Author Archive: Editor

We have some individuals who have stepped up and are pulling 4 shifts to cover the lack of volunteers. There is still time to volunteer and take the load off some other folks, Remember, we are handing out Buddy Poppies on November 8 and 9 at five different locations. Bob Crawford is heading up the effort and his number is 206-909-4893. You can also reach him at [email protected] and leave him a message you’d like to help out. Remember, this is the soul source of the funds for our Relief Fund. If you can’t make it, consider a donation to the Post.

Christmas Party

All members of VFW Post #8870 and its Ladies Auxiliary and their guests are invited to attend our Annual Christmas Party. The luncheon will be held at the Edmonds Senior Center on Saturday, December 14. The meal will be served at 1:00 PM, but you should plan on arriving at Noon. A raffle has been added to this year’s event in which winning ticket holders will be choosing from among a variety of donated items. The more tickets you purchase, the greater your chances of success.

We are asking members and guests to bring along a non-perishable food item for a local Food Bank and a new, unwrapped toy or a clothing item suitable for teenagers, all of which will be donated to Holly House.

The family of John Bustard will donate and cook a turkey and the Post will donate a ham. Guests are asked to bring a dish to be shared. The food item categories are:

Side dish Salad

Rolls/bread Dessert

Please RSVP to Fred Apgar ([email protected] or 206-940-7502), indicating the number of guests who will attend and the category of dish you will provide.

Veterans Day: Discounts and Freebies

A big thanks to Willy Hughes, Commander of the Arlington Post 7511, who sent me this list. I enhanced it a bit finding that the Outback, Red Robin, and Krispy Kreme also gave discounts. None of you should go hungry on November 11th. In addition, Cabelas is offering a veteran discount ranging from 10% to 25% so stop by and check them out as well. I’m sure I am missing a few so watch the newspapers for more freebies.

Applebees – Veterans and active duty military receive a free meal from a limited menu, including Fiesta Lime Chicken and Bacon Cheddar Cheeseburger on Veterans Day (Nov. 11). Deal is good for dine-in only. Beverages and gratuity not included.

Champps – On Monday, Nov. 11, Champps will offer a free handcrafted burger with fries to veterans and active duty military.

Chili’s – Veterans and active duty can get a free entrée all daya special limited menu on Veterans Day, Monday, Nov. 11. The menu includes Chicken Crispers, Margarita Chicken, andTurkey Sandwich.

Denny’s – Active, inactive and retired military personnel can get free all you can eat pancakes on Veterans Day nationwide with a valid ID.

Golden Corral – Corral Restaurants’ Military Appreciation Monday free dinner will be available on Monday Nov. 11, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Military retirees, Veterans, active duty, National Guard and Reserves are all welcome.

Grace for Vets – Car washes from around the world who join this program offer free car washes to veterans and service members on November 11.

Home Depot – Offers a 10 percent discount to all Veterans during Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Independence Day. Home Depot offers the 10 percent discount year round to for active duty and retirees.

Krispy Kreme —Veterans can start their Veteran’s Day off with a free breakfast at Krispy Kreme that includes a doughnut and a small coffee. No purchase is necessary.

Lowe’s – All Veterans receive the 10 percent discount on Veteran’s Day, Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. The offer is available in stores only.

Max and Erma’s – Veterans Day, Monday, Nov. 11, participating Max & Erma’s locations are saluting veterans and active military personnel with a free Best Cheeseburger in America Combo meal.

McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants – On Sunday, November 10, participating McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurants offer a complimentary entree to vets from a special menu on a space available basis, online reservations are highly recommended. Be sure to contact your local McCormick & Schmick’s to ensure they are participating.

Menchi’s – veterans will receive a free 6 oz. frozen yogurt on Veterans Day, Monday, Nov. 11, 2013.

National Parks – Veterans Day weekend (November 9-11) veterans will be invited to visit over 100 National Parks for free.

Olive Garden – Olive Garden is having a Veterans Day free meal for all veterans on Monday, November 11, 2013.Veterans can choose a free entree from a special menu. All these entrees come with freshly baked garlic breadsticks and choice of unlimited soup or salad.

Outback Steakhouse – Stop into any Outback Steakhouse on November 11, 2013 to get a free Bloomin’ Onion and beverage. This offer is for veterans as well as active duty and retired military. Outback Steakhouse is also giving out a military discount of 10% off the total check November 12 to December 31, 2013.

Red Robin – Veterans and active duty military can stop into their local Red Robin on Monday, November 11 to get a free Red’s Tavern Double burger and Bottomless Steak Fries. Be sure to bring your military ID to take advantage of this Veterans Day freebie.

Chaplain’s Column—Rock Roth

Chaplain's Corner, News, Newsletter Articles

God’s Grace – A lesson of God’s Love! We don’t deserve it nor have we earned it. That love is given to us as a gift. God’s Grace!

There once was a man named George Thomas, preacher in a small Texas town.
One Sunday morning he came to the Church building carrying a rusty, bent,
old bird cage, and set it by the pulpit. Eyebrows were raised and, as if in response, the Preacher began to speak. . . .

“I was walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward
me swinging this bird cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little
wild birds, shivering with cold and fright. I stopped the lad and asked, “What do you have there, son?” “Just some old birds,” came the reply. “What are you going to do with them?” I asked. “Take ’em home and have fun with ’em,” he answered.

“I’m gonna tease ’em and pull out their feathers to make ’em fight.

I’m gonna have a real good time.” “But you’ll get tired of those birds sooner or later.

What will you do then?” “Oh, I got some cats,” said the little boy.

“They like birds. I’ll take ’em to them.” The preacher was silent for a moment.

“How much do you want for those birds, son?” “Huh?? !!! Why, you don’t want them birds, mister. They’re just plain old field birds. They don’t sing. They ain’t even pretty!”
“How much?” the preacher asked again. The boy sized up the preacher as if he were crazy and said, “$10?” The preacher reached in his pocket and took out a ten dollar bill.

He placed it in the boy’s hand. In a flash, the boy was gone. The preacher picked up the cage and gently carried it to the end of the alley where there was a tree and a grassy spot. Setting the cage down, he opened the door, and by softly tapping the bars persuaded the birds out, setting them free.
Well, that explained the empty bird cage on the pulpit, and then

the preacher began to tell this story: One day Satan and Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the Garden of Eden, and he was gloating and boasting. “Yes, sir, I just caught a world full of people down there. Set me a trap, used bait I knew they couldn’t resist. Got ’em all!” “What are you going to do with them?” Jesus asked. Satan replied, “Oh, I’m gonna have fun! I’m gonna teach them how to marry and divorce each other, how to hate and abuse each other, how to drink and smoke and curse. I’m gonna teach them how to invent guns and bombs and kill each other. I’m really gonna have fun!” And what will you do when you are done with them?” Jesus asked.. “Oh, I’ll kill ’em,” Satan glared proudly. “How much do you want for them?” Jesus asked. “Oh, you don’t want those people. They ain’t no good. Why, you’ll take them and they’ll just hate you. They’ll spit on you, curse you and kill you. You don’t want those people!!” “How much? He asked again. Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, “All your blood, tears and your life.” Jesus said, “DONE!” Then He paid the price.

The preacher picked up the cage and walked from the pulpit.

God Bless America and God Bless our Troops!!

The Last Word—Commander’s Column by Fred Apgar

The myth refuses to die. We have all heard it. Several weeks ago, I was with a group of people and one “enlightened” member of the group mentioned in passing the “fact” that the military disproportionately attracts minorities and men and women from disadvantaged backgrounds. She, like so many, believed that troops enlist not because they want to serve their country but because they have few employment options. I have heard ill-informed politicians express this lament and at least one Presidential candidate.

Curious, as to whom, exactly, serves in the military, I researched this topic. Thanks to the miracle of the Internet, I found several studies that addressed this topic and they all had similar findings. Both enlisted and officer corps come, primarily, from middle-class and upper-middle- class backgrounds, from families in which the median incomes were nearly 10% higher than the national median income of $50,428. Clearly, low-income families are underrepresented in today’s military.

Contrary to the popular misconception America’s that enlisted troops are poorly educated, research indicated they are much more highly educated than their peers. A little more than 1% of enlisted troops do not possess a high school diploma compared to 21% of men between the ages of 18-24 years of age. 95% of the officer corps has, at least, a bachelor’s degree.

The all-volunteer force was established in 1973 amid concerns over whether the military could maintain race representation proportional to the overall population. Research on this topic produced some interesting findings. Both whites and blacks are slightly over represented in their population representation, due to the fact that Asian and Pacific Island recruits are smaller than their population representation. While their numbers are small, the most over represented group among our recruits is the American Indians and Alaska Natives.

Finally, the findings regarding representation in the military by geographic region confirm the strong Southern military tradition. The South accounts for more than 40% of men and women serving in uniform, a huge proportional over representation. By contrast, the Northeast is significantly under represented. The Mountain West is overrepresented, and the West coast under represented. Surprisingly, the Midwest is slightly under represented.

Commander, News, Newsletter Articles

VFW Trivia

Whenever your cover is removed for a prayer, it should be held in the right hand over the heart with the Cross of Malta showing. Even though at times a Commander or Chaplain will forget to say it (myself included), you should be at parade rest with your left hand behind your back. It isn’t dogma, it is simply for everyone to show respect to the prayer being said.

Poppy Signup On Line

We need help Comrades. Our Veterans Day Buddy Poppy drive is on the 8th and 9th of November at five locations. We have place a SIGNUP SHEET (Check mark a slot box and click on red “Submit and Sign Up” button on the bottom. Not necessary to register to sign up.) at our website www.vfw8870.org to allow you to go online and pick your date, time, and location where you can assist. We have some folks that pull all the shifts for both days to make up for the fact that others don’t help out. The proceeds raised are placed in our Relief Fund and used to support a variety of organizations. To date this fiscal year here are the organizations and amounts contributed:

Fisher Houses $2,000
National Home for the Children $1,000
National Military Services $1,000
Assisting Vets in Need $ 573
Special Olympics $ 500
USO $1,000
Wound Warriors Project $ 500
Fallen Heroes Project $ 50
Youth Essay Scholarships $ 300
Freedom Scholarships $4,000
Veterans Homes $2,000
Chaplain’s Offices (assist active duty) $2,000
Santa’s Castle (JBLM ) $1,000
Summer Camp—Veterans’ Children $1,000

So you can see we can only do good if we raise funds to assist these worthy organizations. If you can’t sign up due to health or other issues, that’s ok. Our Post understands that many of you have given hours and hours of time when you were able. However, if you are able and simply chose not to volunteer, I would suggest you seriously consider a donation to our Relief Fund. Simply make the check payable to VFW Post 8870 and indicate it is a donation to our Relief Fund. Since the average volunteer raises in the neighborhood of $200-$300 per shift I would suggest a $100 donation. However, any thing you would like to give would be gladly accepted and, as you see, put to good use.

Military Funeral Honors by Chris Edwards

The rendering of Military Funeral Honors is a ceremony representing our Nation’s deep gratitude to those who, in times of war and peace, have faithfully defended our country. It is the final demonstration of respect our nation can provide to the family members of our veterans. Every veteran who has worn the uniform of the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Cost Guard has earned the performance of Military Funeral Honors by uniformed members of the Armed Forces.

Upon request, Military Funeral Honors can be performed for active duty and Reserve personnel and former active duty veterans and Reservists who were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. The preferred method for verifying eligibility is the DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty. If a DD Form 214 is not available, any discharge document, showing other than dishonorable service could be accepted. Photographs of veterans in uniform and official military documentation of service could be helpful in determining eligibility. A service member’s DD Form 214 may be obtained by sending a request to the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, MO.

Family members of deceased veterans may request Military Funeral Honors through their funeral director. For families not utilizing the services of funeral home, they should contact the appropriate Military Service Coordinator. Military units will provide, at a minimum, a two-person detail to present the core elements of the Military Honors ceremony. These elements include the playing of Taps, the folding of a burial flag, and the presentation of the flag to surviving family members. Under certain circumstances, a rifle detail and pall bearers may be provided.

The Army National Guard regularly provides Military Funeral Honors to all branches of service throughout the state of Washington. Frequently, the Guard details are accompanied by honor guard and rifle parties from local Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion Posts.

Contact information for the Washington Army National Guard Funeral Honors can be found at www.washingtonarmyguard.org/honorguard/ More information, as well as a list of Military Service Coordinators can be found at www.dmdc.osd.mil/mfh

1SG Chris Edwards is a member of Headquarters Staff, 81^st Brigade Special Troops Battalion. He is the Senior Vice Commander of VFW Post # 8870.

Space Needed

The Post is in need of space to store its supplies that are used for our semi-annual Poppy distribution efforts. We are looking for a space approximately 6’ x 6’ in size and located in or close to Edmonds. Presently, we have been forced to rent space, and we need storage that is more conveniently located. If you have something suitable to our needs or know of someone from who we could rent a storage area, please contact Fred Apgar at 206-940-7502.

Fallen Heroes Project

The Fallen Heroes Project will be on display at the Lynnwood Library during the entire month of November. On November 9th at 2PM, Mike Reagan will make a presentation on the project. I am giving you a heads up 5 weeks in advance so you can put it on your calendar. I would suggest that you refer your friends to the exhibit even if they can’t make it to the presentation.

Christmas Party

I know, it’s 70 degrees (well, 60 now) outside and Christmas is 3 months away. However, mark your calendars for December 14th at 1PM when the American Legion Post 66 and VFW Post 8870 will have a combined Christmas party at the Senior Center. Since we bring toys (for the Holly House) and canned food (for the Food Bank), you can start squirreling both away in anticipation.