Garrison-Bonds Post 184, The American Legion: 2016

Garrison-Bonds Post 184 Recognizes Boys and Girls State Delegates at Veterans Appreciation Dinner

The Garrison-Bonds Post 184 Legion Family was honored to recognize the Boys and Girls State delegates from Winston County High School at its annual Veterans Appreciation Dinner on November 5th. The Post views sending delegates to the two weeklong leadership camps as one of its primary contributions back to the community each year. The delegates recounted the experiences they gained this past summer and expressed their appreciation to the Post and its Auxiliary for selecting them to represent the community.

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About Boys State Alabama Boys State is one of the highest honors granted to Alabama students. Students from across the state are chosen based on their demonstration of leadership, hard work, strong morals, and motivation in school and community activities. Boys State week is a full and active week held on the campus of The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. At Boys State, student delegates will find the opportunity to build new friendships, participate in a mock government, and hear from and meet a diverse array of Alabama leaders such as Congressmen, state elected officials, business leaders, civic leaders, and others. Delegates will have the opportunity to join interest groups that focus on their individual areas of interest such as law school, fire college, law enforcement academy, aerospace academy, lobbyists, city government, county government, constitutional convention, engineer/computer academy, and environmental interest group. Delegates will also have activity time during which they can participate in recreational activities such as basketball, volleyball, softball, soccer, academic bowl, etc. The American Legion believes there is no better way to assure the survival of our republic than to train our young people in the ideals and objectives of American government. By teaching youth to understand and appreciate the basic principles involved in the successful management of a democratic society, we can keep America strong and ensure freedom for future generations. These are the distinguished, long-standing objectives of American Legion Boys States. They are accomplished through a unique summertime program, one that emphasizes not classroom lectures or textbook learning, but participation and personal experience in a model state, complete with its governing bodies and elected officials. Boys State was founded and its courses of instruction were designed to supplement the information taught in high school civic classes. Boys State teaches that our form of government is good but that its preservation depends on intelligent, informed, and loyal citizens in combination with an honest and impartial administration of government activities. Young men chosen to be Boys State participants can look forward to a wonderful and challenging experience. All who attend can acquire a better understanding and regard for two of our nation’s benefits: freedom and democracy. About Girls State Alabama Girls State is a week-long, fun-filled, hands-on learning opportunity for some of the best and brightest young women in the State of Alabama. Sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary, Alabama Girls State is a premier youth leadership program which offers a one-of-a-kind experience to its delegates. The 74th Session of ALA Alabama Girls State was held on the campus of The University of Alabama June 5-10, 2016.

Civilians Lived on Bases Without Full Background Checks: IG

Civilians Lived on Bases Without Full Background Checks: IG: Sloppy background checks at three bases allowed 120 members of the general public to live in base housing without proper vetting.

How To Help The Local Reps The VA Depends On

County veterans service officers perform a critical role for veterans, especially those living far from major population centers. Often working closely with small-town chapters of organizations such as Veterans of Foreign Wars, CVSOs are local, state-employed representatives whose purpose is to assist veterans in navigating the bureaucracy of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Their responsibilities are defined by the individual states.

There is certainly merit in having state oversight of the CVSOs: each state has different benefits for veterans. However, the VA has not standardized how these officers should operate across the 3,143 counties in the U.S. This results in individual states dictating how a small town CVSO should conduct business with a federal entity. Creating more standardization across the board would help reduce strain on “big VA,” both serving veterans within their own communities and ensuring they receive the benefits they deserve.

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Unsung Heroes: The Harrier Pilot Who Picked Up A Rifle And Ran Into Combat

When a group of Taliban fighters launched an assault on a massive forward operating base in Afghanistan, Marine Maj. Robb McDonald, a pilot, charged into the fray

On the night of Sept. 14, 2012, a group of 15 Taliban fighters split into three five-man teams and snuck through the outer perimeter of Camp Bastion, a sprawling compound in Afghanistan’s Helmand province that served as a base of operations for nearly 30,000 NATO troops, most of them British soldiers and U.S. Marines. Their attack prompted an immediate battle on the flight line. Initiated when the insurgents began firing rockets at aircraft, the fight drummed on through the night in violent bursts as the heavily-armed insurgents maneuvered in the darkness, hellbent on killing as many Western troops as they could. The plan, as later explained by one of the insurgents, was to kill them in their sleep.

The Army has broken ground on its first national museum to celebrate a history of service

The Marine Corps opened its newest one to great fanfare in Quantico, Virginia, in 2006. The Air Force has had once since around 1950 and the Navy opened one in 1963.

So now, it’s the Army’s turn to get with the times.

Senior officials with the service and supporters recently broke ground on a new National Army Museum to be housed at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The museum will be free-of-charge to visitors, and is expected to open in 2019. Plans for the 185,000-square-foot facility include more than 15,000 pieces of art, 30,000 artifacts, documents and images.

It’s the first of its kind for the Army.

“This museum will remind all of us what it means to be a soldier, what it means to serve with incredible sacrifice, with incredible pride,” said Chief of Staff of the Army Gen. Mark A. Milley.

Inside The Drive To Collect DNA From 1m Veterans And Revolutionize Medicine

This is our brand new freezer,” Don Humphries said. “It holds 4 million vials.”

You’d think a freezer big enough to hold 4 million vials of blood would be easy to spot. But to my great embarrassment, I couldn’t see it.

Humphries and I were standing in a lab in the basement of the Veterans Affairs hospital in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston. He had led me through a labyrinth of windowless rooms, packed with robots handling tubes of blood donated from veterans, pipes roaring with coolant, and gorilla-sized tanks of liquid nitrogen, until he stopped next to a featureless wall.

After a few awkward moments, I admitted my ignorance. “So, where is the freezer?” I asked.

Humphries, the scientific director of the lab, blinked and then looked at the featureless wall. “Right here,” he said. He craned his head upwards. “This is it.”

I followed his gaze, and then it clicked. The wall was actually the side of a vault that seemed to be about as big as a two-story house.

Near the top I could spy a small window. Humphries led me up a mobile staircase so that I could look through it. Inside the vault was a long, dimly lit corridor, flanked on either side by 16 separate compartments cooled to as low as 80 degrees below zero Celsius. A robot inside the freezer ferried vials to their assigned compartments.

This is no walk-in freezer.

The freezer, in fact, is at the heart of one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken to understand our DNA. The Department of Veterans Affairs is gathering blood from 1 million veterans and sequencing their DNA. At the same time, computer scientists are creating a database that combines those genetic sequences with electronic medical records and other information about veterans’ health.

The ultimate goal of the project, known as the Million Veteran Program, is to uncover clues about disorders ranging from diabetes to post-traumatic stress disorder.

Happy Independence Day

On Saturday, July 3^rd, 1886, Samuel Clemens, better known to the world as Mark Twain, gave the following speech while visiting Keokuk, Iowa:

"Ladies and gentlemen: I little thought that when the boys woke me with their noise this morning that I should be called upon to add to their noise. But I promise not to keep you long. You have heard all there is to hear on the subject, the evidence is all in and all I have to do is to sum up the evidence and deliver the verdict. You have heard the declaration of independence with its majestic ending, which is worthy to live forever, which has been hurled at the bones of a fossilized monarch, old King George the III, who has been dead these many years, and which will continue to be hurled at him annually as long as this republic lives. You have heard the history of the nation from the first to the last--from the beginning of the revolutionary was, past the days of its great general, Grant, told in eloquent language by the orator of the day. All I have to do is to add the verdict, which is all that can be added, and that is, 'It is a successful day.' I thank the officers of the day that I am enabled to once more stand face to face with the citizens that I met thirty years ago, when I was a citizen of Iowa, and also those of a later generation. In the address to-day, I have not heard much mention made of the progress of these last few years--of the telegraph, telephone, phonograph, and other great inventions. A poet has said, 'Better fifty years of England than all the cycles of Cathay,' but I say 'Better this decade than the 900 years of Methuselah.' There is more done in one year now than Methuselah ever saw in all his life. He was probably asleep all those 900 years. When I was here thirty years ago there were 3,000 people here and they drank 3,000 barrels of whisky a day, and they drank it in public then. I know that the man who makes the last speech on an occasion like this has the best of the other speakers, as he has the last word to say, which falls like a balm on the audience--though this audience has not been bored to-day--and though I can't say that last word, I will do the next best thing I can, and that is to sit down."

One hundred and thirty years later, the progress of Mr. Twain's telegraph, telephone, and phonograph has been replaced with the Internet, smart phones, and streaming audio. We don't speak much of the tyranny of "old King George the III", but we celebrated the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II with our British friends. Many things have changed, but many have stayed the same. As we celebrate the two hundred and fortieth birthday of these United States, lets remember the great achievements of our Country and look forward to many more to come.

For God and Country,

Jeremy B. Blevins
Commander Garrison-Bonds Post 184
The American Legion Department of Alabama

Post 184 History

From the 21 July 1983 edition of the Northwest Alabamian:

Double Springs - A large number of veterans met in the courthouse of Double Springs Wednesday , Nov. 6, 1946 for the purpose of organizing a local American Legion Post.

Legionnaires Homer Scott of Jasper and Paul Porter of Florence attended and helped for form the organization.

Tolbert Farris was elected adjutant of the new post by the 25 charter members. Soon the [sic] roles swelled to 109 members and in 1976 had grown to 165.

The permanent charter for Garrison-Bonds Post 184 was obtained in 1966. The post home was built in 1947 and 1948. The building was paid for through various fund-raising events, including selling chances on two cars, sponsoring several programs and several members loaned the Post money, interest-free, for two or three years. The balance for the initial purchase was borrowed from a bank.

In 1964, a $5,000 addition was added to the side of the original building for a concession stand, ticket sales area and rest rooms, thus allowing for expansion of the auditorium to permit more room for skating and for the Saturday night dances.

In 1966, central heating and air conditioning was added at an additional cost of $5,000.

The Saturday night round and square dances have been a main source of income for the Post in order to carry out their many worthwhile programs. The dance has been held for more than 30 years and is well known over a wide area with people attending from 100 miles away or more.

The Garrison-Bonds Post have become widely known in the Double Springs area for their willingness to help out in various community projects.

These include Boy Scout and Cub Scout programs, Little League, Christmas gifts for the needy, gifts for veterans in hospitals at Christmas, sponsoring boys to attend Boys' State each summer, helping out with college tuition for worthy students, helping with purchase of ambulance for use by the Double Springs Rescue Team and buying school softball uniforms.

The Post has also helped out with various other school projects, including paying $12,000 for concrete bleachers to be constructed at the new high school football stadium, and $5,000 for tennis courts on the high school campus, $1,100 for new band uniforms and $1,000 for softball fields on the high school campus.

They also help out with many other local worthwhile projects.

In conjunction with the Post Auxiliary, the group hosts two free suppers each year for Legion members and their families and also hosts some district suppers and serves grilled steaks and barbeque.

This post is represented at most district meetings , mid-winter conferences and state conventions. Two members of this post, Elmo Robinson, Sr. and Hoyett Wolfe have served as district commanders and on the department executive committee. Comrade Edd Snoddy also served as district Judge Advocate.

Two members from this post served as Winston County Commander. They are Eldon Curtis and Hoyett Wolfe.

The Post officials continue to welcome, as they did when organizing in 1946, all veterans of the area to join their organization to make a strong and active Legion organization.

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Thanks to the Winston County Archives for sharing this artifact!