Posted: July 25, 2021 --- by Post Commander Christophersen

Comrades,

 

 

Our Quartermaster tweaked his left knee last week and after getting an Xray, was told that his left knee was bone on bone. He will see an orthopedist next Friday.

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Posted: July 24, 2021 --- by Post Commander Christophersen

Comrades,

 

I have decided type in the entire Constitution of the United States with Amendments into our web site. It is a work in progress. It is under the "Programs" dropdown menu. I make clearly delineated comments here & there.

 

Take a look, if you like to review it and send any comments to me.

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Posted: July 22, 2021 --- by Post Commander Christophersen

Comrades,

 

We have just received the dates for Bingo at the VA Hospital in Seattle. We will be co-hosting Bingo on April 26, 2022 (Tuesday) with the Federal Way VFW Post 2886. We usually set up about 7:00pm --- and is usually is over by 8:30pm latest. 

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Posted: July 16, 2021 --- by Post Commander Christophersen

Comrades,

 

The Veterans Day Buddy Poppy event upcoming in Nov 2021, mentioned below, could be negatively affected by this recent surge in COVID cases & hospitalizations caused by the reported Delta variant of COVID-19. We follow the science.

 

The facts are that the vast majority of those being hospitalized for COVID-19 are not vaccinated. Follow the facts --- not lies. We are paying less & less attention to those that defy the COVID-19 vaccine based on false, non-scientific, data. Stay tuned. 

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Posted: July 15, 2021 --- by Post Commander Christophersen

Comrades,

 

We will be starting to prepare for our 1st Buddy Poppy event in over a year ---honoring Veterans Day. The event will occur on Fri-Sat, November 5 & 6, 2021. Buddy Poppy Committee Chair, Tom Nasky, will determine which stores will allow us to setup at their entrance and what hours we will be there. I will work with him to put together a schedule of what comrades are at what stores at what times.

 

In 1923, the VFW decided that VFW "Buddy"® Poppies would be assembled by disabled and needy veterans who would be paid for their work to provide them with financial assistance. The next year, disabled veterans at the Buddy Poppy factory in Pittsburgh assembled VFW Buddy Poppies. The designation "Buddy Poppy" was adopted at that time.

                                                

In February 1924, the VFW registered the name Buddy Poppy with the U.S. Patent Office. A certificate was issued on May 20, 1924, granting the VFW all trademark rights in the name of "Buddy” under the classification of artificial flowers. The VFW has made that trademark a guarantee that all poppies bearing that name and the VFW label are genuine products of the work of disabled and needy veterans. No other organization, firm or individual can legally use the name "Buddy Poppy”.

 

We get donations for red Buddy Poppies; later VFW Post members discuss what to do with these donations. We vote on who, and how much, gets our donations. We only donate to organizations that support veterans e.g. both Veteran Homes on the West Side (Orting & Port Orchard), Fisher House (Seattle VA Hospital), Compass Veterans Home (Shoreline), etc. 

 

The more VFW Post 3348 members who volunteer, the more stores we can use -- this effects the donations from the public that we receive for what we offer i.e. red Buddy Poppies and American Flags. Many public just like the opportunity to show appreciation for U.S. veterans; some just like to talk to veterans and share their stories about family members who also served our country.

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Posted: June 27, 2021 --- by Post Commander Christophersen

Comrades,

 

The last day of the VFW State Convention went smooth. It was 94 degrees at 9:00am in Spokane --- fortunately, The Centennial Hotel has good A/C. It was comfortable. There was some mundane housekeeping to do --- such as being informed that the Dept of Washington Parliamentarian, Joshua Schreck, was elected by National VFW to be the National Parliamentarian. Which was cool considering the National Commander-in-Chief, Hal Roesch II, was sitting 10’ away.

 

Josh Schreck is an Iraq/Afghan veteran and a VFW Life Member. He is also the Post Commander of the Renton VFW Post 1263. He has read the Roberts Rules of Order 12^th Edition front to back. He has held Parliamentarian classes at VFW conventions for VFW members. He is very bright.

 

Then we got to voting. The Dept of Washington (aka State) Commander, Traci Williams, ran the election of officers a little differently. First, she ran through the State Officers --- asking for any last additional nominations --- if there were no additional nominees, she announced that that nominee was whatever the position was. In past years, someone would ask for the Judge Advocate to suggest a unanimous vote for all of them --- Traci nixed that.

 

The parliamentarian Josh Schreck confirmed that she has that authority. If someone was unopposed, why bother. And so it was. The Dept of Washington officers elected this way for 2021-2022 were:

• Commander: Chad Hassebroek
• Sr Vice: Paul Herrera
• Jr. Vice: Craig Dougherty
• Quartermaster: Paul Manly
• Chaplain: Wes Anderson
• Judge Advocate: Perry Taylor (he had earlier installed our Post 3348 officers)

 

When we got to State Surgeon, there were multiple nominees, so Commander Traci Williams asked each member of the State Council of Administration (all State Officers and all District Commanders), each Past State Commander and each Post Commander to walk up to the microphone that was setup near the front (just in front of the row of State Officers) to announce their vote. The Council of Administration members and all the Past State Commanders ignored Traci’s request --- standing up when their title was called and shouting from where they stood --- which is how it used to be.

 

When it came time for the Posts to vote, since there are so many, we started to line up in order (there was a sheet) at the microphone as requested. Commander Williams would call out the Post number, the representative of said Post approached the microphone, saluted Commander Williams, said his/her title, cast his/her votes and for whom they were for. It was my first time going up the central microphone and saying anything. The new State Surgeon is Drew James.

 

Drew James is a phenom. He is the most promising VFW member I have ever met. He is an Iraq/Afghan veteran and Past Post Commander of Monroe VFW Post 7511. Drew has been a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars for the past 17 years. In just a few short years he set the standard for VFW District #1.

 

He led Monroe Post 7511 to its first ever back-to-back All State and All-American years. Due to his activities of advocating for all veterans, he was asked to join a few different organizations to represent Veterans both locally and nationally. These organizations include the City of Monroe Sounding board, the Stronghold Freedom Foundation and an anticipated election to the Snohomish County Veterans Advisory Board.

 

He has given talks about the Stronghold Freedom Foundation, during the last year while traveling to other Posts, he spoke about multiple Toxic Exposure Bills that affect many veterans from various eras to include veterans from Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of these important issues were discussed with WA State Senators.

 

A few of Drew’s recent accomplishments and positions:

1. 2020-2021 VFW District #1 Sr Vice Commander

3. 2020-2021 VFW National Aide – De – Camp (2nd Award)

4. 2020-2021 VFW Iraq/Afghanistan Committee Chair for the Department of Washington

5. 2020-2021 City of Monroe Sounding Board Member representing Veterans issues

6. 2021-2022 Snohomish County Veterans Advisory Board Member

7. 2019-2020 VFW All State Post Commander (State Award)

8. 2019-2020 VFW All American Post Commander (National Award)

9. Member of Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America

10. Member VFW Military Order of the Cootie

11. Legislative Affairs Coordinator for the Stronghold Freedom Foundation

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Other than that, Thom and I drove back to Seattle though 104 degree heat in central WA State. We got all the way back only to get stuck in I-5 traffic for a bit --- finally dropping me off at my house at 5:30pm today. I have a great appreciation for comrade Thom Fermstad. I swear that he is the easiest person on this planet to get along with. 

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Posted: June 19, 2021 --- by Post Commander Christophersen

 

Comrades, 

 

James Madison was not only the author of the 1^st draft of the U.S. Constitution, he, along with Alexander Hamilton, were the main promoters of ratifying it. Aside from the two of them being the main authors of "The Federalist Papers”, published at that time --- they also traveled the 13 States --- lecturing and persuading members of the State legislatures to vote "Yes” to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

 

It was not a given they would succeed. It is startling how close it was to not being ratified. Especially now, as we watch current events. Democracy is a fragile system. America did not have nearly the population in 1787 that it does now, but even back then, it was exceedingly difficult to get majority agreement on anything. Lying and dishonesty are not new. We know what Hitler did, using that technique, in Germany --- they were effective in promoting it --- along with finding & exploiting some particularly sensitive grievance in a gullible portion of the population.

 

Imagine what Hitler could have done with an unregulated social media, a myriad of channels like opposing web sites, opposing radio stations and opposing TV stations. It is a battle of whose propaganda is most effective. Madison was the 1^st Founder to realize that "factions” (political parties) and "interests” (self-serving concerns) would play a part in the future of this country. Interesting insight!!

 

The section under "Members Only” on our web site www.vfw3348.org is a review of a book entitled "First Principles”. In the "Members Only” section, Parts 9-11 cover many of the considerations that were being discussed regarding what should be included--- and what resulted in being included in the U.S. Constitution --- and how close the vote was (a simple majority vote BTW) in some States. It was close. We barely achieved our democratic Republic --- as Benjamin Franklin said "A Republic, if you can keep it.”

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