"The Four Star"

Edition No. 4B - 07

July - August 2007

Commander's Corner

        By the time you read this it will be early July, and the Convention will be ready to begin. We have ten delegates who will attend and represent your interests.

    Your Post has had a good year. The Dept. of Maryland measures the strength of our Post on many things. One is membership. Last year we ended the year with 392 members. This year we have 416 members. This is a 3.5% increase. Not outstanding, but not too bad overall. Our activities over the past year have been, in my opinion, OUTSTANDING! Our participation in programs to benefit the community, state, and nation are equal to or better than any Post of our size in the state. The ones that I am most proud of are the ones that help our veterans and active duty personnel and children.

    Our most outstanding success is with our "Wounded Servicemen Committee". This committee is under the extremely capable leadership of Bill Bladen. Bill leads this committee in every sense of the word. He works constantly to raise money for the committee, and spends the money raised very wisely. He works with agencies at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Naval Medical Center to assist with the needs of the wounded. He works through “Fisher House to help families of the vets. Bill is far too modest to accept any praise, but when you see him around the Post, a simple ‘Thanks” would be appreciated.

Have a good summer, and God bless each and every one of you.

Tom Davis (Post 217 Commander)

Chaplain's Corner  

    Summer is finally here. There are several activities taking place at the Post this summer - so stay tuned.

    Congratulations to all of our newly elected officers who were installed on June 24th. May God bless you as you enter another year of service. I will be attending the Convention in Ocean City, Maryland as a delegate along with several others. I will be there from July 10th to July 14th.

     As always, have a blessed and safe summer.

For God and County

Ron Gray (Chaplain)  240-486-0910

Service Officer's Report

    First of all I want to welcome our new members to the Post and urge them all to attend our regular monthly meetings. I also would like to remind our members to keep checking the “Literature Table” for new updates to your benefits. These are your benefits, you earned them. Remember, if you need or know of any veteran or families that need assistance, please contact me. The Legion has several programs that can help them out. 

Mike Odum

Legion Americanism Report

    I would like to thank all of the members that are assisting in working our programs. 1 received a report that the “Easter Egg Hunt” was a great success, and we have several functions coming up soon. Also if anyone has helped or assisted any vets, please let one of the officers know because this is the time when reports are due to Dept. to show we are and have been active in our support for the Legion’s programs.

Mike Odum - Chairman - Legion Americanism

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Newly Elected Post Officers for 2007/2008

 (Click Here)

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DD 214’s Accessible On-Line

    Military veterans and the next-of-kin of deceased former military members may now use a new on-line “National Personnel Records Center” system to request documents. Other individuals must still complete the Standard Form 180, which can be downloaded from the internet. Both are available at - - -     http://vetrecs.archives.gov   This new system provides a portal to obtain discharge documents.

Walter Reed Picnic For Wounded Soldiers

    On June 14th, the Wounded Servicemen Committee held a picnic at the Fisher House at Walter Reed. It was a great success. Attending from our Post was Bill Bladen, Past Commander Fred Schaffer, Charlie Allen, Commander Tom Davis, and Past National Commander Clarence Bacon. Representing the Auxiliary was Doris Davis and Sue Carew. Frank Stoltz of Post 131 was with the Post 217 group. There were two officials from National and the Fisher House Staff. The weather was perfect, the food was excellent, and our guests and families all had a great time. We had about 30 guests in attendance.

    I’d like to thank everyone who helped make this a great success.

Bill Bladen - Committee Chairman

Birthday Party

We will be celebrating the birthday of the U.S. Coast Guard on Friday Aug. 3rd 2007 from 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM in the Lounge at College Park Post 217. There will be the Color Guard, guest speakers, 50/50 and other raffle prizes and a great spread of food. Come one, come all and celebrate the 217th birthday of the "Oldest Continual Sea Service" of the United States of America that has served our country in every conflict and war since the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Come on in for a good time with good friends, good food, and good times. Hope to see you there.

Crab Feast

We will be having a Crab Feast on Sunday, July 29th from 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM. The cost of the tickets will be announced later, and depends on “market price."

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News From The S.A.L.

As of June 14th, Flag Day, two sets of horseshoe pits have been put in and ready for all to use. Thanks to all who helped install them, and hopefully within a few weeks a small league can be put together.

Steve Yarmola - SAL

Newly Elected Squadron Officers for 2007/2008

(Click Here)

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Auxiliary

Newly Elected Unit Officers for 2007/2008

(Click Here)

 Auxiliary Chaplain   

    I am happy to report that Virginia Calvin is home and doing well after some major surgery to remove an abdominal tumor. Also Pat Fergeson is hopping around after foot surgery number two. Pat Parker breezed right through a cartiod artery procedure and Nancy Pierce was out helping distribute poppies at Calverton. Just goes to show that you can cut us up, but you can’t cut us down.

Here is a short anecdote about a very wise forefather...

Despite the bitterness engendered by the Civil War, Lincoln never missed an opportunity to speak kindly of the South. An ardent Union supporter once took him to task for this attitude. He said “Why try to make friends with your enemies?” he protested. “You should destroy them.” Lincoln replied - “Am I not destroying my enemies, when I make friends of them?”.

        Stay happy and healthy, and have a great summer.

Mary Keller (Unit Chaplain)

Auxiliary Americanism Report

The winners of our Americanism Essay Contest I’m proud to be an American” received their certificates and cash awards at the end of the year ceremonies at their schools. Below is the list of the 2006 - 2007 winners.

 3rd and 4th Grade Division

1st Place - Noah Waldron - Holy Redeemer School

2st Place - Noah Waldron - Holy Redeemer School

3rd Place - CaHum Walton - Holy Redeemer School

Honorable Mention - Angela Alvarez - Carol Highlands

5th and 6th Grade Division

1st Place - Bradley Brunk - Holy Redeemer School

2nd Place - Jack McGinnis - Holy Redeemer School

3rd Place - Daryn Robinson - Holy Redeemer School

Honorable Mention - Louis Consoli - Holy Redeemer School

Honorable Mention - Erica Harman - Holy Redeemer School

7th and 8th Grade Division

1st Place - Neomi Rao - Holy Redeemer School

2nd Place - Lisa Puglisi - Holy Redeemer School

3rd Place - Kasey Un - Holy Redeemer School

Honorable Mention - Arden Walton - Holy Redeemer School

Honorable Mention - Gina Bado - Holy Redeemer School

We hope you will encourage your students to enter again next year.

    I attended Memorial Day Services at the College Park Memorial on May 28th and also participated in the St. Marks School Memorial Day Service. A copy of the flag Code”, vhs tape “For Which it Stands”, and a new flag for the pole in front of their school was presented to them from the Auxiliary. Copies of the tape “For Which it Stands” which is a “teaching” tape on proper respect for our American Flag was also given to Concordia Lutheran School and Hollywood Elementary for their educational purposes. Keep flying your American Flag  and show your support for our troops!

Judy Slarb - Auxiliary Americanism Chairwoman