Eric Fetterman

Eric Fetterman enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1987, serving as a Light Armored Vehicle Crewman during Operation Desert Storm. He also cross trained as a Mortarman and was the Vehicle Commander of Mortar Variant #023 in Camp Pendleton, CA.

Mr. Fetterman served on the USS Comstock in 1991 in the Pacific Ocean, visiting Iwo Jima to honor and remember the fallen Marines of 1945. En route to Hong Kong, he was re-routed to the Philippines during the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo as part of the relief effort for Operation Fiery Vigil.

Six months after being honorably discharged from the Marine Corps, he returned to the Marine Corps Reserves in Buffalo, New York in 1992, eventually exiting the Marine Corps as a Sergeant.

As a civilian, he has been at the center of community efforts to help and support local Marines and their families.

In 2014, Mr. Fetterman joined the Marine Corps League, and has served as Senior Vice Commandant, the “workhorse” of the League, since 2015. During his time with the League, he has earned the Distinguished Citizen Bronze, Marine Of The Year, Distinguished Service Bronze, and the Meritorious Individual Commendation Ribbon. In 2019, Mr. Fetterman organized a benefit for former Marine Corps League Commandant Eric Bellamy, a local veteran battling pancreatic cancer. In one day, the benefit raised $24,000 in contributions from the community to help support a veteran in need.

That same year, Mr. Fetterman organized the First Annual Chenango Bridge Community BBQ Rib Cook Off, raising $1,500 for the Chenango Bridge Fire Department.

He also led the Marine Corps League’s efforts to restart the Toys for Tots program, which distributed over 2,400 toys to more than 1,200 children across his community and raised $15,000 dollars for next year’s efforts.

In 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, he led the League’s efforts to assist the CHOW food bank to put together hundreds of meals in Johnson City for families and students stuck under lockdown.

Mr. Fetterman has served as a member of the Broome County Veterans Memorial Association since 2016, participating in dozens of local veterans funerals as part of the Broome County Veterans Memorial Association Honor Guard.