JWV POST 126 NEWSLETTER

NOVEMBER, 2006

Post 126 General Membership Meeting:

Monday, December 4, 2006 - 7:30PM

Temple Beth Shalom, 1901 Kresson Road at Cropwell Road, Cherry Hill.

Speaker will be Rabbi Ira Kronenberg. A PowerPoint presentation and video on the troops in Iraq will be shown.

COMMANDER’S CORNER:

On Monday, December 4th at our Post General Membership meeting, we have a special guest speaker. Chaplain (COL) Ira Kronenberg, USAR will speak about his recent experiences going from base to base in Iraq during the Jewish holidays.

Rabbi Kronenberg will be returning to Iraq on December 11th, so we are very lucky to have him speak to our Post during his short break back home. Rabbi Kronenberg is assigned to the Ft. Dix Chaplains’ office and is also the Jewish War Veterans National Chaplain. The Rabbi will be showing a PowerPoint presentation on his experiences in Iraq. I encourage you to attend the meeting. Additionally, I'll be showing a video of the troops in Iraq.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Post 126 members of the Veterans Dinner Dance Committee. The funds raised from the dance on November 4th will allow the Post to accomplish the many tasks in support of Veterans throughout the year. The Dance is our biggest fund raiser and was a great success.

Eric Spevak
Arthur Seltzer
Robert Richter
Bernie Epworth
Larry Altersitz
Nelson L. Mellitz

A special thank you goes to Herb Liftman who headed the internal Post committee.

There were many Post members who sold ads for the Dinner Dance Ad Book and thank you.

Respectfully,
Nelson L. Mellitz - Commander JWV Post 126


VETERANS DAY POPPY DRIVE: 

November 10 through 13, 2006 

Our sincere appreciation to Dr. Ira Weiss for heading up the Veterans Day Poppy Drive.  Dr. Weiss added additional sites to our collection efforts (Walmarts in both Cherry Hill and Willingboro and Shop Rite in Delran), which resulted in collections of $3,549 - a huge 27% increase over last year.

A "well done" to all the Post volunteers who helped with this drive:

PPC Larry Altersitz, Dave Block, Dave Bluebond, Millard Braunstein, Officer of the Day Stan Curzman, PPC Bernie Epworth, Al Gooderum, Louise Greenbaum, Irv Hackerman, Chaplain Jay Jaspan, Ruven Kamien, Harvey Konkin, Quartermaster Perry Levine, Commander Nelson Mellitz, Don Morse, Sam Poditz, PPC Ray Rubel, Jr. Vice Commander & Adjutant Dave Singer, Mort Spaner and Dr. Ira Weiss. Our apologies if we have missed anyone who solicited.

Hopefully these and other Post members will volunteer for the next Poppy Drive over Memorial Day, 2007.

Card Game at Mark 70, instead of Jay Jaspan’s:

Monday, December 18th and Monday, January 15th.

JWV/JWVA Mid-winter Convention: Friday-Sunday, January 12-13-14, 2007

A mid-winter convention of fun...no business meetings, just fun at the Port-O-Call Hotel, Ocean City, New Jersey. See the enclosed flyer and reservation form with this mailing.

VETERANS COURT ON RECORD PACE

The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims is deciding more cases than ever, after recalling two judges to the bench earlier this year, and is now on track to issue 30 percent more decisions than any year in the Court's history. According to numbers released to the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs on Thursday, with 7 full time judges and 2 recalled judges now deciding cases, the Court is on track to handle over 4400 cases this fiscal year, which is almost 800 more cases than the Court is expected to take in. The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims reviews decisions rendered by VA's Board of Veterans' Appeals. Most of the Court's decisions deal with veterans' claims for disability compensation.

VA COMMITTED TO EMPLOY DISABLE VETERANS

As our Nation celebrates National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and marks the 16th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, VA Secretary Nicholson has reaffirmed his commitment to make VA the "employer of choice" for disabled veterans' and to help disabled veterans find productive jobs throughout our society. In addition to being a leader in hiring disabled veterans, VA also tops the federal sector in contracting with businesses owned by disabled veterans.  A recent edition of Veterans Business Journal noted that 2.2 percent of VA's fiscal year 2005 contracts were with service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses, more than any other cabinet department. For more information on veterans' benefits, visit http://www.vba.va.gov/.

COMMUNICATIONS:

If you have an email address, but have not received email messages from the post, please send your name and email address to dsinger26@comcast.net for inclusion in our Post email list.

For any and all "Snowbirds" who are going south this year, we wish you a good winter and look forward to seeing you at Post activities and meetings when you return.

Respectfully submitted,
David Singer
Post 126 Adjutant

A Different Holiday Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,

Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on such a cold Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "It’s really all right,

"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at 'Pearl’ on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a year Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."