Salvo - May 2021
SALVO - MT DIABLO POST 246 MAY 2021
COMMANDERS CORNER
News Flash: The election of officers will be held at our May meeting for Commander, 1st Vice Commander, 2nd Vice Commander, and 3 members of the Executive Committee. These officers will lead the Post for the 2121-2022 year. If you are interested in serving your post and the American Legion as either an elected or appointed officer, please contact us now! This is your post so come help us make it bigger and better! Installation of officers will be held at the first live regular meeting, hopefully this summer.
The Veterans Memorial Building’s High School Swearing-in Ceremony is being planned for 23 May 2021 at 1:00pm on the Library Green on Front Street inDanville. Attendance may well be somewhat limited but currently we know of six recruits and several appointees to the military academies. We are asking all VSOsto provide help in setup, ushering, and cleanup along with a contingent of our Boy Scouts. Please contact me if you will help.
Vaccine information is really encouraging, and live meetings may now be on the horizon. But keep wearing a mask and social distance. Let us do our part and wear them in any public setting.
Third call to say hi to Robert Denison, Ken Duley, David Horton, William House, Sally Malone, Dr. Conrad Rougeux, Lee Sarty, Kenneth Winters, and Richard Zaslove. We want to make sure you are doing well and ask if you need any assistance. We will keep trying to reach you, but if you would, please give us a call.
We are almost to 100% membership: now at 96.7% of members as of 3/12/21! Our goal is 153; we currently have 35 PFULs, 41 members paid online, 66 members paid through the Post, and 6 transfers from Post 1000. That is 148 out of 153 members that continue support of our post and the Legion. Thank you!!
We are going to start a fourth round of Buddy Calls and focus on those members who we have not been able to reach so far and those members who we have not talked since last year. We would really love if those who would like to help.
I want to say welcome to our newest member Adriana Santos, an Army veteran and student at Los Positas College. You may remember her as one of our recent speakers.
Be sure to see our new website at www.americanlegionpost246.org. Check it out!!
Stay safe and wear your masks!!!
Eric, Commander
UPCOMING EVENTS
**** Every Saturday 9 to 12 Coffee at the Vets Hall **** Back soon!!
April 17th, Saturday Executive Committee meeting, 8:30 am
May 5th, Wednesday Regular meeting with speaker, 12:00 pm TBD
Speaker – Nathan Johnson, CCC Veterans Service Officer
Election of Officers/Exec Committee
May 15th, Saturday Executive Committee meeting, 8:30 am
May 23rd, Sunday VMB High School Swearing-in Ceremony
May 30th, Sunday VNVDV Memorial Day Ceremony, Cancelled
May 31st, Monday Memorial Day
June 2nd, Wednesday Regular meeting with speaker, 12:00 pm TBD
In-Person Installation of Officers (TBD)
June 19th, Saturday Executive Committee meeting, 8:30 am
June 19th to 25th California Boys State (virtual)
June 28th to July 3rd California Girls State (virtual)
July 4th, Sunday Independence Day
Kiwanis Parade (status unknown)
July 7th, Wednesday Regular meeting with speaker, 12:00 pm TBD
July 17th, Saturday NO Executive Committee meeting
August 4th, Wednesday NO Regular meeting
August 21st, Saturday Executive Committee meeting, 8:30 am
September 1st, Wednesday Regular meeting with speaker, 12:00 pm TBD
September 18th, Saturday Executive Committee meeting, 8:30 am
October 3rd, Sunday Boys & Girls State Recognition Luncheon, 1:00 pm
SPEAKER FOR MAY
Our speaker for May will be Nathan Johnson, Veterans Service Officer for Contra
Costa County in Martinez. He hosts Veterans Voices, a monthly live talk show
featured on Contra Costa Television. Nathan has been an adjunct faculty member
at Golden Gate University since 2017. Nathan served in the Marine Corps as an
intelligence analyst with 1st Marine Regiment at Camp Pendleton, CA. After
September 11, 2001, Sergeant Nathan Johnson deployed to Pakistan where he
supported Operation Enduring Freedom, and again on January 17, 2003, where he
crossed the border into Iraq with Regimental Combat Team 1 in combat operations
to defeat the Iraqi Army, Iraqi Republican Guard, and the Saddam Fedayeen. He
was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in August of 2003. He then
moved to the Bay Area and earned his BA in Communications at CSU Stanislaus
and his MSW at UC Berkeley. He is pursuing his MBA at Golden Gate University.
SPEAKER FOR JUNE
Our speaker for June will be Alberto Aranda, M.S., Faculty Counselor-Veterans/
General, Diablo Valley College, USMC/OIF Veteran. He will speak on issues facing
student veterans, in general; and about issues facing student veterans, challenges
which the DVC Student Veteran Alliance faces, anything on the horizon for student
vets, any good news or success stories.
USS TELESFORO TRINIDAD CAMPAIGN
In commemoration of the 106th Anniversary of the awarding of the Medal of Honor
to Fireman Second Class Telesforo Trinidad, the USS Telesforo Trinidad Campaign
is launching an initiative to name A US Navy Warship after an American national
of Filipino descent who served in the US Navy. Trinidad holds the distinction of
being the first and only Asian American (and first Filipino) in the U.S. Navy to
receive a Medal of Honor. He received the Medal of Honor for extraordinary
heroism during boiler explosions onboard the USS San Diego (ACR-6) while
underway in the Gulf of California on January 21, 1915. Trinidad brought two
crewmembers to safety in spite of his own physical injuries from the explosion.
For further information, please visit Facebook/USSTTC.
BOY SCOUT TROOP 60 COURT OF HONOR
Vice Commander Alan Scharlach joined a fantastic with Boy Scout Troop 60 Court
of Honor on. Boy Scouts are awarded merit badge recognition, scout advancement
and for the studious few, their Eagle Scout award. Troop 60 out did themselves
with six (6) Scouts becoming Eagles and two of them Eagles with Palm (meaning
they earned at least 5 additional merit badges more than was necessary to become
Eagles). In context, only 11% of all Boy Scouts are awarded Eagles. Having five (5)
at one Court of Honor acknowledges the great leadership and drive of these Scouts
and this Troop.
Among some of the achievements this year for the Troop were hiking, practicing
Flag Etiquette at the Veterans Memorial Building, and Eagle
Projects such as building road barriers. Pictures can be seen at
our website under Boy Scout Troop 60 album. Sadly, after 5
years both Boy Scout Troop 60's Scout Master Jim Saunders and
their Committee Chairman Praveen Kasani will be retiring from
their posts and moving on. Both Jim and Praveen have been
great supporters of our Post, supplying Scouts for the Crab feed,
Fourth of July Parade, swearing in ceremonies just to name a
few events.
POST PHOTOGRAPHER
Still no takers? Like to take pictures with an iPhone or camera? We need YOU!!
We are looking for a post photographer(s) to help capture pictures and videos of our
post activities. There is a need to attend many our functions. Please give me a call.
FLAG & EMBLEM STORE
Alan Scharlach is our post “Supply Officer” and is available to order items for
individual post members. Go to https://emblem.legion.org/ to do your shopping;
then email Alan with the item number, quantity, color, and any other item details
needed to purchase the item you want.
TOWN OF DANVILLE
The Town of Danville website contains links to notices, alerts, news flash, calendar,
etc. about all things Danville: http://www.danville.ca.gov/list.aspx
AMERICAN LEGION BASIC TRAINING COURSE
American Legion self-paced online course; go to https://www.legion.org/alei.
THE OIL PATCH WARRIORS OF WORLD WAR II.
Seventy-five years, a Band of Roughnecks went abroad on a top-secret mission
into Robin Hood's stomping grounds to punch oil wells to help fuel England's
war machines. The year was 1943 and England was mired in World War II. Uboats attacked supply vessels, choking off badly needed supplies to the nation.
But oil was the commodity they most needed as they warred with Germany.
A book "The Secret of Sherwood Forest: Oil Production in England During
World War II" written by Guy Woodward and Grace Steele Woodward was
published in 1973 and tells the obscure story of the American oil men who
went to England to bore wells in March 1943. England had but one oil field, in
Sherwood Forest of all places. Its meager output of 300 barrels a day was
literally a drop in the bucket of their needs of 150,000 barrels.
Then a plan was devised: send some Americans and their expertise to assist in
developing the field. Oklahoma based Noble Drilling Company signed a one
year contract to drill 100 wells for merely costs and expenses.
42 drillers and roughnecks from Texas and Oklahoma, most in their teens and
early twenties volunteered for the mission to go abroad. The hands embarked
for England in March 1943 aboard the HMS Queen Elizabeth. Four National 50
drilling rigs were loaded onto ships but only three of them made landfall; the
Nazi U-boats sank one of the rigs in route to the UK.
The Brits' jaws dropped as the Yanks began punching the wells in a week,
compared to five to eight weeks for their British counterparts. They worked
12-hour tours, 7 days a week and within a year, they had drilled 106 wells and
England oil production shot up from 300 barrels a day to 300,000.
The contract fulfilled; the American oil men departed England in late March
1944. But only 41 hands were on board the return voyage. Herman Douthit, a
Texan derrick-hand was killed during the operation. He was laid to rest with
full military honors and remains the only civilian to be buried at The
American Military Cemetery in Cambridge.
"The Oil Patch Warrior," a 7-foot bronze statue of a roughneck holding a four
foot pipe wrench stands near Nottingham England to honor the American oil
men's assistance and sacrifice in the war.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY’
"It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than
by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong."
--
Thomas Sowell
POST OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE CHAIRS
Post Officers for 2020-2021:
Commander: Eric Ardell
1
st V. Cmdr: Mark Heinemann
2
nd V. Cmdr: Alan Scharlach
3
rd V. Cmdr: Randy Reid
Adjutant: Bob Landy
Finance: Phil Connolly
Chaplain: Jon Heinson
Historian: Gerald Lindahl
Judge Advocate: Ron Lowe
Sgt-at-Arms: Floyd Cox
Service Officer: Leroy Vares
Executive Committee:
Gary Soto
Dick Seavey
Ron Roe
Neil Giles
Michelle Lee
Appointed Officers & Committee Chairpersons
Asst Adjutant: vacant
Asst Finance: Raoul Miranda
Asst Sgt-at-Arms: Raoul Miranda
Supply Officer: Alan Scharlach
Boys State: Eric Ardell
Girls State: Michelle Lee
Oratorical: Neil Giles
Pgm Dir: Michelle Lee
Scouting Rep: Alan Scharlach
VMB Ops Committee: Bob Landy
Museum Committee: Ron Farrell
Protocol Officer: Floyd Cox
Board of Trustees: Ron Lowe / Eric Ardell
East Bay Standdown Rep: Mark Heinemann
Veterans Outreach: Mark Heinemann
Post Website: www.americanlegionpost246.org Post Webmaster: Rusty Orvik
Salvo Editor: Eric Ardell
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 133, Danville, CA 94526 Message Center: (925) 272-8480
Keep saving your pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters for Helmut for Heroes at a future live
meeting!!
