to Mr. Cliff Jones and Brigadier General Joseph McCarthy at the second annual Army Heritage Center Foundation Membership Dinner being held on September 18, 2009 at the Radisson Penn Harris Hotel in Camp Hill.

The award is named after Major General John Armstrong, 1725-1795, a Soldier, a Statesman, a Pioneer and a Leader who shaped the early development of this region and the Nation. (See below and at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Armstrong, Jr. for a fuller biography). Through this award, the Foundation seeks to recognize individuals who have made significant contributions to the development of the Army Heritage and Education Center and its programs.

Mr. Cliff Jones served in the Army in 1946 and 1947. However, his greatest contributions were made in service to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He served six governors as Secretary of Commerce, Labor and Industry and Environmental Resources, and also chaired the Public Utility Commission. Outside state government, he served as interim president of the Capital Region Economic Development Corporation and was president of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry for almost a decade. Mr. Jones helped create Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts and Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. He was a long time member of the Audubon Society and an avid birder. In 1997, he and Brigadier General Joseph McCarthy, as co-chairs of the Governor’s BRAC-PAC, began their efforts that led to development of the Army Heritage and Education Center. Cliff helped facilitate state funding to bring utility infrastructure to the 55 acres of land donated by Cumberland County for facilities development. Accepting the award for Mr. Cliff Jones, who passed away in May 2008, will be his son, Mr. Brad Jones.

Brigadier General Joseph McCarthy is a 1945 graduate from West Point, and he served in numerous command and staff positions in infantry, armor, and airborne units; in the Pentagon; and in the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He served two tours in Vietnam and two tours at NATO headquarters in Brussels and Naples. Upon retirement from the Army, he spent thirteen years in industry with an operations research firm. He was the founding President of the Keystone Capital Chapter of MOAA (Military Officers Association), past president of the Foreign Policy Association of Harrisburg, founding president of the Susquehanna Conference and a founding board member of the South Central Assembly for Effective Governance. He led the community effort to create the Military Heritage Foundation, d/b/a the Army Heritage Center Foundation at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. He was also Chairman and later Co-chairman of the Governor’s Pennsylvania Base Development Committee, which promotes the presence of the military in Pennsylvania and defends against military base closings.

The second Annual Membership Dinner will honor veterans past and present and those who support the mission of the Army Heritage and Education Center to “tell the Army story . . . one Soldier at a time.” In attendance that evening will be Mr Joe Lesniewski, a member of the 506th Parachute Regiment during WWII as depicted in the HBO miniseries the Band of Brothers and Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge. Also invited are Wounded Warriors from our current conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, other Army veterans and local leaders.

For information about the dinner, please contact the Foundation’s office at 717-258-1102 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Major General John Armtrong

John Armstrong was a Soldier, a Statesman, a Pioneer and a Leader who helped shape the development of this region and the nation. He was born in 1725 in Brookeborough, County Fermanagh, Ireland. He received his education in Ireland and became a civil engineer before coming to Pennsylvania as a surveyor for the Penn family.

In 1750, along with Mr. Samuel Lyon, Armstrong laid out the plans for Carlisle, Pennsylvania and became one of its first settlers. He was then appointed as surveyor for the newly established Cumberland County.

During the French and Indian War, Armstrong led the militia troops stationed in Cumberland County. In 1755, he surveyed and opened a road from Carlisle to the Three Forks of the Youghiogheny River to support the Braddock expedition. In 1756, he led an expedition to rescue the prisoners at the Native American village of Kittanning. In 1758, he led the 2,700 Pennsylvania troops that participated in the "Forbes Expedition" that forced the French to evacuate and blow up Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh).

Armstrong began the Revolutionary War as a brigadier general in the Pennsylvania Militia. On March 1, 1776, the Congress appointed him to the same rank in the Continental Army. With his engineering skill, he was sent to Charleston to contribute to the construction of its defense. Later he returned to his regular army and Pennsylvania militia duties. His Continental Army duties ended when he accepted the position of Major General in the militia. Yet, he participated valiantly in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown. At the age of sixty, his health not being what it once was, and old wounds bothering him, he was allowed to leave active command after Germantown. He was elected to the Continental Congress and served from 1877 to 1878, strongly supporting Washington and the Army. He was elected to the Congress again in its final days of 1787 and 1788 and was firm in supporting a new United States Constitution.

In his later life he served as one of the first Board of Trustees for Dickinson College. He died in 1795 and is buried in the Old Cemetery in Carlisle, PA.

Contact: Mike Perry
Executive Director
717-258-1102
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