Past Events

AMVETS Post 44 (Willie Weatherly), held its last general membership meeting for the year, in style!

Held at our host building, American Legion Post 66, in Avondale, GA; a great time was had by all who attended!  The festive brunch consisted of yummy spreads of shrimp & grits, meat & veggie trays, breakfast souffle, salmon, and croquette patties, to name a few; as well as delicious pastries, and fruit & desserts.  This was a time to reflect on the year we’ve had.  To also honor all of our members and families, through prayers and strength that some have and are still going through.  Chaplain Harvey Johnson, brought us into prayer with a powerful grace before we dined.  It was wonderful to see so many members.

We wish each and every one of you a blessed, safe, and healthy holiday and a prosperous new year.

Also sending a BIG Shout out to W. Phillips, Army Veteran, thank you for all of the “behind the scenes”, assistance that you’ve provided during 2022.

HISTORY OF VETERANS DAY

Veterans Day, originally celebrated as Armistice Day, was first issued on November 11, 1919, by President Woodrow Wilson a year after the end of World War I. The purpose of Armistice Day was to honor the fallen soldiers of the Great War for their sacrifice and bravery. Seven years later, in 1926, Congress adopted a resolution requesting that President Calvin Coolidge issue annual proclamations on November 11, making Armistice Day a legal holiday.

In 1945, World War II veteran Raymond Weeks had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans rather than just the ones who died in World War I. He led a delegation to General Dwight Eisenhower, who was all for the idea. Weeks then organized the first Veterans Day celebration in 1945 in Alabama and every year since, until he died in 1985. In 1982, he was honored by President Reagan with the Presidential Citizenship Medal. Weeks was also named the ‘Father of Veterans Day’ by Elizabeth Dole.

In 1954, Ed Rees, the U.S. Representative from Emporia, Kansas, presented a bill to establish the holiday to Congress. Eisenhower, who was then the president and also from Kansas, signed the bill into law on May 26, 1954, eight and a half years after Raymond Weeks held the first Veterans Day. After having been through both World War II and the Korean War, the 83rd U.S. Congress — at the urge of the veterans’ service organizations — amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word ‘Armistice’ and inserting the word ‘Veterans.’ With the approval of this legislation on June 1, 1954, November 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

The National Veterans Award was also created in 1954, first received by Congressman Rees for his support in making Veterans Day a federal holiday. Though the holiday is currently and was originally celebrated on November 11, the day was moved to the fourth Monday of October in 1971 due to the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. Finally, on September 20, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed a law that returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of November 11, beginning in 1978.

AMVETS POST 44 members collectively and independently honored and celebrated this national day by donating their time and efforts in giving back. Some members attended the laying of flags at cemeteries, others gave their time in speaking announcements and some members volunteered their time by addressing and engaging our young future of children at educational facilities.

On, 04 November 2022, AMVETS Scharyl Berry & Dylester Scott along with Members of Soldiers Angels, American Legion Post 66, Daughters of American Revolution, and VA Staff volunteered at VA Arcadia Clinic with the Quarterly Women Veterans Baby Shower.  Eight (8) Expecting Women Veterans were given needed newborn baby items.

On 10 November 2022 AMVETS Scharyl Berry and Elaine Edwards assisted Members of DAV Chapters 90 & 91 and Dekalb County NAACP Branch 5192 with placing flags on Military Heroes’ graves. Over 200 flags were placed on graves at Hillandale Memorial Gardens, Lithonia, GA.

On 11 November our AMVETS Post 44 member SFC Gail Black, (RET), was honored by several young children as she encouraged “Reading Matters”.  She was presented with a beautiful bouquet of flowers by these children in her honor on Veterans Day.

Sunday, November 13, 2022; Commissioner Steve Bradshaw, (AMVETS POST 44 Lifetime Member) was the keynote speaker at Antioch AME Church, Stone Mountain, GA which hosted a Veterans Day service honoring the Men and Women that served our Nation.

On 11 November 2022, our AMVETS Post 44 member LTC Dylester Scott, (RET), was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from Humphreys County Cultural Museum.  An award well deserved!

We are very honored to have so many members actively participating and continuing in their selfless service “after” serving this great nation!

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.

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.

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.

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