Newsletter Articles

A lot of you are unable to make the meetings and we often forget to point out all the things we do in this newsletter (more than there is room to fit in).  This year, our Relief Fund bought $3,500 in gift cards.  There were distributed to the Veterans Home in Orting ($1,000), the Veterans Home in Retsil ($1,000), and the Chaplains offices at Coast Guard District 13, Joint Base Lewis McChord, and Naval Station Everett ($500 each).  We helped a lot of needy veterans and active military families.  Thanks to everyone who helped with Poppies which provided the funds.

We had a great time at the joint Legion VFW Christmas party.  We had approximately 65 folks show up including some spouses and children.  A special thanks to John Bustard’s son who cooked the turkey and Fred Apgar for bringing the ham.  We certainly had a lot more food than we needed.  Unfortunately a number of members didn’t make the luncheon which was a shame.  It was nice to kick back and find out how things were going with old friends.  A special thanks to Carl Kurfess for brewing up a lot of small bottles of liqueur which we raffled off (I didn’t know officers knew how to make bootleg liquor).  We also raffle a few bottles of wine that Mike and Cheryl Reagan donated and we raised some funds for our Relief Fund with the proceeds.  In addition, we all brought toys and non-perishable food items which went to the Holly House and food bank, respectively.  I delivered the toys on Sunday morning and several hundred folks were already in line so the need was great.

The District will be raffling a 46” HDTV  to support the District’s effort in assisting Posts in membership drives, providing awards for District winners of the Youth Essays, Patriot’s Pen, and Voice of Democracy as well as Teacher and Safety Officer awards.  The tickets are $5.00 each and the drawing will be held January 29th at the Everett Post’s meeting.  That will give you a couple of days to get your new TV set up to watch the Super Bowl on February 3rd.

Why not consider a year end donation to our Post?  It’s deductible for income tax purposes (assuming you itemized) and you know where your funds are going.  Our Relief Fund has zero overhead other than buying Poppies which are made by veterans.  Just something to consider, but don’t wait too long.

At its December 14, 2012 meeting, VFW Post #8870 recognized several area students who participated in the Annual National VFW Essay contest. The Post’s student essay competition is coordinated by James “Rock” Roth who also serves as our Post Chaplain (shown above with Youth Essay participants).

The theme for this year’s Youth Essay contest was “How Do I Show My Love For My Country?”  The contest is open to elementary school students in grades 3, 4, and 5, and this year’s winning essay was submitted by Elijah Pfeifer, a fifth grade student at Mukilteo Elementary School.  Elijah was presented with a $100 scholarship from the Post.  Ms. Sue Idso, is Elijah’s teacher, and she encouraged her entire class to enter the student essay program.  Prior to the presentation of awards, Ms. Idso’s students led the Post members and guests in the Pledge of Allegiance and treated everyone to a wonderful recitation of the Preamble of the Constitution of the United States.

The Patriot’s Pen essay contest is open for middle school students in grades 6, 7, and 8, and the theme for this year’s contest was “What I Would Tell America’s Founding Fathers”.  The winning entry was submitted by Olivia Olson, a seventh grade student at Brier Terrace Middle School, and she also received a $100 scholarship.    Olivia’s teacher is Ms. Ruth Brick who is a former State of Washington VFW Middle School Teacher of the Year.

Three Runners-Up in the Patriot Pen competition were announced by Chaplain Roth, and they were all students from Ms. Idso’s class.  They are Georgia Duke, Ashley Gray, and Grace Koball, each of whom received a $50 scholarship.  Receiving Honorable Mention certificates were fifth graders Elizabeth Crocco, Nicole Faller, Eliza Kirk, Gabrielle Richardson, and Allison Woodbury.

The two winning entries have been forwarded to Washington State VFW for consideration at the district and state levels.  More information about our Post’s activities and programs can be obtained by visiting our web site at www.vfw8870.org

Long time member of Post # 8870 and Pearl Harbor survivor, Erv Schmidt, was the featured speaker at the Naval Station Everett Pearl Harbor Remembrance.  The ceremony, which commemorated the 71^st Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, was conducted on December 7, 2012 in the Commons.  After introductory remarks by Base Commander Captain Michael Coury, Erv was introduced to the large gathering that included two other Pearl Harbor survivors, several WW II veterans, numerous descendants of servicemen and women who had been stationed at Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack, and many officers and enlisted personnel from Naval Station Everett.

Erv provided those in attendance with a riveting account of the moments just prior to the attack and the actions he took once he and his shipmates knew they were under attack.  Erv had been assigned to the battleship USS California and had participated in numerous training cruises prior to that fateful day.

When the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor occurred at a few minutes before 8:00 AM on December 7, 1941, Erv was several levels below the main deck, getting ready to go to church, when the first of two torpedoes struck the California.  One of Erv’s bunk mates was killed instantly by the blast.  Dazed by the attack, Erv and several of his bunk mates tried to make their way to their battle stations.  They were overcome by smoke and fumes on the second deck, and survived only because shipmates carried them to the main deck where the fresh air revived them.  After a second torpedo struck, the ship began to list and the Captain issued the order to abandon ship.

Erv was on the main deck and chose to remain on the ship with three of his shipmates, who could not swim.  They were the only remaining personnel on the ship, and they manned a 50 cal. anti-aircraft gun to fire at the attacking Japanese planes.  Late in the afternoon, Erv and his three friends were evacuated and shortly thereafter, the USS California sunk.  Of the 1500 men assigned to the USS California, over 200 of them were killed in the attack.  Three days after the attack, Erv was reassigned to a heavy cruiser, the USS Chicago and the ship immediately left Pearl Harbor to serve as reinforcement to the Australian and New Zealand forces in the vicinity of the Coral Sea.

Just a note to mark your calendars for the 5th of January when the District meeting will recognize the various student essay winners and teachers of the year.  Our Post will be co-hosting the meeting with Post 1040 and we will need members at the Alderwood Boys and Girls Club by 10:45AM to set up for the meeting and to tear down afterwards.  For you old timers who have attended this in the past, please be advised we will begin the awards ceremony during lunch (approximately 12:30) and have a short District meeting following the award ceremony.  This should expedite the meeting.

This is also a great opportunity to support our student winners.  Let’s all find a kid and sit with them during the luncheon and make them feel welcome.

This is a blatant plea for everyone who is a continuous member to pay their dues.  Dues are $25 for a year and while you are not officially delinquent (and no longer a VFW member) until the end of the year, you would make life much easier on Quartermaster Tom and Commander Fred if you would drop a check in the mail.  If you are unable to pay your dues due to financial difficulty, let the QM know and we will make allowances for your circumstances.  Also, students and active duty members of the military are exempt from dues.  Also, consider a Life Membership if you are a continuous member.  Dues are going to be increasing and it’s a great opportunity to support VFW and remove the burden from your Post to send out reminder notices each year.  Please consider it seriously.

I was just changing the date on the banner at the top of page one to “Issue 1, Volume 9” which made me realize that this is the beginning of my ninth year of producing a newsletter for 8870.  Over that time, a lot has changed, but 8870 has consistently been one of the best Posts in the District and in the Department of Washington.  We’ve picked up a lot of new members, lost some old friends, and done a lot of good for veterans and for our community over that time.  Under Fred Apgar’s command, we will continue to do great things in the coming years as well.