April
2008 NEWSLETTER
PLACE: THE SIZZLER,
1401 N. HARBOR BLVD.
Frank Mickadeit has worked for newspapers his entire life. If you read the Orange County Register, you probably have read his column. He has been with the Register since 1987 and his daily column has appeared since August 2004. He covers a wide range of topics from dealing with relatives in their senior years, land encroachments on the public beach in Newport Beach, and OC trials and politics, always good material to write about.
Nomination of Officers for 2008-2009. It seems early but we are right on schedule. Elections are in May and installation in June. If you are interested for any elected or appointed position, see the list on the left margin of this Newsletter, contact Ed Paul at (714) 871-2412.
Chaplain’s Message
to the Members:
“Don’t
worry about having enough food or drink or clothing. Our heavenly Father already
knows all your needs, and He will give you all you need from day to day if you
live for Him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.” (Mathew 6:31-33
NLT) If we can be of service to
you, please give us a call.
Jim Howland and Hal Dixon
Commander’s Corner:
Our March meeting was terrific.
Our speaker updated us on the Ireland of today.
Their economy is booming and there is a tentative peace.
Remarkable! Jeff and I
attended the Law and Order dinner hosted by the 29th District.
Our City Fire Chaplain, Fernando Villicana, was chosen as the local
winner and will go on to compete at the Area and maybe State level in the Fire
Community Service award category.
We will not be participating in FACES of Fullerton this year.
They are undergoing a transition and so we’ll look at it again next year.
The Fullerton students for Boys and Girls State and Youth Environmental
Conference are busy planning for these events.
The next thing on the Post schedule is Railroad Days, May 3/4.
We will send around a sign up sheet at the April meeting.
If you will not be attending but want to man the booth for a short time,
call me and I’ll pen you in for the time that fits you.
The Post election is coming up soon.
I want to take this opportunity to tell you that it has been an honor to
work with you and for you as the commander.
Thank you for your support.
If you would like to hold a position in the Post, please call Ed Paul.
He is acting as the election committee.
Thank you also to the Post officers for your hard work and dedication to
the Post and the community. There
isn’t another Post like us anywhere.
You all are the best!! May
brings the school award ceremonies and the summer events.
Don’t forget Memorial Day.
We need volunteers to help coordinate the community volunteers getting out the
flags and crosses, and then getting them put away.
Contact Ed Paul for the
details. Take care, and I hope to
see you at one of the meetings.
This month we
transferred Fred Cantrell and
John Murphy to
Post Everlasting.
Please jot this
number down in case someone you know needs it. 800-342-9647 or
www.militaryonesource.com.
It is the number that all active service members can call
24/7 for help of all kinds. Their
slogan is “You name it. We can
help.”
Upcoming Events:
The officer’s meeting is always the Wednesday prior to the Post meeting
and the Post meetings are always on the second Tuesday.
The next few monthly meetings are:
May 13, June 10th and July 8th.
Please mark your calendars.
Membership rosters
are available for a small charge to cover reproduction.
Call Richard Wakefield. We
can send one in the mail for those unable to make it to the meetings or he can
email the roster to you at no charge.
Just as a reminder, the rosters are for personal use only and should be
destroyed when they are too old to be reliable.
Hospital/Rehabilitation Program.
Please continue to bring things to the meetings or call me
(Marilyn) or
Mike/Pat Hyland (996-8743) to
coordinate a home pick up. For more information about this unique project
sponsored by Cloudbreak Development, UC & United States Veterans Initiative,
Inc. (a 501(c)(3) organization), call (562) 499-6717 or visit their web site at
www.usvetsinc.org.
To request your
DD-214, go to the National Archives and Records Administration at
http://www.archives.gov/veterans/evetrecs/.
Follow the instructions. You
can also get assistance from the Veteran
Service Office.
(714) 567-7450
Important Dates:
April 1,
April Fools Day; April 2,
Officer Meeting at Marilyn’s; April
6, Army Day; April 8, Post Meeting;
April 9, National Former POW Recognition Day; April 15, Income Tax Day;
April 20, Passover; April 22, Earth Day; April 23, Administrative Professionals
Day; April 25, National Arbor Day; April 27, Orthodox Easter.
Memory Lane Dates:
March 26, Battle of
Komandorskis (1943), Groundbreaking of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (1982);
March 31, Operation Uphold Democracy
Ended (1995).
April 1, Invasion of Okinawa Began
(1945), Operation Pegasus Began (1968);
April 2, Siege of Petersburg ends (1865), India-Burma Campaign begins
(1942); April 4, North Apennines
Campaign ends (1945), North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Established
(1949); April 5, Po Valley Campaign
opens; last campaign in Italy (1945), Operation Rugged Began (1951);
April 6, Battle of Shiloh begins
(1862), US Entered WWI (1917), Operation Linebacker (1972), Operation Provide
Comfort Began (1991); April 7,
Battle of Shiloh ends (1862); April 8,
Siege of An Loc Began (1972); April 9,
General Robert E. Lee surrenders at Appomattox Courthouse (1865), Germany
Invades Norway and Denmark (1940), Bataan Falls (1942), Special Forces becomes
separate branch of the Army (1987);
April 9/10, Bataan Death March/US Forces on Bataan, Philippines surrenders
(1942), Operation Provide Comfort (Northern Iraq and Turkey) Began (1991);
April 10, Battle for Lang Vei Began
(1968); April 11, US Began
Neutrality Patrols in the Atlantic (1941), Persian Gulf War/Operation Desert
Storm Official Cease Fire (1991); April
12, Civil War Began/Rebel Forces fire on Fort Sumter (1861), Roosevelt Dies;
Truman Becomes President (1945), Operation Eagle Pull (1975), Army Aviation
Branch established (1983); April 16,
Women’s Medical Specialist Corps Established (1947), Battle of Pork Chop Hill
Began (1953); April 17, Battle of
Cerro Gordo (1847); April 18,
Doolittle Raid on Tokyo (1942); April 19,
Battle of Lexington and Concord (1775), Operation Delaware Began (1968);
April 20, Operation Little Switch
Began (1953); April 22, US Forces
Land at Hollandia (1944); April 24,
Battle of the Hills Began (1967); April
25, Spanish-American War Began (1898);
April 26, Black Hawk War begins
(1832); April 28, Occupation of
Japan ends (1952), US Forces invade Dominican Republic (Operation Power Pack)
(1965); April 29, German
Unconditional Surrender to Italian Allies (1945), US Forces invade Cambodia
(1970), US Forces Evacuated Vietnam/Operation Frequent Wind (1975);
April 30, Battle of Chancellorsville
begins (1863), Hitler Commits Suicide (1945).
Notes from March
meeting
Guest speaker was
Finbar Hill, Hon. Consul of Ireland,
Chief of Protocol, Los Angeles Consular Corps for Los Angeles and Orange
Counties. The new post was created by the Irish Government to foster relations
between Ireland and Federal, State and Local Authorities in the region, as well
as assisting in the further economic, social and educational relationships
between Ireland and the US. Finbar
is a native of Cork in Ireland, lives with his wife Carmel in Orange County.
He discussed the
history of Ireland from the time St. Patrick brought Christianity in 432 AD.
It became the land of Saints and Scholars.
There are nine Nobel Laureates.
The Great Famine of the 1840’s caused the population to drop from 8 to 4
million through death, starvation and emigration.
40 million people claim Irish heritage, it quadruples on St. Patrick’s
Day. He thanked the efforts of Sen.
George Mitchell whose initial mission was to resolve the conflict in 3-6 months
but stayed for 5 ½ years.
Since a resolution of the North – South civil conflict,
Ireland today has a vibrant diverse economy with 130 major companies from
California having offices there and the highest minimum wage in Europe.
However, there are still some bad feelings that have continued from the
past; you don’t wear green in the
North or orange in the South.
Minutes for the
February meeting and financial report were reviewed and approved as presented.
Commander Harris reported on
upcoming activities; RR days on May 3, 4, and Memorial Day later that month.
We will not be participating in Faces of Fullerton this year.
The National Commander is concerned about declining membership.
Chaplain Jim Howland gave us
an update on members not able to be with us.
Service Officer Mike
Hyland
reported on a new 5 year VA program to provide health care.
It includes Reserves and National Guard that served in a combat theater.
Dental is also available for 180 days.
Commander Harris
announced this was the first announcement of nomination of officers for
2008-2009. We will have a second
announcement in April. In May, we
will hold elections and installation in June.
Positions available are Commander, 1st, 2nd and 3rd
Vice Commanders, Finance Officer, Chaplain, Sgt. at Arms and 3 Executive Board.
If any of these positions, or one of the appointed positions are of
interest, please contact Ed Paul at
(714) 871-2412. For a complete
list, see the left margin of page 1 of this Newsletter. No prior experience
necessary.