Four local high school grads and one military wife each earned a $2,000 scholarship from the Coastal North Carolina Chapter in June. Anthony Coia, David Owens, and Nikita Apreisnig from Lejeune High School, Logan Kimler from Southwest High School and Corinne Siciliano are this year's winners. Apreisnig also was designated as the first winner of the chapter's new Cpl. Ramona M. Valdez Memorial Scholarship. Cpl. Valdez was a Marine Corps communicator who was killed June 23, 2005 while traveling in a convoy that was attacked by an improvised explosive device in Fallujah, Iraq. Her courage in a difficult and dangerous position serves as an inspiration to Marines who serve on future battlefields.

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