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Fairfield’s American Legion post donates $50K to Operation Lakeshore

Printed today in The Birmingham News:

American Legion Post 137 in Fairfield has just 155 members and runs public bingo twice a week.

The paper cards cost a dollar apiece, and the small jackpots each night total about $1,750.

But large deeds can grow from small gifts.

Next week the post will donate $50,000 to Operation Lakeshore for naming rights to a duplex being built on the campus of Lakeshore Foundation in Homewood.

The duplex is one of 10 new homes called The Cottages of Lakeshore. After opening next month they will offer free lodging for injured veterans and their families who come for a Lima Foxtrot program at Lakeshore that teaches active and independent living — despite paralysis, blindness, amputation or other service injury.

“We figured we couldn’t afford not to do it,” said Roy Gallups, commander of the Fairfield post. “When it was brought to the floor, it was a unanimous decision to do that for veterans.”

Members of the American Legion post were swayed by a video that featured Noah Galloway, a double-amputee 101st Airborne veteran from Alabaster, and by a story about the cottages in The Birmingham News.

Gallups said the gift fits one of the main missions of the American Legion — veterans rehabilitation. Other missions of the nonprofit organization for veterans who have served in the military during times of war are Americanism, such as the civics learned in Legion-sponsored Boys State and Girls State; child welfare, including youth baseball; and national security.

“Our commander wanted to do something that would be a lasting reflection of everyone who has gone before us in the post,” said post adjutant James Mosier. “It’s the largest gift we’ve ever attempted to accomplish.”

The cottages are a $2.3 million charitable effort organized by Birmingham’s Capstone Companies and supported by more than 90 companies and groups that have donated labor, materials and money. They fill a need for veterans and families who come to a Lima Foxtrot program — the chance to stay together as veterans learn how much they can accomplish physically.

Up to now, the 800 military service members who came to a Lima Foxtrot program stayed in dorms, while their families stayed elsewhere off campus.

This gift from the Fairfield American Legion pushes fundraising for the cottages past $2 million, with just $260,000 to go.

Operation Lakeshore is still offering several naming rights at the cottages, from benches to the naming of the entire community.

The gift from American Legion Post 137, founded in April 1932, is the second from a west Jefferson County veterans group. Last month the Veterans of Foreign Wars Bailey-Rogers Post in Bessemer gave $50,000.

The two posts have decided to share one duplex, and plaques on each front door will mark the donations.

Mosier said the American Legion gift fits the pledge that post members recite at the close of each monthly meeting: “Let service to the community, state and nation be ever a main objective of the American Legion and its members . . . (and) nothing shall swerve us from the path of justice, freedom and democracy.”

American Legion Post 137 can be contacted at (205) 788-1432‎ or www.legion.org.

University of Alabama launches program to help student veterans

Published by Tuscaloosa News this week:

The University of Alabama launched a program Thursday that will help student veterans adjust to life on campus after serving in the military. The Veterans Education and Transition Support initiative will provide academic and personal support for veterans entering or re-entering college, including help with unresolved problems related to combat.

“This is really going to be revolutionary for veterans on campus,” said Ashkan Bayatpour, the founder of the Campus Veterans Association. “Now, the University of Alabama is making an active effort to reach out to veterans.”

To celebrate the new program, UA held a luncheon for campus veterans Thursday that featured an address by national veterans expert Floyd Meshad. Meshad touched on many of the issues facing veterans today and recalled his experience upon returning home to Alabama after Vietnam.

“Quite frankly, after Vietnam, I spent three or four months in and out of the VA. I needed to get the war out of my head,” Meshad said.

After moving to Los Angeles, Meshad started the Vietnam Veterans Re-Socialization Unit that focused on the readjustment problems of Vietnam veterans. He was also one of the first to study post-traumatic stress disorder and would go on to found the National Veterans Foundation.

Read the rest of article here.

For information about the VETS initiative, visit www.vets.ua.edu or call 205-348-6770.

Bessemer’s VFW supports today’s wounded vets with a big donation

Printed in this weekend’s edition of The Birmingham News:

Over the years, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1762 in Bessemer has dwindled.

Twice-a-week bingo stopped in 2006. Enrollment has fallen to 90, and 89 of those are veterans from World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

Yet one thing hasn’t diminished — a dedication to helping other veterans in need.

Once a month the post does bingo night for veterans in a Tuscaloosa nursing home. Every patient wins coupons to buy sundries.

But next week Commander Paul Calhoun and Quartermaster James Mosier will make the post’s biggest donation ever.

The post will pay $50,000 for naming rights for a duplex being built at the Lakeshore Foundation campus. It’s one of 10 new residences that will offer free lodging for injured veterans and their families when they come to Lakeshore for free Lima Foxtrot programs.

In Lima Foxtrot, injured veterans learn to be active and independent through recreation or sport — despite blindness, amputation, paralysis or other severe injury.

Since 2006, about 800 military service members have gone through the program, but they stayed in dorms while family members had to stay elsewhere.

The new housing effort, dubbed Operation Lakeshore, will change that.

The entire family — including children — will live together on campus. Ground was broken on the $2.3 million project April 5, and the new residences, with their private, home-like atmosphere, will open on Veterans Day.

Calhoun, 80 years old and post commander for the past 18 years, had been looking for a deserving project. The retired U.S. Air Force technical sergeant knew that if the post ever has to close, remaining assets will go to the state VFW. Instead, he hoped to find a local charity to support with money the post has raised from bingo, investment and dues.

“A lot of our people were getting older,” Mosier said.

When Calhoun and Mosier heard about Operation Lakeshore, they invited Mike Mouron, president of Capstone Companies, his wife, Kathy, and veteran Noah Galloway to tell them more at a post meeting earlier this month.

Kathy Mouron was the one who came up with the idea of building the cottages as a charitable effort, which her husband leads. More than 90 companies have donated nearly $2 million in labor, materials and money.

Galloway, an Iraq veteran who lost one arm and one leg in a roadside bombing, did most of the speaking.

He told post members how much he appreciates Vietnam-era veterans, and said he regretted how they had been treated when they returned from the war. Several of the Bessemer veterans audibly said, “Thank you.”

He told them he signed up for the Army right after 9/11 and was in the first invasion of Iraq with the 101st Airborne “Screaming Eagles.” He told them that he re-upped for a second tour, during which his Humvee triggered a roadside bomb on a night patrol.

Galloway told the post how the cottages will serve injured veterans as they try to gain confidence through physical activities, and how much having families with them will help.

After the Mourons and Galloway left, the members of Post 1762 voted. The decision to make the gift was unanimous.

“This is going to be the largest donation the post has made anywhere,” said Mosier. “This donation is going to help veterans, and that’s what our job is.”

To help furnish the duplex, the post plans to donate photographs of veterans who were VFW members. Even as the older soldiers fade away, a plaque on the door and the historical photographs on the walls will be lasting tributes to Bessemer’s proud VFW post, and a memorial to its many wartime veterans.

In the news this week

There were two great pieces published by the North Jefferson News this week covering the Veterans Day events in the area:

• Mortimer Jordan honors area veterans

In a moving tribute on Monday, Mortimer Jordan High School’s career tech and FBLA programs sponsored a Veterans Day ceremony at the school. Several area veterans attended the event from all branches of the military.

On Monday, Corner High School hosted a Veterans Day ceremony. North Jefferson Middle School had a Veterans Day program on Tuesday.

• American Legion, VFW honor veterans in ceremony

Veterans were not forgotten Wednesday in north Jefferson County. American Legion Post 255 and VFW Post 10250 hosted the 15th annual Veterans Day ceremony Wednesday at the North Jefferson Veterans Memorial Park in Fultondale.

Nothing says “Thank You” like free food

Last month I posted about Applebee’s plan to offer free entrees this upcoming Veteran’s Day. Posted today at SlashFood was an updated list of more places offering free eats to our military:

…to celebrate Veteran’s Day next Wednesday, several major casual-dining restaurants — including Applebee’s, McCormick & Schmick’s and Golden Corral — are offering free food to the nation’s military vets and active-duty personnel, USA Today reports.

Outback Steakhouse is offering a free Bloomin’ Onion appetizer and a drink to vets and current military personnel on Wednesday. Krispy Kreme is giving away donuts, and even Home Depot and Lowe’s are getting in on the action offering 10 percent discounts to military.

At Applebee’s restaurants around the country, vets and active-duty military can get a free entree on Wednesday from 11 a.m. til midnight. And while Applebee’s will ask for military ID, the company says it won’t be sticklers for proof.

“We’re not going to argue with folks who might forget to bring it,” Sam Rothschild, senior vice president of operations for Applebee’s told USA Today.

McCormick & Schmick’s will give vets a free entree on Sunday instead of on the holiday so that vets can bring their families, CEO Bill Freeman told USA Today. The restaurant will also ask for military ID and recommends reservations.

Buffet meals will be free for both veterans and active-duty military at Golden Corral restaurants on Monday, Nov. 16, from 5 to 9 p.m. The event — the restaurant chain’s ninth annual Military Appreciation Monday — is not on Veteran’s Day so that it doesn’t interfere with holiday activities, spokeswoman Dolly Mercer told USA Today.

Additionally, the Ark Restaurant Group, which includes Bryant Park Grill, Canyon Road, El Rio Grande, Gonzalez y Gonzalez, Sequoia, RED, The Grill at Two Trees, Gallagher’s and Gallagher’s Burger Bar wrote in a e-mail alert to customers, “As a thank you to the service men and women and the veterans of our armed forces, Ark Restaurants will not be charging our soldiers and veterans for their meal on Veterans Day at any of our restaurants on the East Coast.”

Soldiers’ Angels Volunteers Vow to Shave Heads for $100,000

Posted earlier this week to the Soldiers’ Angels Network blog:

Members of Soldiers’ Angels’ volunteer leadership have raised the stakes on this year’s online Valour-IT Veterans Day fundraising competition, which helps provide America’s wounded soldiers with voice-controlled laptops and other technology that supports their physical and psychological recovery.

Divided among four “virtual teams,” a wide variety of bloggers and other New Media mavens have been competing online since October 26 to inspire the most donations to help wounded troops by Veterans Day, November 11. If the teams of online fundraisers can blast through their collective goal of $140,000 and bring in an additional $100,000 in donations, founder Patti Patton-Bader and National Communications Director Shelle Michaels have promised to shave their heads in honor of the achievement.

In just over four years, Project Valour-IT has given 4,100 voice-controlled laptops to severely wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines, and has supplied additional items that may be a surprising fit in a recovery regimen–Wii game systems and handheld GPS devices.

“This project changes lives,” says Patton-Bader. “Wounded heroes say that being able to use a laptop helps them feel whole again. Physical therapists are actually designing therapy sessions around Wii Sports! And something as normal as a handheld GPS reduces stress and helps a hero cope. With all that this project can do for our heroes, I’m happy to shave my head if it will motivate donations!”

Each of the devices Valour-IT supplies helps restore confidence and independence. Voice-activated laptops reconnect the wounded with the world and develop self-confidence by showing soldiers they can continue to be engaged and productive despite their injuries. Physical therapists report Wii Sports and similar programs are extremely beneficial when used in physical therapy settings. Wounded personnel with short-term memory loss due to TBI and severe PTSD use GPS systems to keep from getting disoriented when they move on to more independent living.

Details of the current fundraising competition are available at www.soldiersangels.org and www.valour-it.blogspot.com. Donations can be made online at Soldiers’ Angels, or by sending checks or money orders to Soldiers’ Angels, Valour-IT Fund, 1792 E. Washington Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91104.

Established in 2003, Soldiers’ Angels is a volunteer-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing aid and comfort to the United States Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard, veterans and military families. For more information, www.soldiersangels.org or 623-570-3903. Tax ID# 20-0583415

Applebee’s says “Thanks” this Veteran’s Day with free food

I love to see things like this and always make sure to give my business to places that support our troops and veterans. It looks like we’ll be hitting Applebee’s the next time we go out.

According to the Applebee’s website, this offer is “available during business hours on November 11, 2009 at participating Applebee’s. (Dine-in from limited menu only.) Beverages and gratuity not included. Veterans and active duty military simply show proof of military service.”

Valid veteran and active duty identification accepted:

• U.S. Uniform Services Identification Card
• U.S. Uniform Services Retired Identification Card
• Current Leave and Earnings Statement (LES)
• Veterans Organization Card (i.e., American Legion and VFW)
• Photograph in uniform
• Wearing uniform

For more information and to see the dine-in menu, visit www.applebees.com/vetsday

(H/T: Karie @ Wife of a Wounded Marine)

Emergency Payments for Veterans Awaiting VA Educational Benefits

Posted earlier today to the Soldiers’ Angels Network blog:

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki has authorized advance payments up to $3,000 for Veterans who applied for VA educational benefits and who have not yet received their monthly education payments.

If you are a Veteran who has applied for one of VA’s education programs and have not yet received your monthly benefit payment for the Fall 2009 term, you can request advance payment through this website, www.advancepay.gibill.va.gov.

Advance payments will be issued by the U. S. Treasury within 3 workdays (Monday through Friday) following submission of this request. Payments will be in the form of a check sent through the U.S. mail. You should therefore anticipate an additional 3 days (excluding Sundays) for the U.S. Postal Service to deliver your check.

Visit one of VA’s 57 regional offices across the country to immediately receive an advance payment. You will need to bring a government-issued photo ID and your course schedule when you visit the regional office. A list of VA’s regional offices is available at www.vba.va.gov/VBA/benefits/offices.asp.

Starting on October 2, regional offices will be open from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm on weekdays for advance payments. Regional offices will also be open on Saturday, October 3, from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon.

The advance payments will be reconciled with future education payments owed to our veterans.

Wounded warriors get heroes’ greeting at Lakeshore Foundation

Printed in yesterday’s Birmingham News:

Sandy Ballard waved a flag outside the Lakeshore Foundation tonight to give a group of veterans the greeting she said her loved ones did not receive when they came home from Vietnam.

“They need to see that people support them,” Ballard said.

About 450 people joined Ballard, a Bessemer resident, in welcoming a motorcade of classic cars carrying 35 veterans who suffered war injuries or have other disabilities, said Damian Veazey of the Lakeshore Foundation.

The former soldiers will be taking part in Lima Foxtrot — a program that includes activities such as rock climbing and scuba diving designed to help disabled military personnel.

The veterans said they were thrilled to be greeted by the flag-waving crowd.

“They say across America patriotism is dead. Actually, it’s not,” said Robert Silvia, a U.S. Navy petty officer 3rd class who served in the first Gulf War.

A genetic condition cost Silvia about 60 percent of his sight. His wife and two kids came from their home near Palm Springs, Calif., for the event, Silvia said.

Silvia said he was excited about the opportunity to fish and rock climb. “I’ve been gearing up for this for about four months,” Silvia said.

Marine Col. Don “Doc” Ballard, a Medal of Honor recipient who serves on a board of veterans who aid Lakeshore in fundraising, said soldiers today are more likely to survive war wounds, but as a result those injuries are often more severe.

“Life is what they want to make of it,” Ballard said. “The only disability they have is the one in their minds. It’s up to them to look for ways to re-enter society and be more active.”

VFW invites members and prospects to picnic this weekend

Courtesy of this week’s North Jefferson News:

A veterans group in Fultondale is working hard to recruit new members. Recruitment is one of the main purposes of a picnic that North Jefferson VFW Post 10250 is hosting on Sept. 12 at Black Creek in Fultondale. The picnic, scheduled at noon, is free and is open to all VFW members and their families, as well as to those eligible to join.

To join the VFW, a veteran must have served in the U.S. military overseas during a war. Active duty, Reservists and National Guard members are all eligible, whether or not they are still in the military. Those no longer in the military must have an honorable discharge. The membership fee to join the North Jefferson VFW is $25 a year.

Post 10250 Commander Robert Mattox said that only about 10 percent of the post’s roughly 128 members participate in VFW activities, such as attending the monthly meetings in Fultondale and volunteering for committees and programs. Mattox, a World War II veteran, wants to see the younger generation of male and female veterans get involved in the local VFW.

One Iraq War veteran has not only joined the VFW, but has stepped up to serve as an officer. Michael Thorin, a member of the Fultondale and Hoover fire departments, is also VFW Post 10250’s new quartermaster. Thorin took part in Operation Iraqi Freedom from June 2005 to September 2006 as part of the 31st FSB. He was a cavalry scout and a medic, and served as gun truck commander and later as acting platoon sergeant. Thorin’s missions took him to areas such as Baghdad, Fallujah, Mosul, Tikrit and other areas where U.S. and coalition troops were operating.

“I decided to become a part of the VFW because I love my country,” Thorin said. “Now that I am out of the military I have a desire to be a part of an organization that holds dear the values which myself and so many others have fought for.”

Other veterans are invited to the VFW picnic on Sept. 12. The event will feature free barbecue with the trimmings, live local music, and activities for children. VFW officers will be on hand to talk with those interested in joining and to answer questions.

To learn more, call Mattox at 205-841-2424.