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LAGUNA WOODS VILLAGE POST 257

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Commander's Corner

Fall 2018

Post 257 Commander for FY 2019

Alan Brian Clark. Born September 2 1944.( 74 ) National City (S.D.) Ca.

My father, Jack Clark ( Native America- Cherokee) was a farrier ( horse shoer) so we traveled all over the USA. I have probable lived in 24 states. My mother, Edith Clark, was a House ( trailer) wife.

I graduated from Santa Monica HS in June 1962. Attended SMCC until 1963 when I joined the USAF.  Duty from 14 Oct. 1963 to 13 Oct. 1967. Honorable discharge. I was a  Sargent in Long Range Radar, FPS26 @ 670th Radar Squadron Stationed at Fort MacArthur (USA) San Pedro ,Ca.

Wife, Diane Clark. We moved to LWV 14 August 2017

 

Summer 2017

AMERICAN LEGION POST 257 HAS A NEW COMMANDER

William (Bill) Price has been elected as the new Commander of Post 257 for the 2017-18 year.   In the Army Air Corp during WWII Bill was an Aircraft Electrical Mechanic serving in Korea in 1946 with the last P-38 squadron in the world.   Bill is originally from Gettysburg, PA going to High School and College there.  As a Physicist Bill did research on the effect of high energy radiation on spacecraft electronics at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  He has been a California resident since 1958.  The first meeting of Post Officers is July 13 at the 19 restaurant, Room 3.  All present Post officers are expected to be there as well as any other Post members who are interested in being active in the Post’s activities.  These include regular monthly meetings on the fourth Thursday of each month, as well as presence at the color guard on national holidays and other special events. The Post visits the veterans at the Long Beach VA Hospital each month and makes wheel chair loans among other activities.   All veterans are welcome at meetings.

 
February 2015
One hundred forty-three Legionnaires and their guests attended the Laguna Woods American
Legion Post 257’s dinner at Clubhouse 1 on January 28th honoring area Vietnam era veterans
in the 50th anniversary year marking the beginning of US involved combat operations in Southeast Asia.
Fifty-four Vietnam era veterans were feted by receiving Certificates of Appreciation and
commemorative pins during the special event. Special recognition was given to Thomas Tran,
a Village resident and a South
Vietnamese Air Force Vietnam War veteran.
The speaker was noted international journalist and author, Uwe Siemon-Netto,who reflected on
his experiences as a war correspondent for five years during the war, including the Tet offensive.
As his memoir “Triumph of the Absurd” states, the military won the battles of the war but some of the
key leaders of the press at the time turned American opinion against our veterans who unfairly
paid the price for poor government decisions.
Look for more events to come involving honoring Vietnam veterans.
Four new members were initiated at the meeting, Clyde Cicotte, Joe Maurer, Bernard Rutkowsky and
Russell Smith. It is hoped that you will all continue to help get more new members for the Post.
They are vital to keeping the American Legion and our Post viable.
 
The next meeting is on Thursday, February 25th which will feature music by Ronnie Janye a popular singer who started her career in the Catskills and has had a long run in Las Vegas.
To hear a sampling of her music click on www.Ronniejayne.com
 
For God and Country,
Warren F. Marr
 

Winter Report 2015
 

October wrapped up with eight of our members and their spouses participating in Operation Stand Down. 
It was a big success for our Homeless and At-Risk-Veterans that was held over the October 24th weekend.
The Post donated $1000.00 to the District’s general fund to help defray the cost of medical, food
and clothing for these Vets. It’s a worthy cause that we support every year as this is part of our mission statement of “Veterans helping Veterans”. On November 11th, the Post celebrated Veterans Day with a great program featuring the two top Marines of the “Fighting Fifth” 5th Marine Regiment, the most decorated regiment in the Corps. Colonel Ken Kassner and Sgt. Major Chuong Nguyen enthralled the audience with their stories and sincere appreciation for all the veterans who have honorably served. Sgt. Major Nguyen’s recount of escaping from Vietnam and high-seas pirates
as a 10 year old boy was especially inspiring. He left on a small craft and was rescued by an
American destroyer in the Philippine Sea. He enlisted in the Marine Corps as a 17 year old and has served several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan with distinction.
The Post has been assessed by the national Legion organization with a $5.00 increase in dues
starting in January 2016 so it behooves those who have not already done so to pay the current
rate of $40.00 before it increases to $45.00 in January. It’s also very timely to ask your veteran friends and neighbors to join now so that they can be part of the Post at the lower cost.
WE NEED NEW MEMBERS! Please bring one to the December 17th meeting.
We still have important positions to fill to ensure the Post’s viability, most notably, Second Vice Commander.
This position is responsible for auditioning and selecting entertainment for our monthly programs
and heading the Event Committee to ensure our special events are run well inthe spirit of
“Veterans helping Veterans”.Other open positions that need to be filled are photographer,
newsletter publisher, honor guard, telephone committee.
Contact me for details.


Our website has been revamped so please go to AL257.org to check out the
American Legion and Post 257 news, videos and photos.


The December Holidays are coming up so we wish you a Happy Christmas and Rosh Hashanah.
Please attend our December 17th dinner meeting  that will feature songs of the season by the Flashback Duo who did such a great job at the 4th of July program.
The dinner entrée will be tri-tip steak and all the trimmings.
Hope to see you there!

For God and Country,

Warren Marr


Fall 2015
As the Post Commander for the 2016 membership year, I welcome all of you back!
I hope that you had an enjoyable summer.

Your New Officers are:

Warren Marr: Commander
Mike Layton: 1st Vice Commander
2nd Vice Commander OPEN
Jerry Anderson: 3rd Vice Commander
Vanda Bresnan: Adjutant
Nick Alpino: Finance Officer

I believe that you know that the American Legion’s overriding mission is to help veterans who have been somehow changed by war. Our Post has helped by working with veteran patients at the Long Beach VA Hospital, sponsoring activities to support impoverished vets at annual events such as the Orange County Stand Down and providing monthly assistance with our Veterans Outreach Program at the Florence Sylvester Center. We continue to support active duty veterans and families with significant contributions to the USO at John Wayne Airport along with contributing funds to the public schools at Camp Pendleton.

We want to continue to do so but our membership rolls have been significantly reduced mainly due to the passing of a lot of our World War II members. It’s time for our younger members to step up; the youngest age of a World War II vet is 87!

The quickest way to invigorate the Post is to recruit new members. For this reason, I’ve asked Mike Layton, our First Vice Commander to focus almost exclusively in getting new members to help us accomplish our mission. Please read his article elsewhere for more detail on how you can help recruit more veterans to the Post. I’m proud to say that, as of the date of publishing this article, we will have 14 new Legion members to initiate at the September 24th dinner meeting!

We will be adding some ceremony to the dinner meetings this year so that we can more clearly communicate what’s important to the membership.

We believe that it’s also important to recognize our long standing members so this year, as time permits, we will be recognizing members who have significant continuous Legion membership. We’ll start at the September meeting by honoring two members who have had respectively 59 and 65 years of continuous membership! In addition, we will recognize all the PUFL (Paid Up For Life) members for their exemplary support of the American Legion.

We will also introduce the four high school students that the Post and Auxiliary sponsored to this year’s Boys and Girls State and they will give us a review of their experiences in good governing and citizenship.

Please come to our September 24th dinner meeting at Clubhouse #1. It will be great!

For God and Country,

Warren Marr, Commander