Commanders Message

COMMANDER’S CALL

December 2018

Fellow Legionnaires,
When I started outlining this  message, the weather was strange, 10 plus inches of rain, 90 degree  temperature, then snow.  But now it has settled down, for today anyway.   The weather is always a concern of Blue Team 6 members when called to  do a service.  We have a busy schedule lined up, Veteran's Day parade,  church and nursing home visits, oratorical contest, and flag raisings  will keep us busy.
I want to thank the service  teams from the Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force, and Coast Guard for their  conduct, appearance, and respect to the families of the deceased  veterans.  The Honors team is proud to be able to stand in the rifle  line to support them.
I would like to mention  how impressed I was with Trevor Anderson, a delegate to the 2018  Cornhusker Boys State.  He spoke at our July meeting about his time at  Boys State and thanked us for the Boys State program.  I want to thank  him for speaking to us and I wish him well.  Also, I want to thank our  September speaker, Jennifer Hagen, LICSW, U.S. Department of Veterans  Affairs, Suicide Prevention Education and Outreach Specialist, who spoke  on suicide prevention.  I spoke to her after the meeting and she said  to please contact her at the VA if anyone would have questions.  
The  following is an explanation of the resolutions at the Fall National  Executive Committee meeting by Fred Craigie, Alternate National  Executive Committeeman.  This is his Reader's Digest version of nine  pages of the resolutions:

At the Fall National Executive Committee meeting on October 17-18, 2018 Resolution #1 and #2 were approved.  Resolution #1 titled Unrecognized Armed Hostilities Recognition defined the dates of all armed conflicts since December 7, 1941 to the end of hostilities as the U.S. government determines and listing the numbers involved, numbers of those who sacrificed their lives and numbers of those wounded. And that the Congress direct the Department of Veterans Affairs to qualify all those as “war-time veterans” who served honorably under federal government Title 10 orders for at least one day during that said period.  Basically Resolution #1 will define dates of eligibility for the American Legion.

With approval of Resolution #2 the National Legislative Commission is directed to petition Congress to amend the laws that define dates of eligibility as stated in Resolution #1 to the American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary and the Son’s of the American Legion.

When and If Congress approves the petition listed in Resolution #2 the dates of eligibility will change for the American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary and the Son’s of the American Legion.  But until then nothing has changed and we continue with the current dates of eligibility for membership.

Thanks Fred.  We know how Congress works, so this may be in limbo for a while.

Post  500, at the state level, is submitting their membership to the nearest  post as transfers.  We are welcoming these new members that are assigned  to Post 3.

Our Legion Baseball program is still an  unknown entity.  Both plans that we are considering may have legal  issues concerning our American Legion constitution and by-laws.
Sincerely,
Dave TimmermanCommander, American Legion Post #3