MEETINGS
1st and 3rd
WEDNESDAY
OF THE MONTH
AMERICAN LEGION
POST 694 NEWSLETTER
BOX 58, Northport, New York 11768 (631) 261-4424
Website: http://northportamericanlegion.com
EDITOR:PeteTramonte459-3789
E-mail:[email protected]
JUNE 2016
POST OFFICERS
JOHN COONEY
Commander
757-2694
JIM PORCIELLO
1stViceCommander
544-4964
BILL LEAVY
2ndViceCommander
266-5379
ROBERT MARTINSEN
3rdViceCommander
265-0190
RICHARD HESSEL
Adjutant
266-1269
PETER SCHMITT, P/C
Treasurer
261-5782
JIM DE SOCIO
Asst.Treasurer
757-9609
JERRY JEROME
Chaplain
673-6851
JOHN DAYTON
ServiceOfficer
757-8799
PETE TRAMONTE
Historian/Editor/Webmaster
459-3789
MICHAEL SCHMITT
Sgt-At-Arms
805-9356
MORT ROBERTS, P/C
JudgeAdvocate
368-2817
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
MICHAEL SUCHOCKI, P/C
757-3453
RON MATUZA, P/C
261-0094
Legionnaires,
COMMANDER MESSAGE
We had a very busy month of May and I thank all of you for your efforts. Poppy Day was a huge success
and thank you to Jim Porciello and Rich Hessel for organizing the day. We did not have a promising
start to the day due to the weather. In fact, I think swimsuits should have been the uniform of the
day for the first couple of hours. However, the weather did not deter us and we were well represented
by legionnaires, family members, boy scouts, smokeaters and Project V.E.T.S. from Northport High
School. Our perseverance paid off and we had a great response from the community for another record
Poppy Day. Thank you to everyone who turned out for a few hours that day. It makes a huge difference
in the lives of our veterans and families under the care of the Northport VA.
On May 2, we had a good turnout for Legislator Doc Spencer Veterans’ Appreciation Breakfast that
honored Jim Mahoney and our late Past Commander Mario Buonpane. I’m glad we had so many
legionnaires in attendance as Legislator Spencer is a tireless worker and advocate for our veterans and
community. We were also well represented at the Cradle of Aviation in Garden City at the ceremony to
honor Vietnam veterans. Congratulations to John Dayton, Fred Amore and Bill McKenna for attending
and receiving their Vietnam Service Awards at the event.
Fortunately, the weather did cooperate this year for our efforts placing flags on veterans’ graves on May
21. We had a large number of members, family and volunteers from our community, including Boy
Scout Troop 41, to assist. It is an important effort and I’m proud that we can continue the tradition
and honor those veterans, including former Legion members. See some of the pictures inside.
Please take a look at the calendar for the month of June. Sunday, June 12 is a big day with a couple
of events. First, at Northport Village Hall at 11:00 a.m. there will be a Vietnam Veterans Tribute
that will be dedicated to our local fallen veterans that gallantly gave their life in service to our Nation
during the Vietnam War. Special thanks to legionnaires Jim Desocio and Larry Brown for working
on the background for each of the veterans to make it a meaningful day. Also, a big thank you to our
friend Effie Huber who is once again spearheading this initiative and has been instrumental in making
a veterans recognition ceremony an annual tradition every June. Later that day, please don’t forget that
the U.S. Army Birthday celebration starts at 1:00 pm and is again hosted and organized by Bob Benson
and Joe Casoria. It is always a wonderful celebration and a great day to enjoy with veterans, family and
friends.
By the time you will receive this, we will have had our Memorial Day parade and ceremony. I’m sure
that we had a great turnout and our members and color guard looked outstanding paying our respects
to our fallen. Look for pictures and an update in the next newsletter.
On a final note, congratulations to our very own Mort Roberts for being honored for his service at Citi
Field during a Mets game. It was quite an honor and Mort was thrilled. Supposedly, the Mets asked
Mort to come back and take Matt Harvey’s next start. Give ‘Em Hell, Mort!
Keep up the great work Legionnaires, together we make a difference.
Commander John J. Cooney
NORTHPORT POST #694 - COMMITED TO VETERANS, COMMUNITY & YOUTH ACTIVITIES
THANK YOU
DATES TO REMEMBER
WED
June 1 Regular Post Meeting -- 7:00 p.m.
WED
June 15 Boys and Girls State Send-off in Lieu of
Regular Post Meeting – 7:00 p.m.
SUMMER CONCERT SERIES
Wall of Wars at -- 6:30 p.m. on Wednesdays
June 8, 15, 22 and 29
Club 694 Open 5:00 p.m. every Friday
VIETNAM VETERANS TRIBUTE
Sunday June 12 at 11:00 a.m.
Northport Village Hall
U.S. ARMY BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
at Post on Sunday June 12 at 1-4 p.m.
All are invited, including family
THE UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
(submitted by Tom Travers)
Years of romping, stomping, hell, death, and
destruction. The finest fighting machine the world has ever
seen. We were born in a bomb crater, my mother was an
M-16, my father was the devil, and each moment that I live
is an additional threat upon your life.
I’m a roguish looking, roving soldier of the sea. I
am cocky, self-centered, overbearing, and I do not know
the meaning of fear for I am fear itself. I am a green
amphibious monster made of blood and guts that arose
from the sea whose sole purpose in life is to perpetuate
death and destruction upon the festering of anti-Americans
throughout the globe, whenever it may arise. And, when
my time comes, I’ll die a glorious death on the battlefield
giving my life for mom, apple pie, and the American Flag.
We stole the eagle from the air force, the anchor from
the navy, and the rope from the army, and on the seventh
day while God rested we overran his perimeter and stole the
globe and we’ve been running the show ever since. We live
like soldiers, talk like sailors, and slap the hell out of both
of them. Marine by day, lover by night, drunkard by choice,
marine by God.
-Author Unknown
FAMOUS QUOTE
“No day shall erase you from the memory of time.”
-Virgil
SERVICE OFFICER REPORT
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of:
William Degen – Army Lt. passed away at the age of
70 on May 7, 2016.
Our Thoughts and prayers go out to the following:
Bill Moran – Undergoing treatment
for brain tumor. Cards can be sent to: 7
Harbor Park Court, Centerport NY 11721
Edward Miller – is residing at the
State Veterans Home at Stony Brook,
Unit 3B Room309, 100 Patriots
Road, Stony Brook, NY 11721
Frank (Butch) Endee – recovering at home. Phone
calls and cards to cheer him up would be appreciated.
134 Bellecrest Avenue, East Northport, NY 11731
Phone: (631) 754-3672
Jim Mahoney & Mike Suchocki – Under doctors care
and send their best.
(Appropriate cards were sent on behalf of the post)
Please pray for all sick and deceased.
A CALL AND/OR CARD IS ALWAYS APPRECIATED
BY ANY MEMBER WHO IS RECOVERING
FROM AN ILLNESS.
Call John Dayton at 631-757-8799 for any addresses or phone
#’s Please call with any updates or new information
BIRTHDAYS
Rudolph Bodd, Steven Brown,
Gary Crane, Harry Curry,
Melvin A Deimel, Gerard Kennedy,
Alfred Kowalski, John Malone,
Damon P McMullen, Joseph Meade,
William Moran, Louis Ohlig, Walter Pierce,
Frederick P Schmitt, Herbert Seus, Anthony Silvestri,
Robert Chris Smith III, Joseph M Snyder,
Joseph Stanjones, John Steinsvold
For those who have not seen their birthday listed, please call or
email me, Pete Tramonte at: Tel: 631-459-3789
Email: [email protected]
HUMOR
Someone asked an old man: “Even after 70 years, you still
call your wife – Darling, Honey, Luv. What’s the secret?
Old man: I forgot her name and I’m scared to ask her.
KOREA | THE FORGOTTEN WAR 2
Calling the war in Korea the “forgotten war” has been part of the American lexicon since 1951. However, why it was called
that in the first place is not completely understood. To understand how the words and, more importantly, how its meaning
became part of our national mentality, one must first appreciate the history of what was occurring on the Korean peninsula
before, during and following the war.
Korea was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the closing days of World War II in 1945 when the Allies split the former Japanese
colony along the 38th parallel, with the north administered by the Soviet Union and the South by the United States. Over the
next few years the Soviets and the Americans gradually withdrew their forces, and the two Koreas were all but “forgotten” as
the world focused on Germany, Eastern Europe, and China’s civil war and revolution.
That all changed the early morning hours on June 25, 1950, when North Korean troops stormed across the 38th parallel and
invaded South Korea, catching the greatly outnumbered and ill-equipped South Korea’s forces off guard and throwing them into
a hasty southern retreat. American and other Allied troops still located in Korea also withdrew to the south, setting up blocking
and delaying positions until they reached the southern tip of the Korean peninsula. The most famous of these blocking stances
was Task Force Smith on July 27, 1950 at the Battle of Osan, approximately 20 miles south of Seoul. North Korean troops and
tanks eventually overwhelmed American positions and the remnants of the Task Force retreated in disorder to the south.
The United Nations quickly condemned the invasion and demanded an immediate cessation of hostilities and for North
Korea to withdraw its armed forces back above the 38th parallel. When the North Koreans failed to comply, the U.N. Security
Council passed a resolution on June 27, 1950 recommending that its members provide militaryassistance to South Korea.
Although he did not want to find the United States embroiled in another war, President Harry Truman soon agreed to send
American forces into action, and on July 7, 1950, the U.N. Security Council recommended that all U.N. forces sent to South
Korea be put under U.S. command. The next day, General Douglas MacArthur was named Supreme Commander of all U.N.
Forces in Korea.
By early August, 1950 the weakened Allies had been pushed all the way back to the Pusan Perimeter, a defensive line around
an area in the southeastern corner of the Korean peninsula. Throughout August and into September, the Americans and their
counterparts fought off attack after attack from the North Koreans, barely preventing them from advancing any further. The
first reinforcement to arrive by ship in the Pusan Harbor where the Army First Cavalry Division and U.S. Marines stationed in
Japan. Other U.N. troops arrived as well, allowing the Allies to take the offensive. Wanting to crush North Korean forces not
only near Pusan but elsewhere in South Korea, MacArthur devised an audacious plan to land troops behind the enemy lines at
Inchon - about 100 miles south of the 38th parallel and 25 miles northwest from Seoul. In that way his forces could attack the
North Koreans from both directions.
Initially MacArthur’s proposal met with resistance when other senior American military leaders - mostly Navy officers
- criticized the plan as too risky, pointing to a variety of challenges associated with landing at Inchon, including the narrow
port channel and extreme tidal changes. MacArthur argued that these factors would mean the North Koreans wouldn’t expect
the Allies to attempt an amphibious landing at the poorly defended Inchon. MacArthur received the official go-ahead for the
Inchon landing and beginning on September 15, 1950, American-led U.N. forces converged on the North Korean army from
the north and the south, killing or capturing thousands North Korean soldiers and disrupting their supply lines. All along the
Korean peninsula, the now disorganized units of the North Korean army were trying to hold on while others quickly retreated
back over the 38th parallel. General Douglas MacArthur ordered troops to pursue the retreating North Koreans further into
North Korea while sending other U.N. force southeast and to recapture Seoul, which they succeeded to do by September 26,
1950 following bitter, deadly house-to-house fighting.
By early October 1950, American and South Korean forces advanced deep into North Korea, destroying North Koreans
units and sending them further into retreat toward to the Yalu River, which separates North Korea from Communist China.
On October 19, the North Korean capital of Pyongyang was captured. McArthur then pushed American troops further north
toward the Yalu River. Chinese leaders threatened to intervene in the conflict if U.N. forces continued north or crossed the
border into China. McArthur felt confident the Chinese were bluffing and would never enter the war. It was a miscalculation that
ultimately helped get him fired by Truman. In late November, as record subzero temperatures blown in by cold northern winds, a
massive force of 300,000 Chinese troops crossed into North Korea undetected and joined the demoralized North Korean forces.
In brutal freezing cold-weather fighting, the outnumbered U.N. forces, surrounded by North Koreans and Chinese, began
withdrawing from the Chosin Reservoir and other footholds along the further stretches of North Korea. The complete breakout
from the Chosin Reservoir took a few weeks before some U.N. forces reached Hungnam’s port facilities and evacuated by ships.
Other badly depleted U.N. forces rapidly retreated towards the 38th parallel. In early January 1951, the Communists recaptured
Seoul, only to have the Allies reoccupy it again in March. By May 1951, the communists were pushed back to the 38th parallel,
and the battle line remained in that vicinity for the rest of the war as US and North Korean armistice negotiators, neither willing
to surrender an inch of bloody worthless frozen ground, took their own sweet time dawdling in the comfort of a heated “peace
(con’t on back page)
tent” at the abandoned village of Panmunjom.
On July 27, 1953, after two years of bitter back and forth negotiation and three years of war that killed about 600,000
soldiers on both sides and as many as 2 million civilians, military leaders from China, North Korea and the United Nations
signed an armistice that ended the fighting and established a 2.5-mile-wide demilitarized zone to serve as a buffer between
the two Koreas. Korea remains divided along the 38th parallel with North and South Korea still making threats against each
other, raising nuclear-tipped spears, conducting “training exercises” and firing “stray rounds.” Every day, communist and
anticommunist forces - including Americans - stare each other down across noman’s land and conduct reconnaissance and
security patrols along the most heavily fortified space in the world. Nearly every day the media reminds us about the tensions
between the two Koreas, which are perhaps worse today than when the U.N. sent troops there 62 years ago.
Isolated North Korea continues to be ruled by a one-family dictatorship currently led by its erratic and immature Supreme
Leader Kim Jong-un who and in the tradition of his father and grandfather, uses the nations meager resources on military
might while his enslaved people continue to starve to death. South Korea, however, has grown into the eight wealthiest nations
in the world and Seoul’s quality of life in 2013 was found to be higher than that of New York City, London, or Melbourne but
slightly lower than Tokyo and Paris.
So why is the Korean War Korea still referred to as a “police action,” “the Korean conflict” and “the forgotten war,” when
in fact it was inescapably a real, hard slugging, miserable war where millions died and many more suffered from the hostilities?
And why in spite of it significance of being the first shooting war of the Cold War, pitting democracy to communism? Here
are some of the reasons given for why it gained the label “the forgotten war” and continues to be referred to in that manner by
many.
• Nestled snugly between the storied glory of the last “good war” - Second World War and that twelve year nightmare known
as Vietnam - the Korean War is mostly forgotten because very little was accomplished according to some. They point out the
neither side won nor did they lose it since they never signed a permanent peace treaty, so both sides are technically still at war.
• Another theory goes something like this: it was fought in a remote, backward country of no vital, strategic interest, and it
ended in a deadlock “the kiss of death for national pride and war memory. What contradicts that idea, however, is the Korean
War Veterans Memorial dedicated to the spirit, sacrifice, and commitment of the men and women who served during the
Korean War.
• Perhaps the one theory that makes some sense on how the forgotten war idea came into being was put forth by Melinda
Pash in her book “In the Shadow of the Greatest Generation: The Americans Who Fought the Korean War,” which examines
this significant but neglected war. She wrote Korea has been called a “Forgotten War” since at least October 1951 when U.S.
News & World Report gave it that moniker. In reality, Americans did not so much forget the Korean War as never having
thought about it at all. When the war first broke out, people worried that American involvement would usher in the same type
of rationing and full mobilization that had characterized World War II. That failed to occur and within a few months, most
Americans turned back to their own lives, ignoring the conflict raging half a world away. Newspapers continued to report on
the war, but with the entrance of the Chinese in late fall 1950 and the resulting stalemate in late 1951, few Americans wanted
to read or think about Korea despite the nearly two million American serving in Korea.
No doubt, many of our citizens - mostly because it is so well entrenched in our psyche - will continue to “forget” or ignore
the Korean War and its veterans. Yet on so many levels this shows general disrespect for those American patriots who bravely
fought in a bitter Vietnam War where 54,246 died and another 103,254 were injured. Then of course there are the 7,140 POWs
and the 8,117 U.S. troops still officially missing in action. Families of those who died deserve the honor of knowing their loved
one died in a real war and not a forgotten one? [Source: Together We Served | Dispatches | April 2015 ++]
American Legion
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Northport,NewYork11768
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PHOTO EVENTS
Cemetery Flag’s – Legion Members along with Boy Scout Troop 41 laying American flag’s at
Cemeteries for past service members.
Vietnam Service Award Medals
John Dayton, Fred Amore and Bill McKenna receiving their Vietnam service awards 5/21/16 cradle of aviation
Garden City New York.
PHOTO EVENTS
Vet’s helping Vet’s at the Beacon House. We served banana splits, rooter floats and fruit cups.
All donated by the Red Cross.