I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We started with Christmas Eve at Church service and that was the takeoff. We had a nice houseful of family and friends with great food in mass quantities which put on a few pounds.
With New Years falling on Thursday this year our post Bingo night will be cancelled and the next Bingo night will be Thursday January 15t at 6 p.m. Hope to see you all and ready for a new year of having fun.
I was thinking of past Christmas days and one that came to mind was in 1966. Had to report to Oakland Army Terminal to head to Vietnam on December 19. My family held Christmas a day before I left. My father, mother and twin sister flew to New Jersey and we had a great time.
Upon arriving in-country on December 23, I didn’t see Santa much to my dismay. The one thing that was happening was a strange amount of camaraderie among the group of troops that I happened to be lumped into.
As replacement and not being sent over with a unit, I felt a bit lonely. I soon found out I was not the only one. Sooner than later, you found out where you were going and didn’t have time to concentrate on Santa and what you were missing back home.
The thought of that made me think of all the service men and women serving throughout the world that they must be having some of the same feelings that I went through.
Now coming home on Christmas Eve 1967 was a different feeling altogether. Seeing the family and soaking all that holiday cheer was just what I needed. It made up for the loneliness and fear I felt a year earlier.
VFW National Commander Carol Whitmore sent a letter to the White House urging President Trump to award Purple Hearts to the West Virginia National Guard troops involved in the recent Washington D.C., shooting, which left one dead and one critically wounded.
“Spc. Beckstrom and Staff Sgt. Wolfe answered their nation’s call and wore the same uniform as every American who has been called away from their families to stand a post, whether at home or abroad,” said Whitmore. “If this investigation confirms terroristic intent, recognizing them under the Purple Heart is not just a matter of law, it is a matter of honor.”
VA plans to reorganize the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to improve care for veterans by reducing bureaucracy, clarifying roles and empowering local medical center leaders.
Guided by recommendations from the VA Inspector General and Government Accountability Office, the reorganization will streamline management while keeping staffing levels and services unchanged.
VHA Central Office will focus on policy and oversight, regional networks will support implementation, and local facilities will have greater decision-making authority. These changes will roll out over the next 18–24 months to help VA focus more on better care delivery and less on bureaucracy.
I will be bringing you some hometown veteran news in coming weeks. I believe we have some very interesting veterans in our post, and I will be interviewing them about their service time.
We have veterans from Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines that I consider heroes for their service to our country. I hope that this will be interesting to you all. So next week I will bring to your attention a veteran from the Korean War.
I am looking forward to the New Year that brings our country together. That we have peace in the world. God bless our Country and keep all our troops still serving safe.
God Bless America.
Marc Farmilette ~ Post 1545 Commander
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