Monday after the airport we visited
New Cumberland Post that was chartered in February of 1941. The charter members were World War I veterans
and had no inkling their lives were going to be turned upside down in just a
few months. This quaint post does the
hard work with a small membership. It
was nice seeing the auxiliary President present, as both the VFW and the
Auxiliary work together very closely here. New Cumberland is very proud of the
fact that they have been in charge of a very successful state VFW golf
tournament for many years. Our next stop
was the largest post in the state, located in the town of Chester. The Bob Milby Post 6450 is named after their
quartermaster of 65 years. Bob was a
banker and used his skills to set this post up for success over the long
haul. They literally donate several hundreds
of thousands of dollars every year to their community! Their Post Home and vast grounds are simply a
sight to see. Just to the left of the
post is a memorial square with remembrance pavers and a huge statue of a B-52.
Tuesday found our group up early and
on the road to Sistersville and the remarkable Post 6327. As you walk up their front porch you are
greeted with wooden cut outs of military uniforms. On closer inspection you see
these are replicas of actual post member uniforms and the name tags identify
the members. When I walked in I was greeted
with a double line of post and auxiliary members eagerly waiting to shake my
hand and welcome me. After some remarks,
they were eager to show me their post and talk up the fact they soon will have
a tele-health facility! Only one of ten
in the country sponsored by a partnership between the VFW and the VA, this
fully wired space will allow veterans the opportunity to have telemedicine
visits with care providers. In honor of
my visit the Post donated $1,000 to the Unmet Needs Program. They also gave me some nifty marbles in celebration of the 20th Sistersville Marble Festival. More than 20 marble factories once operated within 60 miles of Sistersville and the majority of all children's marbles were made here!
Our travels continued to Mason County
Post 9926 and men and women of the post and auxiliary welcomed us with open
arms. They had some great floor and wall
displays, and Mama found a patriotic place to nap with I was talking to the
group. The Auxiliary presented me with an Auxiliary Cookbook. If anything I make from that book tastes half
as good as how they made it for us, I’ll be ecstatic. I had the great pleasure to meet 93-year-old
Milford Mowrey, a Navy veteran of WWII.
He regaled me with memories of escorting oil shipments from Venezuela to
Iceland, while fighting off German Submarine U-Boats in the Atlantic. Milford posed next to a picture taken of him
at age 17, just after completing basic training!
Our last big stop was at Ravenswood Senior
Center, where we met with members of State Junior Vice Commander Jeff’s Jackson County Post 6669. I was speechless when they
presented me with a piece of West Virginia Black Gold….a solid piece of coal
milled into the shape of the state. I
will display this proudly.
We ended up in the town of Hurricane
and visited the local post for a short while, grabbed a bite to eat, and talked
about our game plan for Wednesday. Sorry this was so long, but it was a packed day of excitement!
