Erie County forms Veterans Task Force

Grand Island Dispatch, March 24, 2006

Erie County Legislature Chairwoman Lynn M. Marinelli has announced the formation of the Erie County Veterans Task Force, to be headed by former legislator Raymond K. Dusza.

The task force was created “in order to aid veterans, as well as to discuss veterans issues,” Marinelli said.

Dusza is a U.S. Army paratrooper who served in the 82nd Airborne Division. The vice chairman is Lou Palma, the county director of Veterans Affairs. Among the task force members, all volunteers, is county Legislator Daniel M. Kozub, D-Lackawanna, Blasdell, a U.S. Navy veteran and a driving force behind the task force.

“I hope the task force can serve as a clearing house for information and services veterans can utilize, as well as a group that veterans can turn to for guidance and advice and as advocates for veterans’ issues in Erie County,” Kozub said.

Dusza said he recognizes the many issues facing today’s veterans of service in Iraq, Afghanistan and other deployments overseas and here in the United States.

Other members of the task force are: Helen Jacob, Michael Kogutek, Joe Amenta, Karyn Porempski, Stanley Kazmierski, Albert J. Smith and Patrick Welch. Geoffrey M. Szymanski, a U.S. Navy veteran, is clerk of the task force.