Category: Commentary

By Harold Rodenberger

 

Last year was a good one for our post. We passed one hundred per cent membership in early January and ended the year at 107.81 per cent of our calculated membership for the previous year.

 

Our post shared in a special honor when our outgoing commander, Aaron Stoltz, was selected as an All State Commander. The white hat that goes with this honor is the first won by any commander or quartermaster of our post during the thirty-five years I have been a member. Congratulations Commander Stoltz!

 

In addition to those mentioned in last month’s column, other milestones marking the past year:

• We made some necessary repairs to our old building and it continues to serve us as a good post home which is the envy of many VFW Posts who don’t have a place of their own.
• We rebuilt the wooden stairs leading to the upstairs office and completed the remodel of that office space so it is now ready to be leased, preferably to a non-profit looking for some prime Ballard office space.
• Our newsletter, Ballard Eagleson Patriot, under the editorship of Charles Anderson, was awarded second place in the medium size post category. Quite an honor for the first year of publication.
• Our Post lending library is well organized and has grown under the watchful eye of Librarian Bill Hoeller.
• We hosted two very successful fund raising dinners, the St. Patrick’s Day dinner chaired by Georgia Warrix and the May 1st Spaghetti Dinner chaired by Russ Seelig.
• We have helped the residents of the homeless tent city next door with many gifts of food.

 

Not to rest on our laurels, we look forward to even more activity:

• Our Service Officer, Gail Engler, in addition to being available in our own office, will be staffing an office in the Ballard Senior Center once a month to help veterans in this community.
• Even more visits to local hospitals, nursing and retirement homes.
• More Flag retirement ceremonies.
• Occasional visitations to other posts to attend their meetings and share lessons learned.
• Some special events at our post to honor our local first responders.

 

In addition to these plans, we will see more fund raisers and other special dinners this year as we raise awareness among our members and in our neighborhood that we are a growing post involved in doing good for veterans and our community.

 

By Charles R. Anderson  (Note: The viewpoints expressed in this editorial are those of the author only and may not represent those of the Post or VFW.)

 

Although the United States broke with monarchical rule in England, our beliefs in ideals such as individual freedom still came from there—going all the way back to the Magna Carta in 1215. Does anything remain of these ideals today? Among a fairly significant part of the population, very few it seems. In the U.K. most of the “Great Charter” clauses have been repealed or modified into non-existence for all practical purposes. The basic concept of a right to defend yourself has been written out of the law and bred out of the belief system of most people in that country. Look at this advice from a UK police FAQ Q589: “Are there any legal self-defense products I can buy? Answer: The only fully legal self defence product at the moment is a rape alarm. These are not expensive and can be bought from most local police stations or supermarkets. You must not get a product which is made or adapted to cause a person injury. Possession of such a product in public (and in private in specific circumstances) is against the law.” As stated in other legal briefings in the U.K, “The law does not recognise the concept of a ‘defensive weapon.’ You are not permitted to carry an offensive weapon—even to defend yourself. You may, however, provided it constitutes reasonable force, defend yourself with an ordinary everyday object, such as keys, an umbrella or a comb, provided you have them with you for their ordinary everyday purpose.” [italics mine] In Scotland recently, 11,569 crossbows, rifles and pistols dating back to World War Two were among thousands of air weapons surrendered during a police amnesty. Effective December 31, 2016, it will be a criminal offense to have an air gun without a license or permit.

 

How is the Bill of Rights working in the U.S.? The basic concepts of the Magna Carta have been corrupted in the UK to fit a socialistic, paternalistic government that forbids individual rights of self-defense. In the United States countless examples exist of changes in once-inalienable rights such as self-defense, religious liberty, the right to peacefully assemble, etc. Many of the principles embodied in the Bill of Rights are either under attack or already have been nullified by court or executive actions/orders.

 

In our country, a goodly percentage of the populace feels that it is morally wrong to defend yourself by owning any kind of weapon, particularly a firearm. Instead they say, “the police will protect you,” ignorant of the fact the police have no duty in law to protect anyone. Even the appearance of something like an AR-15 has the power to strike terror and misconceptions in supposedly rational individuals. Generations that have been taught to believe everything is about ME (the Me Generation) are unlikely to perform heroic acts in the midst of an attack. Perhaps this explains the tendency of victims of mass shootings to simply lie down and accept what is going down with no attempt to resist. Does anyone anymore still give Todd Beamer’s rallying cry of “Let’s roll” on Flight 93?

 

A few examples of how our world has changed:

 

Edward Peruta v. County of San Diego. Ninth Circuit Opinion. On June 9, 2016, the Ninth Circuit, sitting en banc, ruled 7 to 4 that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms does not apply to any law governing the concealed carry of any protected firearm in public.

 

School rejects teen’s gun-toting, flag-waving photo. The 15-year-old country boy from Ringoes, New Jersey is a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association. He’s a member of two state shooting teams and he serves as a United States Sea Cadet. A photo of him for a class project showed him holding an American Flag and a shotgun.

 

School sends sheriff to order child to stop sharing Bible verses during lunch.

 

A New York City man could be facing a manslaughter charge for defending his wife against a would-be rapist.

 

According to a Pew Research Center Study, “40 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 believe the government should be able to ban any speech that is offensive to minority groups.”

 

Boykin bounced: Fort Riley cancels Delta Force hero’s prayer breakfast speech.

 

In Philadelphia, the Liberty Bell no longer rings due to a crack. Will it ever, even figuratively, ring again?

 

Here we are at the start of another VFW year. The new officers have taken their positions and committee members are appointed and anxious to go to work. I know you’ve heard and read it before but I’ll say it again. We have our regular business meeting on the first Thursday of each month and a social every third Thursday. Help kick off the new VFW year by planning to attend regularly.

 

With the beginning of a new year we are starting from last year’s calculated base to make one hundred percent of our membership again. Every year we lose members due to some moving out of our area, some passing on to their reward and some deciding not to renew their membership. I know that last is hard to believe, but it actually happens once in a while so look around and see if you can bring in at least one new member this year to help get our membership back up to one hundred percent.

 

Your post is getting more and more active in the community. The newly formed Color Guard is practicing marching and drilling with our new M1 Garand rifles. Interested personnel should email the Color Guard Captain, Bill Hoeller, at [email protected] or call him at 206-632-3173.

 

Our redesigned website (vfwseattle.org) is up and running. When you have time give it a look. It is interesting and you may find some information you can use.

 

We are visiting more hospitals and nursing homes. If you would like to volunteer to participate in these visits shoot us an email, contact us via our website or call the office, 206- 782-8618.

 

Our new Service Officer, Gail Engler, attended the Washington State VFW Service Officer school last week and is ready to provide assistance to veterans and family members in our community who need help applying for benefits or who would like more information about what’s available. Contact her via the Web page or email at [email protected].

 

Two weeks ago on Flag Day, for the first time in over 35 years, we held a flag retirement ceremony in our parking lot. It was an impressive ceremony.

 

On Memorial Day some of our members visited the patients at the Seattle VA Hospital. We plan another visit on Independence Day, the Fourth of July, to visit with patients and pass out treats. If you are interested in attending, please call me at: 206-972-2135 or email [email protected].

 

By Harold Rodenberger

Halfway through the calendar year we are just ending the VFW year.

 

Our new officers were elected in April and installed during our May meeting. They will assume their duties at the end of June after the installation of our Department (Washington State) Commander. A list of our new officers, both elected and appointed, may be found elsewhere in this paper.

 

During our new VFW year, we will see further progress on several fronts.

 

Our new Color Guard performed flawlessly at the District 2 spaghetti dinner and raffle. We anticipate more occasions when they will serve our post and community with their special skills. Incidentally, Chairman Bill Hoeller has been working tirelessly to obtain M1 rifles from the Army. We should see those arrive later this month. With the addition of the blank-firing rifles our Ballard Eagleson Color Guard will be equipped to fire salutes during funerals and other formal occasions.

 

As word gets out via our website, Facebook page, etc. about our new office hours, we are seeing an uptick in visitors to the office. We serve our community better when people know the doors will be open when they come to our post.

 

People sometimes ask about our experience with the tent camp next door. So far the positive experiences have far outweighed the negative. The chef for one of our renters hired two of those homeless to help in the kitchen, and they received accolades from all. To help sustain the camp residents we regularly donate left overs from our kitchen resulting in good food for them and less waste for us.

 

This coming year will be a period of continued growth in the membership of our post. Come to meetings or socials or join with the volunteers to help make our post a more active and vibrant organization.

 

By Harold Rodenberger

This will be my last contribution to the Post newsletter in my soon to end capacity as Post Commander. After the changeover officially takes effect after the VFW state convention in June, you can look forward to the dynamic prose of new Commander Nestor Tamayao. In the interim, I want to provide you with a few updates and special recognitions.

 

Our Honor Guard has now received three surplus M1 Garand rifles, thanks to the effort of our colleague Bill Hoeller. Bill has devoted considerable time getting our Honor Guard off the ground and researching proper drill and ceremony and Honor/Color Guard etiquette. Thanks Bill, for your hard work. In addition, among the many of you that assisted with our District 2 fundraiser on May 1, I want to offer particular appreciation to Russ and Kay Seelig, who contributed a significant amount of the food preparation, ticket sales and auction items. I’m pretty sure they were the first to arrive for set up and the last to leave. My thanks also to the many of you that did your part to make our fundraiser successful.

 

On May 18, I represented the post at the military honors service for recently passed 1st Lt. David Bauders, who died in Iraq on May 6 while serving as a platoon leader in the 176 Engineer Company of the Washington National Guard. The service at Tahoma National Cemetery was heavily attended and featured an impressive turnout of Washington State Patrol Troopers (the late Lt. Bauders’ day job) and a contingent of Seattle police officers, one of whom is the brother of the deceased. The death of Lt. Bauders reminds us that the conflict in Iraq continues to absorb American resources, and sometimes lives, even as our media seems to have lost interest in the story the second former President George W. Bush left the White House for the ranch in Crawford, Texas. I offer my thanks to citizen soldier Lt. David Bauders for his efforts to keep us all safe from the ISIS animals spawned by what has become a largely underreported war. I urge all of you to keep Lt. Bauders and his surviving family in your hearts and prayers.

 

By Aaron Stoltz