Henry Rifle Raffle
Department Adjutant Pat Smith presents a check in the amount of $10,700 to David Profit of American Heroes in Action for their programs of assistance to disabled veterans. The money was raised from the recent raffle of two Henry Big Boy Rifles. James D. of Sterling, Co won the first place 100th anniversary American Legion commemorative rifle. John M of Parker was the second place winner of a regular Big Boy Rifle.
Baseball Silver Bar Raffle
Colorado American Legion Baseball held their Silver Bar raffle at 2pm on November 16th at Department Headquarters.
Congratulations to the following winners:
1st place Winner of Silver bar was Beyza Cisar of Fort Collins
2nd Place Winner of $200.00 was Dave Roche of Greeley
3rd Place Winner of $100.00 was Dorn Armstrong of Johnstown
Bill Hartless Selected as
Post Commander of the Year
Commander Dean Noechel has announced that Canon City Post 13 Commander Bill Hartless has been selected as the 2019-2020 Post Commander of the year. Bill will receive a special plaque honoring his selection to be presented at a future date. Following is the citation.
William Hartless Canon City Post 13
In recognition of your outstanding leadership as Post Commander of Wray McKinstry Post 13, Canon City, Colorado. Your dedication to the aims and purposes of The American Legion, your community and our Veterans is unwavering. Commander Hartless is a very active member of his Post and the community, ensuring that everyone knows about The American Legion and what we do for Veterans Assistance, Americanism, Children & Youth and Strong National Defense. Commander Hartless led the charge of refurbishing the Post home inside and out, participated in and executed the Post’s 100th Centennial Celebration and participated in numerous Honor Flights for our WWII and Korean War Hero’s. Commander Hartless also spearheaded the adoption of the Abbey cemetery to ensure that no Veteran is ever forgotten. Commander Bill Hartless is leading the way in Re-Igniting Patriotism.
Thank You for “Re-Igniting Patriotism” in Canon City, Colorado.
National Commander UpdateCommander, Senate VA Committeechairman meet in KansasPriorities seemed to be the theme for last night’s dinner between American Legion National Commander James W. “Bill” Oxford and Sen. Jerry Moran. The two met while Oxford was visiting American Legion Post 256 in Wichita, Kan. “The COVID-19 crisis has interfered with our ability to travel,” Oxford said. “While I have resumed some department visits, it’s important that Legionnaires prioritize safety in order to hold events responsibly. I was honored that Sen. Moran believes that The American Legion is important enough to meet with us during my visit to his state. He made clear to me over dinner that serving veterans is one of his top priorities as a senator. He also seemed open to supporting legislation in Congress that would designate a Buddy Check week.” “I became the chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs in January,” Moran said. “I want to make sure that my priorities are their priorities. What I know about veterans’ needs are based on conversations that I have and that they have with my staff. What we decide to prioritize in our committee, what we work to get passed through Congress and signed by the president are things that Kansas veterans talk to me about.” Moran added that he is often able to gauge veterans’ opinions through his relationship with The American Legion. “We talk to veterans, we listen to veterans but we know that The American Legion speaks for veterans, and we trust and respect what they have to say,” Moran said. The senator also said that he was “anxious to review” Buddy Check legislation with his staff. “We certainly support the concept, the idea of recognizing the importance of having a buddy,” he said. “Particularly in today’s world with COVID-19 isolation and the challenges that we see with those who served in recent wars and wars of the past.” Oxford arrived in the Sunflower state on Sunday. He begins a visit to the Department of Wyoming Saturday. “It’s an honor to have the national commander of The American Legion with us in Kansas,” Moran said. “I appreciate the efforts that the Legion makes in staying connected with its members … It’s an honor to pay my respect to veterans and especially the veterans who help other veterans, which is what The American Legion does.” For God and country, |
| James W. “Bill” Oxford National Commander |
Colorado receives the William F Lenker National Service Award
For the second year in a row Colorado took first place in the annual competition for the best statewide Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation report. National Commander Bill Oxford announced Colorado as the winner of this prestigious award..
This award is presented annually to that department of The American Legion excelling in welfare and rehabilitation work for war veterans and their dependents, providing, that the membership of that department shall be no less than 80 per cent of the preceding year. This award was first presented by NEC resolution in October 7, 1928. Our Colorado VA&R Chairman Tom Florez assembled data from all of our CPR’s and other reports submitted by our posts to apply for the award. Here are some of the highlights from Tom’s report to national when applying for the award.
Over 130 posts have an active VA&R committee and 78 posts have post service officers. They assisted 1,725 veterans with claims and other needs. We have 67 posts that provide graveside funeral services for our veterans. Our members spent 20,800 hours as volunteers in our state Community Living Centers and our two VA hospitals. We disbursed over $49,000 to needy Colorado veterans with our Veterans Assistance fund. We processed 10 TFA grants from national for Colorado Veterans. Thirty of our members logged over 100 hours and three members logged over 300 hours in voluntary service to our veterans. Our Grand Junction area posts contributed over $11,000 to the Veterans One Source Center assisting veterans on the Western slope. Click here to se the complete report.
Congratulations to all of our posts and our members for the hard work in carrying out our primary mission, serving veterans and their families in Colorado.
The award will be formally presented by National Commander Bill Oxford at our Mid-Year Conference in Colorado Springs in January 2021.
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Know Your benefits
Filing for VA Benefits Prior to filing for any VA benefit, it is highly recommended the claimant consult with an accredited American Legion service officer. The American Legion has approximately 3,000 accredited service officers to assist you. To locate a service officer, please go to www.legion.org/serviceofficers. Submitting all of the required information with the proper claim form to VA may reduce processing time by as many as 120 days. American Legion service officers are able to explain the claim process, help with the proper forms and required documentation for veterans and their dependents at no charge.
