Author Archive: Editor

The following is from an invitation sent to the Post from the Washington State Veterans Administration.  The ceremony will be on Friday, October 7th at the State Legislative Building.  The Post is not planning on formally attending this, but if anyone is interested, please let the quartermaster know and she will let you know if any other members are attending.

This ceremony will honor the 1,049 Washingtonians who gave their lives in our nation’s defense during the Vietnam War and announce the campaign to collect photographs of every casualty honored on The Wall. These photographs will be the highlight of the soon to be built Education Center at The Wall in Washington, DC.

VVMF still needs to find photographs of 571 of Washington’s Hometown Heroes. We encourage attendees to bring pictures of their fallen friends and loved ones to be scanned following the event. This event is open to the public and press is encouraged to attend.

Confirmed speakers include First Gentleman Mike Gregoire, Director of Veterans Affairs John Lee, and VVMF Board Member Jan Scruggs. Additional speakers TBA.

For more information or to RSVP, please contact Jason Cain at 202.330.0962 or at [email protected].

So you are 31 years old and decide to buy a life membership.  How long until you break even vs. paying your dues as a continuous member?  About 20 years given the low interest rates.  That sounds like a longtime, but since I’ve been a member since 1969, I’ve made quite a few dollars on my Life membership.  It’s something everyone who is a continuous member should consider.  If you need assistance in making the Life Membership payments, let the Quartermaster know.

September is almost over now, and we are looking forward to October. Our October meeting will be on the 14th, at the usual time at the Senior Center.

Ladies, now is the time to pay your 2012 dues AND to recruit, recruit, recruit. The National Dues will be increasing by $1.50 on January 1, 2012. Save yourselves and your recruits a little money!

The first weekend in November (on the 4^th and 5^th) we will be having a Buddy Poppy campaign, I hope I can count on several of you to work a four hour shift at the Top Foods in Shoreline on either Friday or Saturday. It is always best to have 2 or more people working a shift together so you can give each other a “break” from the table once in a while. Sign-up sheets will be at the October meeting. It can be FUN, why don’t you give it a try?

Since the Senior Center will be closed on Veterans’ Day (Friday, November 11), the Auxiliary members decided at the September meeting that we would go along with whatever the Post was going to do so…we’ll see you at the American Legion Post that day. The Post will be supplying our food that day also. There is a small room available for us to have our meeting. Thank you members of the Post for thinking of us in you’re planning!

KBTC received an Emmy award for a program covering Post member Mike Reagan’s Fallen Hero project.  While the award is made to the station who put the program together and aired it, it is also about the project itself and Mike’s efforts to bring home love ones lost in the war.  Hopefully, at some future date, we will get a copy of it and play it at a meeting.

Our Safety Officer, Jim Collins, is looking for fire and EMT candidates for Safety Officers of the Year Award (we already have the Police Officer selected).  If you know of any deserving individual, please let Jim or the Quartermaster know.  The deadline is November 1st.

At the August 12th meeting, Congressman Jay Inslee honored Edmonds portrait artist and Post member, Michael Reagan, for his work with the Fallen Heroes Portrait Foundation. Earlier this year, Congressman Inslee read into the Congressional Record a proclamation recognizing and praising Reagan for his unselfish commitment to providing surviving families with portraits of their loved ones who had lost their lives while engaging in the country‘s War on Terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan.

While presenting a copy of the resolution to Mike, Mr. Inslee noted that the portraits that Mike draws and provides free of charge to Gold Star families brings ―great comfort to family members and helps in the healing process.‖ Commander Jim Traner presented Mike with a check in the amount of $1,000 to support the wonderful work that he does and commended Reagan for the love, support, comfort, and peace he furnishes to the families of his fallen comrades.

To date, Mike has provided over 2,600 portraits to the families of our Fallen Heroes. As an expression of his thanks to Congressman Inslee for the national recognition that he had brought to the Fallen Heroes Project, Reagan presented a portrait of the Congressman to him. Guests who attended this presentation included Mayor Mike Cooper, State Senator Marilyn Chase, County Council member Stephanie Wright.