LADIES MESSAGE (Jan - March 2010)

This has been a wonderful year for our Auxiliary in many ways. We have made many new friends through all of our efforts, some have even joined us as members. I want to welcome them with open arms and encourage our seasoned members to come out and see what we are doing. We have sent packages to our troops, donated time, services and products to many organizations like The Yellow Ribbon Club, Our Fathers House, the Food Bank of SJ, just to name a few. We have also sent many a package to our troops and given to our Veterans here at home through various programs. Our holiday food drive was a great success with our ability to help 5 households this year. We can be very proud to be able to help our friends and family, thank you to all who brought something in, helped deliver the bags of goodies and helped to spread the word of this worthwhile project. It is the difference for some people to be able to survive another day in this economy.
We are planning some fund raising events in the coming months. Watch for information about our Psychic Night in January, an old fashioned Spaghetti Dinner in February and our upcoming raffle with a cash prize. We appreciate all the support we receive from our Legion family as we raise money for our future efforts and our Legion programs. These will be open to all so bring your family, friends and neighbors maybe we will find some new members in the process.
Watch for some new processes regarding our Holiday parties. As the kids grow up the attendees dwindle. We want to continue to have the parties as they are so much fun, but we to know in advance how many will attend them. We spent alot of money to be prepared for more kids this Christmas when we could have bought more prizes for the ones who were there. I also want to give a special thanks to all who helped with the kids party. Shannon and Annette made the party a complete success getting the kids involved in the crafts and games while Doris, Dot, Bert, June, Steve and Sue helped with the behind the scenes work. Not to slight our favorite Santa who stopped in to make the day more merry. Thank you all, and a special thank you to David and Ed who are always there to help us set up and clean up.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the people at our post who are having health issues, our thoughts and prayers go out to them daily and we hope to see you back soon.
I wish everyone a wonderful 2010 with good health, family, friends.

For God and country,
Carol Doyle

LADIES MESSAGE (Oct - Dec 2009)

What a wonderful summer this has been. A lot of good times with families and friends. We had fun at the convention in Wildwood, attended many parties, BBQ's, weddings, parades, etc. Now we need to get back to the good work we are known for.
In the coming months we have Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and of course Christmas and New Years to prepare for.
I hope for us to be able to assist some families with our traditional food baskets for the holidays. In the last few years we have helped many squeak by the worst time of year financially for many, collecting canned and dry goods. Look for the “Soup Pot” to appear in the canteen.Be on the lookout for sales at your local stores, with a coupon, you can afford to help without hurting your own budget. A can of veggies ,soup, or spaghetti can mean a lot to someone with less.
By the time this reaches your house Family Day will have taken place. I can't see into the future but I can pretty much guarantee a complete success for the Sons once again.They have a reputation of putting the best party on with help of the Legion family. People from area posts have already bought their tickets.
Over the summer we have started our own Legion Riders chapter. There will be many things coming from this group in terms of support and fun. They are a great group of people with the same goals in mind for the Legion family. We have also acquired quite a few new/seasoned members with this new chapter so we can all hit the ground running towards another successful year with some new ideas.
Look for the Ladies to be holding some fund raisers in the near future as we depleted much of our funds this past spring and summer. There were many people with health issuses , our sunshine fund took a real beating, and of course the “ VietNam Wall” received a nice donation from us so we will try to rebuild the kitty so we can do more for our active troops, members and help wherever our post needs.
Don't forget to thank a Vet for what we have and what we can do ,they made it possible by protecting our freedom. Let's make every day Veterans Day.

For God and country,
Carol Doyle President Unit 372

HOW I SPENT MY SUMMER VACATION (Sept 2009)

 This summer I was given a unique opportunity. I was able to accompany my friend Ron to his Marine Corps Viet Nam Tankers reunion in Charleston SC. It was his 41st year since becoming a Marine and attending boot camp at Parris Island. I'm sure I was more excited to attend the reunion,he could to possibly see some of the guys he served with but I would get to meet them and learn more about Viet Nam. Either way we made plans and attended the reunion. What a wonderful 4 days we spent with a great bunch of people. Unfortunately no one from his tanker group was there, but a lot of guys were where he was at the same time. The memories were both good and bad but it was a very upbeat reunion.
These guys were of a select few in Viet Nam. When you think of tanks you think Army in large numbers. The Marines had during 1965-1970 only about 3300 men in tanks. Out of that number roughly 600 belong to the Tankers Association and about 100 of them came to the reunion. This in itself was impressive to me after all these years. They brought their wives,girlfriends, kids, grand-kids and nieces and nephews, it was a real family affair. They came from across the country to see their old comrades and to meet new ones.
This reunion was especially poignant for us because the organization arranged for us to attend a graduation ceremony at Parris Island. To watch 7 platoons graduate ( 2 all female) was very impressive. These days all women are sent to Parris Island for training. Men still are trained on both coasts. It was also a great feeling when they announced our group was there. There was a standing ovation given to the men who never really got respect at the time of their service once yet a Thank You. You could see the pride and respect to be a Marine in these men . They were older, creaky, many half deaf but they were still Marines and everyone of us accompanying them were proud to be there.
We were given a tour of the Island, most of which the men never got to see, they were to busy trying to survive boot camp. In the 60's the barracks were old and decrepit wooden ones, now they are new with air conditioning. The mess hall is new and has been outsourced, which means no more KP. Many buildings have been replaced but they still have the same purposes. When the bus driver announced we were at the famous “Yellow footprints” nobody seemed to want to move. Ron was the first to get off the bus, he had waited to get back on those prints and take a picture for his friends, he survived and was in pretty good shape for a man 40+ years later.
The timing was perfect after having the “Traveling Wall” at our post this spring. We also took a motorcycle ride to Quakertown to visit Gunny and Debbie who travel with “The Wall” and are members of our post. It was fun to see them and be able to assist with a Gold Star Mothers ceremony there. I have been able to learn more about the Viet Nam war this year than ever before. At the time it was happening I was oblivious to much of the war. I am one of the fortunate ones who can say I lost no one I knew. Since then I have met many who did and to see the names and know the numbers really makes me want to show my respect and say thanks to those who did.

For God and country,
Carol Doyle

LADIES MESSAGE (July - September 2009)
 

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