Blackwell-Frazier American Legion Post #142 Hominy, Oklahoma

First, today in 1919 the American Legion was founded in Paris by 1,000 veterans of the American Expeditionary Force who met to discuss transition to civilian life and what veterans could do to help each other adjust and to work together to further the rights of veterans.

Now in the near past in 2010 the passing of the United States generation that fought in World War I was marked by the funeral of Frank Buckles, who died on 27 February 2011, aged 110. He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. Frank Woodruff Buckles (born Wood Buckles, February 1, 1901 – February 27, 2011) was a United States Army soldier and the last surviving American veteran of World War I. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917 and served with a detachment from Fort Riley, driving ambulances and motorcycles near the front lines in Europe. During World War II, he was captured by Japanese forces while working in the shipping business and spent three years in the Philippines as a civilian prisoner.

After the war, Buckles married in San Francisco and moved to Gap View Farm near Charles Town, West Virginia. A widower at age 98, he worked on his farm until the age of 105. In his last years, he was Honorary Chairman of the World War I Memorial Foundation. As chairman, he advocated the establishment of a World War I memorial similar to other war memorials in Washington, D.C. Toward this end Buckles campaigned for the District of Columbia War Memorial to be renamed the National World War I Memorial. He testified before Congress in support of this cause and met with President George W. Bush at the White House. Buckles was awarded the World War I Victory Medal at the conclusion of that conflict, and the Army of Occupation of Germany Medal retroactively following the medal’s creation in 1941, as well as the French Legion of Honor in 1999.What a day this was in the past. But now to the future.

We have two efforts to raise funds that come back to the community. The Department of Oklahoma in OKC has Legion 100th Anniversary coins for sale at $15 each. We also have another 10-gun raffle going on at Post 142, for only $10 you can get one of 10 different guns being raffled off. Want a Henry 17 HMR Rifle? Or a Thompson 50 Caliber Bone Collector. How about a Mossberg 935 Turkey Shotgun? There is a Ruger AR 556. There are a few more I will share next week. You know a Legionnaire? Ask them to get you in the raffle!

Next Legion Meeting will be Thursday March 15th at 7:00 PM. Monday morning Koffee Klatch meetings in March are still scheduled for biscuits and gravy with always a cup of Joe (coffee to the civilians). Keep your eye on the weather in case things must be postponed (like freezing weather). If you are a veteran come on by. If you have a good story it may end up in print. Also keep up with us at website “americanlegion142.org”.

This day in 1918 President Wilson authorized the Army’s Distinguished Service Medal. The Distinguished Service Medal is awarded to any person who while serving in any capacity with the U.S. Army, that had distinguished himself or herself by exceptionally meritorious service to the Government in a duty of great responsibility.

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This is for my fellow “Fly Boys”. It happened last Sunday in 1969. I was wrapping up high school. It was at toward the middle of the Vietnam War (not conflict thank you). There was a young cargo handler Airman named John Levitow on board. His aircraft was the Spooky 71. It was flying night missions near the Tan Son Nhut Air base area when Long Binh came under attack. As the crew of Spooky 71 manned their aircraft patrolling the area, the pilot Major Kenneth Carpenter had seen muzzle flashes outside Long Binh Army Base. The pilot threw the AC-47 and its eight-man crew into a banked turn to engage the Viet Cong in the Tan Son Nhut Air Base area.

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I want to reprint something this year that I posted in the past. I thought I could top it but, I think I got it right the first time. It’s Black History Month, I think of my old friend Leonard Buckley often. Again, I would like to pay tribute to someone who was among the finest of soldiers I had the pleasure to serve with. He was a better soldier than me. His name was Leonard Buckley and we buried him with full military honors in December 2015.

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I was a young lad living in Edgerton Kansas in 1964 and there wasn’t much to do. When school started all my new buddies urged me to over to the community service that Tuesday evening to see something neat. I went to the meeting and saw about twenty guys my age in cool uniforms. They were Boy Scouts.

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