VFW District 8 Newsletter
CWO5 Randle M. Tolliver, USN (Ret)
Commander
For veterans in crisis, the Veterans Crisis
Line's number is "988” then press "1”.
Homebound veterans requiring assistance please
contact any member.
Buddy Checks! Please call or go visit elderly or homebound veterans and
see how they are doing and if they need help.
The VFW is an organization of war veterans, and our
mission is to assist veterans, their families and to serve our local community.
To promote Americanism and be a voice for veterans in Washington, and Jeff City
where we advocate for veterans, service members and military families. We
support veterans of all wars in matters of government compensation and pension
claims, hospitalization, and other issues.
The District 8 School of Instruction (SOI) for the 2026-2027
year will be Saturday 11 July at 11 am at VFW Post 5896. The address is 814 E
Karsch Blvd, Farmington. All Post
Commanders, Quartermasters and Benefits Advisors are required. Post Senior and
Junior Vice Commanders are highly encouraged to attend. If a required officer
cannot attend, they must coordinate in advance with the District Commander. If
you have questions call (573) 924-2482 or email cdrdist8@movfw.org.
The 127th VFW National Convention will be held July
25-29, 2026, at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center in Reno, Nevada.
Legislative news:
Please call Gov. Kehoe's office at (573) 751-3222 to
request a special legislative session to place HJR 115 / ‘Disabled Veterans
Property Tax and Homestead Exemption” for 100% service-connected disabled
veterans on the November ballot and let the citizens of Missouri, not Jefferson
City bureaucrats, decide this.
Please contact your Congress person and ask them
to sign the discharge petition to force a floor vote for the "Major
Richard Star Act” (H.R. 2102).
While you have their folks on the phone, ask them to
support, but modify the "Take Care of America’s Veterans Act,”
H.R.9237/S.4744. This legislation
includes many provisions the VFW has fought for, but there is a serious
problem. To pay for those benefits,
congress would reduce disability compensation for certain issues to offset
provisions from the legislation. They need to find a funding solution that does
not come at the expense of veterans and their families. Let's be clear, those
savings do not come from waste, fraud, abuse, or bureaucracy. They come
directly from veterans.
Local events:
The time and place of these
and local post meetings and other events are provided on each post’s Facebook
site; come join us!
Every Tuesday, Post 5331 in Cedar Hill host
"Veterans Coffee Talk” at 9 am at 1 Lynn Lane in Cedar Hill. If you have
questions or would like more information, please call EverTrue @ (314)
446-2539, Col. (retired) Ted Hodgson @ (314) 221-2096 or Mark Newton @ (636)
222-3521.
Every Wednesday, Post 5896 is hosting an
"all-you-can-eat” breakfast at 814 E Karsch Blvd, Farmington. Food service is 6
to 9:30 am and the cost is $10.
On
27 June, Bonne Terre Post 6883 will kick off summer with a Red, White and Blue
Music Event with music by Voices. A Post Benefits Advisor will be on hand. The
address is 1112 Roe Street in Bonne Terre. For more information, call (573)
358-4440
On 4 July, Post 6660 and VFWA, Post 6660 and VFWA, in
cooperation with other civic organizations are supporting the Reynolds County
4th of July Celebration. In addition to the parade and fireworks we will have
music, food, kids’ activities and booths. Booths and fun start at 3pm, the parade
at 5:30 pm, leading up to the ceremony and fireworks at dusk.
On 5 July Post 1831 in Desoto will hold a Craft Fair at 1651
Veterans Drive in Desoto. For more information call Jacklyn at (573 860-8226.
This is the second installment of the events leading
to the Declaration of Independence. Let’s review where we were last week: The American Revolutionary War had started
and the Second Continental Congress had convened in 1775. Public support for
independence was growing and many colonists no longer supported Parliament. In June 1776, Congress began debating the
resolution of independence and appointed the "Committee of Five" to draft
a formal declaration. The committee, John
Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston and Roger
Sherman, presented a draft titled "A Declaration by the Representatives of the
United States of America” on 28 June.
Congress resumed debate on the resolution of
independence 1 July, approved the resolution, and formally severed political
ties with Great Britain. The Declaration
of Independence was published on 4 July 1776.
This document not only justified our right to revolt
against a government that no longer guaranteed our natural rights, but it stated the principles on which our government, and our
identity as Americans, are based. The declaration’s preamble and closing were the first
formal assertion by a whole people of their right to a government of their own
choice. This landmark document has inspired numerous revolutionary movements
outside the United States since its publication.
" WHEN in the Course
of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political
Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of
the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of
Nature’s God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires
that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.
We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that
all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of
Happiness—-That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men,
deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any
Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the
People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its
Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to
them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness…………………………………….
……….We,
therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in General
Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the
Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good
People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United
Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States; that they
are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political
Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be
totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full
Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and
to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And
for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of
divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes,
and our sacred Honor.”
I offer this quote from Ronald Reagan "the Declaration Of
Independence and the Constitution of these United States are covenants we have
made not only with ourselves, but with all mankind. Our founding documents
proclaim to the world that freedom is not the sole prerogative of a chosen few.
it is the universal right of all god's children.”
Bulletin Board:
The VA one-stop telephone number is
1-800-698-2411 and press "0” for immediate assistance. The VA one stop website
is VA.gov Home | Veterans Affairs .
For more for information concerning VA "End of
Life” benefits and services see www.va.gov/initiatives/end-of-life-benefits/
The Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC) one-stop
Benefits and Resource Portal is (573) 522-4061 or www.veteranbenefits.mo.gov .
For more information, follow us at https://www.facebook.com/groups/967395123712841 or visit movfw.org
"Here to Serve”