VOLUME 83, NUMBER 5 STILL SERVING AMERICA June 2016

THE SOUTH DAKOTA

American Legion Family members from across the state of South Dakota will gather in Watertown, SD, June 16-19, 2016, at the Watertown Event Center for the 98th Annual Depart-ment Convention of The American Legion Department of South Dakota.

Highlighting the convention will be the election of the Department Com-mander for 2016-2017 near the end of the General Session of the Conven-tion on Sunday, June 19. Other elec-

tion activities will include the elec-tion of State Vice Commanders, Department Sergeant-At-Arms, and all Delegates and Alternate Dele-gates to the 98th Annual National Convention of The American Le-gion which is scheduled to be held in Cincinnati, Ohio, August 26-September 1, 2016.

This year there are currently two candidates running for the office of Department Commander. The two candidates are Kenneth E. Orrock of Rapid City, SD, and Charemon Dunham of Iroquois, SD.

This election will also be held on Sunday, June 19th, around 12:00 noon.

Dignitaries invited to address the convention assembly include Den-nis Daugaard, Governor of South Dakota; Sen. Mike Rounds, Sen. John Thune, Rep. Kristi Noem (or representatives from their offices);MG Timothy Reisch, Adjutant Gen-eral and Secretary of Military Af-fairs; Sarah Bierman, U.S. Depart-ment of Labor; Adrien Benton, Director, Black Hills National Cemetery; Darwin Goodspeed, Director, Sioux Falls VA Health Care System; Larry Zimmerman, Secretary of Veterans Affairs; Brad Richardson, Superintendent, Mi-chael Fitzmaurice State Veterans Home; COL Craig Price, South Dakota Highway Patrol; Judge Robert Spears, Veterans Court; Stephanie Judson, SD Community Foundation; Steve Thorson, Mayor

Watertown to Host 98th SD American Legion

Department Convention

Continued on Page 6

Charemon Dunham Post #280, Iroquois, SD

Candidate for State Commander 2016 – 2017

Kenneth E. Orrock Post #22, Rapid City, SD

Candidate for State Commander 2016 – 2017

Charemon Dunham

Ken Orrock

National CommanderDale Barnett to Attend

Department Convention The American Legion Department of South Dakota is honored to wel-come and host American Legion National Commander Dale Barnett from the Department of Georgia for his official visit to our department June 16-19, 2016. National Commander Barnett will be our honored guest at our State Convention and he will be in atten-dance during our daily convention meetings and activities including leading the “Walk For Veterans” on Saturday afternoon, June 18, 2016. National Commander Barnett will be the keynote speaker during the Joint American Legion/Auxiliary/Sons of the American Legion Ban-quet on Friday, June 17, 2016, in the Glacial Lakes Ballroom at the Wa-tertown Event Center. National Commander Barnett will also ad-dress the Legionnaires during the opening session of the State Con-vention in the Theater of the Water-town Event Center on Saturday, June 18, 2016. Please extend a warm South Da-

kota welcome to National Com-mander Barnett as you see him throughout the State Convention. Please make your plans to attend the 98th Annual State Convention in Watertown June 16-19, 2016, for an opportunity to meet and greet Na-tional Commander Dale Barnett.

Dale Barnett National Commander

2015 - 2016

Dale Barnett

Because you are a member of the Legion Family, I know that you feel as strongly as I do about helping and supporting our veterans of all generations. Earlier this spring, all Legionnaires should have received in their mail, Sweepstakes Tickets for an opportunity to win our Grand Prize of $1,000. This Sweepstakes is being conducted to raise the funds needed for our programs, which are second to none in supporting our nation’s veterans, active duty military and their families. You generous support is vital in maintaining the high quality service and support we provide to those who have served and are serving our country! If you took the opportunity to enter the Sweepstakes, you now have a chance to win one of our cash prizes. Your entry may be the one drawn as the winner of our Grand Prize, or one of the other four cash prizes. On Saturday afternoon, June 18, 2016, just prior to recessing our depart-ment convention for the day, we will draw the names of the winners for all five cash prizes. The cash prizes are as follows: Grand Prize is $1,000; 2nd prize is $500; 3rd prize is $300; 4th prize is $200, and the 5th prize will be $100. You do not need to be present to win, but we would love to have you join us at the state convention in Watertown to be able to see the drawing in person. It is important to note that the deadline date for entries into the Sweep-stakes is Monday, June 13, 2016, and the drawing will be on Saturday, June 18, 2016, at our department convention in the Watertown Event Center, Wa-tertown, SD. On behalf of all Legion Family Members in the great state of South Da-kota, I personally wish to THANK YOU for your generosity.

God Bless America! Terry Hanson Department Commander, 2015-2016

You Can Enter to Win $1,000 *Help South Dakota veterans at the same time

The American Legion Eligibility

Dates An individual is eligible for mem-bership in The American Legion if they have served in the Armed Forces of the United States at any time during any war-time period:

WORLD WAR I April 6, 1917 – November 11, 1918

WORLD WAR II December 7, 1941 – December 31, 1946. *Merchant Marine during this War Era only.

KOREAN WAR June 25, 1950 – January 31, 1955

VIETNAM WAR February 28, 1961 – May 7, 1975 LEBANON AND GRENADA August 24, 1982 – July 31, 1984

PANAMADecember 20, 1989 – January 31, 1990.

GULF WAR/OIF/OEF/OND August 2, 1990 through a date of cessation of hostilities as deter-mined by the U.S. Government. Joining The American Legion is easy. There are 240 American Le-gion Posts in South Dakota. Please ask them and they will join.

2016 Legacy Run RegistrationNow Open

Online registration for the 2016 American Legion Legacy Run is now open and will remain open until August 1, 2016. This year’s Legacy Run will leave Kenneth N. Dowden Wayne Post 164 in Indianapolis at 9 a.m. on August 21, 2016, and travel more than 1,300 miles through Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Ohio. On August 25, 2016, the ride will conclude at Post 199 in Harrison, Ohio, on the eve of the 98th Ameri-can Legion National Convention in Cincinnati. More than 500 riders are expected to participate in the Legacy Run. The registration fee is $50 for riders and $25 for passengers. How to Register: Log on to the National American Legion website at http://legion.org, then PRO-GRAMS, then LEGION RIDERS, and finally LEGACY RUN REGIS-TRATION. You can read all the information about the 2016 Legacy Run on this website.

Non

-Pro t

Org

aniz

atio

nU

S P

osta

gePA

IDM

adis

on,S

DP

erm

it N

o. 3

2

PAGE 2 SOUTH DAKOTA LEGION NEWS June 2016

South Dakota Legion News (ISSN 0745-5801)

Vol. 83, No. 5, June 2016 Official Publication of the American Legion of South Dakota

Published six times per year by The American Legion of South Dakota

14 1st Ave SE Watertown, SD 57201

Member American Legion Press Association Member South Dakota American Legion Press Association

Member South Dakota Press Association Printed at 218 Egan Avenue, Madison, SD 57042

Subscription Price: $5.00 a year, send subscription request to: South Dakota American Legion, PO Box 67, Watertown, SD 57201

Warren L. Aas, Watertown, Editor Dennis O. Brenden, Watertown, Managing Editor

Send all copy for publication to: South Dakota Legion News, PO Box 67, Watertown, SD 57201-0067

Office Phone (605) 886-3604, Fax (605) 886-2870 email dso@sdlegion.org

Home page: http://www.sdlegion.org

PLEASE REPORT CHANGE OF ADDRESS TO: SD LEGION NEWS, PO BOX 67, WATERTOWN, SD 57201-0067

2015-2016 STATE OFFICERS State Commander — Terry Hanson, Arlington State Vice Commanders — Gary Henle, Sioux Falls; Ken Orrock, Rapid City National Executive Committeeman — Paul Evenson, Sioux Falls Alternate National Executive Committeeman — Jim Huls, Madison State Adjutant — Denny Brenden, Watertown State Assistant Adjutant — Dave Gutzmer, Lake Preston State Americanism Officer — Larry Madsen, Gettysburg State Chaplain — Patrick Lewellen, Spearfish State Children and Youth — Wolfgang Migge, Watertown State Finance Officer — Gary Wolkow, De Smet State Historian — Fred Lee, Sioux Falls State Judge Advocate — Jim Sword, Hot Springs State Membership Chairman — Ken Teunissen, Sioux Falls State Sergeant-At-Arms — Verle Whipple, Clear Lake State Service Officer — Warren Aas, Watertown

DISTRICT COMMANDERS 1—Russel Edwards, Lead 5—Harry Boner, Castlewood 2—Tom Pranger, Hot Springs 6—Katie Redmann, Wessington Springs 3—LeRoy Klinger, Pierre 7—Richard Ekle, Canton 4—Harley Hansen, Stratford 8—Mike Elsberry, Tyndall Advertising rates upon request; we reserve the right to refuse any advertisement

Please send all original photos and news materials / articles to

South Dakota American Legion P.O. Box 67

Watertown, SD 57201-0067

SD Congressional Contact Information Senator John Thune, 511 Dirkson Senate Office Bldg, Washington, DC 20510, Phone: (202)224-2321, Fax: (202)228-5429, Toll free phone: 1-866-850-3855, Web site: http://thune.senate/govSenator Michael Rounds, Hart Senate Office Building, Suite 502, Washing-ton, DC 20510, Phone: (202)224-5842, Fax: (202)228-5765, Toll Free: (844)875-5268, Web site: http://www.rounds.senate.gov Representative Kristi Noem, 2422 Rayburn House Office Building, Wash-ington, DC 20515, Phone: (202)225-2801, Fax: (202)225-5823, Toll Free: (855)225-2801, Web site: http://noem.house.gov

Harley Hanson

Katie Redmann

Mike Elsberry

District 2 Commander Tom Pranger

Post #71, Hot Springs

District 4 Commander Harley Hansen

Post #207, Stratford

District 6 Commander Katie Redmann

Post #14, Wessington Springs

District 8 Commander Mike Elsberry

Post #2, Tyndall

EDITORIAL POLICY

The South Dakota Legion News is published six times a year to serve its members and interested parties by informing them of Department activities and other relevant issues concerning the veterans of South Dakota. The South Dakota Legion News is also the voice of the members. We welcome articles and photos from members. The news and opinions expressed in this publication does not necessarily reflect the views of The American Legion Department of South Dakota, its Officers, Members, or the Editor. The Editor has the right to edit all articles.

Four Districts Elect District Commanders *District Vice Commanders and County Commanders Also Elected

organizations and will be reported at a later date.

District 3 at Fort Pierre on April 9, 2016 – Jeff Hrabanek of Winner, Tripp County; Wayne Monson of Reliance, Lyman County; Steve Stier of Onida, Sully County; David Stroup of Gettysburg, Potter County; Ken Brueggeman of High-more, Hyde County; Roland Holub of Burke, Gregory County; LeRoyKlinger of Pierre, Stanley County; Glen Smith of Orient, Hand County and Ollie Redden of Pierre, Hughes County.District 4 at Bowdle on April 8, 2016 – James Beckrich of Redfield, Spink County; Justin Loesch of Mobridge, Walworth County; Joel Sayler of Eureka, McPherson County; Kenneth Vilhauer of Hos-mer, Edmunds County; Steve Schu-etzle of Mound City, Campbell County; Wayne “Red” Vetter of Cresbard, Faulk County, and Sam Olson of Aberdeen, Brown County.

District 5 at New Effington on April 17, 2016 - Edward Timm of Elkton, Brookings County; William Luke of Clark, Clark County; Paul Peterson of Webster, Day County; Norman Bohn of Hayti, Hamlin County; James Stone of Canby, Deuel County; Calvin Hove of Sis-seton, Roberts County; Donald Jen-sen of Eden, Marshall County; Tom Scoblic of Big Stone City, Grant County; Dana Jones of Watertown, Codington County.

District 6 at Wessington Springs on April 16, 2016 – Stacey Nelson of Fulton, Hanson County; George Tapken of Alpena, Jerauld County; Loren Scott of Howard, Miner County; David Kogel of Woon-socket, Sanborn County; John Staller of Plankinton, Aurora County; Robert Brodkorb of Wol-sey, Beadle County; Douglas Feltman of Chamberlain, Brule County; C J Wulff of Sioux Falls, Buffalo County; Virgil Schoenfelder of Mitchell, Davison County; and Gary Schumacher of De Smet, Kingsbury County.District 7 at Baltic on April 15,

2016 – Larry Sterling of Madison, Lake County; Richard Loe of Can-ton, Lincoln County; Robert Condon of Montrose, McCook County; David Huntimer of Brandon, Minne-haha County; and John Cole of McCook Lake, Union County. Moody County election TBD.

District 8 at Menno on April 10, 2016 – Paul Weidenbach of Lester-ville, Bon Homme County; Mark Gau of Pickstown, Charles Mix County; Roger Kugler of Vermil-lion, Clay County; Albert Fink of Armour, Douglas County; Robert Rennolet of Menno, Hutchinson County; Trevor Christiansen of Parker, Turner County; and Wayne Brandt of Yankton, Yankton County.

During the 2016 Spring District Conventions, new leadership was elected in the even-numbered Districts along with new leadership in all counties in the Department. Elected to serve as District Commanders and District Vice Commanders were the following individuals:

Mike Ball of Rapid City Post #22 was elected for a two-year term as the District 2 Commander and Patrick Yellow Hair of Batesland Post #281 was elected for a two-year term as the District 2 Vice Commander during the an-nual District 2 Spring Convention on April 3rd in Hot Springs, SD. Due to health reasons, Mike Ball has resigned as the District 2 Commander and a special election was held in Hermosa, SD, on May 18, 2016. Tom Pranger of Hot Springs Post #71 was elected as the new District 2 Commander. Harley Hanson of Stratford Post #207 was re-elected to a two-year term as District 4 Commander and Terry Schmidt of Redfield Post #92 was elected to a two-year term as District 4 Vice Commander, respectively April 8th, during the annual District 4 Spring Convention in Bowdle, SD. Katie Redmann of Wessington Springs Post #14 was elected for a two-year term as District 6 Commander and Catherine Schmidt of Wessington Springs Post #14 was re-elected to two-year term as District 6 Vice Commander, re-spectively, during the annual District 6 Spring Convention in Wessington Springs, SD, on April 16th.

Mike Elsberry of Tyndall Post #2 was elected to a two-year term as District 8 Commander and Greg Gieman of Wagner Post #11 was elected to a two-year term as District 8 Vice Commander on April 10th during the annual District 8 Spring Convention in Menno, SD.

Elected as County Commanders were:District 1 at Piedmont on April 2, 2016 – Donald Tomac of Keldron,

Corson County; Jim Childers of Spearfish, Lawrence County; Darrel Barry of Sturgis, Meade County; Jans Hansen of Meadow, Perkins County; William Monahan of Belle Fourche, Butte County; Perry Keller of Timber Lake, Dewey County; Joshua Klempel of Reva, Harding County and Harold Veit, Jr. of Dupree, Ziebach County.

District 2 at Hot Springs on April 3, 2016 – Mark Mills of Custer, Custer County; Janel Heidebrink of Rapid City, Fall River County; Philip Pearson of Philip, Haakon County; Melvin Young of Allen, Bennett County; Carlos Ro-mero of Manderson, Oglala Lakota County; Cynthia Douglas of Rapid City, Pennington County; Eugene Iron Shell, Jr. of Rosebud, Todd County and Virgil Quick Bear of Wanblee, Jackson County. The other county command-ers within District 2 will be elected at the respective meetings of the county

Tom Pranger Photo

June 2016 SOUTH DAKOTA LEGION NEWS PAGE 3

Annual Report of theDepartment Commander

Legionnaires,

It was just yesterday I walked up on that stage in Huron to take the office of your State Commander. How time flies. It’s been one of the greatest experiences a person could ever have. Well, let me start out by saying thank you to all. It was one great Homecoming with great attendance and the parade was fantastic. We went from party time to “lets get the job done” and away we went. First stop was the Na-tional Membership Workshop in Indianapolis, Indiana. Then here we go again on to Baltimore, Maryland for the 97th Annual National Convention. All I can say is—WOW. At the National Convention, unfortunately we had four

posts that had their charters revoked. The four posts were Ree Heights Post #101, Leba-non Post #188, Garden City Post #199 and Onaka Post #270. It makes me sad to see this happen and a lot of us, you and me, may not realize the real impact that this has on a community. South Dakota Veterans Council meeting was the next thing on the agenda and then in October, it was back to Indianapolis for the Commanders and Adjutants meetings. Upon returning home, I had the pleasure of being asked to participate in the South Dakota State University Hobo Day parade and I walked the entire route (then it was time for a nap in the afternoon.) On November 1st, I had the pleasure of presenting Lester Clarke of Post #110, Wes-sington, SD, his 70 year pin and certificate. Lester is the brother of PDC Donald Clarke. The next day I was in Pierre for the Department Legislative Committee meeting. On November 8th, it was an honor for me to speak at the Mike Durfee State Prison in Springfield, SD, for their Veterans Day program. What a super post this has become. I need to thank Father Joe Forcelle and Springfield Post Commander Pinkelman for their hard work to achieve this goal. Springfield Post Commander Jerommi and Post Adjutant Chitwood are doing a great job with our newest post. I wish them the best of luck in the future. It seems everywhere I go someone wants to feed me. I think they all looked at me as if I was starving—WRONG! I think I put on at least 30 pounds but thank you all for your super hospitality. I had the honor to attend Veterans Day programs, Christmas Parties, and just plain post functions. Thank you. The South Dakota Veterans Council held Legislative Roundtable Session in Water-town, Sioux Falls and Rapid City. We had a great turn out of Legislators and Legion-naires. On December 1st, I was in Hot Springs were I had the pleasure to speak on behalf of the South Dakota American Legion on the subject of closing the Hot Springs VA hospi-tal. I also attended my first Legion Riders meeting while there. I can’t say enough about all the good things the Riders do. Now it was time to start the Youth Trooper Program off for the next year. What a super program it is. I want to thank Helen Reidlinger of Summerset, SD, for accepting the position of Department Woman's Veteran Coordinator. Thank you Helen for step-ping up to the challenge. To all the members of the South Dakota American Legion Auxiliary, thank you and what an honor to be a part of all the Christmas Parties at the State Veterans Home, Hot Springs VA, Fort Meade VA, Human Services Center in Yankton, and the Sioux Falls VA. What an awesome group of great volunteers. Now it is on to the start of the Boys State planning for 2016. What a fantastic program. On January 12, 2016, I was asked to participate in the Korean Ambassador Peace Medal program in Pierre. It was a ceremony to honor our Korean War Heroes. A mem-ory I will never forget. On to Wessington Springs were I was invited to their first American Legion Post meeting since they built their brand new Post Home. I also at-tended the annual soup dinner hosted by Corsica Post #274. The Legislative Reception and dinner was held at the Pierre Post #8 Home. Great turnout of Legislators and Legionnaires and as always, the Legionnaires of Post 8 did an excellent job hosting the event and serving an awesome meal. The 2016 MidWinter Conference in Huron was very well attended and all the present-ers at the breakout sessions did a great job. Then, my wife Trudy and I flew to Washing-ton, D.C. for the annual Washington Conference. It was a super conference capped off with National Commander Barnett’s testimony on Capitol Hill. I attended the 60th annual Past Commanders Recognition Night in Aberdeen and the Michael J. Fitzmaurice State Veterans Home open house in Hot Springs. The Spring District Conferences were a success and well attended. Congratulations to the newly elected District Commanders and District Vice Commanders. The end of my year as your State Commander is coming to an end and I need to thank all of you for all you do. To my wife Trudy and my family, thank you and I love you all for putting up with me and being there when I needed all of you. To all the people on this years DREAM TEAM, thank you all. To the Headquarters Staff, thank you Adjutant Brenden, DSO Aas, Assistant Adjutant Gutzmer, and Sweetheart Judy Greenfield, it has been an awesome year. Thank you. NEC Evenson and Alt. NEC Huls, thank you for your mentorship. To all the Past Department Commanders, thank you for your leadership. To the Legion Family, thank for all you do. To Auxiliary President Jane Benzel, you have a special place in my heart. American Legion Family members - you are all in my HEART. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. Remember: WORKING TODAY FOR A BETTER TOMORROW.

Terry Hanson, State Commander, South Dakota American Legion

Terry Hanson

Terry Hanson

ANNUAL COMMITTEE REPORTS These Annual Committee Reports are submitted and printed in the South Dakota Legion News in accordance

with Article IV, Section 4 of The American Legion Department of South Dakota Constitution.

Resolutions Deadline Approaching *June 14, 2016, Deadline to State Headquarters

The deadline is rapidly approach-ing for submitting general resolu-tions that are to be considered dur-ing the 2016 American Legion Department Convention in Water-town, June 16-19, 2016. General resolutions should be submitted to State Headquarters by June 14, 2016. The Resolution process is serious business. Resolutions tell those in leadership roles what our members want. A resolution represents a formal expression of the official opinion of your post, district, and department. A resolution is a description of a problem or situation that is then followed by a suggestion as to how to correct it. It might also be a statement or declaration as to the policy of a certain matter in which The American Legion believes. Al l Resolut ions must “germane”, that is, closely related to the purpose of The American Legion. It is extremely important that all Resolutions be well written with proper grammar, spell-checked for accuracy, and submitted in the proper format. The content of a resolution must be clear and precise. The facts upon which a resolution is based should be very thoroughly re-searched and verified.

A poorly written resolution that fails to express accurate fact, or one that deals with more than one sub-ject, or is determined not to be ger-

mane to The American Legion is subject to be amended or re-jected.

As a reminder, all resolutions must be typewritten, double-spaced, and two copies must be submitted to State Headquarters. Post officials must certify that each resolution was adopted dur-ing a regular Post meeting, with the date of the meeting in the resolving clause of the resolution, and the resolutions must be signed by the Post Commander and attested to by the Post Adju-tant.

All general resolutions will be reviewed and screened by the Convention Resolutions Commit-tee, which will then assign the resolutions to the appropriate convention committee. The Con-vention Resolutions Committee will have its initial meeting to assign resolutions the morning of Friday, June 17, 2016, during the state convention in Watertown. It cannot be stressed enough that the post submit their general resolutions in the proper format with “supporting documents” if needed and its intent clearly de-fined. The resolution should be free of errors of fact and law.

Every American Legion Post in South Dakota has a 2015 Offi-cer’s Guide. Please refer to pages 144-146 in the Officers Guide for the proper instruction and guid-ance on how to write a resolution.

2016 Eagle Scout of the Year Selected

The 2016 South Dakota American Legion “Eagle Scout of the Year” is Jacob Huber of Canton, SD. Jacob is a senior at Canton High School. He has donated many hours to his church, community and school. Jacob’s application has been for-warded on to the National American Legion Americanism Commission for review in their selection of “The American Legion Eagle Scout of the Year”. The national selection process will take place during the National Spring Meetings in Indianapolis, IN, May 2-5, 2016. Jacob was also the 2015 Department Eagle Scout of the Year. Jacob has been invited to the South Dakota American Legion Convention in Watertown, SD, to receive his award.

Youth TrooperAcademy Candidates

SelectedThis year set another record for

the number of applicants wanting to attend the Youth Trooper Acad-emy with just over 100 applica-tions received by the South Da-kota Highway Patrol to participate in the Youth Trooper Academy in Pierre. Last year their were 70 plus applications for 20 positions. This year in 2016, the class size has been increased to 24 candidates. Below is a list of the candidates that were selected to attend the 2016 Youth Trooper Academy. Colt Bradley of Deadwood, SD; Colton Damjanovich of Lemmon, SD; Morgan Ham of Shadehill, SD; Amanda Riley of Lemmon, SD; Breanna Roberts of Ridge-view, SD; Thomas Undlin of Spearfish, SD; Reece Walno of Spearfish, SD; Shayne Anderson of Rapid City, SD; Bryton Black

of Hot Springs, SD; Ivan Reddest

Pierre, SD; Matthew Campbell of Gregory, SD; Erin Spencer of Pierre, SD; Sierra Kamin of West-port, SD; Makayla Madsen of Aberdeen, SD; Dylan Novak of Herreid, SD; Justin Maas of Ca-vour, SD; Caleb Deist of Harris-burg, SD; Laura Garcia of Madi-son, SD; Caitlin Glover of Sioux Falls, SD; Samantha Pulse of Sa-lem, SD; Dylan Jensen of Viborg, SD, and Casandra Voss of Hurley, SD. The dates of the Youth Trooper Academy are June 27—July 1, 2016, in Pierre, SD.

American Legion Day at Boys State On the Campus of Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD,

Thursday, June 2nd. Breakfast at 7:15 a.m. and Flag Ceremony at 8:25 a.m. Come and visit with the Boys State Citizens and watch them in action.

Combat Veterans Get Telephonic Health Care Application Option

*All Veterans to Get Option on July 5, 2016

WASHINGTON– The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has an-nounced that it has amended its enrollment regulations to all Veterans to complete applications for enrollment in VA health care by telephone without the need for a signed paper application. The change is effective immediately for Combat Veterans and will be effective July 5, 2016, for all Veterans. This phased implementation accelerates VA’s effort to enroll all Combat Veterans with pending applications as part of its ongoing Veterans Enroll-ment Rework Project. The VA is working to complete the review and re-work of all pending health enrollment records for living and deceased Veter-ans this summer. “This improvement to our Veterans’ experience is one we can implement now, and it’s the right thing to do for Veterans,” said VA Deputy Secretary Sloan D. Gibson, “Enrolling all 31,000 Combat Veterans with pending appli-cations is the top priority in our effort to fix our enrollment system.” By adding this telephone application option to VA’s regulations, VA will now offer three ways to enroll. The change provides Veterans an even more convenient way to apply for enrollment, in addition to the paper VA Form 10-10EZ and online enrollment application process. Combat Veterans may now apply by telephone. All other Veterans may apply by telephone starting on July 5, 2016. For more information, Veterans can contact the Health Eligibility Center Enrollment and Eligibility Division toll free at 1-855-488-8440.

of Aberdeen, SD; Dallas Wainman

of Kyle, SD; Kara Brusven of

PAGE 4 SOUTH DAKOTA LEGION NEWS June 2016

Mr. Commander,

The annual South Dakota American Legion Legisla-tive Committee meeting was held November 2, 2015, at Post 8 in Pierre, SD. Present at this meeting were State Commander Terry Hanson, Chairman PDC Mark Weinmann, Royce Loesch, PDC Gary Watts, PDC Rod Martens and State Adjutant Dennis Brenden. Other department officers present were State Vice Com-mander Gary Henle, DSO Warren Aas, State Member-ship Chairman Ken Teunissen, and State Vice Com-

mander and Lobbyist Ken Orrock. Department Service Officer Warren Aas gave an update on the “Call To Ac-tion”. The Call To Action was set up to keep Legionnaires informed on impor-tant legislative issues by email and provide them the information to contact their legislators to support a particular piece of legislation. Three Legislative Roundtables were held in November in preparation for the 2016 legislative session. These Roundtable discussions were held in Watertown on November 18, 2015, Sioux Falls on November 18, 2015, and Rapid City on November 21, 2015. Legislative Roundtables are set up each year for the mem-bers of the South Dakota Veterans Council to present their agendas to members of the legislature. All Legionnaires are invited and encouraged to attend. The Legislative Committee met again in Pierre Post 8 on February 3, 2016, to discuss legislation being introduced in the 2016 Legislative Session. HB 1056 - An act to revise certain provisions dealing with Veterans preference. This bill was signed by the Governor. HB 1163 - An act to revise the periods of time during which Veterans may use tuition benefits at institutions under the control of the Board of Regents. This bill was signed by the Governor. HB 1226 - An act that makes a special appropriation to continue funding the military funeral honors stipend. This money needed to fund this bill was in-cluded in a disbursement to the Department of Veterans Affairs. SB 71 - An act to revise provisions regarding the issuance of small game li-censes and fishing licenses to certain Veterans at a reduced fee and to authorize certain non-resident Veterans to get small game licenses at a reduced fee. This bill was signed by the Governor. SB 122– An act to require that fees collected for military specialty license plates be distributed to County Veterans Service Offices. This bill was defeated in the Senate Transportation Committee. SB 148 - An act to authorize additional beds for the Michael J. Fitzmaurice State Veterans Home and to declare an emergency. This bill was signed by the Governor.SB 149 - An act to provide for certain reduced state park entrance fees for Vet-erans. This bill was sent to the 41st legislative day killing the bill. SC 6 - This Senate Commemoration honors our 2015 Boys State Governor Andrew Flannery of Elk Point and the 2015 Girls State Governor Allyson Mon-son of Clark. The Annual South Dakota American Legion sponsored Legislative Reception was held the evening of February 3, 2016, at the Pierre American Legion Post #8 and it was very well attended by Legislators and Legionnaires alike. Our caps off to the members of Pierre Post 8 for their hospitality for making the reception such a huge success. I would like to thank all the members of the Department Legislative Commit-tee and especially our Lobbyists Royce Loesch, Adjutant Denny Brenden and Ken Orrock who put in a lot of time, effort and travel to make sure the Veterans voice is heard in Pierre. Again, I wish to extend my best wishes to PDC Gerry Goetzinger of Martin, SD, who served as a member of the Department Legislative Committee and its Chairman for many years. Commander Hanson, thank you for allowing me to serve as your Chairman and be a part of your successful year.

Respectfully submitted, Mark Weinmann Chairman, Department Legislative Committee

Mr. Commander,

The past American Legion year 2015-2016 is about to conclude and the Employment Committee can report to you a year that we were able award all the employers awards.

As for the hiring of Veterans Awards, Herreid Valu Market was awarded the winning nomination for the small employer category (fewer than 51 employees). They were nomi-nated by the Jacob A. Heinrich Post 170 of Herried, SD. Rushmore Forest Products, Inc., of Hill City, SD, received the winning nomination for the medium employer category (200 or less employees). They were nominated by Marion Fitzsimmonds Post 160 of Hill City, SD. The winning nomination for the Hiring of Veterans in the large category (201 or more em-ployees), went to Rosenbauer South Dakota, LLC. Of Lyons, SD. They were nominated by

Henry T. Berdahl Post 206 of Colton, SD. The winning nomination for the Employer of the Older Worker’s Award went to Milbank Community Transit of Milbank, SD. They were nominated by Birch-Miller Post 9 of Milbank, SD. The winner of the nomination to En-hance the Lives of the Disabled Award went to Lager’s Inn of Aberdeen, SD. They were nominated by Sidney L. Smith Post 24 of Aberdeen, SD. The Employment Committee for the past year consisted of Earl Schultz of Aberdeen, Gary Warne of Aberdeen, Robert King from Hermosa, Leon Josephsen from Arlington, Curt Pansch of Sioux Falls, and myself. The Employ-ment Committee thanks each one of you that took the time and effort to submit a nomination to this committee to recognize employers in your community. Thank you, Commander Hanson, for giving me the pleasure to serve as your Employment Committee Chairman during your year as State Commander of this great organization.

Respectfully submitted, Tom Scoblic, Employment Committee Chairman

Tom Scoblic

Tom Scoblic

ANNUAL COMMITTEE REPORTS These Annual Committee Reports are submitted and printed in the South Dakota Legion News in accordance

with Article IV, Section 4 of The American Legion Department of South Dakota Constitution.

Mr. Commander, Temporary Financial Assistance is still a viable program of The American Legion. The assistance received is in a form of a grant to be used for payment of rent, food, utilities, medical care, auto repair, just to name a few. To be eligible, the applicant must be a veteran that is eligible for membership in The American Legion and have dependent child or chil-dren under the age of 18. The applicant does not have to be an American Legion member. Once the application is received, an investigation is conducted to ensure the applicant is eligible and all other avenues of assistance have been looked into. The amount of the grant is determined from the information gathered from the investigation. During the past year, requests were granted in the amount of $1,419.75 to two families. Applications may be

obtained from Department Headquarters, or you may give me a call at 605-880-5466, and I will send you an applica-tion. The form is also available online at http://www.sdlegion.org/form/sdamerican-legion-tfa-form/, or by looking under the PROGRAMS tab on the website and clicking on Children and Youth. The many brochures available through The American Legion are also available on the same website under the Chil-dren and Youth tab. Every post should have an active Children and Youth Chairperson/Committee. We need to let our communities know what is available for our youth. As most of you know, Special Olympics has always been a major part in my life. There are well over 2,000 partici-pants within the Special Olympics program and they have a state event or competition every two months over a cal-endar year. Special Olympic events are held each year in January, March, May, July, September and November. Each year in May, I have the honor to present a check from The American Legion Department of South Dakota at their Summer games competition. The money presented comes from the donations received at the Department Head-quarters and each post is asked at the Spring District Meetings to make a donation to this worthwhile cause. With that, I would like to thank all the American Legion Posts and the individual members for their donations to the Children and Youth programs. I would like to thank Commander Hanson for appointing me as your Department Children and Youth Chairman. It has been an honor to serve in this position.

Respectfully submitted, Wolfgang Migge, Department Children & Youth

Mark Weinmann

Wolfgang Migge

Mark Weinmann Wolfgang Migge

2016 National American Legion College Applications Available

Applications for the 2016 National American Legion College are now avail-able. The college will be held October 23-28, 2016, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Download the application from the department website at www.sdlegion.org or the national website at www.legion.org. We encourage all who applied last year to reapply this year. Application deadline to State Headquarters in Watertown is Tuesday, June 14, 2016. Please feel free to contact State Head-quarters in Watertown at 605-886-3604 if you need further assistance.

Bids to Host the 2021 State Convention and MidWinter Conference Invitations are being accepted from the posts wishing to host the 2021 South Dakota American Legion State Convention and the 2021 South Dakota American Legion MidWinter Conference. The offer must be submitted in writing by the prospective host Post, signed by the Post Commander and attested to by the Post Adjutant. Invitations must reach State Headquarters in Watertown, SD, by June 14, 2016. A post may submit their bid to South Dakota American Legion State Headquarters, PO Box 67, Water-town, SD 57201. The Next Meeting Place Convention Committee will meet on Friday, June 17, 2016, in the Watertown Event Center, Watertown, SD, during the 2016 State Convention to review all bids.

HATS IN THE RING Bergstrom-Bodeen American Legion Post #128 of Hudson, SD, has endorsed Richard Ekle of Canton, SD, for the

position of State Vice Commander that includes Districts 3-8.

Peden-Cole American Legion Post #109 of Gary, SD, has endorsed Verle Whipple of Clear Lake, SD, for the position of Department Sergeant-At-Arms.

June 2016 SOUTH DAKOTA LEGION NEWS PAGE 5

Mr. Commander,

I would like to thank you for appointing me as your Department Historian this year. It has been an honor to serve you as your Department Historian. I am working on the Department History for this year so you will have a remembrance of your year as State Commander. I will also assist those who are working to put their histories online for the 100th Anniver-sary of The American Legion.Post Historians should be finalizing their Post Histories now for the History Book contest

at the State Convention in Watertown in June. Entries in the One-Year Post Narrative and One-Year Post Yearbook will be judged by myself and other historians at the convention.

In order to get this completed, we need to get all books to me or turned into the State Convention registration desk no later than 3:00 p.m. on June 17th, in order to be judged.

Guidelines and advice can be found in the Post Officer’s Guide beginning on page 147. Make sure you include a complete copy of the entry form for each entry. These forms can be found on the Le-gion’s home page under “FORMS”. Look for “Post History Forms”. Plaques will be presented to the first, second and third place winners. I would like to encourage all posts to put together a post history, either in book form or now, online. I thank all

historians and Post members for their hard work and commitment in preparing these books. Your Post members will long appreciate your hard work in the years to come.

Respectfully submitted, Fred Lee Department Historian

Fred Lee

Fred Lee

Commander Hanson,

Congratulations on your year as Department Commander of The South Dakota American Legion. Thank you for committing a year of your life to The American Legion, our veterans, their families and our communities as well as the youth of our state.

The programs of the legion are still strong because of the commitment of our leadership and the local posts. Congratulations and thank you to the Department Vice Commanders, Gary henle and ken Orrock, the District Commanders and everyone who worked hard to achieve successful membership goals and programs of The American Legion. I believe the 5 Year Membership Committee is very important to our Department’s Membership plan and has done a great job of securing and promoting membership across the state. It should be realized though that they cannot be successful without the hard work of the blue cap legionnaires in

our local Posts. Membership is always a work in progress and is never finished. My congratulations to the Posts and Districts who have achieved 100% in membership. A special thanks to Membership Chairman Ken Teunissen and his team for the hard work and outstanding job they have done this year. I would like to recognize everyone that partici-pated in post revitalizations across the state.

The programs of The American Legion are important to our communities, our youth and most important to our veter-ans and their families. As veterans and legionnaires, we need to realize how important The American Legion is to those who are served by our programs. Our communities without legion baseball, scouting sponsorships, oratorical contests, Boys State, shooting sports programs and other Americanism programs, would be a very different place.

Our veterans and their families would lack in many services if The American Legion were not in our communities. Our Children and Youth programs go hand in hand with our Americanism programs to insure that our children are taught leadership skills, teamwork and are kept safe. Children and Youth programs such as our Temporary Financial Assistance and the National Child Welfare Foundation help to stabilize the lives of children at risk.

On the National level, I serve on the Citizens Flag Alliance for the National American Legion, Chairman of the Com-mittee on Committees, and NEC liaison to The American Legion National Americanism Commission. These are all appointments from National Commander Barnett. This year I was honored by other Past Department Commander’s to be elected as President of the Past Department Commander’s Club. The term is for one year of a club that is a social gathering that honors a person who is an outstanding citizen outside of The American Legion known as the “Good Guy Award.”

This past year has been a busy year for me on the National level as well as the Department level. I have attended the fall and spring National Executive committee meetings in Indianapolis. I also attended the Washington Conference in February and the National Convention in Baltimore.

On the Department level, I attended a number of Fall meetings and several Spring District meetings this year. I also attended the Mid-Winter Conference as well as the Department Convention, Executive Committee meetings, various standing committee meetings and other Legion functions. The Hot Springs VAMC has continued to be a primary concern of the Department of South Dakota and the National American Legion. Ken Orrock of Rapid City has dedicated many hours representing the Department of South Dakota American Legion at meetings pertaining to the possible closure of Hot Springs. At National Commander Barnett’s testimony before the Veteran’s Affairs Committees in Washington, D.C., the Hot Springs proposed closure was a very prominent issue discussed with this committee. Our National VA&R Chairman Ralph Bozella has been very helpful to ensure that our Hot Springs VAMC is not a forgotten issue. National Commander Barnett and National President Sharon Conatser will be attending our State Convention in Wa-tertown this year. Commander Barnett will be holding a veteran’s walk to draw attention to our nation’s veterans and receive donations to his project for the year, the National Emergency Fund. Please bring a donation from your post to present to Commander Barnett. Thank you for the privilege and honor to serve and represent the Department of South Dakota as National Executive Committeeman. I would also like to thank the staff of state headquarters for their commitment to the Legionnaires and veterans of this state. Remember –a strong membership builds activities and an active Post helps build membership.

For God and Country, Paul A. Evenson National Executive Committeeman

ANNUAL COMMITTEE REPORTS These Annual Committee Reports are submitted and printed in the South Dakota Legion News in accordance

with Article IV, Section 4 of The American Legion Department of South Dakota Constitution.

Mr. Commander,

Thank You Commander Hanson for the opportu-nity to serve as your Department Americanism Com-mission Chairman. I am grateful for the direction provided by the Americanism Commission members. Together we guide and monitor the American Legion Americanism programs. But, I am most proud and humbled by the Legionnaires who carry out leader-ship and patriotic events in Posts across the state. We are participating in changes to reduce costs without reducing our commitment to youth. We are

reaching youth in ways they are used to communicating. Registration for Boys State has been accomplished from their smart phones or computers. The Boys State manual is now available to everyone with a computer or smart phone in .PDF format. The same dedicated experienced public servants will be site to interact with Boys Staters during the week at Northern State University May 30—June 3, 2016. This has not come without costs. We have contracted with a Media Firm to design an electronic registration process. This is a long term investment and should reduce costs long term. Voting at Boys State is done from smart phones and the final vote outcome is available much quicker than the tradi-tional paper process. Northern State University brings students into their Me-dia Center to experience the great potential of that facility. The Oratorical Scholarship program continues to flourish. Youth can listen to orientations and former oratorical contestants on-line. The registration for National is all on-line. We are reducing printing and postage costs. We are utilizing electronic de-vises which students already have and they prefer to use in place of paper documents. We are providing paper documents when requested but having access on-line is preferred. The Youth Trooper Academy program continues to grow. Thank you to PDC Larry Price for his leadership as Liaison with the South Dakota Highway Patrol. Post Americanism Officers, if you have not yet submitted your Post Ameri-canism Report to the Department Headquarters, please get it in before May 20 so the Americanism Commission can include it in their report. Copies of the blank form are available to download from www.sdlegion.org website or your Post Adjutant has a paper copy. The Department Americanism Commission will meet June 2, 2016, on the campus of Northern State University during Boys State. The American Legion continues to collaborate with Scouting to inspire boys to achieve their goals. It is exciting to see the enthusiasm with which our youth develop competencies. Thank you PDC Rick Mac Donald for your de-votion to the Boy Scouts. I look forward to seeing a good attendance at the Department Convention in Watertown. Let us hear how we can better service local Posts, Communities and the State of South Dakota. Thank you Commander Hanson for giving me the opportunity to represent the Department of South Dakota as its Department Americanism Chairman. Thank you to all members of the Department Americanism Commission for your direction and support.

Respectfully submitted, Larry Madsen, Americanism Commission Chairman

Paul Evenson Larry Madsen

Larry Madsen Paul Evenson

Washington Youth Wins National American Legion Oratorical Contest

INDIANAPOLIS (April 17, 2016) - A home-schooled sophomore from Burlington, Washington, capped a busy weekend of competition in Indianapo-lis by earning an $18,000 college scholarship and first place in The American Legion High School Oratorical Scholarship Program – “A Constitutional Speech Contest.” His winning oration was titled “Constitutional Literacy.” Benjamin Crosby started the weekend as one of 54 state or territorial cham-pions in the 79th annual contest. He advanced to the championship through three rounds of intense competition.

Solomon Brown, a high school senior from Greenwood, Mississippi, earned a $16,000 college scholarship with a second place finish, while Cheyenne Mathews of Ketchikan, Alaska, earned a $14,000 scholarship and finished third. In each round of the competition, orators delivered a rehearsed 8–10 minute address and a randomly assigned 3-5 minute oration on a constitutional topic, each without the benefit of notes and in front of a live audience, including the judges. The 2.2 million member American Legion developed the contest to encourage young people to improve their communications skills and to study the U.S. Constitution. More than $3 million in scholarships have been awarded over the history of the contest.

PAGE 6 SOUTH DAKOTA LEGION NEWS June 2016

98th Annual Department Convention The American Legion Department of South Dakota

Ramkota Hotel and Watertown Event Center 1901 9th Avenue SW, (West Highway 212)

Watertown, South Dakota June 16-19, 2016

State Convention Schedule of Events

Thursday, June 16, 2016

10:00 a.m. Department Finance Commission Meeting, Whitewood Room, Watertown Event Center

1:00 p.m. Department Executive Committee Meeting,Whitewood Room, Watertown Event Center

4:30 p.m. 5-Year Membership/Public Relations Committees, Whitewood Room, Watertown Event Center

6:00 p.m. PDC Social and Dinner, Lunker’s Restaurant

Friday, June 17, 20169:00 a.m. Department Headquarters Registration Desk

Opens, Lobby Area, Watertown Event Center10:00 a.m. Resolutions Convention Committee Meeting, Cattail Room, Watertown Event Center 11:30 p.m. SDALPA Meeting and Luncheon, Watertown Event

Center1:00 p.m. Convention Committee Chairpersons Meeting with

Department Commander and Adjutant in the Watertown Event Center Lobby

1:30 p.m. Convention Committee Meetings, Assigned Rooms Posted in Registration Area, Event Center

4:30 p.m. Joint Memorial Service, Theater, Event Center 6:00 p.m. No Host Cocktail Reception,

Glacial Lakes Ballroom, Watertown Event Center7:00 p.m. Joint American Legion/Auxiliary/SAL Banquet,

Glacial Lakes Ballroom, Watertown Event Center *Keynote Speaker, National Commander Dale Barnett

Saturday, June 18, 20168:00 a.m. Registration Desk Opens, Pre-Function Area,

Watertown Event Center 8:00 a.m. Department Headquarters Desk Opens,

Pre-Function Area, Watertown Event Center 9:00 a.m. South Dakota American Legion Convention

General Session Convenes, Theater**Convention will not recess for lunch.

2:30 p.m. Convention General Session Recesses *Drawing for Sweepstakes cash prizes

3:00 p.m. “Walk For Veterans” Event, Bus Shuttle Available National Commander Barnett will lead the walk! 6:00 p.m. Go-Getters Reception, Watertown Legion Post #177:00 p.m. Go-Getters Dinner, Watertown Legion Post #178:00 p.m. Fun Auction, Kotadome (by pool), Ramkota Hotel *Proceeds to SD American Legion Foundation

Sunday, June 19, 20168:00 a.m. Registration Desk Opens, Watertown Event Center 8:00 a.m. Department Headquarters Desk opens,

Pre-Function Area, Watertown Event Center 9:00 a.m. SD American Legion Convention General

Session Reconvenes, Theater, Event Center12:00 p.m. Election of Officers, (if all other business of the

convention is completed prior to this time, the elections will be conducted at the time the other business is completed), Theater, Event Center

12:30 p.m. Installation of Officers, Theater, Event Center

Ninety-Eighth Annual Department Convention Adjourns. Post Department Executive Committee meeting following

adjournment in the Watertown Event Center Theater

*Conference Schedule of Events is subject to change

of Watertown; and Sandra Hors-man, Director, Black Hills VA Health Care System, as well as the leadership of other major veterans service organizations in South Da-kota.

This year, as at recent past state conventions, the department will recognize the State Oratorical Champion, Boys State Governor, and the Department Eagle Scout of the Year.

Winners of the South Dakota American Legion Press Association competition will be announced.

Winners of the “Pride of the Prai-rie” membership awards, the “Excellence in Americanism” awards and the annual History awards will also be announced dur-ing the convention general assem-bly.

Additional activities will include the recognition of all District Le-gionnaires of the Year and the an-nouncement of the Department Legionnaire of the Year as well as the recipient of the Robert C. Gabri-elson Memorial Leadership Award.

There will also be presentations of multiple Employer of the Year and Membership Awards.

Activities planned for Thursday, June 16th, include the Department Finance Commission meeting at 10:00 a.m. and the Department Executive Committee will meet at 1:00 p.m. All of these meetings are scheduled to be held in the White-wood Room in the Watertown Event Center. The 5-Year Member-ship / Public Relations Committees will meet at 4:30 p.m. in the White-wood room following the Depart-ment Executive Meeting. These are open meetings and everyone is in-vited to attend.

Activities for Friday, June 17th, starts off with the Resolutions Com-mittee initial meeting at 10:00 a.m. in the Watertown Event Center.

SDALPA will hold their annual luncheon and meeting at 11:30 a.m.

in the Watertown Event Center. At 1:00 p.m. all the convention commit-tee chairpersons will meet in the lobby area of the Watertown Event Center with Adjutant Brenden where they will receive their committee packets. At 1:30 p.m., the meetings of all convention committees will take place followed by the Joint Memorial Service which will be held in the Theater room in the Watertown Event Center starting at 4:30 p.m. At 7:00 p.m., the Joint American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary, and Sons of The American Legion Banquet will be held in the Watertown Event Cen-ter. Tickets must be purchased in advance for the banquet as no tickets will be sold at the door. A reminder that the deadline to order banquet tickets is Friday, June 10, 2016, from Watertown Post #17.

The keynote speaker for this year’s Joint American Legion/Auxiliary/SAL Banquet will be Dale Barnett, 2015-2016 National Commander of The American Legion. National Commander Barnett is from the De-partment of Georgia.

Saturday’s activities include the General Assembly Session commenc-ing at 9:00 a.m. in the Theater in the Watertown Event Center with several dignitaries scheduled to address and bring greetings to the convention. As in all the past years, there will be no break over the lunch hour during the general session.

The Past Commander’s social and dinner is scheduled for Thursday evening and that is scheduled to be held at Lunker’s Restaurant located on Highway 20 on Lake Kampeska starting at 6:00 p.m.

There will be no convention parade this year, however, there will be a “Walk For Veterans” scheduled for Saturday, June 18, immediately fol-lowing the general session. There will be bus transportation available at the Watertown Event Center to take all Legion Family walkers to the start point of the walk. National Com-

98th Annual Department Convention in Watertown Continued from Page 1

2016 American Legion / Auxiliary / Sons of the American Legion 98th Annual State Convention, Watertown, SD

JOINT BANQUET TICKET ORDER FORM NOTE: DEADLINE to order Banquet Tickets is June 10, 2016

————————————————————————————————–Pre-order form for tickets to the Joint American Legion / Auxiliary / SAL Banquet

Name___________________________________________________________________ Address________________________________________________________________ City_____________________State______Zip________Phone ( )________________

Number of Tickets requested @ $30.00 each_________Total Amount_____________

Banquet Menu: Florentine Chicken Breast, roasted tomatoes, wilted spinach, basil cream sauce, garden salad, vegetable, Minerva’s house bread, coffee or iced tea.

Mail ticket request to:

Watertown Post #17 P.O. Box 292

Watertown, SD 57201

mander Dale Barnett will lead the walkers which will take us back to the Codington County American Legion Post #17. “Walk For Veter-ans” T-Shirts can be ordered from the Watertown Legion Post for $15 each. Get your T-Shirt and join us for National Commander Barnett’s “Walk For Veterans.”

There will be the annual Go-Getter reception and meal. The reception will be held at the Water-town American Legion Post #17 with a social around 6:00 p.m. and the meal served shortly after social.

Of course, you may find a few hospitality rooms at the convention hotel after the Go-Getter reception. A great way to socialize, meet and greet fellow Legion Family mem-bers, and snack on some good food to end your day’s activities.

Again this year, a fun auction is planned with proceeds donated to the South Dakota American Legion Foundation. The fun auction is scheduled to be held in the Kota-dome area in the Ramkota Hotel following the Go-Getter dinner.

Sunday’s final General Session will include the final various Com-mittee reports as well as the election of delegates and alternate delegates to the 98th Annual National Con-vention that will be held in Cincin-nati, Ohio, August 26 – September 1, 2016. Convention delegates will also elect the Department State Vice Commanders, Sergeant-At-Arms, and finally, Legionnaires will cast their votes and elect their new De-partment Commander that will serve during 2016-2017.

The last order of business will take place as the newly elected State Commander will hold a Post Department Executive Committee meeting immediately following adjournment of the 98th Annual State Convention in the convention hall.

PLEASE MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO:

American Legion Post #17

June 2016 SOUTH DAKOTA LEGION NEWS PAGE 7

State Convention Fun Auction

Items Needed Do you have an item or some items that you would like to donate for the 2016 State Convention Fun Auction? This year will be the seventh con-secutive year that very nice donated items will be auctioned off at the State Convention. Over the past couple years, several thousands of dollars have been raised in support of the South Dakota American Legion Foun-dation. Funds raised at this auction goes to the South Dakota American Legion Foundation for the programs in our department. Please consider donating auction items. Fun Auction will be held in the Watertown Ramkota Hotel.

“Walk For Veterans” T-Shirt Order Form

$15.00 each

Name:___________________________________________ Address:_________________________________________

SIZES: NO. ORDERED: Small__________ #Ordered_______ Medium________ #Ordered_______ Large__________ #Ordered_______ X-Large________ #Ordered_______ XX-Large_______#Ordered_______

“Walk For Veterans” Route *National Commander Dale Barnett & State Commander Terry Hanson will lead the walk

“Walk For Veterans” Agenda On Saturday, June 18, 2016, immediately following the adjournment of the general convention session for the day, the American Legion Family mem-bers are all invited to join National Commander Dale Barnett and State Com-mander Terry Hanson for a “Walk For Veterans.”

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS FOR THE WALK At 3:00 p.m., Watertown American Legion Post #17 members will have shuttle busses available at the Watertown Event Center to shuttle all walkers to the start point for the “Walk for Veterans.” The starting point for the walk will be on the north end of Bramble Park where everyone will assemble to begin the approximate 2.3 mile walk. Once everyone is assembled at the start point, at approximately 4:00 p.m., National Commander Barnett and State Commander Hanson will lead the walkers down the trail which will finish at the Watertown American Legion Post Home. The map indicates the walk to be approximately 2.3 miles long, give or take a little bit. There will be a couple of water stations set up along the walking route to help keep all walkers hydrated. An emergency vehicle will be available in case it is needed. The Walk For Veterans will take you right by the beautiful Bramble Park as well as Riverside Park in Watertown. If you wish to participate and join the walk, please plan on a comfortable pair of walking shoes for the hike. When the “Walk For Veterans” arrives at the Watertown American Legion Post, the walk ends. Shuttle busses will be waiting at the Post Home to take you back to the Ramkota Hotel (Convention Headquarters). If you would like to stay and socialize at the Post Legion Home, you are certainly wel-come to do that as well. At 6:00 p.m., the Go-Getter’s will arrive at the Post Home for their social gathering and their meal served at approximately 7:00 p.m. The shuttle busses will be available to transport you to and from the Post Home and the Watertown Event Center during the evening. Please remember that after the Go-Getter meal, everyone should re-assemble back at the Ramkota Hotel for the annual FUN AUCTION which will take place in the Kotadome (by the pool) in the hotel. State Adjutant Denny Brenden will be auctioning off all the extremely nice donated items which includes another original painting by John Green (Vietnam theme).

“Walk For Veterans” T-Shirt Below you will find a “Walk For Veterans” T-Shirt order form. If you wish to purchase a “Walk For Veterans” T-Shirt to wear on your walk, you may use the order form and send $15.00 to the American Legion Post in Watertown. They will mail your T-Shirt to you, or if you prefer, they will “hold” it for you and when you register for the State Convention (at the reg-istration desk), it will be waiting for you. You just need to let them know which option you prefer when you place your order. In addition, if you would rather wait and purchase your T-Shirt when you arrive at the State Convention, the T-Shirts will be available at the registra-tion desk for purchase. So, there you have it, get your T-Shirt, get on the shuttle bus, join in on the walk, socialize at the Legion Post, and get on the shuttle back to the Watertown Event Center. A good day for everyone.

(See the “Walk for Veterans” route at right)

Walk for Veterans Map here

VA Announces Community Care Call Center to Help Veterans with

Choice Program Billing Issues WASHINGTON — Veterans can now work directly with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to resolve debt collection issues resulting from inappropriate or delayed Choice Program billing. In step with MyVA’s ef-fort to modernize VA’s customer-focused, Veteran-centered services capa-bilities, a Community Care Call Center has been set up for Veterans experi-encing adverse credit reporting or debt collection resulting from inappropri-ately billing Choice Program claims. Veterans experiencing these problems can call 1-877-881-7618 for assistance. The new call center will work to resolve instances of improper Veteran billing and assist community care medical providers with delayed payments. VA staff are also trained and ready to work with the medical providers to expunge adverse credit reporting on Veterans resulting from delayed pay-ments to providers. VA acknowledges that delayed payments and inappropriately billed claims are unacceptable and have caused stress for Veterans and providers alike. For more details about the Veterans Choice Program visit: www.va.gov/opa/choiceact. Veterans seeking to use the Veterans Choice Program can call 1-866-606-8198 to confirm their eligibility and schedule appointment.

PAGE 8 SOUTH DAKOTA LEGION NEWS June 2016

The Spring District Meetings are over and what a great turn out for all of them. I must say thank you to all the District Commanders for a job well done. I also want to thank all of you that attended the Spring District Con-ventions. It goes to show your commitment to this great organization. I say THANK YOU ALL. I have been honored to be your State Commander this year. The respect I received from everyone I met is very humbling. Thanks for a great year. The memories will last me forever. As my year comes to an end, there are many tasks that need to be accom-plished yet. Number one is that all posts need to get their Consolidated Post Reports submitted to the Department Headquarters as soon as possible. This report is very important to the department and national as it shows how much The American Legion does in each Community, State and Nation. Number two, in membership, we all have our work cut out for us. When I say us, I mean The American Legion Family, Legion, Auxiliary, Sons and Riders. Yes, the whole Legion Family. The picture is not too promising and I know we can do better by JUST ASKING. Every Post I had the chance to visit had something exciting to offer The American Legion. To the Auxiliary I say THANK YOU President Jane. Super job. It’s been a fun year. To the Sons of the American Legion Colin, it has been great to see the Sons involvement this past year. To the Legion Riders, I can’t say enough GOOD things about them. All of it has been AWESOME. To what I call the Dream Team, I say THANK YOU ALL. I can’t forget State Vice Commanders Gary Henle and Ken Orrock and the Main Man, Mr. Ken Teunissen, AWESOME JOB. Last of all to the State Headquarters staff. Adjutant Brenden, Assistant Adjutant Gutzmer, Department Service Officer Aas and Bookkeeper Greenfield, thank you. Thank you for all the conversations good or bad. You are all AWESOME. National Executive Committeeman Evenson and Alternate National Ex-ecutive Committeeman Huls, thank you for your mentorship. Words can’t say enough. Thank you all for your support and God Bless all of you. I believe my Motto says it all: WORKING TODAY FOR A BETTER TOMORROW.

Terry Hanson, 2015-2016 State Commander

“Working Today For A Better Tomorrow”

By Terry Hanson ***State Commander***

Terry Hanson

ANNUAL COMMITTEE REPORTS These Annual Committee Reports are submitted and printed in the South Dakota Legion News in accordance

with Article IV, Section 4 of The American Legion Department of South Dakota Constitution.

Annual Report of theDepartment Membership Chairman

Mr. Commander,

Fellow Legionnaires, it is time of the year for the Annual Report on Membership. My motto is, “Accept the Challenge to Reach Our Goal.” We are “The American Legion” in South Dakota. What an awesome and eye opening experience it has been from the SRP’s at Watertown, Camp Rapid and Sioux Falls and meeting sailors, marines, airmen, coast guard and soldiers of today's services. At the time of my report, we have 34 posts that have reached or

exceeded their membership goal of 100%. Congratulations to each and every one of you and Thank You for a job well done. District 1 is the leading District with 90.31% of their membership goal and that milestone was reached as of April 21, 2016. Fort Pierre Post #20 with 110 members over their membership goal is an excellent accomplishment. To our brothers and sisters from the Native American Posts, thank you for what you have accomplished in membership this year. A special thank you to the Posts that have achieved their goal and more. Thanks for a job well done. We have 15 of our Posts that are below our Constitutional minimum of 15 paid members. These Posts not only need our help but they also stand to lose their Charter. That is not what those listed as charter members would have wanted for their Post. Membership is each and everyone’s business. It is something that we need to be involved with every day of the year. Each one of the Pillars has pro-grams that must be sustained and supported and it takes membership to do so. Membership would be the Foundation for the Four Pillars to have a solid base to be solid and stand on. Membership is an ongoing program of The American Legion which does not stop. The department membership is at 83.60% of goal that was set to balance the books for the department. For those Posts that are 90% or better, it would only take 4 or 5 more members to reach the 100%. What an accomplishment that would be! WOW! Revitalizations were started last year department wide with more in some districts and less in other districts. We started with the largest 40 posts that did not achieve their goal last year. We began in October 2015 and we will finish in May of 2016. We used the Direct Member Solicitation lists, as well as the Post Expired list and the National Expired list to reach out to those members that have let their membership expire to see if they would reinstate, renew or transfer their membership to support a local post. It was well received by the posts that participated in the Revitalization efforts. Every member in the department is part of the sales team for South Dakota. If each and every member would recruit or reinstate a member, our department would double in size. Imagine that—wouldn’t that be awesome! By not reaching our post’s goal, we are continuing the slide down hill and that will eventually lead to a post’s paying membership to be below the consti-tutional minimum and possible closure of the their post. Is that what the Char-ter Members of the post, and our grandfathers, and our fathers who kept the post going would what? I’m sure we all know the answer to that question. I would like to welcome our newest post, the Glenn A. Giese Post #323 in Springfield, SD, to the Department of South Dakota. This is the first new post in many years. It is also only one of two departments with a prison post. Thanks to the 5-Year Membership Council for what they have done with the Revitalizations and the 3 R’s, Recruiting, Retention and Reinstating this past year. Thanks to the State Headquarters Staff for all the assistance and guidance this past year. A huge accolade and thank you to Assistant Adjutant Dave Gutzmer for all he has done for membership and The American Legion. Commander Hanson, I would like to take this opportunity to Thank You for giving me the opportunity to be a part of The American Legion Membership Program.

Respectfully submitted, Ken Teunissen, Department Membership Chairman

Ken Teunissen

Ken Teunissen

Legionnairesof the Year

Recognition During the 2016 Spring District Conventions, the leadership within each District chose one of the local Post Legionnaires of the Year as the District Legionnaire of the Year. One of the 8 District Legionnaires of the Year will be selected to be the Department Legionnaire of the Year at the annual Department Conven-tion. The 2016 District Legionnaire of the Year must attend the Depart-ment’s Convention in Watertown to be eligible to be selected as the De-partment’s Legionnaire of the Year.

The selection committee for the Department Legionnaire of the Year will be comprised of the Department Commander and the two State Vice Commanders. Congratulations to all the District Legionnaires of the Year.

District 1:Duane Riedlinger of Summerset

District 2:John Wheeler of Rapid City

District 3: Ted Spencer of Pierre

District 4: Dale Lacher of Conde

District 5: Betty “Sam: Vaughn of Brookings

District 6: Lanny Olson of Lake Preston

District 7: Martin Luebke of Garretson

District 8: LaVern Rezac of Dante

REMINDER TO ALL LEGIONNAIRES AND POSTS

Please submit your general Resolutions for the State Convention to State Headquarters in Watertown no later than Tuesday, June 14, 2016.

Wisconsin Teen Selected 2016Legion Eagle

Scout of the Year The American Legion’s National Americanism Commission an-nounced May 5, 2016, that Jacob Kelley of Cottage Grove, Wiscon-sin, is the 2016 American Legion Eagle Scout of the Year. A senior at St. John’s Northwest-ern Military Academy and a mem-ber of Boy Scout Unit 145 in Cot-tage Grove, will receive a $10,000 college scholarship. For his Eagle Scout project, Kel-ley folded and personally distributed 3,000 pocket U.S. flags to military personnel at deployment ceremo-nies. The American Legion also awarded a $2,500 scholarship to three runners-up, Jeremiah Lovestrand of Floral City, Florida; Liam O’Connor of Wyoming, Dele-ware; and Jacob Quigley of Bour-bonnais, Illinois.

VA Health Care System By Darwin G. Goodspeed, Director, Sioux Falls VA Health Care System

Recently, there has been a lot of discussion in the press about eliminating the VA health care system and using community health care resources to meet all Veteran’s health care needs. I have received multiple calls from Veterans, Veterans Service Organizations and Veterans Service Officers asking what they can do or how they can make the message heard that they want the VA health care system preserved. The best answer I have for them is ENROLL and as Veterans and stakeholders, take every opportunity to spread the word about positive care you receive from VA and how much you appreciate your local VA. Just like voting, using the VA health care system is a privilege that some do not exercise. I’d ask each and every one of you to encourage your fellow Veterans to enroll for care and spread the word about the care you receive at your VA. If you have already been determined eligible to use the VA health care system, call and make the first appointment to get enrolled. This proc-ess involves one visit where your VA medical record is formally set up. That’s it; you are enrolled. You do not have to use the VA for all health care; you can continue to use your private provider in town and to use pri-vate insurance. Enrolling just establishes a relationship with VA so if you need to use your health care benefits, you are already in the system. Then it’s just a matter of setting the process in motion. If you were determined ineligible to use the VA health care system in the past, see your County or Tribal Veterans Service Officer. They can best advise you on the best process to establish eligibility either by submission of a claim or, in some cases, just submitting a VA Form 10-10EZ. Reminder, too, that as of January 2015 assets are not considered when determining eligibility - only income. By enrolling in your VA health care system and spreading the word about your VA, you are making it known to everyone that you value your VA and you want to preserve this benefit for Veterans.

June 2016 SOUTH DAKOTA LEGION NEWS PAGE 9

Mr. Commander,

Thank you State Commander Hanson for the appoint-ment as Chairman of the V.A.V.S. Committee this year. The commander is a dedicated leader for the Veterans programs along with our Sioux Falls VA Hospital VAVS Representative Darwin Wahlert of Sioux Falls; Hot Springs VA Medical Center and State Veterans Home VAVS Representative Kerwin (Pee Wee) Douthit of Hot Springs; and our Ft. Meade VA Medical Center VAVS Representative Larry Rounsevell of Nemo, SD.

During our annual VAVS meeting on November 5, 2015, it was decided again to furnish money for our Veteran’s daily needs, for outing activities, and for the annual Christmas parties at each center. Each VA medical center representa-tive asked for special needs, they were dental hygiene kits and personal hygiene supplies. There is always a need for coffee and popcorn donations. It is best to send monetary donations for these items. Thanks to all the V.A.V.S. Committee members for their dedicated work for Veterans. Thanks to all the Legion Posts, Auxiliaries, S.A.L. and the American Legion Rider Chapters for your time and monies that go for a very good cause, the Veterans! Please continue to volunteer and keep the donations coming!

Respectfully submitted, Ken Van Kekerix V.A.V.S. Committee Chairman

ANNUAL COMMITTEE REPORTS These Annual Committee Reports are submitted and printed in the South Dakota Legion News in accordance

with Article IV, Section 4 of The American Legion Department of South Dakota Constitution.

Mr. Commander,

On behalf of the Veterans Affairs and Rehabilita-tion Committee, which consists of Chairman DSO Warren Aas, Harry Huffman Jr. of Ethan, Loyson Carda of Lemmon, Ron Hoffer of Roscoe and Dan Scoblic of Big Stone City, it gives me great pleasure to present the following VA&R report. The Veterans Administration (VA) continues to

operate the nation’s largest integrated health care system with more than 1,700 hospitals, clinics, com-munity living centers, domiciliaries, readjustment

counseling centers, and other facilities. Here in South Dakota, we are proud to have the Sioux Falls Health Care System in Sioux Falls and the Black Hills VA Health Care System in Hot Springs and Sturgis (Fort Meade). The VA operates 131 national cemeteries in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Bur-ial and memorial benefits are also available for eligible service members, Vet-erans, and family members. You are always welcome to contact your County or Tribal Veterans Service Officer to inquire about headstones, markers & medallions, or ordering presidential memorial certificates. Congress has approved plans to issue a new veteran ID card to honorably discharged service members in an effort to assist them proving their military service. This ID card will be issued to all veterans and will not replace the medical ID card. The new ID card also cannot be used as proof of eligibility for obtaining federal benefits. The new ID card will serve as proof of your military service for military discounts. It is projected that these new ID cards will be issued by the VA sometime in 2017. The VA has introduced a new smart phone app called the Veterans Appoint-ment Request App. This app will allow Veterans to view, schedule and cancel primary care and mental health appointments as well as track the status of the appointment request and review upcoming appointments. It is currently avail-able in 10 locations and has received positive feedback from the vast majority of Veterans using the app. The VA expects to make the app available to all Veterans by early 2017. If you are a veteran and have not filled out the application to get enrolled into the VA for healthcare, we encourage you to stop in and see your local Tribal or County Veterans Service Officer in your county or contact my office at 605-886-3604 for assistance. The VA has relaxed some of the health care enroll-ment requirements so if you were denied in the past, you may want to check with your local County or Tribal Veterans Service Officer to see if you qualify. The American Legion continues to be very active in the South Dakota Veter-ans Council, working closely with the SDDVA, and as a stakeholder in the Sioux Falls VA Health Care System which conducts quarterly stakeholder meetings. Thank you Commander Hanson for allowing me the privilege to serve as the Chairman of the Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation Committee during your year. Please take the time to attend your next post meeting. Ask your fellow post members if they need a ride to the meeting. You will be glad you did.

Respectfully submitted, Warren L. Aas, DSO, Chairman, VA&R Committee

Warren Aas

Warren L. Aas

Ken Van Kekerix

Mr. Commander, I would like to thank Commander Terry Hanson for appointing me to serve as the Department Internal Affairs Commission Chairman for 2015-2016. The Constitution of The American Legion Depart-ment of South Dakota provides in Article XV, Section 1, that “Any amendment to this constitution may be proposed by an Post, or by the Department Standing Committee on Constitution and Bylaws. Any amend-ment proposed by a Post shall be submitted in writing to Department Headquarters as least six weeks prior

to the annual Department Convention.” “The Department Adjutant shall pre-sent it immediately to the Department Committee on Constitution and Bylaws. At least 30 days prior to said convention, the Department Committee on Con-stitution and Bylaws shall transmit to all Posts, through the Department Head-quarters, a full copy of all amendments submitted by Posts, together with the favorable or unfavorable recommendation of the committee thereon with a brief statement of reasons for such recommendation, and at the time the com-mittee shall, in like manner, distribute to all Posts, full copy of any proposed amendment originating with the committee itself.” No amendment shall be in order for consideration at any convention unless it shall have been so submitted or unless one day notice of a proposed amend-ment is given and there is then unanimous consent of all delegates to such consideration. In our regularly scheduled meeting six weeks prior to our Department Con-vention, the Department Internal Affairs Commission submitted Resolution Number 2016-001; Subject: Amend Constitution Article XV, Section 1. This resolution would basically change the wording of the “Department Committee on Constitution and Bylaws” to the “Department Internal Affairs Commis-sion.” We received no resolutions to change or alter any part of the Constitution and Bylaws from any Post. The Internal Affairs Commission received the American Legion Riders Re-port submitted by Fred Nelson, Department Liaison to The American Legion Riders. This report touched very gracefully and thoroughly on the Four Pil-lars. The Riders do an excellent job of representing our South Dakota Ameri-can Legion. The Internal Affairs Commission also received a request from the Sons of The American Legion to change the day for the Sons of The American Legion at the South Dakota American Legion Convention to Friday from Saturday. The Internal Affairs Commission agreed to this request. It will be sent on to the South Dakota American Department Executive Committee for action. The only way The American Legion will change and grow is with resolu-tions submitted by the Posts within the department.

Respectfully Submitted, Gene Tornow, Chairman, Department Internal Affairs Commission

Gene Tornow

Gene Tornow

Mr. Commander,

Thank you Commander Hanson for appointing me to be the Chairman of the National Cemetery Com-mittee this year. Members of the National Cemetery Committee are Bill Bielmaier of Wall, John Antar of Box Elder, Ron Schuttler of Spearfish, and Jerry Lol-ley of Sturgis. Adriene Benton accepted the position as Director of the Black Hills National Cemetery on March 21, 2016. Ms. Benton was promoted to the Black Hills

National Cemetery from the Fort Smith National Cemetery in Arkansas. She retired with thirty years of service in the United States Air Force attaining the rank of Chief Master Sergeant. There were 834 interments in the Black Hills National Cemetery in 2015 bringing the total interments to 26,711. Projects this summer for the Black Hills National Cemetery include align-ment of headstones in Section “J” along with normal upkeep. On August 5, 2011, grants were awarded to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Si-cangu Akicita Owicahe Tribal Veterans Cemetery in White River, Oglala Sioux Tribe, Akicita Owicahe Lakota Freedom Veterans Cemetery, Pine Ridge, SD, and a National Tribal Cemetery near Sisseton, SD. The traditional Memorial Day Program at the Black Hills National Ceme-tery will be on May 30th starting at 11:00 a.m. (MST). The Tribal Memorial Day Program at the Black Hills National Cemetery is set for 1:00 p.m. (MST).

Respectfully, Ron Millage, Chairman, National Cemetery Committee

Ron Millage

Ron Millage

Ken Van Kekerix

Posts At or Above 100% Membership

Goal(Percentages as of May 23, 2016) POST PCT. Fort Pierre Post #20 638.10% Harrisburg Post #45 186.67% Bullhead Post #82 164.71% Plankinton Post #5 145.45% Chester Post #136 138.30% Edgemont Post #172 135.29% Brandon Post #318 135.19% Little Eagle Post #239 130.77% Batesland Post #281 126.32% Lake Preston Post #63 118.70% Sturgis Post #33 116.80% Rosebud Post #125 111.76% Arlington Post #42 108.67% Alcester Post #86 108.33% Hot Springs Post #71 107.92% Montrose Post #154 107.32% Parker Post #30 105.88% Bonesteel Post #36 104.44% Ethan Post #261 104.30% Volga Post #114 104.21% Kyle Post #265 103.57% Marion Post #235 102.63% Stratford Post #207 102.63% Armour Post #52 102.17% Box Elder Post #315 101.71% Custer Post #46 101.56% Lead Post #31 101.04% Garretson Post #23 100.45% Manderson Post #302 100.00% Hecla Post #68 100.00% Pierpont Post #99 100.00% Milbank Post #9 100.00% De Smet Post #138 100.00% Springfield Post #132 100.00%

Posts Close to Achieving Membership

Goal(Percentages as of May 23, 2016) POST PCT. Hudson Post #128 97.24% Gettysburg Post #135 97.10% R.C. Foothills Post #320 96.67% Delmont Post #249 96.43% Hoven Post #159 96.30% Rosholt Post #48 96.15% Hitchcock Post #84 96.00% N. Sioux City Post #319 95.92% Sioux Falls Post #15 95.71% Colman Post #278 95.45% Eagle Butte Post #308 95.45% Wessington Springs #14 94.71% Fairfax Post #187 94.44% Menno Post #152 94.35% Canistota Post #162 92.86% Winner Post #169 92.73% Grenville Post #267 92.68% Aurora Post #230 92.11% New Effington Post #180 91.89% Letcher Post #93 91.55% Hermosa Post #303 91.39% Virgil Post #268 91.38% Old Agency #314 91.30% Gann Valley #16 91.30% Yankton #12 91.21% Philip #173 91.14% Thunder Hawk Post #279 91.04% Carpenter Post #153 90.48% Toronto Post #81 90.48% Bowdle Post #264 90.00%

PAGE 10 SOUTH DAKOTA LEGION NEWS June 2016

Mr. Commander,

The South Dakota American Legion Athletic Commission would like to thank all the Posts who hosted athletic events this past year, for the upcoming events this year and for all the support given to the commission by Department Commander Hanson and his staff.

Last years’ events were as follows: The State B Baseball tournament was hosted by Post 140 of Salem and won by the host team McCook/Miner. One of the highlights of the tourna-ment was during the opening ceremonies when Past Department Commander Jim Huls did a fly-over with his crew of pilots during the National Anthem. It was a spectacular site. Thank you Jim. McCook/Miner did go on to Minnesota to play in the Division II tournament but was eliminated in 2 games. The State Jr. Legion tournament last year was hosted by Post 8 in Pierre. The eventual winner was Rapid City Post 22 who then went on to a Jr. National Re-

gional tournament in Fargo, ND, and ended up with the runner-up trophy. Our State Championship tournament was hosted by Post 74 in Brookings. Rapid City Post 22 was our State Champion and went to Bismarck, ND, to the Senior National Regional Tournament and fell one game short of making it to the World Series in Shelby, NC. Congratula-tions to all of our teams. Once again, Shelby, NC, set a new attendance record with over 120,000 fans during the event. Our golf tournament was hosted by Post 40 in Webster, SD, and a good time was had by all participants. At this years’ MidWinter meeting, the following Posts were awarded tournaments. The State B Baseball Tourna-ment will be going out west to Winner, SD, and hosted by Post 169. The State Championship Baseball Tournament will also be going out west to Rapid City and hosted by Post 22. Next year’s Jr. State Baseball Tournament will proba-bly be going to Yankton but will be officially decided at our June meeting and then from here on it will be awarded at our January meeting like the rest of our tournaments. Dates to remember for 2016 are as follows. The State B Baseball Tournament will be hosted by Post 40 in Webster, SD, and the dates are July 22nd to July 26th. The State Jr. Legion Baseball Tournament will be hosted by Post 17 in Watertown, SD, and those dates are July 20th to July 24th. Rapid City Post 22 will host the Jr. National Regional Baseball Tournament from July 27th to July 31st. Our State Championship Baseball Tournament will be hosted by Post 15 and the Sioux Falls East baseball team from July 27th to July 31st. The winner will move on to Bismarck, ND, and compete in the Senior Legion National Regional Baseball Tournament from August 4th to August 8th. The win-ner of that tournament will move on to Shelby, NC, and compete in the World Series from August 11th to August 16th. Update on expanding the Jr. program to our Class B Division teams. Department Athletic Commissioners Beau Garcia and John Kirchner have been appointed as Co-Chairmen to do a follow up on this potential new program. Not all the information is in yet but it does look somewhat favorable. Also, Legion teams are to use baseballs this year that have The American Legion Logo on the ball. Old stock baseballs may be used until that old stock is exhausted and then the new baseballs with The American Legion Logo must be used. Also, The American Legion is going to imple-ment a pitch count in the near future. Pitch smart guidelines are in the rule book and are to be used during the regular season and then during post season play old pitching guidelines will be used. Mr. Commander, that concludes my report and on the behalf of the Athletic Commission, it is our pleasure to con-tinue to serve on the South Dakota American Legion Athletic Commission.

Respectfully Submitted, Dan Sudbeck, Chairman, Department Athletic Commission

Mr. Commander,

The Trust Fund has shown an overall negative growth for the year. This is due to two market corrections during the year along with value of the dollar and low interest rates. Interest rates and inflation continue to be low, which makes borrowing good but investments not so good. Since the funds inception, the Legion has been able to withdraw around $67,000 for use, so over-all the fund through the years has been good.

The year end market value as of April 30, 2015 was $420,079, compared to a year end market value on

April 30, 2016 of $400,583. The Department Trust Fund Committee has agreed to meet every six months to track the fund performance and to make any changes as needed. The portfolio is conservatively balanced to keep The American Legion Trust fund secure. Please see the Summary of Assets on page 11.

Respectfully submitted, Randy Rakness, Chairman, Trust Committee

ANNUAL COMMITTEE REPORTS These Annual Committee Reports are submitted and printed in the South Dakota Legion News in accordance

with Article IV, Section 4 of The American Legion Department of South Dakota Constitution.

Mr. Commander,

This has been a great year for the Educational Loan Committee. Last year the committee decided to review and approve loans once a year during the January time frame. This proc-ess started in early 2016. The deadline to submit an Education Loan application is Decem-ber 1st. We added the requirements that students provide a fall semester college transcript and a spring semester class schedule. This is to ensure that the students are staying in higher education beyond one semester. In 2015, we received and approved a total of four loans via emails. Each student re-quested a loan of $1,500. Total loan amount was $6,000.00. The majority of the applica-tions were for grandchildren of wartime veterans. The committee reviewed Teacher of the year nominations in May 2015. Education Loan applications and brochures are available

online at www.sdlegion.org. The education loans offered by the Department of South Dakota, The American Legion, are in the amount

$1500.00 each. A student is eligible for two loans with a maximum total amount of $3000.00. The loans are for secondary education, college or technical school, for veterans, children of veterans, and grandchildren of veterans who meet the requirements as set forth in the Education Loan brochure. In all cases, the veteran must be eligible to join The American Legion. The student must attend a higher education school in the state of South Dakota unless their plan of study is not taught in any South Dakota school. The interest rate is 3% if the student starts repayment with 90 days of termination of school; otherwise, the rate is 8%. The fund is self-sustaining through the built-in re-volving repayment systems and donations. No monies were added to the fund from the Department’s outside income programs. More specific details can be obtained from State Headquarters, your District Education Loan Chairperson, or a member of the state Education Loan Committee. The state committee consists of Jerry Mencke, Huron, Mike Elsberry, Tyndall, and Hugh Holmes, Mitchell. The Education Loan Committee expresses our appreciation for the various memorials and donations received this pass year. We also thank the Department Executive Committee, State Headquarters, American Legion Posts, Auxil-iary Units, and individuals throughout our great state. Mr. Commander, thank you for letting me be the chairman of the Education Loan Committee.

Respectfully Submitted, Hugh W. Holmes Chairman, Education Loan Committee

Hugh Holmes

Dan Sudbeck

Mr. Commander,

The 74th session of the South Dakota American Legion Boys State Program will be held on the North-ern State University Campus from 30 May through 3 June 2016. Once again our session will begin with the Boys State Corporation meeting at 3:00 P.M. on Sunday, May 29th followed by the Boys State Board of Direc-tors meeting at 4:00 P.M. Northern State University is undergoing upgrades

the Johnson Fine Arts Center so this year some of our city, county and state meetings will be held at the Student Center in the Centennial room and also in the Krikac Auditorium. As always, Dr. Smith, Amy Blackstone, Holist Sutton and the NSU staff have made changes to accommodate our program. These improvements will continue to benefit Northern State University and the Boys State Program. Thursday June 2nd is designated as Veterans Day. We encourage all of our Veterans to attend. The Staff and Boys State participants always look forward to meeting our Veterans. This year’s registration process is online. With the completion of the Boys State webpage and online registration, as well as all needed forms being online, we hope to have made the process for becoming a Boys State delegate much easier. I would like to thank The American Legion posts for their coop-eration and patience while we underwent this task. Also, a big thanks to Gary Sheeley and Dave Gutzmer for all their hard work in brining the webpage online. I am hopeful this year our numbers will level off and we can begin increas-ing our attendance. Next year is the 75th Anniversary of the Boys State Program. We have com-mittee in place and working on this celebration. We will be concentrating a large part of our efforts towards contacting and inviting all past Boys Staters and Staff to the 75th Anniversary. Commander, I would like to thank you, the South Dakota American Legion, the Adjutant and staff at Legion Headquarters for the outstanding support we receive for the Boys State Program. We continue to see the “Best of the Best” young Americans attend the Boys State and Boys Nation Programs. This would not be possible without their support and hard work. The Board of Di-rectors, Staff and I are very proud to be part of the South Dakota American Legion Boys State.

Respectfully submitted Eugene Opbroek, Director South Dakota Boys State

Gene Opbroek

Randall Rakness

Randy Rakness

Gene Opbroek Hugh Holmes

Dan Sudbeck

National Commander Dale Barnett has appointed PDC Larry Price of Redfield as National Chairman of the Youth Cadet Law Enforcement Committee. The appointment is through October 13, 2016.

THANK YOU LEGIONNAIRES Because of your great work in membership and recruiting efforts, our department has won 1st Place in the annual Big Twelve competition and the $2,000 prize. This money, which is awarded from National Headquarters, is earmarked to help our State Head-quarters update their computer systems and computer technology. Commander Terry Hanson placed a bid of 92.85% and we made the bid at 92.92%. Congratulations and a job well done!

June 2016 SOUTH DAKOTA LEGION NEWS PAGE 11

ANNUAL COMMITTEE REPORTS These Annual Committee Reports are submitted and printed in the South Dakota Legion News in accordance

with Article IV, Section 4 of The American Legion Department of South Dakota Constitution.

MEMBERSHIP CHAIRMAN FINANCIAL REPORT

Budget Amount 2015-2016 $8,000.00 Membership Award from National $2,000.00Total $10,000.00

DISBURSEMENTS:Committee, Travel & Awards $4,945.39Balance in Fund, 5-1-16 $5,054.61

Summary of Assets as of April 30, 2016

Description of Assets Market Value % of AssetsCash (Money Market) $12,734.76 3.18% Bonds (Fixed Assets) $117,011.59 29.21% Common Stock (Equities) $181,142.91 45.22% Real Asset Fund $48,206.59 12.03% Complementary $41,487.35 10.36%TOTAL $400,583.20 100.00%

SOUTH DAKOTA AMERICAN LEGION EDUCATIONAL LOAN COMMITTEE

FINANCIAL REPORT

Balance, 5-1-15 $114,751.79 RECEIPTS: Loan Repayments $50,407.72 Interest $40.27 Memorials and Donations $881.92 $51,329.91 $51,329.91TOTAL $166,081.70 DISBURSEMENTS: Service Fee $52.17 17 Educational Loans $6,000.00 Refunds $0.00TOTAL $6,052.17 $6,052.17Balance, 5-1-16 $160,029.53

VAVS COMMITTEE FINANCIAL REPORT

Balance, 5-1-15 $4,514.91 RECEIPTS: From General Fund $1,500.00 Interest $1.48 Memorials and Donations $3,720.85 $5,222.33 $5,222.33TOTAL $9,737.24 DISBURSEMENTS: Service Fees $0.00 VA Facilities $5,640.00 Committee & Rep Expenses $0.00TOTAL $5,640.00 $5,640.00Balance, 5-1-16 $4,097.24

ATHLETIC COMMISSION FINANCIAL REPORT

Balance, 5-1-15 $10,859.89 RECEIPTS: Entry Fees $9,300.00 Interest $4.54 $9,304.54 $9,304.54TOTAL $20,164.43 DISBURSEMENTS: Tournament Registrations $0.00 Background Checks $699.00 Scholarship $500.00 Commission Expenses $3,601.96 Refunds to Teams $200.00TOTAL $5,000.96 $5,000.96Balance, 5-1-16 $15,163.47

CHILDREN AND YOUTH FINANCIAL REPORT

Balance, 5-1-15 $12,966.48 RECEIPTS: Interest $4.38 Memorials and Donations $5,125.00 TOTAL $5,129.38 $5,129.38 $18,095.86 DISBURSEMENTS: TFA’s $575.00 TOTAL $575.00 $575.00Balance, 5-1-16 $17,520.86

Calendar of Events June 2016

May 30-June 3: Boys State, Northern State University, Aberdeen, SD 2: American Legion Day at Boys State, NSU Campus, Aberdeen, SD 2: “Pride of the Prairie” Membership Award calculated at State HQ’s 6: D-Day, 1944 10: Deadline to order State Convention Banquet Tickets 14: Flag Day 14: Deadline to submit Bids for 2021 State Convention/MidWinter 14: Deadline for National Legion College Applications to State HQs 14: Deadline for State Convention Resolutions to State Headquarters 16-19: State American Legion Convention, Watertown, SD 16: Department Finance Commission Meeting, Watertown 16: Department Executive Committee Meeting, Watertown 16: 5-Year Membership Committee/PR Media Meeting, Watertown 17: Convention Committee Meetings, State Convention, Watertown 17: Joint Legion/Aux/SAL Banquet, State Convention, Watertown 18: “Walk For Veterans”, State Convention, Watertown 18: American Legion Go-Getters Reception/Dinner, Watertown 18: Fun Auction, State Convention, Watertown, SD 18-19: General Sessions, State Convention, Watertown, SD 19: Election of Officers, State Convention, Watertown, SD 19: Father’s Day 20: National Convention Packets Mailed to Delegates & Alternates 27-July 1: South Dakota Youth Trooper Academy, Pierre, SD

July 20161. Deadline for Consolidated Post Reports to State Headquarters 2: Department Finance Commission Meeting, Chamberlain 4: Independence Day. State Headquarters Offices closed. 11: Deadline for National Convention Packets to State Headquarters 13: SD Veterans Council Meeting, PVA, Sioux Falls, 10 a.m. 16: Department Executive Committee Meeting, Chamberlain, SD 19-23: Jr. Shooting Sports National Championship, Colorado Springs 20-24: State Junior Baseball Tournament, Watertown, SD 22-26: American Legion “B” Baseball Tournament, Webster, SD 22-30: Boys Nation, Washington, D.C. 23: Melanie Martens, ALA Homecoming, Lead, SD, 1:00 p.m. 27-31: State Championship Baseball Tournament, Sioux Falls, SD 27-31 Department Service Officer School – Indianapolis, IN 27-31: National Junior Regional Baseball Tournament, Rapid City, SD 28-31: Membership Workshop – Indianapolis, IN

August 20164-8: National Senior Regional Baseball Tourney, Bismarck, ND 7: Purple Heart Day 11-16: American Legion World Series Baseball Tourney, Shelby, NC 14: V-J Day, 1945 21-24: Legacy Run to National Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio 22-25: SDDVA Annual Benefit School, Pierre 26-Sept 1: 98th Annual Legion National Convention, Cincinnati, OH

2016 American Legion Baseball

Tournaments The 2016 American Legion Base-ball season is winding down and the tournament locations and dates are set. If you get a chance, please come out to the ballpark and cheer on these fine young baseball play-ers. They have worked hard all summer perfecting their baseball skills and by coming out to the ball-park and showing your support for their efforts will be rewarding. The State Junior Baseball Tourna-ment will be held in Watertown, SD, on July 20-24, 2016. The “B” American Legion Base-ball Tournament will be held July 22-26, 2016, in Webster, SD, and this tournament will be hosted by Herbert McKennett American Le-gion Post #40 in Webster, SD.

The State Senior Championship American Legion Baseball Tourna-ment is scheduled to be held July 27-31, 2016, in Sioux Falls, SD, and this tournament will be hosted by Sioux Falls American Legion Post #15 in Sioux Falls, SD. The National Junior Regional Baseball Tournament is scheduled to be held July 27-31, 2016, in Rapid City, SD. The National Senior Regional American Legion Baseball Tourna-ment is scheduled to be held August 4-8, 2016, in Bismarck, ND. The 2016, 90th Annual American Legion Baseball World Series Tour-nament will be held August 11-16, 2016, at Keeter Stadium in Shelby, North Carolina.

Please come out and help support your local American Legion Base-ball team.

The American Legion 100 Year

CentennialCelebration

Every American Legion Post in South Dakota has a history worth sharing. Whether your post was chartered in 1919 or 2009, every post has a story and legacy that has contributed to the overall identity of The American Legion. The Department of South Dakota 100th Anniversary Committee en-courages all posts to research their post history and post that history on The American Legion Centennial Celebration web page for all to see and enjoy. Dick Vohlken, Chairman of the South Dakota American Legion 100th Anniversary Committee, en-courages all posts to go to www.legion.org/centennial and post their history. Please share your post history for everyone to enjoy.

State Commander Terry Hanson Announces Appointment

State Commander Terry Hanson of Arlington, SD, has appointed Korrine Face of Stratford, SD, to the 100th Anniversary Committee.

She is a member of Stratford American Legion Post #207 in Stratford, SD.

PAGE 12 SOUTH DAKOTA LEGION NEWS June 2016

2016 District Legionnaires of the Year Membership“Accept The Challenge to Reach Our Goal”

By Ken Teunissen

***State Membership Chairman***

Ken Teunissen

In State Headquarters as of May 23, 2016 State Vice / District Commanders Membership Standings

State Vice Commander 2016 2016 Goal Mbers Percent

Dist. 1-2 Kenneth Orrock 3,965 3,450 87.01%Dist. 3-8 Gary Henle 19,478 16,203 83.19%

District Commander 2016 2016Goal Mbers Percent

Dist. 1 Russel Edwards 1,662 1,505 90.55% 1Dist. 2 Tom Pranger 2,303 1,945 84.46% 4Dist. 3 LeRoy Klinger 2,196 1,906 86.79% 3Dist. 4 Harley Hansen 2,709 2,045 75.49% 8Dist. 5 Harry Boner 4,180 3,334 79.76% 7Dist. 6 Katie Redmann 3,244 2,700 83.23% 6 Dist. 7 Richard Ekle 4,536 4,019 88.60% 2Dist. 8 Mike Elsberry 2,613 2,199 84.16% 5 Post 500 315 337

State Totals 23,758 19,990 84.14%

New DistrictCommander

Seminar Held in Watertown, SD

The Annual New District Com-mander Seminar was held April 30 & May 1, 2016, at the Dakota Sioux Casino in Watertown, SD. This training and instruction is provided by the department each year to assist our newly elected District Commander’s in their duties during their term as District Commander’s. This training and instruction is also open to all District Vice Commander’s and State Vice Commander’s as well, however, per diem is only paid to the Dis-trict Commander’s (or District Vice Commander’s if substituting for the District Commander) at-tending the seminar. Facilitators for the seminar are authorized per diem. District Commander’s attending the seminar were from District 1, Russ Edwards of Lead; District 4, Harley Hansen of Stratford; Dis-trict 5, Harry Boner of Castle-wood; District 7, Richard Ekle from Canton and District 8, Mike Elsberry from Tyndall. District Vice Commander’s in attendance were from District 4, Perry Schmidt of Redfield; Dis-trict 5, Matt Lagerstrom of White and District 8, Greg Geiman of Scotland. Also attending the District Com-manders Seminar were LeRoy Madsen from Pierre, Gene Rentchler from Brandon and Charemon Dunham from Iroquois.

Attendees heard informational briefings and presentations from Department Commander Terry Hanson of Arlington, Department Adjutant Dennis Brenden of Wa-tertown, State Membership Chair-man Ken Teunissen of Sioux Falls, Department Service Officer Warren Aas of Watertown, State Assistant Adjutant Dave Gutzmer of Lake Preston, Department Fi-nance Officer Gary Wolkow of De Smet, Alternate National Ex-ecutive Committeeman Jim Huls of Madison, State Vice Com-mander Gary Henle of Sioux Falls, Dick Vohlken, Chairman of the Department 100th Anniversary Committee, of Watertown, and Clay Eberhart of the SD Highway Patrol. The training and instruction focused on Duties and Responsi-bilities of the District Com-mander, MyLegion.org, Public Relations, Finance & Budget, Communications, Veterans Af-fairs and Rehabilitation, Member-ship, Conducting District Meet-ings, Conducting Post Visits, Youth Trooper Academy, Leader-ship, Legislation, Resolutions, Charters, Constitution and By-laws, Department Policy Manual, Code of Procedures, Temporary Financial Assistance, and 100th Anniversary.

Another year is coming to a close but the 3 R’s should never stop. We should all continue to Recruit, Retain and Reinstate everyday of the year. Every Legionnaire is a member of The American Legion sales forces because it is up to each and every one of us to maintain the Foundation for the Four Pillars to stand on and to support the programs that each pillar represents. Our department is a 94.13% of our National Goal at the time I write this article. In 2015, at this time we were at 95.89% and in 2014, we were at 97.35%. So as you can see, we have slid back somewhat. A list of expired members in 2014-2015 was sent our for the Districts to work on reinstating those that had not renewed. Of the 40 Post Revitalizations that were scheduled, we have completed 37 so far and plan on completing the last ones during the month of May. It has been an awesome experience to work with the Posts doing these and assisting them in reinstating past members as well as transferring members into a local post and assisting in renewing expired members. When we go set up an informational table at any local event, we should also have information about The American Legion Family available. I want to make a special apology to De Smet Post #138 for not recognizing their accomplishment of achieving 100% of their goal at the District 6 Spring Meeting on April 16th in Wessington Springs. Thank you Legionnaires for a memorable year.

Duane Riedlinger District 1

Piedmont Post #311

John Wheeler District 2

Rapid City Post #22

Ted Spencer District 3

Fort Pierre Post #20

Dale Lacher District 4

Conde Post #148

Betty “Sam” Vaughn District 5

Brookings Post #74

Lanny Olson District 6

Lake Preston Post #63

Martin Luebke District 7

Garretson Post #23

LaVern Rezac District 8

Wagner Post #11

The 2016 District Legionnaires of the Year were chosen by their Districts during the 2016 Spring District Conventions. These 8 District Legionnaires of the Year are now eligible to compete at the Department level and one will be selected as the Department Legionnaire of the Year on Saturday, June 18, 2016, during the 98th Annual State Convention in Watertown, SD. The District Legionnaire of the Year is required to be present at the Depart-ment Convention in order to be qualified for selection as the Department Le-gionnaire of the Year. Being selected as the Department Legionnaire of the Year is a great accom-plishment and the winner will have his or her name added to the huge plaque displayed in the hallway at State Headquarters. Congratulations.

Duane Riedlinger John Wheeler photo

Ted Spencer Dale Lacher photo

Betty Vaughn photo

Lanny Olson

Martin Luebke LaVern Rezac

New District Commanders Seminar Held in Watertown, SD

IMG_0669 photo

District Commanders, District Vice Commanders, and several other Legion-naires, were in attendance in Watertown, SD, on April 30-May 1, 2016, for the annual District Commanders Seminar. District Commanders and Vice Commanders took home a lot of helpful material to assist them in their duties.