Upcoming Calendar
June 8 9:15 am	Board Meeting— Traner's Conference Office
June11 12:30 pm	Regular Meeting—Senior Center (Lunch at 11:30 am)
Jun 17-20	State Convention—Vancouver, WA

This newsletter is going out a few days early this month just to remind folks that we have a busy couple of days in front of us. Volunteers are raising money by our Buddy Poppy Drive on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, the Mukilteo Historical Society has invited our Post to present the Colors at the Mukilteo Cemetery on Sunday at 1:00PM. Those of you interested in joining us can meet us at the Starbucks at Food Emporium located just north of where the Mukilteo Speedway (525) and Hwy. 99 intersect. We will meet there at noon and carpool down the cemetery due to a shortage of parking. Post member Mike Reagan will be saying a few remarks. On Monday, we meet at the Edmonds cemetery at 10:30AM for the ceremony which takes place at 11:00AM. We need some volunteers to return at 4PM to take down flags and put them away for storage. So all in all, it will be a very busy weekend for everyone involved. One final note, on Saturday evening, the Edmonds Jazz Festival will be at the Performing Arts Center so if you would like to get off your feet, it should be a fun evening.

Members are urged to make a special effort to attend our June 11 meeting, so that you can hear the very compelling story of Maj. Joe Crecca. As a 1st Lt. in the Air Force, Joe was flying his 87th combat mission in an F4-C when he was shot down by a SAM in the vicinity of “Thud Ridge”, in North Vietnam. He successfully ejected from his crippled aircraft and was immediately captured when he hit the ground. For the next 2,280 days, Maj. Crecca was held as a prisoner of war in Hanoi. During most of his captivity, he was held in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton”. While a POW, Joe was instrumental in memorizing the names of over 700 of his fellow POW’s, which aided in the accounting of the Americans held in captivity. Members are urged to bring family members and friends to hear Joe’s remarkable story on June 11, 2010.

Elmer Johnson & Diane Small Induct Post & Auxiliary Officers

Elmer Johnson, District 1 Commander, and Diane Small, Incoming Auxiliary Department President and current Department Senior Vice President, performed the induction of the new officers of the Post and Auxiliary at a joint installation ceremony.  

Morgan Dotson Receives Humanitarian Award

Morgan received our Humanitarian Award for his work in providing not only shelters to men (including a number of veterans), but a stable environment that is drug and alcohol free. Roosevelt Ward, our Service Officer, was key in assisting Morgan in his efforts to secure 3 residences which houses the men. Fred Apgar watches as Morgan receives a monetary award from Post Commander, Jim Traner.

Longevity Pins Awarded at Meeting

Longevity Pins were awarded at the Post meeting to recognize individuals with either 5, 10, 15, 20. 25, etc. years of membership in the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Pictured are Rene Blumenthal, Al Boyett, Ed Gray, and Leroy Middleton. A number of individuals were unable to attend the meeting, but each was recognized for their service. Of special note is Mary Justason. Mary is a former Quartermaster of the Post and was awarded a pin for 40 years of service. She was unable to attend but we will make sure she receives her pin.

Member Duane Pounds
Elected Commander of American Legion

Past Commander of Post 8870 was elected Commander of the American Legion Post 66 replacing Les Abel who “retired” after many years of serving in that capacity. Both men are members of our Post. We have been making a concentrated attempt at cross membership in the two Posts and encourage any member of VFW to please join the Legion. Remember, each organization has a loud voice in WA DC so make yours heard twice by joining both organizations.

The Post learned at the District One meeting that it had been selected as the Post of the Year. It is an honor to receive the award and it is through the hard work of all the members that we received this. This Post is active at both the District and Post level, but more importantly, has become very active in the community as well. We now have a speaker’s bureau, and our participation in the VOD and PP (thanks to Rock and Fred) has made us highly visible in the school district as well. At the recent District Meeting, Duane Pounds was elected Senior Vice Commander while Jim Traner was elected Junior Vice Commander. Phil Sacks is District Poppy Chair and Ed Gray has served as Chaplin.

Elmer Johnson presented Fred Apgar with his own balsa wood airplane in recognition of his efforts at the District level in selecting the Teacher of the Year. Fred, being an Air Force veteran, should be able to assemble and fly this but only with the assistance of a team of engineers and trained pilots.

Upcoming Programs

June	Joe Crecca—Pilot and POW—Vietnam
July	Erv Schmidt—The submarine duty during WWII