On Friday, Nov. 8, Noxon Road Elementary School held a Veterans Day Ceremony to honor students' parents and grandparents who are veterans. Post member Jay Livermore, a parent of a Noxon Road student, suggested that Post 1758 provide a color guard for the event. And so, provide a color guard we did.

In attendance: Lance Ashworth, Dan Briscoe, Jim Broughton, Don Burns, John Call, Norm Dauerer, Len Hart, Bill Kriebel, Jay Livermore, Bill Meyer, Jeff Miedowski, Don Muller, Dan Oberhauser, John Polasko, Jim Reynolds, Joe Ryan.

We left John Jay about 8:30 and headed over to Gayhead Elementary to have breakfast served by Mrs.Olivares and Mrs.Allen’s second grade class. Dan Briscoe, Jim Broughton, Don Burns, John Call, Norm Dauerer, LenHart, Tom Masch, Bill Meyer, Jeff Miedowski, Don Muller, Dan Oberhauser, John Polasko, Jim Reynolds, Vinnie Richards, Joe Ryan and Ralph Schwartz enjoyed a great breakfast and entertainment provided by the students.

Friday, Nov. 8 was a busy day for Post 1758, starting at 7:00 am at John Jay High School. But it started even earlier for a group of students who arrived before dawn to line the driveway and front of the school with hundreds of American flags.
The ceremony began with the post's color guard presenting the colors and a student singing the National Anthem. Then post member Caroline Pogge raised the flag while a student played Taps. Commander Jim Reynolds gave a short speech on the service and sacrifice of veterans, followed by a couple of other dignitaries, and then another student sang "America the Beautiful".
Following the ceremony, the contingent retired to a classroom where refreshments were provided.

In attendance: Dan Briscoe, Jim Broughton, Don Burns, John Call, Norm Dauerer, Len Hart, Bill Kriebel, Tom Masch, Bill Meyer, Jeff Miedowski, Don Muller, Dan Oberhauser, Caroline Pogge, John Polasko, Jim Reynolds, Joe Ryan.

Post 1758 paid for a "Hometown Heroes" banner for Richard Robert Smith who was killed in action in Vietnam. Commander Jim Reynolds presented the banner to the town at the East Fishkill veterans' luncheon held at the Recreation Center pavilion on Sep. 29.

Don Burns discovered that there is one name on the Vietnam Memorial Wall from Hopewell Junction. Richard Robert Smith was killed on August 16th, 1967. Commander Reynolds did some follow up research and was able to locate Richard’s remaining family, a brother William, who still lives in the family home in the Wiccopee area. Jim met with Bill and obtained a photo of Richard and a little background.
 
Richard and Bill were the only children in the family, Richard being the oldest, born October 19, 1946. According to Bill, Richard was always interested in the military. He graduated from Roy C. Ketcham High School in 1964 (John Jay H.S. didn’t exist yet) and shortly thereafter joined the Marine Corp. Richard served with Company C, 3rd Tank Battalion, 3rd Marine Division. He reached the rank of Lance Corporal and died through hostile action with multiple fragmentation wounds in Thua Thein Province on August 16, 1967. The province was known as an area of heavy fighting during the Vietnam War, as it was the second-most northerly province of South Vietnam, close to the North Vietnamese border (DMZ) at the 17th parallel. More U.S. soldiers died in this province than in any other province in Vietnam (2,893). Huế is the capital of the province and was the location of some of the bloodiest fighting during the Tet Offensive in 1968.
 
Technically the Smith’s do not live in East Fishkill but in Fishkill. The border between the two towns runs down their street. But the mailing address is Hopewell Junction which is what Richard used as his “Home of Record” when he enlisted. Bill remembers the day the military knocked on their door to notify the family of Richard’s death. He recalls running upstairs to his room in tears. Bill said his mother was devastated by Richards death and wore black most of her remaining days and usually had her Gold Star pin on whatever outfit she wore.

Saturday, Sep. 21, was East Fishkill Community Day. The day started with a parade on Rt. 82 ending at the town recreation fields where a tent was set up for various veterans organizations. In the parade were Caroline Pogge and Jeff Boes as color guard, Norm Dauer and Tom Masch with their Jeeps, and Bill Meyer riding with Norm.

The tent was manned by Commander Jim Reynolds, Don Burns, John Polasko, Vinnie Richards and Bill Kriebel. Also present were Dan Briscoe and Jim Broughton. Many youngsters were delighted by having their pictures taken in Norm's Jeep.

On September 15th, Norm Dauerer and Jim Reynolds visited the folks at the Avalon Assisted Living Center. Norm took his WWII jeep which was a big hit, and Jim took his 1966 Mustang. Both enjoyed interacting with the residents and had a delicious meal with them.

Once again, our post was asked to provide a color guard for the East Fishill 9-11 Remembrance Ceremony held at town hall. The color guard consisted of Jeff Miedowski, Jim Broughton, Bill Meyer, Dan Oberhauser and Bill Kriebel, with Norm Dauerer acting as drill sergeant. Also attending were Dan Briscoe, Don Burns, Tom Masch, Commander Jim Reynolds and Joe Ryan.

Over the years, Whortlekill Rod & Gun Club has opened its doors to our post, providing meeting facilities and welcoming our junior shooting sports activities. When Norm Dauerer noticed that the flag flying over the clubhouse was becoming tattered, he requested that the post provide a new flag to show our appreciation. This was approved at our July meeting.
 
On September 5, Commander Jim Reynolds, along with Dan Briscoe and Norm Dauerer, presented a new flag to the club. Club president Mike Nunes and Karl Sokol are shown receiving the flag.

At the June membership meeting, Commander Jim Reynolds reported that he had learned from the Town of East Fishkill of a local veteran in need: Colin Williams who served in the US Navy during Vietnam. Williams is at the Grand Rehab in Poughkeepsie and his working age wife has been left to care for their home which is out of compliance with the town. The Commander proposed a Post volunteer project with the goal of clearing downed brush and possibly a fence line. Lance and others agreed to document the effort in a piece for the media.

On Wednesday June 19, Commander Reynolds, along with John Call, Bill Meyer, Norm Dauerer, Tom Masch, Bruce Coneeny and Len Hart assembled at Commander Reynolds home and proceeded to the Williams residence and began cleaning up a large brush pile on the property. They loaded the brush on a trailer and transported it to the town drop-off point for brush.

Photos and slide show courtesy of Jim Reynolds.

On June 15, Post 1758 partnered with Semper Fi Parents of Hudson Valley to welcome and honor four John Jay High School graduates who will be entering military service after graduation. The new recruits are: Brandon McGimpsey who is enlisting in the Marine Corps, and Cameron Burris, Declan Ryan, and Liam VanBuren all going into the Navy.  The families were given blue star banners, and the recruits given $5 Texas Road House gift cards, American Legion coins, a certificate of appreciation, and a promise of paid membership in the American Legion upon completion of basic training. Semper Fi Parents also gave commemorative gifts to the recruits.Post members attending were Lance Ashworth, Tom Masch, Bill Kriebel, John Polasko, Joe Ryan, Don Burns, Dan Oberhauser, Jim Reynolds and Bill Meyer. Representing Semper Fi Parents were Joanne Petersen, Gail Buckle and Lisa Kriebel.

Photos courtesy of Kerstin Ryan, Jim Reynolds and Bill Kriebel.

On June 14, Post 1758 held a flag retirement ceremony at the burn pit behind the East Fishkill Library. Assisting were Boy Scout Troop 40, some Girl Scouts, and firemen from Hopewell Hose Co. Post members in attendance were John Polasko, John Call, Don Burns, Commander Jim Reynolds, Tom Buddington, Joe Ryan, Jeff Miedowski, Bill Meyer, Tom Masch and Bill Kriebel.
Photos courtesy of Bill Kriebel.

Saturday morning, June 1 had post members retrieving the flags put out on May 18. Members present were Jeff Boes, Bill Meyer, John Polasko, John Call, Joe Ryan, Bill Kriebel and Commander Jim Reynolds.

A Memorial Day ceremony was held at the Veterans Memorial at the corner of Rt. 82 and Beekman Road, preceded by a short march from the East Fishkill Community Center. The post was represented by a Color Guard of Jeff Boes, Len Hart, Bill Kriebel, Bill Meyer Dan Briscoe and Ted Carrozza, and led by "Drill Sergeant" Norm Dauerer (who followed in his outfitted Army Jeep).

Post member Doug McHoul acted as Master of Ceremonies. Post Chaplain Dan Oberhauser rendered the opening and closing prayers, and Commander Jim Reynolds and Joe Ryan laid the ceremonial wreaths at the memorial. Members John Polasko, Hale Engel and former town supervisor Pete Idema also attended. Member Bob Logan assisted in traffic control.

On May 22, the post led a Memorial Day ceremony at John Jay High School. Post members arrived at the school at 7:00 am to see that students had placed 900 American flags all around the school property. The ceremony started with a beautiful rendition of the National Anthem followed by playing of Taps and raising the flag from half to full staff. Commander Jim Reynolds then read a short speech on the importance of remembering those fallen to protect our freedom. The ceremony closed with some words from local dignitaries and singing of America the Beautiful. Following the ceremony, the school hosted us at a light breakfast in the school.

Post members participating: Jim Broughton, Bill Kriebel, Jim Reynolds and John Call.

On Saturday, May 18, post members met for breakfast at the Falls Diner, and then proceeded to the St. Denis cemetery to place flags on the graves of veterans. Upon completion, the crew went to the Hopewell Reformed Church cemetery to place more flags.
Post members participating: Jim Broughton, Bruce Coneeny, Jeff Boes, Bill Kriebel, Jim Reynolds, John Call, Don Burns and Len Hart.