VFW Post 5864 Newsletter 333 S
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VFW Post 5864 Newsletter 333 S. Washington St., Greenwood, IN 46143 – Phone 317-888-2488 Greenwood Memorial VFW Post 5864 – May 2019 Newsletter "It’s not the dues you pay to be a member, it’s the price you paid to be eligible!” “Like us” on --Facebook -- Greenwood VFW 5864-- and visit our --Website-greenwoodvfw.com— 2017 and 2018 VFW First Place Award winner in the District / Post level for “Large Frequency” ssssssPublications. Two consecutive years as the First-Place winner at the Post levelsssssss _____________________________________________________________________ 2019-2020 VFW and Auxiliary officers elected Newly-elected officers set to assume duties in June The annual Post and Auxiliary elections were held on Tuesday, April 16. The 2019-2020 officers will assume their positions on Saturday, June 1. All positions that were available for election were uncontested for both the Post and the Auxiliary. Elected for the fifth consecutive year as Post Commander was Steve Milbourn; Doree Boger was elected as Senior Vice Commander; Ms. Boger is a former Post Adjutant and J. David Everett was elected as Junior Vice Commander. Everett is the current Commander of American Legion Centennial Post 1919 which meets at the VFW. Mike Tomes, the Post’s Quartermaster for more than 9 years was re-elected. Ken Hall was re-elected as the Post Chaplain; Ed Dunham was elected to a 3-Year Trustee position. G. K. Puckett was elected as the incoming 3-Year House Committee member. Members of the Auxiliary elected Carol Puckett as President. Freda Boutwell was elected Senior Vice President and Trudy McCrae-Umphrey was elected as Junior Vice President. Brenda Lippert was elected to the position of Treasurer. Flo Fricke was elected as Chaplain. The Secretary is Cindy Coram. Dan Armstrong was elected as the Auxiliary’s Conductor and Richard Mammarella was elected the Guard. The three Trustees for the 2019-2020 year are Dan Armstrong, Flo Fricke and Linda Kessinger. Over the next month, both leaders of the two organizations will appoint chairmen and women to various committees. Both groups meet on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. The VFW meets in the canteen (bar) area and the Auxiliary meets in the banquet room. Questions for incoming Commander Steve Milbourn can be directed by phone to 317-525-7291 or e-mail him at [email protected]. Likewise, concerns about the Auxiliary can be directed to President-Elect Carol Puckett by phone at 317-714-7062 or by e-mail at [email protected]. _______________________________________________________________________________ _ 2019 Community Awards program was outstanding VFW Post 5864 and Auxiliary 5864 presented 27 awards at their March 26 event. At left, Tina Winningham with the blue envelope was presented a certificate by Auxiliary President Sandi Stelzel as the 2019 Auxiliary Volunteer of the Year. More than 65 people attended the annual event to see various individuals receive awards Tina Winningham, left, and Sandi Stelzel, right ◼ Continued to page 28 2 – May 2019 Newsletter – Greenwood VFW Post 5864 Approximately 90,000 “Blue Water” Navy veterans would be eligible VA recommends dropping Blue Water legal battle VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said during congressional testimony last month that he would recommend that the Justice Department not contest a recent federal court ruling that will pave the way for the return of earned disability benefits for some 90,000 so-called Blue Water Navy veterans. In Procopio v. Wilkie, the VA secretary was sued by Navy veteran Alfred Procopio Jr., a Life member of VFW Post 6587 in Spring Lake Park, Minn., who was denied service connection for prostate cancer and diabetes mellitus — both illnesses are among the diseases associated with Agent Orange exposure — because he was assigned aboard an aircraft carrier inside Vietnam’s 12-mile territorial waters but never on dry land or within Vietnam’s inland waterways. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit focused on the intent of the 1991 Agent Orange Act, which was to grant a presumption of service connection for certain diseases to veterans who “served in the Republic of Vietnam.” At issue was whether service within territorial waters constituted service “in the Republic of Vietnam.” By a 9-2 decision, the court ruled it did. “The VFW salutes Secretary Wilkie for his support to move forward and take care of this group of forgotten Vietnam veterans,” said VFW National Commander B.J. Lawrence. “We also support his recommendation that some type of historical research division be created within the Department of the Navy to ensure that all such ships are fully accounted-for in the VA’s list of exposed ships. After a half-century, we need to get this done to reinforce to tens of thousands of Vietnam veterans that our nation is willing to provide them the care and benefits they have earned and deserve, and we urge Congress to pass H.R. 299, the Blue Water Veterans Act of 2019, to ensure the VA can never again arbitrarily strip veterans of their earned benefits.” Tidbits from the National VFW Here is some information taken directly from the National VFW’s web-site. If you have a question, please send the question to Steve Milbourn – [email protected] -- Does the Post Commander have a vote on all committees? -- Yes. Section 218 of the Manual of Procedure stipulates the Commander shall be a member of all committees and is thereby entitled to a vote unless otherwise provided for . -- Can VFW members attend any House Committee meeting? -- Yes. If the individual is a member in good standing, they are entitled to attend any meeting held by the VFW for any reason. -- Can a Post Commander appoint himself to the Post House Committee? -- No. Under Section 218 (a) (1) (e) of the National Manual of Procedure, the Post Commander is a member of all committees by virtue of his office. -- Can the Post Adjutant publish and distribute the minutes of the prior meeting instead of reading them to the body? -- Yes, if the Post Commander and the membership so rule. -- What is the rule concerning the displaying of pins and badges on the VFW uniform and official cap? -- While there are no regulations for displaying pins and badges on the official cap, one must always wear and maintain the uniform of the organization with proper decorum. -- If the present Commander is running for re-election and there is a tie vote, who breaks the tie? -- Robert’s Rules of Order provides that the chair has the right to vote on any issue or question the member can vote on unless the Post By-Laws specifies otherwise. Robert’s Rules of Order further recommends that in the event of a tie vote, the By-Laws of the unit should provide for dealing with deadlocks. If such provision is not covered by the By-Laws, the candidates or their representatives may draw lots or decide the election by a flip of a coin. -- Are Post Commanders and Quartermasters voting members of the Post House Committee? -- Yes, all committee members shall have a voice and a vote. Greenwood VFW Post 5864 -- May 2019 Newsletter – 3 A Message from the Commander . VFW and Auxiliary Members: It is with a tremendous amount of humility that I begin the 2019-2020 year as Commander of Greenwood VFW Post 5864. Although I have previously served in both Arkansas and Ohio as an All-American Post Commander and an All-American District Commander, I believe our Post is more unique and poses a greater challenge for mentoring young veterans. The month of June is the beginning of the new year for all VFW’s. I am extremely proud to announce that eight of our incoming officers and chairpersons are young men and women from all branches of the military and have served in several different incursions throughout the globe protecting our nation and our way of life. They include Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Kosovo, Bosnia, Korea, Africa and Jordan. Our younger members will all be at the helm of our organization in a very short time and we must teach and prepare them so they Commander Steve Milbourn will be able to learn and understand the rules, regulations and policies that we have used for many years. Each year, our “team of officers” hope to do as well or better than their predecessors and leave the Post in a better financial state. To do this, we need “all hands-on deck” and ask that at some point throughout the year that every Post and Auxiliary member jump in and help by volunteering a few hours here and there. There are three programs which are extremely important for the continued success and existence of all VFW’s. I will be working on these programs beginning the first week of July. They are – Membership, Service and Communication. Membership will be a day by day program where we will send out letters to veterans, call them, e-mail them and hopefully talk to them one-on-one to renew or reinstate their membership. We will also be looking to bring aboard additional new members. Service to veterans is also an everyday program. We will expand the number of members that will be able to provide assistance to veterans and their families as well as work to do simple tasks like complete an SF-180 form to obtain an updated DD-214 and various other records for veterans. For those members interested in our Service program to other veterans and/or their families, we will host a preliminary meeting to discuss our current program on Saturday, July 6 at 9 a.m.