Newsletter Articles

Meet Terry Crabtree, our new Post Commander

Meet Terry Crabtree, our new Post CommanderTerry Joined the Post in Feb 2014. Originally from St Louis, MO, he was in the Army 1964-67 and served in Vietnam 1965-66. as part of the 864th Engineer Battalion, Military Assistance Command. Crabtree was an Engineer equipment operator/mechanic and Demolition Specialist/Port Construction at Cam Ranh Bay, Phan Rang, Tui Hoa and An Khe. Stateside included Ft Leonard Wood, MO, Ft Hood and Ft Wolters, TX. Terry completed the Executive Management Program at University of Washington. He was a Construction Manager for Bechtel Inc and has worked and lived on every continent except Antartica. Terry met his wife Josephine in Kuwait where they were married. They reside in Mukilteo and have 2 children and 2 grandchildren. Ask him about his experience in charge of cleanup at ground zero in New York, after 9/11. It’s quite a story.

District 1 Awards for 8870

District 1 Awards for 8870District 1 Commander Don Wischman was in attendance at the July Post meeting to present Post 8870 with a number of awards recognizing our accomplishments during the 2015-16 VFW year. In these photos, Immediate Past Commander Jim Blossey is shown at top left, accepting awards from Wischman for, among other things, meeting membership goals.

District 1 Awards for 8870Also shown is (right bottom) is Chaplain and Past Commander Fred Apgar, accepting certificates of recognition of his tireless efforts in coordinating so many of our Post projects, including our Relief Fund, Teacher of the Year, Freedom Scholarship and Youth Essay. In addition to his leadership of our Post, Fred performs many of those same functions at the district level.

July Post Meeting Speaker

July Post Meeting SpeakerChris Szarek, Director of Veterans Affairs at Edmonds Community College, gave the post an update on the status of veterans programs at the College. At left, he is shown presenting Jim Blossey with a certificate recognizing the participation of the Post in the College’s Memorial Day event and Blossey for his outstanding performance as the Master of Ceremonies for the event.

A more detailed report and photos of the event were published in the June issue of this newsletter.

Post Honors Bob Otto

Post Honors Bob Otto

Mike Reagan presented his portrait of Bob Otto to Bob’s daughter Robyn Nordsven at the July Post Meeting

In the July issue of this newsletter, we published the obituary of Post member Dr. Robert Otto, who passed away in December of 2015. At the July meeting, Otto’s family and friends were present to receive the Portrait drawn by Mike Reagan in his honor.

Otto was tail gunner on a B-24 Liberator that went down near the village of Pollau, Austria, en route to bomb an oil refinery near Vienna in June 1944. Six of the crew were captured, two were killed and one was missing. Survivors were taken to a hospital in Graz for treatment. Otto and the other enlisted men were then sent to Stalag Luft IV near the Baltic Sea.

“We were loaded on boxcars,” Otto said. “Inside was a miserable, stinking mess.” In February 1945, they were marched out of the prison camp to keep them safe from the approaching Russian army. Emaciated POWs marched 500 miles over 70 days, sleeping in barns and open fields. Food was mostly occasional boiled potatoes, and the weather bitter cold. Many died of exposure, pneumonia, dysentery and starvation.

“Faith in the Lord and a desire to get home kept me plugging along,” Bob said, until the men were rescued by British soldiers. Otto’s story is included in the book “The Last Escape,” an account of Allied POWs in Nazi Germany, by John Nichol and Tony Rennell.

During his 2008 trip to Austria, Otto met people who were children at the time of his capture and who remember seeing Otto float down under a parachute, one of whom was Herr Adolf Heschl, who was 7 years old at the time. “He recalled the burns on Dad’s face, which triggered Dad’s memory of looking into mud puddles, trying to see his burns,” his daughter said. Details of Bob’s ’08 trip were reported in the July issue of the Post newsletter.

Post Honors Bob Otto

Bob, second from right, with the crew of the B-24 Liberator “Texarkana Hussy “

Raffle Winners Announced

Raffle Winners Announced

As part of the Post contribution to the funding of the Edmonds Veterans Plaza, a rafffle was conducted over the past two months with tickets sold by post members & friends of the post, for which Mike Reagan provided prizes in the form of two of his wonderful renderings of Seahawks scenes.

The drawing to determine the two winners was held at the Post picnic on July 4. At left is Reagan and incoming Post Commander Terry Crabtree, presenting the first prize to Jim McCann, center right and second prize to Rene Blumenfeld center left.

The raffle raised over $2,600.00 for the Plaza project, which has now reached and exceeded the estimated project cost.

Congratulations to our winners and thank you to everyone who participated!

Tour of USS Shoup (DDG86) Slated

Tour of USS Shoup (DDG86) Slated

USS Shoup (DDG86)

Thanks to a fortuitous contact by Post Member Phil Sacks, the post has been invited to tour USS Shoup (DDG86), one of the Navy’s newer Arleigh Burke class destroyers by her commanding officer, Commander Jason Rodgers, USN. The tour is scheduled for Friday, September 9 at Naval Station Everett .

We must limit attendance to a maximum of 50 and advance registration is required for security reasons. An email will be going out to all members of the post with a form attached which attendees must fill out and return. Registrations will be accepted on a first come first served basis. We plan on an 0930 arrival in Everett and the tour takes about an hour and half.

For parking, the Alfa parking lot located next to the Main Gate is where everyone would park. We would be met there. It’s about a 10 minute stroll to the ship from there. Car pools are recommended. If there are personnel that would require transport to the ship, it can be made available.

Access for disabled veterans is extremely limited. There are no access ramps and unless disabled persons are able to walk, the tour is almost nonexistent. That said, if their desire is simply to come aboard a US Navy Ship, we can figure out a way to accommodate that.

Some ship safety notes: close-toed shoes are required. The tour does transit up and down steep ladderwells and there will be a fair bit of walking.

USS Shoup is named for General David Shoup, UCMC, a World War II veteran who was awarded the Medal of Honor and whose final service was as Commandant of the Marine Corps. She is presently at sea for training exercise with the Pacific Fleet and allied navies and is expected home in Everett in mid August.

 

Mukilteo Teacher Receives Washington State Recognition

Mukilteo Teacher Receives Washington State RecognitionAt the recent Department of Washington VFW convention that was held in Pasco, a local teacher was recognized as the Elementary Teacher of the Year for the state of Washington. The teacher recognition program is sponsored by the National VFW through its Citizenship Education Teacher Awards Program, and it recognizes teachers for their ongoing efforts to promote American history, traditions institutions, teach and reinforce citizenship education topics, and promote democratic values and beliefs.

Nancy Thompson, a music teacher at Serene Lake Elementary School in the Mukilteo School District had been nominated for this recognition by Edmonds VFW Post #8870. She went on to earn Elementary Teacher of the Year honors by VFW District 1, and competed against other elementary teachers from across the state for state honors. Nancy’s nomination materials have been forwarded to National VFW, where she is under consideration for national recognition.

Nancy is described by her Principal, Dr. Karen Reid, as an “outstanding music educator who has consistently demonstrated a sincere commitment to teaching children about American history and instilling in them the traditions that makes our nation the emblem of freedom”. Thanks to Nancy’s efforts, each month the school celebrates specific historical events and those people who played significant roles in our nation’s history. The Veteran’s Day program she plans and coordinates each year, honors veterans and features performances by the school’s band, chorus, and orchestra. Most of the music and poetry in the productions, are original pieces written by Nancy. She cares deeply for the veteran and military communities. Nancy is a graduate of Montana State University and has taught in the Mukilteo School District for 14 years. She and her husband, Jeff, and their 9 year old daughter reside in Bothell.

Mukilteo Teacher Receives Washington State Recognition

Post 8870 at the Edmonds Waterfront Festival

Post 8870 at the Edmonds Waterfront Festival

L to R Don Stapleton, Les Abel and Karl kurfuss staff the Post information booth

Thanks to the generosity of the Rotary Club of Edmonds, producers of the annual Edmonds Waterfront Festival, who provided us with booth space, the Post was able to have a presence to promote our programs to the community and unaffiliated veterans during the June event. This was our first time out for this event, but we hope to be able to continue this effort in future years, with improved staffing.

VFW Post Presents Jim Harkness Freedom Scholarships

VFW Post Presents Jim Harkness Freedom Scholarships

At the June 14, 2016 VFW Post #8870 meeting, the recipient of the Jim Harkness Freedom Scholarship was recognized by the Post. This year, which marks the fifth year of the program, the scholarship was named to honor Jim Harkness a WW II Army veteran. Jim is a long-time member of the Post, who has served his colleagues in a variety of leadership positions. Jim served in the 758th Field Artillery Battalion and landed in Cherbourg, France to join in chasing the Germans back to their homeland. For more than a month, Jim and his unit engaged the enemy in the Battle of the Bulge. Jim’s wife, Dorothy joined him in presenting the $1500 scholarship to this year’s recipient, Chloe Ames.

The Jim Harkness Freedom Scholarship was established to identify and reward deserving graduating seniors who have achieved an outstanding record of academic achievement, leadership, and community service and understand and value the freedom and rights guaranteed to us all by our Constitution.

Chloe is a recent graduate of Kamiak High School in Mukilteo. During her high school years, Chloe pursued a rigorous academic schedule, taking one or more Honors or AP courses during all four of her high school years. She graduated with a GPA of 3.7. Chloe was a member of the National Honor Society and the Kamiak Pep and Show Bands. Community service is important to Chloe, and she served on the Mukilteo Youth Advisory Board for the Mukilteo City Council. She also volunteered a considerable amount of her time to assist classroom teachers and students with special needs at Serene Lake and Picnic Point Elementary Schools. Chloe taught at her church’s Vacation Bible School and served as an assistant Sunday school teacher.

Help – Send Money!

As you should all be aware, the Post general fund is separate from our relief funds, which are largely funded by poppy contributions. Relief funds are in great shape, The Plaza Fund is over goal, but our general operating budget fund is severely depleted. Donations from the membership would be very helpful to allow us to fund purchase of covers, pins, awards, supper for meetings, etc. You can easily donate by credit card at the Post 8870 web site (https://vfw8870.org/contribute/) or send a check to Edmonds VFW Post 8870 PO Box 701.