History – Page 8 – Ballard Eagleson Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3063

Officer Profile: Gail Engler, Post 3063 Service Officer

Tell us about your new position and what you hope to accomplish during your term.

As Post 3063 Service Officer I help members and their family members file for disability claims and also try to educate and inform members about their veterans benefits. I am especially interested in making sure our senior and elderly veterans are aware of the Aid and Attendance benefit which can help pay for assisted living if they qualify. I am at the Ballard Senior Center the 3rd Thursday of each month for several hours and available at the post by appointment as needed. I also visit several of our WWII Veterans who reside in retirement homes and assisted living.

How long have you belonged to Post 3063 and did you previously serve in an officer position?

I joined Post 3063 in October 2009. I am now a VFW Life Member thanks to the generosity of Post 3063. I previously served as a Trustee for Post 3063.

What is your military background?

I joined the Army in 1975 right after graduating from high school. I was on active duty until June 1977 and was a Radio Operator, serving in the small town of Schwabisch Gmuend, Germany. It was quite an adventure going from a smallish town in Montana to a small town in Germany. I was assigned to HQ, 56th Field Artillery Brigade. I enjoyed traveling throughout Europe while there and my mom even traveled by herself all the way from Montana to come visit me. That was nice considering she was quite reluctant for me to join the Army in the first place. My dad didn’t “protest” too much about my joining the service. He was a WWII Veteran—a Marine who fought on Okinawa. I am so humbled by these courageous WWII Veterans and their service during such a horrible war.

After my active duty service I got out and six months later I joined the Army Reserve. It was a good way to help pay for college in addition to having the camaraderie of belonging to a “select” group of people.

I also was deployed to Baghdad, Iraq in 2004, serving with an Engineer Battalion while living in Missoula, Montana.

I retired from the Army Reserve in June 2015 and also from my civil service career where I served as a Military Technician since 1996. My last duty station was in Marysville, WA with the 364th Expeditionary Sustainment Command.

What do you enjoy most about belonging to the VFW?

I like helping people so I enjoy being a service officer. There are many great people in our post and I enjoy working together with them to help our fellow veterans, those who are currently serving and their family members and to make our community a better place. I think we all have a responsibility to do so.

Officer Profile: Bill Griffith, Post 3063 Chaplain

Tell us about your new position and what you hope to accomplish during your term.

Last year our chaplain was unable to complete his responsibilities and I was asked if I would be willing to fill in. This year I was asked if I would like to continue as chaplain and I said yes. A concern I have as chaplain is connecting with those in our post who are unable to attend our meetings. Several people in the post have joined me in reaching out to these non-attending members. Our World War II vets are of special concern to our committee. We would value any information that you might have concerning a compatriot who is sick or perhaps for other reasons is finding it difficult to attend our meetings. We would like to send them a card of encouragement and pay them a visit if possible.

How long have you belonged to Post 3063 and did you previously serve in an officer position?

I have been a member of the post for almost four years and this is my first officer position.

What is your military background?

I was enlisted in the Army starting off as an aircraft mechanic in Korea and then as a flight operations specialist at the Presidio in San Francisco. I was temporally drafted to do clerical work at Sixth Army Headquarters working for a Colonel Lee. Colonel Lee decided that I looked like a fine upstanding soldier and thought that somehow I would do, so he entered me into the Sixth Army soldier of the quarter competition which I amazingly won. The picture in this post adorned the walls of the Sixth Army Headquarters for three months in 1966 as part of this recognition.

What do you enjoy most about belonging to the VFW?

I enjoy the community of vets at Post 3063 and like the comradeship of connecting with the vets at the VA Hospital on an on-going basis. I also enjoy the work of supporting our quartermaster and guiding the giving and fundraising aspects of post activities.

Is there anything else you’d like to tell Post 3063 members?

Although the post does many worthwhile events like visiting the VA and helping veterans with claims for service connected disabilities, I find that just hanging out with the members of the post is the most enjoyable aspect of membership. They are a great group!

After a lifetime in aviation I’m now retired. I am currently a docent (tour guide) at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. I am there most Wednesdays from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. and I would love to give any post member a personal tour.

UW hosts post color guard at Veterans Day library event

UW Libraries held an open house at Allen Library on Veterans Day, Friday, Nov. 11, in conjunction with the current World War I-themed exhibit, “Washington on the Western Front: At Home and Over There.” The event opened with a color guard from Ballard Eagleson VFW Post 3063.

From left, Harold Rodenberger, Joe Fitzgerald, and Bill Hoeller in color guard formation for the UW event.

The exhibit features photographs, diaries, newspapers, letters and ephemera from the World War I era. Notes with the exhibit discuss how the UW responded to the war with the formation of a hospital, ambulance unit and training camp. About 4,000 students, staff, faculty and alumni served, 58 of whom lost their lives in what was at the time called “The War to End All Wars.”

For more information about the exhibit, go to http://tinyurl.com/jskm6gc.

Post honors its World War II veterans

By Alyson M. Teeter

Post 3063 members, friends, and family gathered with some of the post’s World War II veterans to honor their service at the post’s monthly social on Nov. 17, 2016.

Five of the post’s 14 living World War II veterans, along with two World War II veteran guests, were present at the ceremony. Members included Oscar Borchelt, Genaro Garcia, Herbert Leake, Al Linden, and Orville Mall, and the two guests were Richard Smith and Kristian Nielsen.

During the course of the night, members and guests mingled, recounted war stories, dined, and then participated in the recognition program. Commander Nestor Tamayao started the program with welcoming remarks and the Pledge of Allegiance.

“Freedom isn’t free and what you did kept our freedom,” said Commander Tamayao. “Our thanks extends from the World War II veterans to all veterans. Thank you to those attending.”

Orville Mall, a Post 3063 World War II veteran, examines his certificate after receiving it during the recognition ceremony.

Commander Tamayao also noted that his father was a survivor of the Bataan Death March so he especially understood how important it was to recognize their sacrifices.

Certificates that featured an illustration of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., and membership longevity pins were presented to every World War II veteran in attendance.

Post 3063 Chaplain Bill Griffith then narrated a slideshow that included photos provided by the veterans and a historical overview of World War II.

“’Old soldiers never die, they just fade away,’” Chaplain Griffith said, recounting General Douglas MacArthur’s famous quote. “The VFW doesn’t want our veterans to fade away. But we noticed that World War II veterans weren’t attending meetings anymore.”

He went on to explain that they hoped to devise a program to track veterans closer. Part of this effort was the nexus for creating the night’s recognition program.

After the slideshow, the night ended with group photos, words of gratitude, and farewells. These veterans will not be forgotten.

WWII Members — From left, Richard Smith, Oscar Borchelt, Orville Mall, Herbert Leake, Genaro Garcia, and Al Linden.

Ballard Eighteen becomes Ballard Nineteen

We recently received an email from local writer and Ballard High School graduate, Jerry E. Smith, who is researching and writing a book on the eighteen (now nineteen) students from Ballard High School who were killed in Vietnam. A ceremony to add Doug Zeller to the Vietnam Memorial Plaque is scheduled Nov. 10, 4 p.m. at Ballard High School. The following is an excerpt from that email.

Then Ballard High School student, Doug Zeller.

I contacted Ballard High School Principal Keven Wynkoop and asked him whether there were a list or roster of the Ballard High School students killed in Vietnam. Keven photographed the Vietnam Memorial Plaque which is on display in the school and emailed me the photographs showing the names of the eighteen men whom had been killed. Three of them were boys I had personally known. Thus the “The Ballard Eighteen” began. I spent hours of research at the Ballard High School Library, the Suzzallo Library at the University of Washington, online with the Texas Tech University Vietnam Archives, and many other online sites, telephone calls, and emails searching for and contacting family members of the “Eighteen.”

By the beginning of 2016 I thought that I was close to being finished and decided to do a final edit with each of the families of the “Eighteen,” giving them an opportunity to review and fact-check my work. While I was at the home of Tom and Dianne Riordan they said that they thought that student Doug Zeller was killed in Vietnam. I explained that Doug was not listed on the Vietnam Memorial Plaque, so he must have survived. I promised them that I would do some additional research on Doug Zeller and find out what had happened to him.

Unfortunately, I learned that Doug Zeller was indeed killed in Vietnam but not listed on the Ballard High School Vietnam Memorial Plaque. So “The Ballard Eighteen” became “The Ballard Nineteen.”