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Success of the Post 283
social events!
I’m proud of our social night team – Kevin, Jared, Jay, Larry, Deloris, Tess and Jose. The topic of having a social evening separate from the General Membership Meeting has been debated for years.
Frankly, we all held our breath to see if members showed up and if they appeared to have fun. I’m happy to report that after two events, we saw success in both aspects. Moving forward, we are now looking at ways to spice up these events. Kudos to Steve Travali for putting in a day’s work to prepare meatball sandwiches for the second social night, and they were amazing. That really sets the bar for our future social nights, so come on out and check it out!
I also want to call your attention to the hard work from our new assistant adjutant, Jared Morgan. He has truly brought his communications skills to bear on our website and social media. We are putting out some great videos and announcements. They say that even if we have a great event, it didn’t happen unless there are pictures of it on Facebook!
Well, our great events are being well documented, and that has been transmitted across the country on our social media channels, reaching veterans everywhere. Well done, Jared.
Lastly, I want to thank everyone who ran for leadership offices in the Post election. I am honored to have been nominated and elected for a fourth year, but I can also say I am grateful that I ran unopposed, because running an election campaign even at the Post level is a very stressful process. So thank you to all who put themselves out there. We have a great team, and I think we are going to do great things this year.
—Commander Jim Cragg
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UCLA's Air Force ROTC held an awards ceremony on the campus Friday.
Assistant Adjutant Jared Morgan was on hand to deliver awards to the cadets. Among those were cash scholarships for academic and military excellence.
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Swing Into Summer Dance
Join us for dinner and dancing with your choice of chicken or fish and a DJ playing a wide range of music.
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Legion Family Installation
of Officers
Join us for dinner and our Installation of Officers ceremony for the Legion, Sons and Auxiliary. Because of the department convention, this was moved to the second Wednesday.
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Lounge Night
Join us for our Thursday night Lounge Night featuring free food, drink specials and games!
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JUNE 10 - Safety Fair
Post 283 will be facilitating training the morning of June 10 during a public safety fair at Simon Meadow on Sunset and Temescal Canyon. Councilwoman Traci Park is hosting the safety fair for the Pacific Palisades community from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Come show your support.
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JUNE 17 - Walking Wilshire Tour
Join our Squadron 283 Sons on a brisk 15-mile walking tour of historic Wilshire Boulevard from Downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica. Email Adjutant Greg Frost if you're interested in joining for all or part of the trail: salsquadron283@gmail.com
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JULY 4 - Fourth of July 5k/10k
Post 283's Executive Committeeman Michael McGuire wants you to run with him at the Palisades Will Rogers 5K & 10K Run on July 4. If you're running, get a free TEAM SHIRT to represent Post 283.
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Post 283 Finance Officer Steve Travali prepares Italian meatball submarine sandwiches during our Lounge Night on May 25. Be sure to join us for the next Lounge Night on June 29, where we'll have more free food, drink specials and games!
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Memorial Day
A tribute to fallen heroes was at the Bel Air Bay Club on Memorial Day. Palisades Post 283 1st Vice Commander Jay McCann mc'd the event, which included a color guard and military-theme uniformed singers. McCann, a member of the club, has mc'd the annual tribute to fallen service members for 15 years.
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The spirit of giving has dominated the activities of Ronald Reagan-Palisades Post 283 over the past few weeks.
Post members have been represented at the UCLA and USC ROTC Awards Ceremonies honoring students participating in the Army, Navy and Air Force programs. The Post presents honorariums, medals and ceremonial swords to worthy students.
The Post presented two college scholarships at a Senior Awards ceremony at Palisades High School. Three additional scholarships have been awarded to seniors at local high schools.
The Post is sponsoring 40 students to attend the 2023 Boys and Girls State Program at Sacramento State University. The coed program is open to students completing their junior year of high school. The students spend the third week of June in the State Capitol to be immersed in a hands on government education program.
A full delegation from Post 283 will participate in the annual Department Convention in Visalia, California. The convention is a great opportunity to expand our knowledge of Legion programs and projects.
—Kevin Niles, Adjutant
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'Kindness is Critical' – A Doctor’s Visit
Last week, I took my wife, Cyndi, to get a blood test after a normal doctor’s visit. When we arrived at the clinic, it was confusing from the start. There was construction, signs that didn’t make sense, an iPad on a stand for sign in, and a man behind a desk with a mask.
Her doctor is not in the system so we needed to convey specific instructions to have her blood test. This is when the fun began. The clerk behind the desk repeatedly kept trying to find the information in the system even after we mentioned her doctor is not part of the network.
Since he was wearing a mask and I’m hard of hearing anyway, I had trouble hearing him. I insisted that my wife get a test and was on the verge of losing my temper. He was resistant and seemed rude but logged her in to be seen. After Cyndi was called by the nurse, she came out to the lobby and proceeded to provide instructions to
the same clerk on how to handle this scenario in the future, but he just couldn’t understand. She was rude to him and was losing patience.
HERE’S THE LESSON: It was my observation that the clerk has challenges with technology. This is not unusual. He wasn’t rude and was trying to do his job. He was a nice guy but didn’t realize this until
later. I took it personally that he couldn’t help. I regretted not putting effort into being nice to him.
Kindness would have made the situation much better. Becoming angry to an innocent person just worsens the situation. Many of us have strong memories of aggravating situations which is not good for
our spiritual health. Yet being kind is easy even when we don’t feel like it and it has a lasting affect to our mood and well-being.
Try being kind, even when you don’t feel like it. Just a suggestion.
—Chaplain Joe Ramirez
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Thank you for the honor of serving you all over the past 5 years. I'm sorry to not have been elected to advance, and perhaps one day serve as a Post Commander. Please know that it was my deepest hope to continue to serve you and I put in many, many hours to that end over the years, through COVID and beyond the birth of my son last September.
I'm proud that in my years at Post 283 I was able to advocate to ensure that Post Veterans are always able to access financial support and resources through the Village for Vets casework grant partnership, and extensive work alongside VA Greater Los Angeles and LA County veteran-serving sections including healthcare, benefits and VSO's.
I'm also honored to have orchestrated and directly represented the post in giving back by supporting and directly serving Veteran families (in 2019 alone your support helped reach over 2,600!), women Veterans and those facing legal, behavioral health and housing challenges by advocating for service grants, financial support and joint events with vetted, expert organizations that make a difference.
I think that Post 283 should always endeavor to serve the wider needs of Veterans well beyond its Palisadean enclave. The local community is home to our Post so we should give back, and there remains much need amongst our brothers and sisters. Los Angeles is home to over 325,000 Veterans, it is the largest population of Veterans in the country (and note that women especially disproportionately face PTSD, homelessness, sexual trauma and suicide at a higher rate than their male and civilian counterparts).
One of the reasons that the Legion exists is to assist and mentor fellow Veterans, especially new generations of members. I want to encourage you all to help a fellow Veteran ascend rather than discounting them. Instead, offer healthy feedback often and support to help them succeed in the Legion and to remain an active part of keeping the mission of the Legion alive well beyond current generations. I challenge you all to encourage diversity and inclusion because they're strengths.
Although I will not have the chance to enact it, I will share that I hope to see Legionnaires bring more of their own interests, talents and lives outside the Post to share. We're not only Veterans, and there may be so much that you don't yet know about your fellow Legionnaire. That's the true wealth.
I wish you all the best.
—2nd Vice Commander Tess Banko, MSW/MPA (USMC)
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The advancements in technology gives us the ability to explore the ocean floor with scuba gear. We can ride through the California desert on horseback and with drone technology we can take to the skies and see what's ahead along the trail.
—Matt Louie, Post 283 Historian,
Drone Class Instructor
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Post 283 member Nicolas Mihojevich presented a check on behalf of Palisades Post 283 on stage during Los Angeles Fleet Week in San Pedro on
May 25.
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Watch District 19's video interview at LA Fleet Week. Hollywood Post 43's BJ Lange interviewed Chuck Short and Louis Adame after giving a shoutout to Fleet Week sponsor Palisades Post 283. Short and Adame were among a handful of Legionnaires manning a booth at the annual event over Memorial Day Weekend.
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Service members attended a community relations event hosted by Warriors Road Ranch in Sylmar, Calif. as a part of Los Angeles Fleet Week on May 28. Pictured here is Post 283 3rd Vice Commander Andre Andrews of Warriors Road teaching the service members about the horsemanship. The event was also covered by the LA Daily News.
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Hello Legion Family,
I mentioned last month that Hank Elder will be taking over as Squadron 283 commander on
July 1. He will be installed at a ceremony on June 14 along with all the Post’s and Squadron’s new officers. We are all looking forward to his leadership for the next year.
With that in mind, this will be my last note to you in our newsletter. I will be assuming the role of Junior Past Commander and will remain a part of our Executive Committee. I a few weeks many of us will be attending our Detachment of California Convention in Visalia.
We will be attending the Cigar Social on Friday evening at the Sequoia Cigar Company to support our California Department Commander Jere Romano. We will also be nominating a number of our members to act as Delegates at the National American Legion Convention in Charlotte, NC later this year.
As always we are looking forward to the Palisades 4th of July Parade and related activities. As I have previously written, we had a wonderful year with 65+ new members and we look forward to continuing to grow this next year as well. Thanks everyone for supporting our Squadron and I look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events.
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Peace Concert
Commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the U.S.-Korea Alliance.
7:30 pm @ Music Center’s Walt Disney Concert Hall. The performance will be conducted by Gum Nanse, the Maestro and Artistic Director, along with the renowned Seongnam Philharmonic Orchestra from Sungnam City, Korea.
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Waves of Valor
In conjunction with the West LA VA, Team RWB is looking for volunteers, participants, spectators at its annual Waves of Valor surfing/beach hang event. Post 283 is sponsoring lunch for the event. RSVP at the link below.
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All patriotic Americans were encouraged to wear or display a red poppy during the month of May as a symbol of remembrance and hope. It was a perfect opportunity for the Palisades Auxiliary to educate the public about the service members who have made the ultimate sacrifice fighting for our freedom.
The Ronald Reagan-Palisades Legion family all joined in the effort to celebrate the symbolism of the Poppy. Under the leadership of Auxiliary Second Vice-President Fran Aponte, a festive Poppy Hat Contest was held at the May 17 General Membership meeting. Auxiliary, Juniors, Legion and SAL members participated in the contest by decorating a hat and parading through the legion hall to the beat of patriotic marching music.
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A team of three judges voted on the winners in 12 categories. The Grand Prize was awarded to auxiliary member Joan Boylan (left). Three youth winners received gift cards for pizza. All participants received a sweet treat for their efforts.
Other efforts to celebrate included decorating the legion hall with bouquets of poppies for several meetings held during the month of May.
Auxiliary members visited local businesses and left poppies for employees to wear and share. Auxiliary member Marilyn Walsh coordinated offering poppies at all Masses during Memorial Day weekend at Corpus Christi Parish in Pacific Palisades. Future activities planned by the Auxiliary include a flag giveaway in honor of Flag Day. Members will distribute the flags on Sunday June 11. Palisades families are encouraged to fly the flag on June 14, which is Flag Day.
New Unit 283 auxiliary officers have been elected to serve the 2023/2024 year. President Ruth Wells Kahn and the new board will be installed at the general membership meeting on June 14.
The Auxiliary is sending a delegation to the Annual Department Convention being held in Visalia from June 22 to June 25. The convention is an important opportunity for members to network with auxiliary members from throughout the State of California.
The enthusiasm and momentum of the Unit 283 Auxiliary offers members many ways to serve Veterans and the Community.
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A “Coffee and Conversation” event was hosted by Unit 283 on May 3. The drop-in event welcomed members of the Legion, Sons of the American Legion and Auxiliary groups as well as community members interested in learning about Post 283 activities. |
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Palisades Veteran Recognized |
Wally Hastings, who graduated from West Point, served in Korea and two tours in Vietnam, was recognized for his service to the country through Honor Flight. Read more here. |
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Palisadian and Korean War Veteran Joe Halper Retires From Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners |
Halper served on the board for almost five years and held a more than three-decade career as an administrator, educator and author in the field of recreation and parks. Read more here.
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Pacific Palisades Post 283's namesake, Ronald Reagan, was a captain in the U.S. Army before he was President Reagan. He was also a member of Post 283. His dates of service:
- Army Reserve 1937-1942
- Army 1942
- Army Air Forces 1942-1945
- Army Reserve 1945-1953
- President and Commander-in-Chief 1981-1989
- World War II 1941-1945
- Cold War 1945-1953
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