Author Archive: Editor

Capt. Rock is shown presenting certificates to students at Discovery Elementary School.  Their teacher, Ms. Cochran, is with them.  Rock did a great job of promoting the VOD, PP, and Essay contests in the Mukilteo and Edmonds School Districts.  We are seeing the results of Rock and Fred’s hard work by the number of participants who entered this year.

If you are reading this and haven’t paid your dues, you are now officially late as December 31st is the end of the membership year for your prior dues payment.  If you wish to pay through the National VFW website, simply go to vfw.org, log in or register, and make a payment online.  Or, if you would like, drop a $25 check payable to our Post into the mail addressed to:

Quartermaster
VFW Post 8870
PO Box 701
Edmonds, WA  98020

Thank you for your continued support of our Post.

A number of us attended the 70th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack at the Naval Station Everett.  Four survivors of the attack were present at the ceremony which one of them,  Ray Wans, who was aboard the USS Curtiss on Sunday morning, December 7, 1942, was the keynote speaker.  Of course, our own Post member, Erv Schmidt, was also in attendance.  Erv, as most of you know, was on the USS California which was sunk.

What came out of Ray’s speech and from our knowledge of what Erv did that day, was the extraordinary heroism of the military personnel who were suddenly attacked.  How they reacted that day is a reflection to the training and discipline they had instilled in them and a reflection of their commitment to their shipmates and duty.  In his concluding remarks, Mr. Wans stated it was “an honor to serve that day”.  On behalf of the veterans present that day, it was an honor to be in the presence of those four Peal Harbor survivors.

One further note, the commander of the Naval Station, Capt. Michael Coury, thanked all the veterans who attended the ceremony and wishes to make sure that every veteran is invited to attend in the future.  So while Posts of District One made an impressive showing, hopefully even more will attend in the future.

First of all, special thanks goes to our Quartermaster Tom Hallums who once again got KP duty for a joint luncheon (Tom got the short straw last July for our BBQ with the Legion).  However, Tom rose to the occasion and like the miracle of the fishes and the loaves, provided enough food to feed the hoards that showed up at the Legion Hall on December 17th.  In addition, we brought enough toys to fill a pickup and enough canned and nonperishable food to feed many families as well.  After the lunch was over, we drove the toys and food to the Edmonds Food Bank where they were distributed the next day to a lot of folks down on their luck in these hard times.  On behalf of the Post, I want to personally thank the Legion for hosting the party and we enjoyed the camaraderie of both our fellow veterans and our family members who attended.  An again, a special thanks to Tom for his hard work in making this all happen.

We made a run to both Orting and Retsil Old Soldiers Homes to deliver gift cards from Walmart and Fred Meyers to the residents.  Each home received $1,000 in cards to give out at Christmas.  In addition, we reached out to Joint Base Lewis-McChord and Naval Station Everett to assist families and active duty personnel by delivering $500 of gift cards to the Chaplains of each base to dispense to those in need.  Finally, we helped JBLM by providing funds to their Santa Room which provides toys to the children of active duty personnel who can’t afford to provide presents to their children.  In the future we will reach out to the other branches of service to help make a merrier Christmas to all of those who serve.

We invited the student essay winners to attend our December meeting and present their essays to a joint meeting of the Auxiliary and the Post.  All any of us could say after they were done was “Wow”.  Beginning with Amanda Harris, a 5th grader at Mukilteo Elementary who spoke of her father’s four tours in Afghanistan and the four times he has been wounded, Gunnar Brent our Patriot’s Pen winner, and finally Katarina Nguyen who won the Post’s Voice of Democracy for the third year in row.  Katarina, whose parents were both born in Vietnam and fled after the Communist overran their country, interviewed a number of veterans from our Post. The veterans were from all the conflicts from WWII to the present wars in the far east.  I have published her essay in whole on our website.  Special thanks goes to Capt. Rock Roth for having, by far, the most successful essay contest in memory.  We had a number of entries on all levels and Rock did a great job (along with Fred) grading them and selecting the winners. We wish them success at District One competition.

Our three teachers of the year are shown with Sr. Vice Commander Fred Apgar who was the individual in charge of the selection process.  As Commander of the Post, I will say that Fred did a marvelous job and our three teachers are truly extraordinary educators.  Pictured with Fred are Bridget Mahoney-Fernandes from Edmonds Woodway High School; Jami Samione, middle school teacher from Maplewood K-8 Parent Cooperative in Edmonds; and Robert Allen, a primary grade teacher in Mardrona K-8.  The Post has submitted these individuals for consideration for District One Teachers of the Year, and, if chosen, will be submitted to Department for further consideration.  If they are chosen at the Department level they will be honored at the Mid-Winter Conference being held in Yakima in January.  And it would not be a far reach given this group of individuals to see one of them emerge as a candidate for the National VFW Teacher of the Year.  Rock made a comment that patriotism is now beginning to thrive in the schools, and these folks are the reason why.