november-december 2013

25 Pages·2013·4.95 MB·English

266 London Bridge Road
Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403
[phone]
www.vfw9401.org

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2013
Views Editor: Mary Stray-Salisbury

Contact Information:
Phone: [phone]
Email: [email protected]

VFW Post 9401 Lake Havasu City

Thank you for supporting your VFW Post.
VFW's TROOP SUPPORT
AT A GLANCE
♦ Since 2006, over 7.3
million free connections

home for deployed troops
and hospitalized veterans.
♦ More than $4.6 million in
grants toward emergency COMMAMDERS COMMENTS:
financial aid to over 3,450
The fall season, with the return of cooler weather and our great
military families.
winter visitors, is under way. And the many autumn events that
♦ Hosted nearly 2 million
accompany the season are beginning. Certainly, the residents of
military families at events
worldwide since 2007. our city in the desert will thoroughly enjoy the diverse choices.
Behind all the fun, as well as sober commemorations honoring
Through NMS, the VFW offers our veterans, is the reason why all that activity is possible.
support and assistance to the
Amidst the whirl of celebrations, do notice the amazing number
military community in many ways.
We are here to help military of volunteers without which none of the events could happen.
members and their families weather

long deployments and cope with
September and October brought a Patriot’s Day celebration, Ed
emergency financial situations. But,
our help doesn't stop there. Find out Mason’s birthday party, a POW/MIA Remembrance Day, a
more about what we offer and find
superior rating for the annual Post inspection, a weekend of
out how you can help.
hosting Comrade Tim Heck and his San Diego Riders, a
Some say they've got your poignant tribute by Military Moms to those who have lost sons
back. We prove it. and daughters in battle, and an annual Run to the Cross.
Another highlight was the very successful VFW Department Fall
Conference. We had the honor of hosting the event led by
Department Commander Tony Mangine and coordinated by our

own Frank Emery. We participated in the celebration of the

50th anniversary of Lake Havasu City and the dedication of

Patrick Tinnell Sports Park, dedicated to a local hero who lost

his life in the Middle East.

Every autumn at the VFW Chuck Wittmack and Fritz Marterer
present Western Days on Saturday, 2 November 2013. They
promise an afternoon of Western humor, good food, and the
chance to win some unique items. (- continued -)

Joan McDermott
2013-2014 Commander Post 9401
Hospice of Havasu will host an opportunity for It is the Comrades’ turn to coordinate the Pearl
veterans and families to learn about advance Harbor Golf Tournament to be held on
directives from 9:00 AM on Thursday, November 23rd this year. See Fred Mohun, VFW
November 7th. The presenter can assist with Quartermaster and event chairman, to join the
completion of the document and can also competition and for chances to win some rather
notarize it if time allows. spectacular prizes.
The annual Flag Retirement ceremony is Local students are diligently working on
planned at Campbell Ranch at 10:00 AM on submissions for the annual Voice of Democracy
Saturday, November 9th. and Patriot Pen competitions. The programs
the VFW sponsors promote patriotism and good
Don’t forget to attend the city-wide Veteran’s
citizenship. Submissions for Teacher of the
Day Parade in Wheeler Park from 1000 to 1130
Year have been completed.
on November 11th. Among the parade
participants are individuals who have The annual Christmas Party on Saturday,
demonstrated extraordinary courage as POW’s December 21st, and the New Year’s Eve
and in the exceptional way they served our Celebration on December 31st will hail the end of
country in wars from World War II to the another memorable year at VFW Post 9401.
present. The Golden Corral will provide free
Thank you all – Comrades, Sisters, and Men’s
meals for Veterans from 1600 to 2100 that
Auxiliary, as well as our canteen and kitchen
evening.
staff and volunteers – for the way you work
Plans are under way for the Car & Bike Show at together with each other and the community to
the Post from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM on Saturday, make our Post the very best in Arizona!
November 16th. On the same day, the 1st Annual
Airport Open House is being held from 9:00 AM
Joan McDermott
to 3:00 PM. A highlight will be plaques 2013-2014 Commander Post 9401
honoring a few of our outstanding veterans who
served in flight.

HOSPICE OF HAVASU
VFW POST 9401

November 7, 2013
9:00 AM until Noon

By Beth Biehn, LBSW
Transitions Coordinator

Beth will talk about advanced directives and living wills. She can help with completion of the
forms and can notarize the document if that is needed.
QUARTERMASTER’S CORNER

We have had a tough summer but we have made it through to the good days of
Snowbird Season. Financially we are moving in the right direction but we have
a lot to do. We are applying for a line of credit to pay for some needed repairs
and capital improvements. We are tightening the controls on spending to
maximize our return to give us funds to complete our mission in helping
veterans. I emphasize the WE because the post through its officers and members
who attend our monthly general meetings have approved these measures.

This was and is a team effort. We are fortunate to have some new members who want to help in this effort. Not
only have said they will help they are helping in big ways. But we still need help. We expect a lot of customers
on our Prime Rib Nights and Sundays for the next 6 months, Some have complained about the wait for Prime Rib
Friday nights and Sunday Breakfast. . I suggest that those who complain step up and help the kitchen staff. Get
involved. If you want to help and will give us some of your time, see one of the post officers.

In conclusion, I would ask all of you to consider being an officer of the Post, Ladies or Men's Auxiliaries. Several
offices will be up for nomination in March 2014. This includes the Quartermaster. I will not be taking a second
term, so anyone interested contact me and I will be glad to brief on this position

“Many hands make light labor.”

… “Please pay your dues so you can continue
Yours in Commandership,
Fredrick J. Mohun, Quartermaster to enjoy the benefits of membership” …

VETERANS DAY PARADE

LAKE HAVASU CITY
WHEELER PARK
Monday, November 11, 2013
1000 to 1130
Contact VFW Post 9401 for more information.
FROM THE ADJUTANT

The administrative side of your post is doing fine. The Post had its
Annual Department Inspection and we received an Excellent. The
Inspector reported our Membership is basically on track but December
31st is upon us. The continuous members should pay their dues
between July 1st and December 31st to make the Post competitive with
other District eight posts. Remember that the dues will increase from
$30 to $40 January 1st. Our combined Honor Guard is doing a tremendous job in honoring our
deceased Veterans and community members. If you
happen to see anyone of them please extend a Big
Thank You for all their services.

“ Not for self……..but for the Post”

O wen Johnston
A djutant

Comrades and Sisters,

I would like to thank everyone who
helped with the Fall Conference and
made it the success that it was. I feel
we made an outstanding impression
on all that attended from
throughout the State. We heard
nothing but great comments about
the food and our hospitality so again
thanks for making my job so much
easier.

Yours in Comradeship,

Frank Emery
RAFFLE
BE IN IT TO WIN IT

Life Membership & Legacy Life Membership Raffle Rules

The rules are subject to change and are currently established by Past Post
Commanders. The purpose of this raffle is to provide an opportunity for all
comrade members in good standing of VFW Post 9401 to win a Life Membership or
Legacy Life Membership. The first block of tickets will be available on July 1, 2013.

1. There will only be fifty (50) tickets made for each raffle.
2. Each ticket costs ten dollars ($10.00).
3. The comrade's name and contact number must be PRINTED on the back of the
drawing ticket. PRINT behind your name: CM (Continuous Member), LM (Life
Member), LGB (Legacy Life Bronze) or LGS (Legacy Life Silver).
4. Drawing tickets and money shall be place in an envelope and placed into the
Quartermaster's lock box (DAV Office) daily.
5. The Post Quartermaster shall be responsible for the receipts and disbursements
of all raffle monies. The Quartermaster will notify the Post Commander when fifty
tickets are sold and establish a date and time for the raffle.
6. A new raffle sale of tickets will began immediately after a block of fifty tickets
are sold or in the event the raffle fund contains more than five hundred dollars
($500.00).
7. The announcement of winner will be done at the next Post Meeting (First
Thursday of The Month). The winner will receive a Life, Bronze Legacy Life, a Silver
Legacy Life or a Gold Legacy Life Membership based on their current status.
8. Should there be monies left over after purchasing membership(s), it will be
rolled over into the next raffle.

Any Past 9401 Commander may request a meeting of the Past Post Commander
Committee regarding this raffle by filing a
written request with the Post Commander
setting forth an agreed date, time and
location of the meeting.

Yours in Comradeship,

Joan McDermott
Post Commander
OUR HOMETOWN VFW POST AT WORK

Commander Joan Honor Gold Star Mothers
at Wheeler Park

Lake Havasu Military Moms Donate to Post 9401 VFW & LAVFW
Missing World War II soldier,
identified through DNA, to be
laid to rest Oct. 26
By Heather Gale [email protected] |
Posted: Thursday, October 10, 2013 10:28 am

(This is our own Anthony Evan’s Dad.)

It’s been 69 years now, but Oneal Rush is finally coming Cheryl Evans, another of Rush’s granddaughters, said the
home from World War II. story behind her grandfather’s disappearance started in
1944.
Rush, a soldier who was lost after a plane crash in 1944,
will be laid to rest beside his wife in Aynor bringing a “He joined the U.S. Army in 1941, which was segregated
sense of closure and peace to his family. at the time, because it was going to be a better life for his
wife and 2-year-old twin daughters,” she said. “I am very
Using Rush’s toe bone for DNA testing, experts have
proud to know that even though he was going to do a lot
positively identified Rush’s remains and will soon return
of the cleaning and hard work as part of the segregated
them to his family.
military that he joined voluntarily. It makes us very proud
Rush’s granddaughter Sabrina Brown, an Aynor to know that.”
Elementary School teacher, said it is amazing to finally
Rush was a technician 5 and a member of the 76th Light
know more about her grandfather’s disappearance.
Pontoon Company. He was stationed in Virginia and
“He has always been a part of the family, but we just Alabama before he was sent overseas to Burma, now
didn’t know anything about what happened in 1944 when known as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, during
he didn’t come back from the war,” she said. “Our World War II.
grandma, the late Katherine Jenkins Rush, was always
Not much is known about his time there until the day of
waiting for him to come home and kept waiting until she
his death.
passed away in May.”
“On Aug. 19, 1944, my grandfather was on a plane, Flight
On Sept. 26, most of the family’s questions were
7346, that was supposed to take some equipment and
answered when a representative from the Joint POW/MIA
three other men from one place to another place about 300
Accounting Command of the U.S. Army came to Aynor
miles away,” Evans said. “All we know is that 15 minutes
to tell them his remains had been recovered and positively
later someone saw the plane and said that one of the
identified.
engines was on fire and then that the plane never arrived.”
“To know that my father is finally coming home makes
The family doesn’t know if there was an engine
me very happy,” said Rush’s daughter Victoria Evans. “I
malfunction or if it was shot down.
grew up for the past 69 years knowing that he probably
wasn’t going to come home, but I always wished for it. I Evans said there was a search party right away after the
would come home from something and think he was crash, but because the plane went down in a mountainous
there. Some mornings I would wake up and want him jungle area, it was impossible to find it.
there. That is how I lived for many years.”
Another search was performed in 1945, but after the team
To celebrate Rush’s return, the family is planning a again failed to find the plane, Rush and the other soldiers
memorial service and burial with full military rites at noon were declared MIA and assumed dead.
Oct. 26 at St. John Freewill Baptist Church and Cemetery
“At that point, there was no reason to go back and search
in Galivants Ferry.
more,” Evans said. “Grandma then received his Purple
The public is invited. Heart and a certificate from the President of the United
States Harry S. Truman in recognition of his service and
as a fallen hero.” (-continued-)
Then in 2002, the family was told by the U.S. Army of the crash, that no one had moved the bone, that the
representative, that a Burmese woman sent a picture of the Burmese man happened to pick it up and that it happened
tail of the plane. The picture showed the flight number to be our grandfather. It is all so amazing.”
7346. The woman had also found a dog tag with the name
Since getting the report from the U.S. Army, the family
of one of the soldiers on it.
has spent many hours getting to know the long lost man.
The Burmese government then contacted the United
“It is almost like we get to meet him,” Evans said. “We
States and, in 2003, allowed some military personnel to
are learning so many things about him that were never
come photograph the site.
talked about.”
Before the trip, the family was notified that it was possible
For example, Evans said Rush’s brother was a tall, large
that this was the crash site where Rush went down. Rush’s
man so she assumed that Rush was as well.
daughters were invited to go to Burma, but declined.
But according to military records, Rush was only 5-feet,
Pictures were taken at the site, but nothing was excavated.
7-inches and weighed only 148 pounds.
“They were allowed to just document what was on the
“He was the size of my brothers,” she said. “That is so
crash site, but not take anything home,” Evans said.
interesting to me. We also learned that he had a size 8.5
“However, one Burmese man who was helping out
shoe and that he had teeth missing. This is all stuff we
happened to see what looked like a bone on the ground
didn’t know before.”
and a gold ring and put them in his pocket. When the
Americans were heading out of the jungle, the man said The entire family knows that God had a hand in bringing
‘I know you can’t take anything home, but I happened to Rush home.
grab these.’ ”
“It is almost like those romantic stories when a couple
The group brought the bone back to the lab in the United who has been together for so many years and
States. one dies that not long after the other dies,”
Brown said. “My grandmother died in May
A few years later, the U.S. Army called the
and just a few months later, grandpa was
family to say it was possible that the bone
brought home to us to be with her. They will
belonged to Rush.
finally rest in peace together.”
This past year, the family sent in DNA swabs
Evans said the U.S. Army plans to return to
from Rush’s twin daughters, Victoria and
the site, but she doesn’t know when.
Mary, and a cousin Annie Bethea of Marion.
Tony Evans,
Trustee Post 9401 “It could be 10 years, 20 years or 30 years
“They had to have my mom and her sister’s
before they can get there, but when they do
DNA for exclusionary purposes and then our cousin’s
they want to excavate the entire site and then do a group
DNA because the mitochondrial DNA is passed down
burial at sea,” she said.
through the mother’s bloodline,” Evans said.
In addition to the service on Oct. 26, Aynor High School
Then just a few weeks ago, the family learned that the
is going to include Oneal Rush in its “Missing Man Chair”
bone was, in fact, one of their grandfather’s.
service for Prisons of War and those Missing in Action.
“When the woman from the Army came and told us his The presentation will be Oct. 18 at 6:45 p.m.
story and presented us with all these facts about his case,
we were so overwhelmed,” Brown said. “We were so
The End
shocked. I mean what are the odds that they find the site

VFW POST 9401
FLAG RETIREMENT CEREMONY

CAMPBELL RANCH
NOVEMBER 9, 2013
10:00 AM
COMRADES:

July 2013 August 2013 September 2013

GENE SCHILLER NONE CHARLES SPINKS
NEAL ERNST DAVIS JOHN WILLOBY
LARRY ARNEVIK

LADIES AUXILIARY:

DOROTHY WALLACE

GEORGIA KNOWLES (date unknown)

MEN’S AUXILIARY:

NONE REPORTED

(Editor apologizes if your loved one is not listed.
We can only publish those names provided.)
1 Cor 15:58 NIV
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters,
stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always
give yourselves fully to the work of the
Lord, because you know that your labor in
the Lord is not in vain.