bruckenthal - cann post 385bruckenthal - cann post 385 serving weston, pembroke pines, miramar,...

Bruckenthal - Cann Post 385Serving Weston, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Davie, Southwest Ranches & Sunrise

Summer 2012 Organized June 16, 2005 Website: www.alpost385fl.com Volume 6 Number 2

OUR MEETINGS FOR THE 2012 - 2013:

September 4, 2012October 2, 2012

November 6, 2012December 4, 2012January 8, 2013February 5, 2013

March 5, 2013April 2, 2013May 7, 2013

Our Post meets on the 1st Tuesday of each month at 7:00pm

Between September and May.at the YWCA Pembroke Falls Aquatic Center

Please check our website for the map or call me forinformation on each months meeting.

954-441-8735 or 954-559-3202.

Special Thanks to Chaplain Bob Nagle for the printing ofthis newsletter.

It is with great pride, and a little nervousness, that Iassume the position as your new Commander. Afterthe years of Roy Schofield and Alberto Darby, Iknow that I have some huge shoes to fill.

We have many things to do this year. Making ourmembership goal is only the first. This is YOURpost ! I’d love to see more of you take an activepart. I know we don’t have the building, bar, restau-rant type post that some others do, but that doesn’tmean you can’t get involved with the post meetingsand fund raisers. It is your money from your duesthat we spend in our various programs. Please cometo the meetings to have your say in where it goes.

We will have our 5K run again this year. It will bethe weekend before Veterans Day. We also haveour fundraising “Poppy” sales coming up at boththe Publix and Wal-Mart. We’d love to have yourhelp.

We have the best, I think, group of Officers in theDistrict, but we can’t do it alone. We need yourhelp and support. Let’s all work together to makethis the best Post in Florida !!

For God and Country,Jim Tewes

IMPORTANT BIRTHDAYS

DEC 13, 1636 NATIONAL GUARD 375 YEARSJUNE 14, 1775 US ARMY 237 YEARSOCT 13, 1775 US NAVY 236 YEARSNOV 10, 1775 US MARINES 236 YEARSJULY 4, 1776 USA 236 YEARSAUG 4, 1790 US COAST GUARD 221 YEARSMAY 22, 1933 US MERCHANT MARINE 79 YEARSSEPT 18, 1947 US AIR FORCE 64 YEARS

Commander’s Corner

Chaplain’s Corner by Bob Nagle

Our 2012 Boys State student from West Broward HighSchool with Adjutant Joe Motes, Commander AlbertoDarby and Vice Commander James Tewes during theSeniors Award night at the school.

AMERICAN LEGION POST 385 SOUTHWEST BROWARD COMMUNIQUÉ SUMMER 2012

REMEMBERINGOUR FALLEN

POST 385 MEMBERS

Our Post 385 Commander would kindly requestthat all Post members make arrangements for

relatives or friends to notify our Post upon yourpassing so that we can properly honor your

military service and membership in theAmerican Legion.

For God and Country

AMERICAN LEGION POST 385Ink & Toner Recycling Program

Save your ink and toner cartridges fromprinters, faxes and copiers From home,

office and businesses.We are also asking for old USA Flags.

Bring them to the meetings or call JoeMotes at 954-559-3202 to arrange apickup and We’ll recycle them for

CA$H to help Post 385.

They must be original name brands suchas HP, Dell, Xerox, Lexmark, Brother,

IBM Canon, Ricoh, Sharp, Pitney Bowes,etc.

(Sorry, NO previously refilled or remanu-factured)

Now OpenShow your veteran pride

Get your 385 gearVisit us at:

www.alpost385fl.com


This question comes up very often, hope this helps:

While many Veterans qualify for free healthcare servicesbased on a VA compensable service-connected condition orother qualifying factor, most Veterans are asked to completean annual financial assessment, to determine if they qualifyfor free services. Veterans whose income exceed the estab-lished VA Income Thresholds as well as those who choosenot to complete the financial assessment must agree to payrequired copays to become eligible for VA healthcare servic-es. 50% or more compensable VA service-connected disabil-ities (0-40% compensable service- connected may take copaytest to determine prescription copay status

Thresholds Example: Broward County Fort Lauderdale, met-ro AreaVet only $ 46,420 Vet +1 $53,020 Vet +2 $59,675

November 4, 2012, 7:30 am@ Vista View Park - Davie, FL

Save the date,We need volunteers.

Let’s make this race better than 2011!

THE HONORABLE Leon E Panetta, Leaders, Attendedthe Marine Corps Aviation Centennial Observance at theMarine Corps War Memorial at Six O Clock. For a WreathLaying Ceremony on May 16, 2012A reception preceded the ceremony at 1600 hrs at the Womenin the Military Service for America Memorial. While at thereception Guest of Honor was The Honorable Leon E. Panet-ta., Hosted by the Deputy Commandant for Aviation Lt Gen-eral Terry G. Robling and The Commandant of the MarineCorps. Four Stars General James F. Amos.

During Veterans Appreciation Day at the Sunrise VAClinic in February, our Post donated $100 towards thechicken wings. The Hooters girls were free.

Also present was Medal of Honor recipient Harvey Bar-num in the photo with Ramon Aguiar Jr.

Joe Motes presented an Eagle Scout certificate to SpencerReyka, son of slain Broward Sheriff Chris Reyka, formerMarine.

Service Officer’s Report


Public Relations Highlights

1. Meeting and race information were placed in various publi-cations, both online and in print, to include Pines MiramarTown Times, WIOD, Y100, Big 105, 93.9, 940 WINZ,Majic 102.7, Broward Family Life, Hollywood Gazette,Miami Herald, Sun Sentinel, ZEvents, Outside.in Edge-wood, and Runner’s World.

2. Articles were generated in the Pines Miramar Town Timesin November 2011, December 2011, and January 2012depicting our participation in the Pembroke Pines 9/11Ceremony, the Pembroke Pines Veterans Day Dedicationand Ceremony, and Wreaths Across America.

3. A fundraiser was held at Applebee’s through their “Diningto Donate” program. This fundraiser occurred on December7, 2011, the 70th anniversary of the Japanese Attack onPearl Harbor.

4. Created and maintain a Facebook Page.

5. Post members participated in a Veterans Day event atApplebee’s and were filmed for a video of the event, postedonline athttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGiiaVzIXO4

Boy Scout Troop 224 Highlights

1. Yolanda Santos (Public Relations), Bob Nagle (Chaplain),and Joe Motes (Adjutant) attended their Court of Honor onTuesday, April 24th at 6:30pm. Distributed 5K bags andshirts. I was introduced at the beginning of the meeting,gave a small speech regarding our new support of Boy ScoutTroop 224, and presented them a check for $300 from thepost.

2. Received one request for flags, they install the flagsthroughout SW Ranches around Flag Day and the Fourth ofJuly along the road. Wanted to know if we can fund theirflag efforts. We reached out to other posts to inquire as tothe feasibility of their assisting with this request.

3. Supported their fundraising efforts during a Spaghetti Din-ner on the 28th of April at St Edward Catholic Church,6:30pm.

4. Email blast to the members via the post adjutant publicizingtheir fundraiser- participated in the Silver Lakes Garage saleon April 14-15.

5. Stephen Cuoco, the Senior Patrol Leader for the troop,completed his eagle project. He installed a flag pole in theEquestrian Park in SW Ranches. The Flag Raising Ceremo-ny took place on Thursday, June 14th (Flag Day) at 5:30 pmwith the color guard from the troop. In attendance wereYolanda Santos (Public Relations), Ray Aguiar (ServiceOfficer), and Joe Motes (Adjutant). Also in attendance wereSW Ranches Mayor Jeff Nelson and several council mem-bers.

VA Eliminates Copayment for In-Home VideoTelehealth Care

Beginning May 7, the Department of Veterans Affairs will nolonger charge Veterans a copayment when they receive carein their homes from VA health professionals using videoconferencing.

“Eliminating the copayment for this service will remove anunnecessary financial burden for Veterans,” said Secretary ofVeterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “We will continue to doeverything we can to ensure that Veterans have access to thefirst-class care they have earned with their service to ourNation.”

This change will primarily benefit Veterans with limitedmobility, such as spinal cord injury patients. Whenever med-ically appropriate, VA will make the home the preferred placeof care for Veterans to ensure timely and convenient access toVA services.

For more information about telehealth, visit:http://www.telehealth.va.gov/.

Data have shown that expanded use of technology in thehome enables patients with chronic health conditions, such asdiabetes, chronic heart failure and hypertension, to live inde-pendently, actively engage in managing their health, andprevents avoidable hospitalization of patients who otherwisemay need long-term institutional care.

Home telehealth does not replace the need for nursing homecare or for traditional noninstitutional care programs. Howev-er, it enhances the ability for many veterans to better under-stand and manage chronic diseases. This partnership withtheir care team helps delay the need for institutionalizationand enables them to maintain independence for an extendedperiod of time, thus improving their overall quality of life.

VA News

Memorial Day was celebrated with the City of PembrokePines, participated by Vince Mancusi, Joe Motes, CarolFraser, Julian Smalkin and Jose Garcia.

Publicity and Boy Scout Chairperson Report


Broward County JROTC, Civil Air Patrol & Naval Sea Cadets 2012 Awards

Cypress Bay High School Cypress Bay High School

Everglades High School Everglades High School

Flanagan High School Flanagan High SchoolChaplain’s Corner by Bob Nagle

Why Do We Celebrate the 4th of July?

Read this to your kids and grandkids so they can understand the real importance and meaning of this day.

Most people in the United States celebrate the 4th of July, but do you know exactly why the holiday is so important to ourcountry? Imagine how you would feel if someone older than you (maybe an older sister or brother) kept telling you what to doall of the time and kept taking more and more of your allowance. That is how the colonists felt in the years leading up to 1776.Great Britain kept trying to make the colonists follow more rules and pay higher taxes. People started getting mad and beganmaking plans to be able to make their own rules. They no longer wanted Great Britain to be able to tell them what to do, so theydecided to tell Great Britain that they were becoming an independent country. (To be independent means to take care ofyourself, making your own rules and providing for your own needs.) Continued on page 6 bottom


Broward County JROTC, Civil Air Patrol & Naval Sea Cadets 2012 Awards

Hollywood Hills High School West Broward High School

West Broward High SchoolFort Lauderdale Naval Sea Cadets

Stranahan High School Stranahan High SchoolThe Congress met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and they appointed a committee (a group of people working together to do aspecific job) to write a formal document that would tell Great Britain that the Americans had decided to govern themselves.The committee asked Thomas Jefferson to write a draft (first try) of the document, so he worked for days, in absolute secret,until he had written a document that he thought said everything important that the committee had discussed. On June 28, 1776,the committee met to read Jefferson's "fair" copy (he put his best ideas together and wrote them neatly.) They revised (madesome changes) the document and declared their independence on July 2, 1776. They officially adopted it (made it theirs) onJuly 4, 1776. That is why we call it "Independence Day." Congress ordered that all members must sign the Declaration ofIndependence and they all began signing the "official" copy on August 2, 1776. In January of the next year, Congress sentsigned copies to all of the states. Continued on Page 7 right column


My Fellow Post 385 Legionnaires,

I like to start off by congratulating James Tewes as our newCommander, Alberto Darby and Vince Mancusi as our ViceCommanders. And we now have a new Publicity Officer andBoy Scout Chairperson, Yolanda Santos.

This year was a great year again with lots of accomplish-ments. During April & May we awarded 14 School Awardmedals, 12 JROTC Awards and 6 Americanism Award Med-als. We also had our second Boys State student from WestBroward High School. This coming year we already have twostudents interested in Boy State, by the way, each studentsBoy State costs is $465.

This past year we started to support the local Boy Scout Troop224 and we made a $200.00 donation for items needed fortheir troop.

During the past year several members participated in theVeteran’s Day and Memorial Day ceremonies with the Cityof Pembroke Pines and the Wreaths Across America ceremo-nies held at the South Florida VA National Cemetery in LakeWorth.

This year we also awarded two $500 scholarships each to twostudents, something we hope to do every year if possiblewhen monies are available. The scholarships we will have forthe future will be made available to Post 385 members whohave children and grand children.

All of the above has been made possible by our Poppy daysat Wal-mart and Publix. Please come out and help us, we willhave Post 385 polo shirts and caps available while you helpus.

At the District Constitutional held June 5th, Post 385 tookFirst Place in the JROTC and Community Service Awards,Second Place in the School Medal and Americanism Awards,our own Ray Aguiar was awarded the Service Officer SecondPlace Award and Joe Motes was awarded the Adjutant of theYear Award again and the 2012 Legionnaire of the YearAward. And with a great big Thank You to all out Postmembers who helped us wine won the First Place Member-ship for the District and Southern Area Awards for 100%+1,which also came with two $100 checks.

As for membership, this year we were down 26 members fornon renewal, some have moved, several have passed away,and others probably due to economic reasons; we ended theyear with a 107.5% membership which was excellent. Thisyear also brought in over 60 new transfers from Post 400.Membership renewals were mailed out on the first week ofJuly; please help us again to obtain 100% membership goalbefore December 15th by paying your dues so we may earn thegoal monies that will be awarded by the Department of Florida.

Currently we have the ink & toner recycling program ongoing, to raise money for the Post (so far about $150+) andthe collection of worn out American Flags to be retiredproperly by our local JROTC and Boy Scout Troop, if youhave any of these items please save them and we will arrangea pick up, please call me anytime at 954-559-3202 to set up apickup.

This coming November 4th, Sunday, we will be hosting oursecond annual 5-K Run to benefit Post 385, we are probablythe only Post in Florida to achieve this task. We are lookingfor sponsors - businesses or personal. We need your help,please bring this idea to your employer to see if they wouldbe interested, all sponsors will receive a tax deduction letterfrom our Post for their donation. For more details, pleasecheck on our website and click the 5-K Run link. Also BobNagle has booklets available to show to potential contribu-tors, call him at 954-558-3460 to get them. Please DON’Tforget the race date – Sunday, November 4th – early in themorning at Vista View Park in Davie next to the Boy Scoutcamp near Interstate 75 and Griffin Road. WE NEED VOL-UNTEERS for a couple of hours to help.

For God and Country,Joseph Motes, Adjutant

Continued from page 6 bottom

The Declaration of Independence is more than just a piece ofpaper. It is a symbol of our country's independence andcommitment to certain ideas. A symbol is something thatstands for something else. Most people can look at a certainlittle "swoosh" and know that it stands for "Nike." Well, thesigners of the Declaration of Independence wanted the citi-zens of the United States to have a document that spelled outwhat was important to our leaders and citizens. They wantedus to be able to look at the Declaration of Independence andimmediately think of the goals we should always be workingfor, and about the people who have fought so hard to makethese ideas possible. The people who signed the Declarationrisked being hanged for treason by the leaders in Great Brit-ain. They had to be very brave to sign something that wouldbe considered a crime! So every time we look at the Declara-tion of Independence, we should think about all of the effortand ideas that went into the document, and about the courageit took for these people to stand up for what they knew wasright -- independence!

From the Adjutant’s Desk


COMMANDER - JAMES [email protected]

VICE COMMANDER - ALBERTO [email protected]

VICE COMMANDER - VINCE MANCUSI (305) 624-9905 [email protected] & FINANCE OFFICER - JOSEPH MOTES

2133 NW 208 Terrace Pembroke Pines FL 33029-2320 954-441-8735 [email protected] OFFICER - RAY AGUIAR 954-646-9460 [email protected] - BENNY GUERRA

[email protected] - ROBERT NAGLE

[email protected]

HISTORIAN - CAROL FRASER954-436-7168

[email protected] RELATIONS - YOLANDA SANTOS

(954) [email protected]

Nathan Bruckenthal - Adam Cann Memorial American Legion Post 385 PO Box 297143 Pembroke Pines FL 33029-7143

FIRST CLASS MAIL

Post 385 TapsLeonard Saver 01/06/06Stewart Fraser 09/01/06Frank Fong 03/24/07 Charter memberJohn B. Franz 09/05/07Jack Finkelstein 09/07/07Joseph Buchler 10/07/07Helen Franz 10/24/07Myron Pavlik 11/18/07Juan R. Zayas 12/29/07Morris Weinstein 04/03/08John A. Sexton 04/09/08Andrew Hudson 07/07/08Raymond G. Chote 2008Eugene V. Palermo 10/11/08Alvin Harold Chanin 03/15/09Anthony J. Radzville 02/03/09Fred Green 03/24/09William Engel 01/31/10Barrett Balsam 04/01/10Felix Giuffre 04/10/10Frank Dingfelder 06/24/10 Post Vice Cmdr.Robert J. Dolin 06/26/10Luis A. Soto 07/21/10Vincent W. Shevlin 10/12/10William Spiekerman 03/20/11Rene "Al" Kirouac 04/08/11Guy F. Walters 05/03/11Edward J. Bleyer 09/06/11Cooper Camp 09/18/11Jordan D. Raileanu 12/27/11

bruckenthal - cann post 385bruckenthal - cann post 385 serving weston, pembroke pines, miramar,...

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