Author Archive: Editor

At our June meeting, Post # 8870 welcomed three veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars who are students at Seattle Central Community College.  These three students have assumed leadership positions for the newly organized Student Veterans Association on campus.  The mission of the Veterans Organization is to ensure academic success of student veterans by assisting them with the financial burdens of higher education.  The organization has organized several initiatives to establish a Student Veterans Scholarship Fund.

VFW Post #8870 has established working relationships with similar student veterans groups at several other area colleges, and we look forward to supporting the Student Veterans Association at Seattle Central Community College.  The Post membership approved a donation of $500 to the group’s scholarship fund, and we look forward to working with the organization in the future.

There will be an annual wreath laying ceremony on July 27th at the Korean War Veterans Memorial on the Capital Campus in Olympia.  This will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the armistice and the public is encouraged to attend.  I know we have a number of members who are veterans of the Korean War and I suggest that you may wish to form a car pool and attend the ceremony.  The service is to begin at 11:00AM so utilizing the car pool lanes will be beneficial to ensure you get there in a timely fashion.  If you have any specific questions regarding the event, you can contact the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs at 1-800-562-0132 option 1 or email them at [email protected].

Ok Comrades—bring your check books or cash to the next meeting if you intend to go to the Aquasox game on August 17th.  This is VFW day at the park and your family is invited to attend.  Tickets are $10.  I realize it is a couple of months off but we are trying to get head counts and arrange for some special events at the game and I have found that when there is some skin in the game, the counts become more accurate.

I suspect a lot of us are already American Legion members.  For those of you who are not, please consider it.  In our small community, the VFW and American Legion team up in virtually all the community events from Edmonds Night Out to the 4th of July Parade.  For the American Legion to thrive, it needs new blood.  Their meeting takes place on the third Monday of the month at 6PM in the Senior Center’s library room.  Come by on June 17th and consider a membership.

Erv, a young 97, is shown with 3 members of the Mill Creek Fire Department.  Erv was part of a team of members who made this year the most successful on record.  Hopefully, we can all be pulling a Poppy shift when we are 97.

The Post set a new record in Buddy Poppy donations.  The total as of May 28th (some funds are still trickling in) is $13,430.  As you know, this money is used exclusively for our Relief Fund.  We have been able to be generous because our community is generous in their support of VFW.  I want to thank everyone who did “Poppy Duty”.  Duty is a poor word to use.  I should restate it to “Opportunity” since it is an opportunity to hear folks thank you for your service, share stories of their service or that of their father, mother, sister or brother.  For the first time, we experimented with the use of a credit card reader which was attached to our iPhone or iPad.  It was only used at one location, and while it didn’t raise significant funds, we did collect $150 that we wouldn’t otherwise have collected.  Since there is no charge for the equipment and only a nominal service charge for the transaction, we will probably expand their use in the future.  I want to thank Bob Crawford who organized the event.  He did a great job in seeing everyone was in the right place and at the right time.  Elizabeth Mather and Tom Hallums counted the cash and prepared the deposit slips for the bank.

In addition to raising funds, we all had the opportunity to recruit new members to our Post.  I suspect we will need to replenish our supply of applications (I know I emptied my car of the half-dozen that I carry).

Finally, I am not sure how many folks that came by and said they were so glad to see Poppies again for Memorial Day.  I notice that Prince Harry was wearing a Poppy on his recent visit to the States, but I don’t recall seeing a single politician with one in his or her lapel while watching the news on Memorial Day.  Perhaps VFW can bring back a tradition that has faded from the American landscape over the past few generations.  I know that Post 8870 purchased 20,000 Poppies so at least that many folks were wearing them on their lapel on Memorial Day.

This is a reprint of an article I did a couple of years ago.  Since we’ve added a number of new members in the recent months, I thought it would be a good idea to pass along some of the protocol that will make those of you unfamiliar with VFW feel a tad more comfortable while attending meetings.Hopefully, this doesn’t come across as being dogmatic, but only as observing the traditions of those veterans who have come before us.As VFW is an organization comprised of veterans, its structure is loosely based on military protocol.First, during meals, caps will not be worn.As far as gavel code is concerned, two raps means stand and one rap means sit.Pretty straight forward.  During prayers by the chaplain, members will remove their caps only if the chaplain removes his.If the chaplain remains covered, so should the members.If uncovered during a prayer, the hat should be placed on the extended closed fingers of the right hand in such a way that the Cross of Malta is exposed and over the heart.Only official hats may be worn in a meeting.If you forget your VFW cap, the Quartermaster may have a spare you can borrow, or you may simply remain uncovered for the meeting.The military salute shall be given in all ceremonials or meetings when a member wishes to address the commander or presiding officer.I hope that this quick lesson in protocol is taken in the correct vein, to make new members feel more comfortable and integrate more quickly into the VFW.

This is a reprint of an article I did a couple of years ago.  Since we’ve added a number of new members in the recent months, I thought it would be a good idea to pass along some of the protocol that will make those of you unfamiliar with VFW feel a tad more comfortable while attending meetings.Hopefully, this doesn’t come across as being dogmatic, but only as observing the traditions of those veterans who have come before us.As VFW is an organization comprised of veterans, its structure is loosely based on military protocol.First, during meals, caps will not be worn.As far as gavel code is concerned, two raps means stand and one rap means sit.Pretty straight forward.  During prayers by the chaplain, members will remove their caps only if the chaplain removes his.If the chaplain remains covered, so should the members.If uncovered during a prayer, the hat should be placed on the extended closed fingers of the right hand in such a way that the Cross of Malta is exposed and over the heart.Only official hats may be worn in a meeting.If you forget your VFW cap, the Quartermaster may have a spare you can borrow, or you may simply remain uncovered for the meeting.The military salute shall be given in all ceremonials or meetings when a member wishes to address the commander or presiding officer.I hope that this quick lesson in protocol is taken in the correct vein, to make new members feel more comfortable and integrate more quickly into the VFW.