Tag Archive: Mike Reagan

January Post Meeting

In lieu of a speaker, the Post recognized the following students for their essay submissions:
Our Patriot’s Pen winner – Karsen Friesen 6th Grade was not able to attend.

The 4th grade Youth Essay winner, Calijan Smith, below, left and the 5th grade winner, Eloise Liao at right, are shown in the photos below with Commander Bowen.

Also recognized was our Teacher of the Year, Ali Hammond, who was not able to attend.

January Post Meeting

Business Meeting Started@ 1815 Hrs

The minutes from the 10/18/2023 & the 11/15/2023 meetings were read and approved by the membership. The Quartermaster’s report was reviewed and approved by the membership.
Several expenditures were presented for approval and were so approved by voice vote, including expenditures for Quartermaster supplies, & equipment as well as a new video camera to facilitate the use of Zoom for meetings.

Christmas party meals and cash awards for the VFW Essay winners were also approved.
Two items were added to the Veterans Relief Fund budget; The Captain Joseph House and Sarge’s Place Shelter for the benefit of Gold Star Families and Homeless Veterans.

A proposal was also approved to pay to American Legion Post 66 an annual feel for the use of their building. We will recognize the recipients of the Police/Fire/EMT awards at our next meeting on 02/21/2024.

Mike Reagan has graciously offered to do a portrait of the recipients of the Post Police/Fire/EMT & Teache f the Year as chosen by the Post.

Raffles to be Held for VFW & AL Posts

Raffles are to be conducted again this year, this time for both VFW Post 8870 and AL Post 66 to benefit the operating funds of both posts. The AL drawing will be held on July 4 at a celebration for Post 66 centennial year. 8870 will again hold the drawing at the Christmas party on December 14.

We are Planning more promotion vial local media & social media as well as tighter follow-up of ticket distribution. Mike Reagan has once again generously offered his drawings this time of Gary Senise (widely known for his support of veterans) and country music star Toby Keith, who passed away recently.

Stay tuned for further scheduling & ticket information.

VFW Post 8870 Presents:”Honor & Remember” Raffle

VFW Post 8870 presents: 
Honor & Remember Raffle

A reminder to all Post 8870 members: This is your opportunity to help our Post support Veterans in need, by selling raffle tickets to your friends & family. Of course you may wish to win this one-of-a-kind image for your own wall at home!

Raffle tickets will again be distributed to the members at the October Post meeting. If you can’t make the meeting contact Commander Duane ([email protected]) and he will see that you get tickets.

We are offering 500 tickets at $ 10.00 each, to raise a total of
$ 5,000.00 for our ongoing Post operations.

Comrade Mike Reagan, is generously making this unique item available for our raffle. (In fact the whole project was Mike’s idea!)

Tum in your sold ticket stubs and the money at the Post Meeting, or watch for the Commander’s email on other scheduled opportunities.

This project needs everyone’s participation.

Drawing will be held at the VFW Holiday Party, December 16, 2023.

Attention Seahawks Fans! Post “Honor & Remember” Raffle Planned

Attention Seahawks Fans! 
Post "Honor & Remember" Raffle Planned

VFW Post 8870′ s resident artist, USMC Vietnam vet Mike Reagan has once again made a valuable piece available for a raffle, which we will hold at the Post Holiday party on December 16. The Post and Mike, with his ” Fallen Heroes Project” have worked together in a variety of way over the years. Mike has now exceeded 8,000 portraits of fallen heroes since his “retirement”.

Raffle tickets will be available in September for sale to post members, friends and family at $ 10 each. 500 tickets will be available for a total potential return of$ 5,000 to the post.

Tickets must be sold by individual Post members, in accordance with Washington State law. There is certainly no reason we cannot all promote the raffle on our various social media and we will seek publicity support from our local press.

February Post Meeting 

February Speaker 

Dennis Gibb - Scout Helo pilot in Vietnam

Dennis Gibb – Scout Helo pilot in Vietnam

Gibb, who also joined our post ranks at this meeting, spoke first about his experience as a scout helicopter pilot in Vietnam. Although most combat aircraft in Vietnam aimed for altitudes and speeds that helped them avoid anti-aircraft weapons, U.S. Army crews of the lighter scout helicopters flew low and drew fire – to set up shots for artillery, or the Bell AH-1G Cobras circling above. These hunter-killer missions, among the most hazardous of the Vietnam War, tested the resolve of the OH-6 pilots and the aerial observers sitting beside them. Their survival depended on well-honed instincts and razor-sharp reflexes, along with plenty of luck. After many such missions, Gibb received injuries which ended his service and still impact him today. 

Dennis Gibb - Scout Helo pilot in Vietnam

After a long career in the financial services, he now works at Edmonds College, helping formerly incarcerated veterans to reestablish their lives following release. He presently works with some 40 such vets at the College who are furthering their education. This new career is a reformation of sorts, following some mistakes for which he is paying restitution to this day. 

New Members Sworn In 

New Members Sworn In

Craig Dougherty Department of WA Sr. Vice Commander. (at left) Adminstered the oath to two new members, (LtoR) Bryon Wada and Dennis Gibb. Both were introduced and proposed for membership by Membership Chair Jim Traner and approved by voice vote of the assembled members. 

New Members Sworn In
New Members Sworn In

Mike Reagan presented a portrait of Harlow “Bud” Hart to Craig Dougherty

Harlow was a very close personal friend of Craig. 

Mike Reagan presented a portrait of Harlow “Bud” Hart to Craig Dougherty.
Mike Reagan presented a portrait of Harlow “Bud” Hart to Craig Dougherty.

Memorial Day at Edmonds Veterans Plaza 

Local veterans gathered at Edmonds’ Veterans Plaza Monday afternoon to honor their fallen comrades in a short ceremony. 

Ron Clyborne, a Vietnam veteran, spoke about the efforts to create the memorial plaza dedicated to veterans, starting with a vision nine years ago followed by planning, fundraising and construction. Edmonds’ Veterans Plaza officially opened on Memorial Day 2017. 

In her remarks, Edmonds City Council President and U.S. Air Force veteran Vivian Olson pointed to the myriad heroes giving back to Edmonds every day through arts, charities and service. She also spoke about the fragility of democracy, underscored by the current conflict in Ukraine. 

Edmonds Mayor Mike Nelson offered thanks to those attending for their service. 

At the end of the event, Vietnam veterans Mike Reagan — founder of the Fallen Heroes Project — and Duane Bowman distributed pins to families of those veterans whose loved ones came home from Vietnam, and buttons to those Vietnam vets who served when called to duty. 

Edmonds Beach Clean-up 

Post 8870’s VFW Day of Service, followed by: A Birthday Party! 

Edmonds Beach Clean-up

Saturday, May 7 is VFW National Day of Service. At the March Staff meeting, it was decided that our service will be a beach clean up at the Marina Beach Park on the Edmonds waterfront. We will commence at 0900 and should wrap up well before noon. Please join us for this community service event. Family and friends are welcome to help. 

And then: 

Following the VFW Day of Service event, all are invited to a Birthday Open House for Mike Reagan’s 75th Birthday, at the American Legion Hall, from 3:00 to 6:00 pm! 

The host of this event is the Washington State Gold Star Mothers. Stop by for cake and to wish Mike a Happy Birthday! 

Our Other New Member

by Mike Reagan 

Our other New Member

My Orkin guy, the “Bug Guy” called me a couple of weeks ago and asked me if I remembered Ed’s Outdoor. I told him I remembered the Army Surplus Store in Lynnwood but also remembered it being closed down a couple of years ago. Then he asked me if I remembered the large soldier that stood outside the store. I thought it had sadly been trashed. 

Turned out that a friend of his bought it from the owner and it’s been sitting in that person’s garage since. The buyer’s wife wanted it gone so my “Bug Guy” took it off his hands. So he called me a couple of weeks ago, & offered it to me and I accepted, with the idea this is an “Veteran Icon” of our area and that it needs to be saved from the garbage heap and at the last meeting brought it down to the Post, maybe its last home. I think it’s valuable and with some thought I believe we at the Post could find a way to make it pay off with the work we do. It’s easy to move around and it does get attention. 

From the Bookshelf: More on “They were Soldiers”

Book Review: They were Soldiers

Chapter 8: Mike Reagan 

In the last issue of this newsletter, we published a brief review of Joseph Galloway’s recent book, “They Were Soldiers”, a follow-on to his earlier “They Were Soldiers Once – and Young” in which Galloway tracks his earlier subject’s post war lives, including their careers and their challenges in dealing with leaving the war in Vietnam. It is a well written book, some of which may be difficult reading for combat veterans, for that matter it isn’t easy to read period, but it tells a great story of some great Americans and is well worth your time. 

The book is divided into four parts covering quasi related career paths of these veterans. Part One is called “Artists and Professionals” and the reason for this follow-on article is Chapter 8, titled Michael Reagan… yes, that Reagan, our very own Marine artist in residence. 

Most of us in Post 8870 have heard Mike tell the story of how Vincent Santaniello died in his arms in Vietnam in 1968, the event that lives in him every day and is the inspiration for his ongoing Fallen Heroes Project, which, last we heard, had produced in the neighborhood of 7,000 portraits of those heroes for their loved ones. Galloway describes Mike’s return home from the war, the path he took to his long career at the University of Washington, and on into “retirement” and this second career that is his daily life and that has proven his salvation. 

Mike Reagan

Read Mike’s story for yourself. (Oh, and the rest of them too) Makes us proud to call him friend and comrade. 

Edmonds Mayor Honored for EVP Support

Edmonds Mayor Honored for EVP Support

At a November meeting of the Edmonds City Council, Mayor Dave Earling was presented with his portrait by Fallen Heroes Project artist Mike Reagan, in recognition of his work in support of the Edmonds Veterans Plaza. Earling will end his service as Mayor in January of 2020 after serving two full terms. 

The backing and support of the City and its leaders has been invaluable to the completion of the Plaza. 

THANK YOU Mr. Mayor! 

Veterans Plaza Committee Honors Carrie Hite

Veterans Plaza Committee Honors Carrie Hite

At the July Post meeting, former City of Edmonds Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director Carrie Hite was honored for her enormous contribution to the development and completion of our Edmonds Veterans Plaza. 

Plaza Committee Chair Ron Clyborne spoke of Hite’s contributions to the project, recognizing the essential nature of her part in its completion. While Hite recently resigned from the Edmonds position to assume a similar role in the City of Redmond, the Edmonds Veterans Plaza will surely stand as a highly visible symbol of her legacy to the city. She had served the City of Edmonds since 2012. 

Veterans Plaza Committee Honors Carrie Hite
As a symbol of our gratitude, Mike Reagan, Post member and famed sketch artist of fallen heroes, presented Hite with a her recently completed portrait, shown here, along with a photo of the presentation itself.

The Post and all Edmonds veterans and their families are indeed grateful.