1/6-10/10
10th Anniversary Army’s All American Bowl

To get back in the traveling groove, I stayed up all night for the 0430 trip to the airport to take American Airlines flights to San Antonio via Dallas/Ft Worth. The American Legion has been invited by the Army to attend the events around the 10th Anniversary of its All American Bowl which takes 90 of the best high school seniors from around the country to play a bowl game. They also invite 90 of the best high school band members to perform at half-time. They have invited many veterans service organizations to participate, but only 4 (The American Legion, VFW, AMVETS, Military Order of the Purple Heart) are here. The game is nationally televised on NBC Saturday, January 9. Some past players include two Heisman Trophy winners-Tim Tebow and Reggie Bush. Past MVPs include Terrelle Pryor now at Ohio State and Vince Young of Texas now with the Tennessee Titans. A lot of the players this year will end up in college making an impact.

Wednesday is arrival day with nothing else scheduled, so I get a chance to hook up with my sister, Brenda, and her husband, Jack, for dinner. We go to Josephine’s which has a huge tree growing just inside the door. The food is superb. It has grown into much more than a football game. The Army has done a superb job in turning this into a showcase event and excellent advertisement for every organization they bring here to form partnerships with the Army. They have a full schedule for us, and I should have thought to bring a pad to take notes instead of depending on my memory-CRS takes over.

Thursday is an early start. There are three groups: educators-both JROTC and ROTC, our group which is called Accessions Command COIs which stands for Centers of Influence, and another group whose name I didn’t catch. We went to Ft. Sam Houston for a series of briefings and tours. It started with MGen. Bartell giving us a briefing on Accessions Command. They are responsible for both ROTC and OCS programs, so they bring in about 80 percent of the Army’s officers. We were next briefed by BGen. Chivalho, CG of BAMC. His command brief began with a video called the Warrior Ethos. The video was followed by the standard flow chart which was pretty complicated. Next up was a panel of four enlisted wounded warriors-two wounded in Iraq, one injured in a car wreck and one injured playing semi-pro football. It was a pretty good panel, that wasn’t briefed to sugar coat anything and they gave pretty accurate accounts of their excellent treatment and the state of art equipment at Brook. Some had started treatment elsewhere and did not have the success there they are experiencing at Brook.

We then toured various facilities starting with one of the Fisher Houses. They have three here, with hopes of building a fourth. They told us that Avon donated $1 million to build one, and Denzel Washington donated funds to build another. These are really nice facilities that are only available for families of military being treated at Brook. Next was a really short visit to the Warrior Family Support Center (WFSC). I gave an extensive report on this facility in my Creative Arts Travelogue, so won’t go into detail here.

We next spent about 45 minutes touring the Center for the Intrepid, an amazing state of the art facility that was built by donations from over 600,000 individuals. It’s amazing the public support for Brook: three Fisher Houses, the WFSC & this Center. They treat wounded warriors using sports therapy type philosophy, and get some amazing results. The Military Performance Center on the first floor uses the same technology movies use for animation to determine how best to help amputees learn to walk and balance. They attach sensors to various parts of the body and have both video and IR cameras film them, then work their magic. They also have a platform like Walter Reed had that they can run various scenery while the warrior responds-things like hiking up and down hills, golfing, jogging, etc. They again attach sensor and the whole platform moves to compensate. This platform is more sophisticated and has a 360-degree dome for the scenery. They say it is so sensitive, you can place a small stick on it and the stick will not fall. We asked for a demonstration, but didn’t get it. We also went to the pool area where a lot of activities occur to help those that are into water activities-including canoeing and kayaking. At one end is a flow-rider, and they gave us demonstrations of various wounded warriors surfing. It was truly inspiring to see what these amputees can accomplish. It brings to life all you hear they are doing but never get beyond trying to form mental pictures.

Lunch was a box lunch-my first since the USS Carney served them at a Pearl Harbor Day service about 10 years ago. They haven’t changed much. We had 3 choices: ham, turkey or tuna fish. I had the turkey. The entire afternoon was spent at the nurses training center. The Army is building this into a one stop training center for all their various medical personnel. The combat medic training was the most interesting and graphic. We got to handle a lot of the equipment they use in the field. They have fully equipped operating rooms with mannequins that are really life-like. They can be programmed for the surgery they are about to receive, and if a mistake is made, the mannequin responds just like a person would-including dying if the mistake is bad enough.

Dinner was on the field in the Alamodome catered by Rudi’s BBQ. Their food is great-this was the restaurant my sister Brenda took Liz and I to when we were here for the Creative Arts Festival. I met Anthony Munoz from the Bengals who will be giving out some of the awards and is here for the kids. He still does a lot for Cincinnati with his foundation. He’s really slimmed down from his playing days, but still dwarfs me. There were more Army “stars” here than you can believe. Secretary of the Army, two 4- star-Vice COS & CG TRADOC, four 3-star, seven 2- star, and eight 1-star. The coaches from Remember the Titans (Boone and Yost) were here, and everyone tried to meet them. The dinner was great, and was followed by a Darryl Worley concert. We left it early to get back to the hotel before that minor game called the BCS National Championship was over. Congratulations Alabama.

Friday morning was spent at the Army Strong Zone. I packed lightly for San Antonio as it is usually warm. It was freezing cold with the wind blowing and I absolutely froze. The Army Strong Zone showcases lots of current equipment and demos of future technology. We started at the Apache helo simulator, which was soon put on auto as the first one didn’t work too well. We had no control, but it put us through a lot of tight turns and showed some interesting targeting. Lasts about two minutes. There were remote control ground vehicle demonstrations, exo-skeletal uniform displays, Army chefs cooking bananas foster, a working field kitchen serving breakfast, the Army NASCAR and Drag Racing cars with their drivers-lots to see and do.

We finally went inside for the education panel. MGen. Sholar started with an explanation of all the educations opportunities the Army offers-and there are far more than I ever knew. They put four soldiers on the stage to tell their experiences with education while serving, some were officers and some enlisted-but all have had a lot of education as part of their service. LGen. Freakley, CG of Accessions Command and our group’s host, then took the stage and gave an animated and passionate talk on what we (educators, companies, VSOs) could do to help today’s youth to stay in school, particularly minorities and inner city kids. He used Clausewitz’s triangle-people, army, government-to highlight the importance of having an educated society. A break in any one of the legs, and the country fails. He’d like to see the Army used as a viable alternative for gainful employment or educational opportunities. He made a lot of sense, and I’m ready to be a recruiter.

Lunch came from the field kitchen and consisted of Santa Fe rice, buffalo chicken, Hopping John, chicken tetrazine and cornbread. I liked the chicken dishes best. We also had an example of an MRE on the tables-mine was a hamburger patty. We listened to a presentation on how much study went into developing the MRE-there are now 24 flavors to choose from. The technology is great-there is a bag that you put a little water into, then the hamburger still sealed and close it. It generates its own heat and takes about 5 minutes to cook. The burger was moist, tender and delicious. Don’t know about the rest of the meals, but this one was good.

The afternoon was spent at the San Antonio Gun Club where the shotgun portion of the Army Marksmanship Unit was prepared to give us a demonstration. We were told something of its history, as a number of Olympic medals and world championships were won by some of its teams. They have them in pistol, rifle and shotgun varieties, and all are world renown. On the shotgun team, three of them are in the top five in the world. Sgt Richmond was the shooter and never used the sights. He shot from the hip and had to pump his own rounds-no auto. He then shot between his legs and over his head. He then shot multiple targets from one to five at a time. It was an absolutely awesome display of shooting.

Upon our return to the hotel, the four VSOs had a meeting with BGen. Purser in her hotel room. She is the Deputy Chief, Army Reserve, and solicited our assistance in making recently discharged folks to consider affiliating with the Reserves, especially if they were having a hard time finding employment. She said the Reserves are well manned at the entry level and the senior level, but lack that intermediate level and need middle management assistance. We then asked her to help us get the word out about the VSOs and what services we offer. She wasn’t very aware of everything we do and asked us to provide an email description that she would forward to every reserve command. (Staff provided The American Legion input shortly after my return.) The meeting lasted about an hour and was very productive.

The Awards Banquet was held at the convention center with over 1400 in attendance. I sat at a table with MG Campbell and his wife. They introduced all the players and gave each a coin. The players then sat at various tables with the guests. Keynote speaker was Army Heisman & retire BG Pete Dawkins. The Player of the Year Award went to a California high school player. Gen Campbell told me that Sam Wyche was here. When the banquet ends, I waited outside and got to talk to him. Sam played quarterback for the Wheeling Ironmen, later the Ohio Valley Ironmen, his first year out of college. He had just married an elementary school teacher and lived in a trailer. He voluntarily coached the quarterbacks at my high school in 1967, my senior year. He didn’t remember me, but reminisced about his life back then and knew those Ferry days well. Since we were staying at the same hotel, we talked as we walked and I really felt great about getting to meet him. He’s thinking about writing a book and neither of us could remember the other coaches. Sam isn’t in the team picture, as he was a volunteer and wasn’t there when the picture was taken. I called my wife and got all the coaches names and left them in an envelope for him as he was leaving the game after the 1st quarter.

Saturday started with the Advocates Breakfast. My sister Brenda spent the day with me, except she couldn’t go to the boxes during the game. Gen Chiarelli, Army Vice COS, was the principal speaker and talked not only of keeping kids in school, but the latest on TBI and PTSD. He also spent some time seeking our help in integrating the Army into the communities. Brenda and I sat with MGen. Abt, Deputy CG for Accessions Command.

The game itself was not only anti-climatic to all that preceded it, but I only saw about 10 plays live, and none of the half time show. They subdivided us into smaller groups of three and we went from box to box talking with the troops and generals in attendance. There were a lot of boxes. I won’t try to name them all. I was with Eric Gearhart of Skills USA and Robert Gordon III of City Year. Eric’s group helps train kids in vocational skills and leadership. Robert’s group works with primarily middle school kids to help keep them in school. Did get to shake hands and meet Michael Orr who starred with Sandra Bullock in Blind Side. He is massive and was mobbed by every Army general who could get close, closely watched by his agent. I think the West won 30-14, but wouldn’t swear to it. Brenda and I then went on to the Rampage ice hockey game where we were joined by her husband Jack to round out a great couple of days. The Rampage won 2-1.

Jan. 10-13, 2010
Jacksonville, Fla.

Got up at 0300 on Sunday as usual to pack for the return trip to Jacksonville. It’s an American Airlines flight again, through Dallas to Jacksonville. This will be my last time home until after the National Convention in Milwaukee. I got into Jacksonville in the late afternoon and stopped to see some of the grandkids on the way home.

Monday was a hectic day trying to get whatever I can done. Most important was registering the car as it has to be done by your birthday in Florida. I attended my post meeting that evening, then Liz and I drove to Tallahassee. It’s about a 3-hour drive, so we stopped about 2330 at a rest stop and took a power nap. Got up at about 0030 and arrived at the hotel at about 0130. Brought back the old days of traveling the state campaigning and sleeping in rest stops.

Tuesday morning, we went to the capitol, to be in the Governor’s Cabinet Room at 0900 for their meeting. Attorney General McCollum had three resolutions to present. I was first up and received a resolution in honor of being the first National Commander of The American Legion from Florida. I got to make a speech thanking them and thanking the very large Florida delegation of Legionnaires present who made it possible. I then went to Governor Chris and his cabinet, shook their hands and got my picture taken. Kay Egan, National Commander of the DAV Auxiliary, then received a resolution honoring her achievement. A third resolution was read and approved for every VSO in Florida, and was accepted by DAV Department Commander Jim Sursley, on their behalf. After the presentations and the cabinet session ended, the governor and cabinet made themselves available for pictures. This was indeed a real honor for me and The American Legion.

Liz and I then drove back to Jacksonville where we had to be at City Council for a similar ceremony at 1700. Councilman Don Redmond and former Councilman Art Graham (who had proposed the resolution before he left office on Jan. 1) accompanied me to the podium and read the resolution. I then spoke again on how honored I felt to have received this award. After the City Council meeting, I went home and stayed up all night packing for the next eight months of travel. I’m sure I’ve forgotten something.

Jan. 13-17
Ohio

Pulled another all-nighter packing for the next part of the year. I don’t believe we get home until after the National Convention. Liz accompanied me because Friday is my birthday, and we left early to rent a car and drive to the Martins Ferry area for a couple of days before the Ohio Mid-Winter Conference begins. It was a Delta flight to Columbus via Atlanta, and we got into Columbus just before noon and rented from Enterprise. My youngest brother Jon and his family live in Columbus, so we met them for lunch at an Olive Garden. His wife Sherry is the daughter of a high-school classmate of mine. Son Jon, Jr., is 7 and daughter Alyssa is 4. This was the first time I’ve seen his kids, and we had a great visit.

We drove to Bridgeport and visited one of my second fathers, Cy Young. Four of his six daughters came by, as well as two granddaughters and one great grandson. We had dinner and reminisced for hours. It’s amazing how easy it is to be out of touch. It’s been 15 years since we saw his grandkids at a birthday party at the house, and now they have kids.

I got up at 0500 Thursday to try to catch up on Facebook, but that’s turning out to be impossible especially if I miss more that one night – just too many friends to keep up with. But I think I got close. We started at Martins Ferry Post 38 where a card game was in progress. I remember some of these guys from the card games we had in the park growing up. I met Jim Knollington who told me he was the Legionnaire who drove me to Boys State in 1967. I didn’t think anyone who had anything to do with Boys State in 1967 would still be around. We had quite the conversation and photo op. Post Commander Don Headley came in, so we got our picture taken. It was a nice visit. We then drove to Bellaire Post 52 and met Jim Bob and John McCloud. Terry Wildman and Bob Tucker, who both graduated three years ahead of me. We had a lengthy conversation about what has been happening in the area. For those of you who follow the news, the Ferry Police Chief was sentenced to nearly three years for his part in crimes around breaking in and stealing items from Sarah Jessica Parker’s child’s surrogate mother. The Bridgeport Police Chief is likely to only get community time, and may even try to keep his job.

I was unable to reach my younger brother Jack, so we drove up to the new school complex in Ferry. It is gorgeous. Every grade now buses to the top of this fairly steep and long hill to attend school. It’s an entire complex of everything – fields, schools – everything happens there. I toured the high school with the middle school principal. The high school students had left for the day. I saw so many names on doors that I recognized – either kids of those I went to school with or grandkids of those who taught me. Dave Bruney, who graduated a year behind me, is the athletic director and head football coach and is doing a great job.

We next visited my uncle Gerald who lives outside St. Clairsville. He was a coal miner and has full disability for his shoulders and back. His wife Opal had just been released from the hospital after open heart surgery. Spent a couple of hours with them. He belongs to St. Clairsville Post 159, and I stopped there when we left. It was meeting night, so we met a lot of their officers. It’s a nice little post with a good amount of activity.

We ended the evening by revisiting Martins Ferry 38 and stopping by both the Italian Club and Polish Club. I talked to the brother of one of my best friends, who lives in the area, and within minutes of hanging up his daughter called. She is adjutant for Bealsville 768 and wanted me to stop by Friday on my way to Columbus. All in all a busy day but got lots done.

Friday morning, I again got up early – 0600 – to work the Internet. I’m two reports behind and working on a third. We tried to contact Cy, but were unsuccessful. We went by his favorite breakfast restaurant, then back to Ferry to the sports store to update my Ferry shirts, including a great Beat Bellaire shirt. Stopped at Ferry Post 38, and they had a different group of card players who knew my Dad. Spent some time with them, then drove to Cy’s house, but he wasn’t home. Final stop in the area was the Ohio Valley Mall to update my Ohio State shirts with a Rose Bowl victory shirt. We then started the trip to Columbus. We took an exit 15 miles from Wheeling, and drove some twisty, windy, narrow, hilly country roads to Bealsville Post 768. We took pictures of the post from the road. It was gorgeous. It sits on a hill with a tank in the yard about 1/3 of the way up, a large flagpole to the left and a memorial to the right about two-thirds of the way up. The post is at the top, and the entire landscape was white with snow. Lorraine met us at the door, and about 15 of their members, including the commander, came in. We spent about an hour there, then headed to Columbus via a less windy, less hilly, wider road. When we got to the interstate after putting about 50 miles on the car, Wheeling was 25 miles away.

We had to fight rush hour in Columbus which we hadn’t counted on, so it was about 1730 when we arrived at the Radisson. My daughter Nicole and her husband David were there as a surprise for my birthday – how nice of them. Central Region National Vice Commander Jim Morris was also here for the conference; Ohio is also his home state. The department commander/department adjutant/NEC and other officers took us to dinner at Ruth’s Chris, and the salmon I had was delicious. Back at the hotel, they had a birthday cake, lots of cards and sang happy birthday. It was great to start a new decade in my home state. I panicked poor Brenda when I said the number was wrong on the cake – she immediately rushed it to change the number. Hospitality rooms were next on the agenda, and I put on my Beat Bellaire shirt for the McClouds. They had two buddies from Bellaire with them, and Dick said he debated bringing his Beat Ferry shirt, then decided not to – his bad luck. Everyone picked on him for his shirt story for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday morning, we started with the Auxiliary meeting, and it was a full house. National President Rita is here. It is always good to see her. I’m sure she is getting the Ohio Auxiliary pumped for the rest of the year. We then went to the Juniors meeting, and spoke with them. As far as anyone knows, this is the first time national and state Legion officers has spoken to their Juniors. The room was packed. Next stop was the SAL meeting, which again was packed. Ohio is always near the top when it comes to Child Welfare Foundation support, or Children’s Miracle Network support, and the Ohio SAL has a lot to do with getting them there. I then made remarks at breakout committee sessions for Public Relations, Americanism, National Security, DMS, Gifts for Yanks and Environmental.

At the lunch break, I met Cy Young, Jr., who lives in Columbus with his family. Since Liz has gone shopping with Nicole while I’m at the meetings (it is hard to find good winter clothes for the kids in Florida) we met up with them at the store, and it took her many buys back to the hotel. The last time we saw Cy was at the birthday party for his daughter when she turned 2 which Nicole remembers vividly for the impact Barney’s appearance had on the little ones. His daughter is now 18. We had a great two-hour visit. Back at the conference, I went to their program display room where each program had a table. The afternoon ended at the Appointee Meeting where each district introduces all their national appointees and department officers. I’ve not seen this done at any other department conference/convention I’ve attended. I gave remarks on the importance of the individual appointees to take part any time they get a call-in and make an input.

Dinner was again a small department affair, with both steak and chicken on the plate. I again thanked them all for the great time we had on this visit. After dinner, we spent about an hour and a half at the dance, then went to the McCloud’s hospitality room. Dick is still upset he forgot his shirt, and I don’t think the shirt exists as Bellaire beating Ferry is getting to be like Army beating Navy – a fantasy.

Sunday was the joint session with a very large attendance. Rita is up front, but I don’t get any time to speak with her either before or after my presentation. The conference starts at 1000 and I have to leave by 1130 to make the airport in time. I give my presentation and get a lot of head nodding agreement about the Internet, blogs and social networks. I’m again amazed at how few in the audience have heard of our COP Keating Relief Fund. It has been out in a number of places but is not reaching the working level. For the size of the crowd, there are relatively few questions, but they start with the cost of the PUFL driving people away. There are four Legionnaires at the conference with the I Met T.H.E. Challenge pin on, so we get a group picture on my way out. They are Chuck Craynon, Chuck Heller, Larry Kitchen and Donald Reuelvest.

It’s then off to finish packing, load the rental car, gas it up, drop Liz at the ticketing entrance and turn the car in. We’re all on a Delta flight to Atlanta. Larry and I then take an evening flight to Montgomery, Ala., while Liz and the kids go home to Jacksonville. Ohio was a great visit – renewed friendships and family ties from years ago and had a really great time at the conference.

Jan. 18th
Alabama

Liz, Nicole, David, Larry and I left before the Ohio Conference ended to make our flights out. We were all on the same Delta flight to Atlanta Sunday afternoon, then Larry and I had an evening flight to Montgomery to start our 17th Department visit, while the family had a late afternoon flight back to Jacksonville. Arriving about 2000, Dept Cdr Wayne Mitchell, Dept Adj Braxton Bridgers and ANEC Willis Frazier met us at the airport and took us to dinner after checking into the Renaissance hotel. The Maryland crab cakes were excellent. This will be our traveling team, as NEC Wayne Turner had to go back to work.

Monday began with breakfast in one of the hotel meeting rooms. About a dozen Alabama Legionnaires had remained after their mid-winter conference ended Sunday to attend the breakfast. Rear Adm. Clyde Marsh USN (Ret), Alabama Commissioner of Veterans Affairs was the guest of honor. He gave an excellent presentation on the state of the VA in Alabama. They have a 15-member board which has three Legionnaires on it, two of whom were at the breakfast. Adm. Marsh says he looks to The American Legion for help as we always give suggested solutions when we identify problems. He’s on a first name basis and talks regularly with Braxton, so I don’t think he was telling me that to make me feel good. They have 77 service officers in the 66 counties to serve the 420,000 veterans in Alabama. He’s hoping to build a 280-bed fourth state veterans home soon, as well as a new state veterans cemetery.

We then visited the Central Alabama Veterans Health Care System Montgomery County facility. The director, Glenn Struchtemeyer, gave us a walking tour and brief. He has a Tuskegee campus and CBOCs in Columbus, Dothan and Wiregrass, as well as shared facilities at Ft. Rucker and Ft. Benning and Maxwell AFB. Lots of projects are scheduled, which will result in separate women’s clinics at every site. Making the facilities family friendly is the VA mantra that we have heard at every VA we have visited. We talked to three veterans in their rooms, recovering from a stroke, from pneumonia and from hernia surgery. They all expressed gratitude for the excellent care they are receiving.

Fourteen Legion Riders from Chapters 210, 122 and 133 escorted us for the evening post visits. An excellent barbeque dinner at Montgomery 210 was the first stop. This post has been rebuilt and revitalized by the Riders, and it took nine months to make the repairs and modifications to what used to be a warehouse to get it opened as a post. They did an excellent job. Post Cdr. and Rider Tim Smith presented a handmade box to me. There were 4 members from Unit 337 in attendance. At our next stop Millbrook 133, the SAL Cdr. Andy Cherry asked me to sign and present an honorary life membership to Butch Kinney, one of their members who works hard in the kitchen. Post Cdr. Teri Parkinson presented a birthday card, led singing happy birthday and cut the cake. Final stop was at Pratteville 122, which had a very lively crowd. Post Cdr. Dave Sheppard presented a very large engraved mug, and Auxiliary President Jackie Donovan presented a nice plaque. Dee Hardin gave me a national championship Alabama shirt for my wife. Dee is an Auburn fan and was reluctant to touch the shirt, so I wrapped it around her and they have pictures for future use. They had two very large Coca Cola welcome signs and gave one to me. They had some really good banana pudding which they say they are famous for-call it “naner” pudding.

Tuesday morning we stopped by department headquarters and met the workers, Jackie and Administrative Assistant Christy. Jackie gave me a national championship Alabama sweatshirt for my wife. Liz is not really an Alabama fan, just rides NEC Wayne Turner, so she’s getting them. We also met the Auxiliary Department Secretary, Jo Ann. Then it was on to the Bill Nichols State Veterans Home. PAO Kathryn Fuller gave us the tour, and we were accompanied by Director Scott Hurst. He’s just recently taken over and did very little talking. The first floor of this four story building is all the administrative spaces-chapel, library, cafeteria, offices. We talked to a number of residents and their families as we visited these spaces. Most say they couldn’t be happier and are here for the rest of their lives. The upper three floors have 50 beds each, with the top floor being the dementia residents. We visited a couple of the residents on the second floor, and they again spoke highly of the treatment they receive. They won a Malcolm Baldridge excellence award in 2009 and believe they are the only VA facility to ever win one.

Phenix City 135 was our final stop, and they served a barbeque dinner that had pork and beef ribs and chicken. They had a great sauce for them. This is Department Cdr. Mitchell’s home post, and his father is the Veteran of the Year, his mother is the Auxiliary president and his wife is the Auxiliary 1st vice president. There were about 50 in attendance, including a large contingency from Georgia 167 and other posts. Georgia Dept Cdr. and contingency are here to drive us for our Georgia visit starting tomorrow. My remarks again got a lot of head nodding and a couple of comments indicating support. Again, there were a number of questions about various issues. I received a number of gifts here: a horse statue from 135 Cdr Earl Hutchinson, an eagle statue and shirt for Liz from Auxiliary President Dorothy Mitchell, a watch from Rudi Prendergast, and a $150 donation to the NEF from National Chaplain John Beaver’s congregation. Also present from the community were: Commissioner Peggy Martin, Russell County Deputy Tim Watford and Assistant Fire Chief Micky Hutchinson.

Jan. 19, 2010
Georgia

Our eighteenth department visit was the only one thus far that didn’t start with a flight as Georgia’s Department Cdr. Butch Adams and NEC Charles Wessinger had come to last night’s dinner in Phenix City, Ala., and we drove across the border into Georgia. First stop was the brand new National Infantry Museum at Ft Benning. We were briefed by Executive Director Ben Williams and Foundation President Maj. Gen. Jerry White, USA (Ret). This facility just opened June 19, 2009 and still has two rooms that aren’t open yet. There is no charge to tour the facility, but they do charge for the IMAX Theater and they have a restaurant. Each tour begins by taking you through the last 100 yards of the battle on the main floor. In that 100 yards, every war the United States has fought starting with the Revolution through OIF/OEF is depicted with a march to the future at the end. We went downstairs where there are interactive displays-push buttons to hear people relate their experiences or see other short videos. There are rooms for each war: WW I has a trench that gives a great idea of what trench warfare was all about; Vietnam takes you into a jungle and lets you experience an ambush. In the middle is a Hall of Heroes where 1,500 Army Medal of Honor recipients are honored with either their picture or a name plate. Upstairs from the main floor is the Ranger Hall of Honor and OCS Hall of Honor. Again, we could spend all day here. Before we left, we talked about having a display of The American Legion brochures and another display for our role in the GI Bill of Rights-especially the Georgia Congressman’s role, which would be with their rendition of the Bill’s impact.

After a brief stop at Columbus 35 for lunch (I had the fish sandwich), we went on to Andersonville which is home to the National POW Museum. This is another new facility which I didn’t know existed. I had read the book about the Confederate Prison at Andersonville, and have wanted to visit for some time. Our escort was Kim Douglas and she was very knowledgeable. This site was chosen and it was built by a collaboration between the National Park Service and the American Ex-POW organization, funded primarily by the sale of a coin printed by the U. S. Mint. The American Ex-POW organization fully participated in the design of the museum and it is theme-based rather than war-era based. They also designed and funded the POW Commemorative Courtyard which is a solemn outdoor area for reflection. We took our time moving through the memorial, but again weren’t there long enough to do it justice. We then visited the Andersonville National Cemetery which is one of two that the NPS administers vice the VA. Most of the markers are for the Union soldiers who died in prison, but sections are still open for veterans use today. There are memorials throughout from the northern states with the first being from Larry’s home state, New Jersey, in 1898, and the tallest from my home state-Ohio. The New Jersey monument has a time capsule which hasn’t been opened yet, although a list of what is in it is available in the computer. There are six graves of the ringleaders of the Raiders which are separate from the other graves and receive no honors ever. The Raiders were prisoners who formed and bullied weaker prisoners, stole their food and blankets, and in some cases murdered them. The other prisoners finally formed the Regulators and the prison guards allowed them to try the Raiders. The ringleaders were convicted and hung by the other prisoners. The prison has been partially rebuilt in some areas to show the wall and deadline, and how the prisoners lived. Andersonville became the symbol of all that was wrong about prisons during the Civil War, as 29 percent of its prisoners perished in captivity. The captain in charge was tried in DC after the war and hanged.

We visited Warner Robins 172 for the evening, spent time with Cdr. Dave Winward, before checking into La Quinta. Tomorrow is the 80 percent goal date. Dept Cdr. Adams informed me that Georgia sent by overnight enough to make the goal and will be at 80.4 percent. I told him we would have to see the report. “Check’s in the mail” doesn’t work.
We started Thursday morning at the Warner Robins Aviation Museum, which is huge. It was raining and cold, so we only visit the two hangars that have been completed. The tour of the outside was canceled. The first hangar had more modern airplanes and our guide, Dan Hart, Supervisor of Volunteers, knows the history of every plane he shows us. First is an F-16 which flew as the #3 plane for the Thunderbirds. We then saw a U-2, SR-71, F-4 and some trainers. The second hangar was mostly WW II airplanes. Had a recreation of the 507th jump into France prior to D-Day complete with a recreation of the church in the town. Also had a Jolly Green Giant and MH-53 Pavelow helos.

We then began the drive to Augusta. Twenty-one Legion Riders and two state police cars joined us for the last hour, then joined by county deputies and locals for the trip through Augusta to the hotel. Were up to 26 Riders and seven county deputies for the ride to Augusta 205. They actually closed Bobby Jones Expressway at 1730. It is still raining and cold, but the Riders are there. Had a roast pork dinner that was attended by 168 Legion family members and guests. Cdr. Fred Zamora did a superb job keeping the night flowing. Some of the guests were: Brig.Gen. Don Bradshaw (ret), GA War Veterans Home Director Charles Esposito, Director of the Norwood VA Center Rebecca Wiley, and Director of Fisher House Dr. Tim Kiernan. Nancy Bobbit presented a letter on behalf of both Sen. Johnny Isaacson and Sen. Saxby Chambliss. I presented a 60 year certificate and life membership to Robert Smith, and there was 63 year member C. W. (Peakie) Stephens in the audience. The Augusta High School Air Force JROTC presented the colors, and one of them had attended the last session of Boys State. There was a really nice sign strung outside, and the Auxiliary had a nice welcome sign on their board inside. There were lots of gifts: Post presented a shirt, cap and plaque; Ms Wiley gave me a golf statue; the certificate from the senators; and some checks for various programs. I also had an interview with Augusta Chronicle reporter Brackett.

Friday began with breakfast at Augusta 205 escorted by 22 Riders, two motorcycle deputies and five police cars. They again shut down Bobby Jones Expressway at 0800. The post had an Army cook and real Army SOS, which looks nothing like Navy SOS. We had 28 Riders for the escort to Dublin 17, which took about two hours. It at least wasn’t raining, but was still cold. Lunch was ham and turkey cut for sandwiches. Mayor Pro Tem Julie Druger presented some mementos of Dublin and invited us to their month-long celebration of St Patrick’s Day (which I have a hard time imagining surviving), and Dublin Chamber of Commerce President Willie Paulk presented a nice paperweight. They both had good things to say about the post, which is a member of the chamber and will have a float in the St Patrick’s Day parade. There were 91 present.

The 80 percent goal message is out and 37 departments made the goal-including Georgia at 80.4 percent. Congratulations, Georgia.

We now have 32 Riders for the escort back to Warner Robins and the La Quinta. We were met by 1 police motorcycle and 6 cars for the escort through town. The trip to Warner Robins 594 had 38 Riders with the local police escort. Cdr. Darryl Mercer served a chicken and beef dinner with 127 in attendance. National Membership Chairman Dale Barnett was in the audience, and he brought me up to date on the recent meeting they had. He said Leading Candidate Jimmy Foster made an excellent presentation. The gifts here were 3 baskets of local produce heavy on the nuts. Roy Humphrey of Post 30, Eugene Barns of Post 21 and Willie Young of Post 558 presented them.

Saturday began with a 41-Riders escort to breakfast at Macon 3. There is a beautiful Korean War Monument at this post, one of three in Georgia. The other two are at the beginning of Route 80 in east Georgia and at the end in west Georgia. Cdr. Sam Darden gave me pamphlets on the monument and how it came about. The Korean government contributed to them. This is one of the best memorials we have seen. Had 90 in attendance at breakfast, which must be a record.

Now at 48 Riders for the escort to Jonesboro 258 for a BBQ lunch. State Sen. John Douglas was present, and gave a presentation on the state of affairs as he saw them. Mayor Luther Maddox gave me the key to the city and a proclamation declaring this Clarence Hill Day in Jonesboro. Auxiliary Junior President Megan Mimms was present, as were a number of Juniors. The highlight of the program was when SAL Cdr. Carter Butler presented a check to Fisher House for $1938. Post Cdr. John Harper presented a hand-made afghan in the shape of the U. S. Flag to me and it is gorgeous. Must have taken a lot of time to make. Retired Chaplain Col Kitchens of the Post 258 Chapel of God presented a check for $1000 for OCW, and a letter encouraging other posts to establish non-denominational chapels in their posts. There were a number of other checks presented for various programs. There were 161 in attendance.

The escort to Buford 127 had 70 Riders. We took up nearly 2 miles on the interstate, as there were a dozen vehicles with us also. Our driver, Steve Adams, is Cdr. of Buford 127, and has been trying to get Phil Niekro to stop by the post. Phil & Joe grew up next door to Martins Ferry in Bridgeport and I was hoping to get to meet him. We had a ham and chicken dinner. I did get to catch up with Lenard McClure who attended the National Legion College in 2000 with me. Gifts included books on the area from the Cdr. and SAL Cdr. Trent Costly. Post 127 Riders Director Tom Hineling presented an ALR patch, and Dept Director Pat Garrett presented an ALR coin. There were 168 in attendance. Unfortunately, Phil Niekro didn’t make it.

This was a great visit. I’ve known some of these Legionnaires for longer than any others as the NLIC used to be held in Macon and I attended each of them after I retired from the Navy. I didn’t get to catch up with my roommate at the National Legion College, Keith Hardeman-their long time Boys State Director, as his health has been up and down. The Riders were superb in the cold and rain, with as many as 90 Riders participating at one time or another, and a lot that were with us the entire trip. Pat Garret, Ghost and Sarge really do a superb job, and I can’t thank them enough. Each event was very well attended, my remarks were well received, and there were many questions at each stop. Thank you, Georgia.

Jan. 20, 2010
Puerto Rico

Back to our regular routine – up at 0530 to pack for the airport. Amazingly, seven Legion Riders join in to escort us to the Atlanta airport. Liz flew in from Jacksonville and met us for the Delta flight to Charlotte Amaile, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, to start our department visit to Puerto Rico, our 19th department. We are met at the airport by Post 90 Commander Heraldo Todman and a host of Virgin Island members in uniform with a welcome sign for myself and Department Commander Louis Figueroa. Louis and Department Adjutant Michael Quiles arrived just before we did from San Juan, so we all went to the Emerald Isle hotel together. My room is on the first floor with a private balcony to the beach – which is what all the rooms on the first floor have. Dinner is served at the hotel. I had the pasta seafood diablo.

Puerto Rico has 10 districts and five vice commanders. The Virgin Islands have five posts and are the 10th District. Post 90 is on St. Thomas, Post 131 is on St. John and Posts 85, 102 and 133 are on St. Croix.

Monday began with a visit to the VA Center. Dr. Matos conducted a briefing on the services they provide. One service they do not provide is a pharmacy. Their clinic has been recently modernized, and a pharmacy room is there and ready to be used, but their numbers are too low to rate a pharmacy, so it sits empty. They take their prescriptions to Walgreens or somewhere that accepts them, get a two-week supply, then get the rest through mail order. According to the department adjutant, it sometimes takes more than two weeks to get their medications. Dr. Matos is willing to provide the numbers for the department to address it again. Virgin Islands VA Director Morris Moorehead joined us during the brief. Sherma Towge conducted a short tour of the clinic and gave us all T-shirts they had printed.

We were originally scheduled to pay a call on the governor, but he was busy preparing for his State of the Territory address. So we went to the lieutenant governor’s office building. Lt. Gov. Francis is a member of St. Croix 85 and wore his Legion cap everywhere we saw him. They have a rule: if the governor is from St. Thomas, the lieutenant governor has to be from St. Croix, and vice versa. He is very veteran pro-active, and when the department adjutant told him he was unable to schedule a meeting with the Director of the San Juan VA Center by either letter or phone (she was always at a meeting), Lt. Gov. Francis called her on the speaker phone in the center of the table. He was also told she was at a meeting, so he asked if she could spend two minutes with us. She did, and we set a meeting for 0830 Wednesday. Pretty impressive. Lt. Gov. Francis also told us that he had been told by a veteran that if you have TRICARE Prime on the mainland, when you get to the islands, it is automatically changed to TRICARE Standard. He wanted to know why. We will see what VA says.

Post 90 served a fish and chicken banquet for lunch, which was attended by the lieutenant governor, the VA director and the adjutant general of the National Guard Maj. Gen. Rivera. All three dignitaries spoke highly of The American Legion in the Virgin Islands and all they do. Both the Legionnaires and the Auxiliary wore uniforms throughout the visit, as did the rest of the Department, and they are impressive looking. My remarks on the social networks were well received, and many of them are participating. Some really impressive gifts were given to all three of us. Commander Todman gave me a one-hour DVD on the performance of the soldiers of VI and the post license plate. I received two impressive wooden carvings of the island, one from Post 90 Legionnaire Hubert Raimer that had a clock in the center, and the other from Dolores Carter-Brown of St Croix 133. Post 102 Legionnaire Annie Day Henry gave me a St. Croix hook bracelet and tie tack, and a necklace to Liz. Lt. Gov. Francis gave me a clock and a travel bag, and VA Director Moorehead gave us all a VI gift pack.

Liz got her shopping in for the grandkids before we caught an afternoon American Airlines flight to San Juan where we stayed at the Embassy Suites and had a really good pizza for dinner. They have a happy hour at the hotel where drinks are free from 1730-1930, so it got crowded and I’m sure adds to the bill rate.

Tuesday began with an hour drive to Cayey Post 19 for breakfast. This is a little post with a lot of history on its walls. They are in a building that at one time was the police headquarters, then the fire station. They have various collections of pictures for some of the events that have occurred over the years, and very large bronze depictions of each war starting with World War I that were given to them by the mayor in 2000. Post Commander Juan Marquez is extremely organized and runs a tight ship, tracking every service the post provides. There were 31 in attendance, with reps from posts present, including Albonilo 9, Utuado 42 and Santurce 113. After my remarks, they presented a picture with a clock to me, a nice bag for Liz, and a gift for Larry. ANEC Monserrate Oquendo and PNEC Carlos Orria were present. When we left, we drove by their War Memorial, which is impressive.

The drive around the Caribbean side of the island to Boqueron Post 154 was very scenic. They served a veal lunch after the formal ceremony ended. Asst. Mayor Jorge Moralos was on stage but declined to speak – a politician secure enough not to have to take advantage of the opportunity to impress his electorate? Maj. Gen. Alfredo Morales of Southern Command gave his remarks; he’s soon to be assigned to DC. I then gave my remarks, and there was a lot of head shaking in agreement. One of the questions was on the flag amendment, which hadn’t been asked before. Post Commander Wilfredo Ojeda presented a nice plaque at the end of the Q&A. There were 98 in the audience, representing Yaveo 149, Caroline 129, Cabo Rojo 47, San German 32, Guanica 49, Hormiqueros 111, Ensenada 87, Lajas 82, Sabana Grande 36 and Villalba 127. I presented the Post 47 commander one of my pens for achieving 100 percent and surpassing 300. This was a very enthusiastic get-together, and we stayed longer than we should. We drove back on the Atlantic side, which took a little longer but gave us a feel for the island.

Wednesday we went to the VA Center for our meeting with the director, Wanda Mims. There is a lot of construction ongoing and parking was difficult. We got there early, so Department Adjutant Michael took us on a tour of the entire facility. Some people arrive by 0700 for morning appointments just to get a parking place. We met with Director Mims at 0815 for about a half an hour. She is very thorough and knowledgeable about all we talked about. She does have a tremendous amount of meetings, including with all the VSOs every other month. Their new wing is nearly completed – should be done by March. Then they will move all the beds and patients to it. Her office is on the third floor of a 6-story building, and she said the plan is to demolish everything above the third floor while they work. Doesn’t sound like fun to me. They have broken ground and are starting to build their new admin building, then they will build a second parking garage. She made arrangements with the bus company across the street to use their parking area during the day while the buses are out, to ease the problem. They just have to be out of the lot by 1800 – pretty pro-active. She said the pharmacy in the VI wouldn’t be stocked because it didn’t service enough people, but she is willing to look at what Michael puts together. She was surprised to hear about the mail delays, and will look into that. It was a very positive meeting. She indicated she relied heavily on the VSOs for this kind of information and any suggestions at their meetings, and she seems to have a firm handle on all that is happening.

The final event of this visit was a luncheon at the Embassy Suites. This was one of the few times we’ve had the standard chicken meal. There were 78 in attendance. Aramando Rodriguez, a photographer, spent a lot of time online and presented a very large picture that is a collection of various pictures from my Naval career and Legion career. It is absolutely beautiful and must have taken him a lot of time. After the luncheon, we spent the day shopping.