ateeter – Page 89 – Ballard Eagleson Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3063

From the Commander (January 2018)

By Pete Krawitz

2017 was an exciting year for Post 3063. When I began my journey as your post commander six months ago, I laid out four critical priorities; Membership, Community, Accessibility / Continuity, and the Auxiliary.

On the membership front, at the time of writing, our post sits at 88%. We need about 16 new or reinstated members to at meet the 100% goal. I’m confident we will make it. While my stretch goal of 150% may not be attainable this year, I have no reason to doubt that we can double Post 3063’s current membership count (currently 142 members) in the next 2-3 years, especially as our city continues to grow at this rapid pace.

In regards to the auxiliary, there are still many unknowns and we are still without an auxiliary president. A few individuals have expressed interest in taking on the role; however, we will know for sure after the special elections that will take place on Jan. 4. Our auxiliary has the potential to be a very critical and active partner once more. Whatever the outcome of this election, I ask that we all be patient and supportive of the new president and our brothers and sisters in the auxiliary.

I couldn’t be more impressed with our community outreach this year. Our color guard, under the leadership of Jr. Vice Commander Joe Fitzgerald, has been in high demand and busier than ever. We also have a new VA hospital visit coordinator (Comrade Guncay) and continue to make our regular visits to the patients during the holidays. Even some of our new members (Comrades Cavin and Rose) immediately jumped into helping the veteran community and represented Post 3063 by volunteering at the recent Seattle Stand Down event. These are just a few examples of the excellent community work our post members have engaged in this year.

Regarding accessibility and continuity, this is what most of the leadership team is going to be focusing on over the next six months. I have asked the leadership team to start documenting some of our processes. We are going digitize our records and create templates that will make running the post a little less daunting for those considering taking on a post leadership role in the future.

Change, no matter how small, is never easy. I’m very thankful of everyone’s support, guidance, patience, and most importantly, the willingness to test out some of the changes we’ve implemented this year (meeting format, projector, etc…). While none of these changes are necessarily set in stone, I believe many of these slight modifications are the first few steps to make our post more resilient and able to continue operating for many years to come. With that being said, we still have a lot of work to do in 2018. I look forward to your continued support as we continue to solidify our presence as Seattle’s premier VFW post in this rapidly changing city.

All the best to you and yours in 2018. Happy New Year, Comrades!

Zoom Software Digitally Connects Members to Post Meetings

By Charlie Anderson

Recently, Commander Krawitz invited me to test Web conferencing software to view monthly post meetings because we now live in Montana. Later, Pete asked me to write an article about my experience.

On Nov. 9, I sat down at my PC in the den of our mountain home and downloaded the necessary small application. I put on headphones, logged into the conference site and prepared to watch. For the next 90 minutes or so, I heard everything that happened in the post meeting. With a few exceptions everyone who spoke was very clear.

With video conferencing remote users can listen, watch and communicate during the course of the meeting by text or voice. If a secure authentication system were created to verify legal membership it might be possible to participate in votes. Implementing this last feature probably would need a bylaws change.

To use this program effectively you need either a PC or Apple computer, a laptop/pad or Smart Phone. Lacking one of these, you still can listen to a meeting with a landline or wireless phone.

Using conferencing software from your home or office is easy—almost a no-brainer. Given the percentage of the total membership typically attending meetings when I lived in Seattle (around 20% I think), live video meetings could be a way for members who don’t or can’t make monthly meetings to regain some sense of participation. It might even encourage some to get back into active involvement.

Give it a try!

Herb Leake: Engineer, Aid to MacArthur & Devoted Husband

By Gail Engler

It is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of Post 3063 Life Member Herb Leake who passed away on Nov. 21, 2017 at the age of 97.

Herb was born on April 8, 1920 in St. Charles, Illinois. Herb was a Veteran of WWII and served in the U.S. Army, a member of the 101^st Airborne. Herb attended ROTC at University of Washington, and studied Aeronautical Engineering. He was working at Boeing when he received a letter from the Army saying he had been selected for the service. He wanted to join the Navy but was told he could join the Army and transfer later. That never happened, of course.

Boeing tried to keep Herb working there instead of going off to war, saying he was a critical employee to the aeronautical industry. Herb was initially a riveter on the B-17 program at Boeing, then a few months later he transferred to Material as an estimator. He remained there until he entered the U.S. Army on June 14, 1944. He had received a deferment for a few years but eventually joined the Army and was sent to Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, GA. He was wearing PFC stripes on his uniform and was asked where his stripes were. He was given corporal stripes and told to sew them on right away. He was eventually commissioned a second lieutenant after completing OCS.

Herb was sent to the Pacific Theater, which he felt guilty about as he spoke German and thought his language skills could be used in Europe. Many of his OCS buddies went to Europe and they were all killed in the Battle of the Bulge. As his wife said, “Herb’s life seemed to be charmed.” He wasn’t sent to Europe and survived the Philippines. In the Philippines he served as an aide to General McArthur. He was told that his unit would be a part of the invasion of Japan and that there would be no survivors. Luckily, Herb survived his WWII service.

Herb Leake — Herb and Anne Leake at a post holiday social.

Sometime during the war Herb met his first wife but soon after he returned home from the war his wife asked for a divorce. A few years later he and Anne met in Seattle. Herb was dating Anne’s sister when they first met; she was attending Cornish College. After she graduated and went on with her career in commercial art, Herb started calling Anne. Anne was teaching dancing in Westlake Center at night. She also was working a job in Port Angeles. She said she had to quit that job to marry Herb due to the long distance between the two cities. Eventually they married on Feb. 14, 1953. They would have celebrated their 65th Anniversary in 2018.

Herb was in the National Guard at the time they met. He retired as a lieutenant colonel after serving 40 years in the National Guard. One of his duty stations was at the old Armory at Seattle Center. He and Anne had three children together and they each had one child from previous marriages. Herb also worked for Boeing at the same time and retired after 40 years. After retirement Herb served as a volunteer at the Museum of Flight and helped restore the Boeing Model plane 247D, which was United Airlines flagship plane for many years. Herb had a private pilot’s license and was allowed to help fly the 247D partway from Tucson to Seattle. Herb also belonged to the Highline Flying Club and was active in the Boeing Seahorses scuba diving club where Herb was President.

Anne Leake has been an active member of our post auxiliary and has played Santa Claus for our Christmas parties. Her father used to play Santa Claus for many years.

In November 2016, Bill Griffith, Post 3063 Chaplain, organized a remembrance to honor all the WWII Veterans in our Post. Herb attended the celebration.

We will all miss Herb and greatly appreciate his service in World War II. We extend our sincerest sympathies to Anne and her family. A Celebration of Life will be held April 8, 2018, 1-3 p.m. at the Museum of Flight, 9404 E. Marginal Way. Internment of ashes will be April 9, 2018 at Acacia Memorial Park and Funeral Home, Lake Forest Park.

Young and Old Celebrate the Holidays Together at Post 3063

Post 3063 hosted its annual holiday party during the December social on Dec. 21, 2017.
It was a festive event for young and old. Nearly a hundred members, loved ones, and guests attended and dined on free beef tenderloin cooked by Quartermaster Harold Rodenberger (Chef Kay was recuperating from injuries sustained during a fall. Get well soon, Kay!). Harold also organized the event.
Anne Leake gave gifts to the children as Santa: she has played Santa for the past several years. Annette Russell played holiday music on her keyboard. This year even included multiple Christmas carol sing-a-longs!

Holiday Party 2017 — Annette Russell thanks Anne Leake for inviting her to participate in the social the past several years and for her playing Santa.

The kids wait to receive their gifts from Santa.