Tribute to County Veterans & Military Members

Colonel Roger Chang

Roger Chang is retired Army Colonel with 30 years active duty and Reserve service.   

Cold War - Answering the President’s Key Intelligence Question KIQ#1: “The mission success warranted immediate transfer of the recorded ultraviolet sensitive recording paper to Defense Special Missile and Space Center (DEFSMAQ). The Joint Unit received the Air Force outstanding unit awards and key individuals received the Joint Service Commendation Medal for helping to answer KIQ #1.”

After over forty years, the National Security Agency (NSA) officially declassified this statement regarding the President of the United States Key Intelligence Question (KIQ #1). The answer resounded “yes” loud and clear. The answer helped keep the Cold War cold. The answer helped to prevent “the end of the world as we know it.” The answer compelled Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to negotiate the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty II, to limit strategic nuclear delivery vehicles. The wrong answer might have initiated a 17-minute exchange of 7,500 unstoppable thermonuclear warheads around the globe. That was 17 minutes of Chang's Active Duty. Answering KIQ #1 rose high as our top national mission when he served as a United States Army officer in 1973.

The excerpt above is from Chang’s memoir, “Helping Keep the Cold War Cold.” The mission success warranted his selection for the Army in 1975 for assignment at the National Security Agency. He created and maintained the 97th Army Reserve Command (ARCOM) Briefing during the Desert Storm Middle East War as PEA for the Commanding General 97th ARCOM at Fort Meade, MD.

Chang and his family have been residents of Howard County since 1975. He is the founding Commander of American Legion Columbia Post 300 in 2003.

First Sergeant Lorinzo Foxworth

Lorinzo Foxworth served in the US Army for 20 years, from 1975-1995. From 1978-79, he performed border patrol duties as a Calvary Scout, guarding democratic West Germany against the Soviet Eastern Bloc Countries. He later served in human resources and Army Recruiting fields, retiring as a First Sergeant (E-8). Foxworth graduated from the US Army Sergeants Majors Academy and has a Doctor of Management in Organizational Leadership from the University of Phoenix.

From 1996 to 2015, he ran a small business - Synectics Trainers - providing organizational and strategic leadership management best practices to corporations and educational institutions with clients such as DOD, Ford Motor Company, US Army EEO, Baltimore City Schools, US DOL, the Veterans Employment and Training School, and the Army Recruiting Command.

Foxworth currently serves as an adjunct instructor for University of Maryland Global Campus and University of Phoenix, while providing leadership coaching and strategic development as an owner of theleaderdoc.com. He also worked for the VA Administration Office of Talent Management 2019-2023.

Foxworth also serves on the Maryland Veterans Commission, Howard County Commission for Veterans and Military Families, is an elected member of the Howard County Democratic Central Committee and on the Executive Board of the Maryland Center for Veterans Education and Training (MCVET) in Baltimore City. He is also a member of the National American Legion Association and has been a resident of Howard County since 2012, relocating from Baltimore City.

Colonel J. Gregory Jolissaint

Greg Jolissaint served 28 active and eight reserve years in the US Army and retired as a Colonel. He began his military career as an Infantry Lieutenant, then returned to school after four years of active duty and graduated as a medical doctor. After completing an Army Family Medicine Residency, he spent over two decades serving in medical leadership positions for both operational Army units, including clinics, hospitals and medical centers. Jolissaint provided medical support to 1st Armored Division Soldiers during Operation Desert Storm; commanded a combined US and British medical task force in Kosovo; and had the privilege of commanding all Army medical forces assigned to the 8th US Army and the US Forces Korea from 2006-2008.

Jolissaint spent a successful post-military career as a defense contractor which included overseas deployments in support of US and NATO medical forces during OIF (Iraq) and OEF (Afghanistan). He later transitioned to successive executive leadership positions in the Veterans Health Administration prior to serving as an executive leader in a large non-profit health care system. He is now an independent health care, high reliability, and health care leadership SME, consultant, and coach who also enjoys serving as a Veterans mental health advocate.

Jolissaint moved to Howard County after retiring from the US Army in 2011. From 2016 to present, he has served on the Howard County Commission for Veterans and Military Families and is an active member of American Legion Post 156 and VFW Post 7472. He is also active in his parish, the Church of the Resurrection, and the Resurrection Knights of Columbus in Ellicott City.

Paul Rivers

Paul Rivers served four years active and seven years Reserve duty in the U.S. Marine Corps, 1980-1984 and 1985-1992, respectively. As a young corporal in March 1983, he was deployed to Beirut, Lebanon, as part of a peace-keeping mission directed by then-President Ronald Reagan. He was there for seven months until wounded, at which point he was medically evacuated to an Army hospital in Germany, as one of the few survivors of the Marine barrack bombing on October 23.

On that fateful day, 220 marines, 18 sailors and three soldiers were killed, marking the bombing the deadliest, single-day death toll for the United States Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II and the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Armed Forces since the first day of the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War.

Rivers spent nearly 30 days in the hospital and was awarded the Purple Heart by Vice President George H. Bush. Rivers and his family have lived in Howard County for 20 years having settled here during his 27 years as a U.S. Marshall. He was active in Wilde Lake HS PTSA, where his sons attended high school, and continues to serve on many boards in Howard County to include the Commission for Veterans and Military Families, Board of Elections, Police Accountability Board, and Veterans Mental Health Council. He helped create the NAMI Connections Veteran Support Group in 2020, where he serves as a veteran peer facilitator.

Paul Turlington

Following his high school graduation, Paul Turlington enlisted as a Private in the USAR in his hometown of Gainesville, FL, as a finance pay specialist. He later attended ROTC at the University of Florida and was commissioned as 2LT in April 1983. Upon graduation in 1985, Turlington went on to complete Officer Basic Training at Fort Sill, OK, and was assigned to Fort Campell, KY, for three years before being promoted to Captain and rebranched to Transportation.

Completing officer advance training at Fort Eustis, VA, in 1989, he was assigned to Fort Polk, LA, as the Movement Control Officer, G4 for the 5th Infantry Division from 1990 to 1991 during Operation Just Cause in Panama and Gulf War Operation Desert Shield/Storm. After Desert Storm, he was released from active duty and continued his military service in the USAR until his discharge in 2003.

Turlington currently serves as the National Society Sons of the American Revolution State Chair for the Veterans Committee and ROTC, as well as the National SAR Representative to VA Maryland Health. He is Past President, Charles Carroll of Carrollton (Howard County area) and a life member of Ellicott City’s American Legion Post 156, VFW Post 7472 and DAV.  He volunteers each week at the VA Baltimore Medical Hospital as a driver for veterans in need of transportation from their home to care.

After 23 years with UPS, Turlington retired June 2023. He has been a resident of Howard County since 1999, having lived in North Laurel and Ellicott City. Paul was an initial member of the UPS Veterans Business Resource Group and was appointed as community representative to Chris Van Hollen in 2006 and Ben Cardin in 2010.

Juan Valdez

Juan Valdez honorably served in the United States Marine Corps as a mortarman from January 2004 to December 2013. His dedication to duty took him on multiple deployments, beginning with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit in 2005 alongside 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines. In 2006, he deployed to Iraq, where he demonstrated extraordinary courage and resilience after being wounded by an enemy sniper. Undeterred, he remained on active duty, returning to Iraq in 2009 with Regimental Combat Team 8. His commitment continued with a reenlistment and subsequent deployment to Sangin, Afghanistan in 2011 with 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, where he contributed to critical operations in one of the conflicts most challenging environments. His service is marked by bravery, perseverance, and an unwavering commitment to his fellow Marines and his country.

Valdez graduated from the University of California in San Diego with a degree in Political Science with an emphasis in Public Law. After working in Congress for a year, where he worked to advocate for active-duty military and veterans, Valdez currently works for the Wounded Warrior Project, where he serves as its grassroots and constituent affairs coordinator. He currently resides in Columbia, Maryland and is a proud member of the American Legion Post 300.