John Storrs
Comrade John Storrs passed away and will be remembered at our April meeting when we drape the Charter in his honor. Our Chaplain has sent a note of condolence to his widow on the behalf of the Post.
Scholarship Committee Needs Volunteers
We’ve established our Freedom Scholarship program and need volunteers to evaluate student submissions. If you are interested, please let Fred Apgar know. It shouldn’t take too much time and the only criteria is being able to read.
Mike Reagan Honored by the Nisei Veterans Committee
Mike was honored with the NVC/NVC Foundation Commander’s/President’s Award on March 30th. Mike drew the portraits of all 21 Medal of Honor winners of the 442nd Combat Infantry Team, the unit that many of the NVC members were in during WWII. Commander Jim Traner and his wife Terry attended the presentation along with several members of the Post and their wives. In addition, Department Line Officers including State Commander, Carlos Almeda, Sr. Vice Commander Krist Huseby, Jr. Vice Commander Ted Streete, and Adjutant Corky Berthiaume were present while Commander Ron Haley and President Ruth Herren represented District 1. As always, the NVC were gracious hosts. Although it was on a Friday evening and we had to do the I-5 crawl to get there, the evening was fabulous. 
Thanks to Buck Weaver, our Post and the NVC have established close ties over the last few years. It is great to have them as friends and, hopefully, we can have them attend some of our functions as well.
Post Officer Nominations
Nominations for Officers were held in the March meeting. Nominated were Fred Apgar, Commander; Chris Edwards, Senior Vice; Carl Kurfess, Junior Vice; Rock Roth; Chaplain; Al Boyett, Surgeon; Tom Hallums, Quartermaster; Ron Clyborne, Judge Advocate; and Jim Traner, 3rd year Trustee, The nominations will be opened to the floor again in the April meeting and following any additional nominations, the election will be held. If you can make the meeting, please do so. This is one of the most important meetings of the year and a great turnout would be appreciated. Installation of the new officers will take place at our June meeting. In addition to the elected positions, there are a number of appointed positions. If you interested in serving, let us know and we will find a job for you.
President’s Corner—Valerie Ehlers
Happy Easter! We’re doing a great job getting those breakfast bars in. Let’s bring a box of them to the April meeting on Friday, April 13!
Remember it is “Election time” for us. If you are willing to be elected to a position but can not attend the meeting, I need to receive a written note from you indicating that you are willing to be nominated and that you will accept any position that you are elected to. Send it to me at Valerie Ehlers, 912 N 143rd St. #6, Seattle, WA 98133. Thanks.
We are electing officers for the 2012-2013 term at the April meeting. I need as many of you as possible to attend this meeting for the elections.
Scott Swain—PTSD Expert
At our March 9 meeting, we were honored to have Scott Swaim address the Post about his work with veterans who have been diagnosed with PTSD. He shared with us his experiences with veterans who suffered from this disorder and explained how symptoms such as sleeping problems, anger, difficulties at work, and loss of friendships might represent manifestations of PTSD. Scott is an Air Force Gulf War veteran who is President of Milspec Advisory Group, a consulting agency that focuses on military and veteran issues. He has over 20 years of clinical experience in programs dealing with mental health issues, and he has consulted for numerous governmental and private agencies on how best to serve the military, veterans and the members of their families. Scott is a member of the VFW, AL, and DAV.
New Members
Ron Fischer
Ron Fischer is a native of Tumwater, WA and attended Seattle University. He served in the United States Navy from February, 1968 to November, 1969 with overseas duty in Vietnam from October, 1968 – November, 1969. Served as Operations Department Yeoman. Ron is in real estate sales and resides in Edmonds. He is married with 3 children and 9 grandchildren.
Michael Santopolo
Michael Santopolo is a Seattle native. He served in the US Army from September, 1966 to April, 1969. He was stationed in Korea at the DMZ from December, 1967 – April 1969. Basic training was at Fort Polk, Louisiana with other assignments at Fort Benning, Georgia, Camp Drum, New York and Fort Meade, Maryland. Michael is in the real estate business and is a contractor. He currently resides in Edmonds and has 2 daughters and 2 grandchildren.
Honor Flight
Two Post members, Jean Whalley and Harry Miller, will be flying to Washington DC during the month of April. The Post is assisting in this endeavor by providing $800 which will cover the cost of two “guardians” who will accompany Muriel and Harry on their journey and assist them as they tour the Capitol and the various war memorials and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This is the second group of WWII veterans we have sent to Washington D.C. Honor Flight was originated when a group of private pilots flew WWII veterans to view the WWII Memorial. It quickly grew and, to date, 81,000 veterans have been flown to Washington DC. Just as an aside, Southwest Airlines has donated thousands of free tickets. Keep this in mind the next time you book a flight.
Rock Roth and Les Abel present certificates and belt buckles during a recent Court of Honor.
Chaplain’s Corner—Rock Roth
We are more than half way through Lent, the Church season during which Christians are encouraged to prepare through prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving, and self-denial for the annual commemoration of Holy Week, marking the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the events of the Passion of Christ on Good Friday, which then culminates in the celebration on Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
During Lent, many of the faithful commit to fasting or giving up certain types of luxury as a form of penitence. The Stations of the Cross, a devotional commemoration of Christ’s carrying the Cross and of His execution, are often observed. Many Roman Catholic and some Protestant churches bare their altars of candles, flowers, and other devotional offerings, while Crucifixes, religious statues, and other elaborate religious paraphernalia are often veiled in violet fabrics in observance of this event. In certain pious Catholic countries, grand processions and cultural customs are observed, and the faithful attempt to visit seven churches during Holy Week in honor of Jesus Christ heading to Mount Calvary.
According to the Synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent forty days fasting in the desert before the beginning of His public ministry, where He endured temptation by Satan. Thus, Lent is described as being forty days long, though different denominations calculate the forty days differently. In many of the Christian churches, Lent is regarded as being forty days long, but the Sundays between Shrove Tuesday and Easter Sunday are not typically regarded as being part of Lent; thus, the date of Shrove Tuesday will typically be 47 days before Easter. Christians are permitted to recognize Lent and celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord on Easter as they choose. These religious rights are a salient and integral part of our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution.
The United States of America was founded on Christian Judeo principles. That does not mean that our citizens must be either Christians or Jews. The First Amendment to the Constitution states clearly that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, on prohibiting the free exercise thereof…..” We are thereby guaranteed the freedom of religion not the freedom from religion. Each citizen shall be afforded the right to worship – or not – as he or she believes. I may not agree with how you choose to worship but I shall not have the right to interfere, obstruct, or prohibit how you worship. Also, you have no right to interfere, obstruct, or prohibit how I worship. Many within this great country of ours seem to have forgotten or never perceived this fact.
I wish each of you a very Happy Easter or Happy Hanukkah or not.
The Last Word
The Post has grown this past year if you hadn’t noticed. We’ve added 23 new members which is over 10% of our membership of 201 members last year. Unfortunately, during that same period, we have lost members who have passed and some who simply disappeared so we stand at around 107% of last year’s membership. A number of the new members are Vietnam veterans like myself but we have a fair representation of veterans from every conflict from WWII to Afghanistan. How do we get new members? We have had a fair number of new members reach us through our website but I would say the largest percentage are friends and acquaintances to whom we have reached and invited them to join us. I know I have and it’s interesting that a majority were simply waiting to be asked. I hope you will all reach out to our fellow veterans that you know and extend an invitation to have them join us. As you all know, we don’t have any secret handshakes, code words, or other clever initiation secrets. All we ask is that the member be eligible by way of his or her service overseas and maintain allegiance to the United States of America. Pretty darn simple. So the next time someone says something that indicates they are an eligible veteran, extend an invitation to them to attend our next meeting. We will pick up their lunch tab. One other note for you “old timers” and that is reach out to the newer members and get to know them. We don’t have any cliques in our Post and most everyone just finds a seat at a table but at the next meeting look for an empty seat next to a new member. We can add new members but it’s up to all of us to make them feel welcomed.