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On
this page:
•
Helping Homeless Veterans - Stand Down House, Lake Worth
•
Veterans' Day Parade, West Palm Beach, Nov. 8, 2009
• Veterans
of the Battle of the Bulge Florida
SE Chpt. (62):
~65th Anniversary
Luncheon Held, Sun., December
13, 2009~ ~Spring Luncheon, Sun., April 2010~
•
POW Pledge of Allegiance, submitted by Murray Stein,
P.Pres. 106th Div.
•
Gen. Carlson's speech at the April 2003 VBOB meeting
•
"What is a Veteran?" submitted by Jimmy Walker,
C.I.A. Cdr.
•
Veterans' Organizations Directory
VETERANS'
HOT LINKS
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Helping
Homeless Veterans
By
Jimmy Shirley |
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Roy
Foster at the Stand Down House in Lake Worth
Photos
by Jimmy Shirley |
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L-R:
Tairetha Foster, Casimiro Hampton-Crocket, Ph.D., Admin. Dir. of
Faith*Hope*Love*Charity, Inc. (resident of Mayfair House
Condominium in South Palm Beach), (name) , and Roy Foster at City Hall in
West Palm Beach on Veterans' Day, Nov. 11, 2009, where Roy was
honored as a nominee for CNN Hero of the Year 2009 Award. |
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Roy
J. Foster is a modern success story. An Army veteran, 54 years
old, he overcame the hopelessness of being a homeless alcoholic to
co-found The Stand Down House, a rehab halfway house for what is a
national scandal - homeless veterans. I say this because it aught
to fall on the federal government, for whom these proud men and
women pledged their very lives, if need be, in the service to
their country, to care for them the rest of their natural born
lives.
Mr.
Roy was one of those who found it hard to readjust back to the
civilian life they had left behind. After serving nearly 6 years
in the Army, four of those in Germany, he came back home with
little sense of direction. Heading to California, where he had
some family, Mr. Roy mostly found some drinking buddies and party
animals that only wanted to good times to roll forever. He began
to realize this was not the life for him and headed back east.
Arriving
in South Florida he connected with Faith Farm to have a place to
stay and something to do, refurbishing the furniture they sell to
help fund their program. Eventually, through his Faith Farm
connection, he got a job working to counsel borderline criminals
in the Palm Beach County jail, contracting through the Sheriff’s
Department. His counseling was with drug addicts and alcoholics,
having some real life experience with the latter. Mr. Roy worked
for a time out at the county stockade located near the South
Florida Fairgrounds.
In
1994, Mr. Roy and his friend Donald Reed, deceased, formed
Faith*Hope*Love*Charity, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization
dedicated to offering struggling veterans a hand up to help them
find dignity in their lives once again and to find a worthy
endeavour for their life’s work. In May of 2000, Stand Down
House opened on Davis Road in suburban Lake Worth. The facility
has the sound endorsement of Rep. Ron Klein (D) Florida, Rep. Tom
Rooney (R) Florida and Charisse Grant, VP for Programs of the Dade
Community Foundation, among others.
Currently,
Stand Down House provides 46 beds and has contracted with the
Department of Veterans affairs to provide 21 more on referral. The
help they provide includes medical classes, substance abuse
classes, psychiatric visits and compensated work therapy. My hat
is off in total respect for what Mr. Foster and his dream has
done, the good that has come from it and the broken lives from
war, that he and his organization have helped put back together.
For
more information on how you can help, please call their
administrative office at 561-968-1612, the Stand Down House at
561-649-9919 or visit their website at http://www.standown.org/.
Trust me on this. Their mission is worthy, you could almost say
"They are on a mission from God."
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Veterans'
Day Parade, West Palm Beach, November 8, 2009
By
Betty Thomas |
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Pictured
before the parade.
Standing
l-r: David Knapp, American Legion So. Area Cdr.; Charlene Szabo,
Dir. WPB VA Med. Center; Carmen Hall, VA Med. Center.
Seated
in car l-r: Kip Monroe and Jonas Jackson, both of the Military
Order of the Purple Heart, #717.
Photos
by Betty Thomas |
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Korean
War Veterans, Chpt. 17, Delray Beach, members: l-r: Al Ratner,
Herb Lake, Stanley Gavlic, Herb Dareff, Bob Green and Robert Spahn
are pictured with Megan Clementi, Miss Florida USA 2010, before
the parade. |
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Grand
Marshall of the Veterans’ Day Parade in West Palm Beach, Nov. 8,
2009, was Gen. Albin Irzyk (ret) pictured in the jeep he rode in.
Seated in the back seat is his wife, Evelyn Irzyk. |
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Members
of the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge Fla SE Chpt (62) are
pictured before the parade. L-R: Bob Erksine, George Fisher,
Pres/Founder of the chapter, Sid Levine, and Bob & Yvette
Sendker. |
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Veterans'
Day at the Carlisle Palm Beach
The
Carlisle Palm Beach presented their Veterans’ Day Celebration
November 20, 2009. The event, planned by Madeleine Garbarino,
Consierge at the Carlisle, included a procession of the Carlisle
Veterans. Col. Walter Clarke (ret) (pictured at left) gave an
overview of the Carlisle Veterans. Guest speaker was Jesus Pintos,
Dist. V.Cdr, Marine Corps League. Congressman Ron Klein, a
longtime friend of veterans, also spoke. The Wellington Twirlers
performed to the delight of all present. |
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This
year's Veterans’ Day Parade kicked off on Sunday, November 8,
2009, in West Palm Beach. The parade route went east down Clematis
Street to Narcissus at the Fountain where Dennis Koehler,
Commander of the Vietnam Veterans of America Ch. 25 announced each
group participating in the parade and educated the crowd about
them. The parade headed south to the Meyer Amphitheater where
booths were set up, hot dogs were being sold, and speakers and
entertainment was provided with David Knapp acting as MC. The day
was perfect but for the high winds making flag holding a tad
difficult. |
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Veterans of the
Battle of the Bulge Florida SE Chapter (62) |
| By
Betty Thomas
(Photos
by Betty Thomas)
Veterans
of the Battle of the Bulge, Fla SE Chpt. 62, meet twice a year at the Hilton Palm Beach
Airport for their gala
banquet in December near the anniversary of that bloodiest of
battles during WWII and their spring luncheon in April.
Other
veterans groups that attend the luncheon include the Military
Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 717and the Combat Infantrymen's Association.
Veterans
of the Battle of the Bulge, their wives/widows, and often the
children of these veterans, attend the banquet which includes
entertainment and a featured speaker.
This
year's annual Christmas Gala luncheon commemorating the 65th
anniversary of that bloodiest of all battles of WWII, their 10th
annual Christmas meeting, was held Sunday, December 13,
2009.
Program
speaker was Marshall J. Goby, Ph.D., Col. U.S.A. (ret) who served
tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
The
room was filled to capacity. "Our last meeting was the
largest ever, and we thank those who brought their children
and grandchildren", said George Fisher, Chapter President,
26th Inf. Div.
"We
have a great chapter, added Fisher. "We are the 3rd largest
in the USA (there are 68 chapters)." he confirmed.
After
dessert, a showing of a most realistic video "The Taking of
Elsenborn Ridge" by the 99th Division, evoked memories, and,
for some, tears.
Their spring meeting will be held in April.
For
information on the Chapter please call George Fisher,
founder/president, at (561) 585-7086.
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Ivan
and Rose Steenkiste from Belgium. Mr. Steenkiste is a
photographer with special interest in nature. He also has
photographed Battle of the Bulge sites and chronicled Gen.
Irzyk's December 2006 revisit to Bastogne and Chaumont
Battlegrounds where Gen. Irzyk and Gen. James Leach were
honored in a ceremony at the Mardasson Memorial for parts
they played in the liberation. Gen. Irzyk if referred to
as the Liberator of Chaumont and holds the Purple Heart,
Distinguished Service Cross, Silver Cross, Bronze Cross
and legion of Merit. To read Steenkiste's account and see
his remarkable photographs, visit General
Albin Irzyk.
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POW
Pledge of Allegiance.
Submitted
by Murray Stein
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I
PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG ...
I
am an American. I was a POW. I have served my
country. I need no one to tell me what allegiance
I owe ... to my flag ... to my home ...
OF
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ...
This
is my country. I have fought for it. I have been
imprisoned for it. I have died for it.
AND
TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS...
This
flag stands for me, for love. My love for my
family. My love for my friends. I did not forsake
it when I was beaten, when I was starved, when I
was killed ...
ONE
NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE ...
I
am one man. I have one country. I worship one God.
Under God I was saved. Under God I have no fear...
WITH
LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL ...
My
allegiance is to Liberty, to Justice. My flag
represents the best of myself, my effort, my home,
my country. I will pledge allegiance to the flag,
I will pledge under the love of God. It is my
right, My privilege, My duty. I have earned it.
Tell me not how! I have given you much. I am an
EX-POW. Take nothing more from me.
I
PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG ...
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The
speaker at the April 10, 2003 spring luncheon of the V.B.O.B. was Brig. Gen. William E. Carlson,
who is a veteran of the wars in Korea and Viet Nam, and holder of
the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, Silver Star
and Bronze Star. He played an important role in the creation of the
Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge Monument in Orlando, FL, and
was the keynote speaker for the National Convention there.
Though
he was too young to serve during WWII, Gen. Carlson has been a
student of the greatest battle ever fought in modern times. He
skillfully traced the Battle of the Bulge from the planning stage
to the end in a breathtaking speech that drew vivid pictures for
the rapt audience and rendered most eyes tearful and voices mute
when it was over. It was so moving that we elected to carry it as
a permanent feature of this Web page
Click
here to read the text
of
Gen. Carlson's Speech:
Brig. Gen. Wm. E. Carlson's Speech |
LET'S
KEEP THE SPIRIT ALIVE. PLAN TO JOIN US.
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George
& Annette Fisher with Evelyn and Al Irzyk. George
Fisher is founder and president of the VBOB chapter and
Albin Irzyk, Brig. Gen. (Ret) is commander. |
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l-r:
Paul Russo, Assoc. Dir. VA Medical Center, West Palm
Beach; Marshall J. Goby, Ph.D., Col. USA (ret), Dir. of
the Palm Beach Vet Center in Lake Worth, Charleen Szabo,
Dir. VA Med. Ctr., West Palm Beach; and George Fisher,
Chapter President and founder. |
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L-R:
Alex & mary Ianniruberto, William & Edna Panzini,
and Grace & Tony Barrasso came to Florida early this
year. This was their first VBOB Christmas Gala (they
usually attend the spring gala in April.) The group is
from Greenway Village in Royal Palm Beach.
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Bernard
Weixelbaum, Mickey Wecker and Marilyn Sills were
among the JWV 520 members who attended the VBOB
annual Christmas Gala on December 13th.
For information about the chapter, call George
Fisher, Pres., at 585-7086.
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Following Submitted by
Jimmy Walker
Commander of the
Combat Infantryman's Assn.
Co. B, 1st Bn, 1st Reg, FL
What
Is A Veteran
Some
veterans bear visible signs of their service:
a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the
eye.
Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding
a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg -
or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's
ally forged in the refinery of adversity.
Except in parades, however, the men and women who
have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem.
You can't tell a vet just by looking. What is a vet?
He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi
Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the
armored
personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel.
He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden
planks,
whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a
hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of
exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.
She - or he - is the nurse who fought against futility
and went to sleep sobbing every night for
two solid years in Da Nang.
He is the POW who went away one person and came back
another -
or he didn't come back AT ALL.
He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen
combat -
but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy,
no-account
rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching
them to
watch each other's backs.
He is the parade - riding Legionnaire who pins on his
ribbons
and medals with a prosthetic hand.
He is the career quartermaster who watches the
ribbons and medals pass him by.
He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The
Unknowns,
whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must
forever
preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose
valor
dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield
or in the ocean's sunless deep.
He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket -
palsied now and aggravating slow - who helped liberate a
Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his
wife were
still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.
He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being -
a person who offered some of his life's most vital years
in
the service of his country, and who sacrificed his
ambitions
so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.
He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the
darkness,
and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest
testimony on
behalf of the finest, the greatest nation ever known.
So remember, each time you see someone who has served
our country,
just lean over and say Thank You. That's all most people
need,
and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they
could
have been awarded or were awarded. Two little words that
mean a lot,
"THANK YOU."
Father Denis Edward O'Brien
USMC
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"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who
points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer
of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs
to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is
marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly,
who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the
great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself
in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the
triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he
fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his
place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who
know neither victory nor defeat."
— Theodore Roosevelt |
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Veterans
Organizations Directory |
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Veterans
of World War 1 U.S.A., W.P.B. Barracks No. 507
In
Memoriam, Al
Ross, 1902-2003
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Airborne
Veterans
(All
Service Branches -- Jump Qualified Eligible)
James
Hunter, Chairman: (561) 793-3597
Robert
Robinson: (561) 706-9299 (M-F)
Air
Force Sergeants Assn.
Auxiliary,
A-558, Betty Peace, President, (561) 967-2917
American
Legion District 11
David
Knapp, Commander, 561-301-2961
American
Legion
Auxiliary
Palm Beach Unit 12, 3201 So. Dixie Hwy.,
W P B., (561) 655-1343
Post
47, 2315 N. Dixie Hwy., Lake Worth, FL
33460, (561) 585-4616
Post
258, 364 Swain Blvd., Greenacres, FL 33463, (561) 432-0781
Riviera
Beach Memorial Post 268,
1690
Ave. H. West, Riviera Beach, FL 33404, (561) 844-7125
Post
367, meets in the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center,
(561) 792-3813, (561)
795-4854
Post
371, Palm Beach Gardens, Duke Peters, Adj., (561) 626-1460
Combat
Infantrymen's Association, Inc.
Jimmy
Walker, Cdr. (561)791-2476; George Fisher (561) 585-7086
Disabled
American Veterans, Chap. 42
Joseph
Jakuboski, Cdr.
7305
N. Mil. Trl., Rm 1A-141, West Palm Beach, FL 33410
(561)
422-8312
Disabled
American Veterans of Delray Beach & Boynton Beach
Chapter
152
Michael
Corbett (561) 742-8016; Ted Adams (561) 558-1399
8th
Air Force Historical Society
Robert
H. Nolan Fl. Chapter
For
membership, Jim Hart, 114 Monterey Way, Royal Palm Bch., FL 33411
Jewish
War Veterans
Post
266, Delray Beach, Ray White, (561) 499-9584
Post
321, Delray Beach, Jake Sahl, (561) 496-7024
Post
440, Boynton Beach, Phil Bazil, (561) 585-0492
Post
501, Golden Century, WPB, Ralph Wugman, (561) 689-1271
Post
502, No. Palm Beach, Gene Moore, (561) 638-6435
Post
520, Lantana-West Palm Beach, Sam Rosen, (561) 478-3079
Post
520-A, West Palm Beach, Dorothy Greenwald, (561) 478-6521
Post
684, Royal Palm Beach, Elliot Belt (561) 795-1145
Post
819, W. Boynton Beach, Irwin Chimerine, (561) 742-9000
Treasure
Coast District Council, Howard Lowenthal, (561) 478-2780
Korean
War Veterans Association
Lt.
Richard E. Cronan Chapter 17
Delray
Beach, FL
Arnold
Bob Kempler, Sect. (561) 499-4892
Marine
Corps League
Gen.
A.A. Vandegrift Detachment of the Palm Beaches
PO
Box 243888, Boynton Beach, FL 33428-3888
Military
Officers Association of America
Palm
Beach Area Chapter
Membership,
Call Larry Vick 561-434-2592
Palm
Beach-Martin Counties Chapter
Membership,
Call Walter Russell 561-626-8964
Military
Order of the Purple Heart, Post 717-West Palm Beach
Office:
Veterans' Administration Hospital, Suite 1A-143
Membership:
Call (561) 422-5647
Navy
Seabee Veterans of America
Department
of Florida, Island X-12 Palm Beach County
William
Edwards, Secretary, (561) 881-8245
Pearl
Harbor Survivors Association, Inc. Fla. Gold Coast Chpt. 4
Jerome
Mintz, Pres: (954) 472-2754
E.K.
Carstens, Sec'y.: (954) 989-8438
Reserve
Officers Association, Chapter 20, Palm Beach County, FL
Membership,
call Don Isaacs (561) 697-4902
US
Coast Guard Combat Veterans Ass.
PO
Box 544, Westfield Ctr., Ohio 44251
Baker
W. Herbert, LM, National Secretary
330-887-5339
Palm
Beach County contact Jack Campbell
N.J.:
732-229-2413; W.P.B.: 561-842-3057
Veterans
of the Battle of the Bulge, Fla. SE Chapter (62)
Al
Irzyk, Brig. Gen., Ret., Commander; George Fisher, President
Membership:
George Fisher, (561) 585-7086
Veterans
of Foreign Wars
Post
4143, 2404 Broadway (US-1), Riviera Beach, FL 33404, (561)
844-5718
Post
4360 & Ladies' Aux,217 Alemeda Dr, Palm Springs, FL 33461,
439-4515
Post
4445, 364 Swain Blvd., Greenacres. FL 33463, (561) 432-0781
Vetsville
Cease Fire House (Shelters for Veterans)
291
NE 19th Ave., Boynton Beach, FL 33435 (561) 533-5797
Vietnam
Veterans of America
Chpt. 25, West Palm Beach, FL
Membership
call (561) 512-0678
Women
Veterans of America
Chapter #11
Charlotte
Rebillard, Commander
Membership,
call (561) 686-7262.
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Condo News print newspaper is published every Wednesday in
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