Marine Corps League of Pennsylvania to gather in Hempfield

A group of 200-to-250 members of the Marine Corps League of Pennsylvania are expected to descend upon the Greensburg area next week for the organization’s 74th annual convention.

Major John Urban, who has served eight years in the Marines, will be the keynote speaker in the convention that runs from June 19 to 22 at the Ramada Hotel & Conference Center by Wyndham, 100 Ramada Inn Drive, Hempfield. Urban is scheduled to speak at the closing banquet at 6:30 p.m. June 22.

Urban, a business analyst for PNC Financial Services Group in Pittsburgh, was deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan as a platoon commander in 2010 and as a battalion assistant operations officer in 2011.

A public opening session is planned for 9 a.m. June 21, after two days of organizational meetings, said Bob Ziltz, commandant of the Department of Pennsylvania Marine Corps League. Westmoreland County Director of Veteran Affairs Matt Zamosky, State Rep. Eric Nelson, R-Hempfield, who served in the Marines, as well as representatives from the American Legion, Keystone Paralyzed Veterans of America, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Navy Club, Pennsylvania Wounded Warriors, Military Officers Association of American, and the Women Marines Association, are expected to participate in those ceremonies.

The Pennsylvania Marine Corps League, part of the national Marine Corps League, has about 5,000 members, Ziltz said. The league’s mission is to preserve the tradition of the Marine Corps and promoting its interest. It is open to honorably discharged Marines, Fleet Marine Force corpsmen and Fleet Marine Force chaplains.