Wisconsin VFW 100th Anniversary Convention

 We had a long but uneventful drive to Green Bay, Wisconsin to attend the 100^th Convention and celebration.  The Tundra lodge is within view of Lambeau Field so I had to swear allegiance to the Packers in order to stay at the convention!  And what a convention it was…we started bright and early Wednesday morning and didn’t stop until late Saturday evening.  In between, the VFW certainly put on a great convention.  Also, the Tundra Lodge lives up to its name…there were so many animals hanging on the walls and in full mounts all over the walkways.  It was an amazing sight!

One of the most poignant moments was the honoring of the Wisconsin Lao Veterans of America.  The Wisconsin Governor proclaimed May 14 as Hmong-Lao Veterans Day across the state and the Wisconsin VFW presented the Veterans Association with a beautiful crystal plaque.  Several of the Lao Veterans talked about their service during the “Secret War” in Vietnam, including their captivity by North Vietnamese forces.  Wisconsin members of the VFW who fought alongside these Lao veterans recalled their service and several noted that they would not be with us today but for the courage and bravery of the Lao veterans.  It was a truly solemn event, one that I’m glad to say I witnessed.  These Lao veterans, many of them of advanced years, were so honored to be recognized for what they did so many years ago.

I was amazed at how many first time VFW members were in attendance.  At one point, all of them stood up and they easily comprised 50% to 60% of the entire audience.  Who says the VFW is just a bunch of old men?  Wisconsin will prove you wrong.  Additionally, six of the 11 incoming District commanders are first timers and the new State Commander is also a current conflict veteran.  We’re going to hear a lot more from Wisconsin in the years to come!

Members of the Wisconsin Lao Veterans of America

Young and enthusiastic members of Green Bay Post 2307.  They garnered a lot of community service awards and were also declared an All State Post.  Far right is Commander Ken Corry.  This man always had a smile on his face and jumped in to help anyone who needed it the entire time.  Outstanding!

The new leadership of Wisconsin:  Senior Vice Michele, Junior Vice Ron, and Commander Cory.  What a great crew!

Commander Jason presenting a handicap-capable van to a very grateful double amputee.  The very new van belonged to a long time VFW member. After his recent passing, his wife wanted a deserving person to have it.  

As always, the Wisconsin Honor Guard is the absolute best at what they do!

Thanks to the Denmark Post, Mama got a lot of treats in her own personalized cheese round container

This goat fascinated Mama.  She had to stop and sniff every time we walked by

She did seem a bit sedate when she was next to this lion!  There was no Mama Smack Down in sight!

Just because

When you're in Green Bay, you wear a cheesehead hat...even if you are wearing a tuxedo at a banquet!

 

Military Officers Association of America Meeting

On my drive home from Wisconsin, I stopped into a meeting of the Military Officers Association of America, in Mundelein Illinois.  Yes, I was invited! The President of the MOAA North Chicago Chapter is also the VFW Post commander at Post 2486 here in Illinois.

The special guests were Acting Director Terry Prince of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs and the Honorable Joyce Mason, a Representative in the Illinois House.  I very much enjoyed their company during lunch and I believe they really have the best interests of veterans at heart.  Acting Director Prince is also a retired Navy Master Chief, so he and VFW State Commander Bobby Welch shared many stories!  Representative Mason is sponsoring several veteran-centric bills including a Veterans Bill of Rights, pushing for surviving spouses receiving VA DIC payments to gain easier access to property tax relief, appropriating additional monies for service dog training for veterans, and penalties for those misrepresenting that they have Service Animals.  I’m certainly behind all of these initiatives!

President Mike Peck gave me a Desert Storm belt buckle and a signed copy of Medal of Honor Recipient Al Lynch’s book, “From Zero to Hero:  From Bullied Kid to Warrior”.  I can’t wait to start reading it!

Illinois VFW State Commander and his Command car!  It's certainly an eye-catcher!

IDVA Acting Director Terry Prince

Illinois Representative Mason

MOH Recipient and Illinois resident Al Lynch's book

Driving past Kenosha Wisconsin on my way to Illinois.  How could I not [safely] take a picture of this sign?

Welcome Readers from Sweden

 We continue to grow as readers from Sweden have joined us recently!

The flag of Sweden is blue with a yellow or gold Nordic cross, situated slightly left of center.  The blue is symbolic of truth, vigilance, perseverance, loyalty and justice.  The yellow is representative of generosity.

Thanks for joining us and we hope you continue to enjoy our travels!

Virginia VFW Convention!

 Mama and I traveled last week to the beautiful city of Portsmouth to share in the business and fun of their state convention. We were not disappointed!  This is the home state of Commander in Chief Hal Roesch and I had big shoes to fill but we were welcomed with open arms and felt very much at home the entire time.

I enjoyed spending time with the incoming Commander, Butch Schupska.   Everyone is still working for outgoing Commander Eric, but they are positioning to jump out of the gate and run the race again when the new year begins on 1 July.  Butch kindly asked me to install him into office after his election and it was an honor to be a part of the Joint VFW and Auxiliary installation.  This Joint event shows once again that we are two sides of the same coin and we are all working toward the same goal!  Emotion overwhelmed Butch a few times, but it was heartwarming to see this man so humbled by the awesome responsibility he was undertaking.

SSG Jonathan Dozier Memorial Post 2894 took many of the yearly awards, almost too many to mention, including several three foot tall trophies!  They do not have a physical Post home so all of their efforts are directed outward.  Check them out on Facebook if you want a glimpse of what a community oriented post can do!  For example, they are a five year All American Post and 5 of the last 6 years National Outstanding Community Service Post. In 2020 they received the National Outstanding Community Service Project Award of Excellence AND the 2020 Fred C. Hall National Community Service Project Award.  Outgoing Commander Chris and incoming Commander Jose understand what the VFW is at its very core:  A service oriented group of motivated members who want to do great things for their community!  I will follow them on social media and keep up with the great things they are doing.  Plus, they have an absolutely STUNNING electronic Post newsletter!

This year, Virginia went above and beyond as they created three new posts and revitalized 2 more that were on the brink of closing.  That takes a lot of hard work and determination from the leadership at all levels and Commander Eric is to be commended for keeping the state on track to get this done.  And it isn’t just committees or groups that excel here.  They have motivated individuals too.  One member, on his own over Memorial Day, distributed poppies and garnered over $6,500 in donations!  He was also tireless in the evenings at convention and even cajoled me into purchasing raffle tickets.  He was VERY good at separating all of us from our wallets.  His enthusiasm and desire made it impossible to say no.

The meetings and gatherings began Thursday morning and went well into the afternoon of Sunday with District Commander training and the first Council meeting of the year.  Training is the key to success!  They certainly used me during this time as they asked me to speak on no less than five separate occasions.  Fortunately, I was able to meet the challenge and each time gave them something different to think about.  There’s nothing worse than repeating yourself when speaking to the same groups of people.

I’m looking forward to going back to Portsmouth in a few weeks to be with Chief Hal and the members of Virginia once again.  I understand there’s a certain member who wants to sell me more raffle tickets!

How about this high tech yet Old Timey microphone!  It worked great, carrying my voice far and wide.  How do I know?  I heard several comments about that boring guy in the next room.  It had to be me because they had some great speakers at the convention.

Portsmouth is a major shipyard and had several Navy ships in for repair.  Commander Eric works on these and said they can be in dry dock for 18-24 months getting maintenance, repair, and upgrades.  This happens every three years or so.  This is a high and dry aircraft carrier.  Quite a sight

This is a Coast Guard mobile lighthouse, now used as a museum. It was also a nice landmark for me when I was out walking Mama.

Commander Butch and I played in a “Fun Only” slots competition sponsored by Powerhouse Gaming.  I actually won the thing, but it was only for bragging rights.  Powerhouse certainly is a great corporate sponsor for the Virginia VFW!

Here’s one for the Post Office wall:  L-R, New Commander Jose of the SSG Jonathan Dozier Memorial Post 2894, Past State Commander Eric, New State Commander Butch, outgoing Commander Chris [who wore down the battery on his chair going back and forth collecting all those fantastic membership and community service awards for his Post, and of course, yours truly.

For some reason, Mama thoroughly enjoyed watching the river and the boats from the 8^th floor every time we waited for the elevator.

Alaska VFW State Convention, Mid May

 Hi Team!  Alaska is a different country when you visit in May versus the dead of winter! Instead of darkness, snow, fog, and bone chilling weather it has been a pleasant 40-50 degrees with sunshine about 18 or more hours a day.  It really is a night and day difference!

As much as this great weather puts a smile on my face, I’ve become acquainted with a winged creature resembling a small sparrow yet the folks here claim they are just mosquitoes.  Well, when I saw a few of these black nightmares trying to carry off a small dog, I knew they have a different perspective up here.  I’m happy to report that I won’t need to donate blood for a while as I think these flying hypodermic needles took at least a pint, maybe more during my stay!

I got here on the same flight with our National Senior Vice President, and my counterpart, Jean Hamil.  We were met at the airport and had a great dinner with the VFW Commander and Senior Vice, along with the Auxiliary President, Senior Vice, and Junior Vice.  It was pretty late so it was off to the Best Western at Lake Lucille for a few hours rest before all of the great events.

This convention was packed with events and I will say each one seemed to be better than the one before.  There’s a spirit of jointness between the VFW and Auxiliary and everyone pulls together to move things forward.  Rugged individualism meets camaraderie and you have the secret to success.   We met at the Susitna Post and they have a very large camping area.  RVs and trailers were all over and there was a festive tail-gating atmosphere before and after all the meetings.  Mama would have enjoyed romping around with all the other dogs who were having so much fun.

A few highlights included an amazing joint memorial service.  Not only did the National Soloist absolutely crush her songs [not a dry eye in the house!] but as the names of the deceased were read their Post and Auxiliary members walked over and placed poppies on the altar.  So moving!  Jean and I were honored to place poppies in the name of the deceased members-at-large who had no Post to honor them.

No convention is complete without training and we had that in abundance. Using Zoom, our National Membership and Programs Departments joined us virtually and were able to provide top notch, just in time training to the whole crowd.  Technology is here to stay, is inexpensive, and the folks in Alaska have embraced it fully.  In house training was also provided and we had an opportunity for a lengthy informal roundtable to discuss leadership, recruiting, service and so much more at all levels of the organization.  I was even able to go visit an outstanding veterans War Memorial the city of Wasilla erected.  Great Job!

One of the big takeaways from my official visit to Alaska?  It’s a family.  Female veterans in the Chair offices and other critical areas; Male non-veterans in the Auxiliary Chairs...next year for the Auxiliary  the President, Senior Vice President, and Junior Vice President will all be males.  I think this might be a first!  The old bright lines have been erased and everyone is encouraged to be the best they can be.  How refreshing!!  Diversity truly abounds in Alaska and everyone is here for one purpose:  Veteran and Community Service!

Alaska Commander Todd Maynard, the first of Class 122 to be installed

Todd and some of the officers really worked hard during the convention.  I'm so impressed with the Alaska VFW!

The Memorial where Jean and I placed poppies for deceased members at large from both the VFW and the Auxiliary.  This was a touching tribute and everyone in the audience participated

National Auxiliary Soloist Willa Watts.  The Voice of an Angel!

Veterans Memorial

Many organizations contributed to the success of this Memorial

Todd, me, and Past State Commander Carol.  This restaurant has the best food and fastest service I have ever encountered.  If you are in Wasilla, Alaska you must eat here!

Yes, it really was like this!

Winston Churchill's Famous Speech

 Traveling back from National Headquarters a few weeks I ago, I stopped at Mama's usual break spot, near Kingdom City, Missouri.  While she romped in the dog park, I remembered that just a few miles south, in Fulton, there was a monument to Winston Churchill I had never visited.  Of course, we drove down to see it!

On March 5, 1946, Churchill and President Truman arrived in this very small Missouri town and Churchill gave his most famous post World War II address:  "The Sinews of Peace".  You probably know it more for his Iron Curtain comments!!

Yes, in this sleepy town one of the most famous phrases of the Cold War were uttered:  "An Iron Curtain has descended across the Continent"

I was only able to get these pictures because of construction at the church where he spoke.  There is a rather large section of the Berlin Wall on display and also a full size statue of Churchill, but they are behind barricades.  Still, standing on the same spot as Churchill did 75 years ago, I was struck once again at the greatness of this man.  He called it, and we lived it.  Thankfully, we won the Cold War many years later.  America!

Highland, Illinois VFW Post 5694 75th Anniversary

 

Highland Post 5694 75^th Anniversary Celebration

When Illinois Past State Commander Russ Rieke invited me to attend his Post’s 75^th, I eagerly accepted.  He asked me well over 6 months ago and I blocked the date on my calendar…I’m glad I did!  The Post isn’t too far from my home so it was nice to make an appearance that didn’t require multiple airports and hotels.  I just had to show up and enjoy spending time in this beautiful Pocket of Patriotism in the heartland of America.  Nestled on 24 acres, the grounds include four baseball fields, a Korean War Era jet, 105mm Howitzer cannon, and an AH-1 Cobra helicopter that flew over 100 missions in Vietnam.  They have many more memorials throughout their beautifully manicured land.

The Post was originally chartered by World War I veterans as Post 1234 which, in an amazing coincidence, is also the combination on my suitcase.  When the Second World War started many of these veterans went back into service. As a result, they turned in their Charter and fought to preserve democracy. Returning home, they knew they wanted to continue sharing the bonds of service they had forged.  In a scene eerily reminiscent of the founding of the VFW in 1899, a group of them met at a local  business called Bucket’s Tavern and decided to become a VFW Post again.  Shortly after, it was renumbered to 5694 and the names of over TWO HUNDRED charter members live on in that document that proudly hangs on the wall in their hall.  Yes, over 200 veterans came together after the war to once again share their lives.  Service, once realized, never leaves your system.  The Veterans of Foreign Wars provides that opportunity to all eligible veterans. Commander Russ created an extensive history of the Post and I wish more Posts had a document like this.  It’s a historical chronicle of everything the Post has gone through over the years.  If we don’t preserve our history we will lose it forever.  All attendees received a  copy of this well researched history.  Thank you Russ for perpetuating the memory and history of Post 5694!

The day long celebration was a fun event.  Veterans, family members, community members and local politicians came to enjoy this historic day.  Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville ROTC members came out and assisted in many areas.  They even helped some of the older attendees during dinner by walking through the buffet line with them, filling plates with delicious foods and taking people back to their chairs.  Interestingly, many of these future leaders were previously enlisted in the military.  They finished their service and are now attending University on the GI Bill.  They are all looking forward to graduating and being commissioned as officers in the military!  What patriotism!

A highlight for me was the opportunity to spend time with WWII Army veteran Roland Harris.  Roland is 95 years old and has been a member of the VFW for 75 years…as long as this Post has been in existence under the new Charter.  Roland was wearing his WWII uniform and proudly walked me through his island hopping experiences in the Pacific Theater of the War.  Just Wow!  History from a man who lived through it. I truly was sitting in a Hall of Heroes!

Friends, wherever you are, if you get invited to a VFW Post anniversary…GO!  You will leave with a smile on your face and renewed sense of how great America is because of it’s veterans!

Roland Harris, WWII Veteran!

EVERY Community Activity book since 1946.  An historian's dream!

Page 1, Book 1, Year 1!!!

 

100th Anniversary Department of Indiana

 I had the pleasure of driving to Indianapolis today...and back!  Long drive but worth it to be part of their commemoration. It was hot and humid but the rain backed off long enough for the ceremony. What a nice memorial spot they have outside the Headquarters building!  And, yes, I will be buying a brick!

Many past state commanders and officers showed up along with "my" National Commander in Chief, Bill Thien, from 2013-2014. State political dignitaries presented citations and greetings and I presented a (very large) national 100th anniversary citation. There was a nice turnout and there was cake afterward. Apparently, I'll speak anywhere if there's cake!  Indiana is going to have a great year because they have great teamwork and they care about what they are doing for veterans!

Indiana VFW Commander Dick Lineberry presiding over the ceremony.  Note the REALLY big citation from National Headquarters!

Lineberry, me, and Past National Commander in Chief Bill Thien

Lineberry and me, in front of a very nice memorabilia case in the foyer of the Department Headquarters

SARA Detroit and Atlanta

 Hi all!  It's been a busy several weeks and I'll get back to you on my recent trips soon.  For now, I traveled to Virginia this past week and Mama got to visit the Service Animal Relief Areas in Detroit and Atlanta.  In Atlanta we had a long layover and Mama got to adopt a cute little Pitbull named Kodak.  At ten months old he did a lot of snuggling and playing with Mama.  She tolerated it, as only Mama can do.  But she also let Kodak lay on her for a while.  Heartwarming!

Mr. Kodak!

Built in sprinkler system in Detroit.  They also had bays with these individual pads on them so the dogs didn't have to share.  I think the dogs had more room than the people out in the Concourse!

Atlanta!  Mama and Kodak enjoyed hanging out without any humans around.

St Louis SARA

 Mama and I are flying together again!  For most of the COVID-19 lockdown we have been driving everywhere. We’re in St Louis and heading to Virginia today for the VFW state convention.  

And yes, we found the Service Animal Relief Area at Lambert Main Terminal!