Bastista and my dear friend Cliff Russell, brother of lost FF Stephen P Russell, are as clear in my mind today, as they were 9-years ago.

 Cliff Russell traveled to Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar, Africa, UAE and Kuwait with our band, the 101st Rock Division and spoke to our awesome Troops, thanking them for keeping the fight off of the streets of New York and Chicago, and delivering knockout punches to our enemies day after day.

 American and her Coalition partners have liberated 25,000,000 people over the past nine-years, bringing freedom to another part of the world. We were given the opportunity to speak with the Iraqi people while on tour in 2004. MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT, 99%  love our Troops and they love America. It seems to be the same for the people of Afghanistan; I'm talking about the real people, the ones who were oppressed by the Taliban.

 Many American heroes rose to the top, during these past nine-years, just by doing what was right at the time. Many American heroes paid the ultimate price for American freedom; Geoff Morris, Phil Frank, Kevin Clarke, Kevin Grieco, Kirk Straseskie, Ed Davis Jr., and my cousin Ryan J. Cantafio, just to name a few.

 HOW/WHERE TO REMEMBER, REFLECT and CELEBRATE.

 For people in the Illinois/Wisconsin area here are a few suggestions on how to spend Patriot Day.

 SEPTEMBER 9 - USO of Illinois presents "CLARK AFTER DARK"  Thursday Night, Clark and Hubbard Street ... Joe Cantafio & the 101st Rock Division, PLUS Blackhawks, Kerri Turner, Lise Dominique,Geoff "the Pinker" Pinkus and many more celebrity bartenders with SOLDIERS, SAILORS, MARINES, COAST GUARDSMEN & AIRMEN ... Don't miss this party ... CLARK AFTER DARK sponsored by USO of ILLINOIS! Proceeds help to support our heroes overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan and as they return home.

 SEPTEMBER 10 - 7:30 AM Stevenson High School, Lincolnshire, IL - "Remembering September 11th." Students a falculty welcome the public to remember and reflect with them at the schools memorial for a 15-minute ceremony before school.

 SEPTEMBER 11 - Naperville Riverwalk ~ Dan Shanower Memorial ~ On the ninth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Naperville Exchange Club is sponsoring the annual September 11 remembrance at the Cmdr. Dan Shanower Memorial.

This year’s event will take place at 8 a.m. on Saturday, September 11 at the Cmdr. Shanower Memorial, located behind the Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St., along the Riverwalk. In case of rain, the event will take place inside the Naperville Municipal Center.

 SEPTEMBER 11 - Barrington, IL Freedom Festival - Train Station 9:11 AM Freedom Run, a 9.11 mile run. Noon Opening ceremony with a USMC General speaking, entertainment all afternoon.

 SEPTEMBER 11 - Beaver Dam, WI - 10:00 AM "Heroes Parade" featuring firefighters, police officers, Soldiers, Marines and Gold Star Families. 12:30 PM Swan City Park Opening Ceremony for the 2nd Annual AMERICAN HERO MUSIC FESTIVAL. Entertainment - 2:00  Country Music Star-Joey Glenn. 3:30 Wisconsin rockers- The Crystal Waters Band. 5:00 Beaver Dam own-ALEXIS 7:00 USO Entertainers- Joe Cantafio & the 101st Rock Division. Beaver Dam, WI is the hometown of Ryan J Cantafio, USMC who paid the ultimate price for American freedom on Thanksgiving Day 2004. The AMERICAN HERO MUSIC FESTIVAL honors Troops, Veterans, 1st Responders and Patriot Motorcycle Groups and is hosted by Gold Star Families.

 SEPTEMBER 11 - Noon, Camp Lincoln, Springfield, IL - September 11th ceremony honor all Illinois National Guard and Illinois National Air Guard who have paind the ultimate price since September 11, 2001.

 September 11 - 2:00PM - Chicago, 2nd Battalion 24th Marines is honoring all 2/24 Mairnes who have paid the ultimate price with a new memorial in their honor. My cousin Ryan J Cantafio is one of those Marines being honored. We are very proud of him!

Mark your calendars for the 2nd Annual Block Party sponsored by USO of Illinois.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9th ~ 420 N Clark Street, Chicago, IL

Huge Stage on Hubbard Street, between Clark and LaSalle Streets

ALL PROCEEDS GO TO USO of ILLINOIS

 Featuring - Joe Cantafio & the 101st Rock Division

Chicago Blackhawks Players with the "Ice Crew" Ice Girls.

Celebrity Bartenders (including Kerri Turner, from the hit TV show-JAG, Lise Dominique - WLS Radio personality)

guest DJ & Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, Airmen and Coast Guardsmen

plus a cast of thousands, all comeing together to celebrate the freedoms our Troops have afforded us and the great work of the USO!

Mark your calendars for the 25th Anniversary of the Chicago Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Parade. The event will be held JUNE 17 - 19, 2011 in Chicago Illinois. All Veterans and their families and all supporters of our Armed Forces are invited to this very special event.

 It will be a full weekend of events that includes; this is where some of the great events will take place ...

 * Veterans Art Exhibits at the Chicago Cultural Art Center

 * Presentations by Veteran authors

 * "Moving Wall" on display at Navy Pier

 * Saturday rally at Navy Pier, including music and a ceremony honoring current returning Armed Forces members in conjunction with "Operation Welcome Home."

 *Saturday evening Banquet honoring all Veterans, hosted by the City of Chicago and a "Heroes Tribute" featuring several Congressional Medal of Honor recipients.

 *Sunday morning invocation ceremony at the Chicago Vietnam Veterans Memorial featuring Reverend John Steer

 * Sunday afternoon of Music at Millennium Park featuring Dennis DeYoung and the music of STYX ~ ARRA ~ Joe Cantafio & the 101st Rock Division ~ Kimotion ~ Brit Small ~ Jackie Marx ... and more, at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, Chicago, IL.

Submitted by: Spc. Chasity Johnson | Illinois National Guard Public Affairs Office

             
Joe Cantafio - USO performer from Barrington, Illinois performs a free concert for the Wounded Warrior Transition Unit at the Rock Island Arsenal for Soldiers from Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Michigan and Minnisota - Photo by Spc. Chasity Johnson ING-PAO

 Joe Cantafio of Barrington, a musician and president of the nonprofit organization Forgotten Heroes, Inc., played at a Wounded Warrior Muster in Davenport, Iowa, Aug. 16.

 "What I am trying to do is honor real heroes," said Joe Cantafio of Barrington, a musician and the president of the non-profit organization Forgotten Heroes, Inc. "A real hero isn't a guy who can dunk a basketball or score a touchdown. It's the guy who sacrifices himself so we have the freedom to go watch those basketball and football games."

 Cantafio played a free concert during a Wounded Warrior Muster Aug. 16, in Davenport, Iowa.

 The Army Wounded Warrior Program is the official U.S. Army program that assists and advocates for soldiers severely wounded or injured during overseas contingency operations since 9/11. The program provides these soldiers with career and education benefits, health care and prepares them for retirement, transition to the civilian world, or the return to service.

 Each year, as a part of advocacy efforts, the program organizes a muster, a week-long conference that aims to improve processes, making changes and instituting new initiatives to the program that will improve the care of the wounded Soldiers.

Cantafio's musical history spans more than 20 years. He formed a band, Jade, while in high school that went on to play for "Dick Clark's Good Ol' Rock and Roll Show" for five years, toured for more than a decade, released multiple singles - a couple of which landed on American Bandstand - and became one of the first bands to appear on MTV.

Cantafio said he decided to hang up his guitar, become a bond-broker and settle into a suburban life in 1983 after he found out he was going to be a father.

 After two of his business associates were killed during the 9/11 attacks, Cantafio said he decided to join the Armed Forces. Unfortunately, he was turned down because of his age.  "I was too young for Vietnam and I'm too old for this war. But I wanted to fight, so I picked up my guitar," said Cantafio.

He said he decided to play the acoustic guitar at Union Station in Chicago to raise money for the New York firefighters. He played there for a year and donated thousands of dollars to the firemen. After his year at the station, he said he decided to switch the focus of his musical activism to Soldiers. He and his band reunited, changed their names to Joe Cantafio and the 101st Rock Division, and began playing worldwide for the troops.

During the muster concert, Cantafio played a mixture of classic rock tunes including "Blackbird" by the Beatles and patriotic ballads including "I'm Proud to be an American" by Lee Greenwood for an audience that included wounded warriors, their families, 2010 Miss Champaign Urbana Ruth Brooks and 2009 Miss Illinois Erin O'Connor - who joined Cantafio on stage for a duet during the show.

"Joe is one of the most passionate, patriotic people I have ever met," said O'Connor. "He's taught me how to be a better American." This was the sixth muster Cantafio played.

 Staff Sgt. Jay Lawson of Marseilles was also in attendance for the concert. Lawson, formerly an infantryman with Company A, 33rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion in Marseilles, currently a platoon sergeant with Community Based Warrior Transition Unit in Rock Island, dislocated both of his shoulders and knees while training Afghan border police as part of a four-man team in Patyka Province, Afghanistan.

"I was able to come back as a member of the Community Based Warrior Transition Unit through the Wounded Warrior Program," said Lawson. "They brought me back home, got me through all of my surgeries and back into what I wanted to be with the military, a platoon sergeant."

 "Joe has touched my heart," said Lawson. "I have a very big heart for someone who will give their heart and soul to the morale and camaraderie of the American Soldier. There aren't very many people that are willing to put their life on the line to go overseas and sing and perform for us just to give us a little taste of home."

July 19, 2010 ~ The Beaver Dam Citizen

                         
   Joe Cantafio (cousin of Ryan Cantafio) and Chris Straseskie (brother of Kirk Straseskie)

The American Hero Music Festival on Sept. 11 will start with a parade this year.

"The parade will start at 10 a.m.," Joe Cantafio said. "Paul Brian from WLS 890 AM Chicago will be broadcasting at 8 a.m. in the parking lot of Ryan's Auto Body. He has a very popular show."

 Cantafio, the cousin of Ryan Cantafio, who died in Iraq, is one of the organizers behind the festival with the Beaver Dam Exchange Club.

 The festival will be held in Swan City Park on Sept. 11 from 12:30 to 10:30 p.m. Admission is free.

 Money raised from concessions and donations at the event will go to scholarships that have been established in Ryan Cantafio and Kirk Straseskie's names, both Beaver Dam natives.

 Cantafio, 22, was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq's Babil Province, south of Baghdad on Nov. 25, 2004. He was a member of the Madison-based Gulf Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines.

 Straseskie died in Iraq on May 19, 2003, after he dove into a canal trying to rescue fellow Marines who were in a helicopter that crashed. He was the first Wisconsin casualty of the Iraq War.

 "Last year (the first year of the event) was an incredible healing event," Cantafio said. "We were able to celebrate the lives of Kirk and Ryan."

 Cantafio said it was through the event that he met Chris Straseskie, Kirk's older brother. Chris Straseskie has been part of the committee since it started has been planning this year's festival along with Cantafio and members of Beaver Dam Exchange Club.

 Cantafio said the parade was the brainchild of Beaver Dam mayor Tom Kennedy. The parade will begin in Tower Parking lot, go west on Mill Street, north on Center Street, east on Front Street, south on University Avenue ending at Swan City Park. "Police cars will be coming from as far as northern Illinois," Cantafio said. "We're looking at 3,000 motorcycles being part of the parade and there will be military vehicles."

 The grand marshal of the parade will be Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls. Nehls is a colonel in the Wisconsin Army National Guard.  "There will also be soldiers and Marines marching in the parade," Cantafio said.

 Nehls will also speak during the opening ceremonies at the festival. There will be four bands performing, concessions and military displays. Concessions will be sold using tickets that will be sold in two different areas of the park.

 Beaver Dam's Crystal Waters and Joey Glenn, from Nashville, will perform as well as two bands close to Ryan Cantafio. Alexis will perform, which includes Ryan's mother Sandy Hautamaki and her brothers. Cantafio's band Joe Cantafio and the 101st Rock Division also will perform. "Alexis will come on stage with us again this year to do a Pink Floyd song," Cantafio said. "It was Ryan's favorite."

                     
    Alexis will perform at 5:00PM and will perform a song with Joe Cantafio & the 101st Rock Division

         
   Joe Cantafio & the 101st Rock Division will perform at 7:00 PM

 Cantafio said the Army will set up an Army Zone in the park with vehicles and climbing walls.

 There also will be a missing man ceremony.

 In addition Kirk Straseskie's dress blues and Ryan Cantafio's combat uniform will be displayed.

 "Every Gold Star family will have the opportunity to come up on stage between the entertainment and tell us about their hero," Cantafio said.

 American Hero Music Festival T-Shirts will soon be on sale at Rechek's Food Pride, Beaver Dam Piggly Wiggly and Cousin's Subs. The shirts will be sold for $10 in advance and $15 the day of the festival.

 tpederson@capitalnewspapers.com