I want to thank [Mountain Eagle staffer] Michael Ryan for the opportunity to have an article published in the Windham Weekly.
It has been a bit over year ago that I asked if I could put our information regarding veterans and our VFW Post.
I hope that the community and all veterans, not just VFW members receive information that helps them. I am proud to be a veteran along with my comrades at the Post who I consider heroes.
Memorial Day is more than a sales day or a day off. It’s a day of remembering those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
Somehow that gets lost in the course of our daily lives. It is a solemn day for all who served and lost many of their comrades. Those memories live on in our minds each and every day.
At WAJCS this past Thursday we held our Memorial Day service for the children on the front lawn. The hope that we have is to instill patriotism and awareness of the sacrifices that were made for our country.
A few years ago when I was District 3 Commander I was invited to address a group of Gold Star families.
Some lost family members way back in WWII and their memories of their loved ones who never came home are still fresh in their minds.
This is something that I will never forget. To see a 90+-year-old with tears in her eyes remembering her brother who gave his life for his country was evidence that these warriors are never forgotten.
That brings what Memorial Day is all about. Upcoming at our Post during the Memorial Day weekend we have the Jewett Veterans Memorial Association holding a Chili Cookoff on Saturday May 25, 11 a.m. till 5 p.m.
Our Post is proud to have a small part in this organization that honors the veterans of Jewett. So come out and taste all the chili entries, have some food and maybe find an item at the Chinese auction or maybe be a winner of the 50/50 drawing.
This event is to make awareness that a monument will be erected honoring those who served. Should you want to donate, please make your check payable to VFW Post 1545.
John Giordano has spearheaded this effort, and we are glad to be a part of this effort. Also, make a note on your social calendar that the Windham Rotary will hold at pancake breakfast on Sunday June 9.
Please come and support the great work that the Rotary does for our community. Our Post will be holding our yearly Memorial Day Service on Thursday May 30t, at the Ashland Cemetery, the Windham Cemetery and the Memorial on 296 in Hudsonville.
We will start at 9 a.m. at the grave of Sgt. James F. Carty at the Ashland Cemetery and proceed to Windham where we honor a comrade buried there and finally at the Hensonville Memorial. All are welcome to join us.
For any returning veteran, I want to pass on information that the VA announced the creation of a new grant program to assist service members and their spouses leaving the military as they prepare for their next careers.
VA plans to award around $4 million in grants in 2024 to eligible organizations that provide employment-based resources including resume assistance, interview and job recruitment training, employment placement services and other services to help successfully transition to civilian life.
The VA is committed to providing comprehensive support to the approximately 200,000 service members who separate from the military each year.
In addition to this new grant program, VA helps service members and their families transition by educating them about the VA care and benefits they’ve earned, helping them apply for VA services before leaving the military, calling to check in throughout the first year of separation, providing educational and career counseling, and more.
For more information on VA’s efforts to support transitioning service members and their families. This new program will be one tool in VA’s broader effort to help Veterans further their careers and find good jobs.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced four burial updates for service members who have been missing and unaccounted for from World War II and the Korean War. Returning home for burial with full military honors are:
—Army Pvt. 1st Class Marcus A. Engesser, 21, of Vallejo, California, was a member of Company L, 31st Infantry Regiment. He was among those captured in the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and he died while a prisoner of war on Sept. 23 that same year. He will be buried in his hometown on a date to be determined.
—Army Private Cecil T. Hinson, 20, of Rock Hill, South Carolina, was a member of the Chemical Warfare Service. He was among those captured in the surrender of the Bataan peninsula on April 9, 1942, and he died while a prisoner of war on July 28 that same year. He will be buried in his hometown on a date to be determined.
—Army 1st Lieutenant Nathan B. Baskind, 28, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was assigned to Company C, 899th Tank Destroyer Battalion. He went missing in action in June 1944 and died while a prisoner of war later that same month. Interment services are pending.
—Army Pfc. Thomas A. Smith, 17, of Grant, Michigan, was a member of 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon, Company A, 3rd Engineer Combat Battalion, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Aug. 2, 1950, and the Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953. He will be buried in his hometown on a date to be determined.
As always, please keep our troops still serving in your thoughts and prayers. May God Bless America this Memorial Day weekend with everyone taking a minute of your day to remember the ultimate sacrifice our men and women paid to our country for our freedoms.
Marc Farmilette, PDC – Commander Post 1545.
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