The American Legion Department of Colorado Blog

Depending on whom you believe, Colorado has over 460,000 veterans, give or take 20,000 to 25,000. Perhaps the new census will more clearly define our veteran population.

For purpose of this article we will define a veteran as anyone who has worn a military uniform or is presently wearing the uniform. Since we have a strong military presence in

Colorado with the complex of bases in Colorado Springs our veteran number probably exceeds that 460,000 mark.

Every one of these veterans acquired that status in one of three ways. First you raised you hand and volunteered to serve, as is the case with just about everyone in uniform today. Second you received that very personal letter from Uncle Sam beginning with “Greetings” inviting you to report to an induction center for a physical and possible induction into the Army, Marines, Navy or Air Force. During Vietnam the needs of the service dictated which branch of service to which you were assigned. Third there were a few veterans who acquired that status thanks to the court system… go into service or go to jail.

No matter which method put you into uniform you served and you did it with pride. For many of us service changed our lives. Unfortunately some lost their lives in service to their country and many came back with seen and unseen injuries. Our WWI veterans recognized these facts and knew there would be a need to take care of the medical and emotional needs of these veterans so they formed The American Legion, and within 10 years convinced Congress to stand up a new government agency called the Veterans Administration.

So for the last 91 years The American Legion has been an advocate for veterans before the VA. We know service changed our lives. We know the pride we have as veterans. We know veterans don’t consider themselves heroes; we were just doing our job. And we know we cannot rest when it comes to serving the needs of our veterans and their families.

For us to continue to serve the needs of our veterans The American Legion needs a strong membership base. Over 460,000 veterans reside in Colorado but currently only about 25,000 belong to the American Legion in Colorado and 2.5 million in the country. While those numbers are impressive we could do a much better job with 40,000 members or 3 million members. It takes time, energy and money to effectively advocate for veterans issues.

That’s where you come in. If you are reading this you are probable a member. You belong because of the comradeship we provide. You belong because of the pride you have in your country. You belong because you know the American Legion can make a difference in the lives or veterans. So look around you. Look at you neighbors, look at your church members, look at your professional organizations, look at the other community-based organizations and you will find veterans everywhere you look. Your job is to convince these veterans they need to join the American Legion. When you ask them to join appeal to their sense of pride as a veteran. Tell them they may not have the time to devote to the internal workings of the American Legion but their number counts when we go to Congress to advocate for veterans, 40,000 voices, or 3 million voices make a bigger impact than 25,000 voices or 2.5 million voices.

So how do you sign up members? Easy, have your prospect go to our website www.coloradolegion.org, click on the join button and fill out the application, pay $36.00 by credit card and your prospect is a member. Or call your Post Adjutant and tell him or her that you need to sign up a friend. The Adjutant will take it from there.

As the old Mission Impossible show used to say, “this is your mission, should you agree to accept it.” We hope you accept the mission and make 40,000 members in Colorado a mission possible. Thanks for your service and your continued support of The American Legion.

Charles Pat Smith

Department Adjutant

As we wind down our fall conferences and enter into the fall and winter months we need to be reminded that the work of the American Legion does not stop with the change of seasons. At the fall conferences our VA&R chairman Gar Williams introduced the “Operation Soldier” program. This program has the potential of not only recruiting new members for the Legion but to provide a much needed base of support for new Army recruits and their families while the new soldier is serving on active duty.  We have put together a booklet that sets out the guidelines for this program and we just mailed a letter to all post commanders with some of the information needed to implement this program. We distributed the booklets widely at the fall conferences and we will gladly mail it to you or your post.  Please call us at Department at 303-366-5201 or 1-800-477-1655.

Commander Frank has requested that we do an Adjutant’s training class of about 3 hours for all new Adjutants and as a refresher for the “old timers” in the bunch. We have set November 14^th as the date for the training. Our initial training will be in Colorado Springs to accommodate those adjutants in districts 1, 2, 7 and 8. If successful and enough interest we will schedule another date for districts 3, 4, 5 and 6 up north of Denver. At the same time we will conduct a simultaneous session for service officers. We will mail a RSVP request to all adjutants and service officers in those districts to gauge the interest for these schools. Watch for more details on these events.

We are asking all posts this year to make a special effort to submit their annual Consolidated Post Report (CPR). This form will be mailed to each post in April of next year but you need to start collecting the data now. One of the best ways to do this is for the post adjutant to record in your monthly minutes all of the activities that took place during the month. If you run your post in the proper manner reports from your officers and committee people should be a standard agenda item. Be sure to record dollar amounts for donations, any number of volunteer hours given to any cause or event sponsored by The American Legion, number of funerals attended or where an honor guard was provided and anything you think is important. For information on the data asked for on this form just visit our website at http://www.coloradolegion.org/cpr-march2009-released.pdf and you will find the 2008-2009 form. When we receive the 2009-2010 form we will post it, but for now the information seldom changes on the form so this will be a good guide for you. We would also request the District Commanders assign to a district officer the task of following up on this project. So you may ask why this is so important. On September 16, 1919 Congress granted The American Legion a charter to do business and granted us the right to be a non-profit organization. Part of the requirement was that we submit an annual report on our activities to keep our non-profit status. The CPR is where the national organization derives the information that they report to Congress. So that is why it is so important.

Another item that needs your attention is the Legionnaire Insurance Trust (LIT) free AD&D insurance. The LIT provides this insurance at no cost to our members and if you sign up and designate a beneficiary you will be covered until August 1, 2016. Copies of the brochure explaining the program and the beneficiary form were distributed to each post during our fall conferences. If you did not get the form please contact your post commander or call us at department and we will gladly see that you get one.

We just completed the Youth programs sweepstakes and thanks to all of you that donated. As a result of your generous donations over $12,000 will go to help fund Legion Boys State and Oratorical programs. The finance committee and the Department Executive Committee will look at authorizing this program again next year.

You may have heard rumors that the new VA hospital in Denver will not have a PTSD component. That is absolutely false. The new hospital will continue to diagnose the existence of PTSD in a veteran and will provide the necessary medical remedies but the long term treatment will be away from the sterile environment of a hospital and will be offered in a treatment center operated by the VA. Currently we have the Vet Centers, one of which operates out of your headquarters building, which offer long term counseling services. The Vet Centers are a valuable part of the treatment for a veteran and The American Legion will continue to strongly support this concept of treatment for PTSD. We also strongly support treatment, beyond the counseling aspect offered in a Vet Center, in an environment that will permit the veteran and his family to recover and return to society as a productive member. We will continue to monitor the progress of the new medical center to be sure no class of veteran is forgotten in their care.

In closing put January 29-31 on your calendar for the Mid-Year at the Radisson Hotel, 3333 Quebec St in Denver. See you there.

Pat Smith

Department Adjutant

September 28, 2009

A number of Legionnaires, Auxiliary and SAL members just got back for attending the 91^st annual national convention in Louisville, KY. The Legion delegation was led by immediate past department commander Gar Williams as delegation chairman. Current Commander Frank McCurdy, Sr Vice Commander Rick Friend, Jr Vice Commanders Larry Decker, Jon Golley and Jim Gillis, NEC Ralph Bozella, Alternate NEC Neal Thomas, Chaplain Rich Humphrey, Finance Officer Paul Erickson, Past National Commander Tom Bock, Past Department Commanders Doug Wooddell and Joe Ross all attended as delegates. In addition 15 other Legionnaires attended as deletages

The convention elected Clarence Hill of Florida and our new National commander. Morris Bentley of Idaho was elected as our Western Region National Vice Commander. More information about these Legionnaires will be found in other publications of the Legion as we go through the year. The results of the resolutions sent by Colorado are re-printed in this issue of the Observer.

Now that the convention is over we must concentrate on the day to day business of the Legion here in Colorado. Beginning September 9, 2009 Commander McCurdy will begin the annual fall conference schedule. That schedule is published elsewhere in this publication. The purpose of the conferences is to educate our Legion family members about our Legion programs, our plans for a positive membership growth in our organization, our goals and objectives to spread the word about The American Legion in our communities and our strategy to achieve those goals.

You will be hearing more about the Community Covenant program of the Department of the Army and the Department of Defense. This program seeks to get the mayors and community officials to officially sign a proclamation recognizing the service of our veterans and encouraging the community to “support our troops” while deployed and when they return to the community. This is a major project and we will have more information about it at the fall conferences.

Once again this year we will hold our 2^nd annual troop induction ceremony at our Mid-Year conference. This looks like it will be a big deal again this year. If you missed it last year you need to plan on attending. The Army inducted 187 young men and women in the ceremony sponsored by The American Legion. It was impressive.

The work begins now. Get involved. Show up at our conferences. Make plans to attend our Mid-year. Sign up for our email distribution list and check out the Observer every month at www.coloradolegion.org.

By: C. Pat Smith, Department Adjutant

Washington Conference

Twelve Colorado Legion, Auxiliary and SAL members descended upon Washington, D. C. for our annual Washington Legislative Conference.

    We were there to talk about the future of veteran’s health care and veterans benefits with our elected leaders in Congress. Our time there was well spent and productive. We were able to meet personally both of our Senators, and all of our representatives except Congressman Doug Lamborn.

    Of course our first priority for Colorado was to talk about the proposed new VA hospital on the Fitzsimons campus. Our NEC Ralph Bozella was able to meet fact to face with the new VA Secretary Shenseki and present to him the white paper developed by the United Veterans Committee in support of the new hospital. While that meeting was taking place several of us, including Commander Gar Williams, were meeting our new Senator Michael Bennet. Senator Bennet had not yet signed the letter to the VA Secretary supporting the new hospital. At this meeting he agreed to sign on and by the end of the day he sent a letter to Secretary Shenseki supporting the new hospital. The previous day Representative Jared Polis had signed on to the agreement. So now the entire congressional delegation now supports this new stand alone VA hospital. The Secretary promised Ralph he would have an answer within 10 days. So we wait again. Stay tuned.

District Conventions

We are entering an extremely busy time of year for the Legion. Shortly all of our District conventions will be held and new officers will be elected to lead the organization at the district level for another year.  Our district conventions are an important event in the management of this organization. The districts are charged with encouraging their assigned posts to think seriously about the direction they want this organization to go in the future and they are responsible for reviewing all resolutions that come before them and making the decisions on whether those resolutions have enough merit to be passed on to the department convention. In addition the district conventions are an excellent chance to meet fellow Legionnaires from other posts and learn what is working successfully for them. The district convention schedule is published elsewhere in this paper so plan on attending your district convention. You’ll be glad you did.

Leadership Conference

We have set April 25, 2009 as the day for our Leadership and Training Conference. Commander Gar Williams moved up the date for this conference to provide an opportunity for the brand new leadership at the post level to get a running start on their year. Previously our leadership conferences have been held after the department convention, some as late as October, and Commander Gar did not feel that was an appropriate way to bring new leadership into the organization by waiting so long after they were elected.

    The conference will be focused on the newly elected officers at the post level. We sent a pre-registration application to all posts asking that they consider sending their new officers and asking them to consider paying some of the expenses.

    The Saturday event will feature a visit by our National Commander and a working lunch designed to put legionnaires together from different posts to discuss issues important to them and to then put those ideas and issues in writing. There will be a session on communication and managing volunteers to effectively improve the organization.

    The cost for the Saturday session all day is only $20.00 which includes all work books and the cost of lunch. We have made special arrangements with the Radisson hotel for a $79.00 room rate for those that will need to stay overnight. All in all this is a conference that you need to attend if you have any desire to learn more about your organization. 

Membership

We are winding down our 2009 membership year but are still short of our assigned goal by about 3,000 members. Now is the time to concentrate on renewing those who have not yet made the commitment to renew, contact them by way of a personal phone call; or by personal visit.

    They thought enough of the organization once to pay their dues, so now it is your job to get them to renew. The final dues notice has gone out from our national organization so you should be receiving membership from that notice now. Make that final effort to attain your goal if your post has not done so already.

Department Convention

The 2009 Department Convention will be held in Grand Junction this year. A number of changes to the convention have been made to improve the convention and to reduce the cost of attending the convention for our members. We are in the final stages of putting together all of the details but here is a brief summary of the agenda.

    Friday morning will be the American Legion opening session at 9 am followed by a DEC meeting. This is a change from the DEC meeting on Thursday afternoon and also a change for a joint opening session with the Auxiliary. The annual VA&R reception has been moved to Saturday night in place of the normal banquet. The elections of officers will still be held Saturday afternoon. The agenda essentially eliminates Thursday from the business sessions which means only two nights of expenses for hotel rooms and meals. We will publish the full agenda as soon as it is put together.

Honor Flight

Don’t forget to put April 28, 2009 at 9 am on your calendar. This is the day that Honor Flight of Northern Colorado will send some 130 WWII vets back to the WWII Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

    We would like to have a good contingent of American Legion members, wearing caps, to send these WWII heroes off to visit their memorial. We hope to have an Army Color Guard on hand also. The date is confirmed so plan on it.

Honor Flight Details

April 28, 2009

 7:00 am – WWII Vets muster at Budweiser Event Center (BEC) in Ft Collins

 8:30 am – Four buses depart BEC with Patriot Guard and Law Enforcement escort

 9:30 am – Arrive a Signature Flight Support at 7850 Harry Combs Parkway at DIA

10:30 am – Board U S Airways Air Bus 320 for Veterans and Guardians.

11:15 am – Depart for Baltimore/Washington.

April 29, 2009

 5:00 pm – Department Baltimore/Washington

 8:00 pm – Arrive at Signature Flight Support

If you attend be sure to be at the Signature Flight facility by 9:00 am on the morning of departure to see these veterans off on their trip of a lifetime. Directions to the Signature facility are as follows: Take Pena Blvd to Jackson Gap, turn right, at stop sign turn left onto 75th Ave which turns to the left and becomes Harry B. Combs Parkway, continue until you see the Signature Flight facility on the right side of the Parkway.

Email Blast

We maintain an email blast list to keep our members informed of the latest details and latest news of the organization. If you want to be added to this list please email us with your email address and ask to be put on the list. Please email news@coloradolegion.org and you will be added.

District Conventions

Here is the schedule for the District conventions so far. District Commanders and Adjutants please send in your information ASAP.

District 2 – April 26 – Genoa Post #31-1 pm -potluck lunch before

District 4 – April 25 – Boulder 10 – 1 pm – lunch before

District 6 – May 3 – Denver Post #87 – lunch $5.00 -12-5pm

District 7 – May 2 – Post 209, 3613 Jeannine Dr, Co Spgs – 11am-3pm

District 11 – March 29  – Paonia Post 97 – Lunch $5 - 10 am

Resolutions

The policies of this organization are set by the delegates to the District, Department and National conventions through resolutions. If you want to change anything about this organization you must do so in writing. At the post level put your ideas and thoughts in writing and vote upon those ideas at your post meeting. If approved send the resolution to your district convention so they can discuss the merits of your idea. If the District passes it they will send it to the Department convention for consideration. If the idea has national implications it will then go to our National convention in August in Kentucky. We normally have only 8 to 10 resolutions each year. Let’s see if we can increase that amount this year. If you need help putting your ideas into words contact your District Commander or other District or Department officer for help.

Leadership Conference

Plans are underway for a brand new, exciting and innovative Leadership and Information Conference to be held April 24-25, 2009. This will be the same weekend that our National Commander will make his official visit to Colorado. Current plans call for the conference to be held at the Radisson Hotel, 3333 Quebec St in Denver and the same hotel where we conducted our successful Mid-year. Although the complete agenda has not been completed the conference will focus on information and skills needed to successfully manage this organization at the post and district levels. If you are contemplating running for an office at the post or district level or you are an officer in this organization at any level you need to attend this conference. If you are not contemplating such a move but would like to know more about this organization you probably need to attend this conference. The hotel rate for this event will be $79.00 plus tax if you decide you need a room for either Friday or Saturday evening. There will be a working lunch and the registration fee, to include lunch, will be $20.00. We would encourage the Posts and Districts to offer scholarships to help defray the costs so your prospective officers can attend. We know that this date may be before your elections but in many cases you already know who you will be electing to your top offices.  A $100 scholarship would help a lot. Post Commanders, bring this up to your meeting next month. We will publish the complete agenda on line when it becomes available and will include it in the next Observer and Bulletin. Plan on it!

Membership

As of February 10^th we stand at about 85% of our national membership goal of 24,200 members. Our membership committee has sent out delinquent lists to our posts and have mailed out postcards that they asked the post to mail to those delinquents. The committee made a special effort in getting those members of post 211 with less than 4 years of continuous membership to renew their dues. The committee continues to transfer members to local posts from the headquarters post to try and get those members active at the post level. This last 15% will be the toughest members to renew. The best way now is personal contact, either with a phone call or face to face visit. Look at your membership roster. Maybe you have a member or two that has been a member for a long time but has not renewed. It could be they can’t afford to pay in the current economic climate. If that is the case make an effort to find the money to take care of that member. It the least we can do for loyalty.

Membership awards

Elsewhere in this Observer are several awards and incentives for membership from the National Commander Dave Rehbein to include the “Pride and Purpose” pin, the Post Excellence Award, the 2009 District Commander Incentive Award and the Belt Buckle Incentive award. The first date for our Department awards that you need to be aware of is the April national target date. This will be the date that our Department Membership committee will award the 100% post plaques. These awards will be mailed directly to the District Commander for his presentation at the District convention. We will accept membership postmarked through April 10^th for these awards. 

Website

We are continually evolving the Department website to better inform our membership. We would encourage you to go to the website www.coloradolegion.org and fill out the member profile form. Check out our merchandise page. We have a wide assortment of Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard specific jackets, caps and t-shirts at excellent prices. Check out the LIT (Legionnaire Insurance Trust) button. Sign up on our social network.

Honor Flight

Honor Flight of Northern Colorado will be escorting about 100 WWII veterans to Washington, D.C. to visit the WWII Memorial on April 28^th, 2009. They will be leaving from the Combs Executive Terminal at DIA. They are looking for lots and lots of people to show up at 9:30 am that day see them off. They hope to have a high school band and a color guard in attendance. The trip is free to the WWII veterans and U S Airways will be providing the chartered airplane at cost so donations will be accepted. For more information contact Honor Flight of Northern Colorado at 970 324-1153. Donations can be made to Honor Flight Northern Colorado, 711 8^th Ave

Greeley, CO 80631. Check out their web site at  www.honorflightnortherncolorado.org .

An event to remember!

C Pat Smith

Department Adjutant

WOW! What an event. I am talking about the 2009 Mid-Year
Conference held in Denver Jan 23-25, 2009. The annual Mid-Year Conference is an
event designed to look at where we are as an organization in the management of
our programs and make positive decisions about the next six months. The
importance of the conference is as much a motivation session as it is an
information flow. But this year the enthusiasm was over the top. Commander Gar
Williams put together a program that will be hard to top in future years. If
you have been reading the bulletin and the Observer you know that the American
Legion sponsored, in conjunction with the U S Army, a new soldier induction
ceremony. When we first started talking about the event it was to induct 30
brand new troops. The final number was over 170.

When you walked in the front door of the Radisson you were
immediately struck with the vision of an American Flag hanging from the fourth
floor of the hotel to the basement. What a magnificent picture. You knew
something special was going to happen. And it did.

On Friday evening the Army marched 170 young men and women,
ready to take the oath to defend our country in the uniform of the U S Army,
cascading down the stairs, six abreast, wearing Army Strong black T-shirts. At
the bottom of the stairs looking up at the atrium and the overflow crowd of
spectators and immediately below the bottom of that beautiful flag was the
inducting officer Lt General H Steven Blum from Nor-Com at Peterson AFB. Next
to him was City of Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and General William Hudson
from the Air National Guard. U. S. Army banners and flag bunting hung from the
balconies up to the fifth floor and the audience hung over the balconies waving
American Flags. The American Legion John Philip Sousa Band provided the
patriotic music. Just prior to the induction Auxiliary Chaplain Renee
Fenton-Stone sang a rousing rendition of our National Anthem. What an impressive sight and sounds.

Also in the distinguished guest line was our own Past
National Commander Tom Bock and his wife Elaine and our NECman Ralph Bozella
and his wife Susie. A very special guest in the distinguished line was John
Toth of Arvada who had just received the Purple Heart from his wounds received
in Korea 58 years ago. Rounding out the distinguished guest line was Lt Col
William Medina and Sgt Maj. Atencio from the Army Recruiting Command and
Department Adjutant Charles Pat Smith.

Mayor Hickenlooper spoke to the new recruits and thanked
them for their commitment to serve their country. He was impressed by the
“theatre” atmosphere of the ceremony. Our Commander Gar Williams delivered a
well prepared, well delivered speech. Gar hit the nail on the head when he told
the troops The American Legion would be here for them and their families, now
and in the future. General Blum provided a short history lesson to the troops
about our freedoms and the price it takes to preserve them. He spoke of the
journey before them and how important their service was to our country. At the
end of his speech he formally inducted them into the Army with their oath to
“preserve and protect” our country and our freedom.

To say that the ceremony was impressive is an
understatement. You had to be there to catch the excitement and enthusiasm that
permeated the audience and the building.
If you wanted to be proud to be an American you needed to be there.

After the ceremony the new recruits and their families were
treated to a reception by the Army. The American Legion held its third annual
Program Expo put on by the “Queen of Expo’s,” Kristie Attarian. Our business
partners, Legionnaire Insurance Trust, Bellco Credit Union and Automotive
Avenues were on hand to explain the benefits of their programs. Our Legion
programs were highlighted to include Boys State, Jr Shooting and the Oratorical
contest. Jin Kong from our national organization greeted the new troops and
encouraged them to sign up for the Vet Cam program. Our membership committee
displayed all of the tools necessary fro a good membership recruiting effort.
The Auxiliary was on hand with their programs. It was an exciting and
productive evening from start to finish.

Saturday started with a breakfast hosted by the Boys State
Committee. It was an overflow crowd, probably because the breakfast was cheaper
than the hotel buffet breakfast. Saturday continued with an opening session of
the Legion, Auxiliary and SAL. We were treated to an inspirational and
motivational speech by a young Staff Sgt Joseph Caramillo from the Lakewood, CO
recruiting station. Sgt Caramillo took us through his time in Iraq from a
“boots on the ground” perspective and told of the bravery and commitment of the
troops under his command. He had the audience captured during his whole speech,
with his words being adsorbed by all. If you had any doubt about the bravery of
our young men and women in uniform, his speech dispelled those doubts. He has
promised The American Legion his full support in all of our efforts and there is
even a rumor he will be a counselor at Boys State this summer.

We also heard from a spokesman from American Military
Families and the work they do for the families of those deployed and those who
return in need of assistance. And rounding out the joint session in the morning
was a presentation from the Huey 091 Foundation and the status of the IBOT
wheel chair for spinal cord injured veterans.

The rest of the morning was dedicated to breakout sessions
of various committees and by all accounts they were very successful. Lunch was
hosted by the Past Commanders Club and they elected Rick Friend as their new
President for the coming year. After lunch all of the committees reported to
the delegates on their activities.

The banquet that evening was very special. Last year our
long time Public Relations Chairman Jefferson P Luginbuel passed away and the
banquet was dedicated in his honor. All of the annual Media awards were
re-named the “Jefferson P Luginbuel Media Awards.”

Loveland Post 15 nominated Channel 9 News Northern Bureau
and Adam Chodak and Gary Wolfe for the TV award and they were selected by the
committee to receive the award. Both Gary and Adam were present to receive the
award.

Craig post 62 nominated radio station KRAI in Craig for the
Radio award and they were selected. Frank and Tammy Hanel, owners, accepted the
award.

Salida Post 64 nominated The
Mountain Mail as the small market newspaper award and they were selected.
Editor/Publisher Merle Baranczyk accepted the award.

Loveland Post 15 nominated The Loveland Connection as the medium market newspaper award and
they were selected. Senior Editor Kelly King accepted the award.

Canon City Post 13 nominated Frieda Miller as “The Military
Mom of the Year,” a very special award for her commitment to our troops for the
last 18 years by providing comfort items and gift packages to troops while
deployed. Frieda was on hand to accept the award with her husband Jerry at her
side.

Our Public Relations Chairman Darrell Myers, who took over
from Jeff, did an outstanding job making the presentations.

The banquet continued with another inspirational speech from
an outstanding veterans advocate, Mr. Artie Guerrero. Artie is a Vietnam Vet,
wheel chair bound and appeared on the podium with his lovely wife Cathie and
his faithful dog, Sierra. Artie talked about his travels from a gung-ho Vietnam
Veteran in country, to a disabled veteran to a veterans advocate. He has
literally traveled the world on behalf of veterans to include a trip back to
Vietnam. He is a frequent visitor to the State House testifying on veteran’s
bills. We were extremely lucky to have Artie in our presence and he left us
feeling renewed in our commitment to our country and our troops.

The banquet concluded with the entire audience holding hands
as Renee Fenton-Stone sang God Bless America. The conference concluded on
Sunday morning with a moving memorial service conducted by Chaplains Tony
McCrary and Renee Fenton-Stone.

Many of the pictures of the week end are available on our
web site at www.coloradolegion.org.
Check it out.

PS. For those of you reading this that did not attend
you must realize it is difficult to put into words the excitement that exists
at one of these events. Our membership has told us that they wanted something
different in our Conferences and Conventions and this certainly different. Our
convention this summer in Grand Junction will be just as exciting and just as
different. If you quit coming to our conventions because it was the same old
thing you will be surprised this year. Commander Gar appointed a special Ad-Hoc
Committee to make recommendations for changes and many of those changes will be
implemented this summer. There is much work to do in this organization. If you
are not involved, get involved.

Veterans Education and Training Center (VET-C)
(sub-title Veterans Internet Café)

Veterans Education and Training Center (VET-C) (sub title Veterans Internet Café)
The American Legion Department of Colorado has the opportunity to make history in our never-ending quest to assist veterans and their families to readjust to life after their military service.
   
The mission has not changed. In our 89 years of service to veterans we have always looked first to improving the lives of those affected by their honorable service to their country. The American Legion was forward thinking in 1930 when we sponsored the idea of a government-clearing house for managing veterans affairs, which we now know today as the Veterans Administration. In 1946 The American Legion took the lead again in sponsoring legislation before congress to provide benefits to veterans returning from WWII, now known as the GI Bill. Time after time in our history The American Legion has stepped forward with forward thinking ideas that addressed the needs of veterans at a time when new ideas were needed.
   
Our current returning veterans are facing challenges presented as a result of the fast changing face of world events and a global economy. But as changes are occurring all around us some things have not changed. The need for top-notch medical care for our wounded and disabled veterans is still there. The need for top-notch educational benefits for veterans is still there. The need for a veteran to re-enter society and provide for a family with the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter is still there. The American Legion continues to address these needs even as circumstances are changing around us.
   
So that is where we are today. Looking for ways and means to continue to serve all of these needs. That is where the American Legion Department of Colorado can make history, and will with your help.
   
The latest journey for innovation began a few years ago when we lost a tenant in our building that was involved in the computer ISP business. We faced significant challenges in converting that vacant space into something else.
   
As a number of Legionnaires sat around our conference room the brilliant idea emerged that we needed an “Internet Café” as a place for veterans to gather, communicate and learn, and this space would be an ideal space to do that, since much of the infrastructure was already in place. 

As always happens, those initial discussions continued to evolve and improve and migrate to action.
   
The first step in putting together this center was to evaluate the need for such center. That was a no brainier. Although Internet Cafes exist in coffee shops, libraries, airports, universities, hotels and a host of other unique installations, nowhere was there a center devoted exclusively to veterans to learn and utilize the capabilities of the computer world and the Internet.
   
The second step was to discover the resources needed to make the center a reality. We determined that the financial resources necessary to purchase the computers, software, furniture and Internet access would be over $60,000 if purchased on the open market. We applied for a grant from the tobacco trust fund grant program but were denied because, in their opinion, these services were already available to veterans. So the process continued to evolve.
   
As luck would have it, we got a call from a company that was liquidating the computer related equipment from the former Heritage Bank. At no cost to us we secured 10 Dell Optiplex 620 computers with all related hardware and OS software and a couple of printers. Soon after that we received word that IBM was making available computer desks and chairs to non-profit organizations. We were able to pick up the necessary desks and chairs and a couple of filing cabinets for the Center.
   
The Department Finance Committee approved a contract with Data 393 for us to purchase Internet access with our own dedicated servers at their facility in the Denver Tech Center. We already had the T1 line available at Department with our phone company provider.

So with the Internet connection in place, the computers up and running and the space in our building remodeled for the center we are almost ready to “go live.”

Our final piece of the puzzle is software packages. We have contacted Adobe andasked for free software for this center. We have contacted Microsoft and asked forfree software. Both have said that they think we have a great idea but since weare a 501 (C) (19) organization and not a 501 (C) (3) they cannot give us thesoftware directly but they can sell it to us at a substantially discounted price.

We run into the same scenario when we ask private corporations for donations. Mostof them cannot donate to a 501 (C) (19) organization because of the tax laws.

So here is where we need your help. We have determined that the discountedsoftware packages will amount to $1,000.00 per computer. This includes thecomplete Adobe CS3 package with Flash, Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Dream Weaver and Acrobat Professional 8 and Microsoft Office Professional with Excel, Word, Access, Power Point, Office Accounting Outlook and Publisher.

For your donation of $1,000 we will “endow” a seat in this first of a kind Veterans Computer Education and Internet Training Center. We will permanently markthe computer station with you name and post number. We will annotate the openingcomputer splash screen with your name and post number and we will give you crediton a specially designed cornerstone plaque to forever identify your contributionto this innovative, first of its kind, history making event to continue our stellar service to veterans.

Although this plea is made to our American Legion Posts, as an individual you canstill get involved. We will accept donations from individuals, groups of individuals or Auxiliary units or SAL squadrons. Any amount will be acceptable and all amounts will be acknowledged in the Center.  The bottom line is that we are onthe cutting edge and “time is a wasting.”

Make your check payable to American Legion Department of Colorado, earmarked forthe Veterans Training Center and mail to Department Headquarters. We willacknowledge your contribution. Thanks for you continued support. We look forward to your generous contribution.