Newsletter Articles

I know it is a bit early to think about Aquasox games in August but you need to mark the 17th of August on your calendar so you save the date. It will be VFW night at the Everett Aquasox. A VFW honor guard will present the colors and one of our Comrades will throw out the first pitch. Following the game will be a fireworks show and for those of you who never attended a game, the fireworks are first rate. This is a great time to bring the spouse, the kids, and the grandkids. We will need a count of members by June in order to reserve sufficient tickets. We already have more than 30 attending so it should be fun. We will start passing out signup sheets at the May meeting. Tickets are $10 and we will seat down the first base line.

Our Post has been advised by the Edmonds Cemetery Board that Korean War veterans will be honored at this year’s Memorial Day Ceremony on Monday May 27th. The ceremony will begin at 11:00 AM. Of course, we invite all Post members to participate in the ceremony, but we hope that all Korean War veterans and the family members of deceased Korean War veterans will make a special effort to attend the ceremony. Every Korean War veteran and surviving family members of deceased Korean War veterans will be recognized. We will need volunteers to place flags at the cemetery at 7:00AM in the morning and take them down at 4:00PM in the afternoon. If you can mark your calendars now for either or both shifts, your help would be appreciated.

Our Post has been advised by the Edmonds Cemetery Board that Korean War veterans will be honored at this year’s Memorial Day Ceremony on Mon-day May 27th. The ceremony will begin at 11:00 AM. Of course, we invite all Post members to participate in the ceremony, but we hope that all Korean War veterans and the family members of deceased Korean War veterans will make a special effort to attend the ceremony. Every Korean War veteran and surviving family members of deceased Korean War veterans will be recognized. The Edmonds Cemetery Board would like to feature the use of a funeral flag from the family of a deceased Korean War veteran. If you know of anyone who might let us use the flag for the ceremony, please contact Fred Apgar (206-940-7502). Just a heads up, as well. We will need volunteers to place flags at the cemetery in the morning and take them down in the afternoon. If you can mark your calendars now for either or both shifts, your help would be appreciated.

VFW Post #8870 has organized a special program to recognize the wonderful work of Post member, Mike Reagan and his Fallen Heroes Foundation. The presentation will be held on Wednesday April 10, 2013 at 7:00 PM at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park. We will be provided with an opportunity to hear Mike discuss his work. The Foundation, which Mike created almost ten years ago, provides hand drawn portraits of our nation’s Fallen Heroes; those men and women, who while serving in the military, have sacrificed their lives in our nation’s War Against Terrorism.

To date, Mike’s Fallen Heroes Project has given away more than 3300 portraits, which has brought untold comfort to these Gold Star families. Michael completes two portraits every day, and what has now become his passion, finds him in his Edmonds studio seven days a week.

Over the years, our Post has provided financial assistance to the Fallen Heroes Foundation. Post members are encouraged to demonstrate their continued support of Mike and his great work by attending the April 10th presentation.

Mark the 17th of August on your calendar so you save the date. It will be VFW night at the Everett Aquasox. A VFW honor guard will present the colors and one of our Comrades will throw out the first pitch. Following the game will be a fireworks show and for those of you who never attended a game, the fireworks are first rate. This is a great time to bring the spouse, the kids, and the grandkids. We will need a count of members by June in order to reserve sufficient tickets. We already have more than 30 at-tending so it should be fun. We will start passing out signup sheets at the April meeting. Tickets are $10 and we will seat down the first base line. We guarantee 75 degrees and no wind that night.

The Post is at 95% of its goal for membership. We need 8 additional members to reach our 100% mark . If you are one of the unpaid, please help us reach our goal. We now take credit cards so if you would like to pay by plastic, send an email to our Quartermaster at [email protected] and he can take care of you. Of course, we still take checks and cash. If you can’t pay, let us know and we will make arrangements to see that your membership continues. The ball is in your court.

We can’t obtain 100% membership yet VFW speaks loudly for every veteran in this country whether they are a member or not. By now, I assume that every-one is familiar with sequestration and the impact it is having on both our armed forces and our veterans. Our Commander in Chief and our Washington DC staff is working hard to fight to retain the benefits we earned. I repeat, the benefits we earned. Individually , the veteran is helpless. As a group, we wield political power and Congress only understands and listens to those that can hurt them or help them as the case may be. So if you really don’t give a rip about joining an organization for yourself, consider joining for the vet who is on a waiting list for a couple of years at the VA. It’s a small contribution of $25.

While this is a bit after the fact, the Washington Legislature has deemed the 30th as Vietnam Veterans Welcome Home Day. About the only thing of significance is the POW/MIA flag is required to be flown by all public entities. Since the 30th is on a Saturday and a lot of the agencies were closed i.e. the schools, I’m not sure the average citizen even noticed. My daughters came over to my house for Easter and they are the most pro-veteran women in America and only one had seen a brief article in the newspaper that mentioned it. However, for those of us who came back on a “Freedom Bird”, it is a day for us to re-member our trip home and remember those who didn’t come back with us. Now that we have some advanced knowledge of the date, perhaps we can do a bit more in the coming year in welcoming home our brothers and sisters in a more dignified manner.