UPCOMING EVENTS:

Note: all companions are welcome to attend the staff meetings



REVIEW OF COMMANDER’S GOALS, as of FEBRUARY 2012

a. Select a Citizen or member of the year.

The selection has been made and will be presented in May or June

b. Increase membership by 10%.

We are track to meet the goal

c. Join in celebration of Veterans Day.

Last Nov. we attended two ceremonies and in 2012 we will attend Veteran Day Ceremonies in Pismo Beach and SLO.

d. Participate in appropriate activities on Memorial Day and other Veterans recognitions days.

The Chapter will again be participating in Memorial Day ceremonies in SLO and Cayucos for the Missing Man at Sea Ceremony.

e. Attend funerals of Companions.         

Attended the Memorial Ceremony for 2^nd LT Ken Crater.

f. Select attendees for Patriotic Education events.

YLC at the Museum and the Grisly Academy are on the program list.

g. Bring the Chapter to the community’s attention through good public relations work.

We had outstanding news coverage and dignitary attendance for the Vandenberg Ceremony and pictorial coverage for two Veteran’s Day events. Plus two articles written by COL Jack Jones and one written by me published, in the Officer Review Magazine.

h. Conduct regular Staff Meeting.

The Staff meetings are scheduled for the second Wednesday of the month at 0900, Elk’s Lodge, SLO.

i. Encourage uniform wear at the monthly meeting.

I have worn my uniform to all monthly meetings and encourage others to do the same.

j. Provide positive program for the Chapter fund raising.

50/50 and book sales, donations are the only programs so far.

k. Provide representation at the National Convention.

I will attend the convention in San Diego in July/ August. 

Flag special days:

The flag may be displayed every day. On the days listed below it is particularly appropriate to display the flag.
 

VETERAN SPECIAL DAYS:

        Memorial Day honors those who died in the service of our nation and also those who have passed since serving. 

        Veterans Day honors the living who served

        Armed Forces Day honors those currently serving.

The Chapter is proud to support these 2 very special venues in the North County:
 

The Veterans Memorial Museum Located in the Veterans Memorial Hall 801 Grand Ave, San Luis Obispo, California www.vetmuseum.org

The Faces of Freedom Veteran's Memorial     http://facesoffreedommemorial.org/
 in Atascadero, California (~15 miles north of San Luis Obispo)

This is a Beautiful Memorial		The Evening Lighting is Very Impressive

Commander Richard Hathcock and COL Jack Jones presenting certificates and memberships to the newly commissioned 2LT's (December, 2011):

L to R 2LT Jacob Langley RA INF, Garrett Rinaman RA ARTY, Brian Roland ARNG Oregon, and Lucas Thoma CA ARNG MI.

                                                            Dedication of General Vandenberg Memorabilia

The Vandenberg Chapter of the Military Order of the World Wars, in conjunction with the Central Coast Veterans Memorial Museum, conducted a  dedication ceremony of a historical display of the uniform, medals, and other memorabilia of the late General Hoyt S. Vandenberg. The ceremony was held on November 8, 2011, in the Central Coast Veteran Memorial Museum at 801 Grand Avenue, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Col. Jack Jones making his presentation Commander Dick Hathcock in background		Audience with many distinguished guests
Dick and Jack at the new Display		Dick's TV interview

Article by Bill Morem printed in The Tribune November 3, 2011
Reproduced by permission from Mr. Morem

Marilyn Monroe once said that the three men with whom she’d most like to be stranded on a desert island were Joe DiMaggio (no surprise), Albert Einstein (surprise!) and Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg — yes, the same Vandenberg whose name graces the Air Force base in Lompoc.

I make note of this because the Central Coast Veterans Memorial Museum (located in the lower level of the San Luis Veterans Memorial Building at 801 Grand Ave.) is unveiling a display honoring the four-star general on Tuesday at 10 a.m. The public is invited to see the display and tour the museum at noon.

Vandenberg was quite a player before dying in 1954 at age 55 from prostate cancer. Not only was he a good-looking guy, featured on the covers of Time and Life magazines and described by the Washington Post as “the most impossibly handsome man on the entire Washington scene,” he was also brilliant. In addition to being a decorated combat flyer, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross and Silver Star among dozens of other commendations, Vandenberg served in various top jobs for the Army Air Corps and then as chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force from 1948 to 1953. In between those commands, he served as director of intelligence for the War Department, and was appointed by President Harry Truman as director of central intelligence, a precursor to the CIA.

Although smart, apparently he wasn’t a wonk 24/7. According to various bios, when he wasn’t crunching data and directing operations, he could be found on the golf course, playing to a scratch handicap, or enjoying a Scotch or Western movies; kind of a “man’s man” of the Greatest Generation.

How the general’s uniform, flags and domestic medals (his foreign decorations from countries as disparate as Luxembourg and Chile have gone to the U.S. Air Force Academy) wound up in the Central Coast Veterans Memorial Museum is a story unto itself and starts with retired Army Col. Jack Jones. The 80-year-old San Luis Obispo resident was the 75th commander in chief of the Military Order of World Wars, a position that military notables such as Generals Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower and Omar Bradley had held since the organization was formed in 1919.
Jones, now a member of the local Military Order of World Wars, Vandenberg Chapter, received a call from Vandenberg’s son, retired Maj. Gen. Hoyt “Sandy” Vandenberg Jr., about a year ago. Sandy, who noted in a 2007 article in Air Force Times that “I’m the son of a pioneer airman who I think is the greatest son-of-a-bitch who ever lived,” told Jones that his wife had died and his kids didn’t want the senior Vandenberg’s military memorabilia. Sandy, a highly decorated veteran in his own right, with more than 100 combat missions in Vietnam, wanted to know if the MOWW, Vandenberg Chapter, wanted the material, no strings attached. The chapter said yes, the museum’s board of directors said yes and the display, which cost around $2,000 to set up and house, will now become part of the permanent displays at the museum.

This collection is part of our heritage. Take the time to visit and honor those who served and those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Bill Morem can be reached at bmorem@thetribunenews.com or at 805.781.7852.

September 16, 2011 was POW/MIA Recognition Day. I attended a lecture given by Dr. Marin Pilloud of the Joint POW/MIAQ Accounting Command ( JPAC ). The event was held August 26, 2011 at the Forum Auditorium, Allan Hancock College, Santa Maria, CA.  Dr. Pilloud is a Forensic Anthropologist and she performs field missions to recover the remains of U.S. Military personnel in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Dr. Pilloud conducts skeletal analysis and material evidence analysis at the Central Identification Laboratory at Hickam AFB near Honolulu.

The Vietnam War has approximately 1800 Americans missing, The Korean War, 8100 MIA’S, and World War II, more than 78,000 Americans are unaccounted for, with an estimated 35,000 deemed recoverable.

The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command is now task by our Government to increase the number of identifications of the POW/MIA’S to approximately 200 a year. The people at JPAC will continue their task, complete their mission and WILL BRING HOME OUR BROTHERS HOME. We thanks them and marvel at the dignity they provide our returning comrades.

Dick Hathcock (shown with Dr. Pilloud)



COL Jack Jones, USA (Ret.)  and Companion COL Bob Detwiler, USMC (Ret.) present "Weapons of the Civil War" at Professor
Detwiler's  History Class on the "Recent Displeasantry Among the States."
 

Jack & Bob		Jack discussing weapons

 

	At the George H.W. Bush Library on the campus of Texas A&M, President Bush is inducted an an MOWW member and Honorary Commander in Chief (CINC).  From Left to right: Col James Elmer, Past CINC, LTC Alfred Shehab, Past CINC,COL Jack B. Jones, Past CINC and member of the Vandenberg Chapter, CAPT Rollie Stevens, Past CINC, President George H.W. Bush, LT GEN  Sam Wetzel, current CINC of MOWW.