Comrades,

This Wednesday, September 29, the Veterans of Foreign Wars turns one hundred years old. In 1899 a handful of men home from the Spanish-American War got together in Columbus, not much more than an hour's drive from our Post home, because nobody was looking out for them and they figured they had better look out for each other. Some years later they joined up with an outfit of Philippine veterans out in Denver, and the VFW as we know it was on its way. Every one of us who has walked into a VA office and had somebody from the VFW walk in beside him owes something to those fellows.

We will mark the centennial here at the Post on Saturday, October 2, starting at 5:00 with a covered dish supper, a birthday cake the Auxiliary tells me is the size of a card table, and a short program. The Honor Guard will post the colors. Bring your wives, your kids and your grandkids. I especially want to see our younger members from the Gulf and from Bosnia there, because the next hundred years are going to be yours to run.

On that subject, our thoughts are with the young men and women now keeping the peace over in Kosovo. Some of them will be walking through our door one of these days. Let's make sure it's open.

Membership: we are at 74 percent of last year's total. Thank you to everyone who has paid. To the rest of you, the Quartermaster is at the Post every Tuesday and Thursday night and he takes checks. Let's be at 100 percent by Veterans Day.

In comradeship,
Roy Albaugh, Commander (Korea, 1951-52)

Our Voice of Democracy chairman, Chet Lindahl, has already been to the high school and talked to the social studies teachers. For anyone who doesn't know, Voice of Democracy is the VFW's audio essay contest for high school students. They write a short essay on the year's theme, record themselves reading it on a cassette, and hand it in. Our Post judges the entries and sends the winner on to District, and it goes on up from there to a national scholarship. Last year our winner took second at District. If you have a grandchild in high school, give them a nudge. Entry forms are on the bulletin board by the canteen, and entries are due to the Post by November 1.

A reminder that I am at the Post the first and third Wednesday of every month from 1 to 4 to help with VA paperwork. Bring your DD-214. If you don't have a copy of your DD-214, come anyway and we'll start the request to get one. That piece of paper is the key to everything, so keep it somewhere safe and tell your family where it is.

Vietnam veterans: if you have never had the Agent Orange Registry exam at the VA, ask me about it. Gulf War veterans, the VA has a registry exam for you too. It's free and it puts your health on record, which can matter down the road.

The VA van runs to the medical center every third Wednesday. Sign up on the sheet by the door at least a week ahead. Driver this month is Bud Carney, so bring something to read, because Bud drives the speed limit.

Ladies, thank you for a wonderful turnout at the Labor Day chicken barbecue. We sold out of halves by 1:30 and the Cancer Aid and Research fund will get a nice check. The Buddy Poppy total for the year came in at $1,212.50, our best in five years. Every one of those poppies was put together by a disabled veteran, and the money goes to help veterans and their families, so thank you to everyone who stood outside the grocery store in that heat.

The bake sale is Saturday, October 30. Pies, cookies and the famous pumpkin rolls. Drop off your baked goods at the Post Friday evening after 6. We will also be making up Christmas boxes for the veterans' home again this year, so start saving your hotel soaps and shampoos, and we need crossword books, lap robes and stamps.