vets

Red Shirt Fridays

The second Saturday of each month is always exciting for our members as we gather together to share membership information and updates on various subjects including, events for Veterans, benefits, fun activities, and general membership updates.

Our AMVETS Post 44 highlighted speaker for the month was AMVET Lynn Sutton, United States Army – HOOAH!  What an informative meeting with new members and familiar faces!  Congratulations to those new members who signed up with us!

The month of October was celebrated with various activities with members of AMVETS POST 44. 2nd Vice Commander Roy Montgomery provided his time to outreach and volunteerism for Breast Cancer Awareness month. In collaboration with the organization “Sisters By Choice”, in screening participants on the Breast Cancer On Wheels Mobile bus.

Also, each Friday is Red Shirt Friday.  Red Shirt Friday is an acronym, which stands for Remember Everyone Deployed. Red Shirt Friday, also simply known as RED, is an informal, optional, and very popular campaign that involves participants simply choosing to wear a red shirt on any given Friday in order to show support for all deployed troops. An informal motto for this observance goes, “Just wear red and tell your friends why!” Here are some of our members sporting their Red Shirts on previous Fridays.

On Saturday, October 22, 2022, AMVETS Post 44 held their first fundraiser, Fish Fry which was held at our partnering location, Harold J. Byrd, American Legion, Post 66 in Avondale, GA. The event was spear-headed by our Finance Officer, Juan McLemore.  The event was very successful and we raised over $1,600.  We look forward to doing more fundraising events in the very near future.

AMVETS Post 44, Photographer/Historian/Website Administrator, Dazz Spencer

On September 17, 2022,  at the Central DeKalb Senior Center/Mason Mill Park at 1346 McConnell Drive in Decatur, GA., AMVETS Post 44 Members supported the efforts of Commissioner, Steve Bradshaw.  Commissioner Bradshaw is a lifetime member of our AMVETS group.  We displayed various brochures and literature regarding Veterans Benefits and recruiting for the American Veterans Organization.  We also wore our “chef hats”, as we prepared, hot dogs, and hamburgers and served food to the general public.  We gathered in fellowship with other Veterans and their family members as well.

The Veterans Expo had on-site information such as  Housing, VA Benefits, caregivers information, Telehealth, Employment & Training, Women’s Programs, and Health Screening.  A great time was had by all!  Thank you Commissioner Bradshaw for allowing us to participate in this worthy event.

Left to Right, Roy Montgomery, 2nd Vice Commander/Acting Commander; Steve Bradshaw, Commissioner, DeKalb County, District 4Left to Right, Commissioner Steve Bradshaw, Chief of Staff Alesia Brooks, and 2nd Vice Commander/Acting Commander Roy Montgomery

We were honored to participate in a Community Food Give-a-Way, held and sponsored at Greenforest Community Baptist Church, in Decatur, GA on Wednesday, 10 August 2022.

AMVETS Carl Hill, Harvey Johnson, Arthur Long, and Dylester Scott along with 19 other volunteers; prepared 185 bags of food for the giveaway.

On Tuesday, 16 August 2022, AMVET Dylester Scott along with Members from Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) and Carmax employees volunteered at the Atlanta Operation Gratitude Event. The purpose of the event was to assemble 5,000 Veteran Care Packages to be sent to VA Hospitals and VA Homeless Shelters across several states, USOs, and First Responders.

On Saturday, August 13, 2022, our monthly meeting was held.  Our guest speaker for the month was Commander Milton Allen, Dept of Georgia AMVETS/Chaplain, and his wife 2nd Vice Commander Wanda Allen.

Our meeting was well represented with members in person and via online Zoom.  The engagement of various topics from AMVETS’ upcoming National events to recruitment strategies was discussed.  We’d love to increase our membership to include younger generations and add leadership value to our organization.  We had several new guests and a new Lifetime membership sign-up.

On, Monday, 13 June 2022, AMVETS Elaine Edwards, Geneva Heyward, Dylester Scott and Patricia Thomas, participated in the first ever State of Georgia Inaugural Women’s Veteran Day celebration.   More than 80 female Veterans participated in the celebration and luncheon at the State Capitol. The celebration was hosted by State Representative Sheila Jones and attended by several other State Representatives, elected officials, and VA Representatives.

1st – Photo – AMVETS L-R, Patricia Thomas, and Commissioner Lorraine Cochran-Johnson – (Dekalb County District 7);

2nd – Photo – AMVETS Patricia Thomas & Fellow Veteran Liz;

3rd Front Row L-R:  AMVETS Geneva Heyward & Patricia Thomas; Top Row L-R:  AMVETS Elaine Edwards & Dylester Scott

On June 11, 2022, we held our 2nd in-person/hybrid General Meeting.  We had a greater in-person turnout than the previous month.  Our members are returning to join and greet fellow comrades.  Membership is steadily increasing and we especially look forward to working with our newly appointed Finance Officer, Juan McLemore, and Judge Advocate, Wayland Jordan.  We are encouraging all branches of the service, active and retired to join us.  We look forward to our younger population, Millennials, and more leading and getting involved!  Check out the membership page on our website for more contact information.

Percy Butler, U.S. Army, CW4, RET. was spotlighted.  He held numerous military assignments, including, Headquarters, 15th Ordnance Battalion, Frankfurt, Germany, 57th Ordnance Brigade, and 94th Artillery Group in Kaiserslautern, Germany.  CW4 Butler was also inducted into the Adjutants General Corps Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Member of the Regiment (DMOR).  Thank you, Chief for your service!

AMVET Arthurine Wright, a long-time member of Post 44, was graciously ordinated as a minister on June 16, 2022, at Greenforest Community Baptist Church, in Decatur, GA.

The wonderfully and spiritually moving statement of purchase and ordination was delivered by Rev. Pennon Lockhart, Ph.D., who also holds life memberships in the American Legion and is a charter member of AMVETS Post 44.

Congratulations AMVET Wright, we wish you much-continued success in your gift of ministry and social work!