The Post hosted the winners of the Youth Essay and Patriot Pen contests at the January meeting. The house was packed with family members, teachers and siblings. The winners read their essays and can say the future of America is in good hands with these young people. Sr. Vice Commander Chris Edwards (in BDU’s back row) organized and graded the essays. We suspect he had a little help from his wife who is a school teacher.
Our Chaplain, Rock Roth, who is a retired Navy Captain and was instrumental as the Navy’s public relation officer when Naval Station Everett was being built, is organizing a tour of the aircraft carrier Nimitz. The tour will take place on February 8th. We will meet at the Senior Center at 10AM, car pool to the Naval Station where we will have brunch at the All American Café on base. At noon, a bus will pick us up and take us to the ship. If you are interested, you need to contact Rock ASAP with your name, driver’s license number, and date of birth. Rock can be reached at [email protected].
Space is limited.
Post 1040 and Post 8870 hosted the January 5th meeting honoring the District winners of the Youth Essays, Patriot Pen, and Voice of Democracy. In addition, the Teachers of the Year were recognized. Kathy Miller, a teacher at Meadowdale Middle School and Post 8870’s nomination, took first place for her grade level and went on to be recognized as the Middle School Teacher of the Year at the Department level. Attendance at the luncheon was overwhelming. While there was no official head count, I would say approximately 100 folks attended the awards ceremony.
For you members who are unfamiliar with what a District Meeting entails, it is a meeting of the 8 Posts in Snohomish County comprising District 1. Typically it covers areas which cross over to all the Posts and it is an opportunity to meet your counterparts from the other Posts. The structure is similar to the Post with a Commander, Sr. Vice., etc. It is also the “funnel” for Post winners of various contests, etc. to be considered for Department of WA honors. The next meeting will be April 5th where our annual Memorial Service will be held.
Two local teachers were recently recognized at our January meeting for their on-going efforts to promote American history, traditions and its institutions, teach and reinforce citizenship education topics, and promote democratic values and beliefs.
Greg Troyer (shown above) a 5th grade teacher at Spruce Elementary School (Edmonds School District), was named Elementary Teacher of the Year. Greg plays a major role in organizing the annual Veterans’ Day Assembly at his school. The assemblies celebrate the contributions made by veterans in the community. Greg is described by his supervisor as having a passionate belief in the potential of all students, possesses unswerving patriotism, is committed to the teaching of democratic values, and introduces his students to those values needed to make our country strong..
The Post’s Middle School Teacher of the Year is Kathy Miller, a vocal music teacher at Meadowdale Middle School. Kathy devotes countless hours in the organization and production of Veterans’ Day assemblies that feature guest speakers, personal testimonials, student essays and poetry, visual displays, and original musical productions. Several students provided vivid testimony to the positive affect Kathy has had on their lives and commented, “Don’t ever stop teaching”, “you made a major impact on my life”, and “because of you, I learned to sing from heart”.
Both Kathy and Greg were recognized as District 1 VFW Teachers of the Year as well. Kathy was recently notified she has been named the State of Washington VFW Middle School Teacher of the Year. Kathy will now be considered for national recognition.
Gil’s hometown is Lynnwood, WA where he now resides. Gil has been a VFW Life Member at large. Corporal Loomis served in the Army Infantry from 1947 until 1952. He was in Korea for Occupation duty beginning in 1948. When war broke out in 1950, Gil was with I Company, 31st Infantry, 7th Infantry Division. He was shot in the hand and forearm, suffered frostbite and was eventually evacuated from the battlefield. Awards include Purple Heart w/ 1st Oak Leaf Cluster, Korean Service Medal w/ 3 bronze service stars and the Good Conduct Medal. He is head of the Lynnwood Chapter of Disabled American Veterans.
Ken is an Orting, WA native. He was in the Air Force 1969-73 and served in Vietnam 1971-72. Ken performed C-54 maintenance at Tan Son Nhut AB and also as a flight mechanic with the 377th CAMS with 200 sorties. Stateside, he was based at Lackland AFB, Shepard AFB and McClellan AFB. Awards include the Good Conduct Medal. Ken has a BS Mechanical Engineering from University of Washington and is a retired engineer at Boeing. He and Carol reside in Edmonds and have a son and daughter. Ken is a member of Cascade Warbirds.
Terry is 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. He 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 Executive Management Program at University of Washington. He was a Construction Manager for Bechtel Inc and worked and lived on every continent except Antartica. Met Josephine in Kuwait where they were married. They reside in Mulkiteo and have 2 children and 2 grandchildren.
Joe is originally from Manitoba, Canada. He served with the Marine Corps 1964-68 and a long tour in Vietnam 1965-67 as a rifleman, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. Joe was awarded a Purple Heart. He is a member of the Disabled American Veterans. He has retired from the Hospitality Industry. He and Sheila reside in Woodinville. They have 2 sons and 3 grandchildren.
As my two year old Grandson says, “Wow! How did we get to 2014 so fast? I wrote down in my check book not too long ago ‘1954’. Have no idea where that came from. I believe, however, that it is indicative of how rapidly time flies. I am reminded each time I look into a mirror and see my dad looking back at me that ‘Time waits for no one’. This brings vividly to mind the last line of John Donne’s poem and Ernest Hemingway’s novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, “And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee….”
The realization that time marches on has been an issue with man since the very beginning. In The Encyclopedia of Lost and Rejected Scriptures: The Pseudepigrapha and Apocrypha the reoccurring theme is aging and a deep yearning to return to Godliness, i.e., the perfect state of Man before the ‘Fall’. Periodically, we each need a wake-up call, a reminder, that we have no guarantee that we will survive this New Year. In fact we have no guarantee that we will survive the day, hour, or minute. We need to live each day in such a way that we are prepared to meet our Creator! We are challenged to “Better the community in which we live through our devotion to duty as citizens. To live such lives of stainless integrity as shall reflect honor upon our country and the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, and glorify Thy (God’s) Great and Holy Name.”
As we commence our journey into (and hopefully through) 2014, let us each look for ways to better serve our God, our Nation, veterans in need, our nation’s youth, and other appropriate individuals and organizations remembering the parable of the Good Samaritan and that “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
For the past several weeks, the media has been all abuzz regarding revelations made by former Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, in his recently released book, Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary of War. Depending on one’s ideology, you might praise Gates for exposing the duplicitous manner in which our Commander in Chief conducted the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, or you might ridicule Gates for being a self-serving and self-righteous partisan, whose motives for publishing the book were strictly monetary and vengeful.
I have a different view. I have no doubt that much of what he revealed in his book actually occurred, but I take issue with Gates with the manner in which he chose not to address the issues he raised. Gates worked as Secretary of Defense for four and a half years, bridging the Bush and Obama administrations. In spite of all of the problems he witnessed, lack of trust between military and administration leaders, declining morale among members of the military, lack of enthusiasm in supporting military operations, and decisions based on pure ideology and political expedience, Gates remained silent. Despite his moral and legal obligation to “protect” those whose lives had been placed in danger, Gates became complicit in all that has happened in Iraq and Afghanistan.
If he really cared about the manner in which combat operations were being conducted, he would have done the principled thing and resigned and done so in a very public fashion. He could have testified in a Congressional hearing about the issues he raised in his book. He shouldn’t have waited more than a year to disclose the injustices he witnessed while he wrote his book. He should have begun work, immediately, to correct the problems cited in his book.
I keep waiting for that principled leader to step forward and place the lives of those they have sworn to defend ahead of their own careers.
The views expressed in this column are solely those of the Commander and do not represent those of VFW Post #8870, its membership, or VFW.
For all of you who stand outside the local grocery stores twice a year or all of those of you who have helped out on Buddy Poppies in the past, your hard work was translated into $500 of gift cards to be given to needy families by the Chaplains at JBLM, Naval Station Everett, Coast Guard, and the Marines. In addition, we gave $500 of gift cards to the Old Soldiers Homes at Retsil and Orting. Since I personally delivered cards to JBLM and to Orting, I know how appreciative those folks were to receive them. The Chaplain’s assistant at JBLM told me of a family with 7 children trying to make ends meet and how much they would appreciate any assistance they could receive. With 45,000 troops stationed at McChord and Fort Lewis, our $500 was a drop in the bucket. However, I suspect the families who received them didn’t view them that way. So next Spring when the signup sheet goes around for Buddy Poppies, don’t just pass it on the next person sitting next to you. Consider where your efforts really go—to helping military families and to veterans who need our help.
We had a great Christmas party in December. Paul Bustard, John’s son, prepared his gourmet turkey feast for us and admission was an toy for Holly House and/or food for the Edmonds Food Bank. For the first time this year, we had a raffle as part of the activities and the officers each brought an item or items to be raffled. We ended up raising over $500 for the Posts. When we dropped the toys off at Meadowdale Middle School where Holly House is held, we estimated we had over 50 toys donated by members of the Legion and/or VFW. I have no idea as to the amount of food items but our members were equally generous to the Food Bank as they were to Holly House. A big thanks goes out to everyone who brought food to the party as well. No one left hungry. And finally, thanks to everyone who setup and took down. We left the place spotless and I know the Senior Center appreciated that.
Our District meeting will be held on January 4th at the Alderwood Boys and Girls Club. We will be recognizing the Voice of Democracy, Patriots Pen, and Youth Essay winners. In addition, the Teachers of the Year will be recognized. This is a special meeting and we would like to have everyone in the chow line by noon. Once we have everyone seated and fed, we will begin our awards ceremony. Immediately following the ceremonies, we will begin our District meeting. Post 8870 and 1040 will be hosting the event, so if you could plan on helping with the set up and tear down, it would be appreciated as we are anticipating up to 80 guests. In addition, Department Commander Ted Streete and his line officers will be in attendance. We will attempt to move the meeting along as quickly as possible. Please note that the only Bowl Game on TV that afternoon is the BBVA Compass Bowl featuring Houston vs. Vanderbilt so you are aren’t missing anything exciting in the way of football.