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1 AMERICAN THE LEGION Peter J Courcy Post 178 15520 Calico Ct. Frisco, TX 75035 903-216-1514 http://friscolegion.org EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: Commander, Fred Rogers [email protected] 1st Vice Commander Rob Spallone [email protected] 2nd Vice Commander, Thor Anderson [email protected] Adjutant, Delbert Parsons [email protected] Finance Officer, Terry Meyering [email protected] Sergeant-At-Arms, Dave Fautheree [email protected] Historian, Open Chaplain, Ed Mendlik [email protected] Service Officer, Kevin Robinson [email protected] Judge Advocate, Paul Jones [email protected] Members-at-large Larry Marshall Lgm24_8msn.com Matt Ostergaard [email protected] James Trombley [email protected] om July 2018 POST PROGRAMS: American Legion Riders Matt Ostergaard [email protected] Boy’s State Larry Marshall Law and Order Stuart Sax [email protected] Legislative Chuck Wright [email protected] Oratorical Fred Rogers [email protected] School Awards: Ted Ruybal [email protected] Scouting: David Grandfield [email protected] Voter Registration Larry Marshall [email protected] POST COMMITTEES: Audit Paul Jones [email protected] Budget: Terry Meyering [email protected] Color Guard/Honor Guard Ken Looney [email protected] Fund Raising Skip Middleton [email protected] Newsletter Terry Meyering, publisher Rob Spallone, co-editor Public Relations Thor Anderson [email protected] Training Thor Anderson [email protected] Vol 17 On Sunday, June 17, our Amer- ican Legion Auxiliary Unit 178 sent 11 area students to Texas Girls State in Seguin, TX for a week where they learned citizen- ship, patriotism and government. This is the first city-wide delega- tion for Frisco, and Unit 178 is very proud of the hard work and contribution of so many people who have helped make it happen. We are grateful to our mem- bers, the Boys State Commit- tee from Post 178, and to the generosity of the civic groups who made it possible for us to send these 11 girls. Please click on the following link to learn more about “GIRLS STATE”. https:// www.alaforveterans.org/ALA-Girls- State/ By: Tracy Gamble Our “Girls State” Delegates for 2018

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Page 1: THE AMERICAN LEGION - WordPress.com · 17-07-2018  · a Merit Badge. Topics covered were; American Culture & Indian Lore, Animation, Archery, Automo-tive Maintenance, Basketry, Citizen

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AMERICAN THE

LEGION

Peter J Courcy Post 178

15520 Calico Ct.

Frisco, TX 75035

903-216-1514

http://friscolegion.org

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:

Commander, Fred Rogers [email protected] 1st Vice Commander Rob Spallone [email protected] 2nd Vice Commander, Thor Anderson [email protected] Adjutant, Delbert Parsons [email protected] Finance Officer, Terry Meyering [email protected] Sergeant-At-Arms, Dave Fautheree [email protected] Historian, Open Chaplain, Ed Mendlik [email protected] Service Officer, Kevin Robinson [email protected] Judge Advocate, Paul Jones [email protected] Members-at-large Larry Marshall Lgm24_8msn.com Matt Ostergaard [email protected] James Trombley [email protected]

July 2018

POST PROGRAMS: American Legion Riders Matt Ostergaard [email protected] Boy’s State Larry Marshall Law and Order Stuart Sax [email protected] Legislative Chuck Wright [email protected] Oratorical Fred Rogers [email protected] School Awards: Ted Ruybal [email protected] Scouting: David Grandfield [email protected] Voter Registration Larry Marshall [email protected] POST COMMITTEES: Audit Paul Jones [email protected] Budget: Terry Meyering [email protected] Color Guard/Honor Guard Ken Looney [email protected] Fund Raising Skip Middleton [email protected] Newsletter Terry Meyering, publisher Rob Spallone, co-editor Public Relations Thor Anderson [email protected] Training Thor Anderson [email protected]

Vol 17

On Sunday, June 17, our Amer-

ican Legion Auxiliary Unit 178 sent 11 area students to Texas Girls State in Seguin, TX for a week where they learned citizen-ship, patriotism and government.

This is the first city-wide delega-tion for Frisco, and Unit 178 is very proud of the hard work and contribution of so many people who have helped make it happen.

We are grateful to our mem-bers, the Boys State Commit-tee from Post 178, and to the generosity of the civic groups who made it possible for us to send these 11 girls.

Please click on the following link to learn more about “GIRLS STATE”. https://www.alaforveterans.org/ALA-Girls-State/

By: Tracy Gamble

Our “Girls State” Delegates for 2018

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Science, Farm Mechanics, Fire Safety, First Aid, Fish & Wildlife Management, Fishing, Fly Fish-ing, Frontiersman, Geocaching, Geology, Horsemanship, Law, Lifesaving,. Motorboating, Na-ture, Orienting, Photography, Pot-tery, Rifle Shooting, Robotics, Small Boat Sailing, Swimming and Wilderness Survival.

Some merit badges cannot be completed at camp but a total of 29 Merit Badges were earned by these 13 scouts and most of the requirements were completed so the troop is expecting to have a very packed Court of Honor in August.

The Adults were not to be outdone and while attending to the need of the troop and maintaining their bear-ing they were able to earn the fol-lowing certifications: Climb on Safe-ly, Climbing Instructor Training, Paddlecraft Safety & Supervision, CPR and First Aid.

On May 16th the Troop conducted it's Second Court of Honor this year and has issued 74 different awards to scouts this year. Way to go Troop 178!!!

With the July edi-tion of our Post 178 newsletter we begin a new fiscal year - 2019. Year 2018 was, once again, a tremen-

dously successful year and our Post accomplished many objectives. We are grateful and proud of our mem-bers and for your dedication and involvement. “Thank You”!

At our June meeting, 4th District Commander Gene Toohey conduct-ed our elections and installation of officers for the coming year. We welcome five new officers elected this year: 1st Vice Commander Rob Spallone, 2nd Vice Commander Thor Anderson, Sgt-At-Arms Dave Fautheree, and Executive Commit-tee members, Larry Marshall, Matt Ostergaard and James Trombley. I am thankful and appreciative for your encouragement and continuing support to serve as your commander for another year. My personal com-mitment to the Post continues and I always solicit your suggestions and ideas, that is the only way we can continue to improve. Working to-gether as a team makes a significant difference.

There are many elements to a strong Post and certainly membership growth is one of them. Under the direction of Larry Marshall, past 1st Vice Commander, the Membership Committee and Mike Strand who preceded Larry we have grown be-yond expectations to 467 members in just four years. With the end of the membership year we have achieved our 4th in a row “All Time High” award, our first ever Nation-al “Post Excellence” award and many more awards.

Yet, the single item that best deter-mines the strength of a Post is what have we done; for the community, for veterans and their families, Chil-

dren & Youth, and helping promote an awareness of Americanism and Patriotism. Once again, these are areas where Post 178 excels…and we can all be very proud of those accomplishments. The tribute for these accomplishments goes to our dedicated Officers, Committee and Program chairs and their committee members.

Each Post officer is charged with mentoring and teaching his or her replacement. If you have an inter-est in a Post officer position now is a good time to make your desires known. Additionally, we have many committees that we would like to start…we are just waiting for someone to step up and offer to help. We invite inquires, I’m sure we have something for everyone.

COMMANDERS MESSAGE

Fred Rogers

By David Grandfield

Recently Boy Scout Troop 178 attended summer camp at Kerr Scout Ranch near Tish-omingo, Oklahoma. During the 5 night ad-

venture the boys learned about 34 different topics. Each is specific to a Merit Badge. Topics covered were; American Culture & Indian Lore, Animation, Archery, Automo-tive Maintenance, Basketry, Citizen nation, Cooking, Electronics, emer-gency preparedness, Environmental

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Post 178 members Norma Hutchins and I were there to ac-cept the Proclamation on behalf of all Women Veterans of Frisco.

On June 9th, the festivities con-tinued as the City of Frisco and the Town of Little Elm partnered with Women Veterans of Ameri-ca (Chapter 48) to host a celebra-tion at Little Elm Beach. Mayor Cheney and Mayor David Hill-ock gave heartfelt remarks dur-ing the ceremony and the music provided by the Frisco Commu-nity Band – Brass Ensemble was perfectly executed.

An article regarding Post 178 Member Mel (Wood) Nigro was featured in the display – “Still Another WAC Conquest: the M16.” Army, Feb. 1976, pp. 26-30. The article reflects when Ar-my Regulation mandated mem-bers of the WAC to qualify with an M16 before they could gradu-ate basic training or continue with their service. Members of the Women’s Army Corps, like Mel, excelled and surprised oth-ers with not only her skilled shooting, but her ability to strip, clean and reassemble her weapon

in infantry time.

Full article can be found by clicking HERE  

Being able to participate and be an integral part of the 70th Anni-versary of the Women’s Armed Services Integration Act was an amazing and unforgettable expe-rience for all the women in-volved. We stand up and recog-nize all women in the military and honor their valor and sacri-fices. Thank you for your ser-vice Ladies, it’s a true honor to be in your company!

By: Shenna Lawless, member Post 178

On June 9, 2017,

Senate Bill 805 was signed into law by Governor Abbott. This bill established June

12th as Women Vet-erans Day. It was on that day in 1948 when President Harry S. Truman signed into law the Women’s Armed Services Inte-gration Act enabling women to serve as regular, permanent members of the armed forces.

All over the great State of Tex-as, Women Veterans Day was celebrated and the City of Frisco once again, did not disappoint!

On June 5th, Jeff Cheney, Mayor of the City of Frisco, proclaimed June 12th as “Women Veterans Day in Frisco.”

Shenna Lawless

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PS: On Thursday during the visit to the State Capitol, Lieutenant Gov-ernor Dan Patrick spoke to the Boys Staters. Additionally, the 2018 program passed 35 bills in-cluding naming the Space Station after former President Ronald Reagan, adding ‘war elephants’ to the Department of Defense budget, and finally passing a bill to name ‘Whataburger’ as the official Texas Fast Food Chain (senior manage-ment at Whataburger were over-joyed when informed).

LETTER FROM ARYAN:

“Boys state was a phe-nomenal (and exhaust-ing) experience that I am very humbled and grate-ful to have been a part of.

(Continued on page 5)

By: Mike Strand – Frisco Boys State Chair

Our 2018 Frisco Boys

State Program has suc-ceeded in sending 22 de-serving Frisco boys to the Texas Boys State Pro-gram. Ted Ruybal, Fred

Rogers, and myself were present to ‘send off’ our boys as they left by bus from Plano Post 321 with over 100 other District #4 boys on Sun-day, June 10th. There were a num-ber of ‘proud’ tears from several of the parents as they waved goodbye to their sons for a week in Austin.

Here’s an interesting fact: 86% of our 22 Boys Staters had their parents attending Parents’ Day in Austin and rode home with their parents; that means that our Frisco parents are re-

ally buying into our Boys State pro-gram. No other Post has that high of a percentage of parent involvement!

You can view photos and updates of the activities at this years’ Texas Boys State at www.texasboysstate.com

A special THANK YOU to Frisco Station Partners, VanTrust Realty & Rudman Partnership as well as other individual donors that made this years program possible. You can see from the following email from Inde-pendence High School attendee Ary-an Agrawal, who shares his impres-sion of his Boys State experience, the impact the program has on our youth.

After reading Aryan’s email, I am sure you see why we’re working so hard at supporting Boys State!

Our 22 Boy’s State Delegates—2018

Mike Strand

Aryan Agrawal

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Anthem – N-Power Veter-ans Event – Verona Vila.

May 19, 2018 – Vetts for Vets – Color Presentation at Texas Motor Speedway.

May 21, 2018 – Posted Colors and National Anthem – Memorial High School Ribbon Cutting.

May 21, 2018 – 6:30 PM Posted Colors and Nation-al Anthem – Boys State recognition; FISD Admin Bldg.

May 23, 2018 - Color Presen-tation and National An-them – Veteran’s Service; Sunrise Living Senior Center.

May 28, 2018 – Raised Colors – Veteran’s Ceremony at Commons Park.

May 29, 2018 - Color Presen-tation and National An-them – Veteran’s Service; Parsons House Senior Center

June 2, 2018 – Vetts for Vets - Texas Motor Speedway -

June 6, 2018 - Color Presenta-tion and National Anthem – Veteran’s Service; Par-sons House Senior Center

June 20, 2018 - Color Presen-tation and National An-them – NPower Gradua-tion Ceremony – Toyota

June 28, 2018 – Welcome Home Veterans – First Baptist Church Frisco – Color Presentation, Nation-al Anthem, and POW/MIA ceremony.

June 29, 2018 - Color Presen-tation and National An-them – Frisco Fresh Gar-den

I learned about the Texan political system, how elections work, and also how to collaborate with people that I don’t share many opinions with. I was elected to the House of Representatives by my precinct, from which I was elected the Speaker of the House. Working with the senate, we passed a Texas Boys State record of 35 bills. I also got nominated for boys nation, which I humbly turned down due to scheduling conflicts with band. The program grew me as a person, and I look forward to giving back to it in the future.

As a side note, thank you very much Mr. Strand, and all of the American Legion Frisco Post, for providing me and my colleagues with this opportunity. I truly appre-ciate it. I look forward to corre-sponding with you further in the future, and let me know if you need anything at all from me, I’d be happy to help.”

Aryan Agrawal

(Continued from page 4)

The Color Guard had a busy 2nd Quar-ter. Monthly practic-es focused on proce-dures for posting and presenting Colors, rifle salutes, and flag folding. During the

2nd Quarter, the Color Guard pre-sented and posted the colors at 18events. Of note is that the event sponsors for the Vetts for Vets made a substantial donation to the Color Guard! The events are described below.

April 16, 2018 – Color Presen-tation and National Anthem – Frisco Candidate Forum CofC

April 26, 2018 – Color Presen-tation and National Anthem – Frisco Garden Club

April 28, 2018 – Color Presen-tation and National Anthem – Collin County Historical Society Celebration.

May 3, 2018 - Color Presenta-tion and National Anthem – Parsons House Senior Cen-ter.

May 8, 2018 - Color Presenta-tion and National Anthem – N-Power Veterans Event – Verona Villa.

May 9, 2018 – 8:00 AM - Color Presentation and National Anthem – N-Power Veter-ans Event – Verona Villa.

May 9, 2018 – 4:00 PM - Color Presentation and National

Post 178 Color Guard presented the Colors at The Parsons House, Retire-ment Center in Frisco for their 1st An-niversary ceremony conducted by the Frisco Chamber of Commerce. Event was held on Thursday 3 May 2018.

Ken Looney

By: Ken Looney, Color Guard Cmdr.

Color Guard members Ken Looney, Delbert Par-sons, John Ricca, Larry Marshall and Fred Rogers

at Parsons House ceremony

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the MOH after being shot down over Rabaul in WWII.

Most folks don’t recall the Flying Tiger logo was designed by Walt Disney, and the AVG had three (3) squadrons “Adam & Eve”, “Pandas” and “Hell’s Angels”.

This experience was a great treat and we could rave about it all day long...if the politicians could get out of the way, we might find we have more in common and friend-ship is one of them. We’ll be coming out of Saudi Ara-bia this year...and although we may have another stint teaching or re-searching, we will be home more. Our very best to everyone...Take care,

Darly & Randy Jackson”

Follows below is a message received from post member Randall Jackson, working in Dhahran, KSA. His wife, Darly and grandson were with us for our Holiday Dinner before they re-turned to duty.

“Darly and I popped into Kunming, China on a flight to Dubai about 2 weeks back. Believe it of not, the fares were so economic it made the trip quite reasonable. We celebrat-ed Easter Sunday at the Cathedral in Kunming and the city reminded us of so many places in the States that have started to emerge into a new light of prosperity.

What was also cool, was that Kun-ming is where General Claire Chennault (A Commerce, Texas boy) began operations against the Japanese with the American Volun-teer Group (AVG) or better known as the Flying Tigers. The City Mu-seum has dedicated a whole wing to this effort, plus the legacy effort that lead to the establishment of US Air Forces that waged campaigns against the Japanese up to the final days of WWII.

We have captured a few images be-low…

Following is a grouping of service patches of units that served in Chi-na, please note the one at the bot-tom for all members of the

A MESSAGE FROM AFAR Post. Those good ole boys from Dallas seemed to have gotten around. Plus there were two Ma-rine Air Wing patches.

When the souvenir shop manager realized we were from Dallas and that I was a Marine, she gave my wife a small gift...see below

This made the visit more spe-cial...plus I sat down with a curator of different silk screens and it was amazing how we got on with Gog-gle translator. But Darly’s friend-ship at the museum store is now legendary..

The following patch was signed by Pappy Boyington, the Squadron Commander of the Black Sheep from VMF-214. Pappy was a Ma-rine fighter jock who was awarded

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This is my first

official communi-cation as your new 1st Vice. Thank you for your support and trust in me. First, I want to con-

gratulate Larry Marshall and his team for the excellent results in membership growth these past two years. We currently have 468 members as we close the 2017-2018 year. Wow!

As we turn our focus to the 2018-2019 year, it is important to know not only where we are, but where we are going. I want to make you aware of our goals and key dates for the upcoming season. First, our renewal campaign has already started as of July 1st and our first milestone is coming up at the end of this month!

Our overall goals are as follows:

By June 10, 2019, attain mem-bership of at least 477 paid members.

Recruit a minimum of 70 new members (to overcome attrition of members who move away, go to Post Everlasting, join a differ-ent post or do not renew)

Retain a minimum of 90% of our current membership

Our first key milestone is coming up fast!

120 paid members by July 30, 2018. URGENT!

(Continued on page 8)

The last quarter has been “the good kind of busy” for the ladies of Unit 178. We had a suc-cessful weekend of fundraising through

the Poppy Distribution Program, receiving donations for hundreds of red memorial poppies and spreading awareness of the Le-gion Family. Unit members vol-unteered over three days of Me-morial Day Weekend, at Bonnie Ruth’s Bistro and at Lowe’s Home Improvement Store. Low-e’s offered much more traffic and we are looking into duplicating this success via another home im-provement site in the future.

At our next general member meet-ing, Unit 178 will elect its officers for the year to come. The Nomi-nating Committee has presented a full slate to the membership, and the ladies will vote on June 21. We will present our 2018-2019 officers to the 178 Legion Family following the election. Our Unit is so thankful for the outstanding leadership of outgoing President Korrie Tighe-Ragsdale.

By: Tracy Gamble

ALA Unit 178 members Vicky Allen and Janice Kenyon manning the Poppy display

at Bonny Ruths restaurant.

Tracy Gamble

Please consider these words from scripture; Matthew 25:35-36 New International Version (NIV) 35 “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I

was thirsty and you gave me some-thing to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to vis-it me.”

These words are what I believe we as American Legion Members should consider; are we actively doing the things described in these verses. If not we should certainly consider it.

Visiting sick and encouraging members is not exclusive to the Chaplain. It is what I am called to do as Chaplain and I do it because I love it. However, I would like to say that those I visit would not mind seeing a face other than mine from time to time. Think about it and see if you can’t devote a cou-ple of hours a month to do this great service for our sick and recu-perating veterans.

Don’t forget to let me know about anyone needing an encouraging phone call, a card or a visit. God Bless all of you!

Post member, JP Hogan had shoulder surgery …well wishes can be sent to: 1664 Garrison Dr., Frisco 75033

Post member, Jon Hall had knee sur-gery…well wishes can be sent to PO Box 277, Frisco 75034

Ann Anderson, wife of Post member Thor Anderson, lost her mother - cards can be sent to 6613 White Oaks Lane, Frisco 75035

Ed Mendlik

CHAPLAINS CORNER From our

1st Vice Commander

Rob Spallone

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actually celebrated his 18th birth-day in Army basic training. The original idea was to get money for college, but Matthew quickly re-alized a sense of purpose, com-radery and a feeling that he was where he belonged. Even so, early in Matthew’s career he said to himself, “The day I wake up and feel like I stopped having fun when my feet hit the floor, it’s time to retire.”

25-years later, after serving as a both an NCO (1st Sergeant) and a Commissioned officer (Major) that day finally came, but not be-fore Matthew served our country in a big way. Beginning in 1992-94 at Ft. Hood, TX, Matthew be-gan his Infantry career as an en-listed man. Next it was off to Vilseck, Ger-many (1994-98) from which he was deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1997. Then it was back to Ft. Hood (1998-2003) where Matthew served as a Bradley M2A3 Master Gun-ner and later as an instructor at Ft. Benning, GA where he applied and was accepted to OCS, earning his commission as a 2nd Lt in Jan-uary, 2005. Matthew’s first assignment as a commissioned officer brought him to Schofield Barracks, HI (2005-10) where he was deployed to Iraq from 2007-08.

After a short stay back at Ft. Ben-ning, GA in 2010, Captain Os-tergaard was assigned a company command at Ft, Bliss, TX (2010-13) where he was again deployed to Iraq (2011).

He finished his career at Ft. Meade, MD (2013-2017) where he served in the Asymmetric Warfare Group, attending the

Let’s beat this milestone out of the gate. PLEASE RENEW NOW!

So how can you help Post 178 at-tain these goals? There are two ways you can help.

Renew! Please renew your membership as soon as pos-sible, ideally by July 30 so we can hit our first mile-stone. You can do this at the membership meeting on Ju-ly 19th; OR renew online at Legion.org/renew. You will need your 9-digit ID number located at the top of your current card to renew…if you don’t have your number just contact Fred Rogers and he will give it to you. Or you can simply mail your check to Terry Meyering.

Just Ask! As you are out and about in Frisco you might see a neighbor, friend or random person wearing a veteran cap, t-shirt or other insignia. Just ask them to join our Post! It’s that easy. You don’t have to fill out any forms. Get their name and number so I and the membership committee can follow up with them, and you will get credit and re-ceive a Lone Star Recruiter Award for your 1st, 5th, 10th, etc… recruits!

As we move forward, we are look-ing to attract more young veterans just transitioning out of service who can benefit from associating with others who have walked in their shoes, take advantage of programs that can help them overcome obsta-

(Continued from page 7) cles to their success, and maybe give back to the community in a positive way. This will also help the post sustain growth, leadership and activity in the long term.

As always, we want our members to be as active as they want to be, and we never put pressure on anyone to participate in Post activities. That said, we have numerous programs, committees and sub-committees that can use help, so there is always something for everyone who wants to get more involved. Renewing your membership is the foundation-al way you can help the Post main-tain and grow the programs we have for veterans, youth and the commu-nity. Remember, Renew by July 30th and Just Ask a veteran you know or see to join our Post in 2018-2019.

MEMBER PROFILE

Newly elected

Post 178 Executive Committee mem-ber Matthew Os-tergaard, has an interesting way of looking at things. I

think it can be best described as tak-ing the old phrase “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” and taking it up a couple notches. In life, Matthew finds a way to make the best out of what he has.

Growing up in Racine, Wisconsin, Matthew knew he wanted to go to college, but also knew his family didn’t have the means to send him. He joined the delayed entry pro-gram in high school as a junior, and

Matt Ostergaard

By: Rob Spallone

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his daughter Anhelica lives close by in Grand Prairie with her son, Grayson. Matt’s hobbies include motorcycle riding (ALR), Golf (sometimes) working out (every day 3-5 miles at a minimum), camping and fishing (with son Martin) and boating (Unfortunately, his 26- foot cabin-cruiser is still in Maryland).

Whether making lemonade or tak-ing on any other task, you might want to check with Matthew Os-tergaard first. He has a knack for making the best of any situa-tion… accept maybe that boat.

First, focusing on attracting young-er veterans to join the American Legion and second, implementing long-term, sustainable fundraising practices that will ultimately serve to increase the impact Peter J. Cour-cy Post 178 has on the Frisco com-munity. He also has taken leader-ship of the ALR and has recruited 6

new members for that group so far. His goal with the ALR is to focus on 2-3 major events per year that make the biggest impact without taking too much time away from his riders.

Matthew’s family has a history of military service, with his Grandfa-ther serving in Europe and the Pa-cific in WWII, his father was in the National Guard, and his oldest son, Matthew, currently serving as a Lieutenant at Ft. Bragg, NC. His wife Maribel is a 20-year Army vet-eran and retired as a Signal Officer, and his sister served 4 years in the Air Force. Matthew, his wife Maribel and their youngest son, Martin currently re-side in The Colony, TX. In addition to his son, Matthew, at Ft. Bragg,

Command and General Staff Col-lege in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas in 2014. Matthew retired as a Major in 2017, having completed three com-

mand billets as an officer, as well as both his undergraduate degree from Hawaii Pacific University as well as his graduate degree from the University of Kansas. Among his numerous awards, medals and com-mendations are the Ranger Tab and Combat Infantry Badge.

Matthew had a unique perspective (as an officer who had been on the enlisted side of things), and some-times coached his fellow officers on how to see things through a differ-ent lens. As a civilian, he brought that broader view to a veteran intern program at JP Morgan Chase, and was quickly recognized by leader-ship as someone who stood out from the crowd. In addition to be-ing offered the position leading out of the internship program, Matthew was offered several other positions within the company and accepted a role in Dallas as Vice President in the Treasury department working out of the Office of the CFO.

Recently elected as an Executive Committee member on the Post 178 leadership team, Matthew’s goal is to bring a new perspective to the leadership team in two key areas.

Assembly of company and platoon leadership team in Iraq sending Matt (center) off as his de-

ployment ended

Mathew flanked by several veterans he was men-toring at JP Morgan Chase in 2017

On June 20th, Frisco

American Legion Post 178 attended the Vet-erans Jobs Mission

Reception-Dallas at the JPMorgan Chase Dallas Corporate Center. The event was to support Human Resourse Managers around the Dallas area in the hiring and train-ing of veterans. The guest panel speaker was Roger Staubach, a Vietnam Veteran in the US Navy and founder of Allies in Service. You may also know Mr. Staubach as a Heisman trophy winner while attending the US Naval academy and the former Quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys where he led them to 2 Super Bowls.

It was encouraging to see so many businesses in the Dallas ar-ea working together to meet the needs of US Veterans in their ca-reers after their service to our country. The discussions were

(Continued on page 10)

Veterans Jobs Mission Reception

Thor Anderson

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By Caren Cohen

The “Quilting Angels” are resi-dents of Frisco Lakes who sew and quilt for various charities. All quilts are lap-size and made from donated fabrics. They give the quilts to: Frisco Lakes residents recent-

ly diagnosed with a major ill-ness or recently lost a spouse

Texas State Veterans Home Hope’s Door Women’s Shel-

ter Each veteran at the Clyde Cosper Veterans Home in Bonham re-ceives a quilt on his/her birthday. By the end of August, they will have given 143 quilts to the veter-ans and a grand total of 346 since they organized in January 2017. The lovely thank you notes (such as the one below) that they re-ceive from the veterans keeps them going.

mostly directed to meeting the spe-cial needs of veterans and how to reach out to them.

Submitted by: Thor Anderson

(Continued from page 9)

Pictured with Roger Staubach are Post 178 members Fred Rogers (Commander), Thor Anderson (2nd Vice Commander) and Rob

Stallone (1st Vice Commander)

The American Legion's official training program for members who simply want to expand their knowledge of the nation's largest veterans service organization, is now available online.

Already taken the old course? The American Legion Extension Insti-tute has been rewritten, updated, streamlined and enhanced with vid-eos, digital photos, clickable links, a historical timeline and additional features. The program should take less than two hours to complete. It is divided into six sections, with a quiz at the end of each one, fol-lowed by a final exam.

Access is through legion.org/alei and takes about 2 hours to com-plete. Graduates will earn a distinc-tive Basic Training cap pin and cer-tificate of completion. Cap pins will be furnished by the Post and awarded during a meeting

BASIC TRAINING

From our Service Officer

Once again, our

Post stepped up BIG TIME in supporting a Veteran that was in dire need. Due to a myriad of unpleasant circumstances this

veteran and her son were about to be evicted from their apartment and we came forward with the funds necessary to settle her delin-quent rent and prevent their home-lessness.

Most of the time I am able to di-rect veterans in need to the myriad of local, state and national re-sources that are available to assist them in their times of desperation, but in this case there were no other options available.

As Post 178 Service Officer I am continually gratified by the gener-osity of our membership in sup-porting our Veterans in this way. You all truly make a difference in so many ways.

Kevin Robinson

American Legion Post 178

Fundraiser Cruise Please plan to join us on October 7, 2018 as we depart Galveston for a 7-night cruise to Roatan, Costa Maya & Cozumel on the beautiful Liberty of the Seas.

100% of all monies raised on this amaz-ing cruise go to support our Post 178 Children & Youth programs. Full details are available at 469-294-8900 or www.cruiseshipcenters.com/frisco.