H Post Everlasting / Page 4-5 H Key To Benefits / Page 6 H All Hands On Deck / Page 7 H
December 2010/January 2011
Planning Complete For ’11 Mid-Winter Training Conference
Veterans Warned: Be Wary Of Paying For Representation An organization called Veterans Affairs Services (VAS) is reported to be providing benefit and general information on veterans’ benefits and gathering personal information on veterans. This organization is not affiliated with The Department of Veterans Affairs in any way, and Indiana’s Department Service Officer, John Hickey, is warning veterans to be wary of paying this or any other legal entity for assistance with attaining veterans benefits. “There are certain, and quite limited, circumstances under which it is advisable and acceptable to the Department of Veterans Affairs for veterans to seek legal advice on their claims, or to pay for claims representation. Our service officers are well trained and can handle most claims issues without such help, and free of charge. When, in our experience and in accordance with VA rules it appears to be necessary for a veterans to seek additional advice and assistance, we are always ready to so advise our clients,” Hickey said. Those who have examples of VAS employees, or those of similar organizations, assisting veterans in the preparation and presentation of claims for benefits, please pass that information along to the Department Service Office or directly to
CPR Training, Charitable Gaming, Post Liability And Service Officers Training Top The Agenda, While Membership Continues To Take Center Stage Registration is underway for housing at the Department of Indiana’s 2011 MidWinter Conference, set for January 14-16 at the Indianapolis Marriott Hotel East, 7202 East 21st Street in Indianapolis. Registration forms are not required for the conference, but rooms must be reserved directly with the hotel in order for registrants to receive the negotiated room rate. There is no registration fee, and the conference is open to all interested Legion, SAL and Auxiliary members. Room reservations can be made by calling (317) 3223716. The training scheduled for the Mid-Winter Conference runs the gamut from specialized instruction in Legion programs and activities to important information on post operations from state and federal regulatory agencies. As with all previous Mid-Winter Conferences, there will be no general session. In addition, the Department Service Office will present a four-hour block of instruction designed to prepare post and district service officers to assist veterans with VA claims and other veterans benefit issues. The training is set for 12:00 noon in Salon 4. See Page 7 of this issue of the Hoosier Legionnaire for detailed information on the session. A popular feature of previous conferences has been Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Training, which the Department has brought back for 2011. “Obviously, we can’t offer certification in CPR,” said Steve Short, Department Adjutant, “but we can offer the kind of familiarization and practical training that may – just may – save a life during one of our meetings.” Two one-hour CPR Training sessions are scheduled, the first for 8:00 a.m. and the second from 10:00 a.m. Both will be conducted in Salon A at the north end of the atrium. A pair of sessions offered by representatives of state regulatory agencies, designed to keep post club
operators abreast of the most current regulations, are scheduled and come highly recommended by Department Officers. The Charitable Gaming/ Excise session is a three-hour program scheduled for 8:30 a.m. in Salons C-E; the onehour Post Liability Seminar is set for 9:00 a.m. in Salon 3. Both sessions are usually well attended, so interested participants are encouraged to arrive timely. Veterans Funeral Care, an increasingly popular member benefit providing advice and assistance in final arrangement planning for members of the Legion Family, is scheduled for 9:00 a.m. in Salon 4. The organization assists families through every step of the process of providing appropriate funeral services for veterans, including securing earned benefits. VFC representatives provide important information for not only veterans, but also post officers and membership recruiters. The regularly scheduled Membership Committee, a two-hour session set for 10:00 a.m. in Salon 4 will be among the most important of the committee meetings scheduled, according to Commander Leland Baxter. “We are facing a serious shortfall in our membership this year, just as we have for the past several years,” he said. “Jack [Membership Chairman Cook] and I fully expected that we would be farther along than we are right now, so it is important that the committee consider some innovative ways to get our members renewed. “Like Jack says, ‘Every card, every time.’ I am encouraging every post and every member to pull out all the stops to see that our Mid-Winter membership card turn-in is a record setter,” Baxter said. A full agenda of committee meetings is set for the conference, which will be followed by the Department Executive Committee meeting at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday. A tentative agenda is available on line at www.indlegion.org.
Remembering Pearl Harbor
Justin S. M. Kinchen, grandson of 11th District Chaplain Ed Harris Jr., plays the National Anthem to launch Tillman Harpole Post 249’s 12th annual Pearl Harbor Memorial Service December 7, setting the stage for the posting of the Colors by the United State Navy Color Guard (top right) at the US Navy and US Marine Corps Reserve Center on the banks of the White River in Indianapolis. In addition to featured speaker Robert W. Spanogle, Past National Adjutant of The American Legion, and representatives of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, Sons of The American Legion, and the American Legion Auxiliary, members of the IPS high schools’ Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps also participated in the service.
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The Child Welfare Foundation: ‘Square Deal For Every Child’ By National Commander Jimmie Foster The needs of disadvantaged children weighed heavily on the minds of The American Legion’s founders. As they assembled in Paris, St. Louis and Minneapolis that first year after World War I, the first Legionnaires fully understood that many of their comrades were not coming home at all. Their wives and children were suddenly widows and orphans. Many newly discharged veterans were permanently changed— shell-shocked, gassed or physically disabled—and unable to care for their loved ones as they once did. America was not equipped to handle the needs of so many disrupted families. It was up to the Legion to provide what the founders called “a square deal for every child.”
Over the years, the Legion has fulfilled that obligation in uncountable ways. Since 1954, one of the most far-reaching Legion programs to fulfill that core value has been the Child Welfare Foundation, which has provided more than $11 million in grants to worthy causes over the years. Last fall alone, the foundation awarded $666,670 in grants to 21 different organizations dedicated to improving the lives of young people who have been dealt difficult circumstances. Child Welfare Foundation grants are awarded for focused projects that help nonprofit organizations better communicate to those who need assistance. A CWF grant allows an organization to concentrate on the mission at hand – helping kids – by reducing some of the marketing burden. If
you think about it, there is no better way to spread a charitable contribution dollar than by granting it for an effort to spread the word far and wide. It’s a real multiplier effect. I invite you to look at this year’s list of CWF grant recipients. These are truly amazing organizations that make real differences in the lives of young people. Among them are the Children’s Organ Transplant Association, a Bloomington-based organization which assists families nation-wide with securing live-saving procedures for their children. A DEC resolution officially endorsing the organization is pending additional information for further considereation. Other organizations include Father Flanagan’s Boys Town, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the National Autism Association, the Na-
tional Children’s Cancer Society and Young Marines. As just one example, I give you the National Exchange Club of Toledo, Ohio, which received a $25,000 grant to use in 2010 for its Child Abuse Prevention program. CWF funds were used so the 23,000-member organization could produce and distribute child-abuse prevention kits, along with effective “cheat sheets” that provide advice to help parents get through stressful times. “The Child Welfare Foundation grant is enabling us to better protect our children,” said Genevieve Stults, a program specialist who participated in our Children & Youth Conference in September. The organization, she explains, has helped 691,000 parents break the cycle of abuse for 30 years and has created safer homes
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National Legislative Council Revamps For New Congress The American Legion National Legislative Commission is asking the Departments of The American Legion to begin preparing nominations for positions on the National Legislative Council. In the Department of Indiana, most positions on the council already have been filled, according to Department Adjutant Steve Short. “Once the recommendations have been submitted to me for those Members of Congress recently elected, I will forward the list to the National Organization to be included on the Council,” he said.
“Most members will not change, unless the new member of Congress represents a drastic change from his or her predecessor.” The nominees are expected to be on familiar terms with the Member of Congress to which they are assigned, and communicate regularly on issues of concern to the Legion. Indiana has nine Congressional districts. The Department of Indiana has 11 districts, none of which coincide with Congressional Districts because of redistricting and changes in the state’s representation based on population. Neverthe-
less, District representatives are consulted prior to the selection of nominees to the council, Short said. During the 2010 Fall Meetings in Indianapolis, outgoing Legislative Commission Chairman and Indiana’s endorsed candidate for National Commander, James E. Koutz, stressed the importance of the Legislative Council to members of the National Executive Committee. “I cannot begin to tell you how important the council is to the American Legion’s legislative victories,” Koutz said. “I anticipated many changes
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Marking The Season
Northern Vice Commander Anthony Sadowski, with wife Meredith in the foreground, enjoyed the festivities of the Department Commander’s annual Christmas Party for officers and their spouses in Indianapolis earlier this month. The gala celebration is marked by gift exchanges and the officers’ presentation to the Commander of a special gift. More information on the party and the remarkable gift the officers presented to Commander Baxter are on page 8.