good old “sea stories” from days past.

A few Post 117 members have already committed to attend and if you would be interested in going, please let George know. Some members will be attending all three days and will be staying in Lewistown but Lewistown is close enough a person could drive up for one or more days.

The convention will be held at the Yogo Inn 211 East Main Street. Go to www.mtlegion.org for more details or see the next issue of the Montana Legionnaire Newspaper.

The American Legion of Mon-tana Department Convention is June 28-30 2013 in Lewis-town.

A lot of business is conducted each year at department con-vention including passing reso-lutions, training sessions, award presentations and the election of new department officers. Each post in attend-ance has a vote in everything that happens and this can influence the direction the American Legion in Montana takes. It can also influence what happens at the national convention in August.

Its not all business though.

Each evening legionnaires gather to socialize, share sto-

ries of successes experienced throughout the previous year, discuss issues concerning veterans and even tell some

D e p a r t m e n t C o n v e n t i o n S P E C I A L

P O I N T S O F I N T E R E S T :

There are eleven districts within the American Legion Department of Montana

There are 132 posts within Ameri-can Legion Depart-ment of Montana

There are four zones within Ameri-can legion Depart-ment of Montana

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Commander’s Log 2

Service Officers Report 3

Memorial Day 4

Veterans Legislation 5

Legion History 6

Auxiliary 11

A M E R I C A N L E G I O N O F M O N T A N A

Andrew Pearson Post 117 Dispatch

June 1, 2013 Volume 1, Issue 22

View  of  Lewistown,  MT

P o s t P i c n i c — A F a m i l y E v e n t ! !

For nineteen months we have been working hard to help others and now it’s time to get together and have some fun!

The second annual Post 117 Picnic will be held at Zoo Mon-tana on Saturday, June 22nd from 1100 to 1400.

This is a family friendly event so pack the picnic basket, load up the spouse and children and get down to the zoo. Not

married? Come alone, or bet-ter yet, bring a veteran friend or family member with you.

We will provide tea, water, lemonade and cups so all you need to bring is your favorite cold picnic food, a blanket to sit on or some lawn chairs. We will have games and contests for all ages, prizes for the kids and even a few door prizes some lucky families will enjoy. Admission to the zoo is FREE

for anyone attending our pic-nic.

With the passing of Memo-rial Day, I have had a lot of time to think. I haven’t always been good at tak-ing time to attend ceremo-nies or to remember those who gave their lives in service to our great na-tion.

I also realize I am lucky. I have only known one per-son who lost their life in the service. And to be hon-est, I didn’t know him well. Most of my veteran friends, and I know most of our Post 117 members, know several people who

gave their lives in the line of duty.

But then I also came to this conclusion: we are all in this together. Your loss is my loss. As sisters and brothers in arms, we cannot discon-nect ourselves from one another. We must instead embrace each oth-er.

While I may not have per-sonally known the faces of those we lost, I know your

faces. I grieve with you.

As the new Commander of this Post, I hope not only to get to know each and

every one of you, but that you may also get to know me. What I hope you find is this: a woman and veteran who holds you in the highest regard.

I do not take this position lightly, but instead feel the weight of our collective experience and I want to be certain I do right by all

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of you.

To those of you who are not yet members of our Post 117, I say welcome. Come see us, get to know some of the amazing vet-erans we are working in our community everyday. You won’t regret it. And to those of you who are al-ready working with us, please take a minute to embrace the other veter-ans you run into in our community. We need each other.

~Commander McDanel

A m e r i c a n   L e g i o n   “ B I G   K ”

“Big K” is an annual fund-raiser that benefits the American Legion Depart-ment of Montana, each post that has members participate and even some lucky post members.

Membership is limited to 1,000 members, member-ship cards are sold by the Department for $25 each. Membership is open to American Legion members as well as Auxiliary and S.A.L. but must be at least 18 years old.

The Post, Unit or Squadron will receive a payment for each membership of $8.50 and Districts will receive a payment for each member-ship of $1.50. Drawings

$400 per month drawing for 6 months, first drawing in January 2013 and the last is at Department Con-vention in June 2013.

There is an additional $600 drawing on the Legion's Birthday in March 2013.

$2,000 drawing at Depart-ment Convention Banquet

in June.

After each drawing the card will be returned to the tum-bler for the additional draw-ings, that gives you a total of "8" chances of winning.

To renew your card or pur-chase a new one please contact Department Head-quarters at 866-793-1257 or email at

amlegmt29@mtlegion.org

base and is automatically updated each time the Claims Coach app is launched. The Claims Coach's directory is now searchable by state instead of by ZIP code. And search results for each state now in-cludes an "other resources" but-ton, which will link veterans from the app to that state's De-partment of Vet-erans Affairs website. This is an all new app, not an update. Those wishing to download the new app must delete the old version first. However, if you are curently working with a ser-vice officer and have a checklist in progress within the original app, you should

continue to use that ver-sion. New and updated Claims Coach app media materials are also now available from the "Mobile Applications" web page at

www.legion.org/mobileapps. Us-ers can download print-ready files for the users guide, a one-page flyer and business cards. There is also a link to a

low-resolution reader ver-sion of the users guide. For those who do not have a smartphone but do have access to a computer, in-structions on how to use the app on your desktop PC or Mac are included on the web page.

just $18.95. Polyester is the toughest, most durable flag.

Emblem Sales has a com-plete line of all things Amer-ican Legion from shirts and jackets to patches, pins and flags. Go online and check them out. You can also request a catalog be sent to you so you can get a better look at everything they have to offer.

We will have flag order forms available on our web page soon so you can print them off and pass them out

Did you know that you can purchase quality US Flags of all sizes for both indoor and outdoor use at http://emblem.legion.org ?

Each time you purchase a flag through Emblem Sales, our post gets a percentage of the sale and we accrue credit to purchase things for the post. All you have to do is be sure to mention “Post 117 Montana”.

Their prices are very com-petitive and the flags are quality made in the USA. A 3X5 polyester flag costs

S e r v i c e   O f f i c e r ’ s   R e p o r t

B u y Y o u r A m e r i c a n F l a g s

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American Legion Claims Coach App

The American Legion's free Claims Coach mobile app was launched last Novem-ber to provide a step-by-step guidance to help veter-ans and their families con-nect with a service officer and navigate the VA claims process. After feedback from users, a new version of the app has been launched and is now available. The app can be downloaded from the Apple iTunes store or Google Play. The new Claims Coach app includes a completely re-coded directory of accredit-ed American Legion service officers nationwide. The original service officers' directory was static; the new one links live to the Legion's membership data-

Hard copies of the Claims Coach Users Guide are also available through American Legion National Headquar-ters. Request stock #45-005. From: www.legion.org/veteransbenefits This is a great app with a lot of good information however, don’t forget that we in the Billings area have a great resource in the Vet’s Center. The staff there including Cheryl, Jay and Steena work hard for veterans everyday and yes, ALL THREE of them are veterans themselves. We are lucky to have them there for us. If you need to file a claim or have a reason to increase your rating, DON’T WAIT. Do it now.

everything and rallied to find these young men until their bodies were finally discov-ered.

All three speakers spoke of the military bond between service members, service to others, and sacrifice.

Rick was followed by Larry McGovern who gave a speech that received cheers and applause. Larry remind-ed everyone about who it is that truly gives us our free-doms, be it religion, speech, press etc. But I don’t have to tell any of you who that is.

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ease comrades, the young vets are carrying the torch now, you did your part.

I think it was good for the civilians there to hear that as well. I am sure it made some of them wish they had taken that oath in the past.

At the Yellowstone County Veteran’s Cemetery Rick Freye did a great job as well despite very unfavorable weather conditions. Rick told a story from his deployment of two young men who were killed in action and how eve-ryone in the area dropped

Memorial Day has come and gone and we hope that it was a meaningful and memorable day for all of you.

This year we had the pleasure of having three Post 117 mem-bers as keynote speakers at two different ceremonies. Chris Enget and Jeff Lindell both did a great job at Mountview Cem-etery. They both had prepared well and had a good message.

One thing Jeff did as part of his speech was ask all veterans and men & women still in uni-form that were present, to join him in reaffirming our commit-

ment to serving our country by reciting the “Oath of Enlist-ment”. That really brought back some memories for me and I am sure everyone else who recited it felt the same. There were a LOT of veterans in the audience reciting it which served to point out the company we were keeping that day. I think several of the vet-erans in the audience were looking for their new uniforms after we were done. You could tell they would serve again at the drop of a hat if they were allowed to but time does take a toll on a body so stand at

These  photos  were  taken  by  Gazette  Photographer  Paul  Ruhter  and  can  be  found  at  www.billingsgazette.com

(Left)  The  ceremony  at  Mountview  Cemetery  is  traditionally  started  with  a  unit  parade  from  the  East  gate  to  the  main  entrance.  This  was  the  first  time  our  post  colors  were  paraded  in  pub-­lic.  Mitch  Howe  carried  the  post  colors  and  Chuck  Armstrong  carried  the  US  Flag.  

(Right)  This  is  a  good  picture  and  almost  a  great  picture.  It  shows  from  L-R  Vice  Commander  Patrick  Kurkoski,  Command-­er  Amelia  McDanel  (obstructed)  Chuck  Armstrong,  and  Mitch  Howe. I  believe  we  should  order  a  print  of  this  one  from  the  Gazette  to  hang  on  the  wall  when  we  get  a  post  home.

their benefits toward tuition at those institutions. Why it is important: Under current law, the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill covers tuition and fees at the in-state rate of pub-lic schools, but due to the wide variance in state residency laws, veterans often have a hard time establishing legal residency where they live. Un-der current the law, veterans looking to attend a public insti-tution outside of their state of legal residence could have to cover the balance of tuition and fees from a source other than G.I. Bill benefits. According to the College Board, the average non-resident tui-tion rate at public 4-year schools is $21,706 while resi-dent rates average $8,655. That is an average 250 oer increase over in-state tuition rates and in many states, the increase is about 300% for non-residents. This bill would reduce what is often a $24,000 yearly tuition and fee bill to under $9,000 on

H.R. 357, G.I. Bill Tuition Fair-ness Act of 2013 “The men and women who served this nation did not just defend the citizens of their home states, but the citizens of all 50 states. As such, the educational benefits they re-ceive from the taxpayers should reflect that. -Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs What the Bill Does: H.R. 357 would expand educa-tion opportunities for veterans by allowing them to attend the state-run higher-education institution of their choice at the in-state tuition rate. It would do this by requiring public schools to charge in-state tuition rates to all veterans in order for the school to be eligible to receive G.I. Bill education payments. This requirement would take effect Aug. 1, 2014. G.I. Bill students enrolling before Aug. 1, 2014, at schools that choose not to charge veterans in-state tuition could still apply

average. Who benefits: Everyone. America’s veterans have always been a source of strength for our economy. And since its inception, the G.I. Bill has given generations of veter-ans the tools to successfully transition from leaders on the battlefield to leaders of busi-ness and industry. The G.I. Bill Tuition Fairness Act of 2013 would strengthen this proven program, making it easier for veterans to get a quality educa-tion at the institution of their choice, regardless of residen-cy. Why this bill should become law: H.R. 357 would ensure that veterans can attend an institu-tion of higher learning that meets their specific needs without worrying about the inflated costs which out-of-state-residents often must pay. This bill recognizes the wide variance of state residency

V e t e r a n s L e g i s l a t i o n

These  photos  were  taken  by  Gazette  Photographer  Paul  Ruhter  and  can  be  found  at  www.billingsgazette.com

P a g e 5 V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 2 2

laws and provides a simple solution to the difficulties vet-erans can face in establishing a permanent residency. It would give veterans broader educational choices that better fit their specific needs and helps ease their transition into civilian life. The G.I. Bill is a proven entity, and giving veterans more choices with respect to their educational opportunities fur-ther strengthens an already beneficial program. http://veterans.house.gov

(Left)  This  picture  shows  Post  117  members  Jeff  Lindell  (saluting)  and  Joe  Cobos  (white  hat)  during  the  playing  of  TAPS  at  Mountview  Cemetery.

(Right)  Rick  Freye  in  uniform  shaking  hands  with  Larry  McGovern  after  Rick’s  speech.  

A mishap occurred during the first week of May 2013 in which two M1 Garand Rifles blew apart. This occurred during the rendering of funeral honors at the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery. As a result of this mishap two American Legion Members received serious injuries. This mishap was caused by the inadvertent use of .30 Caliber Grenade Cartridges instead of the .30 Caliber Blank Cartridges. The grenade cartridge gen-erates more pressure than the blank cartridge and is not designed or intended to be fired with a blank firing adapter. The significant physical difference between the Blank Cartridge and the Grenade Cartridge is that the Blank Cartridge has 6 Crimps and the Grenade Cartridge has 5 crimps.

A M M U N I T I O N S A F E T Y M E S S A G E

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Grenade Cartridge

Blank Cartridge

5  Crimps

6  Crimps

Grenade  Cartridge Blank  Cartridge

5  Crimps 6  Crimps

WARNING

Do  not  fire  .30  Caliber  Grenade  Cartridge  in  the  M1  Garand  Rifle   Only  .30  Caliber  Blank  Ammunition  Received  from  the  U.S.  Army  Joint  Munitions  Command  

should  be  fired If  an  Organization’s  Ammunition  Source  is  unknown  that  ammunition  should  be  inspected  for  

the  presence  of  Grenade  Cartridges   If  you  have  questions,  please  direct  them  to  Mr.  Robert  Weissman,  U.S.  Army  Armament  Research  and    

Development  Center-  (973)  724-3056,  or  robert.j.weissman.civ@mail.mil

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It  is  highly  recommended  that  all  persons  using  the  M1  Garand  familiarize  themselves  with  the  fol-­lowing  manual  that  can  be  found  at  http://www.thecmp.org/sales/pdfs/M1GarandGuide.pdf

M1  Garand  Operation  and  Maintenance  Guide for

Veteran  and  Civilian  Service  Organizations, Law  Enforcement,  and National  Cemeteries

12  December  2012 Prepared  by

Armament  Research,  Development,  and  Engineering  Center  (ARDEC) Picatinny  Arsenal,  NJ  07806

1919

March 15-17 Members of the American Expeditionary Force convene in Paris for the first American Legion caucus.

May 8-10 St. Louis Caucus. "The Ameri-can Legion" is adopted as the organization's official name. The Legion's draft preamble and constitution are ap-proved.

June 9 The National Executive Com-mittee adopts the Legion emblem.

Sept. 16 Congress charters The Ameri-can Legion.

Nov. 10-12 First Legion convention con-venes in Minneapolis. The

Constitution and preamble are adopted. Delegates vote 361-323 to locate the Le-gion's national headquarters in Indianapolis, instead of Washington. A resolution is passed in support of Boy Scouts of America. Today, the Legion is the chartering agen-cy for more than 1,700 Scouting units made up of approximately 64,000 youths.

1920s

Aug. 9, 1921 The Legion's efforts result in the creation of the U.S. Veter-ans Bureau, forerunner of the Veterans Administration. Today, the Legion continues to lobby for adequate funding to cover medical, disability, education and other benefits for veterans.

June 15, 1923 The first "Flag Code" is draft-ed during a Legion confer-ence in Washington. Con-gress adopts the code in 1942. Today, the Legion is at the forefront of efforts to pass a constitutional amend-ment to protect the U.S. flag from physical desecration.

July 17, 1925 The Legion creates the Amer-ican Legion Baseball pro-gram. Today, more than 50 percent of Major League Baseball players are gradu-ates of the program. About 82,000 youths play on Le-gion-sponsored teams each year.

1930s

June 23, 1935 The first American Legion Boys State convenes in

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Springfield, Ill., to help youths gain an understanding of the structure and operation of the federal government. The first Boys Nation, bringing together youth leadership from all the Boys State programs, con-venes in 1946. Today, more than 19,500 young men par-ticipate in Boys State, and 98 in Boys Nation, from 49 of the 50 states.

June 1, 1938 The final round of the Legion's first annual National High School Oratorical Contest is conducted in Norman, Okla. Today, more than 3,400 high-school students from around the country compete annually in the contest, which pro-motes a greater understand-ing of the U.S. Constitution. Winners receive thousands of dollars in college scholarships.

A u x i l i a r y H i s t o r y

Founded in 1919, the Ameri-can Legion Auxiliary is the world’s largest women's pat-riotic service organization. With a membership at nearly 800,000, local American Legion Auxiliary units have a strong presence in more than 9,000 communities nationwide.

The American Legion Auxilia-ry’s mission is to support The American Legion and to hon-or the sacrifice of those who serve by enhancing the lives of our veterans, military, and their families, both at home and abroad. For God and country, we advocate for veterans, edu-cate our citizens, mentor youth, and promote patriot-ism, good citizenship, peace and security.

A group of 20 officers who served in the American Expe-ditionary Forces in World War I were asked to suggest ide-as on how to improve troop morale. One officer, Lt. Col. Theodore Roosevelt Jr., pro-posed an organization of veterans, which we know today as The American Le-gion. The original purpose of The Legion was to “preserve the memories and incidence of our association in the great war,” helping those who had served in foreign wars to reintegrate into their hometowns while still re-maining connected to those with whom they had served abroad. The Legion served as a sup-port group, a social club and

an extended family for for-mer servicemen. After two planning caucuses held by a committee of officers who had the confidence and re-spect of their military com-rades, they designed a con-stitution to govern the group and set up headquarters in New York City to begin work on its programs of relief, employment and American-ism.

After the formation of The American Legion, a number of women's organizations wanted to become the offi-cial affiliation of The Ameri-can Legion. The women who had served so faithfully dur-ing the trying days of the war wanted to continue to serve.

After careful consideration, the committee agreed that a

new organization should be made up of the women most closely associated with the men of the Legion, and that these women would serve with the Legion, in peace as they had in war. The committee decided to build a new organization from the ground up, so the Auxiliary could then carry forward the phases of Legion activities more suitably per-formed by women. In less than one year, 1,342 local units of the Women’s Auxiliary to The American Legion had been organized in more than 45 states.

One more trip is in the books. Thanks go to all of the Post 117 members who once again made the 37 hour trip to Washington D.C and back to honor our WWII veterans. Also thanks to those who helped to make it

possible by making personal donations or collecting do-nations from others. It takes every bit of assistance to make a flight a reality.

It was a great trip by any measure but most im-portantly everyone made it there and back without inju-ry or illness.

right above the screws. I can only imagine what was running through the mind of the fantail watch but he called the situa-tion in and the ship’s Chaplain quickly arrived on the scene to lend a hand.

Now, this kid’s rack was at the foot end of mine so I knew and worked with him and I had more than a little interest in how this whole thing turned out.

Several of us waited in the berthing compartment for what must have been an hour and a half to find out how things turned out. Finally, to our amazement the young man came down the ladder to the berthing compartment like nothing ever happened!

We asked him what the chap-lain had said to him to change his mind but he wasn’t talking. He just crawled into his rack and remained silent. For us, this would not do, we had to know what it was that changed his mind. We scurried up the ladder and to the fantail to get

the skinny from an eyewitness and thought the fantail watch was the best bet.

When we asked the watch what he saw and heard, a huge smile crossed his face and he said something to the effect of “It beats all I ever saw”. He then proceeded to explain that the Chaplain was trying to talk the kid down, you know, saying the usual stuff you would expect but he must have decided the kid didn’t really have it in him to jump because suddenly the Chap-lain said in a stern voice “Look, if you are going to jump, jump, I have better things to do than stand here talking to you all afternoon” and with that the kid just climbed down and went below to where we saw him. Simple as that.

Why did I tell you this story? I wanted to point out that in my experience the Chaplain is there for everyone from every faith and even those who pro-claim no faith. They don’t dis-criminate. They help to console

Because I have never really tasked the Chaplains to pro-vide anything for the newslet-ter I will fill in this month. Next month we will provide some-thing useful from them but until then I have a Chaplain story. It’s true, I was there and since nobody died I think it’s funny.

There was a young man of 18 who had recently reported to his first ship, an aircraft carri-er. This young man quickly decided that he had made a big mistake and the military life was not the life for him.

He made it a regular practice to visit the ship’s Chaplain and pour out his troubles and woes. I can’t attest to what the Chaplain discussed with him all those times but I am sure it had something to do with hard work, patience, commitment, trust, and faith.

I don’t know what was going through the young man’s mind but one day while at sea, he walked out onto the fantail and climbed up on the railing

B i g S k y H o n o r F l i g h t I V

T h e C h a p l a i n

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The next flight leaves June 16th and returns on the 17th. If you want to play a part with very little effort, be at the Billings airport at 2015 on Monday, June 17th to welcome these WWII veterans home. The welcome home plays a big role in the whole experience so don’t miss it.

us and lend guidance through tough times. They help us to find the strength within us to meet our challenges head on and they teach us to use our faith to trust in a higher power to take care of the things we cannot control ourselves.

Just remember, Chaplains have often, been there done that and seen and heard it all. And at least one Chaplain I know of is not afraid to gamble just bit.

Big Sky Honor Flight PO Box 80201

Billings, MT 59108

The  Four  Chaplains Learn  more  about  them  at  

www.fourchaplains.org/story

From: www.cmohs.org

Citation

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and be-yond the call of duty: Ma-jor Bruce P. Crandall dis-tinguished himself by ex-traordinary heroism as a Flight Commander in the Republic of Vietnam, while serving with Company A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Divi-sion (Airmobile). On 14 November 1965, his flight of sixteen helicopters was lifting troops for a search and destroy mission from Plei Me, Vietnam, to Land-ing Zone X-Ray in the Ia

Drang Valley. On the fourth troop lift, the airlift began to take enemy fire, and by the time the air-craft had refueled and returned for the next troop lift, the enemy had Land-ing Zone X-Ray targeted. As Major Crandall and the first eight helicopters land-ed to discharge troops on his fifth troop lift, his un-armed helicopter came under such intense enemy fire that the ground com-mander ordered the sec-ond flight of eight aircraft to abort their mission. As Major Crandall flew back to Plei Me, his base of operations, he determined that the ground command-er of the besieged infantry batallion desperately needed more ammunition. Major Crandall then decid-ed to adjust his base of operations to Artillery Fire-base Falcon in order to shorten the flight distance to deliver ammunition and evacuate wounded sol-diers. While medical evac-uation was not his mis-sion, he immediately

sought volunteers and with complete disregard for his own personal safe-ty, led the two aircraft to Landing Zone X-Ray. De-spite the fact that the landing zone was still un-der relentless enemy fire, Major Crandall landed and proceeded to supervise the loading of seriously wounded soldiers aboard his aircraft. Major Cran-dall's voluntary decision to land under the most ex-treme fire instilled in the other pilots the will and spirit to continue to land their own aircraft, and in the ground forces the real-ization that they would be resupplied and that friend-ly wounded would be promptly evacuated. This greatly enhanced morale and the will to fight at a critical time. After his first medical evacuation, Major Crandall continued to fly into and out of the landing zone throughout the day and into the evening. That day he completed a total of 22 flights, most under intense enemy fire, retir-

R e m e m b e r i n g O u r h e r o e s C r a n d a l l , B r u c e P .

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Major Bruce P. Crandall

US Army

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ing from the battlefield only after all possible ser-vice had been rendered to the Infantry battalion. His actions provided critical resupply of ammunition and evacuation of the wounded. Major Crandall's daring acts of bravery and courage in the face of an overwhelming and deter-mined enemy are in keep-ing with the highest tradi-tions of the military ser-vice and reflect great cred-it upon himself, his unit, and the United States Ar-my.

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June 2013 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1

2

3

4 5 Yellowstone County Veter-an’s Cemetery Board Meeting

6 7 8

9

10 11

12

13

14

15

16 Big Sky Honor Flight, Departs

17 Big Sky Honor Flight, Returns @ 2015

18

19 20

21

22 Post 117 Picnic @ Zoo Montana

23

24

25 26 Post 117 Meeting @1900 1306 Central Ave.

27 Department Convention @ Lewistown

28 Department Convention @ Lewistown

29 Department Convention @ Lewistown

S c h e d u l e o f E v e n t s

The second annual Post 117 Picnic at Zoo Montana on Saturday, June 22nd from 1100 to 1400.

30 Department Convention @ Lewistown

C o m m u n i t y S e r v i c e ( t h e k i n d y o u w a n t t o b e a p a r t O f )

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Most of you know by now that we have quarterly service days at Zoo Montana. We had one in April and it was work but it was also a lot of fun.

The last two service days at the zoo consisted of thinning brush, trimming limbs, remov-ing unwanted shrubs, trans-planting flowers, a lot of weed wackin’ and just general cleanup around the tiger en-closure. We made one heck of a difference and the zoo staff was very thankful for it.

We also had a sort of un-scheduled day at the zoo in

which we planted flowers around the flag poles at the front gate. On that day it was raining and well, kind of miser-able but the workers stuck it out until it was done. Thanks to Linda Roers and George Blackard for doing that.

These service days at the zoo do a lot for our post. They build a sense of camaraderie, allow us to get to know one another better and they allow us to give back to our commu-nity. Being a good community partner is an important goal of Post 117.

(L-R)  Bob  Parker,  George  Blackard,  Abby  Blackard  (Jr.  Auxiliary),  Emma  Blackard  (Jr.  Auxil-­iary),  Taylor  Kurkoski  (Auxiliary),  Todd  Kurkoski,  LeAnna  Johnson,  Amelia  McDanel.  

but we did it.

The third place winner was Kaitlin Peterson of Worden And she will re-ceive a bronze medal and a certificate.

The second place winner was Sophia Barthel of Billings and she will receive a silver medal and a certificate as well as a $50 scholarship.

First place went to Katie Braten and she will receive a gold medal and a certificate as well as a $150 scholar-ship.

Katie is home schooled and hails from

near Roberts, Montana. She is the student who bested our Post 117 Ora-torical winner Blackshear Bryant at the District 11 contest and ended up fin-ishing 3rd at the Department con-test. ???? Is a very bright young lady and she is a great example of how well home schooling can work.

All of the scholarship money present-ed comes from the Paul Gardner Me-morial Scholarship Fund created by Post 117.

This letter stirred some emotion in several people, one of which, was Post 117 member Sue Davidson. Sue was not going to let that stand so she promptly joined Ladies Auxiliary Unit 117 and set out to change some things.

Sue meant to change how the Girls State program was handled locally but in the

process she gave Unit 117 a boost of energy that it desperately needed. She even signed some new members including our Post 117 Commander Amelia McDanel.

Donations from local busi-nesses owned and operat-ed by women, were solicit-ed and received and those donations were divided

Not long ago there was a letter to the editor in the Billings Gazette from a young lady who was dis-mayed that the American Legion Boys State partici-pants received a majority, if not all, of the funds needed to attend Boys State but the American Legion Auxil-iary Girls State participants had to pay their own way in full.

M e m o r i a l D a y E s s a y C o n t e s t W i n n e r s A n n o u n c e d

A u x i l i a r y U n i t 1 1 7 – G i r l s S t a t e

P a g e 1 3 V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 2 2

The First Annual Post 117 Memorial Day Essay Contest was a success! Thanks to Cindy Uken and the Billings Gazette we had favorable press that helped to get the word out and we received several entries for the con-test.

While it would have been nice to have hundreds of essays to read through I think we can be proud of what we did in such a short amount of time. The idea for the contest was only thought up at the March Post meeting so we didn’t have much time to get it done

equally amongst the local Girls State participants.

A Unit 117 meeting was called and paperwork and business that had been delayed was finally finished. Unit 117 now had a mis-sion and a defined purpose. New life was breathed into the unit.

Congratulations Sue on a job well done!

A u x i l i a r y U n i t 1 1 7 – P o p p i e s

Unit 117 may be small (for now) but they are proving that they can get things done. Hav-ing been successful in helping out the Girls State partici-pants they set their sights on helping out veterans.

Poppies were purchased and the ladies of Unit 117 gath-ered in front of WalMart and passed out poppies to pass-ers by. In all, they collected over $400 in donations in just

a few hours.

Here is a little information on the poppy program that you may not know.

Poppies cannot be sold, they must be given away

Donations are gratefully accepted but not re-quired.

Poppies may be given away any time of the year

but you usually see more activity around the Memorial Day and Veter-an’s Day holidays

Proceeds from the poppy program can only be used for veterans assis-tance.

The poppies are assem-bled by veterans as part of therapeutic rehabilita-tion

The Poppy Program was started in 1921

Nearly 3.5 million pop-pies were distributed last year raising $2.1 million

PO Box 866 Billings, MT 59103

Phone: 406-651-4469 Email: post@montanalegionpost117.org

American Legion Post 117 is named for Captain

Andrew Pearson US Army who was killed in action April

30, 2008. Andrew “Drew” was a graduate of Billings Sen-

ior High School in Billings, MT. Drew began his Army ca-

reer at Ft. Lewis WA. With a lot of hard work and endorse-

ments by his base commander and MT Senator Max Bau-

cus, he received an appointment to West Point Military

Academy and graduated in 2001. Drew served one tour

of duty in Afghanistan and two tours in Iraq. On his sec-

ond tour in Iraq Drew was Company Commander of the

H&H Company, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment,

4th Infantry Division from Ft. Hood TX. His mission was to

educate and support the Iraqi forces. While part of a con-

voy Drew’s vehicle was hit by an IED and he and Spc.

Ronald J. Tucker were killed.

The founders of American Legion Post 117 are honored

to be allowed to name our Post after

Captain Andrew Pearson.

A N D R E W P E A R S O N P O S T 1 1 7

P o s t O f f i c e r s

Facebook: American Legion Andrew Pearson Post 117 Website: www.montanalegionpost117.org

www.legion.org

O r g a n i z a t i o n

Chaplain Sue Davidson

Historian (Vacant)

Public Relations Officer (Vacant)

Immediate Past Commander George Blackard

Sergeant-at-Arms Rick Baldwin

Finance Officer Todd Kurkoski

Service Officer Casey Elder

Chaplain Skip Venard

Commander Amelia McDanel

1st Vice Commander Chris Enget

2nd Vice Commander Patrick Kurkoski

Adjutant

Joy Mariska