VFW Post 914 supports veterans,
military families, and the broader
community in a variety of ways.
BY DAVE GOLEBIEWSKI
A
s a young platoon sergeant during World War II, Mitchell Paige led
a 32-man unit that managed to fend off upwards of 1,000 enemy
soldiers during the Battle of Guadalcanal. The West Mifflin native
received the Medal of Honor—the nation’s highest honor for valor—for his
selfless actions on the battlefield, which helped turn the tide of the war in the
Pacific. A ceremonial howitzer stands as a monument to his bravery, and that
of his comrades, in West Mifflin’s Mitchell Paige Memorial Park.
Generations later, West Mifflin’s commitment to country and community
remains strong thanks to the efforts of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post
914 Intrepid. The post is led by Commander Jake Bradich, a West Mifflin
native with more than 20 years of combined service in the U.S. Army and the
Army National Guard. Bradich was deployed as a communications specialist
during the Iraq War, and for active duty in South Korea in the 1990s. Upon
retiring in 2007, he wanted to continue serving in a different manner.
“I quickly joined the VFW for the camaraderie,” Bradich says. “I missed the
connection to soldiers, and I wanted to get out and help veterans who are not
as fortunate as myself in the civilian world.”
VFW Post 914 supports veterans, military families, and the bro