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First Vice Commander's Column
First let me thank you for letting me serve you as First Vice Commander of this great Department of Ohio this year. So many have of you have been willing to offer advice and experience when I need it and I could never begin to thank you all for the friendships that have been made. You, the members of The Department of Ohio, make this position as First Vice an awesome experience and I am humbled that you Legionnaires put your trust in me. We in the state of Ohio have lost some great Legionnaires this year. Brigadier General Paul W. Tibbets (U.S.A.F.) Retired, Command Pilot of The Enola Gay and member of Plain City Post 248. (Recruited by Bill Coughenour). We also lost Dr. Russell Coffey, one of only three known World War I Veterans that were still living. Ohio is deep in history and can be very proud of all the veterans of this state. Everyone who has heard me speak knows that I talk membership; membership is not only the responsibility of the First Vice Commanders. Membership is the responsibility of every member from the National Commander to the newest member in your post. We just had our Mid-Winter Conference in Columbus and were honored to have with us National Commander Marty Conatser and Past National Commander John Brieden. They talked Membership (imagine that). We are doing fairly well on membership but need to do better, we need to reach out to our Post 888 Members and transfer them into our Post and get them active. Also our men and women on active duty are the young blood of our organization and they in some cases don't even know we exist .Our women in uniform now make up around 27% to 30% of our armed forces. Don't let someone say I WAS NEVER ASKED. We can reach our goal of quota if we work together as a team. Direct Mail Solicitation, D.M.S., Post 888, whatever you call it is a great way of recruiting Membership and the Posts which are using it is shown in their standings in the Department Membership rankings. If you need any help in establishing a recruiting plan or want help revitalizing an old post we have Jim Fiedler from National H.Q. coming to Ohio March 25 through April 11. He is a recruiting expert and is more than willing to help. Call Department Headquarters at 740-362-7478 to schedule him in your area. NEVER FORGET OUR MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE NOW IN HARMS WAY AND THOSE WHO WILL BE DEPLOYED. Robert Kimball, 1st Vice Commander |
