LEGION
14TH DISTRICT
NAIRE
FRESNO, KINGS AND MADERA COUNTIES
VETERANS DAY 2023
“The Nation that forgets its Defenders, will itself be forgotten.”
COMMANDER’S CORNER
PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Dear Legion Family: I hope this finds everyone doing great. As the newly elected President of District 14 Auxiliary I want to give a big “thank you” for your trust with such a position. I have been a member for 43 years and I am very proud of these years. I am a member of Cecil Cox Unit 147.
As we enter into a new Legion year, I believe it is time for a course correction. A reset, if you will. The pandemic is long over and there is no reason why we can’t move forward here and now. The membership of the American Legion is critical for all Veterans to have a voice in Congress and in the Central Valley, from Lemoore to Madera, Squaw (Yokuts) Valley to Fresno’s West Side.
A
Chris Hoffman
D
There are a few words that appear to have been missing lately from the conversations about the American Legion. Those words are SUCCESS, SUPPORT, and ENGAGEMENT & ACTIVE PARTICIPATION.
In order for the American Legion to have continued success, we must all agree to actively participate at every level, from Post to District, Area and Department. We should understand that, Posts must support Districts so that Districts may have access to support the Posts in return. A district cannot do business without that reciprocal support. It requires active participation to maintain the connections required to help each other. Membership reflects leadership. If your membership is waning, we must look at what our leadership is doing to create that. We should be constantly engaging both membership and community so that we continue to retain the members we have and to invite new members to join our organization. We should endeavor to make our post a place where people WANT to join. Being consistently visible in the community, having family oriented events, showing that we support our communities will gain the support from the community in return and spotlight who we are and what we do for the veterans and their families in our towns, cities and locales.
Debra Ennen
Our newly elected Department President, Glenda Schultz’s, theme this year is “The Golden State, United as One.” Her special project is “Be the One” for Veterans Suicide Prevention. This coincides with the American Legion National Commander’s awareness of the high rate of suicide among veterans.
The Auxiliary 2023 convention was again held in Visalia. It was a very successful meeting with a greater attendance than last year. District 14 members and units, donated generously to our very successful raffle. There were also some donations from two units in District 15. The district is also very grateful to all the Districts and Units throughout the State or all their donations to our “goody bags”. It looks like our Department convention will continue to be held in Visalia for the foreseeable future. District 15 will be in charge of convention in 2024. It is membership renewal time! Please start contacting your members for their renewals. National has sent out renewal notices to every 2023 paid up member and now is the time to get those renewal and new member applications into Department. Membership can be paid on line, by mail or at your unit meeting. Membership is the backbone of our organization so please renew and sign up those new members.
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PLUS INSIDE Valley Veterans Honored.........Page 5
Shepherds and Saints..............Page 7
Adventures Across America....Page 14
Koren War Armistice..............Page 26