President's Message
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MAY 2013 VOL 45 Chapter 16 Newsleer Organizaon and Responsibilies: President’s Message Editor: Glen Craig This spring marks my third year as the President of Chapter XVI. Secons: Since taking the helm one of my dues has been to define our Message from the President: Dave Shell responsibility to our members and our role in the SF community. If Treasurers Report: Kevin Paon you recall, former SFA Naonal President Ronnie McCan’s agenda Sec. Rpt (Staff Meeng Minutes): John Paerson while in office was to steer the organizaon in the direcon of Sick Call/Obituary: Chaplain Butch Hall service and support. It was a noble effort with many successes, Blast from the Past: Glen Craig however it was also fraught with drama that reflected poorly on the Special Recognion: John Paerson organizaon. As I look crically at the genesis, structure, evoluon, Upcoming Events: John Paerson and demographics of the SFA, I conclude that there is and always Calendar: John Paerson will be debate on the issue, some healthy, some not. Part of the Human Interest Story: Chapter at large reason is because we are a decentralized organizaon bound to the SFA Naonal HQ Update: Dave Shell Naonal HQ primarily by administrave and legal conveniences. Aer Acon Report: Jim Lessler From what I can tell, the roughly 86 Chapters throughout the world Membership Info: Roy Sayer that make up the SFA define themselves as they please and operate Adversements: Glen Craig with a great deal of autonomy in doing so. As long as they file their Suspense: annual financial report on me there isn’t much else that’s required st for them to maintain their charter. To illustrate my point, one has Newsleer published (Web): 1 of each only to consider that there are chapters that never have general odd numbered month th membership mee ngs, there are those whose only event is an Input due to editor: 20 of each annual picnic, and there are those that have several events per even numbered month month. In addi on, there are some who never contribute to the Dra due to President: 27th of each quarterly Drop or a end the annual conven on. In a nutshell, we even numbered month th are quite diverse in how we run our individual chapters, and I have Final Dra due 29 of each to support this design as the only one that is viable. We don’t have even numbered month the me, people, resources, support, or inclinaon to do otherwise. These days I pay less aenon to what we aren’t on the naonal level and more aenon to the things we are at the local level. Over the last several years I have noced that what most folks in our chapter really like about the SFA is that it allows them to maintain connecvity with both comrades and the SF regiment; things that we are all heavily vested in. We meet, we exchange informaon, we break bread, we imbibe, we reminisce, and we support one another. For others who do not/cannot acvely parcipate, we are a rock; something they can always reach out to for anchorage; something that keeps them up to date thru tools like the Drop, Chapter newsleers, and emails, which provide news and informaon on friends and colleagues, requests for assistance, and opportunies and happenings in the community. Recently, I have noted a series of crisis, challenges, and communicaons that sck Page 1 out in my mind as having made me confortable with our Chapter, however imperfect it may be. I’ve received emails from more than just a few chapter members thanking me for the work we do to keep them in the informaon loop. Some of these folks are deployed to the Middle East or Asia for extended periods of me and look to us for a moment of relaxaon and normality while in the midst of chaos or in the public minefield of the internaonal arena. Others are simply isolated by geography or health, but look forward to and enjoy all of our products. Most, I never hear from, but when someone does send thanks it opens my eyes to the many who thru our efforts are able to maintain a valuable lifeline. A case in point is chapter member Alvin Lile. His wife Ida required full me care aer a series of strokes several years ago. Due to me constrains and distance Alvin was not able to parcipate much in chapter events, but when Ida passed earlier this year, one of the first phone calls he made was to me, as Chapter President. Alvin wasn’t asking for help or assistance, he was just calling the family to let us know that her me had come, and we tried our best to comfort and support him. Standing with a brother through hard mes and grief is clearly one of our most important roles and responsibilies. Just last month, Chapter XVI Quartermaster Mike Cassidy had a very urgent medical procedure to remove a diseased kidney. Joy, his wife, called me to advise the Chapter on Mike’s situaon. She didn’t have to call. The Cassidy’s have a great family and support network, but she did call because she knew that we would want to know and that it would help in Mike’s recovery if we were involved. I passed the word and called Mike a day or two aer the surgery. During our conversaon he menoned how moved he was by all the chapter members who came by to see him, called with well wishes and offers to help, sent cards, or sat and comforted Joy while he was down. This wasn’t something that we planned. It just happened. And it spotlights our deep and meless devoon to the members in our ranks and their families. A final anecdote is almost beyond belief. I’m sure you will remember last year when the balloon went up for Chapter associate Yu‐B. Yu‐B, who as a teen was a Montagnard recon team member in the projects, returned to Vietnam for a visit with family when he came down with a very serious virus that was near fatal and le him paralyzed from the neck now, and unable to breath on his own. He was hospitalized in Saigon and the prescribed therapy required frequent and expensive transfusions to replace his blood platelets. The hospital made it clear to Yu‐B’s daughters, who reside in the Puget Sound area, that without the therapy he would die, and that without money there would be no further therapy. The cost was staggering, amounng to thousands of dollars weekly. Aero‐Medevac was considered, however the cost was originally esmated to be nearly 100k. Upon further inquiry the cost decreased significantly, but was sll over 50K. One of Yu‐B’s daughters is a registered nurse and she flew to Vietnam to care for him. When she arrived she was morfied by the condions she found him in. Yu‐B told me later that before his daughter came he had overheard the nursing staff discussing murdering him to sell his blood, likely raonalizing that he would die soon anyway. He also told me that he would go for a week or longer (in one instance two weeks) without being bathed or having his bedding changed, and that they would leave the remains of recently deceased paents in the room they shared for several days before removing them. At one point, while completely incapacitated, Yu‐B said that a man who was clearly agitated about Yu B’s financial circumstance produced a gun and held it to his head. Appeals from the family to the SFA and SOA moved many members to acon. A fund was established and the proceeds mounted quickly. A few who had fought along side Yu‐B as young men were responsible for contribung tens of thousands of dollars and untold hours communicang with the Country Team and movement resources to get him back to the U.S. Yu‐B was rescued and returned to Seale where he was hospitalized for an extended period of me before being able to finally return to his house. His recovery has been long and difficult, and he sll struggles to walk long distances. In spite of all that he has been through, he connues to improve and we see him oen at Chapter meengs and other events. This is a fantasc story of survival and of the determinaon of the membership to run to the aid of a comrade down. It’s another example of Chapter XVI, the SFA, and the SF community pulling out all the stops to help a brother in need, honoring a commitment that was made long ago on a distant balefield. Where else do you get that? The short answer: from within. For years now I have heard many in the SF acve duty force ridicule the SFA as nothing more than a beer‐drinking club membered by a certain clique of has‐been commandos who had lile to offer them. In response, the SFA expended considerable me and resources to reform itself in a manner that would speak more directly to the current needs of the force, but sll, in spite of those efforts there has not been a noceable increase in the number of acve duty members who are joining our ranks, renewing lapsed memberships, or are parcipang in SFA events and funcons. I’m sure they have their reasons and our doors are always open to them regardless of their status.