Feb. 18 – 21
North Carolina

After all the travel problems lately, we had a direct Delta flight to Raleigh that was on time. NEC Jerry Hedrick met us inside the terminal, and Department Commander Lou Cook and Department Adjutant Frank Stancil were waiting in the vehicles outside. For the first time in a while, we didn’t see white ground when we left the terminal. I had a bit of a stuffy head and sore throat from the two days sleeping in O’Hare, so we stopped at Walgreens for medicine. Our 25th Department visit was off to a good start.

At the Hilton, we had dinner with two staffers from Sen. Burr’s office: Brooks Tucker, Military Legislative Rep who just completed a stint as a Fellow with the Senator and is a Marine LCOL in Reserves, and Jonathan Towers, Senior Policy Adviser. They had called to say they would like to meet, so the NC legislative chairman put together a dinner that also included Secretary of the North Carolina Department of VA Charles Smith, DAV National Senior Vice Commander Wally Tyson, DAV Department Commander George Balch, Elree Smith with the VFW, and NC Legion leadership: Department Commander Lou Cook, NEC Jerry Hedrick, ANEC Coley Hunsucker, Department Adjutant Frank Stancil, PNC Ray Smith and Legislative Chairman Jeff Joyner. It was a very lively dinner, with the staffers seeking input from the veterans. We talked many issues like the category 6 Agent Orange Vietnam vets, the backlog, VA collecting from Medicare and some NC-specific issues. I had the rock fish and it was most excellent.

Friday, we met with ANEC Hunsucker to attend the Administrative Committee meeting, chaired by Department Commander Cook. They were discussing options for investing their money to get the best return and whether or not to hire a financial consultant. They opted not to hire a consultant. I gave some remarks, and went to the next meeting, as this was getting too technical for me. We went to the Legion College session, chaired by Rora Kellis. They plan out the NC Legion College as well as review applicants for the national Legion College. Rora apologized for not getting the word and wearing last year’s membership shirt. This is a fairly productive meeting which seemed to have lots of input. They also had one application to review. I sat beside Pete Munos, a 2004 graduate of the national Legion College.

At lunch, I talked to some Legion Riders from Post 39. They talked about the Veterans for Veterans Ride to Give 2 the Troops which they did in conjunction with Florida Riders using Interstate 95. They are planning to do it again this year and have been in touch with Florida Riders. Chuck Michonski gave me the shirt off his back – last year’s T-shirt for the ride. I then attended the Riders session chaired by State Director Wally Higgins. The room was packed, with some standing along the walls. Time to get a bigger room. As most of them won’t be at the DEC tomorrow, I gave them most of what I have been saying for two years about the importance of the Riders. They thanked me for my strong support and said they hoped that would continue with future commanders.

I then attended the Boys State session chaired by J. E. Woodard. I related the impact Buckeye Boys State had on my life, and how important it was to my efforts to get into the Naval Academy. They have competition from other programs, especially the Governor’s Program, which is free and runs six weeks starting when Boys State starts. They may start charging a fee for it, so some of the competition might go away.

I then was interviewed by Tray Bevoe and Morgan Donnelly of WTVD TV Channel 11 (ABC). They thought this conference was about jobs for vets, so I explained to them the purpose of the conference and how often they do it. So they asked general questions about The American Legion and I was able to talk programs and social networks. They did ask job questions, so I told them about our partnering with military.com to host job fairs, and local posts helping vets network.

Congressman Etheridge, Legionnaire from Dunn Post 59, stopped by. The NC leadership is quite good at scrambling, and a number of us met with him in a side room. We gave him the new priority list that will be used for the DC Conference, and discussed most of the items on it. He’s on board with most of our priorities, just says there is no money. He is especially supportive of quality-of-life issues for military families, and would really like to resolve concurrent receipt for all veterans.

Last stop of the afternoon was the Membership and Post Activities Committee, chaired by Ron Ambrose. The entire committee was in the orange membership shirts except Rora Kellis, so I now know why he kept apologizing. They missed the 85% goal, and spent time talking about the need to catch up. They also make the recommendation on post charters and other issues. I sat through their entire session.

Department Commander Lou Cook, Department President Sue Jones and Detachment Commander Harley Gaddy hosted a combined homecoming for the first time as a test. Instead of having people go to three different locations at three different times, they combined and jointly hosted this event. It seemed to go well, especially with just finger foods. About 250 attended, and there was a band for entertainment. National SAL Commander Mark Arneson of Georgia had his official visit, as did National Vice President for the Southern Division Linda Horton-Turk from Texas. We each gave remarks. I believe the idea will take hold and carry on for a while.

Saturday began with a Joint Memorial Service. Once again, we had a program that the Chaplain didn’t follow. Keeps you on your toes. We then attended the Auxiliary session, and they certainly looked great. Jerry introduced me after Lou gave his remarks, and I suggested to the ladies they should adopt the policy I’ve seen in other departments that if the wife is present and not introduced, the husband should be fined $5 toward the Department President’s project. I also noted that as President of the Southern Bloc, I’d probably hear about the fine later. Since I would only be addressing the Legion DEC, I included my social networking comments to the ladies and asked for their help. We then visited the SAL session, and Sue came along with us to give her greetings. I gave similar comments to the SAL and again asked for their help with our presence on social networks. As SAL National Commander Mark Arneson coined it, Lou, Sue and Harley too have formed a great bond and are working well together for The American Legion Family. Final morning stop was at the VA&R meeting chaired by Homer Robertson. I spoke to them about the importance of this pillar and the need to provide the service without any pressure for membership. I believe in the motto we adopted at the national legion college: if you serve them, they will come.

The DEC met in the afternoon, and consists of their zone and district commanders as well as the department officers. Each zone has its own table with either the district Commander or Vice Commander. Those making reports and PDCs were seated just behind the Zone tables. The rest of the department is then in the gallery. For the number registered, the gallery seemed to be light loaded with about 50 members present. President Sue and National Vice President Linda brought greetings, as did SAL Detachment Cdr Harley and SAL National Cdr Mark. This was the longest I have ever heard Mark speak. Congressman Larry Kissell included in his remarks the importance of participating and letting your representatives know your thoughts on the issues – something I can definitely build on. He was also surprised to learn he was eligible to join the SAL as his father was a World War II veteran. He not only eagerly joined, but they presented his SAL cap to him. There were a number of younger veterans in the audience as well as national legion college graduates, and there was a lot of head nodding again for my comments. I have added the Pepsi Challenge to my examples of the potential of the social networks and ask for their help keeping us in the top two. The Department gave me a Cape Hatteras Lighthouse which Lou tells me is the last in the series, and an oversized book titled “Samples in Time.”

North Carolina had a unique event this year: a hockey game between VMI and The Citadel to raise money for the Legacy Scholarship Fund. There were two reps from each school on hand to help present the check. While the check reads $3626, donations continued to come in and the final figure was an even $4000. We gave a plaque signed by the National Adjutant and I to each school and to Rev. Taylor who organized the event. This was a great event, and I’d tell you the winner of the game, but they didn’t announce it. The Legacy Scholarship was the winner. My last task at the DEC was to present their Department Historian, Larry Rozier, the plaque for winning second place in the Historian contest for department narrative. Congratulations, Larry.

I had the surf and turf dinner at the Peddler restaurant that evening. It’s steak and shrimp here. They really do well cooking their steaks – it was juicy and tender. The final event was breakfast with some of the leadership of North Carolina Sunday morning, then off to the airport for South Carolina with Department Adjutant Frank driving. We had a great time in NC as Jerry Hedrick is one of my mentors from way back, and Department Adjutant Frank Stancil, as a former Aide to National Commander Smith, really knows how to make your visit smooth.