Category: Commentary

By Harold Rodenberger

Due to the holidays, I wrote this update during the winter equinox, the shortest day of the year. Here in northwestern Washington, there were only about eight hours and twenty-five minutes of daylight. Our typical winter weather of overcast skies made the day seem even darker. Like this short day, most of this past year has seemed dark and dreary. Despite those dark days we carried on with our mission, knowing that the days ahead would be brighter and warmer.

During this past quarter, we continued our business meetings via Zoom. If you haven’t connected on that platform, please join our meeting on January 7th. See Zoom instructions elsewhere in this newsletter and on our website.

Chef Kay and helpers made wonderful dinners for our social nights. The Thanksgiving dinner set a record at 85 dinners prepared, but the Christmas dinner smashed that record with 102 dinners for members and guests. A special thanks to 1SG Britt Anderson, of our adopted unit, who donated three whole tenderloins and to Hope who donated 25 dozen farm-fresh eggs. 

Because of the virus, our hall has been empty, but during December members of Seattle Stand Down assembled and wrapped Christmas presents for needy veterans and their families in our community. Members of the leadership team from our adopted National Guard unit (A Co, 181st BSB) did the same for needy unit members and their families. It was good to see our hall being used for such worthy causes.

It’s been a difficult year for VFW programs, but your post honored students who competed in the VFW Voice of Democracy and Patriot’s Pen programs. Our first-place winners advanced to District level for further competition. We also submitted our entries for Police Officer of the Year and Firefighter of the Year for judging at higher headquarters.

Our Relief Fund contributed funds to the SeaTac USO, Fisher House at the VA Medical Center, members of our post in distress, and to needy personnel in our two adopted National Guard units.

Another hearty “Thank You” to all who assembled poppies. We shipped back to headquarters about 95,000 completed poppies.

As we look forward to the Year of the Ox and brighter times, please join me in applying lessons learned from these dark days by resolving to treasure relationships, show more patience and kindness and further support our fellow veterans and their families.

Happy New Year, 2021!

COMRADES! DON’T WAIT FOR THE STORM TO PASS!

I hope as we pass through the turbulent times of the election process and into the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons, that you have managed to find or create ways to keep yourselves safe and mentally fresh amid the COVID pandemic.

(It really is the virus from hell that just seems to hang around like every other NFL team’s offense when pitted against the Seahawk’s defense.)

In spite of that, I do believe there is light at the end of the tunnel. Social distancing and masks certainly seem to be beneficial and positive controls. But hopefully we will soon have a vaccine in place as well, and several promising remedies for coping with the virus should any of us become infected. They are coming for sure.

But in the meantime, It can be very easy to become lethargic and get caught up with just waiting for the storm to pass. Most of us have never had to deal with anything like this before and it has been a bit of a learning process for sure. So I do hope you all are continuing to remain positive and moving forward with your lives. Embracing the spirit of the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons certainly provides us with many positive feelings that can help us immensely to do this. Also, just finding different ways to help others can actually help us!. Dusting off the old project that “I never have time to do!” and so on. These are just a few of many ways to avoid lethargy from settling in.

Remember….”The sun never quits shinning, it’s just that sometimes clouds get in the way”.

As any true Seattleite knows, “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…. It’s about learning to dance in the rain!”

Continue to stay safe. 

Our country and the world will survive this pandemic.

Commander Joe Fitzgerald

By Robert Lehman, M.D., Post 3063 Surgeon

As a physician, public health officer, and member of this organization, I offer this brief update of where we are with COVID-19.

There are 7 corona virus strains that affect humans.  Four of them we have all experienced, as 25% of the common cold is a corona virus.  In 2003, SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) killed 800 people in China and 3 other countries.  With very tight isolation and wearing masks, and with the luck that the virus was less contagious than the flu, the disease was controlled, and disappeared before a vaccine could be created.  In 2012, MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) affected 27 countries, primarily in the Middle East.  Although 900 people have died from this, (one-third of those infected), it has not easily been passed from human to human.  And now we have SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing the disease COVID-19.

This virus is rapidly spread because 40% of those infected NEVER have symptoms, and thus continue to infect others, often for weeks.  This is a respiratory virus spread by an infected person when breathing out.  That is why EVERYONE needs to wear a mask when around others, as the person without symptoms does not know they are infected and thus can infect others.  It is breathing that infects others, and that is why it is vital that the NOSE and MOUTH be covered.  Face shields are NOT approved as there is no filtering when that person exhales, and bandanas have been shown to be worthless.

To emphasize this, masks are primarily worn to protect OTHERS; although there might be a small amount of protection to the person wearing the mask.  [Wearing a mask should remind people to wash their hands whenever they remove their mask, before they touch their face.].  People who stand out at rallies without masks and say “if I die, I die” don’t understand this.  They need to wear a mask as they can never tell if they themselves are infected and thus passing it to others.  It isn’t their lives at risk when they don’t wear a mask; they pose a risk to the rest of us.

This has been a confusing virus as 40% of people infected have no symptoms, and yet others become extremely ill and die.  I’ll skip the long scientific explanation, but a protein named ACE2 might be a key.  It appears that ACE2 receptor is a magnet for the virus.  Those with higher levels of ACE2 might get ill easier and far more severe than someone with a low level.  ACE2 is higher in chronic lung and heart diseases, diabetes, obesity, smokers, and pregnancy.  Genetically, it is higher in some families than others.  It does appear that it tends to be less in children.

Lastly, the world seems to be putting its hope on a vaccine.  But to use the annual flu vaccine as an example, flu vaccine is recommended to prevent people from DYING from the flu.  As we all know, some people will continue to get the flu despite having been vaccinated.  I hope that I am wrong, but I doubt a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine will prevent all cases of COVID, but hopefully it will dramatically decrease deaths and the need for hospitalization.

In the meantime, please wear your mask whenever around others to prevent infecting others if you happen to be one of those infected and without symptoms (and who may continue to shed the virus for 14 days or more).  AND, wear a mask to also remind yourself that your hands might be contaminated and might infect yourself.  ALWAYS wash your hands or use sanitizer whenever you remove your mask, particularly for eating, drinking, and smoking.