Category: Volunteering

From the Commander (April 2018)

By Pete Krawitz

 

As discussed during our March business meeting, I recently had the privilege of meeting with Arni Thomson and Brian Dodd, from Ballard Elks Lodge 827. Brian and Arni are working on a very ambitious project in hopes to pay tribute to some of the 4.7 million U.S. service members that served in WWI. Arni and Brian are embarking on a journey to catalog the names and burial sites of any known WWI veterans. Don’t we have a government agency for that? Well, I was surprised to learn that there isn’t an official list of U.S. service members who lost their lives in WWI. Additionally, finding said service information from the U.S. National Personnel Records agency is extremely difficult, if not impossible. A large amount of WWI veteran records were lost in the 1973 fire at the U.S. National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis.

 

November 11, 2018, will mark the 100th Anniversary of the end of World War I (WWI). As many of you know, Ballard-Eagleson Post 3063 was named to honor local UW alum, Lt. James Eagleson, of the US Army’s 69th Coast Artillery Corps. Nearly 5 million Americans served in WWI with approximately, 116,516 never making it home. Lt Eagleson was one of those 116,516. He died of Pneumonia on his journey back from France. Sadly, just as many service members succumbed to disease during and shortly after the war (~63,114) compared to actual combat (~53,402). It’s sad to think that some of these names have been forgotten in many hometowns across America. This is where Brian and Arni have stepped in.

 

So far, Arni and Brian have walked through Ft. Lawton Cemetery and photographed 135 headstones identifying WWI veterans, and they have created an alphabetized database with date of birth, date of death, branch of service and designation of WWI service. They have also embarked on similar activities at private and public cemeteries in Alaska.

 

There are a few other cemeteries in the Seattle Area that Arni and Brian would like to survey. This is a big undertaking. As such, they have reached out to Post 3063 to see if we would be interested in assisting with this project. Ultimately, Brian and Arni would like to add to the database and eventually provide it to the WWI Centennial Commission. They hope that the idea will catch on and other VFW posts will join in and help spread the word.

 

I’m very inspired by what Arni and Brian are trying to do and would very much like to assist them in any way we can. Perhaps we can even consider a joint project with Boy Scout Troop 80? We will be talking about this project some more during our April business meeting. If you have any interest in this project and would like to lead or assist in some way, please come on out to the meeting on Thursday, April 5 at 7 p.m. Alternatively, please send me an e-mail to [email protected].

 

Yours in Comradeship

Seven Post Honor Guard Members Participate in Wreaths Across America Ceremony

By Joe Fitzgerald

 

Seven members of the Post 3063 Honor Guard participated in the Wreaths Across America (WAA) Memorial Service at Lakeview Cemetery on Saturday, Dec. 16 at 9 a.m. WAA is conducted on National Wreaths Across America Day every December at 1,400 locations throughout the U.S., at sea, and abroad.

 

It has been sponsored by the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) at that Lakeview Cemetery the past several years. The service starts at Arlington National Cemetery at noon (eastern) and is conducted simultaneously at every national cemetery across the country in addition to any other cemetery that has servicemen and women buried or interned and wants to participate. Various volunteers from “service type” organizations typically organize this ceremony at the various cemeteries throughout the country with participation of current or past members of the military.

From left to right: Anthony Rose, Dan Stokke, Norm Limric, Joe Fitzgerald, Harold Rodenberger, and Bill Griffith participate in the Dec. 16 Wreaths Across America Memorial Service at Lakeview Cemetery in Seattle.
From left to right: Anthony Rose, Dan Stokke, Norm Limric, Joe Fitzgerald, Harold Rodenberger, and Bill Griffith participate in the Dec. 16 Wreaths Across America Memorial Service at Lakeview Cemetery in Seattle.

 

Our connection to this cemetery has been through Comrade Bill Griffith who is a of the local SAR chapter. He asked us to participate last year, which was Post 3063 Honor Guard’s very first event. We did a three gun salute at a very cold, quick, and simple ceremony.

 

This year we had enough advanced notice (and more honor guard members) to conduct a larger ceremony.

 

It started with a salute to the Colors and the Pledge of Allegiance by the Honor Guard, followed by opening remarks by SAR, and then the Laying of the Wreaths.

 

A remembrance wreath was laid for members of each branch of the Armed forces, the Merchant Marines, and POW/MIA – a total of seven wreaths.

 

As each wreath was brought forward and the branch represented was announced, the bearer stepped between two Honor Guards (Bill Griffith and Harold Rodenberger), who then rendered a hand salute as the wreath was laid at the base of the pole flying the American Flag. Each of the seven wreaths was presented in the same way except for a special moment for the POW/MIA.

 

At the conclusion of the wreath laying, the Honor Guard rifle detail (Anthony Rose, Dan Stokke and Norm Limric) conducted a three-volley rifle salute.

 

Taps was then played by Barry Roberts who is a member of Buglers Across America.

 

Closing remarks by SAR concluded the ceremony.

 

Color Guard Captain Joe Fitzgerald assisted SAR President Dan Keen with developing the program and called out the various commands throughout the ceremony. Comrade Tiffany Cavin was the honor guard’s photographer.

Post Members Visit Seattle VA Medical Center

Ballard Eagleson VFW Post 3063 members gather after their regular holiday trip to the Seattle VA Medical Center Nov. 10, 2017 to visit their brothers and sisters in the hospital. This Veterans Day, we were joined by The Boy Scouts, Troop 80 out of Magnolia/Ballard, who helped us hand out snacks and provided handwritten Veterans Day cards to all of the patients.

Seattle VAMC 2017 Vets Day

From the Commander (November 2017)

By Pete Krawitz

 

November, without a doubt, is one of the busiest times of the year for our organization. Our voicemail, e-mail, and snail mail boxes start to fill up with all sorts of Veterans Day event advertisements and requests. Many of these communications are from groups throughout the local region seeking veterans to participate in everything from speaking events to parades.

 

While I wish our post could send official representation and assist with all of the events and activities, it’s just not logistically feasible at this time. However, I genuinely believe that we’ll be able to significantly expand our reach and capabilities as our member count continues to grow. As we continue to gain new members, we need to think about re-activating many of the post’s programs and committees. We’ve already seen how successful our color guard has been. I hope that we can continue to find members who’d like to lead or be a part of similar programs. I plan to talk about this some more during our November business meeting.

 

The one Veteran Day event that I am proud we regularly repeat during the holidays is visiting our brothers and sisters in the VA Hospital. I’d like to thank Comrade Jon Guncay, who has volunteered to be the coordinator for this year’s Veterans day visit. I look forward to seeing some of you on the 10th of November at the Seattle VA hospital.

 

Switching gears, I’d like to talk about an exciting new opportunity that will allow some of our comrades who can’t always make it into the post to still attend meetings from the comfort of their home, ship, yurt, etc… (assuming they have internet connectivity). During our October business meeting, the post agreed to a limited 3-month trial of the Zoom Web Conferencing service. Zoom will give some of our members the ability to log into a private, password protected website which will be broadcasting our live business meeting’s slideshow and audio content. In the early stages of this test, we are only going to allow 1-way communication. For example, remote participants will be able to hear and see the content, but they won’t be able to communicate back to the meeting (so no ability to vote, etc…).

 

The first Zoom test (November 2nd) will be limited to 5 individuals. If successful, Zoom should allow some of our members, who have difficulties getting down to the post on business meeting days, to still feel involved and keep up-to-date on the latest post events.

 

I look forward to seeing many of you at the November business meeting and social. For those that won’t be able to make it, have a Happy Veterans Day and Thanksgiving.

 

VA Hospital Visit Scheduled Nov. 10

Post 3063 members are encouraged to participate in a visit to the Seattle VA Medical Center on Veterans Day (Observed), which is Friday, Nov. 10. The visit will include passing out snacks to veteran patients and partaking in good conversation.

 

The meeting time is TBD. Volunteers will meet at the hospital’s emergency room entrance. The Seattle VAMC is located at 1660 South Columbian Way, Seattle 98108.

 

People who want to participate should contact Comrade Jon Guncay at [email protected].