Legionnaires set teleconferencing precedent nearly eighty ... · make suits and prom dresses, and...

The Department sweepstakes drawing will take place Friday, July 10, 2020 at 2 p.m. It will be streamed live on The American Legion Department of Indiana’s Facebook page.

IN THIS ISSUE

Not since 1942, during World War II, has the American Le-gion National Convention been

impacted so greatly by world events. The May 1942 headline in Hoosier Le-gionnaire reads: “Wartime Conditions Restrict Attendance for Coming Event to Approximately 400 Persons.”

An abbreviated convention was held September 19 to 21 in Indianapolis, with only ten percent of the usual dele-gates attending. The convention, which was to be held in New Orleans, was moved inland by The War Department who advised against “the concentration of a large number of Legionnaires and Auxiliaries in any embarkation port.”

In the fall of 1942, the national American Legion conducted the roll call by telegraph, and post adjutants were asked to “transmit all member cards to the State Headquarters very promptly.” That action nearly eighty years ago, before teleconferencing existed, creates a precedent for today’s environment when nationwide, Ameri-can’s have been ordered to shelter-in-place.

It was teleconferencing that al-lowed American Legion Department of Indiana Commander Allen Connelly to virtually meet with his advisory com-mittee and record an electronic vote by the Department Executive Committee (DEC) to cancel Indiana’s 102nd An-nual Convention. “It’s very unfortunate that we had to cancel our department convention due to the COVID-19 pan-demic, but the health of our members

is our top priority. At the American Legion Department of Indiana, “We Change Lives,” but by canceling our convention, we might just save lives. I want to thank our DEC for their dif-ficult decision on Resolution 2020E01. Their decision was not easy, and their effort to save lives does not go unap-preciated,” a statement from Com-

mander Connelly said.When The American Legion na-

tional executive committee passed Resolution No.: 3 unanimously can-celing the 2020 National Convention, it recommended that all Departments follow a similar course of action. Past National Commander James Koutz says “It’s something we needed to do

with everything going on today. We at the American Legion don’t want to see anyone get sick, so it’s best that we cancel the department convention until this all blows over.”

The national resolution also recom-mends that departments cancel their

Legionnaires set teleconferencing precedent nearly eighty years ago.

Courtesy photo

Department Veterans Service Office reorganizes for improved service • see page 4

Angola Legion named after fallen Marine • see page 9

See page 3

Legionnaires make masks for veterans during pandemicBy Josh Marshall

American Legion Department of In-diana 9th District Commander Jerry Melton and his wife Mary Lou are sew-ing masks, lots of masks, to help vet-erans. Together, they have sewn more than five-hundred masks that are being donated to local veterans in eight county nursing homes.

The idea to make masks and do-nate them came to mind when they realized they had contacts within the nursing homes and local health depart-ment. Those contacts were made by the Melton’s through years of volunteering to provide Christmas gifts to the veterans

in the nursing homes. Mary Lou estimates that they’ve do-

nated half of the five-hundred masks so far. Holding back tears, Mary Lou ex-plains it’s important to them “Because my husband is a veteran and these guys deserve it. And most of them are our age or in the general vicinity, and he learned to sew when he was a kid, and I learned to sew when I was a kid and I loved to make suits and prom dresses, and he’s always helped the guys sew on their

patches on their vests. …It’s not hard to make these masks at all, it’s basic mea-suring, cutting, stitching. The only thing that’s complicated is getting the pleats in the masks after they’re done, and we’re making a difference.”

The Melton’s are assisted by their daughter who’s an Auxiliary member, and their granddaughter who’s a junior member.

Mary Lou said the advice she would give others is to “Hang on, we’ll make it

through this. We are a family. …Jerry’s been doing buddy checks and reach-ing out to shut-ins and that has been well received. They appreciate you giv-ing them a call and checking on them. We’ve had positive responses from the buddy checks. Everyone needs to be their brothers neighbor and family and look out for each other. I hope we can save one person.” Tearing up again, she adds “What could be greater than help-ing to save somebody’s life.”

Jerry and Mary Lou Melton sew masks to donate to veterans in nursing homes. The Melton’s have sewn over five-hundred masks since the pandemic started.

2 HOOSIER LEGIONNAIRE 2nd Quarter 2020 Twitter @IndyLegion

Greetings Legionnaires, from your Department Head-quarters at Historic Fort Benja-min Harrison in Lawrence, Ind. This past quarter has been his-toric to say the least. First I want to wish you all a healthy, safe and healing summer season. We’ve lost many Legionnaires to this virus that has touched and changed so many of our lives. We mourn them as veter-ans, as Legionnaires and as pil-lars of our communities. Keep them in your thoughts as we be-gin to rebuild our economy.

Your Department Head-quarters has also been greatly effected by COVID-19. With

the safety of our membership in mind, Spring Conference, Department Convention and National Convention have been cancelled. National Resolution #3 maintains all national offi-cers in place for the next mem-bership year. Department Reso-lution 2020E01 effectively does the same thing for department officers.

Simply put, our elected de-partment officers will remain in place for the next year. While this is unprecedented in the 102 years of the organization, this gives those officers an opportu-nity to finish a complete mem-bership year, as the current year was suddenly interrupted by the shutdown.

Resolution 2020E01 also recommends to the district and posts to follow suit and keep the current officers in place for the next membership year.

Regardless the shutdown, your department officers and

district commanders have re-mained busy. The Department Service Office mission has not slowed. Your Department Ser-vice Officers, located in the Federal Building, Downtown Indianapolis, currently repre-sent more than 63,000 of the 87,500 service-connected dis-abled veterans in the State of In-diana. These officers represent our veterans as they navigate the sometimes complicated and bureaucratic VA system to gain the benefits each former service member are entitled to. On av-erage, a veteran will gain 40% more benefits by working with our service officers. This ser-vice is made possible by dues paying Legionnaires like you.

Additionally, more than 25 youth scholarships have been awarded in the areas of Americanism & Government, Flag Etiquette, Oratorical and The American Legion Family Scholarship.

Financial Aid programs are continuing to provide grants through Child Education & Welfare (CEWF), the Indiana Veterans Emergency Transition System (IVETS), Temporary Financial Assistance (TFA), and more. In fact, the wait times to deliver aid and recompense posts have been reduced from an average of one week to just 48 hours.

These are just examples of how regardless of the shut-down, your membership helps to continue to serve American. Thank you all for your member-ship and for your service.

At the time of this writing, Fall Conference will be con-ducted as planned, scheduled Thursday, October 1 through Sunday, October 4 at the Mar-riott East Hotel in Indianapolis. Stay posted to www.indianale-gion.org for updates.

Your Department Headquar-ters continues to answer phone

calls and email inquiries. The staff will be back to full time on Monday, July 5. In the mean-time, Headquarters is operating on a reduced staff. The doors will be open to the public on Monday, June 15.

Finally, the Department’s Legacy Foundation, our De-partment Commander Allen Connelly’s personal project this year, has received more than $75,000 from our member-ship to date. This foundation is critical to the successful future of this organization as it is de-signed to perpetuate the aims and purposes of The American Legion regardless of member-ship per capita. Investing in the Legacy Foundation ensures the values and traditions of The American Legion are projected well into the future for those veterans that come after us. Learn more about the Legacy Foundation at www.indianale-gion.org/legacyfoundation.

Greetings to all of my fel-low Legionnaires and the entire American Legion Family.

This column is normally de-voted, in large part, to the ac-tivities and accomplishments of the Legion over the past few months and a look ahead at future events. As I write this May 7, 2020, I think you will all agree that we are not in nor-mal times as COVID-19 has changed everything.

The national organization’s response to this pandemic was the National Executive Com-mittee unanimously passing Resolution No. 3. This reso-lution cancelled the National Convention, directed that all nationally elected and appoint-ed officers continue serving in their current positions until the close of the next National Convention in Phoenix, Au-gust 27 through September 2, 2021. In addition, all national commission and/or committee chairpersons and the current commission and committee members continue serving un-til they resign or are either re-assigned or reappointed at the 2021 Fall Meetings October 12-15, 2021. Finally, the NEC strongly urged that all Ameri-can Legion Departments follow a similar course of action, to-wit (1) cancel their 2020 con-

ventions and elections; and (2) maintain the status quo of their officers until next year.

In response to the national resolution, I convened a tele-conference meeting of the Commander’s Advisory Com-mittee. After discussion it was the committee’s opinion that we needed to follow the nation-al directive. An electronic vote of the Department Executive Committee followed this meet-ing and led to the adoption of Resolution 2020E01 with near unanimous support.

What does this all mean? In short, the department conven-tion was cancelled, all depart-ment elected and appointed of-ficers will continue to serve in their current positions until the 2021 Department Convention, and all department commission and or committee chairpersons and the current commission and committee members con-tinue serving in their current positions until they resign or are reassigned or reappointed at the 2021 Department Conven-tion.

We are in the early days of Stage 2 of Governor Holcomb’s plan to combat COVID-19, and affect a return to normal. I will not go into the details of the 5 stage plan here. I would, how-ever, note that the plan is pref-aced by the statement that local governments may impose more restrictive guidelines. You can find a detailed copy of the plan at indianalegion.org. Keep in mind that this is a living docu-ment and may change as condi-tions warrant.

Many, many Legion compe-

titions and events have had to be canceled due to COVID-19. In addition to Spring Confer-ence, the National Command-er’s visit, and the Department Convention, nearly all of our youth programs, to include Ju-nior Shooting Sports Tourna-ment, Legion Baseball, Boys State, etc. have been canceled. The state golf tournament has been rescheduled for August. We have mailed winners of those programs who would have been honored at depart-ment convention their awards.

Legion birthday celebra-tions, district meetings, and post meetings are a few of the additional casualties.

At the National level, they have cancelled pretty much everything until October, to include Spring Meetings and National Convention, and all youth programs. All National travel was also suspended until October 1.

Looking back, Mid-Winter Conference is in the books and I thought it went well. Chaplain Keirn and his men conducted an impressive Four Chaplains Ceremony at the General Ses-sion. We were honored to have National Vice-Commander Richard Heigert with us for the weekend. Much information was shared at committee meet-ings throughout the day Sat-urday. A team from Tennyson Post 463 in the Eight District won the Friday evening Corn Hole Tournament. A good time was had at the Saturday eve-ning party and dance.

Scheduling of committee meetings is always a challenge.

I have instructed our adjutant to publish a tentative agenda two weeks prior to conference or convention, listen to requests for changes and honor all he can. A final official agenda will then be published four days prior to the beginning of con-ference or convention.

I believe everyone had a great time on the Lincoln Pil-grimage. The trip home was quite an adventure. We wit-nessed quite a few slide-offs, but thankfully we were all able to get back to Indianapolis safe-ly. A big thank you to Post 97 and Post 241 for providing their vans and drivers for the trip.

The Department Oratorical Contest, held March 1, was an-other outstanding competition.

The Washington Confer-ence was, as always, an excel-lent time. I think everyone had productive meetings with their Congressmen and Senators. It was our honor to have 2019 Boys State Governor and Sam-sung Scholarship winner Ethan Roos and his mother accom-pany us.

I remain cautiously optimis-tic that we will reach our mem-bership goal. We have over 150 posts that have reached 100% of goal. Congratulations to the tenth district for surpass-ing 100%. Great job, Com-mander Patterson and Member-ship Chairman Clark. Close of Books at IVH had to be can-celed. June 28, 29, and 30th, will be the close of books date and it will be a drive through at Department Headquarters with no social event. More de-tails on the COB procedures

and times will be distributed soon. It is very important that the posts work their green bars and reach out to those who have not yet renewed and make sure they are okay.

The Legacy Foundation will be the commander’s proj-ect again next year. We have received official notice from the IRS that we have been ap-proved as a Public Charity! Our donations currently stand at over $70,000. Those who have made a donation, I cannot thank you enough. I would ask everyone to consider contrib-uting to this very worthwhile cause. It really is an investment in the future of our organization and the programs we conduct. All donors of $1,000 or more during my command years will have their names placed on a plaque to be permanently displayed at Department Head-quarters. I will also personally present those donors with a cer-tificate of appreciation.

To keep up to date with all that is happening, remember to go to the department website at www.indianalegion.org.

I am looking forward to things opening back up and be-ing able to get back on the road and visiting all of you. Until then, stay safe, stay healthy!

In closing, I want to tell all of you how truly proud I am to be able to call myself a Le-gionnaire when I see and read about all the ways that posts and members around the state are reaching out to help their communities get through these difficult times. We really do Change Lives!

This certainly wasn’t the way we expected to end our year. It doesn’t matter how hard we work to put together a schedule of events, something unplanned can change that. We

pause, we reflect, and decide what is best to proceed.

It’s been tough not being able to meet with everyone this spring and complete unfinished business. There are so many things left in limbo. It’s been difficult to move on due to not knowing when we could con-tinue with what we started. We won’t know the loss that we’ve had this year until we all start meeting again and we share our stories of what has hap-

pened these last two months. I hope we have many good sto-ries to share also.

Your American Legion Fam-ily thought we would complete our obligations for 2020 and move on to whatever was in our future plans for 2021. Then came the big surprise to all of us that this year’s slate of lead-ers wasn’t going out of office. I know there were major plans made for some, and yes, we are going to be a year older when

we go out of office. But since we didn’t get to finalize our as-signments this year, we have been given the opportunity to achieve even more next year.

As we start to open up the Department Headquarters in a few weeks and continue work-ing on next year’s schedules, I’m confident our plans will come together to finish the un-finished business with amaz-ing results. We have an amaz-ing Department and will work

through the decisions we had

already made and the new ones

we need to make for 2021.

We may have been separated

by this virus, but we are still

working as one great organiza-

tion for the betterment of our

state, country, and nation.

Everyone stay safe and keep

healthy. We want to see you all

again soon.

Leading Hoosier Legionnaire Letters

Greetings fellow Indiana Sons of The American Legion

and American Legion family members,

We have had a busy first six months. You have worked hard on membership, and it is start-ing to show. We are presently sitting at 68.62% and ahead of last year’s membership at this time, and it’s thanks to YOUR hard work. I have visited all

11 Districts, and everyone has been so helpful. We just had our Christmas bingo at the Indiana Veteran’s Home. We had a full house, and all the players were glad to see us and very excited to know that we will be starting soon on the renovation of the Audito-rium. We have collected about

$24,000.00 to date. We have also got donations for CWF, SIN, and other programs. I am looking forward to starting my second round of visitations. We are getting fired up for the Lincoln Pilgrimage and Wash-ington trips coming up in the next couple of months. It is my honor to be your Commander

and represent all the members of the Detachment of Indiana. “Always remember, Never for-get,” is my slogan. Again I’m looking forward to seeing and working with all of you the rest of the year. Please keep our men and women in harm’s way in your thoughts and prayers. Commander Jimmy Martin

HOOSIER LEGIONNAIRE 2nd Quarter 2020 Facebook.com/IndianaLegion 3

2020 conventions and elec-tions, and to maintain the status quo of their officers until next year. Commander Connelly says “At the recom-mendation from the National Headquarters Resolution No.: 3, I accept the responsibility of leading the Department through this unprecedented time and I look forward to

gathering again soon, when appropriate.”

Allowing officers to remain elected for an additional year is unprecedented, however PNC Koutz says that it makes sense. “This year the officers didn’t have a chance to finish their year” due to the can-celation of convention and elections, and now, this gives those officers the ability to finish out their year not under quarantine.

With nothing officially scheduled for the foreseeable future, now is the perfect time to conduct buddy checks. Commander Connelly and PNC Koutz both say the best thing we can do right now is our Buddy Checks. While we’re sitting at home, we can call veterans and members that are both current and expired, to see if we can help them in any way.

Thank you for being a mem-ber of The American Legion Department of Indiana. If you are a volunteer in our organi-zation, thank you for the gift of your time and efforts which make such a difference in the lives of our fellow veterans and children within our communi-ties. If you have not yet volun-teered, please consider doing so – it is a truly rewarding experi-ence with many benefits includ-ing comradery with your fellow veterans. I have been extremely impressed by the spirit of ser-vice embodied by our member-ship volunteers throughout the Department of Indiana as I’ve traveled our great state through-out our membership year. I have no doubt that as a team working together we can increase our membership across the Depart-ment of Indiana by focusing on recruiting new members, re-taining existing members, and

transferring at-large members from the national organization’s membership strength (Post 777 via the Direct Mail Solicitation program) into our local posts.

I’d like to take this oppor-tunity to congratulate the 10th District for exceeding 100% of their assigned membership goal for this year. Congratulations and thank you to 10th District Commander Ron Patterson, 10th District Membership Chair

Roger Clark, and all of the vol-unteer leaders of the 10th Dis-trict for this outstanding mem-bership achievement!

Congratulations to the 152 American Legion Posts through-out the Department of Indiana that, as of May 3rd, had ex-ceeded 100% of their assigned membership goal and continue

to transmit membership cards to our department headquarters. Congratulations and thank you to all of our Post Command-ers, Post Adjutants, Post Mem-bership Chairs and member-ship volunteers in each of these 100% American Legion Posts!

A lot has changed since my last update, the National Ex-ecutive Committee has passed Resolution #3 cancelling all national functions until October

1st including the National Con-vention. The Department Ex-ecutive Committee has passed Resolution 2020E01 cancelling the Department Convention and numerous programs. As a re-sult, Operation Full Court Press is now cancelled and we will not hold a Close of Books social gathering at the Indiana Vet-erans Home or anywhere else. We will now conduct Operation Full Court Press in the Spring of 2021.

Newly revised Close of Books procedures have been mailed to all posts. In response to the National organization’s decision to delay their final target dates, we have decided to delay the date for Close of Books until Tuesday, June 30th. District Commanders will travel to the Department Headquarters on Sunday, June 28th thru Tues-

day, June 30th to participate in a 2020 Close of Books “drive thru” process. Only District Commanders are authorized to pick up 2021 American Legion card packets at Department Headquarters. Once again, there will be no social gather-ing for Close of Books this year. In order to pick up their post’s 2021 card packets, District Commanders must ensure that each post has submitted their

Consolidated Post Report and Post Certification forms which include the Post Officer Certi-fication, Post Committee Chair-persons form, and the National form to certify each Post Com-mander & Adjutant. These four forms must either be on file or be turned in at the Target Date drive thru in order to receive a post’s 2021 card packet.

In order to achieve our mem-bership goals the remainder of this year, our priorities must be renewing lapsed members, inviting at-large members to transfer into local posts, and continuing to conduct buddy checks for all veterans – each of these three top priorities can be accomplished via text message, phone call, email, or USPS let-ter mail. Additionally, we must ensure that every post is fully certified and has completed their

Consolidated Post Report. The Consolidated Post Report (CPR) is critical to communicating the value of our organization to the general public and takes less than 10 minutes to fully submit via MyLegion.org.

The keys to achieving our membership goals are still en-gaging our members, taking ac-tion by continuing to recruit new members and contact expired members, and finally by focus-ing on our revitalization calls; simply Recruiting & Retention through Engagement, Action, & Revitalization. I remain con-fident that by working together we can achieve our membership goals.

During the Mid-Winter Con-ference (which seems like it oc-curred years, not months ago), I presented eight American Le-gion Family members with their Recruiting Excellence Award challenge coin for recruiting at least 10 new American Le-gion members (picture below); I hope to present many more of these handsome challenge coins which are specially designed and uniquely numbered. I chal-lenge all American Legion Fam-ily members to recruit at least 10 new Legionnaires; if you see a veteran or actively serving member of the military, please invite them to join our great or-ganization.

It is my distinct privilege and honor to serve as your Depart-ment Membership Chairman. I look forward to meeting many of you, once we are able to so-cialize again, at your district meeting, or at the Fall Confer-ence in October. Keep up the great work and remember to tell our great organization’s story—“We Change Lives!”

It has been an interesting Spring to say the least. The last month or so, the Corona Virus era of social distancing has im-

pacted The Legion as we know it, but it has not changed who we fundamentally are.

We have become reliant on facilities to bring us together, however, since our founding 101 years ago, we’ve always been an organization focused on our members, the Legion Family and service. It’s times like these that we need to live the part of the preamble that calls us to be devoted to mutual helpfulness.

Mutual helpfulness in an era of social distancing and stay at home orders means using tech-nology, particularly the tele-phone. Let’s stay close to our comrades in the Legion Family. Call your circle of Legion Fam-ily friends to check on them to see if they need help or just sim-ply chat to take your minds off of the current situation. Use so-cial media to keep in touch and maintain a distance.

In 2020, being confined to the house and family doesn’t have to mean being isolated. Take ad-vantage of technology to keep in touch and find out if there is any-thing you can do to help. Don’t let social distancing prevent us from staying together.

Do you have time on your hands and want to create a web page for your Post or District? National offers a web page host-ing service that allows Posts to

have a Legionnaire page, as well as, pages for the Auxiliary, Sons and Riders. Districts, can open their pages to Posts who, in turn, can open their page to their Aux-iliary, Sons and Riders.

This allows you to get web traffic through the National page, as well as, offering an affordable way to bring your members together. Contact me at [email protected] for more information.

We have been in “Limbo” for a long time. While I am not making a treatise on Catholic theology, we have been waiting uncertain decisions by our gov-ernment authorities who are act-ing on our behalf from advice from the best medical authori-ties. Our period of waiting has been an experience of being in the limbo of not knowing what to expect.

What we are going through and are processing is one of the

biggest paradigm shifts of our lifetime. Each generation has these, and we must realize that new norms of lifestyle will re-sult. Covid-19 will affect us in many ways as we traverse a fu-ture that is greatly altered from our past. Perhaps even in greater ways than AIDS, 911 and others that come to mind.

I liked a snippet from SNL where Cecily Strong, portraying Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitman says, “We’re not out of the woods, we live in Michi-gan.” Anyone who has driven through our border state fully understands this pun. The fact is that life is always changing. Some changes are subtle, and others are dramatic. Anyone who studies history discovers key events that cause paradigm

shifts in various cultures and countries.

Most of us have a comfort zone gained by choice, either conscious or unconscious. I like the commercials recently that talk about us becoming our par-ents. In our youth we strove to change those things of our par-ents we did not like, only to find when we chastise our children, we sound just like them. As we age, we seem to move into their role at ever increasing speeds.

Change by choice is also pos-sible; think of all your friends on Facebook who post how much weight they’ve lost. We never see pictures of, “Hey, I found it”. Change however is costly, and it is painful. One slogan of the Marines, probably coined in boot camp is: “Pain is fear leav-

ing the body.” To get to where we need, or want to be, we must endure the pain of change. The upside is that the results are of-ten quite beneficial.

The uncertainty of change often causes fear to arise. This fear can be disappointing and debilitating. It can lead to op-pression and obsession. It is comforting to know that there is a place of safety where we can go and rest. Some place where we can go to assess and adjust. While our TV adds say we are in this together, and it’s meant to be comforting, it just tells us everyone is uncertain and does not bring us the security we need.

I find it comforting to turn to sacred scripture. In Mal. 3:6 we read, “I the LORD do not

change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.” (NIV). As people of faith, we need to turn to our God in whom we trust to find the hope that we need to navigate through these uncertain and changing times. We know that God has not brought us this far to leave us! Our God will lead us through this time as God always has led us. May our Legion family take comfort in our faith in God, and the support of our family mov-ing forward together.

But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Is. 40:31 (NIV


TELECONFERENCING from page 1


Vietnam Veterans: March 29th of each year is a designat-ed National Vietnam Veterans Day. Many Vietnam Veterans Day ceremonies were one of the first events canceled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hopefully, this ar-ticle will help us remember those veterans.

Vietnam Veterans Day commemorates the sacrifices of those veterans who return home more than 45 years ago to a nation of anti-war protests and bitterly divided sentiments for and against the war. Un-fortunately, that atmosphere of rejection to the war often spread to rejecting those who fought the war. We have most all heard stories of protesters verbally, sometimes physical-ly, attacking Vietnam veterans arriving at airports upon their return from Vietnam. Many other less aggressive war dis-senters would simply deny Vietnam veterans opportuni-ties. One personal experience I

will never forget (but have for-given), is when a manufactur-ing company personnel man-ager stated “we won’t hold that against you” when I mentioned my Vietnam service while ap-plying for a job.

Hard times and adverse cir-cumstances often strengthen us. I am not a minister and I hesitate in quoting the Bible in fear that I will get it wrong, but Romans 8:28 notes that all things work together for good to those who love God. Viet-nam veterans must therefore love God; they have worked tirelessly over the years to make sure returning veterans never endure what Vietnam veterans experienced after

serving their country. Vietnam veterans accomplished most of this success by joining and participating in an organization that’s “For God and Country” – The American Legion. Re-turning veterans are now right-fully honored and provided the benefits they deserve.

We most all know that over 58,000 United States service persons were killed while serv-ing in Vietnam. Here, however, are some interesting but not as well know statistics about Viet-nam veterans and the War: The United States was involved in the war for more than 19 years; In 1964, approximately 1,000 students burned their draft cards in protest of the war; Approximately 125,000 Americans fled to Canada to avoid the draft, and about one half of them returned after am-nesty was granted; Millions of gallons of toxic herbicides, such as, Agent Orange, were used in Vietnam; In June 1969 US troops in Vietnam peeked

at 533,000; In May 1969, 242 US troops were killed in a single week; The last US ground troops left Vietnam in August 1972; North Vietnam release nearly 6,000 Prison-ers of War in March 1973; The Vietnam War official ended for the United States on March 29, 1973; At the war’s end ap-proximately 3,000,000 Ameri-cans had served in Vietnam with over 300,000 wounded, 58,000 dead, and more than 1,000 Missing in Action; In August 1973, fighting renewed for North and South Vietnam, but the United States Congress prohibited any further US com-bat role; The South Vietnam Capitol, Saigon, was overrun in 1975, and the war officially ended for the United States on April 30, 1975; On July 2, 1976, North and South Viet-nam reunified as a communist country; In 2019 it was esti-mated that only 774,000 United States veterans who served in Vietnam were then alive – few-

er today; The average lifespan of a Vietnam veteran is only 66 years; Although the United States had withdrawn from the war amidst public pressure, the US military did not lose a battle of any consequence and the US military was not de-feated in Vietnam; the United States succeeded in preventing the communist domino theory in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thai-land as the Indonesians ousted the soviets in 1966 because of the US commitment in Viet-nam.

A National Vietnam Veter-ans Day is not implying that Vietnam Veterans are any bet-ter than others who have served and sacrificed for their country, just that they are just as good and honorable as other vet-erans while performing their service during very turbulent times. Thank you, Vietnam veterans and their families!


National Vietnam Veterans Day

Once the Governor’s CO-VID-19 Stay-at-Home order is lifted and our Veterans Ser-vice Office reopens – hope-fully, Monday, May 4, 2020, the office will reorganize for improved veterans’ services. We will replace the individual caseload model with service officers specializing in their duty assignments. In addition to improving review of VA de-cisions and providing a higher quality of appeals assistance,

veterans will enjoy better con-tinuity of service by speaking with the same person, the ser-vice office director, whenever they call; and veterans will no longer be required to call on a certain day or time. Our ad-ministrative staff will place all phone calls on the office direc-tor’s return call list who will re-turn calls in the order of receipt except for County Veterans Service Officers who will al-ways have priority in returned

calls. Veterans are therefore encouraged to contact their lo-cal County Veterans Service Officers first, since our return call list may become some-what large, sometimes result-ing in calls being returned in days other than when received. As always, office visits are by appointment only, however, office visits are currently sus-pended until further notice due to the COVID-19 virus. We will attempt to work through

extended phone conversations that would have normally re-quired office visits.

John Hickey, Department Service Officer, Director:

Supervision and Manage-ment, Outreach, Public and Organization Communica-tions, Special Service Pro-grams, Training, All Vet-eran and County Veterans Service Officer calls, and Office Visits.

Bryce Hullett, Department

Service Officer, Assistant Di-rector

Appeals Specialist: All Hearings, Pre-Hearing Con-ferences, Appeal Briefs to the Board of Veterans Appeals, In-formal Hearing Conferences

Stuart Holloway: Depart-ment Service Officer, Associ-ate

Review of All VA Rating Decisions for Correctness, An-swer E-Mails, Answer Corre-spondence

Department Veterans Service Office reorganizes for improved service

One-hundred-year-old Pearl Harbor survivor refuses to slow down

By Josh Marshall

On the day I reached out to Mr. Garrett in late May, he had just come inside after working in his yard and was cleaning up before heading back out. From the sound of his rushed voice, I could tell he is a busy man, and I imagined that the home John “Jack“ Garrett lives in is tidy and well maintained. I ask if this is a good time for him to be interviewed. “Well, you have me on here now, it’s as good a time as any,” he says.

Mr. Garrett lives on Syl-van Lake in Rome City, Indi-ana, and is a Paid-Up-For-Life member of Post 381, also in Rome City. He volunteers on the honor guard firing squad at his post. “We’re a very active Legion as far as military funer-als go. We had two funerals last week, and Monday I have a funeral, and then a funeral Wednesday coming up. Last year we had 57 funerals, and I made all of them.”

At one-hundred years old, he may struggle to hear you–“I only have half of one ear, slow down how fast you speak”–he warned me during our call, but he is sharp as a tack. “I don’t feel one-hundred years old, but after a little bit of work, I get

exhausted real quick. Other than that I think I’m in per-fect health.” Mr. Garrett still drives, but has considered not renewing his insurance when it’s up, and selling his car. But that’s a worry for another day. From our short interview, I can tell he lives in the moment. Mr. Garrett is not one to dwell on the past or worry about the future. The task at hand is his only focus.

Stationed on the light cruis-er USS Saint Louis on Dec. 7, 1941, in Pearl Harbor in Ho-

nolulu, Hawaii, Mr. Garrett recalls, “We were in the Navy yard. The ship was what is con-sidered cold, which means all eight boilers were open having work done on them - water was off the pier, electricity was off the pier - we were dead in the water and we had to go from that point.”

When pressed for more de-tails about that day, he defers. “I’d rather forget it. I never talk about it, unless I’m asked a question. I’ll try to answer it, but I just sooner erase it from

my mind if I possibly could. That was seventy-something years ago, and it’s all past his-tory, and I know history means a lot, but like I said, it’s in the past. I never dwell on it, it’s part of my past life.”

After serving four-and-a-half years in the Navy as a Shipfitter 1st Class, he returned home to learn that he was al-ready a member of his local American Legion Post. “My dad was a member of Post 47 in Fort Wayne, from WWI, and when I came home in ‘45 he

told me I was a member of Post 47; I was signed up already.”

Today, Mr. Garrett is sur-prised by the low amount of members his post has. “I thought the servicemen would be involved with the Legion, but I guess they’re not. I think that’s deplorable. I think if you’re a veteran, you should join, I think all veterans should join. The younger members aren’t getting out of the service and joining the Legion, we don’t have any young mem-bers at all in 381. …I would like to see more of the service-men join the Legion and join the honor guard.”

As I interview him on the phone, I hear a bang in the background followed by girls laughing. Mr. Garrett speaks over the noise, “Just a minute, I have someone coming in my backdoor. Two of my grand-daughters and her friends are here right now, I live on Sylvan lake, so my house is a mad-house on the weekends.” I of-fer to let Mr. Garrett go, and he gladly takes me up on it. And with that, our conversation is over. A short twelve minutes is all I could pin Mr. Garrett down before he got back to his busy life.

HOOSIER LEGIONNAIRE 2nd Quarter 2020 Facebook.com/IndianaLegion 5See page 8

Well, the 6th District 2019–2020 Legion year is just about over, it has been a tumultuous year because of the Corona vi-rus restricting us all. Here is hoping that all is well and safe with everyone. I am very proud to be your

6th District Commander and I look forward to an-other year as your com-mander. Lets hope we can get back to normal opera-tions.

I would like to remind all post Commanders and Adjutants that Close of Books is upon us and to get your Consolidated Post Reports turned in to Department along with your Annual Post Data sheets, Post Officers Cer-tification form, Post Com-mittee Chairperson form,

and your National Post and Squadron Command-ers/Adjutant forms by no later than June 29, 2020, as this will help in get-ting your new member-ship cards with no prob-lems. All the forms can be found on Indianalegion.org. Filling them out only take a few minutes.

We still have a few weeks left to meet our goal in the district for membership to reach 100% and it is very at-

Greetings from the 3rd District.

My how time flies, it just seems like yesterday I was up on the stage get-ting my Commander’s pin from Wayne Zeman, and now six months have passed by. Many posts in our District are hav-ing dinners, bands, and a whole lot of entertain-ment. If you want to see what is happening in the 3rd District, go to our Facebook page, “The 3rd District of Department of IN American Legion,” and check out the happen-ings.

We have been doing a lot of explaining the “10-year membership plan” to a lot of people. There

have been some who have taken the Legion up on the offer; it is a great deal, so get in on it. If you have any questions, please con-tact your Vice-command-er.

This is the time of year when our membership seems to slow down. We need to get out and meet with our members. There will be a one-day mem-bership drive called “Op-eration Full Court Press” on Saturday, March 21, where posts will be get-ting out and contacting their members who have not renewed or have let their membership expire. This will allow the Posts to do a “buddy check” on our members to make sure they are okay. It is in-credible how many times I have tried to contact a member who has renewed faithfully for many years only to find out that the member has either moved,

been placed in a nursing home or has passed away. It is vitally important that each Post participates in this. There will be ma-terial distributed for this at either the February or March card turn-in, and it will be distributed to each Post shortly after that.

We will be planning a District revitalization for late February or March. Details will follow to the Posts as they are set. This is a Department and Na-tional supported effort, and there will be mate-rial sent out by National regarding this effort. The Districts that have held a revitalization have seen quite a few renewals, and new members signed up, so it is something that will be pursued.

I want to congratulate the District winners in the Americanism & Govern-ment program. They are as follows:

I began this year op-timistic about the future of the legion. It was our first full year of our sec-ond century. We began with the historic passage of the Legion Act, where we opened up eligibility to all who have served since World War II. We changed our constitution and bylaws to reflect the social norms of the 21st Century, and our auxil-iary caught up with the times by allowing all vet-eran spouses to support their families within The American Legion. De-spite these changes, we failed to capitalize on the opportunities they pre-sented. The VA’s GDX report for fiscal year 2019 shows an estimated 35,869 veterans living in the twelve counties of the Second District. We will struggle to have 8,000 of

those as members of The American Legion.

I wonder how different the Legion was 42 years ago, when my father joined. Today, none of the posts within the Second District participate in all of our programs. Some participate in most, some only one or two. Out of the forty-six posts that make up the Second Dis-trict, twenty-eight have a license to sell alcohol is-sued by the Indiana ATC. Seven posts don’t even have their own building, but thankfully that only keeps three of them from meeting regularly. So what do people think of when they think of The American Legion? What do we want them to think of? What is keeping tens of thousands of veterans from joining our organi-zation?

When I started this year, I wanted to visit each post within the dis-trict at least once during a regular meeting. I wasn’t quite able to make that goal. The second Tues-

day of the month is a very popular night for posts to hold meetings. Though I managed to reach out to posts that the district hadn’t heard from in a while. I even got a few of them to send a delegate to a district meeting, but also fell short of getting more than half of the posts to consistently at-tend my meetings.

So what is keeping our members, and the major-ity of our veteran popula-tion, from engaging with our organization? Is it the way we choose our lead-ers at the department and national levels? Why do so many of our organiza-tion’s leaders, who spent their time in service fight-ing communism, choose to select our department officers in a manner that resembles a Russian elec-tion? “Here is your one candidate, Comrade. And since there is only one, we shall vote for you.” I, my-self, came to be district commander through that same process. Or could

Greetings my fellow Legionaries. I will say that the months of March, April and May were quite lonely months. As per the Governor’s order, we stayed at home, only venturing out to the food store. All my contacts have been via e-mail and phone. Now let me just say, the term smart phone is way overrated. Unless I push its buttons, it just sits there.

We should still be there for our members; buddy checks let them know that things with the American

Legion have not changed, and we are still there for them.

Our visits to Hines VAMC have been post-poned until further notice. We have been sending them gift cards; gift cards that would not be possible if it weren’t for the Ameri-can Legion. I received the following letter from Hines.

From the staff at Ed-wards Hines Jr. VA Hospi-tal, we want to share our deepest gratitude for your generous donation. The donation that you provide our Veterans is greatly ap-preciated. The donation will be utilized to provide support to our hospitalized Veterans. Your donation created an atmosphere of fun and excitement for our

inpatients who otherwise have only minimal social outlet. Gifts such as yours add quality to the lives of our American heroes. We appreciate your generos-ity and support of our na-tion’s Veterans.

July 3rd will see the dedication of a new 75-unit homeless veterans safe haven permanent housing , in Hobart, IN, sponsored by the VA.

July 4th , according to the Governors orders, we will once again be able to gather in larger numbers. Bars, restaurants and churches will be allowed to open. Just because the government says it’s safe, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t abandon cau-tion. Use your common sense, be safe.

from the District Commanders

Greetings from the fabulous Fourth District. With the cancellation of National and State Con-ventions, the Legion lead-ership feels that the health of our members is of the highest concern. That be-ing said, the work of the Legion is not done. All posts should be making “buddy checks”, working membership and getting their post in tip top shape during this closure. The membership chairper-son should be processing membership cards as they are received and forward-ed to Department either by the internet or U.S. Postal Service.

The 4th District is cur-rently in sixth place. The problem is I haven’t seen the numbers moving the last few weeks. This is not good for the Post, Dis-trict, State and National membership numbers.

You must send cards in within 30 days of receiv-ing them. The 4th District needs about 290 cards to be 100%, many posts have made 100% or are very close. We just need to call our expired members and get them to renew. As you talk to these members, tell them how their member-ship will help all veterans, their families and military members now deployed.

Full Court Press is cancelled until the spring of 2021. Close of Books at the Indiana Veterans Home is cancelled and will instead be held June 29th thru July 1st. All posts will keep all cards until the District Commander picks them up from the post. DO NOT MAIL TO DEPARTMENT. I need posts to have four forms ready for Close of Books. They are: Post Officer Certification, Committee chairpersons, the National form for Post/Squadron Commander/ Adjutant and your Consolidated Post Report (CPR). These four reports must either be sent in early and on

file with Department or I must have them in hand to receive your 2021 mem-bership cards. More about membership cards will come out soon. The forms have been sent in a packet from Department and you can also download them from the internet at www.indianalegion.org, click Members, and then click Forms.

I’ll be sending an email in the near future regard-ing next year’s District Meeting and Pool Tourna-ment’s dates and location. Because of the pandemic, I’ll try to get this put to-gether and out to you asap.

If you need help filing for PPP loans/grants you can call Congressman Banks office at 260-702-4750. Also, the V.A. Ft. Wayne Hospital is open for urgent care; just call the V.A. call center for help. The National Guard (Army/Air) Relief Fund can help active duty ser-vicemembers who need help paying bills.

To all 4th District mem-bers and families, you’re in my prayers daily.

Hello Legion Family! I want to thank you all for your continued support you show through your great hospitality, and help by keeping your member-ship cards turned in. Get-ting the cards turned in has kept the 5th District near the top in the State. So far this legion year, the 5th District has been in 1st place three times on the State Target Dates. Please keep up the good work.

Many of you are now using the MyLegion.org website to process your membership cards, if you are NOT then we need to get you switched over soon, several district of-fices can help you get started. It is very easy to use, saves time and post-age, and also helps pre-vent paid members from receiving another remind-er from National. If you don’t think you can do it, we have two adjutants in their 80’s using it, and say they won’t go back to the old way.

Ten year Membership is available for Hoosier Legionnaires for $350, and guarantees your membership dues won’t increase during the 10 year span. Right now this is in a trial period. Partici-pation will dictate the suc-

cess of this option and the preservation of the avail-ability of the ten year pro-gram. It also helps with retention of our current membership and, lightens the load of the member-ship person.

Time to start thinking about warmer weather as Summer is just around the corner. I want to remind everyone we have a re-cruiting booth which is free to use, easy to set-up, and comes with literature for Legionnaire, Sons, Auxiliary, Legion Riders and some of our Ameri-can Legion programs. Please consider using this to help draw new mem-bers into your post during your events. Contact John Hawkins to check avail-ability.

Close of Books is com-ing soon and there will be some changes, be watch-ing for the information to guide you through this process. Last year, all the posts in the state were 100% certified, it is un-known when that happen last. This year the goal is to get all Consolidated Post Report, Post Certi-fication, Notification of Post/Squadron Cmdr/Adj. Form, Committee Chair Member Forms com-pleted by Close of Books. Even if you don’t have any committee chair’s, mark the committee sheet with N/A and send in, by doing so, you are ac-knowledging you don’t have committee chairs.

Also, don’t forget your Delegate Form for state convention.

Commander Connel-ly’s project - the Indiana American Legion Legacy Foundation – is seeing a decline in funds due to our decline in member-ship dues. This decline could cause the American Legion Programs, includ-ing Department Service Office to be under funded or possibility completely shut down. The Indiana American Legion Legacy Foundation is a pro-ac-tive initiative to prevent the worst-case-scenario. Commander Connelly’s goal is $100,000 dur-ing his term. The Indiana American Legion Legacy Foundation has been es-tablished and tax identi-fication number is now available.

Covid-19 has changed a lot on how our society looks, and it is also af-fecting meetings. At this time, we will not be hav-ing a June or July District Meetings. Please keep in mind that there may be many more changes in the fall, because just like the flu virus, we should plan that the Corona Virus will return next season.

Hope everyone stays safe, looking forward to seeing everyone, at a Dis-trict Meeting, post visita-tion, Conference or Con-vention. Again, thank you for all you do and will do.

SENIOR TEST RESULTS: SCHOOL POST12 male Zack Szuba John Glenn HS. 18912 female Madison Coates LaPorte HS. 8311 male Alexander Ake LaPorte HS. 8311 female Tori Satchwell LaPorte HS. 8310 male Grant Watterson LaPorte HS. 8310 female Olivia Wright LaPorte HS. 83. JUNIOR TEST8 male Nathan Matanic. Urey MS. 1898 female 7 male Jackson Sanford New Prairie MS. 2977 female Rachel Paul New Prairie MS. 297

See page 8


Greetings from the “Fighting 7th”. It is hard to believe we are draw-ing to the end of another exceptional year, and I want to recognize every-one for helping to make it a prosperous year under many difficult conditions. SAL, Auxiliary, and Rid-ers have all participated in activities to promote The American Legion - raising and donating to causes and educating the communities of our mis-sion - all while ensuring membership continues to maintain and grow. With-out these efforts we could not continue to thrive as an organization and pro-vide the needed support to our veterans, their fami-lies, and communities.

We have all recently had stressful times with the current situation of the global pandemic and have lost many fam-ily members and Legion members. The social dis-

tancing has made it very difficult for day-to-day and especially for those who have lost a loved one, as they were not able to be with their loved ones and in some cases could not have proper services for them. Please continue to do your buddy checks and make sure any families of lost members are in-cluded. I know there will be several celebrations of life scheduled as soon as our posts are allowed to be fully operational again.

The Governor’s plan for reopening the state was reviewed noting that if your post is considered a restaurant you may open May 11th with only 50% capacity, this would mean fully operational kitchen/food service. If you have a bar in the restaurant area you may not utilize seat-ing at the bar. While some are considering options, remember that it would be imperative to maintain the social distancing and 50% capacity so there would need to be some way of fully enforcing these guidelines. Canteen/social quarters can open as of June 14th again with only 50% capacity and

maintaining the social distancing with 100% op-erations as of July 4th. If you have any questions about these guidelines for your post, please seek ad-vice from qualified legal counsel.

Due to the cancelation of several meetings and elections of officers at all levels of National, De-partment, District, and local posts, it has been requested that all officers stay in place for the con-tinuing year. If however you have an officer that does not wish to con-tinue, they would need to formally resign, and you would then replace them according to your post by-laws.

I would like to take the time to say a special thank you to all my vice commanders and officers recognizing them all by name: Bill Kocher, Larry Dent, Mike Kauffman, Kevin Hinton, Gina Ow-ens, Hugh Dagley, Harold Hensley, Dale McDonald, Craig Harvey, Raymond Krebbs, Ron Henry, John Abel, Jimmy Walker, Herb Hoffman, James B.

Preceding the pandem-ic I wrote an unpublished article acknowledging and praising Legionnaires’ compassion shown to the veterans living at nursing homes and to those veter-ans who are homebound. I encourage this mutu-ally beneficial practice to continue, emphasizing the saying “By the Grace of God there goes I.” In retrospect, since this pan-demic, I realized that this currently banned practice could facilitate the spread of the virus to some of our most prized but suscep-tible members. Once this crisis is just a memory, I will again be emphasizing the importance of show-ing compassion to these veterans by spending a lit-tle time listening to them.

I am honored and feel very privileged to have been selected to serve as the Honor Guard/Funeral Detail Chaplin for my Post and for my local VFW Post. The frequency of the calls to perform this duty is heartbreaking. Although, I served multiple times on the Army’s funeral details at the enlightened age of 17, I never developed the fortitude to mask my feel-ings while looking into

the eyes of the family and friends of a fallen com-rade when the rifles fire a final salute followed by the playing of taps. The number of active partici-pants at the Post level by Legionnaires on the Hon-or Guard/Funeral Detail is the highest number of any of our programs. We need to express our grati-tude to the members of the Honor Guard/Funeral De-tail who donate their time in inclement weather, and other adverse conditions, to show respect to our fall-ing veterans. Many of the members on these details are reaching the age clas-sified “as being nearly ful-ly grown” so we are need-ing volunteers to pick up the “banner” and continue to help honor our fallen comrades. During the pandemic, funeral details have been banned from attending funerals. How-ever, the loss of our fellow comrades is still felt in our heart. I am hopeful that we will be permitted to honor these veterans on “Memo-rial Day” this year.

Conventional wisdom often dictates that our can-teens are not an integral part of the Legion. Being politically astute is not one of my strong attributes so I take exception to this premise. The financial benefits for post survival is clearly dependent on the canteen. In years past, it was common place for

our WWII veterans serv-ing as posts’ officers and members to greet and welcome Legionnaires in the canteen. This warm fuzzy interaction shown to members and visitors, resulted in stronger bonds between these Legion-naires, thus an increase in membership. Most times, the interaction between members in the canteen is their primary source of socialization and mental health. We can learn from our WWII brothers and sisters by making all those in the canteen feel wel-come. A kind word goes a long way.

I can best describe the last few months of this membership year with the proverbial expression “the best-laid plans of mice and men.” Feeling the futility of our plan during these uncertain times is at best, frustrating. To all district and post officers, I can’t express enough appreciation for all you have done and will con-tinue to do for our Service Members, Veterans, their families, and our Country. It is time now to give one last push on membership as we are so very close to our goal. We need now to regroup and never to look down but to approach this upcoming year with vigor and fortitude. We can con-quer this crisis if we assist each other.

We had some sig-nificant Christmas com-munity events, in the 9th District. Thanks for a great job to all of our American Legion family members. Many of our Post’s not only held fun-draisers for their commu-nities, but also donated a

lot of toys, played Santa, and delivered meals to those in need. Several given gifts as they visited veterans in the local as-sisted living facilities and nursing homes to share conversations and con-cerns and brighten the day for many of our vet-erans and their families.

We just returned from the Midwinter confer-ence. Typical Indiana weather, Monsoon on Friday and Saturday, cold and snow showers as we

headed home Sunday. It’s Always a good time for sharing needed infor-mation on the programs of the legion and social-izing with our Legion family. Our Department Committee chairpersons have made it a valuable learning tool for all our Post leadership mem-bers. There were many training classes for Post Education and member-ship, as well as service officer training, gam-ing, and excise training.

from the District Commanders

First of all, I’d like to congratulate all the posts in the 10th District for your hard work in help-ing the District make 100% membership for the 2019-2020 year! A special thank you to our Membership Chair Roger Clark and Adjutant Lau-rie Bowman. They were truly instrumental in making this happen. I’d also like to thank Com-mander Connelly and Membership Chair Rich Brown for their leader-ship and encouragement. The 10th currently has 23 Posts at 100% and I expect a couple of more to finish up the year at 100% as well.

As proud as I am for reaching our member-ship goal, I am even more proud of how our Posts have continued to make a difference in their respec-tive communities. The 10th has been a leader

in processing IVETS & CEWF applications, which provides much needed assistance to our Veteran brothers and sis-ters. I personally know of hundreds of Buddy Check phone calls that were made over the past few months. This is type of effort, and commit-ment to Veterans is what we are called to do. Quite frankly this is much of the reason that we have been successful in our membership drive. I en-courage all Legionnaires across the state to do the right thing and truly care for your comrades, and in doing so, I believe that other Veterans will will-ingly want to be a part of this terrific organization.

I am also proud of the many Posts that have taken this down time to remodel their Posts. New floors, new kitchens, re-modeled canteens, new carpeting and new paint will help with the rebirth of the Legion. Making them a place where vet-erans and their families will want to come to and get involved. To borrow a

line from the movie Field of Dreams “If you build it, they will come”. I tru-ly believe this with all of my heart.

Finally, I would be remiss if I did not men-tion the loss of one of the 10th Districts great stew-ards, Homer Loudermilk. Homer served the Ameri-can Legion for over 30 years holding post, dis-trict and department level positions. He received the Department Distin-guished Service Award in 2017 and spent countless hours of service to veter-ans, and the community. Homer was the type of veteran who did more for others than he did for himself. He was quiet, but when he spoke, I can assure you he had put great thought into what he said, and his words had great meaning. It was a great privilege to have served alongside him for the years that I knew him. I will do my best to honor his service to this organi-zation by following the example that he set for all Legionnaires aspire to.

Hello from the 11th District. The fiscal year has about closed and normally my term as 11th District command-er would also come to a close. Due to the ad-vancement of COV-ID-19, the officers and committee chairs will, for the most part, remain the same this following year. Hopefully, this time next year, this tragic and deadly disease will have passed into history.

This has been a very good year for member-ship in spite of posts be-ing shut down. At least half of the active posts reached 100% or more. The rest of the posts should reach their goals by the Close of Books. I will be working, along with the District Vice Commanders and the Membership Chair, to at-tain 100% for all of our active posts .We shall pursue revitalization with vigor, for it is paramount to our future as an out-standing organization.

Although most of our programs have been put on hold, they are still a most important function

of The American Legion. The maintaining of these programs are essential to being a healthy and viable organization. As at the beginning of this year, it is very important for the posts to prepare to put their programs into action.

I am looking forward to seeing every one soon. Please be careful to keep your social distancing practice until this virus is defeated. I thank ev-eryone for their continu-ous efforts in making the 11th District Department of Indiana the greatest.

See page 8

These classes will be an ongoing training tool at our future conferences to help our leaders and all members, to learn about our programs, and make it easier to understand the duties for each office and chairmanship, at all lev-els. This will help secure the future of the Ameri-can Legion, armed with well informed and well-qualified leaders.

Don’t forget to sub-mit your applicants for the many recognitions awarded to our volun-teers. The categories are, for the Year, Law Of-ficer, firefighter, EMS, Military: Soldier, active duty, National Guard, and Reserve. There are awards for Grade School students, Middle school, High School, School Ed-ucators as well as Eagle Scout and Girl Scout. It would be nice to have a candidate for every cat-egory!

With many things go-ing on at this time of year, we can’t forget about Boys State can-didates and the Youth Cadet Law Enforcement Academy; both are ex-

cellent programs for our students to learn valuable life lessons.

This year is going by quickly, and Dec. 31st has come and gone. Membership, being the lifeblood of the Ameri-can Legion, is an issue each one of us needs to address. We need to make contact with our delinquent members and members of past years to see if they need help and to ask if there’s anything the Post can do for them and, in the process, in-vite them to renew their memberships.

Be sure to inform them of the unique “10-year” membership option. Now, for a $350 one time payment, you’re dues are paid for 10 years, and even if the dues are raised, during that time, you owe nothing more. We want to mention De-partment Commander Connelly’s project, the Indiana American Legion Legacy Foundation, over the years, our organiza-tion has experienced a decline in membership. Membership dues have been the primary source

of funding throughout the history of the Depart-ment. Sixty-two thou-sand of the 87,000+ ser-vice-connected disabled veterans, In Indiana, bring more than $365 million in benefits to the Hoosier economy. With-out ample funding, we could see these programs and services, dialed back, or in a worst-case scenar-io, shut down completely. Of course, this isn’t what we want to happen, and we have worked on plans to allow us to continue to serve our veterans and their families across the State of Indiana. Hoosier veterans and their fami-lies depend on us!

We would also like to Congratulate our Auxil-iary family on their Mile-stone, “100” Birthday. Your support is noted and appreciated. Thank you for all you do in support of our Veterans.

Thank you all for your support of our Posts, the District, and the Depart-ment of Indiana. I am proud to have the oppor-tunity to serve as your Commander.


The commission met on January 11, 2020. Chairman James Daube opened the meeting and the following re-ports were given by the respective committee chairman.

General HospitalMeeting was opened

by Chairperson Rex Ikemire at 10:00 a.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was conducted, and previous minutes ac-cepted. The committee highlighted changes in several representatives within a few Districts. District reports indicat-ed a lot was being done in support of commu-nity events, taking care of veteran needs and support VA facilities across the state. Things such as gift cards, gas cards, clothing, provid-ing transportation to our veterans and volunteers giving of their time are just a few of things we see our members doing every day. John Hickey addressed the commit-tee as well.

There were no reso-lutions or additional requests for funding. Meeting adjourned at 10:37 a.m.

Homeless VeteranMeeting was opened

by Chairperson Ann Adcook at 12:00 p.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was conduct-ed, and previous min-utes accepted. Work-sheets were distributed to assist in better track-ing 501 3 (C) home-less veteran facilities in each District. Districts then provided updates on efforts in their areas Districts. Efforts ranges from backpacks for vet-erans to helping tran-sient veterans crossing the state line.

There were no reso-lutions or additional requests for funding. Meeting adjourned.

EmploymentMeeting was opened

by Chairperson William Parks at 1:00 p.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was conducted, and previous minutes ac-cepted. The following actions occurred during the meeting:

1. E m p l o y m e n t award recipients an-nounced

2. Work One Veter-ans Preference – no lon-ger exist

3. Reasons for Vet-erans Unemployment

4. How to improve Employment meeting

Committee approved meeting for spring con-ference. There were no

resolutions or additional requests for funding. Meeting adjourned.

Nursing HomeMeeting opened by

temporary Gail Galich (Temporary replace-ment for Chairperson James Grauvogi) at 11:00 a.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was conducted, and previ-ous minutes accepted. Several old business items were brought up and are as follows:

1. Air Mattresses – Soldier Angels

2. Three Types of Nursing Homes

a. Pay-Everythingb. Pay what you Canc. Family PaysNew business includ-

ed reports from Dis-tricts representatives. Districts are encour-aged to spend the funds available of lose them. District continue to sup-port many events within their districts/depart-ment such as conduct-ing buddy checks, pro-viding comfort packs, Christmas baskets and providing monetary contributions. Other new business included:

1. Come partici-pate in Legislative day. Good time to bring up veteran care in nursing home.

2. Develop ways to get into nursing homes.

3. Donate to home-

DEPARTMENT COMMISSION REPORTS

The Commission met on January 11, 2020. Chairperson Rick Hud-son opened the meeting and the following re-ports were given by the respective committee chairperson.

BaseballThe executive com-

mittee meeting was opened by Chairperson Owen Wells at 1:00 p.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was completed, and previ-ous minutes were ac-cepted. The following areas were discussed:

1. Prospects for new teams

2. Team insurance available January 15, 2020 on website.

3. Printing patch on uniforms

4. Appreciation for Rockport hosting state finals last fall

5. Indiana programs near Ohio can recruit players from Ohio and release players to Ohio – on a case-by-case ba-sis.

6. Junior State Finals (July 16-18), State Re-gionals must be com-pleted by July 20 and State finals will be July 24-28.

The baseball com-

mittee was held after the conclusion of the execu-tive committee. Chair-person Owens presided over this meeting. Roll call was completed, and previous minutes were accepted. The following areas were addressed:

1. High School Road Week – June 29th – July 5th.

2. Accepted state bid from Kokomo - $4,000.00 bid amount.

3. Teams need to submit scholarship ap-plications.

4. Need nominations for Arlie Skelton Award

Committee approved purchase of state final trophy and plaques. There were no reso-lutions or additional requests for funding. Meeting adjourned.

POW/MIAMeeting was opened

by Chairperson Larry Macy at 12:00 p.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was conducted, and previous minutes ac-cepted. The committee had an open discussion regarding several ongo-ing matters regrading POW/MIAs. A pam-phlet was provided to each attendee showing a year in review of the work that was done with accounting for POW/MIAs. The com-mittee also head from our guest, National Vice Commander Rich Hei-gert who spoke about

applying for recogni-tion of cities/towns be-ing listed as POW/MIA cities.

There were no reso-lutions or additional funding considered. Committee will not meet during the spring conference. Meeting adjourned at 12:38 p.m.

JR. ROTCMeeting was opened

by Chairperson Wil-liam VanHooks Jr. at 11:00 a.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was conducted, and previ-ous minutes accepted. Only item discussed from previous meeting was a resolution to cre-ate a $1,000.00 to a de-serving cadet (s). The chairperson informed the committee that the resolution screening committee requested the resolution be sepa-rated into two parts – to establish the award and how funding will be implemented. The fol-lowing areas were ad-dressed as new requests:

1. Create JROTC Cadet of the year Appli-cation

2. How Scholarship Award are Distributed

There were no reso-lutions or additional funding considered. Meeting adjourned at 11:56 a.m.

National Security/ Foreign Affairs

Meeting was opened

The Commission met on January 11, 2020. Chairperson Bob Oeth opened the meeting and the following re-ports were given by the respective committee chairperson.

Boy ScoutsThe meeting was

open by Chairper-son Stan Gatewood at 10:00 a.m. on January 11, 2010. Roll call was conducted, and previ-ous minutes were ac-cepted. There was some discussion from previ-ous meeting regarding Eagle Scout applica-tion as well as design/purchase of Boy Scout pins. New discussion included:

1. There were three candidates for the Squared Knot Award

2. Boy Scouts needed Donation for building

3. Eagle Scout Judg-ing would occur, March 21, 2020 at Boy Scout Building

There were no reso-lution or additional requests for funding. Meeting Adjourned.Boys State Enrollment

The meeting was opened by Chairper-son Chuck Mason at 12:00 noon on Janu-

ary 11, 2020. Roll call was conducted, and previous minutes were accepted. Discussion from previous meet-ing was on the on-line application process for delegates. There was only one item of new business – chairperson Mason passed out new trifolds and updated Post and District Chair-person material.

There were no resolu-tions or additional fund-ing for consideration. Meeting Adjourned at 12:48 p.m.

Girl ScoutsThe meeting was

opened by Chairperson Gail Galich at 1:00 p.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was conduct-ed, and previous min-utes were accepted. Discussion from previ-ous meeting, was on scholarships and if a district does not have a scout can one be taken from another district. A motion was also made to change scholarship to award as to allow re-cipient to use it on other needed items, i.e. com-puter, books etc. There were three items of new business;

1. Need to find ways to get new girls

2. Juniors who lost the previous year can re-submit project

3. Looking for schol-arship Scouts

There was one re-

quest to increase fund-ing in the amount of $1,000 in case of a tie (this request also sub-mitted in a resolution). There was one other resolution and that was to change the wording from Scholarship to award. Committee ap-proved both.

Being no further business, meeting ad-journed at 1:52 p.m.

Flag Education & Etiquette

The meeting was opened by Chairper-son Thomas Fredrick at 10:00 a.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was conducted, and previous minutes accepted. Dis-cussion from previous minutes covered voting on district winning es-says to determine boy and girl winners. New business included;

1. Reviewed charter Evaluations.

2. Addressed con-cerns within Districts and the program itself.

3. Essays are to be handwritten.

4. No restriction on length of essays.

5. Judge essay on content; not punctua-tion, complete sentence, spelling or paragraph structure.

6. Keep criteria and content the same – no changes.

Two winners (boy and girl categories)

See page 8

The Internal Affairs Commission met on January 11, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. Chairperson Paul Smith opened the meeting. Roll call was conducted, and previ-ous minutes approved. The following commit-tee reports were given by the respective chair-person.

MembershipThe meeting was

opened by Chairper-son Richard Brown at 3:00 p.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was conducted, and previ-ous minutes read and accepted. Old Busi-ness included the fol-lowing:

1. 95% Streamers distributed to Districts

2. Districts mem-bership reports

3. A n n o u n c e d March Operation Full Court Press (March 21, 2020) would be a one-day event – material will be shipped March 10th to Districts.

4. D e p a r t m e n t Commander remarks

5. Membership tro-phy presented to 11th District.

There were no reso-lutions or additional

requests for funding. Meeting adjourned 3:45 p.m.

Youth Cadet Law Enforcement

Meeting was opened by Chairperson T.J. Small at 12:00 p.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was conducted, and previous minutes accepted. In old busi-ness there was one correction to minutes – four awards will be $500 each. New busi-ness included the fol-lowing:

1. Date of Acade-my – July 19-25, 2020 at Anderson University

2. District orienta-tions will be required

3. Coin being de-veloped for graduating cadets – cost $10 per coin to help offset cost.

4. Setting up date to prepare equipment for cadets

5. Application is on-line.

Meeting concluded with district reports. There were no reso-lutions or additional requests for funding. Meeting adjourned.

Public RelationsMeeting by Chair-

person was opened by Chairperson Roger Hilligoss at 1:00 p.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was con-ducted, and previous minutes accepted. The committee discussed

several ideas to take back to encouraged Districts and Posts to get involved in i.e. flag education, housing for homeless veterans, le-gion birthday etc.

There were no reso-lutions or additional requests for funds. Meeting adjourned at 1:20 p.m.

New Post Development/ Revitalization

Meeting was opened by Chairperson Ron Byrley at 10:30 a.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was con-ducted, and previ-ous minutes accepted. Old business included discussion about the forthcoming resolution during the spring con-ference. New business included reports from the districts – reports including information regarding possible clo-sure and merging of posts.

Committee voted to meet for 30 minute sat upcoming spring con-ference. There were no resolutions or addition-al requests for funds. Meeting adjourned at 11:00 a.m.

Post EducationMeeting was opened

by Chairperson Ron Byrley at 10:30 a.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was conducted,

See page 8 See page 8

See page 8


by Chairperson Mike Patrick at 1:00 p.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was conducted, and previous minutes ac-cepted. There was no old business to consid-er. There was a time of open discussion among the committee mem-bers where they talked about current actions in the Middle East. Will investigate inviting a quest speaker at spring conference or invite leadership who attended the Washington Confer-ence to come in and pro-vide updates.

There were no reso-lutions or additional funding considered. Meeting adjourned.

Sons of The American Legion

Meeting was opened by Chairperson Larry Horvath at 3:00 p.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll

call was conducted, and previous minutes were accepted. There was no old business discussed. There were two reso-lutions considered and approved by the com-mittee:

1. Department send two separate certified letters; A letter to zero posts notifying them they are in jeopardy of losing their charter and a second letter to select-ed squadrons who failed to send in the correct per member amount (detail of squadrons available through department).

2. Support of Grego-ry J. Wagner candidacy for Detachment North-ern Vice Commander

There were no further resolutions considered or additional funding requested. Meeting ad-journed.

AMERICANISM from page 7

were also announced:1. Girl – Camille

Graber, Post 154, 3rd District

2. Boy - Baylor Mill-er, Post 97, 4th District

There was no resolu-tions or additional fund-ing considered. Meet-ing adjourned at 12:00 noon.

Children Education & Welfare Fund

The meeting was opened by Chairper-son Richard Brown at 2:00 p.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was conducted, and previous minutes accepted. Dis-cussion from old busi-ness was the finance report which were pre-sented, read and accept-ed by the committee. New business included the submission of the following application requests:

1. CEWF Applica-tions – Nine submitted, eight were approved in the amount of $3,527.27 and one was condi-tional in the amount of $500.00 based on addi-

tional information need-ed.

2. IVETS Applica-tions – Six submitted and approved in the amount of $1,308.59.

There were no resolu-tions or additional fund-ing requested. Meeting adjourned at 2:45 p.m.

Rehab, Children & Youth

Meeting was opened by Chairperson Davin Sharber at 10:00 a.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was conducted, and previous minutes were approved. Discussion from old business in-cluded:

1. Questions regard-ing COTA raffle and contact posts for dona-tions.

2. R e c o m m e n d $5,000 donation and committee to create a flyer to distribute infor-mation to all posts.

3. Educator of the Year packets picked up by District chairperson.

4. Committee ap-proved to set goal at $5,000.00 for 2020 and donations to be turned into District, forwarded to department and check presented to COTA at

state conventionThere were no resolu-

tions or additional fund-ing requested. Com-mittee agreed to meet for one hour at Spring conference. Meeting adjourned.

Oratorical & School Awards

Meeting was opened by Chairperson James Grauvogi at 11:00 a.m. On January 11, 2020. Roll call was conducted. Old business included discussion by Butch Miller on the following areas:

1. National increased scholarship (over $400,000.00 available).

2. Need outside help to judge

3. Slight increase of students

4. Thank Sal for their help and continued sup-port

New business includ-ed reports from district representatives which covered the status for their upcoming contests – all were covered by districts or zones.

There were no resolu-tions or additional fund-ing requested. Meeting adjourned at 11:30 a.m.

Junior Shooting SportsMeeting was opened

by Chairperson Ida Mae Jewell at 2:00 p.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was conducted, and previous minutes ap-proved. There was no old business discussed. The following new business was consid-ered and discussed by the Committee:

1. Plans for a coach-ing class

2. Open CMP course on-line

The current tourna-ment date is March 14, 2020 – snow date would be March 21, 2020. Two location were discussed to for the competition was Warsaw Nation-al Guard Armory for Northern tournament location – still need con-sent. Still looking into using Concord High School.

There was one dis-cussion that would re-quire funding and that was to investigate an on-site CMP Level 1 coach certification course. There were no resolutions considered. Meeting adjourned.

CHILDREN & YOUTH from page 7

and previous minutes accepted. No old busi-ness was discussed. New business included the following discus-sion:

1. Conducting more training at District lev-el.

2. Focus on CPR and Post Certification be 100% for every post

3. Sharing of ideas to increase post com-munity involvement while increasing mem-bership.

4. District ReportsCommittee voted

to meet for one hour at spring conference. There were no reso-lutions or request for funding considered. Meeting adjourned at 11:00 a.m.Firefighter/EMS/Law

& Order AwardsMeeting was opened

by Chairperson Laurie Bowman at 10:00 a.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was conduct-ed, previous minutes were read and accept-ed. Butch Miller re-ported all checks from last year had been dis-tributed and that the “of the year” binders were available and only one per district would be provided – more can be obtained. New busi-ness was as follows:

1. Binder informa-tion is on-line

2. Need judges at close of books to judge applicants.

Districts gave re-ports and meeting ad-journed at 10:25 a.m. There were no resolu-tions or additional re-quests for funds con-sidered.

LegislativeMeeting was opened

by Chairperson Ken-neth Cooper at 11:00 a.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was conducted, and previ-ous minutes were read and accepted. Jerry Jordan introduced Na-tional Vice Command-er Rich Heigert, who made remarks. Com-mittee was updated on recent town-hall meet-ing conducted at Shrine Temple. There was discussion from legis-lators about legislative day, ladies’ veteran day and Big 4 priorities which were approved.

There were no reso-lutions or additional re-quests for funds. Meet-ing adjourned at 11:58 a.m.Religious Emphasis

Meeting was opened by Chairperson Norris Keirn at 12:00 p.m. on January11, 2020. Roll call was conducted, and previous minutes accepted. Old business included discussion about the four chap-lains. New business included the following areas:

1. Legion Family2. National Chap-

lain Ed Harris spoke about the four chap-lains

3. Use Memorial Day services to build your post presence

4. National Chap-lain Program

There were no reso-lutions or additional funds considered. Committee voted to meet for one hour dur-ing spring meeting. Meeting adjourned at 12:45 p.m.

INTERNAL AFFAIRS from page 7

less shelters – certain toiletry items.

There were no resolu-tions or additional fund-ing for consideration. Meeting adjourned.

Indiana Veterans Home

Meeting opened by

Chairperson Jack Platt at 11:00 a.m. on January 11, 2020. Roll call was conducted, and previ-ous minutes accepted. Old business included an update from Paul Steward speaking about replacing beds and up-grading several rooms. Updates for costs will be provided at the spring

conference.New business includ-

ed discussion by Tom & Tamora smith about many upgrades to the facilities, such as the following:

1. Sound – Phase 12. Audio – Phase 23. Flooring & Walls

– Phase 3Committee Reports

followed from all Dis-trict representatives. Those reports includ-ed information about goody bags provided to patients, donation of $506.00 at bingo and a cook-out in September.

There were no reso-lutions or additional request for funding. Meeting adjourned.

REHABILITATION from page 7

tainable if we push just a

little harder. I know it is

not that easy to obtain un-der the circumstances, but as veterans we all know hardships and we have learned to adapt, over-

come and persevere, so let’s keep charging.

I would like to extend a great thank you Legion-naire’s for your service

to our great nation, states and communities and your continuing services, especially to our veterans and families.

DISTRICT 6 from page 5

it be that at the post level, what I would hope started out as an exaggerated wit-ticism started to reflect re-ality, “If you show up to a meeting, they will put you

in charge of something?”It is time to refocus

our recruiting efforts. Emphasis should be on making our organization attractive to those who have served within the last twenty years, instead of deluding ourselves that

the veterans who over the past forty years, have chosen not to be a part of our organization will sud-denly change their minds about us.

It has been a tremen-dous year. If we take the right steps to highlight

our mission as a veterans service organization at the post level, our next hun-dred years will be even stronger than our first. For me though, it’s time I take my place amongst the “has-beens” as yet an-other past commander.

May, John McGee, Lon-nie Boyce, and Bob Hol-land. You all have done an amazing job and repre-sented me well by all the hard work you have done.

I would like to take the time to say thank you to

all my Legion Family for allowing me to serve thru my post, Mooresville Post #103, and as your 7th Dis-trict Commander for the last 2 years. I have learned a lot and made many new friends thru this service. I have decided to step down and not continue for a 3rd term as we have plans to

do some traveling and I will not be able to devote myself to the full extent this position requires. So thank you all!

In closing, I would like to introduce your District 7 Commander Lonnie Boyce. Lonnie, who is currently serving as the post commander for Bra-

zil Post #2, the oldest post in the state. Lonnie has served the last two years as one of my vice com-manders and has been great at doing anything I ask for his help on. I fully support him in his new role and wish him great success.

AIRBORNE!!




By Amy Oberlin [email protected]

ANGOLA — At its 100th birthday celebra-tion Wednesday, the An-gola American Legion got a name.

Post No. 31, chartered in October 1920 after be-ing initially formed in 1919 by 40 World War I veterans, is now offi-cially known as the Billy Crouse American Legion.

Marine Cpl. William H. Crouse IV, 22, and his bomb-sniffing dog, Cane, were killed Dec. 21, 2010, while conduct-ing combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan during Op-eration Enduring Free-dom. Assigned to 1st Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Ex-peditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Crouse was in his first six weeks of his first tour of duty. He lived his child-hood days in Angola.

His mother, Nancy Siders of Fort Wayne, has kept his memory alive and in the process, bol-sters area soldiers.

“I want you to know how much the veterans mean to me,” Siders said Wednesday evening dur-ing the Legion event. “You guys are the thread of society.”

Siders has two other sons, one who served in the U.S. Navy, a daughter and five grandchildren.

She said she hopes they continue to properly hon-or those who give their all for their country.

In naming the post after Crouse, said Indi-ana Legion’s State Com-mander Allen Connelly, LaGrange, the Angola post continues to look to-ward the future.

“It’s a new century and these are the people that we have to attract,” Con-nelly said.

In its 100 years, Post

No. 31 has marked times of youth and vibrancy. Notably, said Connelly, it swelled to around 1,100 members after World War II, presumably be-cause young veterans were seeking degrees at Tri-State College.

Angola Legion Com-mander Jim Penick said the post “still strives to maintain high standards of service.” In the final moments of Wednesday’s celebration, Penick offi-

cially dedicated the post to Crouse “and to all those who have died in service of our country.”

Crouse lived in An-gola as a child before moving to South Caro-lina and eventually join-ing the Marines. He was the 161st Marine killed in Afghanistan in 2010.

“I’ve tried to use my voice for a catalyst for help and healing,” said Siders. “I have not walked in your boots but I have given and shared in your sacrifice.”

Referring to the Bi-ble’s book of James, Nancy posed the ques-tion, “What is faith with-out deed?”

Every soldier’s, every veteran’s commitment shows the extreme faith and the extreme actions of one dedicated to the country and fellow men, said Siders.

“It’s everything to me,” she said. “Every day, I learn something from a veteran.”

In particular she thanked Russ Bauer and the Patriot Guard Riders. Though she still suffers sadness, she said Bauer showed her how to keep moving.

“Do not fear what someone else thinks,” she said. She encouraged those gathered Wednes-day to continue to act on their good intentions. She said the Legion is there to provide a place for them to be with others like themselves and to just be themselves.

It is a place for “hope, healing, laughter, a beer now and then, and refuge in the storm,” said Siders.

Connelly said the Legion continues to be proactive at a national level. It is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. Nationally, the American Legion was founded in 1919 on four pillars: vet-erans affairs and rehabili-tation, national security, Americanism and chil-dren and youth.

Angola Legion named after fallen Marine

Family members Grant Chaffee, left, Melody Chaffee, Nancy Siders, Jennifer Chaffee and Vinnie Siders pay tribute to Billy Crouse, who died in 2010 in Afghanistan and is now the namesake of the Angola American Legion. Crouse grew up in Angola. Courtesy Amy Oberlin

Democrats, Republicans unite to help homeless Hoosier veterans

By: David Williams - WISH-TV 8/

Photos by Tim Sproles

I N D I A N A P O L I S (WISH) — Leading state lawmakers reached across the aisle Wednes-day to launch a new ini-tiative aimed at helping homeless Hoosier veter-ans.

60-year-old US Navy veteran Jeffery Alan Johnson said he spent months living on the streets three years ago.

“In and out of shelters, family,” Johnson said.

He served aboard the U.S.S. New Jersey in the 1980s and served in Leb-anon. But, he fell on hard times.

“Probably the lowest point of my life. One of the lowest points,” John-son explained. “It was bad.”

His story, and the sto-ries of all homeless vet-erans are resonating with state lawmakers.

Federal data shows there were 572 homeless veterans in Indiana last year, a 6% increase from 2018.

“We talk a lot about the differences between House Republicans and House Democrats. But I think one thing we can agree on is helping our veterans.” said Indiana House Minority Leader Phil GiaQuinta.

House Democrats and Republicans teamed up with the Indiana Ameri-can Legion on Wednes-day to launch the “Help-ing our Hoosier Heroes” donation drive.

“To try to bring atten-tion to this worthy cause of supporting those who have supported us over-seas and here at home for our security. Such an il-lustration as to what’s go-ing on in the Middle East right now,” said Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives Brian Bosma.

“I think it’s terrific. I think it’s something that’s much needed,” Johnson said.

More than 3,000 items have been collected so far.

They are asking for the public’s help with col-lecting things like razors, toothbrushes, shampoo and soap.

“It’s outstanding. It re-ally helps to shine a light on the veteran commu-nity and problems with the homeless,” said Al-len Connelly, who is the American Legion, De-partment of Indiana state commander.

Johnson is now en-rolled in college and he owns a small business. In his eyes, the donation drive provides hope for homeless veterans.

“They need a helping hand. They need some hope. Basically they just need some hope, like I needed,” said Johnson.

Hundreds Attend Funeral for Indiana Veteran with No Family

Associated Press

ELWOOD, Ind. (AP) — Hundreds of veterans and other people who never met an 89-year-old Army veteran attended his funeral after central Indiana authorities were unable to track down any of the decorated veteran’s relatives.

Veterans from as far away as Michigan joined high school students and local residents for Thurs-day’s funeral services for George R. Green, a Korean War veteran who died on Dec. 5 of natural causes.

The street in front of the Copher-Fesler-May Funeral Home was lined with American flags and

a member of the Indiana Patriot Guard stood vigil outside as the overflow crowd gathered for the

services in Elwood, about 40 miles northeast of In-dianapolis.

Pastor Rodney Ellis of

First Missionary Baptist Church said that Green, a lifelong Elwood resident who had operated a vene-

tian blind repair business, was awarded the Bronze Star medal four times during his wartime ser-vice that ended in 1953, The Herald Bulletin re-ported.

“He was a true patriot. He laid it all on the line to serve his country,” Ellis said during the services.

Afterward, a long pro-cession of vehicles made the trip from Elwood to the Marion National Cemetery for Green’s burial, with military rites that included a 21-gun salute and the playing of taps.

The funeral home in-vited the public to Green’s funeral after none of his relatives came forward and officials could not lo-

cate any family members. But Green wasn’t alone, said Leon Richardson, a 20-year Army veteran from Greenfield who’s a member of the Combat Veteran Motorcycle As-sociation.

“He had family. We’re all here today,” he said.

Jim Dawson, com-mander of the Elwood American Legion, said Green, who was born and died in the same house in Elwood, won a state championship while in high school for his sing-ing and performed at many weddings.

“He was a quiet per-son,” he said.

Airmen with the 139th Airlift Wing Honor Guard render military funeral honors at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Wathena, Kansas, Dec. 6, 2019. (Patrick Evenson/U.S. Air National Guard)


between their assistance numbers and those of Na-vy-Marine Corps Relief Society and Coast Guard Mutual Aid, said spokes-woman Latoya Crowe. The combined number of sailors and Marines that NMCRS serves is larger than the total number of airmen.

But requests for emer-gency assistance overall are “very low,” she said. They expect an uptick in requests over the coming months.

“We typically do not turn Air Force personnel members away if there’s a need, unless they are in-eligible,” she said, noting the 100-percent approval rate for these COVID-re-lated requests. “However, if they are eligible, but the request is not within poli-cy, the disapproval comes from [Air Force Aid Soci-ety headquarters].”

AFAS is promoting its new COVID-19 pro-grams on social media, and in other ways, she said.

DoD, as well as other nonprofits, provide infor-mation to families about the help available from re-lief societies. When fami-lies contact National Mil-itary Family Association with requests about finan-cial assistance, NMFA always refers them first to the military relief societ-ies, Davis said. She has not gotten any feedback that families are being turned down by any relief society for assistance dur-ing the COVID-19 pan-demic, she said.

“We’re ready to re-spond and we’re working hard to ensure every sol-dier knows,” stated AER officials, who have ap-proved 99 percent of CO-VID-related requests for financial assistance. Their online assistance process with electronic transfer of funds has been helpful in responding to worldwide requests.

Many of the military relief societies’ offices are still open on installations, but even if they’re not, the assistance is accessi-ble through long-standing arrangements between the relief societies, and the American Red Cross.

All the military re-lief societies work with clients who can’t come into the office. They can be reached by phone, or through the American Red Cross, at 1-877-272-7337. Select option 1 for military financial assis-tance.

As for operations in aid society offices on mil-itary installations, service members should check locally:

*AFAS: through the Airman and Family Readiness Center;

*NMCRS:” www.nmcrs.org/locations;

* CGMA: www.cg-mahq.org/locations.html.

*Army Emergency Relief has a locator on its website that helps service members find the nearest AER office or any other military relief society.

Any service member can contact any military relief society for assis-tance, and the request is routed to the relief society that serves their branch of service.Many other nonprofits

helping military families

Military families seek assistance from a vari-ety of other nonprofits, too. Some organizations serving military families on the ground in local communities have seen an uptick in requests for assistance because of the pandemic, just as there has been increased need in civilian communities.

The Armed Services YMCA, which has 12 branches on or near in-stallations in nine states, has seen a four-fold in-crease in requests for as-sistance in some areas, said Charlie Williams, a retired Navy rear admiral who is chief operations officer and chief pro-grams officer. The non-profit’s primary focus is junior enlisted active duty families.

All the Armed Servic-es YMCA branches have stayed open during the COVID-19 pandemic, and have provided servic-es while following safety guidelines of military, lo-cal, state and federal offi-cials, he said.

In the San Diego area, there’s been a four-fold increase in demand, with similar increases in Ha-waii, Alaska, and in the Fort Bragg, N.C. area. From their viewpoint, they haven’t seen greater need in any one branch of service, he said. A num-ber of their Armed Ser-vices YMCA branches are in areas with service members from multiple branches.

The COVID-related needs are primarily in three areas: food assis-tance, child care for es-sential personnel, and education for military children. The branches have had to adapt child care programs, or start new ones to address needs; and have had to use techniques such as curbside pickup for pro-viding food assistance in order to follow social dis-tancing guidelines. Food assistance comes in the form of non-perishable items, and in some cases, commissary gift cards. And rather than the on-site education programs,

Armed Services YMCA branches have found ways to virtually conduct a pre-school environ-ment, or online parenting class with members.

He notes that Armed Services YMCA “is one organization in a vast net-work of other partner or-ganizations helping mili-tary families,” to include nonprofits, the services and DoD.Greater need for Guard and Reserve families?

Some are seeing great-er need in the National Guard and Reserve com-munities than in the ac-tive duty community. For example, about 50 percent of the more than 6,000 requests for PenFed Foundation’s COVID-19 related financial assis-tance have come from the Guard and Reserve com-munity, compared to 10 percent from active duty. About 40 percent have come from the veteran community, said John Nicholson, the nonprofit foundation’s president.

About 80 percent of the applicants ask for help paying rent or mortgage for a month, said Nichol-son, a retired Army gen-eral.

Within four days after the program opened in early March, 6,000 ap-plications had poured in. The foundation has dis-bursed about $600,000 in grants to more than 570 applicants. As soon as more donations come in, more grants go to ap-proved recipients.

Some in the Guard and Reserve community are hard hit, particularly where the service mem-ber hasn’t been activated on federal or state orders, he said. These service members are not eligible for assistance from the relief societies when they are not activated. How-ever, AER is providing assistance for financial hardship caused by the DoD travel ban/stop movement order to Guard and Reserve members who haven’t been acti-vated under Title 10.

In a Pain Points Poll conducted online by the COVID-19 Military Support Initiative during the week ending May 5, 25 percent of National Guard respondents stated they believe financial as-sistance is a top unmet need in their community.

Some of these Guard and Reserve families have experienced a complete loss of income — the ser-vice member may have lost his or her civilian job, weekend drills may have been suspended, and the spouse may have lost in-come, Nicholson said.

“The need is frankly overwhelming,” he said.

At a time when many Americans are suffering financial hardships due to the coronavirus pandem-ic, relatively few military families have sought help through the various mili-tary relief societies.

And the relief societ-ies that serve the sea ser-vices — Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society and Coast Guard Mutual Assistance — have pro-vided far more COVID-related assistance than Army Emergency Relief and Air Force Aid So-ciety. The lowest is Air Force Aid Society, with 23 requests from airmen from the beginning of the pandemic through the week ending May 8.

People across the country have been affect-ed economically by the pandemic. While active duty families do have one steady paycheck still coming in, many rely on two incomes. An un-known number of fami-lies took a hit financially by the stop movement order altering their per-manent change of station move.

It’s difficult to quan-tify the needs of mili-tary families during this period, but some other nonprofits, such as the Armed Services YMCA and PenFed Foundation, have seen an uptick in the financial needs.

According to the week-ly online Pain Points Poll being administered by the COVID-19 Military Support Initiative, in the week ending March 31, 37 percent of the 1,234

military spouses who re-sponded had lost the job they held prior to the CO-VID-19 crisis, had to re-duce their hours or were unable to work.

The relief societies are approving virtually all COVID-related requests for assistance. AER has approved 99 percent of requests; AFAS, 100 percent; NMCRS, 98 percent and CGMA, 100 percent. All the relief so-cieties are providing CO-VID assistance to their services’ Reserve and National Guard members who have been activated on federal or state orders. All have long had proce-dures in place for service members and families to apply for assistance if they can’t physically go into their offices.

The relief societies are nonprofit charities funded largely by donations from the military community. They provide emergen-cy financial assistance to service members and their families. They have unique, long-standing partnerships with their service branches and are recognized as reputable, reliable sources of help for troops and families in need.

“I’m thrilled to hear the approval numbers. It’s encouraging to know that service members and families who are apply-ing for assistance are get-ting it, but I am concerned there might be families in need who don’t apply for it,” said Jennifer Da-vis, government relations deputy director for the

National Military Fam-ily Association. “What can we do to make sure we get the message out that the relief societies are here for you?” She said she is “shocked” by the Air Force Aid Society numbers.

“Those numbers are much lower than we would have anticipated,” she said. “We know that military spouse unem-ployment has increased with COVID-19. We know there are a lot of financial hardships as-sociated with the stop movement order and CO-VID-19 in general.

“We know there are a lot of reasons military families might be going to relief societies, and it’s really surprising the numbers are this low,” she said.

The Army is about 11 times larger than the Coast Guard, but Coast Guard Mutual Assistance has provided coronavi-rus-pandemic-related assistance to more than three times the number of clients, and provid-ed more than twice the amount of dollar assis-tance. CGMA also pro-vides assistance to Coast Guard civilian families, but the overwhelming majority — 80 percent — of their coronavirus-related assistance has gone to active duty Coast Guard families, with half of the active duty assis-tance going to enlisted members in the ranks of E6 and below.

The numbers as of the week ending May 8

# members in total $ service branch # assisted amount as of March 31 Air Force Aid Society 23 $21,714 333,167Army Emergency Relief 134 $245,000 479,233Coast Guard Mutual Assistance 438 $512,035 41,721Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society 408 sailors $335,400 339,048 sailors 112 Marines $94,600 184,694 Marines

Part of the engine be-hind CGMA’s higher numbers is its targeting of a new specific need — parents’ costs of home-schooling and remote learning for their school-age children, as schools across the country have closed. About two-thirds of the people who have received CGMA COVID assistance are in this cat-egory. About 90 percent of those are active duty fami-lies, with over half being junior enlisted, said Alena Howard, chief develop-ment officer for CGMA.

This expanded pro-gram offers grants of $500 to those eligible, which can be used to cover ba-sic school supplies, digital learning aids, study books, and printer ink, but not electronics.

But these education grants represent just about one-fourth of CGMA’s total dollar amount. The overwhelming majority of dollar assistance has been for a spouse’s lost wages, and child care/eldercare assistance as schools and centers are closed. The majority of these cases are active duty families, too. During the pandemic, CGMA has streamlined its

process for zero-interest loans due to lost wages, increased the amount to up to $12,000, and ex-tended repayment periods.

For the other relief so-cieties, loss of spouse in-come is a common cause for requests, as well as DoD’s stop movement orders. There have been cases where families have had to pay rent or mort-gage for two residences, because they had secured a place to live at a new duty station before being ordered to stay in place at the previous duty station.

In one example pro-vided by NMCRS, a mili-tary family had sold their home. Their household goods and vehicle were in storage pending their PCS move overseas. NMCRS helped with temporary lodging.

All the relief societ-ies have expanded eligi-bility for assistance, and expanded programs over the last several months to meet the needs of those affected by the pandemic, and have been pushing out the word to service mem-bers and families that this assistance is available.

For example:*On May 11, Navy-

Marine Corps Relief Soci-ety launched a new “CO-VID-19 Rapid Response Loan,” for needs up to $1,200, expediting the process.

*In March, AER ex-panded eligibility for as-sistance related to hard-ships caused by the DoD travel ban and stop move-ment order to Guard and Reserve members who haven’t been activated un-der Title 10.

*AER and CGMA ex-panded assistance to help pay for out-of-pocket costs for storage of re-mains due to backlogs at funeral homes and the in-ability of cemeteries to conduct burials during the coronavirus pandemic.

The relief societies’ fi-nancial assistance is pro-vided in the form of no-interest loans, or grants, case-by-case based on need. Most is in the form of zero-interest loans, but the aid societies may re-visit the need and convert many of the loans into grants which don’t have to be repaid.

Why the gap? Air Force Aid Society

officials aren’t sure why there’s such a large gap

Why are so few military families seeking COVID-related financial help from these relief societies?


Patriotism, behind bars: Inmates make up Miami County’s last American Legion post

Carson Gerber- Kokomo Tribune,

Photos by Tim Bath

BUNKER HILL – American Legion Post 555 is normal in a lot of ways. Members gather every month for a meet-ing, where Legionnaires present the colors and vote on important de-cisions. They organize fundraisers and donate money to a slew of local causes.

Like many Legion posts, there are bars in the meeting hall, but not the kind serving drinks. These bars are prison bars, and they’re what make the group one of the most unique in the state.

Post 555 is located in-side the Miami Correc-tional Facility. Its entire membership is made up of inmates housed inside the maximum-security prison.

And those inmates represent the last Ameri-can Legion post still op-erating in Miami County.

At one time, both Peru and Amboy had posts, but those closed around five years ago due to dwindling membership. Now, the veterans at the prison are the last ones carrying out the Legion’s mission of advocating for patriotism and commu-nity service.

Ed Trice, alternate national executive com-mittee member for the American Legion and a past state commander, helped found the post 10 years ago inside Miami Correctional during a major push to get the or-ganization inside all the state’s prisons.

Today, there are posts in up to 15 correctional facilities across Indiana, including an all-women’s prison in Madison.

But Post 555 at Miami Correctional is still one-of-a-kind, Trice said.

“Miami County is kind of an oddball con-sidering there aren’t any posts there outside the

prison,” he said. “It’s re-ally unusual to have only one post in a county, and it’s at a prison. I’d say that’s the only one like it in the state.”

The post may be un-usual, but to the 32 in-mates who are members of it, the American Le-gion has been a godsend.

Army Veteran Ga-waine Allen Sr. served four years in the 1990s during Desert Storm, but

never had time to join the Legion after his service. But that changed when he was incarcerated nine years ago at Miami Cor-rectional.

Allen said he was sur-prised to find the prison had a post, so he decid-ed to show up for a few meetings to see what it was all about.

“Once I got in here and saw the camaraderie, I felt like it would be a

good way to keep myself in line,” he said.

And it has. In June, Allen was elected com-mander of Post 555 – which members have nicknamed the Triple Nickel – and now runs the group that has helped him stay out of trouble and turn his life around.

“With us being part of the Legion, we try to hold ourselves to a higher stan-dard,” he said. “We’re

representing them at the same time we’re trying to shine a good light.”

Army Veteran Wil-lie Walton, who serves as the post’s sergeant at arms, said the biggest way joining the Legion has helped him was giv-ing him a sense of pur-pose and something big-ger than himself to live for while he served out his sentence.

“It can really turn a light on inside you,” he said. “You never know, under our circumstances, what can turn that light on. It could be some-thing, a small gesture, to make people realize that we’re not just criminals. Some of us are really try-ing to change our lives.”

That sense of purpose comes in part from the annual fundraisers the Legion holds inside the prison. At least twice a year, they bring in outside delicacies such as White Castle, Krispy Kreme do-nuts or Papa John’s pizza to sell to inmates to raise money for local causes.

Just this year, the post was able to donate $3,500 to the new all-inclusive, hand icap -acces s ib l e playground built in Peru. They also gave money to local nursing homes to buy gifts for veteran residents and donated over $500 to the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.

But there are other tasks which give Legion members something to live for, Walton said.

Every morning, a Le-gionnaire raises the flag at the prison, and every evening, another takes it down. Allen said they try to time the twice-daily ceremony with the one going on just down the road at Grissom Air Re-serve Base, which plays “Taps” during its flag cer-emony that can be heard at the prison.

There’s also a green-house at Miami Correc-tional which is almost exclusively operated by veterans. In the past,

they’ve grown marigolds and other flowers, which they donated to the Mi-ami County Chamber of Commerce to use in a beautification project in downtown Peru. They’re currently growing toma-toes, peppers and other vegetables there.

Post 555 1st Vice Commander David Turn-er said all the outreaches go a long way in helping members stay busy and stay positive during their time in prison.

“Each post has its own, individual unique-ness to it,” he said. “ ... Here, we can coordinate outreaches to help people out on the outside, and it gives us something to do on the inside.”

Commander Allen said inmates can be sus-pended or barred from being a Legion member if they get written up or have disciplinary issues. And that’s an incentive to stay out of trouble and do the right thing.

Andrew White, the prison’s veteran service coordinator and a liaison between the facility and the Legion, said that also means post members are some of the most well-behaved inmates at the prison, which has its own veterans housing unit where Legion members stay.

And that good behav-ior means members have some extra freedoms. During meetings, they are allowed to change out of their prison jumpsuits and wear polo shirts, khakis and Legion-issued caps.

Members are com-pletely in charge of their meetings and determine their own affairs. They even put out an occasion-al newsletter called the “Triple Nickel.”

Walton said it all works to keep post members on the straight-and-narrow path and inspire them to something greater.

All Squadrons in the Detachment of INDIANA can now process membership online

This feature utilizes elec-tronic payment methods via MySAL.org, and eliminates the need for Squadron Offi-cers to send the National and Detachment portion of the (3-part) membership cards and paper-checks to the Depart-ment/Detachment Headquar-ters office.

If you are currently a MySAL.org user, just select the “Process Membership” op-tion in the left-menu. If you are NOT a MySAL.org user, go to www.MySAL.org and sign-up by completing the “Squadron Authorization Form.”

This will directly benefit our Detachment and Squad-rons statewide in the following

areas:• Eliminates duplicate ID

numbers, overpayments, check

writing, delays with card count to national, supply usage

• Better reporting and up-dates to rosters, each transmit-tal creates a report to track re-newals

• Eliminates postage, driv-ing to HQ to drop of cards, cre-ates better timing for meeting target date turn ins

• Squadrons with access to My Legion has ability to do their own research on member-ship without calling into HQs

Take a look at MyLegion.org and explore this new op-tion. As more Posts and Squad-rons enroll into this power-

ful tool, the Department and Detachment resources grown exponentially as the power to process membership, conduct revitalizations, mailings and communications to members is available to Post/Squadron and District leadership.

For more information about SAL online membership pro-cessing or to schedule an acti-vation of the processing tools, please contact Customer Sup-port by calling 1-800-433-3318 or by email: [email protected].


Bikes and pies! Riders Chapter 341 shows gratitude to local hospital staff

By Josh Marshall

While the sight and sound of eight motor-cycles roaring down the road - some with Ameri-can Flags waving in the wind - would grab most people’s attention, these motorcycles were being eyed for another reason. They were delivering twenty assorted pies from Faye’s Northside Café, to IU Tipton Hospital for the staff, nurses, and doctors to enjoy. American Legion Riders Chapter 341 from Cicero called ahead to en-sure they followed proper procedures for delivering to the hospital. “That way the nurses could enjoy the pies, but also we weren’t bringing any contamina-tion to the hospital.” said Jody Brown, Director of Riders Chapter 341. “We met at the backside of the hospital on the load-ing dock and we didn’t go inside. We exchanged ev-

erything with the hospital staff who was wearing all the proper safety equip-ment and we did it how their procedures dictated them to do it.”

Staying active in their community is important to the chapter. Last win-ter, 40-50 Legion Family members arrived on mo-torcycles and delivered Christmas gifts to 33 fos-ter children. Giving back and serving others is im-portant to 341 and they call on other Legionnaires to do the same. “I think it’s important for Legion-naires to volunteer in this time because, as a veteran, as a serviceman, we are dedicated to our country, and community - what better time to show that dedication than during this pandemic,” says Brown.

Doug Crouch was one of the employees who received the pies on the dock Wednesday. He ap-preciated that the pies

were purchased locally in support of the Tipton com-munity. But what touched him the most was seeing the eight veterans stepping up to support the hospital staff. “We really appreci-ate what the veterans have done for us,” says Crouch. For him, seeing the veter-ans show their support of the hospital was fitting, because IU Health Tipton Hospital used to be called Tipton County Memorial Hospital “and we have a long tie with veterans.” Crouch is the third gen-eration in his family that has worked at the hospital. “So it goes way back for me, and it’s heartwarm-ing and very gratifying to know that the veterans appreciate what we’re do-ing.”

Right now, the sched-uled events for Chapter 341 have been put on hold as they follow Governor Halcomb’s orders to stay home. But they hope to ride again soon so they can continue to serve their community.

Legion Rider Chapter 341 on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/le-gionriderscicerochapter/

Courtesy photos

Operation Comfort Warriors

The American Legion Department of Indiana Commander Allen Connelly presents a $5000 check to the VA Northern Indiana Healthcare System greenhouse located in Marion, Ind., Tuesday, June 10, 2020. The check will fund the greenhouse’s operating costs for two years.

The American Legion Department of Indiana Commander Allen Connelly receives a tour of the VA Northern Indiana Healthcare System greenhouse located in Marion, Ind., Tuesday, June 10, 2020.

The VA Northern Indiana Healthcare System greenhouse located in Marion, Ind., Tuesday, June 10, 2020.

The American Legion Department of Indiana Commander Allen Connelly receives a tour of the VA Northern Indiana Healthcare System greenhouse located in Marion, Ind., Tuesday, June 10, 2020.

Legionnaires set teleconferencing precedent nearly eighty ... · make suits and prom dresses, and...

Documents

Transcript of Legionnaires set teleconferencing precedent nearly eighty ... · make suits and prom dresses, and...