Military Museum Hosts Veterans Roundtable on Saturday January 24.

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SARATOGA SPRINGS , NY (01/15/2015)(readMedia)-- The New York State Military Museum hosts a roundtable discussion featuring five combat veterans spanning more than 60 years of service from World War II to the Global War on Terror at 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 24.

Paul Post, a journalist for The Saratogian newspaper and author of "Soldiers of Saratoga County: from Concord to Kabul," will moderate the panel discussion as veterans relate their personal stories and experiences.

Those participating include:

• Manny Perez, 90, of Wilton, who joined the 30th Infantry Division in France shortly after D-Day. His outfit was awarded a Presidential Unit Citation for valiantly holding off a German Panzer counter-offensive at Mortain, France from Aug. 8-14.

Although wounded, Perez, continued fighting and took part in the Battle of the Bulge, which began on Dec. 16, 1944. Seventy years ago this month, he suffered a hand grenade wound, was captured and held as a POW at Stalag 11-B, near Hanover, Germany, until British forces liberated the camp in April 1945.

Perez was born in Mexican and became a U.S. citizen in 1976 when America was celebrating its bicentennial.

• Bob Garland of Ballston Spa an Army Sgt. 1st Class who served was in Korea for more than a year as a member of the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team. Garland, originally from Montreal, joined the army without even being a U.S. citizen, just like Perez. His father, a Presbyterian minister, left Canada for a church in Albany and Garland joined his parents there a short time later. In 1951, he was drafted.

"It was go back to Canada or go in the army," he said.

In 1958, he became a U.S. citizen and his 20-year army career also took him to Vietnam, where he earned a Bronze Star. Afterward, he was assigned to West Point to mentor the2nd Regiment, Corps of Cadets. He is active in the Tell America program that teaches today's younger generation lessons about the Korean War.

• Dave Wallingford, of Malta, a former Marine Corps captain, was inducted last year to the New York State Senate Veterans Hall of Fame. He was seriously wounded in March 1969 during a day-long fire fight in the northeast part of South Vietnam, where he was a forward observer for an artillery battery assigned to a Marine rifle company - Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Marines Regiment, 3rd Marine Division.

From 1999 to 2004 he was deputy director of the New York State Division of Veterans Affairs and he has remained active in numerous veterans-related organizations. He is the current president of Friends of the New York State Military Museum.

• Bob Nevins, of Saratoga Springs, an Army Chief Warrant Officer who flew more than 500 combat missions over South Vietnam from July 4, 1970 to July 4, 1971. On one occasion his unarmed medevac chopper was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade that killed two of his four crewmates. Miraculously, he survived the crash landing.

His 326th medical battalion saved countless American lives while venturing into hostile territory at all times of day and night. Today, Nevins is still saving lives as founder and director of the Saratoga WarHorse program. Suicide among soldiers and veterans has reached crisis proportions. WarHorse helps people work through and resolve issues by establishing trusting relationships with retired racehorses in calm, peaceful settings, a program with proven results that has gained national acclaim.

• New York Army National Guard Major Shawn Tabankin, 40, from Rexford, has served in the United States Army for over 17 years, originally enlisting in 1997 as a Private in the 82nd Airborne Division. After attending ROTC, he received his commission as an Infantry Officer in 2002 from the New York Army National Guard in order to attend New York Law School full time.

Tabankin has since been mobilized twice for combat tours; Iraq in 2004 as an Infantry Platoon Leader, and Afghanistan in 2012 as an Infantry Company Commander. He is currently on active duty for the New York Army National Guard, serving as the operations officer (S-3) in the 2-108th Infantry Regiment headquartered in Utica.