VFW Post 2667

May 1st - Loyalty Day

2008-05-01T06:26:00.001-04:00

Loyalty Day originally began as "Americanization Day" in 1921 as a counter to the Communists' May 1 celebration of the Russian Revolution. On May 1, 1930, 10,000 VFW members staged a rally at New York's Union Square to promote patriotism. Through a resolution adopted in 1949, May 1 evolved into Loyalty Day. Observances began in 1950 on April 28 and climaxed May 1 when more than five million people across the nation held rallies. In New York City, more than 100,000 people rallied for America. In 1958 Congress enacted Public Law 529 proclaiming Loyalty Day a permanent fixture on the nation's calendar.

Low Country Boil & Membership Drive

2008-04-30T05:59:00.002-04:00

Come join us Saturday, May 3rd at Noon!
as
VFW Post 2667
presents a
Membership Drive &
Low Country/Crawfish Boil
simmered to delectable goodness

$10 - All You Can Eat
(or till we run out)

New VFW Members Eat Free!
(You must sign-up and pay that day)

Senate Approves Renaming Post Offices in Honor of Fallen Soldiers

2008-04-29T22:38:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday, April 23rd, the Senate approved legislation to rename several U.S. Post Offices in Georgia in honor of fallen soldiers.

The U.S. Post Office located at 3035 Stone Mountain Street in Lithonia, GA, will be renamed the “Specialist Jamaal RaShard Addison Post Office Building.” The U.S. Post Office located at 5815 McLeod Street in Lula, GA, will be renamed the “Private Johnathon Millican Lula Post Office.” The U.S. Post Office located at 116 Helen Highway in Cleveland, GA, will be renamed the “Sgt. Jason Harkins Post Office Building.”

These men served without desire for credit, but on behalf of their country and everything positive that we stand for. Naming these post offices after them is one small way to honor the sacrifices they made to make the United States and Georgia a better place.

Learn more about these brave men.

Senate Passes Veterans Benefits Enhancement Act

2008-04-28T22:27:00.001-04:00

The Veterans Benefits Enhancement Act of 2007 is a comprehensive bill providing benefits to veterans, their families and their survivors. Provisions of the bill include expanding eligibility for traumatic injury insurance, increasing benefits for veterans pursuing apprenticeships or on-job training programs and expanding eligibility for specially adapted housing assistance. The bill also provides an automatic annual increase in burial benefits (based on inflation) for the families of veterans.

Watch the status of this bill at www.opencongress.org/bill/110-s1315/show

Veterans/Servicemembers: Salute the Flag When Not in Uniform

2008-04-16T21:25:00.002-04:00

WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) praised the passage by unanimous consent of his bill (S.1877) clarifying U.S. law to allow veterans and servicemen not in uniform to salute the flag. Current law (US Code Title 4, Chapter 1) states that veterans and servicemen not in uniform should place their hand over their heart without clarifying whether they can or should salute the flag.

"The salute is a form of honor and respect, representing pride in one's military service," Senator Inhofe said. "Veterans and service members continue representing the military services even when not in uniform.

"Unfortunately, current U.S. law leaves confusion as to whether veterans and service members out of uniform can or should salute the flag. My legislation will clarify this regulation, allowing veterans and servicemen alike to salute the flag, whether they are in uniform or not.

"I look forward to seeing those who have served saluting proudly at baseball games, parades, and formal events. I believe this is an appropriate way to honor and recognize the 25 million veterans in the United States who have served in the military and remain as role models to other citizens. Those who are currently serving or have served in the military have earned this right, and their recognition will be an inspiration to others."

This bill was passed July 27, 2007. Let your veteran friends know about the passage of this bill.

National World War II Museum's Expansion Officially Under Way

2008-04-10T22:17:00.001-04:00

Under a brilliant blue sky Monday afternoon, a gathering of trustees, donors, fans, politicians and veterans officially broke ground for a major expansion of the National World War II Museum on Andrew Higgins Drive, across the street from the original location.

The 2-square-block site, decked out in red, white and blue balloons, held about 200 seats for guests, along with a World War II Jeep, a PT boat, a half-track and a Sherman tank. A flyover by four F-17 planes in formation kicked off the ceremony, which included music by a U.S. Navy band, a trooping of colors by the Washington Artillery and a burst of confetti.

Set to be completed by 2015, the $300 million expansion will include a campus of six new buildings covering 5.7 acres bounded by Magazine Street, Andrew Higgins Drive, Calliope Street and the Camp Street down-ramp of the Crescent City Connection. The ambitious expansion will quadruple the size of the original museum, which opened in 2000.

http://blog.nola.com/elizabethmullener/2008/04/national_world_war_ii_museums.html

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Online

2008-04-04T05:50:00.002-04:00

Family and friends of servicemen and women who died or vanished in the Vietnam War no longer have to travel to Washington to pay their respects at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

An interactive version debuted online this week, a project of historical document archive site Footnote.com in conjunction with the National Archives and Records Administration.

The virtual version of the famous memorial -- which is a pair of 246-foot black granite walls inscribed with the names of more than 58,000 American military casualties -- is searchable.

Every name etched onto the real-world wall is viewable online and linked to the veteran's service record. Online visitors can add photos and describe their memories of the servicemen and women who died in the war.

For more of this article: News.Yahoo.com.

To see the virtual Vietnam Veterans Memorial: Go.Footnote.com/thewall.

National Commemoration Day of 5th Anniversary of Fall of Baghdad (April 9)

2008-04-02T06:23:00.002-04:00

All Americans are urged to join the nation in a moment of national reflection April 9 in remembrance of the 5th anniversary Iraqi Liberation Day and the fall of Baghdad to celebrate the hope given to the Iraqi people because of the courageous actions of U.S. and multinational forces.

At 5 p.m. EDS -- as the sun sets across Arlington National Cemetery-- Americans are urged to honk their car horns to celebrate, honor and recognize the courageous actions of U.S. and multinational forces in giving hope to the Iraqi people. The National Remembrance Ceremony will culminate with a joint U.S-Iraqi wreath–laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery honoring those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, as well as salute our troops, our veterans and our military families.

The national remembrance moment is being initiated by “Families United for Our Troops and Their Mission," a not-for-profit 501(c)3 grassroots coalition of Gold Star and Blue Star families, veterans and Americans, who share a deep appreciation and support for the uniformed services men and women in their efforts to make America safer. Collectively the group’s mission is ensuring that the sacrifices of courageous warriors have not been made in vain, and that the heroic soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who have been charged with such a vital mission will be given the support they need to complete their mission.

11th Biennial Reunion of the 1st Brigade (Separate) 101st Airborne Division in Viet Nam

2008-03-26T06:05:00.001-04:00

The 11th Biennial Reunion of the 1st Brigade (Separate) 101st Airborne Division will be in Hampton, Virginia, September 25-28, 2008. All members of assigned and attached units, who served between July 1965 and January 1968 are welcome.

For more detailed information, contact Ivan Worrell at firstbrigades101magazine@yahoo.com or visit www.FirstScreamingEagles.org.

3rd Infantry Division to Hold Reunion

2008-03-23T17:42:00.002-04:00

The Third Infantry Division Society and attached units in wars and in peacetime will hold their 89th reunion September 18-21, 2008. The reunion will be held at the Sheraton Hotel Four Points in Columbus, Georgia. For more information, visit www.3rdiv.org.

The Society of the Third Infantry Division is also seeking those who served in the 3rd and attached units in wars, peacetime, or special interest to join the Society. For more information, visit www.3rdiv.org.

Breakfast at the Post

2008-03-07T06:44:00.003-05:00

For all those of you who don't remember, we're having breakfast at the Post tomorrow morning at 09:00 with a meeting to follow. We'll have a guest speaker, Miss Casey McCully, the Post and District Voice of Democracy winner. Hope to see you there.

Presidential Memorial Certificates

2008-02-18T11:27:00.002-05:00

Did you know that you can order an engraved paper Presidential Memorial Certificate, signed by the current President, to honor the memory of honorably discharged deceased veterans?

The program was started in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy and has continued ever since. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers the PMC program by preparing the certificates which bear the current President's signature expressing the country's grateful recognition of the veteran's service in the United States Armed Forces.

Eligible recipients include the next of kin and loved ones of honorably discharged deceased veterans. More than one certificate may be provided.

Eligible recipients, or someone acting on their behalf, may apply for a PMC in person at any VA regional office or by U.S. mail or toll-free fax. Requests cannot be sent via email. Please be sure to enclose a copy of the veteran's discharge and death certificate to verify eligibility, as they cannot process any request without proof of honorable military service. Please submit copies only, as they will not return original documents.

More information is available at: www.cem.va.gov/pmc.asp

USS Pueblo Story Survives

2008-01-21T17:43:00.000-05:00

"Earl Kisler remembers the screams of shipmates in the interrogation room near Pyongyang -- and his own painful turns inside. He cannot forget, after all these years, the pain unique to each of the blunt instruments his North Korean captors used on him."

USS Pueblo Survivor's Story - The Oregonian:

This is a "printer-friendly" page so just cancel the print dialog box.

Thanks, Red.

District 4 Meeting Postponed

2008-01-19T14:16:00.000-05:00

The District 4 meeting scheduled for tomorrow, January 20th, has been postponed due to inclimate weather. We'll post the new date here once we have it.

Retired General Rob Tornow is 2008 Newnan-Coweta Citizen of the Year

2008-01-19T10:21:00.001-05:00

The 2008 Newnan-Coweta Citizen of the Year is retired U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Robin G. Tornow, who also recently retired as director of the University of West Georgia's Newnan Center.

"This is truly an honor. Truly an honor," Tornow told a gathering at the Coweta County Fairgrounds Thursday night.

Newnan Times-Herald - Citizen of the Year

Change to Meeting Schedule

2008-01-12T18:21:00.000-05:00

The Post met for an excellent breakfast and better comradarie this morning at the Coweta Veterans Club. The turn-out was great. After breakfast it was decided to alter the Post meeting schedule to incorporate more of these breakfast meetings.

The membership decided to alter the Post meeting schedule on a trial basis to include more Saturday morning breakfasts. Starting immediately, every other meeting will be a Saturday breakfast meeting. The opposite meetings will continue to be our normal, Thursday evening meetings.

The next meeting will be February 14th at 7:30p with fellowship and dinner starting at 6:30p. The March meeting will be on March 8th at 9:00a with breakfast and a meeting. Hope to see you there.

Barnes & Noble Makes Troop Support Easy for Shoppers

2007-11-29T03:11:00.001-05:00

With thoughts turning from tasty Thanksgiving turkey to holiday shopping lists, one national bookseller has made it easy to find the perfect gift for everyone, including the nation's servicemembers.

Barnes & Noble, a corporate supporter of the Defense Department's "America Supports You" program, has created an online book store that benefits troop-support organizations with a 5 percent donation from each sale made through the www.bn.com/asy Web site.

America Supports You is a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.

http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/americasupportsyou/Content.aspx?ID=44943546

Vietnam Veteran Finally Gets Burial

2007-11-28T16:05:00.001-05:00

COLORADO SPRINGS - Air Force Major John Carroll was finally reunited with is wife Beverly on Tuesday.

At the age of 32, Carroll was shot down over Laos in 1972 during his service in Vietnam. Despite eyewitness accounts of him suffering a fatal wound, he was listed as Missing In Action for decades.

During that time Beverly Carroll died of cancer and was buried at the Air Force Academy's cemetery. On Tuesday, her husband was buried next to her.

"This is where he wanted to be, this is where she wanted to be and they're now together," said Carroll's mother Mary Hancock. Hancock says her daughter-in-law wanted to be buried at the Academy's cemetery in hopes that one day her husband could be laid to rest beside her. That recently became possible after the U.S. military recovered and identified Carroll's remains near the crash site. In Carroll's case, the remains were two teeth.

See full story at http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=80904

Text Your Thanks to the Troops This Thanksgiving

2007-11-20T13:46:00.001-05:00

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2007 – For those seeking a quick way to show appreciation for the troops' service far from home this holiday season, look no further than “Giving Thanks,” a new initiative from the Defense Department’s America Supports You program.

America Supports You connects citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.
"This is a simple way to connect our citizens to our soldiers using modern technology," Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of defense for internal communications and public liaison, said of the text messaging program.

DefenseLink News Article: America Supports You: Americans Can Text ‘Thanks’ to Troops

Wendell Whitlock - Coweta County Veteran of the Year 2007

2007-11-10T10:27:00.001-05:00

World War II veteran Wendell Whitlock says he is honored to have been selected as Coweta County's 2007 Veteran of the Year, but insists he is no more deserving than other local veterans.

"This is the greatest honor I have ever received," Whitlock says. "And I am as grateful as anyone can be. But there are others who did much more than me. As far as I'm concerned anybody who served deserves this honor. But I'm very proud and humble to accept and hope I've done some good for some people over the years."

The Veteran of the Year honor is presented to veterans who've distinguished themselves not just in the military but in their contributions to the community, state and nation, according to Dick Stender, Commander of American Legion Post 57, which sponsors the award.

The ceremonies begin at 11:00a today at the Newnan city park at Jackson Street and Temple Avenue.

"I don't know if people realize how much Wendell has done to help this county, but he's literally served the citizens of Coweta County for a lifetime," Stender says. "We had lots of excellent candidates for Veteran of the Year honors, but I don't think we could have found anyone more deserving."

Whitlock, 82, was raised on the family farm on Roscoe Road. He was one of 12 children, and Whitlock says all had a hand in running the farm that produced cotton, corn and soybeans.
"It was our living and our livelihood. It's all we knew and all we did," he says. "I was just born to it and never thought I'd do anything else.

Whitlock's plans changed on Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and America entered World War II. Whitlock was 16. He remembers hearing the news on the radio and jumping on his bike to pedal across the countryside informing everyone he saw that America was at war.

"I didn't know what else to do," he says. "It made sense at the time."

Whitlock graduated from Newnan High School in May 1942, but he didn't immediately join the service. Because the family farm's goods were vital to the war effort, all the male members of the Whitlock family were granted agricultural draft deferments. But two of Whitlock's brothers gave up their draft immunity to join the service, and by 1944, at age 19, Whitlock was ready to go to war.

"I figured it was time for me to get involved," he says. "So I told my parents and then I joined the Navy."

Whitlock was assigned to the navy's elite combat construction unit, the Seabees, and sent for training at Camp Peary, Virginia. There he learned the heavy construction business from the ground up, including how to operate every kind of earthmover imaginable. His unit was trained to build combat airplane runways, which Whitlock says was just like building roads.

"If you could build a runway you could build a road," Whitlock says, "and a few years later that's what Coweta County needed. I was glad I had the training."

After his unit was shipped to Treasure Island Naval Base in San Francisco, the Navy changed Whitlock's job and assigned him to a fuel and water tanker, the U.S.S. Tamalpais.

The Tamalpais sailed from San Francisco on June 7, 1945, one month after Germany surrendered to end the war in Europe. Whitlock's ship stopped at Pearl Harbor then continued on to Manus Island in the Admiralty Islands chain. After delivering fuel and water to several ships in the area, the Tamalpais set out for the Phillipines, and on Aug. 10, arrived at Leyte, which in October 1944 had been the site of the largest naval battle of the war.

During the voyage to Leyte, atomic bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The sailors knew the war was nearing an end even before Japan accepted unconditional terms of surrender from the Allied forces on Aug. 15.

There was even less doubt about the war's outcome when a Japanese submarine surfaced in the middle of Whitlock's task force and surrendered.

"When I saw that thing come up I said, 'We just rode right over that ship,'" Whitlock says. "It's a good thing he surrendered or there would have been trouble."

A formal surrender ceremony was scheduled for Sept. 2, 1945, aboard U.S. battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay. The Tamalpais was ordered to sail to Japan.

Whitlock's ship was the third in line to enter Tokyo Bay, after the Missouri and its two destroyer escorts. Whitlock remembers watching tugs pull back the submarine nets across the mouth of Tokyo Bay to let the huge warship pass. Then the Tamalpais docked beside the Missouri, less than 150 yards from the spot where the peace treaty was signed that officially ended World War II.

"It was like you were sitting in your lawn chair right across the street," Whitlock says. "You could see everything.

Whitlock said he was most impressed by the precision of the surrender ceremony, which was scheduled so closely those in charge had even calculated how long it would take a Japanese admiral with a wooden leg to walk from the back of the Missouri to the surrender table and be seated in time for the 9 a.m. signing ceremony, which was immediately followed by a massive flyover of Allied planes.

"Those planes were already in the air when the signing started," Whitlock says. "And the timing was so good that as soon as the last signature was made, thousands of planes filled the sky. It was a show of strength to make sure everybody knew who won."
Whitlock remained in Japan as part of the occupation force for over a year. On one of his early patrols, he helped liberate 17 American prisoners of war from a Japanese coal mine.

The men were filthy and starving, calloused all over from crouching and crawling through the mines. "You'd never seen anything like it," Whitlock says. "They were skin and bones."

The freed prisoners were taken to a hospital ship and Whitlock's crew later invited all 17 to their ship for supper. Only one of the POWs was strong enough to walk up the Tamalpais' gangplank and accept the invitation.

Whitlock also did guard duty at several Japanese cities, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where U.S. atom bombs had fallen. Whitlock will never forget the devastation.
"At Hiroshima, there was nothing left in town but one steel skeleton," he says. "Everything else was just dirt. The whole city was gone. I've never seen anything like it and I hope I never do again."

After almost a year in Japan, Whitlock's ship headed home. A huge storm near the Aleutian Islands threatened to sink the ship, but the Tamalpais held together, and when the ship sailed through the Panama Canal en route to Mobile Bay, Whitlock knew his war was almost over.
After a short stay in Mobile, Whitlock was deployed to Jacksonville, Fla., where he was discharged in June 1946.

He and some friends paid a man $25 to drive them to the Atlanta bus station in his new convertible. But once in Atlanta, Whitlock decided he didn't want to take the bus home and started hitchhiking. He caught one ride to Fairburn and another to Duncan's barbecue, which was then located at the corner of Roscoe Road and Jackson St.

From there Whitlock walked less than a mile to his house.

"I've never been so happy to be anywhere in my life," he says.

Ten months later, he married his sweetheart, Elva Allen. The couple recently celebrated their 60th anniversary. They have three children, Clara Whitlock Hackney, James Wendell Whitlock Jr., and Edward Allen Whitlock.

After the war, Whitlock became co-owner of both a service station and a trucking company. But in 1948, he left private business and went to work for Coweta County, starting as a shotgun-carrying prison guard. He was soon overseeing county road building programs. His Seabees' training in heavy equipment and construction was put to good use.

"We were busy back then," he recalls. "Most of the roads were still dirt. People wanted to get out of the mud and on paved roads so they could go to town and spend money. We helped them do just that."

In 1961, Whitlock was appointed Coweta County Warden and Road Superintendent. In 1978, he was named the county's Superintendent of Public Works, a position he held until he retired in 1988.

Whitlock supervised the construction of all new subdivision roads when Coweta's residential growth boom began in the mid-'80s. He still looks at some of the roads he oversaw and says he's proud of the job the county did.

"I've always said this county belongs to the people, all the people, and I was always doing my best to make sure they got the best possible work for their money. I think we did well. I think this is the best county in the United States, and I believe it will stay that way."

In addition to many other local honors, the huge recreation complex on Hwy. 34 at White Oak Creek was named the J. Wendell Whitlock Recreational Complex in his honor in 1994.

Constitution Day/Citizenship Day

2007-09-16T06:00:00.001-04:00

"Many Americans think of the Constitution as words on paper preserved under glass at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. But the Constitution is also the product of an ongoing conversation among Americans about the meaning of freedom in their daily lives. ...For the Constitution to have meaning, it must be not only the words we recite, but also the words we live by." The Words We Live By, Linda R. Monk

September 17 is Constitution Day 2007. Take the opportunity to learn more about our Constitution. Some websites with information:

OPM has a set of references in commemoration of U.S. Constitution and Citizenship Day at www.opm.gov/constitution_initiative/

The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia provides information about the Constitution www.ConstitutionCenter.org

This Department of Defense website includes a multimedia presentation that is available to everyone ConstitutionDay.cpms.osd.mil

Newnan-Coweta Freedom Walk - Sunday, Sept. 9

2007-09-07T15:58:00.000-04:00

Commemorates the 6th anniversary of 9/11 attacks - to remember those who lost their lives and to honor firefighters, police and soldiers of our nation who protect our freedom every day.

Events are being planned with guidance from the America Supports You, www.AmericaSupportsYou.com. Newnan walk begins with a 6:30 p.m. Gathering at gazebo in the Newnan city park at Jackson Street and Temple Avenue and ends at Court Square. Sister walks will also be held Sept. 8-11 in Washington, D.C., and all over the nation.

Details: Susan Shaner at 770-845-2254 or 770-251-3987 or sshaner@numail.org.

Veterans' Plaza Bricks - Order Form Online

2007-08-22T21:56:00.000-04:00

We have the order form online. Click here to display and print it.

Veterans Memorial Committee Expanding Brick Efforts

2007-08-18T00:17:00.000-04:00

Brick for the Veterans Memorial Plaza are selling. Now members of the Veterans Memorial Plaza committee are looking for ways to pick up the pace.

The committee is looking for ways to reach out and meet people face-to-face in order to maximize the effort. The group will be taking orders for bricks at the next Market Day in downtown Newnan, at the Powers' Crossroads Country Fair and Arts Festival on Labor Day weekend, and at the Coweta County Fair in September.

Read more at Newnan Times-Herald

Teacher of the Year Award

2007-08-11T07:54:00.000-04:00

The VFW's National Citizenship Education Teachers' Award recognizes the nation's top elementary, junior high, and high school teachers who teach citizenship education topics regularly and promote America's history and traditions. Nearly 1,000 teachers are from every state, the District of Columbia and overseas. Fellow teachers, supervisors or other interested individuals can submit nominations by November 1 to your local Post.

VFW's National citizenship education teacher awards include:

$1,000 cash award for professional development to each of the top K-5, 6-8 and 9-12 teachers;
$1,000 award for each winning teacher's school;
plaques for both the winning teacher and school;
an all-expense-paid trip to attend the VFW and Ladies Auxiliary National Community Service Conference in Washington, D.C. Teachers who win first place in each category will be invited to conduct a workshop at the conference.

Anyone interested in nominating a public school, private school, or home school teacher should contact VFW Post 2667 by phone at 678-571-5333 or email the Post at vfw@CowetaVets.org for more information. For additional information visit www.VFW.org/ or www.VFW2667.org/. You can also download the nomination and information brochure.