From the Desk of the Chairman
June is here and schools will be releasing the kids for summer vacation, so be on the look for kids during the week when they used to be in school. June is National PTSD Awareness Month. The historic Battle of Midway that changed the course of WW2 in the Pacific began on June 4th in 1942. D-Day is remembered on June 6th. Many of us have been affected by cancer and June 7th is National Cancer Survivor Day. June 12th is Women Veteran’s Day. June 14th is the 251st birthday of the United States Army and it is also US Flag Day. June 21st is Father’s Day and the start of Summer. June 25th marked the day in 1950 when the Korean War began.
Rogue Chapter sits at having awarded 2,016 Medallions. Your Rogue Chapter has stepped up thanks to a volunteer or two to help store and ship Medallion orders. The exact process for pricing and ordering is still being worked out, but I am excited that this valuable program will remain alive and with NCOA.
May Member of the Month was Cheryl Bright. Cheryl is a life member who is the daughter of a WW2 veteran. She was the primer to get the pump going for providing free breakfasts first in Josephine County in honor of her father and later in Jackson County as well. She has literally provided free breakfasts to thousands of veterans in southern Oregon over the past several years. Recent support for our Sporting Clay event, her business was a sponsor, and she played a role in obtaining several weapons that made the silent auction a huge success. She also won Top Gun female shooter at the Sporting Clay event. Who will be the Member of the Month in June? Maybe it will be you!
I want to welcome all the members of the Jefferson State Chapter that closed and after speaking with their former Chairman, Peter Gleason, he felt burned out and needed to step back so I offered to keep his members informed about issues relevant to them as well as their families. We also picked up a number of Members at Large from around Oregon so that they didn’t fall through the communication cracks. I have been told by many people that our newsletter was top notch and shared lots of useful information. I will ask all of you if you know of a business that wants to reach people for a small investment, a business card side ad only costs $110 a year and helps us cover postage and our website expenses. If you run across a business, let me know. Our chapter is now 548 members strong. They get 12 months advertising for the cost of 11 months.
I feel blessed that NCOA is still a viable organization and able to help our enlisted troops and their families. I respectfully ask each of you who are not life members that you continue to support your brothers and sisters serving right now by letting them know that we have their back. It is up to us who have been here for years to find a way to leave a legacy that current and future troops can be proud of. Currently there are no plans for a face-to-face conference or convention, but anything is possible in the future. We still have our status as a member of the Military Coalition.
I would love to hear from all of you with your thoughts and suggestions. If you have any ideas or suggestions, either contact me at retiredveteran89@outlook.com and I can assure you that your leadership will take note.
Strength in Unity & Leadership By Example,
MCPO (SCW) Terry M. Haines, USNR Retired
Chairman, Rogue Chapter #1260