THE PURPLE FLASH

NEWSLETTER OF NORTHWEST LOUISIANA

               CHAPTER 351                                      SHREVEPORT, LA

             June, 2009                                                                Newsletter 6

NOTICE:  This newsletter sent via U. S. Mail to all members who do not have E-Mail address.  Please understand that if we can e-mail your newsletter that it saves the Chapter money and time.

COMMANDERS CORNER

I would like to express my appreciation for the wonderful support our Chapter contributed to the Department of Louisiana MOPH annual meeting here in Shreveport. LA.

Special thanks to the Ladies Auxiliary and all the Patriots who worked to make this gathering so successful.   Our guest speaker, BGen George Peyton Cole delivered a great message about the beginning of how Barksdale AFB came into existence. Our State of Louisiana,  Secretary of Veteran Affairs Lane Carson was warmly received as was the Junior Vice Commander Clayton Jones and the Region V Commander Ken Okeefe.

On Saturday 16 May09 the annual POW/MIA/MOPH Luncheon was held at the Hoban Hall, Barksdale AFB. Attending this event were 725 receipents and their families.  The keynote speaker was Congressman John Fleming.  Hoban Hall was packed with veterans, their family members, and young troops who escorted their older peers through the activities that included review of honor in which dignitaries thanked the bemedalled soldier’s, sailor’s, airmen  and Marines who marched single file through an honor cordon.  Our Department of Louisiana MOPH was well represented at this gathering.

Department Commander Richard Garner presented Patriot James Eames, Chapter 351 the Patriot of the Year Award, for the Department of Louisiana. Hopefully he will be the Region V selection for the Patriot of the Year award.  I would like to welcome Patriot James D. Wiley, US ARMY. James served in RVN and was wounded in the summer of 1970

LAMOPH NEWS

This is a reminder that the NWLA War Veterans Home will be celebrating the Monthly Birthday Party on 2 JUNE, 2009.  The cake is provided by your Ladies Auxiliary and the ice cream is provided by the Marine Corps League.  We urge you to come out and participate in this fun activity.  The party starts at 1400 until 1500.                  

ADJUTANT’S CALL

HOW TO STAY YOUNG
1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them.'

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever, even ham radio. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.' And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER :
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Purple Heart Stamp Reissued

Tammy Duckworth, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) assistant secretary for  Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, recently spoke at a U.S. Postal Service  ceremony announcing the reissue of the Purple Heart stamp. This is the fifth  issue of the Purple Heart definitive postage stamp. The Purple Heart stamp was  first issued on May 20, 2003. The reissued stamp features a photograph by Ira  Wexler of one of two Purple Hearts awarded to James Loftus Fowler of Alexandria, Va., who was  battalion commander of the Third Battalion, Fourth Marines serving in Vietnam.  A picture of the new Purple Heart stamp is available on the U.S. Postal Service website. For more information, contact  your local post office.