"Post 1509 History"
Chartered: July 4 1969
Original Location: Dededo, Guam, USA
New Location:
Commander-in-Chief: Richard W. Homan
The Post met in several places prior to getting a Post Home established. The last meeting place was at the Elks Lodge in Agana, Guam. In 1977, Department Commander Leo O. Miller visited Guam and asked Post Commander Ben Alperto and Chuck Clay to visit the Governor of Guam and try to get a place to meet. On the following Monday Alperto and Clay visited Governor Ricardo J. Bordallo and were assigned a Quonset Hut, formerly quarters for Fifth AF Officers, on Harmon Cliffline.
This Hut was renovated and served as a Post Home for several years. In the early 80's the Post purchased a building from the Bank of Hawaii and moved it to the Cliffline site. This building served as a excellent facility for many years.
In 1997 the land on which were located was to be turned back to the original owners or their descendants, and we had to vacate, by order of the U. S. A. F. and Governor of Guam.
Again we visited a governor, GOV. Guiterres assigned us two 100' X 100' lots in Dededo where we are now located. We moved half of our building about 6 miles and rebuilt and reopened. We were about to become a satisfactory operation again.
Then on December 16 1997 Typhoon "PAKA" arrived and took our roof, ceiling, files and accessories away. This is when we really learned what "Comradeship" means. Our Comrades, Local and throughout the Pacific Areas came through with assistance that put us back on our feet. We are now adequate in our operation and hope to continue to improve through the years.
Compiled by Chuck Clay, (not dated)
DISTRICT
VI COMMANDER KRAUS
(Extracted
from Jan 03 Pacific Typhoon)
Dear Comrades:
On 12/8/02
Super Typhoon Pongsana roared through Guam and left mass destruction in its'
wake. As of this date only 35% of the island has had power restored, many
do not have water, many do not have telephones and many lost their homes and
most of their possessions. Some of those with major losses are VFW
members. President Bush declared the island a Disaster Area on 12/9/02.
In
accordance with DPA's National Disaster Relief Policy, I as the District
Commander, will soon be requesting donations thru the DPA Disaster Relief
Committee to help INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS in need. I will be having a special
District 6 meeting on 1/4/03 to identify & document INDIVIDUAL MEMBER losses
and will forward that information directly to the Department. At that time
if the Department determines that donations should be solicited they will follow
strict National VFW guidelines with donations being sent to the Department &
then matching funds should be given by National to the Department who should
then, based on individual member needs, distribute funds to help with their
recovery efforts. Although FEMA & the SBA are quite helpful the grants &
loans they provide will be insufficient.
You will notice from the above that the DPA &
National policies cover ONLY INDIVIDUAL LOSSES, NOT LOSSES incurred by damage to
a Post Home/Canteen. Post 2917's Post Home & Canteen received
negligible damage and is back in normal operation. Post 1509 was not so
lucky. Their Post Home & Canteen was twisted approximately 15 degrees
off its' foundation and is going to be quite expensive to repair. One
estimate to repair has been obtained to the tune of $12,000. Other avenues
are being pursued but it is going to be an expensive proposition to repair the
damages. Neither FEMA nor SBA will entertain any requests for financial
grant assistance so the cost of repairs will have to be borne entirely by the
Post.
This letter then is to solicit donations directly for
Post 1509 to assist in repairing the damage to their Post Home & Canteen.
DPA comrades, posts & districts have been generous in the past as evidenced
by the assistance 1509 received several years ago when Typhoon Paka almost
completely destroyed their Post Home, and again in the aftermath of the
earthquake in Taiwan.
IT
SHOULD BE NOTED THAT ANY DONATIONS MAY BE USED FROM THE POST RELIEF FUND.
I
thank you in advance for any donation you are able to make for this worthy
cause. Keep in mind that later on you may be solicited for donations thru
the Department to help individual members so you may want to consider how much
you can afford to donate to each.
I will keep you advised as to the situation after our
District Meeting on the 4th. I can't give you much on individual needs
right now as communication is very difficult with the telephone situation as it
is.
DONATION
CHECKS TO HELP 1509 REPAIR ITS' POST HOME SHOULD BE MADE OUT TO "VFW POST
1509", ANNOTATED AS "TYPHOON DISASTER RELIEF", AND MAILED TO:
VFW POST 1509
P.O. BOX 23395,
GMF BARRIGADA, GUAM 96921
Thanks for your Consideration,
Jerry Kraus
District 6 CM
If you have anything to add to the History of the Department of Pacific Areas, either to the Department, Districts or Posts, Please Email Dennis Carlton with the information in Document format.
Updated prior to 2007-2008