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SOME OLD FRIENDS OF MINE. A LITTLE BIT NUTSO BUT GOOD GUYS IN SPITE OF THAT.



Text Box: SSG John K. Weber / SFC Matthew R. Kahler, Chapter XV
 173rd Airborne Brigade Association                                                                                                   
Rally Point
President:   Trudell Guerue                                                Vice President: Bill Andersen
Treasurer:    Dave Nordan       Secretary: Jack Running
September 17, 2014                                              Editor: Steve Anderson
Andy2465@aol.com
Chapter XV’s next meeting will be held  October 15, 2014@  7:30PM  Hearthside Pizza, 1641 Rice St., St. Paul (Rice St. & Larpenteur Ave.).  The Chapter regularly meets on the 3rd Wednesday of each month.  The Hearthside has very good food at reasonable prices—if you are looking for a place to eat, stop in and give it a try.

UPCOMING EVENTS
October 24.   POW WOW at Magnet School at the old Harding High School located at E. 3rd  and Earl St. on the East side of St Paul.  Grand Entry starts at 6pm and closing ceremony at 8pm. Uniform is fatigue.
October 25.   Mid West All Airborne Alliance will dedicate of plaque honoring members of the 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion for their heroic service during WW2.  The dedication will take place at Airborne Circle located on the grounds of The Ft. Snelling National Cemetery.  Opening ceremony will start at 10 AM. Members should try to arrive by 9:00 to help set up.    Uniform, civilian or fatigue.
October 25.    Following the 551st event the MWAAA will dedicate a plaque honoring special Opps units that have served the United States  as surrogates primarily in South East Asia.  The Royal Lao and Hmong SGU’s (Special Guerrilla Units) were instrumental in slowing war supplies from North Vietnam along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and recovering personnel from downed American Aircraft.  Their intervention and the losses they incurred (that number in the tens of thousands) saved untold numbers of Americans in the course of the war.  We hope this is just a beginning in recognizing their service to this country.
November 11.   Veterans Day is coming together chairs and porta pots are ordered and a guest speaker has been secured. 

Dale Means Flag will fly over the proceedings.  Dale’s was KIA in Afghanistan on 11-18- 2012.  Dale and his family members were well known by many members of the Chapter.  Dale served with 2nd Marine Division in Anbar Province, Afghanistan.


CALL TO ORDER
1930 Hours
ROLL CALL
August meeting: 15 members present—J. Anderson, Nordan, Dvorak, B. Andersen, Johnson, S. Anderson, Davis-Ortiz, Carlson, Guerue, Stuart, Insixiengmay, Sinouthsay, Running, Wortman, Rednest
GUESTS
Mrs. Wortman
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
ONCE again President Guerue spoke of his volunteer job as a driver for the VA and how many vets he has the opportunity to meet.  He appears to be quite happy with something that falls under the category of “doing something”.  He also spoke of the 173rd BOD meeting to be held in San Diego and how he is looking forward to it.  Several members winter in AZ. and may attend the meeting as observers.
Trudell mentioned that he will make an inquiry to see if it would be possible to turn the Tribal Cemetery on his reservation into an unrestricted National Cemetery as he feels it could help making the residents of both Indian and non Indian communities have something in common.  This writer thinks it to be a very good idea.
Treasurer Report
Dave reported the Chapter is in very good financial condition.
Mail Dues or donations to:
Chapter XV  173rd AB Brigade
PO Box 583131
Minneapolis, MN. 55440
Single year membership is $24.00
Life Membership                $173.00
Annual membership runs Jan 1 to Dec. 31.
Chapter 15 was asked to perform a Color Guard for a local vintage automobile and motorcycle show.  The event was a fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House and Gillette Hospital in St.Paul.  There was a unexpected honorarium that members of the color guard promptly returned as our donation to the cause.  Once again Noel Johnson’s contacts within the classic car (MSRA ) continues to provide our Chapter with notoriety and associations with great organizations. 
VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Bill Andersen spoke of his wife Jenny and her stay in vet’s hospital.  She continues to undergo Dialysis while being treated for several small bones that are broken in her ankle that happened in a fall.  He spoke of those who were able to visit with her on her Birthday and how it picked her spirits up.   On that same note Bill spoke of Marianne Running who is confined to nursing facility as is John Roy’s wife Pat.  Keep them in our prayers.
SECRETARY’S REPORT 
Jack reported the Chapter had more events this month than we have had in a long- long time.  We had weekends with  multiple POW WOWS, one funeral,  we provided a color detail for the opening of a new bank, several attended a picnic hosted by Chapter 20 SFA ,and honors ceremony for SGM Jerry Huntington Sr. (ret) that was hosted by the Military Museum located at Camp Ripley, MN.  (Jerry has been one of the driving forces behind MWAAA as he organized most of the group picnics for many years.  Jerry served as a Parachute Rigger and spent 30 plus years in service to his country).
All in all it was a very busy month


MIDWEST ALL-AIRBORNE ALLIANCE (MWAAA)
See upcoming events above…
About MWAAA any and all former Airborne Soldiers are welcome to attend MWAAA meetings,  Brad Nichols, President (served with 82nd and 101st).  The group meets the Third Thursday of each month at the Richfield MN. American Legion on 65th and Nicolet So.  All A/B are welcome. There are no dues and everyone has a vote.  Meeting starts at 1800 hrs. Come early and have a bite to eat the food is quite good and the “stories” are usually original.
NEW BUSINESS
None
VETERANS DAY 2014
We have a speaker and have made some reservations for chairs and will also contact Matt Oyen about the Central High School Band availability
POW/MIA  
Well, we got Bergdahl back—at a hell of a price, considering the circumstance of his “capture”(?)  I sometimes wonder what god damn planet I’m on—this guy apparently deserted his unit and he gets a welcome home from Obama at a ceremony in the White House while we have a decorated Marine rotting in a lousy Mexican jail because he made a wrong turn and ended up in Mexico with a loaded gun. Put some heat on your Congressman and Senator on their Facebook page, tweet or call them to get Sgt Tahmooressi home.  Every other sob in Mexico seems to have an AK or an AR 15 from the bungled Fast and Furious scam and they can’t find them. I say cut their foreign aid by 10 million a day until he gets home.
OLD BUSINESS
We are still trying to get some modest benefits for the Lao and Hmong people who fought (as surrogates) for the USG during the secret war in Laos.  Many of the problems they face in receiving recognition is because their numbers are so small.  Neither, DOD or the CIA kept records of who served in the Special Guerilla Units.  As a result the Lao and Hmong have taken it upon themselves to investigate the many that have come forward in anticipation of receiving a benefit.  The credentialing process requires the applicant to account and verify ALL of his service time, their commanding officer(s) units served, when and where they were.  Everything that can be done to make sure they are not being dishonest.  There have been a few cases of charlatans that have been caught through the credentialing procedure.
Quite frankly even the most modest benefit being requested has reached a wall because their numbers are so small they do not have the endorsement from veteran service organizations.  A quick example would be the number of Lao and Hmong that might be eligible for a benefit is around 11,000 souls in contrast there are 14,900 American Legion Clubs in the United States and many have never even heard of Hmong and Lao soldiers so their message does not get to become an agenda item for these organizations.  I was unable to determine how many VFWs are in the USA.  You can see they need our help.  Anything you can do would be of great service to our fellow vets who fought so bravely in our behalf.    Two bills that help are HF 3192 authored by Representative Jim Costa of California.  A companion bill in the Senate is S 200 authored by Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Mark Begich of Alaska.  If these bills would become law it would allow these courageous soldiers to be buried in National Cemeteries the bills are simple and can be found at WWW Thomas.gov
To be sure it would be a hard pull to see anything until after the election this year---but hope springs eternal.


MISCELLANEOUS
MINNESOTA WEAPONS COLLECTOR SCHEDULE




Next 2014 MWCA Shows:
        October 25 - 26   MN State Fair Coliseum Building
        December 13 - 14   St. Paul River Centre         

Food for thought
Do you believe this to be true?
 Author: Unknown.

Subject: Muslims in America

Can a good Muslim be a good American?

This question was forwarded to a friend who worked in Saudi Arabia for 20 y=
ears. The following is his reply:

Theologically - no. Because his allegiance is to Allah The moon god of A=
rabia .

Religiously - no. Because no other religion is accepted by His Allah except=
 Islam. (Quran=2C2:256)(Koran)=20

Scripturally - no. Because his allegiance is to the five Pillars of Islam a=
nd the Quran.

Geographically - no. Because his allegiance is to Mecca = to which he tur=
ns in prayer five times a day.

Socially - no. Because his allegiance to Islam forbids him to make friends =
with Christians or Jews.

Politically - no. Because he must submit to the mullahs (spiritual leaders)=
 who teach annihilation of Israel and destruction of America = the gre=
at Satan.

Domestically - no. Because he is instructed to marry four Women and beat an-
d scourge his wife when she disobeys him. (Quran 4:34)

Intellectually - no. Because he cannot accept the American Constitution sin=
ce it is based on Biblical principles and he believes the Bible to be corru=
pt.

Philosophically - no. Because Islam= Muhammad= and the Quran does not a=
llow freedom of religion and expression. Democracy and Islam cannot co-exis=
t. Every Muslim government is either dictatorial or autocratic.

Spiritually - no. Because when we declare 'one nation under God. The Chr=
istian's God is loving and kind while Allah is NEVER referred to as Heav=
enly father nor is he ever called love in the Quran's 99 excellent names=
.

Therefore after much study and deliberation... Perhaps we should be very=
 suspicious of ALL MUSLIMS in this country. They obviously cannot be both '=
good' Muslims and 'good' Americans. Call it what you wish it's still the tr=
uth. You had better believe it. The more who understand this the better
it will be for our country and our future.

The religious war is bigger than we know or understand!

Footnote: The Muslims have said they will destroy us from within.SO FREEDOM IS NOT FREE.





'IN GOD WE TRUST'
Quite frankly I do not know where the origins of the above came from---but it deserves serious thought from all of us.

GOOD AND WELFARE.
Bill Andersen mentioned that his wife Jenny is in the VA Hospital in Minneapolis trying to get some strength back from some bones that have broken in her foot and back. Jenny is a 24 year veteran of the Army and served in Medical groups. She is in Ward 1F room 105.
 Also in that ward is Stan Kowalski better known as killer Kowalski during his professional wrestling career?. Stan has been super active in veteran’s affairs for many years.  Mr. Kowalski served during WW2 as a submariner. Both are still in the VA hospital on this date 9-29-14.
Also Keep MaryAnn Running and Pat Roy in your prayers—we could use some good news.

AIRBORNE
MAY GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS!!!!!!!

  Other Airborne Organizations
CHAPTER 20 SF
Meets at the Glockenspiel located on west 7th st. in St Paul—7pm. First Tuesday of each month come early and enjoy a great meal. Contact Mat Mitlyng 763-208-6487
Screaming Eagles Minnesota contact is Troy Lindstad he can be reached by email at     or the more conventional telephone method –call 952-448-4933. 

Midwest All Airborne Alliance (MWAAA) usually holds their meetings at the Richfield American Legion Post (66th and Portland Ave So) the 3rd Thursday of each Month.  No dues any and  All Airborne Soldiers  welcome—1800 hrs.  Check out the new MWAAA website at    www. midwestallairborne.com
MARKET PLACE
Patriot Assistance Dogs
Psychiatric Service Dog Program
In need of donations!!!   Please call Linda Wiedwitsch   218-841-4114
Looking for an Inspirational Speaker?
Contact: Gold Star Mother Jill Stephenson
Some Gave All, All Gave Some.  Freedom Is Not Free
Call: 612.868.7446
E-mail:  iambenkoppsmother@gmail.com
Force Options is offering several MN Concealed Carry Permit classes
If you are interested, please register by contacting WWW.force-options.com
If you need some snow plowing done in St Paul area
Call Dan @ 651-776-0434. (Dan is a chapter member)
BOOK AVAILABLE  “Blood in our Boots”                    
Written by Chapter 15 member, Ed Haider.  Most of the stick were dead, the C-47 was on fire and going down when he Jumped into the night sky over Sicily with “X” Bn. 505.   Ed reveals the torture and mistreatment he endured as a POW.  Call 651-488-9797.
Custom Motor Cycles made by
Rigid Motor Werks
Call John Staads (chapter XV 173rd & SF chapter XX member)  507-220-4015
Need E-Commerce Help?
Business Development Specialist
Ralph Trejo 651 271-4188
ARTISAN
Custom crafted   Illustrations, Sculptures, Graphics and Murals at a reasonable price.   Call John C. Ortiz  651-529-6651 or E-mail  johnortiz36@comcast.net
(John does incredible work, this editor purchased a piece made to order a couple of years ago.
WWII DEMONSTRATION TEAM
For calendar information or if you wish to train for static line jumps call 580-335-3344.  Visit their website   www.wwiiadt.org 

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