May - American Legion

Transcription

Legionnaire
may2015MinnesotaLegionnaire_Layout 1 4/28/2015 2:48 PM Page 1
The Minnesota American Legion and Auxiliary
Volume 97, Number 5
For God and Country
May 2015
New theme for contest: Historic post photos
With the centennial of The American Legion approaching, this year’s calendar photo contest will have a new
theme: histoic post pictures.
The National organization is encouraging all posts to
create their own post history in the next couple of years as
part of the 100th birthday of the Legion.
The contest will follow the centennial theme. The contest will be judged on the quality of a photograph from a
post’s history. Emphasis will be on those photos that reach
back into a post’s history, and to recent events.
An entry could be a post event, a talent contest, a drum
and bugle corps, a parade, a picnic, a charter signing or any-
Convention slated
for Redwood Falls
on July 16-18
The 2015 Department Convention will be held at
Jackpot Junction Casino near Redwood Falls. The
Legion and Auxiliary Conventions are sponsored by
Redwood Falls Post and Unit 38.
The convention will begin Thursday, July 16, and
conclude Saturday, July 18, with the election of officers. A gaming seminar will be held at 2 p.m. July 16.
A registration form is on Page 3 of this issue.
Registration is $15 per person until July 1, and $18
thereafter.
The official headquarters for the convention is the
Jackpot Junction Casino Hotel. Those attending the
convention must make their own housing arrangements
with the hotel, 507-697-8000 or 800-946-2274.
Room reservations are on on a first-come, first-serve
basis. Rooms will be $75 per night plus tax. Deadline
for reservations to get the Legion rate is June 15.
The hotel also has RV sites. There are other hotels in
the Redwood Falls area.
The convention will conduct the annual business of
the Minnesota American Legion.
There will be a Department Executive Committee
meeting preceeding the convention at 7 p.m.
Wednesday on July 15. A parade will be held Friday.
thing else that portrays the post’s history in a serious or
humorous way.
The winner will receive $300 for first prize. The second
place will be $200 and third place will be $150.
All 12 winners will have their photo in the 2016
Department of Minnesota calendar.
Entries are due by July 1.
Entrants can submit up to three pictures. Those entering
must be a paid-up member in the American Legion Family:
Legion, Auxiliary or Sons of The American Legion.
As in past years, entrants should not submit original photos. They should be scanned. No photos will be returned.
All photos that are submitted electronically should have
a resolution of at least 200 dpi. The technical quality of the
photograph will be part of the judging.
“With the emphasis on our history and our future as part
of the centennial celebration, this seemed like a natural
change to the photo contest,” Department Adjutant Randy
Tesdahl said. “As posts are looking for these old, classic
photos, maybe they can start researching their post histories.”
In the past few years, members were asked to send in
photos they took in the service. Before that, it was a generContinued on Page 2
Minnesota AAA donates $50,000 to Legionville
AAA DONATION -- Minnesota AAA recently made a $50,000 donation to Legionville Safety Patrol Camp near
Brainerd. From left, front: Sandie Deutsch, Auxiliary Secretary; Chris Ronning, Auxiliary President; Jesse
Garbow, Minnesota State Patrol; Gail Weinholzer, Director of Public Affairs, Minnesota AAA; Wayne Gilbertson,
President of Legionville; Gene Leifeld, Vice President of Legionville; Dennis Henkemeyer, SAL Commander. In
back: Marland Ronning, Alternate NECman; Joe Jansen, 4th District Representative; Richard Zahn, Eighth
District Representative; Randy Tesdahl, Department Adjutant; Bruce Harms, 40/8 Representative; Jim
Blakesley, School Patrol Chairman; Dennis DeLong, Fifth District Representative. Story on Page 2.
Minnesota American Legion
Military Hall of Fame
Page 11
The annual convention will be at Jackpot Junction.
Thomas
Gere
of Chatfield
A
MARINE
IN THE
PACIFIC
Page 8
LEFTY
LEE
OF
WINONA
Peace officer, fireman of
year chosen by Legion
SGT. MARK FICCADENTI
Public servants from St. Paul and Clear Lake were chosen as the
2015 Minnesota American Legion Outstanding Law Enforcement
Officer and Outstanding Firefighter.
Sgt. Mark Ficcadenti of the St. Paul Police Department was sponsored by North End Post 474.
Ficcadenti has served on the force since 1984, and he is currently a
supervisor in the Western District Patrol. He is a 1979 graduate of St.
John’s University.
His work at the St. Paul Police Department includes a long stint as
a lead trainer for police dogs. He has trained hundreds of handlers and
dogs from all over the country.
His patrol area includes an area of high West African and East
African immigrant population. He has been instrumental in urging
young Somalis and Oromos to consider police work as a career.
He has also worked at bringing the community and police together
through a traditional cookout, and he has reached out to the local
Continued on Page 2
CAPT. BARRY SCHULDT
Page 2
Minnesota Legionnaire
May 2015
New photo contest
Continued from Page 1
al photo contest with a patriotic theme.
The winners will be announced in the August issue of the
Legionnaire.
The rules include:
1. All photos must concern the history of a specific post.
Family members can submit photos from an immediate
family member, as long as the person submitting is a current
member of the Legion, Auxiliary or Sons of the American
Legion. For instance, a Legion Family member can submit
a photo taken by a grandfather several decades ago. Photos
can be submitted by a current member, even though the
photographer is unknown.
2. Photos may be entered by mailing them to the
Department: Room 300A, 20 West 12th Street, St. Paul,
MN 55155. Or emailing to [email protected]. Again,
do not send original photographs. Photos will not be
returned. Please mark the outside of the envelope or the
subject line as “Photo Contest.”
3. Entries will be judged not only on the unique quality
and interest in the photo, but also by its technical merit.
4. All entries must be postmarked by June 30, 2015, or
have been emailed by July 1, 2015.
5. All photos must be original and copyright free and be
available to be printed in the calendar without legal encumberment.
6. All entries must contain as much relevant data as possible, such as who, what, where and when. If there’s a story
that goes with the photo, please send it along.
7. Photographs may be from any time frame, but older
photos will be given priority judging.
8. The limit per person is three photographs.
9. Those submitting must include their name, which
Legion organization they belong to, their Legion, Auxiliary
or SAL ID number, their address, and their contact information including phone or email.
10. The person who took the photo should be identified,
and any entrants should submit any other information that
is available.
Any questions, please call Al Zdon at 651-291-1800 or
1-866-259-9163. Or email: [email protected].
AAA contributes $50,000 to Legionville
The Auto Club Group’s AAA Minnesota/Iowa presented a $50,000 check to the Legionville Board of Directors
for the facility’s new learning center.
Legionville has been constructing the new center for
the past three years, and it is nearing completion. It will
be used this summer for the Legionville Safety Patrol
Camp.
Legionville is located on North Long Lake near
Brainerd and each year brings in over 800 middle schoolaged campers to learn about Safety Patrol, bus safety,
patriotism and other skills.
The campers also participate in team sports, swimming, canoeing and other recreational activities.
The new center replaces the old barn facility that had
to be torn down for safety reasons.
The center is also used for disabled veteran outdoor
events, scouting events and Legion meetings.
Begun in 1956 as a program of the Minnesota
Department of The American Legion, Legionville is the
only school patrol camp in the nation. Many of its classes
are taught by the Minnesota State Patrol which has supported Legionville since its inception.
The AAA School Safety Patrol program began in the
1920’s and has since spread not only across the country,
but to at least 30 other nations as well.
The weeklong camp has been kept quite inexpensive
VA eliminates net worth as
determiner of priority group
The Veterans Administration has eliminated net worth as
a method of determining health care priority group assignment.
A veteran’s net worth could determine if they were in
Priority Group 5, 7 or 8.
Letters will be sent to veterans whose status may change
because of the elimination of net worth. Some veterans may
now be eligible for higher priority status, which would
eliminate the co-pay requirement.
Veterans can fill out form 10-10EZ for new consideration. Net worth was the market value of land and buildings,
cash in the bank, retirement money, and other assets.
Officers of the Year
mosques to strengthen a relationship with the city.
“Sgt. Mark Ficcadenti has demonstrated and displayed
exceptional leadership, initiative and a professional competence and unusual devotion to duty to effectively plan and
execute multiple projects in 2014 to further the SPPD’s core
fundamentals of pride, professionalism and partnership,”
said Police Chief Thomas Smith.
Ficcadenti has two sons who also serve in the St. Paul
Police Department. He is a member of the Cathedral Parish
and has been active as an usher and in security.
He was vice president of the United States Police Canine
Association.
Barry Schuldt is a captain of the Clear Lake Fire
Department. He has been a member of the department for
35 years, and has been captain for over 20 years. He recently became an assistant chief.
He is known in Clear Lake for his mentoring skills, helping junior firefighters learn the job and responsibilities.
He is certified in over 20 areas of fire fighting training.
“He has helped shaped this fire department to make it the
exceptional fire department it is today,” said Ron Koren,
fire chief.
He and his wife, Brenda, have three children and two
grandchildren. He grew up in Clear Lake and attended St.
Cloud Tech High School.
Professionally, he is a carpenter foreman for Braxton and
Sons. He was recently named Firefighter of the Year for his
Department.
Both Ficcadenti and Schuldt will be invited to the
Department Convention this year at Redwood Falls to
receive their awards.
Both will also be candidates for the national peace officer and firefighter awards given by The American Legion
each year.
LEGION PROVIDES TABLET -- Operation Comfort
Warriors provided a Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro to
Perrish Stark, who was on active duty with the Army
when he was in a vehicle accident. He is at the
Minneapolis VA Hospital undergoing treatment for
traumatic brain injury. The Tab Pro will be used to
assist his cognitive development and rehab. Assistant
Service Office Jeremy Wolfsteller, right, presented the
Pro Tab. Minneapolis VA Director Patrick Kelly is on
the left.
Viagra?
Thinking of
*
Try ‘The Silver Bullet’
*Viagra is a registered trademark of Pfizer &
is not associated with Great Health Nutrition.
It only takes one!
No Prescription needed . Low
Cost . 36 Hour Performance
1360 University Ave.
651-645-2315
5192 Central Ave. NE
763-571-5544
1668 Robert Street
651-453-9150
Attention Veterans!
This is your northern
Minnesota resort. Barrier-free
and open 12 months a year.
Gateway to the BWCA.
800-777-7538
email: [email protected]
All cabins have a lake view.
www.veteransonthelakeresort.com
RESORT FOR DISABLED VETERANS,
ACTIVE DUTY AND ABLE BODIED
VETERANS, DISABLED GENERAL
PUBLIC AND FAMILIES.
at $250 for first time campers and $300 for alumni
campers by contributions by local Posts and Auxiliary
Units.
“AAA Minnesota/Iowa is thrilled to be able to support
such a worthwhile school safety patrol camp which is
operated by the American Legion and supported by the
Minnesota State Patrol,” said Gail Weinholzer, director of
public affairs, The Auto Club Group.
“The AAA School Safety Patrol program is a key program for our national organization and one of the first and
best opportunities we have to build leadership skills with
youth in our society.”
“The Minnesota Department of The American Legion
is pleased to accept this generous gift from AAA
Minnesota/Iowa. It will support our mission of educating
youth in school safety patrol skills as well as help them
develop leadership skills to take back to their communities,” said Wayne M. Gilbertson, president, Legionville
School Safety Patrol Training Center.
“The Minnesota State Patrol appreciates the assistance
of AAA Minnesota/Iowa in our efforts to educate and
train the youth across our state. It is through this collaborative effort, that the American Legion and the Minnesota
State Patrol, can provide safety patrol training to students
in our state,” said Lt. Tiffani Nielson, public information
officer.
May 2015
Page 3
Endorsements
Wog endorsed for Department Chaplain
Spicer Post 545 has
endorsed Richard Wog for
2015-16
Department
Chaplain.
He served in the Army
during the Vietnam era and
retired from the National
Guard in October 2001 as a
Command Sergeant Major.
Wog has been a member
of Spicer Post for 37 years.
He served as an officer of
all the chairs and served as
Commander for three consecutive
years
(2008
through 2011) and is currently serving on the
Executive Committee.
Richard also served as
Seventh District Sergeant at
Arms, Area C Vice
Commander and Vice
Commander at Large. He
served
as
District
Commander in 2011 and
2012 and is currently serv-
ing a five year term on the
Strategic
Planning
Committee.
He has been actively
involved in the Eagles. Wog
is an active member of
Calvary Lutheran Church.
He is currently with
Henry’s Foods. He has been
married to his wife Cheryl
for 51 years and they have
four sons and eleven grandchildren.
RICHARD WOG
Johnson endorsed for 10th District Cdr.
Rudolph Priebe Post 172
has endorsed Bill Johnson,
a 20 plus year member of
the American Legion, for
the position of 10th District
Commander.
Johnson has served as
Post
Commander,
Historian, as well as 1st and
2nd
Post
Vice
Commanders.
At the district level, he is
currently
serving
as
Membership Director, and
prior to that as the District
Adjutant for 3 years.
He has also served as a
Vice-Commander, Children
and Youth Officer, and
Employment Chair.
At the Department
Level, Bill served as the
Children
and
Youth
Chairman.
Besides being heavily
involved in the Legion, he
is also a member of the
VFW and DAV. As the a
representative, he served
three years on the Board of
Operation Military Kids.
While
attending
Hennepin
Technical
College, he was elected
President of the Veterans
Student Organization.
BILL JOHNSON
abroad. Deer River American Legion Post 122 is home to
the 1st ALR chapter in the state of Minnesota formed in
2002. ALR chapters throughout the state of Minnesota have
been popping up ever since.
You can see them standing in flag lines at veteran funerals, in parades, doing toy drives, making donations to mulBy Scuffy Paulson
tiple different organizations, cancer telethons, local food
shelf, adopt a troop, DAV, Wounded Warrior Project and
local schools -- just to name a few.
We also participate in several charitable runs/ benefit
Greetings form the Minnesota American Legion Riders.
My name is Scuffy Paulson, president of the MNALR. The rides throughout the year including our own American
MNALR is a board of representatives from the ten Legion Legacy Scholarship run to raise money for the chilAmerican Legion districts. Each district has an ALR repre- dren of our veterans who have given the ultimate sacrifice.
sentative that relays information back and forth between the It is with great pride I can say that Minnesota has set the bar
districts as well as Department. Jody Hassing is the secre- raising over $87,000 last year to turn in at National contary of the MNALR. We as a collective are known as the vention (#1 in the nation). Great job, Riders, and all
American Legion Family members who support the ALR
MNALR.
Our primary purpose is communication and bringing and the Legacy Scholarship Fund.
We will be writing a small column every month in the
awareness to veteran issues. We provide a number of different services to veterans and their families in our commu- Legionnaire to attempt to keep everyone up to date on the
latest and greatest in the MNALR world. Next month will
nities.
Our goal is to honor every veteran’s service to his/her feature the MNALR Legacy run with stops and dates that
country and acknowledge the sacrifices families have made we have so far. Legion posts can make donations to the run
while their loved ones served our great country and to assist from their gambling accounts when using Fund 84 in the
them with anything they may need while their loved one is memo line. The checks must be made out to the Minnesota
American Legion Foundation, Fund 84.
deployed.
The run will be going through each District at some
The American Legion Riders were originally formed in
1993 in Garden City, Michigan. Since that time ALR chap- point. If you would like more info on the MNALR Legacy
ters have been popping up all over the nation as well as run contact Steve Sullivan, 952-237-8592. We have a web
page and we are always
updating it (mnalr.org).
Facebook American Legion
Riders-Minnesota and MN
ALR Legacy run.
A registration fee of $15 for each person attending, whether a delegate, alter1st district rep is
nate or a guest, must accompany this form. Make this check payable to AMERJunkyard,
507-450-0955;
ICAN LEGION POST 38 with “Department Convention” in memo line. No credit
2nd,
Chris
507-276-1717;
cards will be accepted.
3rd, Robin, 651-238-4873;
Registration at the door and after July 1 will be $18.
4th, Wingbob, 612-8010336; 5th, Shawn, 952-445Mail to:
4516; 6th, Duane, 218-821Carrie Werner, Redwood Falls Post 38, Box 354, Redwood Falls, MN
7314; 7th, Paul, 320-22656283.
0259; 8th, Jeff, 218-3495648; 9th, Gary, 701-314Legion Post # __________
SAL Sqdn.__________ Auxiliary Unit________
0260; and 10th, Sully, 952237-8592.
District___________
These Rep contacts are
the best of my knowledge.
Name__________________________________________________________
Sometimes things change
that I’m not aware of but I
will do my best to update
Address________________________________________________________
this list ASAP.
Thank you for your
City, State__________________________________Zip___________________
understanding if something
on this list of reps is wrong.
pDelegate
pAlternate
pGuest
If you have questions
pDelegate at Large (Auxiliary)
about
the MNALR feel free
(Please check one of the above.)
to call me at 507-450-8493.
If additional pre-registrations accompany this request, this pre-registration form
Keep the shiney side up,
should be photo copied for each person. The $15 registration fee should be
brothers and sisters.
enclosed for each person.
American Legion
Riders
OFFICIAL CONVENTION PRE-REGISTRATION
Please, only one registration blank per person.
County restores Boy in Blue
On May 30, 1893, the citizens of Blue Earth County
dedicated a Civil War monument at Lincoln Park in
Mankato. Over the years, storm damage and vandalism took a toll on the Boy in Blue statue that paid homage to the Civil War veterans from the county. It was
torn down in 1927. On May 30, 2015, a brand new Boy
in Blue monument will be dedicated in Lincoln Park at
10 a.m. Over $180,000 was raised in the county to
create an exact replica of the original Boy in Blue
(above). The new monument will recognize the sacrifices of all Blue Earth County veterans and will honor
again the Civil War veterans. There will be a short
parade just before the dedication. Mankato Post 11
has been strongly involved in the project.
PATCHES: I BUY PATCHES THAT I NEED
I AM LOOKING FOR OLDER AIR FORCE, AIR NATIONAL
GUARD, NAVY, NAVY AIR, SHIPS, COAST GUARD, ARMY, MN
NATIONAL GUARD, USMC, JACKETS, HELMETS,
CALL JOE, 612-801-4673 AFTER 6
Page 4
May 2015
Chaplain’s
Corner
COMMANDER’S
COLUMN
By
Steve Klinkner
By Peggy Moon
Happy Spring Legionnaires. The warmer weather has
finally arrived, and we can put this long, cold winter behind
us.
As I travel around the state visiting posts, I have listened
to all of you plan your Memorial Day activities, and the true
dedication to honor our veterans we have lost through the
years. It’s a time to say, “We miss you, and we won’t forget you.” Like many of you, I remember the veterans from
my own little town who continued to “Serve America” after
they returned home. They were the true leaders who
reminded us each day the price paid to live in this wonderful land. They sacrificed much, and when they returned
home, dedicated themselves to “God and Country.” They
volunteered on City Councils and in our schools. They
were veterans helping veterans, and neighbors helping
neighbors. May they rest in peace.
While traveling through Northern Minnesota this past
weekend, I had the privilege to stop by a very unique
memorial service in Mahnomen for a former Korean POW
who died in captivity in 1951. His remains were finally
identified in January of this year, and his family was notified. Can you imagine receiving that phone call? Sergeant
Arnold Andring was only 24 when he died. The city of
Mahnomen certainly put their caring arms around the family during this difficult time, and there was a strong presence of veterans paying their respect. I had the opportunity to talk with his sister, tell her The American Legion
offered their sincere condolences, and are thankful that he
is now at home. May he rest in peace.
We are at that time of year when we conduct our annual
district conventions, and our posts are electing new leadership. Before you make that transition, have you completed
all the work for this year? Have you filed your Post
Consolidated Report? That’s the record of your accomplishments and donations , and it is so important to pass this
information to our National Organization. Show your
pride, and complete the paperwork.
Also, where are you at in your membership program?
I’m already hearing reports that some Posts are holding new
memberships for next year. Why? We are still about 3,000
members short of our goal for this year. What message are
you sending out to these new members? I can’t imagine
signing up for an organization, paying my dues, and having
them tell me they don’t need me until next year! I’m not
sure that business model exists anywhere else. Please,
Mail Call
Shadow Box
To the Editor,
My dad was a BM2 in the Navy stationed in Pearl
Harbor when WWII ended in August of 1945. He was on
the aircraft carrier USS Corregidor, CVE58, part of Carrier
Division 24.
During his time in the service he accumulated many
small items which he kept in a cigar box in his navy bag.
The things he collected were novelties such as 5 cent tickets good at the NCO club in Honolulu, various pictures of
the chaos in downtown Honolulu after the war ended,
chevrons with different ranks on them, ribbons with battle
stars on them, tobacco ration coupons, liberty passes. There
was a ticket to the Breakers Dance on Aug 8, 1945 which
was 2 days after the bombing of Hiroshima and 1 day
before the Nagasaki bombing.
There were also some of his ships papers (the Corregidor
Commander Moon is recognized at the Joint Female
Professional Development Training Symposium.
invite them into your Post Membership Program with open
arms, and let them know they’re appreciated. I’m sure we
need their help! We still have seven months left to this year,
and they are entitled to full membership!
Also, think about this. The Air and Army National
Guard just held their first ever Joint Female Professional
Development Forum recently at Metropolitan University.
This was a one-day networking and mentorship program
attended by approximately 350 soldiers and airmen. With
the pending opening of all military occupations to women
fast approaching, they want to retain females in the force,
groom them for positions of greater responsibility in their
careers, and recruit more women than ever before.
Currently, there are about 500 female airmen in the Air
National Guard, and 1,875 female soldiers in the Army
Reserve National Guard. Minnesota wants to be ready for
the next chapter. It was an honor to meet them.
It’s time to get on the road again. As I’ve stated at all the
Posts I have visited this year, you are The American Legion
in Minnesota. With over 550 posts in our great state alone,
the work that you do, the dedication to your communities,
and the help you offer your fellow veterans represent the
best of our Organization. I am so very proud of each and
every one of you. Thank you for your service.
Now, back to the gas station to refuel. I just passed
31,000 miles on the car, and for the record, have gone
through two tires, and have completely maxed out one
GPS. Let the conventions begin. Until next month...
Boomerang) published monthly on mimeograph paper for
the troops’ entertainment. Included in the cigar box was a
tattered top stripe of a flag that the Corregidor flew, perhaps
in the Gilbert Islands, Guadalcanal, or Marshal Operations.
All of these items and many more treasures remained in
his Navy bag until I recently resurrected them and made a
shadow box which is now on display at the Pine City
American Legion Post 51 where my dad was a 40-year
member. Every time I go in the Legion and look at the
items I get a feeling of satisfaction knowing that others can
now admire the treasures my dad thought to preserve in his
cigar box.
I encourage any of you out there that may have military
items that could be of interest to others to display them
proudly in your Legion instead of letting them sit unnoticed
in a basement or attic.
John Hoyny Jr.
Pine City Post 51
Bowling Secretary
To the Editor:
John Torma is the current Secretary of the State Bowling
Tournament. During this year’s tournament, he also served
as the chairman of the host site Osseo-Maple Grove
Bowling Committee.
As some of his volunteers, we have seen first-hand how
committed he was toward making this a success. His
responsibilities were overwhelming at times when he also
had personal and work challenges. Our feelings, along with
other bowlers who participated, lead us to believe that his
efforts were very successful. Thank you, John, for your
leadership and efforts in making this year’s tournament a
success.
Tom and Cindy Kolm
Osseo-Maple Grove Post 172
Our neighbor’s son died, only 21 years old, a very outstanding young man. Anything he did, he gave his achievements 100% or more. As I was sitting in church, filled with
his family, friends, and classmates, it was so hard to witness
the sadness, and for his parents to have to say good-by to
their son. My father-in-law told me once that parents should
never have to bury their children in their lifetime. I do have
to agree with him on that statement. I haven’t had to experience it and I hope I never have to, but only the Lord knows
when he is going to call us to his Heavenly home.
We all know that a new Spring season is on the way following Easter with First Communions, Confirmations,
Graduations, Weddings and Anniversaries. And of course
with Spring, the new little “baby chicks“ arrived! The
grandkids have named the chicks and are always inquiring
how they are doing. We have lost a few chicks but I told
them, don’t get discouraged, for it is the way of nature.
Discouragement is universal. No one is exempt from the
dark cloud it casts over our lives. Great men of God David, Job, Jeremiah, and even Jesus became discouraged.
Discouragement can take on many forms and be caused by
many things in life, such as family matters, relationships, or
illness. There are moral failures in the battle between the
flesh and the spirit and many times the flesh keeps winning.
One may have among other things, a weakness to alcohol,
drugs, dishonesty, or laziness. When we lose a battle, we
lose heart and often become discouraged.
As shocking as it may seem, faithfulness to God and His
word do not guarantee that one will not become discouraged. As matter of fact, the more one is involved in the
work of the Lord, the greater, at times, his discouragement
may be. Those who endeavor to teach God’s truth to live
faithfully as a Christian encounter many and varied discouragements.
We must remember that others before us have had their
disappointments and discouragements. Jeremiah was met
with almost unimaginable discouragements (Jer.9:2). Yet, in
spite of all his longings to leave, he stood at his post of duty
through the weary years, faithful to God even to the last.
Jesus and his apostles faced many discouragements. He
always told them to “lift up your eyes” no matter what happens in our lives; all will ultimately turn out well if we are
faithful in doing the Lord’s will. So must we.
Discouragement, you see, is a condition of mind, not one
of outside circumstances. Happiness does not depend upon
where you are, but upon what you are. Keeping in good
spirits is not a question of circumstances about us but,
rather, a question of what we are within ourselves.
We must be people of Prayer. Jesus always prayed when
faced with a crisis situation. In the midst of many discouragements, Jesus calmly, serenely and thoughtfully, kept
right on proclaiming the great truths of Heaven, doing the
will of God and living the proper life. So must we.
The month of May brings about many Memorial Day
programs, parades, and remembrances of honored Veterans.
May we never forget the Freedom we enjoy each and every
day because of the efforts that so many Veterans have sacrificed for us. Always keep our men and women that are
serving our Country in your Prayers. “For God and
Country.”
The Minnesota
Legionnaire
Official Publication of and Owned Exclusively by
The American Legion, Department of Minnesota
Al Zdon, Editor
First published in 1920 as the Hennepin County Legionnaire,
the Minnesota Legionnaire is now in its 95th year of publication. It is published monthly by The American Legion,
Department of Minnesota, Room 300A, 20 West 12th Street,
St. Paul, MN 55155-2000. Periodicals postage is paid at St.
Paul, MN, and at additional mailing offices. The Legionnaire
is a member of the Minnesota Newspaper Association and
the National American Legion Press Association.
SUBSCRIPTION: $10 for non-members. Members receive
the Legionnaire as part of their dues.
PHONE: 651-291-1800, 866-259-9163, FAX: 651-291-1057
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The American
Legion, 20 W. 12th Street, St. Paul, MN, 55155-2000. (USPS
No. 013-679.) (ISSN No. 1644270)
ADVERTISING RATES: Contact Al Zdon, 651-291-1800
E-MAIL: [email protected]
WEBSITE: www.mnlegion.org
BOARD OF PUBLICATION MEMBERS: President Peggy
Moon, St. Paul; Vice President Don Amundson, Blue Earth;
Secretary Randy Tesdahl, Elk River; Treasurer, Richard
Horn, Melrose. Board Members include: Bob Locker, Fridley;
Clinton Burt, Slayton; Joe Bayer, Minneapolis; Pat Logan,
Bloomington; Virgil Persing, Columbia Heights; Chris
Ronning, Maple Grove; Sandy Fredrickson, Glenville.
May 2015
What’s Happening
VA Choice Seminar
The Minneapolis VA will be holding “Choice Classes”
on May 15 from 9-10 a.m. at the Minneapolis VA Medical
Center and at all 13 CBOCs. The meeting will be in Room
1B 102 at the medical center with a teleconference connection to all the CBOCs. Experts will explain the choice
options and will take questions from veterans.
Monument to be Dedicated
A monument honoring those who died in the wars will
be dedicated on Memorial Day in Morris. The black granite
monument has over 100 names engraved on it and it is
placed next to the Veterans Memorial at Seventh Street and
College Avenue. The dedication will be at 10 a.m. followed
by ceremonies at the Armory and at the Memorial.
Tenth District Follow-up
The Tenth District will hold a follow-up revitalization on
May 16-17. It will be held at the Osseo-Maple Grove Post
from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and noon-8:30 p.m. on
Sunday. At-large members need to be transfered into local
posts in the district.
From Monday, May 18, to Friday, May 22, the district
will be contacting members who have let their membership
lapse. The times and location of this event will be
announced later.
If you would like to participate in either event, contact
Bill Johnson at [email protected] or call 763-424-2229.
Family Day at Twins
The annual American Legion Family Day at the
Minnesota Twins will be held Friday, May 15, at 7:10 p.m.
vs. the Tampa Bay Rays.
The event will featured discounted Home Plate View
seats for $23, and scoreboard recognition for each post represented.
Department Commander Peggy Moon will throw out the
first ball, and the flag raiser will be chosen by The
American Legion.
To order tickets, call 1-800-33-TWINS and hit O to
speak to an attendant. Make sure to reference the special
American Legion promotion. All major credit cards are
Veterans Affairs
and Rehabilitation
By
Tom Newman
VA standard forms
During my time in the Army very few tasks were either
given or assumed without also understanding the standards
which must be met. In most instances, standards were
emphasized no matter how small or trivial the task. Army
leadership doctrine defines standards as “formal, detailed
instructions - describable, measureable, achievable, and
which provide a mark for measuring performance to assess
execution of a task.”
You may recall during your own experiences in the military that in many cases no matter how well intended a
young new troop, their often highly susceptible to getting
dogged for not meeting one or more of the obscure standards which are known to exist in the military. For example, the standard of not walking on the grass unless your
mowing it. Weren’t we all at some point corrected at the
cost of a few push-ups in the service? Eventually, these
phenomena change. Standards are soon learned, met, and
in most cases even exceeded. In fact, some troops thrive so
well in an environment of standards a considerable number
will challenge themselves even further by accepting yet
even higher standards in either leadership and/or as team
members in certain specialized units.
So you may be asking, what’s the point? The
Department of Veterans Affairs now requires the use of
standard claim and appeal forms – and Veterans need to
know this. Specifically, there are two claim actions which
now require the use of standard forms – applications for
Veterans and survivors’ disability compensation or pension,
and notices of disagreement to initiate appeals of compensation claim decisions. Several options for filing are available, which imply that a few choices be made when considering how best to file. Under the new process Veterans can
file electronically, by using the correct standardized form,
or by calling a VA representative. In addition, a new intent
to file process has also been established for applicants who
need additional time to gather all of the information and
evidence needed to support their claim.
The informal claim process no longer exists. For exam-
accepted, and there will be a $5 service charge for each
order. Tickets will be mailed.
For more information, call Nick Corcoran at 612-6594083 or email [email protected].
Lift Available
A veteran wants to donate to a veteran in need a chair lift
for transport from one level of the house to the next. It was
rarely used. It’s a Citia BOS chair with 15 feet of track. Call
763-561-7442.
Mentors needed
Ramsey County Veterans Court is seeking mentors who
are assigned to veterans going through the veterans court
process. The role of the mentor is to coach, guide and act as
a role model and advocate for the participant.
The veterans court offers veterans who are charged with
a crime in Ramsey County an alternative to the regular
court process. Those who participate in the court are provided with a coordinated support team.
Mentors must be veterans. Contact Donn Lindstrom at
651-266-2545 or email [email protected]
for further information.
Legal Clinics Planned
Free drop-in legal clinics are planned in May for
Minneapolis and Anoka.
The Minnesota Assistance Council for Veterans will host
the clinics which include assistance on housing, employment, benefits, expungement, wills, debt collection, and
family law including child support.
-- A clinic will be held Tuesday, May 5, from 9 a.m. to 3
p.m. at the Anoka Government Center, Room 237.
-- A clinic will be held Tuesday, May 12, from 9 a.m. to
2 p.m. at the Minneaplis VA Medical Center in the Flag
Atrium Balcony Room, 2S 114. Free parking.
For more information, call 651-200-4750.
Alexandria StandDown
The Alexandria Technical and Community College, Law
Enforcement Training Center, will be the site of a
StandDown for veterans and legal clinic on Thursday, May
ple, prior to 24 March 2015 a Veteran could declare a disability due to military service by simply writing a statement
on the clean edge of a paper napkin. This was an incredibly easy standard to follow and favorable to Veterans. No
more – gone.
Veterans who are unable to submit an electronic application for disability benefits must now use VA Form 21526EZ, Application for Disability Compensation and
Related Compensation Benefits. Wartime Veterans filing
for needs-based pension must use VA Form 21-527EZ,
Application for Pension. Survivors filing a claim for
dependency and indemnity compensation (DIC), survivor’s
pension, and accrued benefits must complete VA Form 21534 EZ, Application for DIC, Death Pension, and/or
Accrued Benefits. These forms are not new, and were previously used on an optional basis for Veterans and survivors
applying for benefits.
So I hope you get my point. I could go on, but this is just
a glimpse of some of the new standard veterans will need to
follow – but which you really need to know. For more
detailed information on the new standards for filing a claim,
please
visit
the
following
website
at
http://explore.va.gov/intent-to-file. Before making any
choice, it’s advisable that you contact your County Veteran
Service Officer as it’s not E.Z.
VA changes requirements
for Veterans Choice option
WASHINGTON – In order to expand eligibility for the
Veterans Choice Program, the Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA) announced that it will determine eligibility for
the Veterans Choice Program based on the distance between
a Veteran’s place of residence and the nearest VA medical
facility using driving distance rather than straight-line distance.
This change has been published in the Federal Register
and is effective immediately.
“VA is pleased to announce the distance calculation
change from straight-line to driving distance for the
Veterans Choice Program,” said Secretary Robert
McDonald. “This update to the program will allow more
Veterans to access care when and where they want it.”
The change from straight-line to driving distance roughly doubles the number of eligible Veterans. Letters are
being sent to the newly eligible Veterans to let them know
they are now eligible for the Veterans Choice Program
under this expansion.
Page 5
14, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
There will be a clothing distribution at 10 a.m., welcoming ceremony at 11:30 a.m. and free services throughout the
day including meals, benefit info, housing, legal assistance,
employment assistance and chaplaincy.
For more information call MACV at 218-722-8763. All
veterans are welcome.
Round Tables
Military history round tables in Minnesota have
announced their May schedules:
-- The Rochester Veterans Round Table will be held on
May 11 at 7 p.m. at the Autumn Ridge Church and the subject will be Indians Serving our Country with Bernie
Melter, Trudell Guerue, Shirley Greising, Betty Smith.
Admission is $5.
-- The St. Croix Valley Civil War Round Table will meet
at the Lowell Inn in Stillwater on May 18 with a program
on Slave Revolts with Michael Hansen. This is a dinner
meeting, and for more information contact Steve Anderson
at 715-386-1268.
-- The Veterans Open Round Table in Owatonna will
meet May 12 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at 7 p.m.
with a program on Flying Jet Aircraft from an Aircraft
Carrier in the Vietnam War with Captain Fred Kruger.
-- The World War II History Round Table at Fort
Snelling Visitor Center will meet at 7 p.m. on Thursday,
May 14 with Retrospective Look at the Goals of 8 World
War II Leaders with Dr. Gerhard Weinberg as the main
speaker. Admission is $5.
Salute to Women Veterans
The Salute to Women Veterans will be held at Cragun’s
Resort on Saturday, May 16, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The
keynote speaker will be Department Commander Peggy
Moon.
There will be workshops on art therapy, meditation,
entrepreneurship, and VA healthcare for women. The conference will also feature networking, benefits information,
vendors and resources and holistic health practioners.
All ages, eras and branches of military women are welcome. For more information, contact Jennell Stai at 612970-5787.
Sons of The
American Legion
By
Dennis Henkemeyer
By the time that this month’s Minnesota Legionnaire
reaches your mailbox or computer, the Detachment of
Minnesota will be less than two months away from our
detachment convention/campout. I hope that a lot of SAL
members are planning on joining us that weekend for a lot
of fun, great food and terrific friendship. Oh, and we will
also be conducting the detachment business and electing
new detachment officers for the upcoming year.
I want to thank The American Legion Auxiliary,
Department of Minnesota for your invite to attend the
Department Juniors Conference in Stewartville of the 1st
District. Also a huge thank you goes out to the Honorary
Juniors President Jules Efta of Argyle for her year of service to our veterans. I would like to wish all the best to
incoming Honorary Juniors President Bryce Soltis of Waite
Park. The American Legion Auxiliary will continue to be
successful in the years to come because of the Juniors program.
Our membership program is still going strong with the
detachment meeting and far exceeding every national target
this year. There is no doubt in my mind that the detachment
will not only get an all-time high again this year, but also
for the first time in the detachment’s history we are going to
break the 11,000 member ceiling. We have also chartered
four new squadrons so far this year with talk of more to join
our ranks. I would like to welcome the following squadrons
from the 2nd District: Lake Wilson and Adrian. I would
also like to welcome the following squadrons from the 6th
District: Becker and Clear Lake. Even though the next
national target (100%) is not until 13 May, National SAL
Commander Michael Moss put out a challenge to be at
100% by our NEC Spring Meeting on 02 May. A call has
gone out to everyone in my database for as much help as
possible to meet or exceed this challenge.
Finally, just a quick comment about my project this year,
which as you know by now, is the Minneapolis Fisher
House. We have raised over $25,000.00 to date and still
more donations coming in. If you have an extra few dollars
that you would like to donate, please remember this very
worthwhile project.
Page 6
May 2015
District Commanders
FIRST
DISTRICT
Myron Ehrich
As the old saying goes, April showers will bring May
flowers.....So maybe, April snow storms will bring even
more flowers.
In April, we had Department Commander Peggy Moon
visit the Owatonna Post 77 for a meeting as well as a postsponsored birthday party. Thank you, Commander Peggy
for coming to visit.
As we all know, April is Children and Youth Month.
There are many activities going on for them. One is the
Spelling Bee to be held at Hayfield Post 330 on April 16th.
This is open to children in grades 4 thru 6. Good luck to all
those that participate.
My Testimonal was held on April 11th at Dodge Center
Post 284. I had a fantastic time. Thank you to all those that
came.
In May, we will have our District Convention in Waseca
at Post 228. If you have not signed up yet, please do so
soon.
This means that my time left is growing shorter. I have
had a wonderful time as your Commander for the last year.
The un-official start to our summer season is Memorial
Weekend, which is fast approaching. Make sure to attend
the many local Memorial Day programs.
SECOND
DISTRICT
Jennifer Kafka
Commander
As we go through the next few weeks we will be preparing for Memorial Day speeches and programs. Others will
be getting ready for the kick off of summer. This is the difference between the Legion family and others. We put our
country and fallen Comrades first . So many have given so
much and sadly other than family they are slowly forgotten
by a grateful nation. That is why Memorial Day is so important and that is why we should be teaching our youth about
the importance of this holiday.
As Legionaires and family members we have all lost
family and friends and we become their story tellers, without someone to share the life and beliefs of these men and
women our history is lost. We go on but, we get to go on
because of those that have gone before us. They lived a life
worth sharing and we owe it to our younger generations to
share these stories and beliefs.
THIRD
DISTRICT
Duane Anderson
Commander
In just a short time we will be attending the Third
District 2015 Convention in Hutchinson. I am looking forward to this time of comradeship and fellowship between
Legionnaires, Auxiliary, SAL, and Legion Riders. Electing
new officers to take up and continue the mission of the
Legion Family is an exciting and challenging time. The
past year has literally flown by with involvement in the
many activities that a District Commander is involved in.
This last week I was honored at my testimonial that was
held at my home post, “Post 311, Elysian”. I would like to
thank all the comrades, auxiliary, friends, family and neighbors that attended and helped make this a special time and
memory. It is at this time of the year that we have a tendency to sit back and feel we have accomplished all we
could. I don’t, however, think that is the right thing to do.
I challenge the 3rd District and the other nine districts of the
Department of Minnesota to continue working on membership and committee tasks to the completion of the year.
Every little additional effort can bring big results.
FOURTH
DISTRICT
Dan Williams
Commander
The last Monday in May is “the unofficial start of summer.” Too often the latter is simply glossed over. Memorial
Day is much more than a perch on the horizon of picnic and
vacation season. This is a time when we should remember
that this country went through a horrific civil war resulting
in more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers being
buried together in Arlington National Cemetery, years
before the war was ended. Thousands more were buried
across the country. The first recognition of this special day
was called Decoration Day. Dedicated volunteers placed
flowers and memorials on the graves of our fallen. After
that, our country began to honor our dead from World War
I also. The day gradually became known as Memorial Day.
This year, let’s take time to reflect on our fallen comrades.
We continue to receive remains with dignity and respect.
Consider those whom, in battle or POW camp, gave their
last full measure of devotion for this great country and her
future.
Calendar: May 13th, Joint District meeting, 7 p.m. – Post
39; May 17th, VA Hospital 1 p.m.; May 20th Shop, Ship
and Share kick-off meeting 6:30 p.m. – Post 39; May 23rd,
Fifth District Joint Testimonial; June 6th Fourth District
FIFTH
DISTRICT
Wayne Glanton
Commander
The state of Minnesota has Billions in surplus and looking for some good reason to return it to people. The
American Legion is a good place to start. We have programs and we have help, now all we need is money. Such
as Legionville and Veteran Homes. Write your district or
state officials to find out what may be the best way to go
about getting some of these projects funded. The Legion
has a large membership which means votes. I would like to
thank our membership rally team for meeting our goal for
2015. Baker Post is one of two posts that have turned in the
Consolidated Report. Our final rally was in Duluth on the
25th of April.
Sick List- Past Post Commander Otis Jenkins had to
have an operation on his left leg, but is doing fine. Otis you
are in our prayers. ALRiders got their SOP -- good for
them. I asked one of the riders "how many miles do you ride
in one day?" His answer was he averages 300 miles more or
less to the next designated stop.
SIXTH
DISTRICT
Carl Moon
Commander
The Sixth District Revitalization went very well. There
were 11 Posts represented and between the morning training session at Brainerd and the evening training session at
Little Falls, there were over 40 volunteers present. The
numbers are still coming in but there were many transfers
from the Dept. Post at Large and over 20 new members
signed up. We had a table at Camp Ripley on Friday the
10th and the two teams we had covering felt that it was
great exposure for the Legion. I believe they were able to
sign up 7 new members. Our guest and trainer from
National, Billy Johnson, who just happens to be the
National Membership Director, felt that the Revitalization
went very well, not because of the numbers but because of
the involvement and participation from the Posts.
My testimonial/ roast was held on Saturday April 11th
at my home Post in Zimmerman. It was a great evening
with friends and family and I actually survived. My Post
was very kind as they could have really roasted me over all
the inside information they've had on me over the years.
The highlight of the evening was when our Department
Commander , i.e. Mrs. Moon got up and spoke about how
we met and how proud she was of me. Wow. What a great
and wonderful Commander she is.
I hope everyone has a great District Convention and
keep working hard to get that Membership in and help
make Minnesota #1 at National.
SEVENTH
DISTRICT
Victor Gades
Commander
May is the month of a new season – summer -- and we
kick it off with Memorial Day. How many of us observe this
day of remembrance. All too many Americans think that
this day means the beginning of summer. Unfortunately in
our haste, we forget the sacrifices of our deceased Veterans
who gave their lives, so that we can enjoy the freedoms
many take for granted.
Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States
for remembering the people who died while serving in the
country’s armed forces. On Memorial Day, the flag of the
United States is raised briskly to the top of the staff and then
solemnly lowered to the half-staff position, where it
remains only until Noon. It is then raised to full-staff for the
remainder of the day.
The half-staff position remembers the more than one
million men and women who gave their lives in service of
their country. At Noon, their memory is raised by the living,
who resolve not to let their sacrifice be in vain, but to rise
up in their stead and continue the fight for liberty and justice for all.
The American Veteran, living or deceased, raised their
right hand and instantly became part of something larger
than them individually. We all gave a part of our lives to
serve our country. Now in our later years, it is not the time
to forget our brothers that did not come back, but it is the
EIGHTH
DISTRICT
Wilson Spence
Commander
This year’s Consolidated Year End Report should have
arrived at all posts in the Eight District and all of Minnesota
Posts. Please spend some time and complete your report. I
would like to see each and every post in the district complete the Consolidated Year End Report and send to the
Department of Minnesota. If any post in the district has any
difficulty with the report, please contact me and I will provide help with the report.
This is budget time for the sate of Minnesota. Our governor and legislature are negotiating a budget for this fiscal
year. I would like you aware of the political battling to
make sure that our Minnesota Veterans Homes are adequately funded. Speak to your state elected officials and
ask him/her to adequately fund our nursing homes. We
must keep our veteran residents of the homes cared for. Do
not forget on May 16, 2015, a Salute to Women Veterans is
scheduled at Cragun’s Resort. All ages, eras and branches
of military women are welcome to this free retreat. Our
Department Commander Peggy Moon is the featured
speaker. Please make every effort to attend. To register
call Jennell Stai at 612-970-5787.
I want to thank Sixth District Commander Carl Moon for
his kind words toward the Eight District and me last month.
All the districts have the goal of successfully recruiting
membership for The American Legion. Commander Moon
and the Sixth District is to be congratulated for their success
in recruiting this year for they have consistently had the
most recruited this year.
NINTH
DISTRICT
Thomas Norgaard Sr.
Commander
April was not too busy but May will start out with a
bang. The 2nd is the 9th District Joint Testimonial in
Crookston, then on the 4th I will be in Rothsay to see about
revitalizing the Post there. May 9th is a day I had better not
miss as my oldest daughter is getting married. May 13th is
the last Membership cutoff of 100%. We are sitting in 5th
place at 95.06 as of April 15th. Now is the time to start
making phone calls and personal visits. My project this
year is to raise money to purchase a handicap assessable
pool table for the Veterans Home in Fergus Falls. They
have set a cost of about $6,000.00 for it and are getting
donations from other area organizations as well as from the
9th District. My goal is $2500.00 and I think that we could
go beyond that. I would like to see every Post in the District
contribute something, even if you can only afford $10.00.
The last report I have is that they have ordered the Table and
are waiting for it to arrive.
Last year’s project, a Bingo Machine, was a success as it
is set up and working perfectly. Jen Morken, last year’s 9th
District President and myself will have to set a time to go
down and have a photo taken with the new Bingo Machine.
Put the 12th and 13th of June on your calendar as those
are the dates for the 9th District Convention in Moorhead.
TENTH
DISTRICT
Tom Sanders
Commander
I can't believe it is May already. This year has gone so
quick as we head into another month. With Testimonials
and now District Conventions coming up, the time is really getting shorter.
The combined District Project "Helping Paws" has
gone over our expectations that all of us are so tickled. We
want to thank again all of the American Legion Family that
have been so generous in donations to our project. We can
help out quite a few veterans with PTSD with these well
trained canines. Donation are still being accepted for our
project.
I want to thank all the "Bluecappers" in the "Mighty"
Tenth District for getting us to second place in membership
at Department at this time. We can still get those members
out there that have not renewed just by asking, calling, or
the "personal" touch, face to face. Keep up the good work
and let us remember all that have gone to the post everlasting before us. For God and Country.
Rally in Duluth
FOURTH DISTRICT TAKES LEAD -- The Fourth District, after many years of being in the league basement,
took home the prize at the rally at West Duluth Post 71. The rally had a Yogi Berra theme, and first prize was
Yogi Berra memorabilia. From left: Commander Peggy Moon, Membership Director Pat Logan, Fourth District
Commander Dan Williams and Fourth District Membership Director Mickey Ostrum.
Speakers at the Spring Rally at West Duluth Post 71
heard a common theme: Don’t quit on membership now.
“We’ve done the easy work,” Commander Peggy Moon
said. “Other states don’t quit at this point, why do we?”
The Fourth District breathed some rare air as they
accepted the prize for top membership. The district for
some time has been closer to the bottom of the heap, but this
year has been chasing the 6th District for several months
and finally earned first place standing at the rally with 97.57
percent.
For the Auxiliary, the Third District was in first with
86.59 percent. In the SAL, the Second District was first
with 107.86 percent.
A total of 396 Legion memberships were turned in.
May 2015
Page 7
93rd BIRTHDAY -- Fifth District Commander Wayne
Glanton received birthday greetings at Duluth.
Unfortunately, one of his gifts was a baseball footstool
because the district is in last place. At left is Logan,
and at right is Vice Commander Dennis DeLong.
Membership Chart
As of April 27, 2015
District
CAMBRIDGE DUO -- Past Department and National President Evelyn Starr and
Past Department President Carol Holmgren sat together at the Duluth Rally. Both
are from Cambridge Unit 290.
Revitalization in 6th
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
At-large
Totals
2015
Goal
9,976
8,110
12,486
2,554
2,959
12,698
7,245
4,768
7,443
11,243
2,340
81,822
Total
2014
9,918
8,026
12,421
2,530
2,936
12,627
7,167
4,727
7,378
11,189
2,338
81,257
Total
2015
9,466
7,693
11,949
2,492
2,782
12,345
6,862
4,552
7,104
10,903
2,614
78,762
Percent
of Goal
94.89
95.02
95.70
97.57
94.02
97.22
94.71
95.47
95.45
96.98
82.77
95.32
Same
Date ’14
9,748
7,919
12,258
2,483
2,843
12,509
7,081
4,653
7,286
11,015
2,296
80,153
Members of the revitalization group set up shop at the
base exchange at Camp Ripley to talk with National
Guard veterans. From left are Eileen Espelien, adjutant for Pierz Post 341, Membership Director Pat
Logan and revitalization organizer Lloyd Ricker.
Seven new members were signed up including four
women.
National Membership Director Billy Johnson helps Bataan Death March survivor Walt Straka from the podium.
The revitalization team took part in a ceremony honoring the Bataan veterans at Brainerd.
The revitalization team met at Brainerd Post 255 to get
their training from National Membership Director Billy
Johnson.
A MARINE
IN THE
PACIFIC
Page 8
May 2015
W
By Al Zdon
hen Medal of Honor recipient Woody Williams
of West Virginia was speaking at a seminar in
Indianapolis recently, he stood in front of the
crowd without his medal.
Williams had earned the nation’s highest valor medal in
the battle for Iwo Jima in 1945 when he attacked a series of
pillboxes under withering enemy fire, and destroyed them
with demolition charges and his flame thrower.
He told the audience that the only way he would wear
the medal that particular night would be if it was placed on
him by one of his fellow Marines who also exposed themselves to danger by covering his heroic action with small
arms fire.
Williams’ comrade and friend Darol “Lefty” Lee of
Winona came forward and placed the Medal of Honor
around Williams’ neck.
It was a touching moment for the audience and for both
Marines, now in their 90s.
For Lefty Lee it was a chance for some recognition of a
combat career that included two Purple Hearts, a Bronze
Star with the V for Valor, and participation in four island
invasions during the war.
L
qqqqqqq
efty Lee was born in Houston, Minnesota, and
moved to Winona after the eighth grade. He
worked weekends delivering groceries, and he
graduated from Winona High School in 1942.
He said the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941
caught everyone by surprise. “We knew there were rumblings of war in Europe, but we didn’t anticipate the
Japanese would get involved.”
He was eager to get into the Marine Corps, but his mother required that he finish high school. Under the pretext of
going to a basketball game on Lincoln’s birthday, he and
three friends went to Minneapolis and tried to enlist.
“I had a brother in the Army Air Corps, another brother
in Navy, and another in the National Guard. I thought I’d
just round it out. I hadn’t seen any pictures of Marines in
their dress blues or anything like that.”
The recruiter, like Lee’s mother, told Lee to graduate
from high school and the Marines would call him up in
June.
Boot camp at San Diego didn’t get off to a good start. “It
was a shock. The first day was a hassle. That night I went
walking the fence line to see if there was a hole to crawl
through, but I couldn’t find one. Two or three weeks later,
they couldn’t have dragged me out of boot camp. They had
indoctrinated us so much.”
After boot camp was more infantry training, and then
additional time at Camp Pendleton. “They knew we were
going to the jungle, but they had us training out in the
desert.”
He left the States bound for New Zealand in early
November, 1942. Lee was assigned as a rifleman to
Company C, First Battalion, 21st Marines, Third Marine
Division. “We spent a month climbing mountains.”
The division went to Guadalcanal in 1943 to relieve the
First Marine Division which had been hit hard in the battle
for the island. “Guadalcanal was pretty secure by that time,
but there were still Japanese around. They would try to get
at our provisions because they were starving. We spent time
patrolling the jungle and trying to eliminate some pockets.
Now and then we’d run into some pretty heavy stuff.
“It was good training. It prepared us for what was coming. We learned how the Japanese operated. They were
fanatics for fighting, and they wouldn’t give up. They were
pretty good fighters. They were fighting for the emperor.”
One after-effect of his time on Guadalcanal was that Lee
contracted malaria.
In November, Lee’s unit landed on Bougainville. “There
was no resistance on the beach. I remember it rained every
day. We just pushed into the jungle and established sort of a
big line of resistance. The Seabees came in and built an airfield. We never did take the whole island. MacArthur wanted an airbase for the upcoming battle for New Guinea.”
Lee said the Americans would fight during the day, and
the Japanese would attack at night. “Mostly it was wet.
After two or three days your socks would just fall off you.
I got a severe fungus on my feet, and they brought me in
and removed my toenails. I still don’t have any.
“Oh yeah, and there was also an active volcano, and we
had a typhoon. If the whole island had dropped into the sea,
I couldn’t care less.”
In January, the 21st Marines headed back to Guadalcanal
for some rest and recreation and to pick up fresh replacements. “We needed a lot of replacements.”
On June 1, 1944, the Marines went back aboard ships. “I
remember on June 6, they announced the D-Day invasion of
France on the PA system.”
Lee’s unit was called a “floating reserve” for the Battle
of Saipan. They stayed on the ship near Saipan, ready to go
ashore at any time. “Turns out they didn’t need us, so it was
back to the Marshalls.”
By this time, Lee had become a Browning Automatic
Rifleman. “The BAR weighed 18 lbs., and you’d carry 13
clips of ammunition in a bandolier with 20 rounds in a clip.
Another rifleman would help and carry more clips.” The
BAR had a lot of fire power, and was usually in the forefront of any action.
On July 21, the Third Marine Division landed on Guam.
Lee was in the fifth wave. “The Amtraks went in first and
they could drive right up on the beach, but we were on the
Higgins Boats. They dropped us in the water, and we had
three or four hundred yards to go. It was pretty hairy with
DAROL LEE
As a Marine during World War II
Lefty Lee joined the Marines
after high school in Winona.
Over the next three years he
earned a Bronze Star with
the valor device, and two
Purple Hearts at places like
Guadal Canal, Bougainville,
Guam and Iwo Jima. He was
one of four Marines providing
covering fire when Woody
Williams earned his Medal of
Honor at Iwo.
snipers trying to pick us off and mortars dropping down, but
we did get to the beach.”
Beyond the beach were rice paddies. “The only cover
was in the drainage ditches for the paddies, and they had
about two feet of water in them.”
Lee was negotiating one of the ditches when a mortar
shell landed about four feet away. “Thank God it was
muddy. I think that absorbed most of the impact. I got hit by
a piece of shrapnel in my chest right under my left arm. It
was about the size of a quarter. It knocked me down, and I
was bleeding quite a bit. I think they call it a sucking
wound.”
A corpsman made his way through the heavy fire and
started treating Lee. “He said he didn’t have anything in his
DAROL LEE
At home in Winona
May 2015
Page 9
Browning
Automatic
Rifle
Produced: 1917-1950s
Weight: 19 pounds
Length: 48 inches
Cartridge: .30-06
Springfield
Action: Gas operated
Rate of Fire: 500 rounds
per minute
Effective Range: 100 to
1,500 yards
Feed System: 20-round
detachable box
magazine
medical bag for that kind of wound, but he took a piece of
cellophane off his gas mask and sealed the wound. Then I
could breathe a little better.”
The corpsman asked Lee if he could walk to the rear by
himself. “I had to stop every 15 or 20 feet to catch my
breath.
“I was about halfway there when I saw what I thought
was a mound of dirt in the ditch in front of me. I wanted to
get out of the water, so I put my foot down on it to rest. It
turned out that it wasn’t dirt, it was a water buffalo that had
probably been killed during the shelling before the invasion.
“When I put my foot down it erupted and everything just
flew up in my face. All the maggots and guts and crap came
out all over me. That’s where I really lost it. I threw up all
over the place. I forgot all about my problem breathing.”
Lee finally got to the aid station. “They asked me,
‘Where the hell have you been?’ I must have been quite a
sight.” The doctor at the aid station left the cellophane in
place, and complimented the corpsman on a heads-up solution to the wound.
From the aid station, he was taken out to a hospital ship.
“I must have stood in the shower for a half an hour. They
took my clothes and washed them.”
Lee was getting ready to settle in for some recuperation,
maybe even a trip back to the United States, when a Marine
officer came through the next morning and asked if there
were ambulatory men who would go back to the beach.
“Basically he said that anybody who could walk should go
back.
“That’s how short of men they were. So I went back to
the beach and made my way to where my platoon was. They
hadn’t moved an inch since I had left. In fact, my BAR was
still leaning against a tree where I had left it.”
Lee wasn’t in tip-top shape. “I had trouble breathing, but
I could manage it. And I’m left-handed, and so I fired the
BAR with my left arm, and it was really sore.”
The Marines finally got through the jungle and up on top
of a ridge after three or four days.
“That’s where we had our first banzai attack. It was on
our fifth night on Guam. We had finally taken the high
ground, and the Japanese didn’t like it. My buddy and I
were in a shell hole, and we had dug it out a little bigger. It
was really a good fox hole.”
Lee and the others could hear the Japanese below. “They
were yelling and making a lot of noise. They didn’t care if
we could hear them. I suppose they were getting ‘sakied’ up
to make the charge. We called in the artillery on their position, and that quieted them down for a while.”
At 11 p.m., the Japanese attacked. “They made no pretense of being quiet. They just came right at us.”
T
he night was lit up by star shells from both sides.
“Our shells were yellow and theirs were kind of
orange. If you ever want to know what hell looked
like, that was it. All of a sudden there were hundreds of
Japanese right in front and they all wanted to kill us. We
started firing, and we were mowing them down pretty
good.”
The enemy kept coming, though, and a grenade landed
in the shell hole instantly killing Lee’s companion. “It
knocked me out cold, and I fell into the bottom of the hole,
and my buddy fell on top of me.
“I don’t know how long I was out, but when I woke up
there were two Japanese sitting on the edge of the hole talking like they were in downtown Tokyo. I still had my BAR
in my hands, but I couldn’t remember if I had any shells left
in that clip. I knew all I had to do was move it about a foot
and I could shoot them.”
Lee pondered his situation for a while. “I finally decided
that at some point they would make sure we were dead. So
I moved my BAR and shot them. I had five or six rounds
left, and I killed them both. That was the first attack.”
Knowing the enemy would probably come again, Lee
called back to the command post for more ammunition, and
about 15 or 20 more clips were brought up.
“But now I had two BARs, mine and my buddy’s. I was
A tank with a flame thrower attacks a Japanese position on Iwo Jima while Marines dig in.
Lee receives his Purple Heart earned during action on
Guam. He still carries the shrapnel in his chest.
Marines show off a captured Japanese flag on Iwo
Jima.
Marines slog through the mud on Bougainville. Lee got a severe fungus on his feet and lost all his toenails.
pretty much ready if they came back, but my hearing was
practically nil. Besides there was no place to go. Nobody
retreated that night. We knew we had to hold that line or
lose the beachhead.”
It wasn’t long before the second attack came. “This one
was even more fierce. I’d use one BAR until it was empty
and then grabbed the other one. When I got a chance, I’d
reload both of them. I grabbed one by the barrel at one point
and burned my hand. Pretty soon there were piles of bodies
about 10 or 15 yards in front of me. You couldn’t shoot
through them, you had to fire around them.
“We were so stressed up, so hyper. We were running on
pure adrenaline. It’s a good thing we were young.”
Again, the Marines withstood the attack.
Lee said he never thought of his shrapnel wound during
the fighting. “Over the days, I would re-bandage it now and
then. After a while I could breathe pretty well. I kept that
cellophane over the wound for the whole campaign. They
never took out that shrapnel. Whenever I go through an airport, it sets off all the bells and whistles.”
The Japanese resistance was much weaker after that. “I
think they shot their wad on those attacks. There were still
a lot of Japanese on the island, and they would try to infiltrate us at night.”
Out on a patrol one day in the 100 degree heat, the officer called for a halt. “I was dozing on one side of a tree, and
the captain was half dozing on the other side. All of a sudden there was a shell burst in the tree right above us. He
made a grunt, and then he fell over right on top of me. He
was dead.”
The odd thing, Lee said, was that there was no blood.
“We took his blouse off, and we found a very small hole on
his shoulder. A small piece of shrapnel had come straight
down and gone right into his heart. There wasn’t a drop of
blood.”
By mid-August 1944, Guam was declared secure
although thousands of enemy soldiers held out in the jungles and cliffs. One Japanese soldier was found living in a
cave 27 years later.
Page 10
T
May 2015
he Marines took their rest right on Guam, and
again got an infusion of replacements. “I never
had any problem with replacements. They seemed
to be pretty well trained. And they were glad to get the
advice of the veterans.”
The men had weekends off, and they could swim in the
beautiful bays on the island. “The food was okay. By this
time you pretty much ate whatever they gave you. But one
time they brought in this greasy mutton from New Zealand.
I said, ‘No thanks,’ and I just had some more Spam.
“We were unsure where we would go next. We thought
it might be Okinawa, but it turned out it was Iwo Jima.
We’d never heard of it.”
The Third Marine Division was supposed to be in
reserve, but when the Marines landed unopposed on
January 20 and quickly moved inland, units of the division
were called upon. The Japanese had decided to wait until
the Americans and their equipment were on the shore before
responding. The enemy had been digging in for nearly a
year.
“The beach was so congested that our Higgins Boat just
kept circling. We finally ran out of fuel, and we just sat
there rolling with the surf. Of course, these were flat bottomed boats, and we all got seasick. That was a mess with
guys trying to heave over the side.”
The boat was finally refueled and headed back to the
ship. “I was so sick that I didn’t even go down below. I just
went up to the forecastle and crashed on the deck.”
At six in the morning on the 21st, the men climbed down
the cargo nets again and went ashore in the landing craft.
“Suribachi was on our left, and the beach was still taking
some shelling. We just dug in and stayed, waiting for word.
“By this time of the war, I’d seen a lot of dead people,
but the thing that really hit me right off the bat on that beach
were all the body parts. There would be an arm lying there
and a torso over there. It seemed like a real butcher shop.”
The next morning, the Marines advanced toward a
Japanese airstrip. “The colonel took a sniper shot in his jaw.
We continued to move up and relieved the 4th Marine
Division. They were in bad shape.”
On the 23rd, the unit was stopped cold. “There were
seven pill boxes and bunkers in front of us and we just
couldn’t get through. That’s when Woody Williams took
over. He was just a short guy, but he was strong, built like a
truck. He was a hillbilly from West Virginia.”
With Lee and three other riflemen providing covering
fire, Williams spent several hours going from one concrete
position to another, using his flame thrower and demolition
charges to take them out. Though frequently exposed, he
was never hit. Time and again, he had to bring his 70-pound
flame thrower back to be refilled.
“He’d stand right on top of the bunkers in front of God
and everybody. Everyone wondered what the hell he was
doing. It was just amazing. He didn’t think of anything
except doing his job. It was our job. He didn’t even get a
scratch that day, but then he got wounded later.”
After the war, at Marine reunions, Lee and Williams
would try to reconstruct the action that day. “But between
the two of us, we can’t put it together.”
The next day, Lee’s unit advanced to the edge of a second airstrip. “The tanks couldn’t help us. They were just
stuck in the sand. I was a platoon sergeant by this time, and
the lieutenant took me aside and said that we were going to
do our own banzai attack the next morning across that
airstrip.”
Lee decided not to tell his men so they could get some
sleep. Lee didn’t get any. “That was a bad night. It was the
longest night of my life. We had come so damn close to the
end of the war, but I figured this was it. It was my time to
die. I spent the night praying, begging, bargaining.”
At 0400, he got his men ready for the attack at 0600.
“The sun was just coming up. I knew this had to be my last
day because the morning was just so beautiful.”
The Marines attacked. “It was just mass heroism. I think
we made it across that strip in about one and half minutes.
We were flying. I jumped in a hole and I was just lying there
out of breath. The radio man jumped in on top of me, and I
thought he’d kill me with that radio.
“I looked back and there were guys lying there and
crawling on the airstrip. And this is what got me. They
could have crawled back to our old positions, but they were
all crawling toward us.
“One of my guys said, ‘I think that’s Harrington back
there crawling.’ So we had to go get him. I put down my
BAR. I even took my helmet off so I could go faster. We got
to him and grabbed him under the arms and started dragging
him. He was screaming all the while. He had been hit by a
machine gun in both legs.
“When we got him to the hole, I took off my belt and
made a tourniquet for one leg, and I took off his belt and
made a tourniquet for the other leg. After a while the corpsman came. Later I heard he lost a leg.”
The Japanese tried to push the Americans back, but the
Marines stood their hard-earned ground.
L
ee had survived the day he was sure would be his
last, but it was the next day that ended his combat
career.
“We wanted to take this little hill in front of us, but we
had to cover some open ground. There were five us running
abreast when a Japanese rocket blew up right in front of us.
“It blew up in the ash or sand, and that probably saved
my life. The three guys in the middle were killed and the
ones on either side survived. It threw me about 30 feet into
the air and knocked me out. I was bleeding from my ears
and my nose and my mouth. It punctured both my
eardrums. Somebody pulled me into a hole and saved my
life.”
At a military history event in Indianapolis recently,
Woody Williams asked Lefty Lee to come up and
place his Medal of Honor around his neck. Williams
paid tribute to Lee who supported Williams’ heroic
actions with his BAR.
Four men grabbed a stretcher and tried to haul Lee back
to an aid station. “But a bomb went off, and they dropped
the stretcher and dove into a hole leaving me out there.
There I was in front of God and everybody.”
Eventually, Lee did make it to an aid station and then
was evacuated back to Saipan. “I was still in shell shock.
The doctor told it looked like I had freckles because of all
the little pieces of shrapnel in my face and arm.”
Lee was sent back to Hawaii, but the hospitals were full
at Pearl Harbor so the ship took him all the way to San
Francisco.
“We went under the Golden Gate bridge on March 25,
1945. I was home alive in 45.”
He was hospitalized in Oregon, and later in Chicago. Lee
was discharged in September of 1945, just after the end of
the war. Until a few years ago, he was still pulling little slivers of metal out of his body.
He went back to college for three years, but he said he
was much too restless to make it work. “In World War I,
they called it shell shock, and in World War II they called it
battle fatigue. Now they call it PTSD. I suppose I had that.
There was too much drinking I know.”
When a chance came to take a test for the Post Office, he
gave it a try and finished third out of 85 applicants. He
worked for the Post Office for 34 years. He finished his
degree at Winona State and spent the next 15 years teaching
high school economics and history, and then became a substitute teacher. Teaching was the career he always wanted.
He and his wife, Marian, had six children, but lost two of
them in a tragic drowning accident when they were young.
Marian died this past year.
He has been to many reunions, and recently came back
from the 70th anniversary reunion at Guam and Iwo Jima
where he spent time with his family, with other veterans and
with Woody Williams. “We tried to figure out where everything was, but it was covered with brush five or six feet
high. It was just bare sand when we were there during the
war.”
Recently he received his pin as a 70-year member of The
American Legion. He likes going down to the post home.
“It’s a good bunch of guys. It’s a good bunch of comrades.”
(Parts of this story came from an interview that Lee did
with the Nimitz Education and Research Center during a
reunion in Fredericksburg, Texas, in 2013, and from an
interview he did with Richard Adank of Winona this past
year.)
Williams just after receiving his Medal of Honor.
Lefty Lee, on the right side of the flag, and Woody Williams and their families recently attended a 70th anniversary reunion on Guam and Iwo Jima.
May 2015
Minnesota Legionnaire Page 11
Minnesota American Legion
Military Hall of Fame
T
By Al Zdon
THOMAS P. GERE
CHATFIELD, MINNESOTA
homas Parke Gere was one of the rare Minnesota
soldiers who distinguished himself both in the
Indian Wars and the Civil War.
Gere earned a Medal of Honor at the Battle of Nashville
in December 1864 for capturing a Rebel flag.
But two and one-half years before that act of gallantry,
he was a young officer with the mumps who found himself
in charge of a fort on edge of the frontier when the largest
American Indian uprising to that point in U.S. history took
place.
Gere was born in Wellsburg, Chemung County, in western New York on Sept. 10, 1842. He had moved to Winona,
Minnesota, with his family in 1852 and to Chatfield in
Fillmore County in 1854 when he was 12. In 1862, he
enlisted in Company B of the Fifth Minnesota Infantry
Regiment. He was 19 years old, and he was following in the
footsteps of his older brother, William, who was already an
officer in the regiment.
Gere had to get a letter of permission signed by his father
and witnessed by his brother to sign up. The idea was that
William, known as “Beecher” to Thomas, an attorney in
civilian life, would look after his little brother.
“Hurrah, today I have signed the muster roll,” he wrote
in his journal on Jan. 17, 1862.
The Chatfield company was sent to Fort Snelling where,
Gere reported, “All the boys are contented and full of fun.”
There was plenty of training, but there was also time for
snowball fights, clandestine trips to Mendota for whiskey,
razzing the new recruits, and a visit to Minnehaha Falls to
see that wonder of nature.
His rise through the ranks was meteoric in the wartime
army. He enlisted as a private, but soon became the acting
orderly sergeant. On March 27, when one of the officers
resigned, Gere was elected by his comrades to replace him
and become a second lieutenant – the same day his brother
was promoted to major. He sometimes wrote of himself in
the third person, and on that day he wrote, “Such good fortune is more than he deserves; may he bear his honors as
becomes a soldier.”
In late March, the soldiers got some awful news. Instead
of heading off to the glory and honor of the Civil War,
Company B was assigned to relieve two companies of men
of the 4th Minnesota Regiment who were garrisoned at Fort
Ridgely.
The fort had been built between 1853-55 to provide a
federal presence near the two large Dakota reservations
along the Minnesota River. Over the years it had seen such
notable officers as Napolean Dana, Lewis Armistead,
William Tecumseh Sherman and John C. Pemberton.
The fort itself was a disappointment to Gere and his
comrades when they arrived on March 29. Originally
planned to include block houses and palisades like a real
fort, in the end it was simply a cluster of buildings, reflecting more of an administrative than a fighting role with the
peaceful Dakota. It was, Gere wrote in his journal, “away in
the wilderness.”
The men spent their time doing guard duty, drills,
inspections and more training. Gere commented on the
plains climate: “The average number of windy days in a
week being eight and one half.” The men chafed at their
duty and ached to be in the real war. “We long to be in one
of the glorious fights that impend.”
In June, mom and dad arrived from Chatfield to visit
Gere. Not long after that, Gere’s men honored him with a
present of a sword and sash, befitting an officer. “Fortune
seems to smile continually on me; is she reserving her
frowns for the future?”
On June 28, 1862, the regiment’s Company C, which
was garrisoned at Fort Ripley, about 120 miles to the northeast as the crow flies, arrived at Ridgely to help Company
B with distributing the $70,000 treaty annuity that was
expected to arrive any day. On the 30th, a portion of
Company B under Gere’s command (Lt. Marsh stayed at
the fort) and Company C left for the Upper Sioux Agency
some 50 miles away. “We left the fort as gay as a picnic
party” and arrived at the agency on July 2.
Gere found the Indians to be quite friendly. They only
asked the soldiers to keep the traders at bay when the annuity payments were made.
By July 19, with no annuity payment in sight, the friendly atmosphere seemed to change. The soldiers at the agency
sent for another howitzer “fearing there is going to be some
trouble.” On the 22nd, the second cannon arrived at the
upper agency.
On August 24th, Gere saw a sight few American soldiers
had ever seen. A Dakota war party headed out to seek some
Ojibways that had been raiding to the north. The party was
1,000 strong with over 400 mounted, “like so many
demons. They poured over the hills armed to the teeth,
some stripped to the skin. I shall never forget this day.”
On the 26th, the soldiers helped count the Indians, family by family, in preparation for giving out the payment,
which still had not arrived. It took over 12 hours to do the
census. On the 28th, Lt. Sheehan took 14 men on a mission
to capture Chief Ink-Pa-Du-Ta “dead or alive” for inciting
unrest among the Dakota bands. Sheehan came back without finding the chief on Aug. 3.
T
hings started to come to a head on Aug. 4 when
600 to 800 Dakota surrounded the stone warehouse saying they were gathering peaceably.
Suddenly one of the warriors drove a hatchet into the warehouse door. “I saw at once we had been deceived and I
ordered the boys of Company B to fall into line.”
As the soldiers got into formation, the Indians broke
down the door and started looting the warehouse. The
Dakota were “cocking and priming their guns.”
A sergeant led a group of 16 men to the warehouse, and
“put every Indian out. Twas a gallant and dangerous act.”
The situation was tense, with conferring going on
between the chiefs, the agent, and the military. Lt. Sheehan
and the Indian agent in particular were at odds about what
to do, and Sheehan finally sent Gere back to Fort Ridgely to
get Lt. Marsh to weigh in on the issue.
Gere left in the late afternoon and arrived back at the fort
at 3 a.m. By 5 a.m., he and Marsh were headed back to the
Upper Agency. The round trip, Gere wrote, had covered 104
miles in 21 hours – riding mules.
Marsh was able to calm the situation and convince the
agent to give out some of the goods, also promised to the
Dakota by the treaty, on Aug. 6. The Dakota bands went
home. By the 12th of August, the soldiers were back at
Ridgely, still waiting for the $70,000 in gold which was
now long overdue.
Gere said it looked like peace would triumph, and on the
17th, Company C set out to return to Ripley. That same day,
a group of 50 Army recruits, called the “Renville Rangers,”
passed through the fort heading for Fort Snelling.
On Monday, Aug. 18, a clear and warm day, “How rudely we were awakened from our dream.”
At 10:20 a.m. on the 18th, an “almost breathless messenger” arrived with the first news of the uprising at the
Lower Agency. Marsh acted quickly and set off a half hour
later with 47 men for the agency’s small cluster of buildings, about 12 miles away. He also sent word to the Ripley
soldiers to return immediately.
As Marsh headed out, he was met by “scores of affrightened citizens.”
That left Gere in charge of the fort with 24 men – no
walls, no moat, and dozens of terrified civilians pouring
into the post every hour. He faced, in his own words, “the
most widespread and horrid Indian massacre that ever desolated the American frontier.”
In an account he wrote later in life, Gere again referred
to himself in the third person: “The lieutenant in whose
command the fort had been left and under whose charge the
distressed and terror-stricken aggregate of men, women and
children, was but 19 years of age, one of the patriotic boy
volunteers for the army of the Union.”
At noon that day, ironically, the gold finally arrived from
Fort Snelling, but it was “wisely concluded to go no further.”
By evening, there were 200 panicky settlers at the fort,
and not one word from Marsh. And while all this was going
on, Gere himself was seriously ill with the mumps.
Finally, two exhausted men from Marsh’s command
staggered into the fort and told Gere that Marsh was dead,
as was most of his command. They had been ambushed at a
ferry crossing over the Minnesota River, and, while trying
to lead his men on an escape, Marsh had drowned in the
river.
“It was not deemed possible that it had assumed proportions beyond control.” Gere said, “It rendered the situation
profoundly trying.”
It was, Gere later wrote, “a tale whose import in view of
the possible consequences to the frightened and well nigh
unprotected mass of humanity then there, sufficient to
appall the stoutest heart.”
The young officer did what he could, though. He posted
the men in picket positions all around the fort, with orders
to run back to the buildings if shots were fired.
Not long after, a civilian on guard duty thought he saw
something and yelled, “Indians!”
“The scene that ensued defied description. There were
men in terror breaking through the window to get inside.”
Gere determined it was a false alarm, and again sent out the
pickets – but this time only the trained soldiers. “Each
moment’s flight was watched by the little garrison with desperate resolve.”
Gere had all the women and children brought into the
stone barracks at the center of the fort. As the night wore on,
more and more stragglers came in.
Gere also sent word to Governor Alexander Ramsey by
way of a memorable 170 mile horse ride by Private William
Sturgis. “A mounted courier was dispatched in hot haste.”
Along the way, Sturgis encountered the Renville Rangers
and had them turn around.
On Tuesday, Gere and others at the fort could see the
Dakota warriors to the west in the plains, led by their chief
Little Crow, gathering in clear view to discuss strategy. Had
they attacked at that moment, the odds would not have been
good for the little garrison. However, they chose to attack
New Ulm and other places that day, and leave the fort for
later.
By early afternoon, Company C returned to the fort after
a forced march of some 50 miles. “It was the first to impart
hope to its distressed inmates.” They had marched all night.
At about 6 p.m., the Renville recruits arrived.
Gere, who had done well in keeping order, keeping the
civilians under control, and preparing a defense, was now
relieved of command by Lt. Sheehan, his superior in rank.
The force at the fort now included about 190 men including
armed civilians.
Despite the military architecture, or lack thereof, the little fort was not without its defenses. It had two 12 lb. howitzers, two six-pounders and one 24-pounder. When the
Dakota did attack on Wednesday at about noon with 500
warriors, the cannon were used to good effect. Gere led the
troops at the northwest entry into the fort, armed with one
cannon and a force of riflemen.
There were six hours of “incessant combat.” The soldiers
stood their ground.
The women in the stone barracks occupied themselves
by making artillery cartridges and case shot. “The prayers
and tears of the unemployed lent pathos to a scene whose
dramatic equal the American Frontier had never witnessed.”
On Friday, the Dakota returned, this time in greater numbers, perhaps 7-800 warriors strong. But again the cannon
and the determined army and civilian defenders kept them
at bay.
There were no more attacks, but the siege went on until
Aug. 27 when soldiers from Fort Snelling, under the command of Henry Sibley, finally arrived “amid cheers and
tears of joy.”
Sibley, with 1,600 troops, was able to defeat the Dakota
in the Battle of Wood Lake on Sept. 23. The fighting was
over. Many Dakota surrendered and others were captured.
Over 300 Dakota were convicted in abbreviated trials and
sentenced to die. In the end, with the intervention of
President Abraham Lincoln, 38 actually were hung at
Mankato.
Page 12
May 2015
Fort Ridgley as it looked when Thomas Gere found
himself in charge during the Dakota Uprising.
Gere had seen his first action as an officer, and had performed well. His leadership was critical in the early hours.
Company B finally left the fort on Nov. 9, with high
hopes of finally getting into the real war. They first, though,
had to escort 1,800 Dakota women and children to Fort
Snelling, where they were imprisoned on a nearby island
through that winter.
Gere was promoted to first lieutenant on Nov. 16, and he
was named the regimental adjutant.
B
y Dec. 16, 1862, the Fifth Regiment was in
Oxford, Mississippi.
The regiment had traveled by foot, by steamboat and by
train to Chicago, Kentucky and finally to Oxford. On New
Year’s Eve, Gere wrote in the journal he kept throughout
the war, “We have no baggage, no teams, no rations. We are
hunting for the Rebs.”
The hunt went on into January. On Jan. 4, he wrote, “All
this time we are profoundly ignorant of any object in our
movements.” Welcome to the Army.
By Jan. 9, the Minnesotans had gone 11 days without
provisions. “The poultry yards and bee hives suffered, and
every horse found on the trip was taken.” On the 12th, the
regiment finally got its tents, blankets, valises which they
had not seen for 23 days. Gere said it was “unspeakable
joy.”
On Jan. 17, Gere marked his first anniversary in the
Army. “The war does not seem so near an end as it did when
we enlisted.” The regiment continued to move from area to
area around the South without much contact with the
enemy.
In a letter to the Chatfield Democrat on March 10, 1863,
Gere said there were 560 men left in the regiment “all ready
for a fight.” The toll in Company B to that point was fairly
grim. They had started with 87 men and now had 52. They
had lost 24 in Minnesota and 11 others to wounds or illness
along the way.
On March 18, the regiment’s adjutant quit and Gere, still
20 years old, was made acting adjutant. A week later he
became the adjutant.
By May, the Fifth Minnesota was part of the assault on
Vicksburg, and on May 14 the regiment was in the vanguard
in the attack on Jackson, Mississippi. “Jackson is ours,”
Gere wrote. “And the Fifth has glory enough.” The next
day, he observed the deserted state capital. “State House,
Auditor’s Office, K.G.C. (a pro-slavery organization);
Senate; soldiers plundering; clothes of all kinds; darkies;
women following the crowd for plunder.”
It was rare that the regiment spent more than a few days
in one position. On June 20, Gere was able to do a side trip
down the side of the Mississippi opposite the besieged
Vicksburg. Using field glasses, he “got a fine view of the
town. I could plainly see the Rebs on the other side of the
river. This has been one of those romantic days.”
On July 4, 1863, Vicksburg fell to Grant’s Army. “Today
the Gibraltar has fallen. How I have wished myself at home
today.”
In August, Gere took advantage of a perk available to
The Battle of Nashville where Gere earned his Medal
of Honor by capturing a regimental flag from the
Confederate Army.
officers. He went home. By the 18th, he had debarked at
Winona, and by that evening he was at home in Chatfield
with his parents. “Our folks are taken by surprise.”
By September, he was back to war as the 5th Minnesota
seemed to keep constantly on the go in the Vicksburg and
Memphis areas. On Dec. 11, they traded in their old
Whitney rifles for brand new Springfields.
On April 9, 1864, the Fifth got a good dose of action
when it fought in the battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana.
“The fighting was desperate for about two hours, and the
loss was heavy. Charge after charge upon our position
attested to the valor of the rebs, but they were completely
routed. We drove them more than three miles… The ground
was literally strewn with dead and wounded.”
That night, it was the turn of the federal forces to retreat
in haste, a situation that did not sit well with Gere or his
comrades. “At 3 in the morning we left the field leaving our
own dead unburied and many wounded uncared for! May I
never witness another occasion like this!”
On March 7, Gere was named the acting assistant adjutant of the brigade, working on the staff of Col. Lucius
Hubbard, the former commander of the Fifth Minnesota
who had been promoted.
The rancor in the troops with their ultimate commander
(Maj. Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks) was strong. On March 10,
Gere wrote: “Two months ago today we left Vicksburg. We
are tired enough of this country and sick of the way affairs
are managed, but willing would stay two months longer if
we had a commander to lead us to Shreveport.”
Gere said the problem was not with the troops. “They are
desperate and will fight hard if we get a chance.” Banks was
eventually removed from command.
In June, 1864, the entire regiment went home on a furlough. A clipping from the “St. Louis Daily” in Gere’s journal notes that the regiment had lost 465 men to that point,
and that the strength of the unit was down to 247 men.
Gere got home on July 4, 1864, and encountered
“dances, parties, boat rides, sweet music and walks.” He
wrote about those days in Chatfield as “naught but pleasure,
long to be remembered.”
In August, the Fifth Regiment was back in action again,
once again in the deep south. In one stretch, from midSeptember until Oct. 5, 1864, the regiment marched 307
miles in 19 days. “The command is somewhat ‘used up,’ at
least it ‘needs repair;’ many of the men are barefooted and
we are on quarter rations.”
On Nov. 25, the regiment experienced something they
probably never thought of when they signed up. The unit
was aboard a steamship heading north on the Mississippi.
“We awoke with a crash and got up in a hurry to find our
boat had struck an old wreck and was sinking.” The men
were transferred to other boats, although two drowned in
the experience.
B
y mid-December the Fifth Regiment was
entrenched around Nashville facing a Confederate
army under the command of Gen. John Bell
Hood. On the 16th, the Fifth Regiment, as part of the
Second Brigade, First Division, 16th Army Corps, attacked
the Rebel position. Joining the Fifth in the Brigade were the
Seventh, Ninth and Tenth Minnesota Regiments.
In letters and in his journal, Gere described the attack.
“Our Division is massed; we storm a work of the enemy,
carry it; capturing four guns; then another work, and two
more guns!” Gere wrote. “Our brigade swings to the left
and makes a glorious charge on the rebel line, the enemy
runs like sheep, we capture many prisoners. Glorious!”
In the last charge, Gere was struck by a musket ball on
his wrist, a troubling but not serious wound.
At 3 a.m., the Fifth Minnesota was awoken by the
reveille of the Confederate forces – directly in front of their
position. They knew the Rebels were making a stand and
the battle would continue. “Everything indicated that the
rebel leader had determined to yield no more ground.”
The next day dawned fair with scattered clouds, but by
three in the afternoon, the sky has darkened and the rain
began. The division advanced to about 300 yards of the
enemy and was pinned down by rifle fire. At 4 p.m., the
order is given to charge across the muddy, open cornfield.
The rebel line “burst forth a red and blue flame and the messengers of death fell like hail upon our ranks,” he wrote in
a letter home.
“A fearful charge, hundreds fell, but we captured the
works with prisoners by the thousands. ‘Twas a fiery ordeal.
It was indeed trying to go through that storm of grape, canister, and musket balls – We who got through wonder how
we escaped.”
Col. Lucius Hubbard, leading the Brigade, had two horses shot from under him. Lt. Col. William Gere, Thomas
Gere’s brother, led the Fifth Regiment and also lost his
horse. Four color sergeants were shot down, and in each
case the colors were grabbed by those behind before they
could hit the ground. Finally, the Fifth Regiment’s colors,
riddled with canister shot, stood atop the rebel works. “A
wild cheer of triumph soon proclaimed that the works were
ours.”
As the enemy fled, Gere, on horseback, wheeled and
pursued the enemy along the wall and sharpened trees the
Confederates had constructed as its defense. “I reached the
works to the right of the brigade, but my horse would not
Continued on Page 13
May 2015
Taps
Boe, Gerald M., 88, Army veteran of World War II, died
April 11, 2015. He was captain of the guards for the
Nuremberg Trials in 1946. He was a member of Pequot
Lakes Post 49.
Vande Griend, Irwin, 86, Army veteran of the Korean
War, died April 8, 2015. He served in Germany. He was a
member of Edgerton Post 42.
Finazzo, Benedict, 88, Navy veteran of World War II,
died April 12, 2015. He was a member of Cold Spring Post
455.
Einertson, Marvin A., 86, Army veteran of the Korean
War, died March 21, 2015. He was a radio operator stationed at Fort Bragg. He was a member of Windom Post
206.
Dietel, Raymond A., 88, Navy veteran of World War II,
died March 19, 2015. He was an aviation metalsmith. He
was a member of Lester Prairie Post 463.
Rodenberg, Kenneth Allen, 70, Army veteran of the
Vietnam War, died March 26, 2015. He served two tours in
Vietnam and then served in Germany. He served in the
Army for 16 years. He was a past commander of Lakefield
Post 4.
Leyendecker, Mathias, 91, Army veteran of World War
II, died March 31, 2015. He was a member of Paynesville
Post 271.
Leyh, Rodney, 85, Army veteran of the Korean War,
died March 28, 2015. He was a member of Bertha Post 366.
Warren, Cedric, 85, Navy veteran of the Korean War,
died March 15, 2015. He was a master chief. He was 10th
District Adjutant and he also served as a district vice commander. He was a past commander of Eden Prairie Post
409.
Matuska, Dennis D., 72, Marine Corps veteran of the
Vietnam War, died March 20, 2015. He served on the USS
Belle Grove in southeast Asia. He was a past adjutant,
membership chair and honor guard member of Glencoe
Post 95.
Oelkers, Robert Henry, 89, Army veteran of World War
II, died April 6, 2015. He was a member of Pine Island Post
184.
Peppersack, Arthur R., 92, Army veteran of World War
II, died March 29, 2015. He was an armored car driver in
93rd Cavalry, 13th Army Division. He was a member of
Cottonwood Post 503.
Plasek, John Rudoph, 81, Army veteran of the Korean
War, died March 29, 2015. He was a member of Pine City
Post 51.
DeBettignies, Thomas Jerome, 89, Army veteran of the
Korean War, died March 28, 2015. He was a member of
Alexandria Post 87.
Buys, Gerald, 81, Army veteran of the Korean War, died
April 5, 2015. He served in Germany. He was a member of
Chandler Post 338.
Hartle, Robert W., 81, Army veteran of the Korean
War, died April 4, 2015. He served in Austria. He was a
member of Chandler Post 338.
Johnson, Ormand, 90, Army veteran of World War II,
died April 6, 2015. He served in New Caledonia and Leyte.
He was a past commander of Thief River Falls Post 117.
Mueller, Eugene, 85, Army veteran of the Korean War,
died April 8, 2015. He was a member of Cold Spring Post
455.
O’Brien, Richard Sr., 81, Army veteran of both the
Korean and Vietnam Wars, died April 5, 2015. He was a
career soldier. He was a member of Park Rapids Post 212.
Marts, Garland, 81, Air Force veteran of the Korean
War, died April 3, 2015. He served for nine years. He was a
Thomas Gere
cross the abittis and wall.” On the other side of the fortifications, the rebels were fleeing. “I was a little in advance of
this movement. The color bearer leaped over the works
towards our rear with the others, leaving the colors behind
the works. I could not reach them, but I compelled him to
recross and deliver the flag.” He did.
The flag was that of the Fourth Mississippi Regiment, a
veteran unit which, like the Fifth Minnesota, had survived a
three years and dozens of battles in the war.
Gere presented the flag to the brigade, a trophy of great
value and pride. “While we rejoice at the great victory, our
hearts are filled with grief and sorrow for the loss of our
fallen companions.” Indeed, the regiment lost 14 killed and
92 wounded, or about 40 percent of its strength.
Gere’s reward for his valor included being put in charge
of a contingent of 17 men from the brigade, many of whom
had captured rebel battle flags — although Gere was the
only one to have captured a regimental flag. The group
arrived in Washington D.C. on Feb. 20, and two days later,
on Washington’s birthday, he and other flag captors were
ushered into the office of Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War.
“The Secretary made up a little speech, thanking us and our
commander, and told us we should each have a medal of
honor.” They also got a 30-day furlough.
member of Park Rapids Post 212.
Kochmann, Clarence, 88, Army veteran of World War
II, died April 11, 2015. He was a member of Park Rapids
Post 212.
Mjelde, Wallace “Sonny,” 94, Army veteran of World
War II, died April 11, 2015. He served in Europe. He was a
member of Fergus Falls Post 30.
Sparke, Carl F., Army veteran of the Korean War, died
March 31, 2015. He was a member of Albert Lea Post 56.
Troe, Gerald E. “Edd,” 76, Army veteran of the
Vietnam War, died March 29, 2015. He was a member of
Albert Lea Post 56.
Haase, Vernon L., 93, Army veteran of World War II,
died March 6, 2015. He was a member of Albert Lea Post
56.
Shea, William L., 101, Army Air Corps veteran of
World War II, died March 3, 2015. He flew 23 combat missions in B-24s in the South Pacific. He was a member of
Albert Lea Post 56.
Dirkes, Linus P., 74, Army veteran of the Vietnam War,
died March 5, 2015. He was a member of Albert Lea Post
56.
Hendricks, Robert J., 98, Army veteran of World War
II, died April 3, 2015. He was a staff sergeant in Company
H, 382nd Infantry, 96th Division. He was a member of
Stephen Post 390.
Serbus, George “Lonesome George,” 84, Army veteran of the Korean War, died April 5, 2015. He was a member of Hector Post 135.
Strack, Joan, 76, Fourth District President of the
Auxiliary, died April 8, 2015. She was a member of North
End Unit 474.
Shelstad, Bennie H., 90, Army veteran of World War II,
died April 10, 2015. He served as district vice commander
and was a past commander of Kenyon Post 78. He was a
volunteer driver for the VA.
Kranitz, Fred E., 70, veteran of the Vietnam War, died
March 12, 2015. He was a member of Champlin Post 600.
Jessen-Klixbull, Ole, 71, Army and Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War, died April 4, 2015. He was a member of Cold Spring Post 455.
DeBaere, Edward, 82, Navy veteran of the Korean War,
died March 26, 2015. He was a member of Marshall Post
113.
Schmidt, Alan G., 66, Air Force veteran of the Vietnam
War, died March 29, 2015. He was a member of Pequot
Lakes Post 49.
Norman, Roger James, 71, Army veteran of the
Vietnam War, died March 2, 2015. He served in the 2nd
Transportation Company, USARY, as a heavy duty vehicle
driver and sharpshooter. He served in Vietnam. He was a
member of Roseau Post 24.
Schultz, Leon Frank, 88, Navy veteran of World War
II, died March 16, 2015. He served on the USS Walke in the
South Pacific as a gunner’s mate third class. He was a member of Roseau Post 24.
Kreger, Howard G., 97, Army veteran of World War II,
died March 6, 2015. He served in the Signal Corps. He was
a member of Hopkins Post 320.
Anthony, Robert P., 94, Navy veteran of World War II,
died March 22, 2015. He was a member of Hopkins Post
320.
Ess, Corlett J., 89, Navy veteran of World War II, died
April 2, 2015. He was a member of Hopkins Post 320.
Zeller, Leroy H. Sr., 79, Marine Corps veteran of the
Korean War, died March 27, 2015. He was a member of
Hopkins Post 320.
Gere got his photo taken at Matthew Brady’s studio, and
headed back to Minnesota. A month later, he rejoined his
unit at Spanish Fort, Alabama, and told his brother that
there was some trouble at home, which he did not specify in
his journal. His brother advised him to quit and take care of
his “home duties.”
On April 5th, with the war nearly over, Gere mustered
out after three years, two months and 20 days of service. On
his way home, he first learned the news of Lee’s surrender,
and then, days later, of the assassination of Lincoln.
He finally got home to Chatfield on May 15.
“I lay aside the trappings of the ‘grim visage war,’ hang
up my sword to rust on the wall and become a quiet citizen.
‘Never again to dream the dream,
That martial music weaves.’ ”
Gere lived to be 69 years old. He went into the railroad
business in Iowa after the war, first as a surveyer and later
as an executive. He was superintentent of the Chicago, St.
Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railroad, and later was president of the Sioux City and Northern Railroad. He founded
the National Linseed Oil Co.
Gere married Florence Howard in 1868. Their child died
in 1870 and a year later Florence died of tuberculosis. In
1874, Gere married Mary Emma Sheppard, and they had
three children.
He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Page 13
Johns, Harry Edward, 91, Navy veteran of World War
II and the Korean War, died March 31, 2015. He was a
member of Hopkins Post 320.
Noethe, Herman, 84, Army veteran of the Korean War,
died March 20, 2015. He drove a truck in Korea, and was
part of the prisoner exchange. He was a member of New
London Post 537.
Quisberg, Paul, 69, Army veteran of the Vietnam War,
died March 23, 2015. He was a member of New London
Post 537.
Fiene, Roland L., 93, Army veteran of World War II,
died March 20, 2015. He served in the Pacific. He was a
charter member of Wood Lake Post 556.
Grob, Richard L., 92, Army veteran of World War II,
died March 23, 2015. He was a member of Waseca Post
228.
Forsline, William F., Army veteran of the Korean War,
died March 18, 2015. He served in Germany as a radio
operator. He was a member of Chisholm Post 247.
Buley, James, 91, Navy veteran of World War II, died
April 11, 2015. He served on the St. Lo, an escort carrier
that was sunk by a kamikaze attack at the Battle of Leyte.
He was a member of Brainerd Post 255.
Fieler, Edward, 69, Army veteran of the Vietnam War,
died April 11, 2015. He served in the 101st Airborne. He
was a member of Brainerd Post 255.
Shifflett, Norman, 77, Air Force veteran of the Vietnam
War, died April 18, 2015. He retired from the National
Guard. He was a member of Brainerd Post 255.
Garberich, Earl R., 93, Army veteran of World War II,
died March 29, 2015. He was a member of Willmar Post
167.
Hoglund, Richard C., 90, Army Air Corps veteran of
World War II, died March 29, 2015. He was a member of
Willmar Post 167.
Easton, Elwin G., 91, Army veteran of World War II and
the Korean War, died April 7, 2015. He was a member of
Willmar Post 167.
Poppe, Donald R., 88, Air Force veteran of the Korean
War, died April 20, 2015. He served in the Strategic Air
Command as a mechanic. He was a member of Morris Post
29.
Lano, Henry Peter, 82, Army veteran of the Korean
War, died April 4, 2015. He was a member of Chaska Post
57.
Busby, James W., 98, Army veteran of World War II,
died April 10, 2015. He served at Bastogne. He was a member of Dodge Center Post 384.
Fischaber, Tom, 59, Air Force veteran of the Gulf War,
died April 7, 2015. He retired after 23 years as a survival
instructor. He was a member of Eden Valley Post 381.
Hentges, Robert J., 81, Army veteran of the Korean
War, died April 8, 2015. He was a member of Eden Valley
Post 381.
Aschenbrenner, Edwin T., 91, Army veteran of World
War II, died April 9, 2015. He served with the 11th Airborne
Division, 187th Glider Infantry Regiment, Company I.
Simonson, Ethan “Blackie,” 88, Navy veteran of World
War II, died April 5, 2015. He was a member of Wheaton
Post 80.
Correction
Mellema, Harlon Gilbert, 74, Army veteran of the
Vietnam War, died February 9. He was a communication
specialist in Korea in the First Infantry Division. He was a
member of Round Lake Post 461.
Sources:
Journal Kept by Captain
T.P. Gere during the Civil
War. Life in “Uncle Sam’s
Army.” The William B. and
Thomas P. Gere Papers,
Minnesota
Historical
Society collections. The
Journal was originally a
pocket diary written in pencil, but Gere transcribed it
using a typewriter in 1865.
A Scrap of History, by
Thomas P. Gere, The
William B. and Thomas P.
Gere Papers, Minnesota
Historical Society collections. Gere wrote this late in
life for his hometown newspaper, the Chatfield NewsDemocrat.
(This story first appeared
in the Summer and Fall,
2013, editions of Allies, the
newsletter of the Minnesota
Military Historical Society.)
Thomas Gere’s grave at
Arlington
National
Cemetery.
Page 14
The Auxiliary Bulletin
May 2015
No. 15-1
President Chris Ronning
May 2015
Secretary Sandie Deutsch
Department Headquarters, Veterans Service Building, St. Paul, MN 55155
The
President’s
Column
By
Chris Ronning
Here we are, already into May. Where has the year gone?
Only three more months and I will pass the gavel to your
next President.
April was a busy month, not only for me but for all the
Unit members. I hope everyone sent in their annual reports
so we can brag a little to National President Janet about
what we have done for our programs and veterans in
Minnesota.
Now you are probably going to say, there she goes again
about membership. Oh yes, I am not going to quit until we
are at goal or at least close to it. Membership Rallies are
probably over, so now the calling should start to bring in
membership. District Conventions are in full swing and
membership should be brought by every Unit even if it is
just one.
Units should by now have selected their girls state citizen. This is such a great program and I have the honor to
be there again this year. I am proud to say that I will be the
shack lady (Shirt Shack that is) this year. I am so excited,
another adventure in the life of Chris.
I attended the Department Junior Conference, what great
attendance. I want to commend the ladies from the
Stewartville Unit for a job well done. Everyone enjoyed
themselves, Juniors and Seniors alike. If you ever have a
chance to stop at the Stewartville Post, make sure you look
at the beautiful memorial in front of their Post.
I had the honor to conduct the ceremony to bring three
Junior members into the ranks of Senior Auxiliary members. What a great honor that was.
Then onto the installation of the newly elected Honorary
Junior officers. I want to congratulate them and know the
Juniors are in good hands. Our newly elected honorary
Junior Department President for this year is Bryce Soltis
from Waite Park Unit 428 - congratulations again.
Mary Efta retired her granddaughter, outgoing Honorary
Junior Department President Jules Efta. Jules, again thank
you for a great job and best of luck in your future endeavors. Jules will also represent our Juniors as a delegate to the
Junior National Convention in Baltimore.
I attended a banquet in St. Cloud, honoring all the volunteers at the St. Cloud VAMC. These are amazing people
that put so many hours in at the facilities.
Onto Legionville for their annual Spring board meeting.
A lot of work has been done on the new building and I hope
you all have a chance to see it sometime.
Next I was on to North St. Paul for their Spring Fling,
lots of good food and lots of silent auction items. 4th
District Commander Dan and I had a few moments, when I
caught him bidding on my item. Sorry Dan but I went home
with it.
The next day with Erma Redden in tow, we went to the
Wayzata Spring Gala, great time and silent Auction again.
More items to bring home.
Duluth hosted the last Department Rally, seems like we
just had our first one not too long ago. Duluth is one of my
favorite cities.
On April 28th, Erma and I headed to Rochester to their
Mother/Daughter Banquet, and I am proud to announce that
we did not get lost. Note from Secretary Sandie: This is
being submitted before April 28th so we really don’t know if
they got lost or not. If anyone sees two lovely ladies wandering, send them in my direction.
In closing I want to wish all the mothers a happy
Mother’s Day celebration with their family.
There will be many Memorial Day services throughout
our state and I will have the honor to attend the Service at
the Fort Snelling cemetery.
Remembering our loved ones on that day, by visiting
them at their final resting place.
651-224-7634
Bryce Soltice elected
honorary junior president
Jules Efta, Department Honorary Junior President, of the
Argyle Unit 353 called the 52nd annual Department Junior
Conference to order on Saturday, April 11th. Our many
thanks to all of the members of the First District, as well as
the Stewartville Unit 164 who helped to make this a most
successful and fun Conference for our Junior members.
Special thanks to JoEllen Isenberg, 1st District Junior
Activities Chairman, Unit 164 President Wanda Prescher,
Unit 164 Jr. Activities Chairman Myrna Welter and all the
members of the Stewartville Unit and the 1st District who
went way above and beyond to make the weekend very
memorable for our Juniors.
Friday evening, April 10th, was a fun filled night of
“Minute to Win It” games, crafts and snacks for those in
attendance. The next morning it was down to business
when Honorary President Efta called the Conference to
order under her theme: “Juniors Are Gems Serving
Veterans.”
The Credentials committee reported 41 delegates, 6 delegates-at-large, 7 alternates and 3 Junior guests in attendance. Also present were 40 Senior guests.
The session included their business meeting, introduction of special guests, judging of the Junior Poppy craft
entries, awards and the election of the 2015-16 Department
Honorary Junior officers. Chris Ronning, Department
President, Peggy Moon, Department Commander and
Detachment Commander Dennis Henkemeyer spoke to our
Juniors, congratulating them on their involvement in the
programs of the American Legion Auxiliary. A graduation
ceremony was held for three Juniors who turned 18 and are
now Senior members. The three new Senior members are
Kirsi Moody, Kassondra Sage and Amelia Welters.
The Junior Conference is for our Juniors, run by our
Juniors. They serve on the credentials, nominating, resolutions and awards committees. We, as Seniors, need to listen to them and acknowledge their outstanding accomplishments.
The day’s activities culminated with the election of our
2015-16 Department Honorary Junior Officers.
Department President Chris served as the installing officer.
Those elected are:
Honorary President – Bryce Soltis, Waite Park 428
Honorary First Vice President – Kiana Coleman-Woods,
Lino Lakes 566
Honorary Second Vice President – Nya Johnson, Two
Harbors Unit 109
Honorary Treasurer - Johanna Welter, Stewartville 164
Honorary Chaplain –Emily Seipke, Two Harbors 109
Honorary Sergeant-At-Arms – Liv Efta, Argyle Unit 353
Our newly elected Junior Honorary President Bryce
made the following appointments:
Honorary Secretary – Madison Sloves, Minneapolis 1
Honorary Historian – Madison Deschene, Argyle 353
Congratulations to each of you. We wish you every success in the coming year as you assume the leadership of the
approximately 2,594 Junior members in Minnesota under
Bryce’s theme of “Juniors Blossoming The Lives of
Veterans” using a hot pink Geber daisy as her symbol.
Efta was elected Minnesota’s official delegate to the
National Junior Meeting. The National Junior Meeting will
be held in Baltimore, Maryland, in August at the time of the
2015 American Legion Family National Convention. If
there are any other Juniors interested in attending the
National Junior Meeting, please contact the Department
office immediately.
Thank you to the many Seniors who help our Junior
members. Our Juniors have done much to further the programs of the American Legion Auxiliary under your leadership and involvement.
There were six different contests and the entries were all
spectacular. The following are the winning selections.
POPPY CORSAGE
Class 1 1st Place - Lucy Dunaway, Forest Lake Unit 225
Class 2 1st Place – Cami Magnuson
2nd Place – Hailey Dunaway, Forest Lake 225
Class 3 1st Place – Johanna Welter - Stewartville 164
2nd Place –Amelia Welter - Stewartville 164
POPPY HAT
Class 2 1st place –Sydney Borntrager, Trimont Unit 373
2nd Place – Natasha Donnolly, Northrop 522
Class 3 1st Place – Amelia Welter - Stewartville 164
2nd Place – Johanna Welter - Stewartville 164
POPPY JEWELRY/ACCESSORIES
Class 2 1st Place – Emily Suess - Monticello 260
2nd Place – Kiana Coleman-Woods-Lino Lakes
Unit 566
Class 3 1st Place 1st Place – Johanna Welter Stewartville 164
POPPY CENTERPIECE
Class 1 1st Place - Lauren Blatman
2nd Place – Bailey Anderson
Class 2 1st Place – Kimberly Johnson
2nd Place – Emily Rudolph
Class 3 1st Place -Amelia Welter - Stewartville 164
2nd Place – Johanna Welter - Stewartville 164
POPPY DONATION CONTAINER
Class 1 1st Place – No Entry
Class 2 1st Place – Kylie Swanson
2nd Place – Emily Suess - Monticello 260
Class 3 1st Place-Johanna Welter - Stewartville 164
POPPY SCRAPBOOK
1st Place- Warren Unit 27
2nd Place- Trimont Unit 378
Department Honorary Junior President Jules’ special
project this year was to make activity bags for the children
of veterans to use while their parents are at appointment at
VA Medical Facilities, including CBOCs, throughout
Minnesota and western North Dakota. Almost 500 activity
bags were made and distributed and $944.00 has been
donated to date.
Thank you to all the Units that provided funds in support
of Jules’ Department Honorary Junior President’s Project.
JUNIOR PRESIDENT’S PROJECT
I am going to start out my “corner” by saying hi to a dear
friend of mine. He says he reads my notes every month HI VRZY. (We will see if he really does read this.)
Annual Reports seemed to have been well received, we
have them sorted and out to the District Chairman for consolidation. I have also received many Department Award
entries - good luck to all.
I am working hard on both Girls State and Department
Convention. Please plan on joining us at Jackpot Junction
for the Convention. I promise you will have a good time
and learn many new things about what we do and who we
are. President Chris always has a few surprises up her
sleeve. Jean Forbord is working hard on the Musical
Extravaganza and that always is a good time.
The annual Leadership Conference is being held in
Indianapolis the first weekend in May. It is run by the
incoming National President (if elected) and her chairmen.
I will have to miss this one - have to help our son and future
daughter-in-law plan their wedding. Another trip to Texas darn it anyway.
SECRETARY SANDIE’S CORNER
Governor Mark Dayton has proclaimed May as Poppy
Month. Have you organized your Poppy distribution? We
hope all Units are planning to place special emphasis on our
Poppy program during May, educating the public on the
meaning and purpose of the Poppy, and to actively participate in Poppy Day.
If your Unit has not ordered its 2015 Poppies, there is
still time. We continue shipping the small Poppies as soon
as they are received from the veterans who make them.
Thank you all for participating in this very important
program of the American Legion Auxiliary.
POPPIES
The 96th annual Department Convention will be held at
the Jackpot Junction Casino/Hotel on July 16-18, 2015.
The Convention is being hosted by the Redwood Falls
American Legion 38 Family. All Auxiliary sessions will be
DEPARTMENT CONVENTION
Auxiliary Bulletin
Continued from Preceding Page
held at Jackpot Junction.
Will your Unit be represented? A pre-registration form
is available in this issue of the Minnesota Legionnaire.
District caucuses will be held at 8 a.m. on Thursday. The
parade will be held on Friday evening at 7 p.m. in Redwood
Falls. A complete program will be printed in the Minnesota
Legionnaire prior to convention time.
There will be two Poppy Contest this year - they are as
follows:
Butterfly Garden Basket
This basket will be made utilizing poppies, greenery, ribbon, and butterflies using Department President
Chris’ theme “Our Veterans – Past, Present, and Future”.
Small or large poppies may be used but remember to
remove the white tags.
Bouquet in a Vase
The bouquet will be made with small or large poppies
using a patriotic theme. Remember to remove the white
tags. Other silk flowers, greenery, and ribbons may be used
but remember the emphasis is on the Poppy. Please be sure
to put the bouquet in a vase of some kind.
Please be sure and bring all of your creations.
They are always so beautiful.
The 2015 session of ALA Minnesota Girls State will be
held June 7-12 at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.
All Girls State registration materials (enrollment card,
information sheet, pledge and Capitol Day t-shirt order
form) are due into the Department Office by May 1st. As
of this writing 360 young women will have the experience
of learning about Minnesota government by “doing”. St.
Thomas will again be our venue for us this year and we are
looking forward to many new, exciting events.
About the middle of May each ALA Minnesota Girls
State citizen will receive her packet of information from the
Department. If your citizen has not received her packet by
May 22nd contact the Department Office immediately.
Do keep in touch with your ALA Minnesota Girls State citizen to answer any questions she may have prior to her
coming to St. Thomas on June 7. All ALA Minnesota Girls
State citizens are to be at the University of St. Thomas prior
to the opening session at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 7.
Special District ALA Minnesota Girls State buses have
being arranged by several Districts. Check your District
bulletin or contact your District ALA Minnesota Girls State
Chairman for details.
GIRLS STATE
Baltimore, Maryland, is the site for our 2015 National
Convention. Delegates and alternates will be elected at
your District Convention. Each District’s representation is
based on the District’s 2015 membership as of July 28th.
In order to ensure its full delegate strength at the
Convention, we ask that if you are nominated as a delegate
or alternate and are not planning to attend, you withdraw
your name from consideration. Information will be sent to
each delegate and alternate as soon as it becomes available.
Our National Convention will be held August 28September 2, 2015.
mnala.org. You can fill it out and email it to the Department
Office.
We are asking for the names/addresses of your Unit
President, Secretary, Treasurer and Membership Chairman
for the 2015-16 year. Be certain the address for each officer is her current address.
OPAL STOKES
JOAN STRACK
Thank you for all the prayers, emails, cards, letters, and
phone calls as I have been fighting this battle with cancer. I
am recuperating well after the second surgery, and things
are looking positive. I feel so blessed to be a part of our
wonderful American Legion Family. God bless each of you.
Lori Skallerud
National Northwest Division Vice President
Poppy Program
Poppy Days have become a
familiar tradition in almost every
American
community.
The
American Legion adopted the red
poppy as the national memorial
flower on September 29, 1920 and
in October that year so did the
Auxiliary of The American Legion.
In connection with the developing
of the Poppy industry in Minnesota,
is Mrs. O.A. Clark of Minneapolis
who without salary, gave practically
her whole time during the winter of
1922 to teaching the making of the
MARY KUPERNUS
Poppies to the patients and preparing them for shipment. The Poppy Program was made one
of our national programs in 1924.
Connecting the visual image of the poppy with the sacrifice of service made by our veterans has been an important goal of the American Legion Auxiliary Poppy Program
since its inception in 1921. Millions of red crepe paper poppies are distributed across the country in exchange for donations that go directly to assist disabled and hospitalized veterans in our communities.
Junior leadership puts the squeeze on newly elected
Honorary President Bryce Soltice.
4,000 HOURS -- American Legion Auxiliary Hospital
Home Representative Janet Benson receiving her
4000 hour certificate from the St. Cloud VAMC.
President Chris Ronning was present at the Annual
Recognition Dinner as well.
s Worker’s Compensation
s Social Security Disability
s VA Disability Appeals
Antonio Tejeda Guzman
Attorney at Law
A Veteran serving Veterans
320-262-3669
877-544-3164
214 4th St. SW, Willmar
www.tejeda-guzman.com
UNIT MAILING
Thank You
Page 15
IN MEMORIUM
The last Unit mailing of this Auxiliary year has been sent
out. Though annual reports have been sent in there are still
three months left of activities and programs in this year of
“Veterans - Past, Present and Future.”
Included in this last mailing were two delegate and two
alternate cards for our Department Convention as well as a
chart to help you determine your Unit’s delegate strength
based on your Unit’s membership 30 days prior to the convention. (June 16) Additional cards are available upon
request.
2015-2016 OFFICERS’ LISTS
It is with great sadness to report the passing of our 19881989 Department President Opal Stokes in April of this
year. Opal was a very active member in the Auxiliary holding just about every program chairmanship there is and was
a mentor to all, especially her Monticello Unit 260. She
will be missed by all.
Also, we lost our 4th District President Joan Strack in the
month of April. Joanie was the 4th District President in
2002-2003 as well. All of us send our sympathies and
prayers to the families of both of these wonderful ladies.
Rest in peace and thank you for your dedication and contributions to our organization.
NATIONAL CONVENTION
How time flies. All Units will soon be electing their
2015-16 officers. As soon as they are elected, please complete the form (two copies) sent to each Unit in the last Unit
mailing. One copy should be returned to the Department
Office as soon as possible. The other copy is for your
District President-Elect. The due date for this information
is June 12, earlier if possible. This form is not the same one
your Unit sent in for the 2016 direct billing last winter. We
will send your 2016 membership supplies and cards to your
2015-16 Membership Chairman, as per the information you
send in now. This form can also be found on our website,
May 2015
Outgoing Honorary Junior President Jules Efta swears
in newly elected President Bryce Soltice.
April 25, 2015, Auxiliary Membership
Page 16
May 2015
Funeral Plans for Veterans
Purple Cross has been serving America’s Veterans
since 1948 and continues to offer the best funeral
plans available. With Funeral Pre-planning – you:
l Protect your burial funds from nursing home expenses.
l Protect your family from financial burden in time of grief.
l Gain peace of mind by knowing your funeral is taken care of.
Yes, I would like to know more about:
o Traditional Funeral Cost o Cremation Cost
o Payment Plan Options o Discount Plans
For a free
Funeral Pre-planning Cost Analysis &
Consultation, & Review of New Veterans Benefits:
Please return this coupon to Purple Cross, 15116 Manitou Rd
NE, Prior Lake, MN 55372 or call Jerry Albrecht at 952-2266393. Absolutely no obligation!
Name:__________________________________________
Address:_________________________________________
City/State:________________________________________
Phone:_______________Birth Date___________________
Reverse
Mortgages
Call for a free consumer
guide and personal quote.
-- Must be 62 or older.
-- Never make a monthly
mortgage payment again.
-- Receive a lump sum of
cash, credit line or monthly
payments.
-- See how much you
could qualify for today.
NMLS ID #283509
Let a retired active duty
veteran you can trust
show you how you may
benefit from a Reverse
Mortgage.
Mike Kraus
Serving MN and WI
7365 Kirkwood Court North, Suite 300
Maple Grove, MN 55369
763-355-8540
[email protected]
Independent Rural Living
Senior apartments for elderly and those with
disabilities. Safe, convenient, comfortable, and
affordable rural living in Southeast Minnesota.
Also available:
Housing with
Services,
Nursing Home,
Subsidized
Rent,
Homemaker
services
Samantha 507-864-7714
or www.goodshep-rushford.org
Contact:
Tired of
trooping out
to the mailbox?
You can get
your
Minnesota
Legionnaire
on line.
Go to:
mnlegion.org
Click on:
Legionnaire
Publications
Licensed, bonded, insured

May - American Legion

Transcription

Similar documents

Untitled - Department of California Military Order of the Purple Heart

VBOC FINAL - VetBizCentral

Tahoma National - Saluting Branches

VA Hospital

Sunday, October 20, 2013 3:00 P.m.

Event Invitation/Agenda

10th Anniversary Quilt

Sample Soulard Sunday set for June 12

professional application - Onteora Central School District

Veterans Memorials Bus Trip