Join us at the Alvin York State State Great War Expo for a presentation by Jari Villanueva, President of the Doughboy Foundation, entitled: REMEMBER US-BUILDING THE NATIONAL WWI MEMORIAL IN WASHINGTON DC. Saturday, April 5 at 11:00 am
Sergeant Alvin C. York State Historic Park is located nine miles north of Jamestown in Pall Mall, Tennessee and pays tribute to one of the most decorated soldiers of World War I. The park includes a visitor center modeled after York’s general store, his two-story house, a gristmill, the York Bible School, and various picnic facilities. The York Farm was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1977. Just outside the park are the Wolf River Methodist Church where he experienced his religious conversion and the Wolf River Cemetery which includes the burial site of Sgt. York and his wife, Miss Gracie. While these properties are not owned by the park, they are accessible as part of the driving tour or via the park hiking trail.
Jari Villanueva serves at the President of the Doughboy Foundation. Jari retired from the United States Air Force where he served for 23 years with the Air Force Band in Washington DC. He was the Director of Military Funeral Honors for the State of Maryland from 2008-2017 and served as an officer in the Maryland Defense Force, the state militia. From 2012-2025, Villanueva has headed Taps For Veterans, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing live buglers for military funerals. He also founded Taps Across America, an annual event where thousands of participants sound Taps on Memorial Day during the National Moment of Remembrance. He was appointed by the Governor of Maryland to serve on two commissions and has recently been asked to serve on the music committee for the American Friends of Lafayette to commemorate the bicentennial of the Marquis de Lafayette’s visit to the United States in 1824.
Villanueva’s military awards and decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Achievement Medal with three oak leaf clusters, Air Force Good Conduct Medal with six oak leaf clusters, National Defense Service Medal with one service star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the State of Maryland Distinguished Service Cross, the State of Maryland Meritorious Service Medal, the State of Maryland Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters and the Maryland Defense Force Achievement Medal. He also received the US Marine Corps League Distinguished Service Award and The Bronze Good Citizenship Medal from the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. He is the recipient of the 2024 University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Dr. Charles Woolston Award for outstanding service to the UMBC Athletic department.
Jari Villanueva graduated from the Baltimore Public School system and earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree in 1978 from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. In 1984 he received a Master of Music degree from Kent State University, Ohio. He is also a 2006 Air Force Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Academy graduate.
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