NEWSLETTER: JANUARY 2019 (Happy New Year!!)

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1 111 Hwy 57 North Little River, S.C Find us on Facebook NEWSLETTER: JANUARY 2019 (Happy New Year!!) HAVING PROBLEMS? NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE?...The VETERANS CRISIS LINE is open 24/7. Just call and press 1. It takes an average of 8 seconds for your call to be answered. You are NOT alone! WELCOME NEW MEMBERS: Richard Monroe, Thomas Sauro Jr., James Wells and John Luss. Hope to see you around the post. Already saw John Luss at the December Sunday Brunch. A SPECIAL THANK YOU.To those that contributed to the various food and toy drives YOUR post had going on in December. Your donations helped some veteran families have a better Christmas. Your generosity throughout the year has helped more veterans and those in need than you will ever know! COMMANDER S CALL: As we begin a new year, I want to thank those of you who have stepped up to help YOUR Post in our many ventures throughout From St. Patty s day parades to poppy drives to Veterans Day, Memorial Day and Flag Day ceremonies to GI parties and kitchen volunteers, it was a very good year for our Post. I m now in my final six months of this two-year tour of duty as Commander and will be working closely with Senior Vice Commander Kevin Rorer to ensure he ll keep us moving forward. Kevin will lead our January 12 th meeting as I will be out of the area. On the 27 th of January, we ll hold our annual Best of the Best luncheon. We ll honor the finest of N. Myrtle Beach and Horry County s police and fire fighters as well as our nominee for VFW

2 Teacher of the Year and student winners of the Voice of Democracy and Patriot s Pen contests. All are invited to attend, have lunch, and celebrate these outstanding young men and women. And this month, we bring back some live entertainment to our Friday night dinners! The D. Meyers Band will play the 1st and 3rd Friday and Richard Hubbell on the 2nd and 4th. Dinner and dancing is only $12 so come on out, grab some friends as your guests, and have some fun at Your Post this month. Wishing you all the best in this New Year! Nick Camera Commander, Post 10804, North Myrtle Beach, SC Community Service Chairman, Department of SC, Veterans of Foreign Wars DID YOU KNOW The VA processed 81,000 appeals decisions in FY18! This is 28,000 more than FY17. To accomplish this task, they hired 196 MORE attorneys at a minimum salary of $50,000 each. In the article I read, the VA did not say how many appeals were approved or denied. Just how many they processed. You can learn more about the VA appeals process at In the same article. A newly signed Bill by the President, REQUIRES the VA to hire 50 outreach specialists to handle veterans involved in the justice system (arrested, jailed, on trial, etc). They join 314 other Veteran Justice Outreach (VJO) specialists. They focus on an outreach to community law enforcement, jails and courts. FELLOW VIETNAM VETERANS.Over the years the DoD has published various numbers that account for the number of us that actually served in-country. Not long ago the number was 3.1 million, but the latest figures say the number was really between 2.5 and 2.7 million (still can t give an exact figure??). DoD now also says that during the Vietnam Era ( ) there were 9.8 million men and women in uniform. As of January 2018 there are still 1,601 of us still listed as Missing in Action (MIA). 75,000 of us are classified as severely disabled. 80% of people today claiming to be Vietnam veterans are NOT! This is what the New Myrtle Beach VA Clinic is planned to look like. Ground breaking begins early in The NEW clinic is expected to be Receiving patients sometime in late 2021 to early 2022.

3 G.I. PARTY..Y all fondly remember those days. Well, if you want to relive this great event, YOUR Post is hosting one on Tuesday, January 15 th. It will be an all-day affair to clean the kitchen. If you have at least 2 hours to spare on that day and want to help YOUR post. Please contact Leo Cyr at the Post at MEMBERSHIP..As of December, YOUR post has over 500 members. Of these, the numbers for December show 387 are Life members, 8 are New, 2 are Re-instated and 67 are Continuous. This means a retention rate of just 86.9% so far for the year. If you know a post member, ask them if they have renewed for If not, please ask them to do so. YOUR post cannot exist without members! If you know of a VFW eligible veteran, ask them to join. Please do your best to sign-up at least one new member this year. THANKS! VETERANS WELCOME HOME and RESOURCE CENTER.is located on Hwy 57 in North Myrtle Beach. It is a facility YOUR post helps support. In November the center helped 58 veterans at an expenditure of $4,735. They do GOOD THINGS for veterans! To contact Ron Wilson (Director) for information, to volunteer or to donate goods or services, you can call or at operationwelcomehome.mbeach@gmail.com.

4 OPIOID vs CANNABIS.The DAV is pressing forward in its efforts to get more Government research on the benefits of using cannabis for veterans with chronic pain, PTSD and TBI s. This because the VA says that 68,000 veterans (13% of the total population of veterans currently taking opioids) have an opioid use disorder. VA doctors continue to prescribe opioids for chronic pain. A problem that effects 60% of veterans who deployed to the Middle East and 50% of older veterans. Early tests with cannabis have shown it to be safe and effective treatment of those veteran problems listed above. Right now, cannabis use is regulated by certain states and veterans wanting to use it have to pay for it out-of-pocket in those states that have legalized cannabis. If you participate in state legalized cannabis programs, this does NOT affect your VA eligibility. NOTE: VA studies have shown that veterans are TWICE as likely to die, than their civilian counterparts, from an opioid overdoes. NOTE 2: A yearlong VA study that ended this spring concluded that pain intensity in patients with nerve or muscle pain, to include chronic back pain, or hip or knee osteoarthritis pain was better managed with over-the-counter pain medications VS opioid drugs. Good things happen when post members volunteer in the community. Commander Nick Camera, Margo Sheridan and Dan Hildreth hold a check for $1,000 that was donated to the post

5 by the Little River Chamber of Commerce. Post members Margo & Dan helped park cars for two days during the Little River Shrimp Festival in October. Presenting the check are Little River CofC CEO and President Jennifer Walters and CofC Board Member Les Gore. POST ELECTIONS.Are but a scant couple of months away. Have you given any thought towards becoming a post officer? The only two positions not really up for grabs are the 2 year and 1 year Trustee positions. Nominations start in March, elections in April. YOUR post needs members to survive and leadership to thrive!! A FINAL FAREWELL To Dennis Feord (A WWII veteran of the British Military) and Bob Leeser. Your watch is over. We ll take it from here! William La Monte Writer/Editor or 4william6@gmail.com