FOR GOD AND COUNTRY The AMERICAN LEGION LAKE REGION POST 703 Fox Lake, Illinois 60020 (847) 587-2323 February 2015 www.FoxLakeAmericanLegion.org COMMANDERS CORNER Below is an article about National American Legion commander Michael D. Helm is concerned about over-medicating wounded soldiers The recently installed commander of the national American Legion said he’s concerned that wounded soldiers are being overly treated with drugs for post-traumatic stress disorder and brain-related injuries. “The American Legion is concerned that the use of drugs is not working,” Michael D. Helm said Wednesday during a stop in Charleston. “There are other things we can do,” he said, pointing to expanding the use of group therapy and other forms of counseling that include veterans and their families. “We can do better,” he said, pointing to drugs being a contributing factor to veterans’ homelessness and suicides. Helm was elected national commander of the 2.4 million members American Legion in August during the 96th national convention of the nation’s largest veteran’s organization. Other areas of concern he listed included the weakening of defense priorities in the post-Iraq and Afghanistan military. That includes areas such as pay, housing and benefits. “We hope there’s a concern for all in Congress that the military remains strong,” he said. Helm is an Army veteran who served during the Vietnam War. He was with the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, N.C., and earned his Ranger tab in 1972. He is a retired Postal Service rural mail carrier with more than 33 years of service. Helm, of Norcatur, Kan., is touring parts of South Carolina this week. Stops included the Dorn Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Columbia and the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston. He also addressed a lunch gathering at American Legion Post 147 on James Island. There are seven American Legion posts throughout the Charleston region, with a membership of about 3,000, said District 2 Commander Joe Lysaght. There are about 30,000 military veterans in total in the region. Another initiative Helm said the legion supports is getting its members to help legal aliens in the U.S. to obtain their full citizenship. Submitted by Bob Stelter AUXILIARY NEWS Our meeting will be February 9th. Our Bingo Chairman, Terri Zawada, is resigning at the end of February. Thank you Terri for you hard work these last several years! You did a great job and I know our bingo patrons will miss you. Being that Terri is resigning, we need a new Bingo Chairman. We would like to get a couple of co-chairman so that all of the work doesn’t fall to only one person. Bingo is on Thursdays at noon. If you are interested in volunteering or know someone that may be interested, please contact me immediately. If we can’t find a replacement, we may have to stop the bingo. We don’t want to do this due to the fact that bingo is our only consistent fundraiser that we have for our Veterans. Thank you, Tracy Wasilewski ALA Unit 703 President SAL News Well the Holidays are over and a new year is underway. Your SAL is on the move with spring projects. The two in our cross-hairs are the second annual Gun Raffle and the VA fishing derby! The derby is Friday June 12, volunteers will be needed for the event. The membership caravan came through our Post last month and led the effort with 39 renewals and new members! We are now at over 90% paid. We need 100% to keep our projects running, please respond to our letters and drop off your 2015 dues as soon you can - your 2014 card has expired! We had a good turnout for our February meeting. We hope to see more of you in March. See you around the Post. Dale Reynolds, Commander Sons of the American Legion UPCOMING EVENTS Feb 7th Ron Payton Guitar in the Bar 3-6 pm Feb 7th Please provide newsletter information to me (by email only) no later than the 4th Friday of each month. Your emails should be forwarded to [email protected] . Thank you in advance for your support. POWW Doors open at 6:00 pm Feb 14th Lake Region Swing Band Doors open at 6:00 pm band plays from 7:00 till 10:00 pm $8.00 per person and $10.00 per couple Feb 20th Magic Mike Karaoke Starting at 8:00 PM Feb 21st Chili Cook Off Chili must be at the post by 4:00 pm judging will be at 5:00 pm Prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Submitted by Mark Glosson POST 703 ON FACE BOOK Did you know Post 703 has a Facebook page? It features Post 703 events, Veterans information and sometimes just funny stuff. You can post information that other members may want to see too. When you want to know what is going on at the Post and if you belong to Facebook search for American Legion Post 703 Fox Lake, IL and like the page. There is something new on it every day. NEWSLETTER EDITOR Bob Stelter Ha Ha Ha for the Month Bill Clinton is out jogging around in some of the seedier areas of Washington D.C. He notices a good looking prostitute. She sees him and calls out, “Fifty dollars!” He's tempted, but the price is a little high so he calls back, “Five!” She's disgusted and turns away while Bill continues his jog. A few days later, he finds himself jogging in the same area and as luck would have it, the prostitute is still there. But she won't come down on her price. “Fifty!” she shouts. Bill answers her, “Five!” No sale. About a week later, Hillary has decided that she wants to get into shape so she demands to go jogging with Bill. They get to the seedy part of town and the same prostitute is still there. She eyes Bill and Hillary together and yells, “See what you get for five dollars!” After being away on business for a week before Christmas, Tom thought it would be nice to bring his wife a little gift. "How about some perfume?" he asked the cosmetics clerk. She showed him a bottle costing $50. "That's a bit much," said Tom, so she returned with a smaller bottle for $30. "That’s still quite a bit," Tom groused. Growing disgusted, the clerk brought out a tiny $15 bottle. Tom grew agitated, "What I mean," he said, "is I'd like to see something real cheap.” So the clerk handed him a mirror. Remember our Veterans February 2015 4 1 9 11 16 25 VFW Meeting SAL Meeting Ladies Auxiliary Executive Board Meeting Legion Riders Meeting General Membership Meeting 4 1 9 11 16 25 VFW Meeting SAL Meeting Ladies Auxiliary Meeting Executive Board Meeting Legion Riders Meeting General Membership Meeting 7:30 PM 5:00 PM 7:30 PM 7:15 PM 7:00 PM 7:15 PM March 2015 7:30 PM 5:00 PM 7:30 PM 7:15 PM 7:15 PM 7:15 PM COMMANDER Jose Becerra (847)587-2323 ADJUTANT Chuck Class (815) 529-6010 SVC OFFICER Bob Gabriel (847) 691-5990 CHAPLAIN Jerry Kandziorski (847) 587-2323