Copy of Copy of September 2, 2020 Newtarian (Nov 15, 2022)

IN THE BEGINNING….

Our regular Wednesday meeting was opened exactly at 12:15 PM with President Todd Lattig presiding this afternoon. A prayer was offered by Gerry Hanifan, followed by a patriotic song led by Steve Wescott. Today we had 20 of our members present, including our guest speaker, our one and only Bud Luthman. Past President Frank Eberhart extended a warm welcome to our members and the guest speaker.

HAPPY DOLLARS

Ben Davey opened up our Happy Dollars donation with four bucks – he was just happy to be here for the luncheon.

Nancy Morrisey kicked in one dollar as she was happy to see so many members (and old friends) here for lunch.

Laura Camp handed in a dollar, but for the life of me – I could not keep up with why she was happy today.

50/50 FROM LAST WEEK

President Todd announced that the winner of the 50/50 last week was not able to draw a card for the big pot because someone forgot to bring the card deck with them. Since John Cuozzo was not here this week, Todd drew a card from the deck for him. A 2 of hearts does not a winner make. The pot went to $124 for this week.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

UPDATED NEWSLETTER EDITOR LIST – President Todd said that he was passing the list around, once again, to have our members sign up to do one or two lunch meeting minutes as the editor of the weekly publication.

FUND RAISING - Todd reminded all of us again that the Board has decided to permanently suspend using the Annual Pancake Breakfast and the Annual Volley Ball Tournament as fund raisers for the club. The amount of effort going into each of them does not justify the financial benefits we derive from them.

The Board is looking into a pancake fund raiser that is sponsored by Applebee’s Restaurant as one possible replacement project. The other fund raiser we are getting involved with is the sale of Gertrude Hawk chocolate bars.

Todd asked Marge McCabe to explain the program. We buy them for a dollar each and sell them for 2 dollars each. Marge explained that she and Laura spoke with the diner manager. The Hampton Diner agreed to sell them from the front counter for us. They asked to have TEN boxes of 48 bars per box as their first load to sell. The ten cases of chocolate were delivered today. Alice was able to get 5 other businesses to sell the candy for us, including: Audi, Yetter’s Diner, Villa Capri, Subaru, and Toyota. Boxes of candy were delivered to them today as well. The Hampton Diner manager told Marge and Alice that she expects to be able to sell one box per week, if not more – which is why she wanted 10 boxes to start off with. All monies made will go to local non-profits to help fight domestic abuse, homelessness, drug and alcohol addiction, and food insecurity.

Todd reminded everyone to put their dollar bills or loose change into the blue mason jars on our tables to raise money to help fight polio.

Todd also told the members that he received a call from Athena Storm, who recently gave a talk about DASI and also came to help work at the food booth. Athena needs help stuffing envelopes for a mass mailing. The team effort is going on in the community building, which is the former fire station in Swartswood. If you can spare a couple of hours, Athena will really appreciate your assistance today.

Finally, Ben Davey, of Benny’s Bodega, was with us this week. Todd presented him with a check for $500 for his storefront service on Spring Street for the less fortunate in our community.

OUR SPEAKER THIS WEEK WAS: BUD LUTHMAN

Carl Lazzaro introduced Bud, who is well known to one and all of us.

Today, since Veteran’s Day is almost upon us, Bud spoke about something he rarely talks about – his time in the army as a helicopter gun ship commander in Vietnam. Bud spoke about several of the reasons he went into the service at that time, one of which was to fight again the spread of Communism, and to serve his nation.

Bud also centered his talk about the “firsts” that came about as a result of the war in Vietnam:

This was the first time a war was carried live on television.
The U.S. was brought into Vietnam to help train and assist the South Vietnamese army – only we got caught up in far more than that in short order.
The term “collateral damage” was used for the civilians who were either killed or wounded as a result of a fire fight or bombs that were dropped to drive the enemy out of hiding or out of their fortifications. The use of this term also had an impact on the troops and what was happening to the civilian populations.
The war in Vietnam did not have a “front line”. Rather, it was a sniper’s war, with land mines scattered all over the countryside, and ambushes. The North Vietnamese army did not believe in traditional warfare tactics.
This was the first time you might have been asked “what is your draft number”?
For the first time in our history, troops returning home from a war were not openly welcomed back. Quite to the contrary, often times there were open demonstrations against these returning service men and women.
Significant strides were made in the development of far more functional prosthetic devices for members of our armed forces who had lost a leg or arm in combat.
The army and marines relied heavily upon the use of helicopters, for use as a primary supply line, getting troops in-country and bringing them back out, and for ferrying people (troops, dignitaries, and others) all over the country as needed.
Troops were in-country for a specific period of time and then brought out and in many instances sent home for R & R before going back again. Most of the wars we previously fought, the troops were there for the duration. The only other exception to this was early during the Civil War when whole units were sworn into service for 6 months, nine months or a full year- and were then discharged. That changed by 1862 when you were sworn into service, you were in for the duration of the war, unless you were severely wounded and then sent home.
Reliance on a “body count” of the North Vietnamese soldiers, to try and make people here in America feel like we were actually making headway in the war. The problem with that idea was that the “body count” began to be used to count the dead, each week, of our people who would not return home alive.

Bud also did something he had not done before, he read from the citation of the Distinguished Flying Cross he had been awarded.

To better understand what this award is and who the recipients are:

The Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) is a military decoration of the United States Armed Forces. The medal was established on July 2, 1926, and is currently awarded to any persons who, after April 6, 1917, distinguish themselves by single acts of heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in aerial flight. Both heroism and extraordinary achievement are entirely distinctive, involving operations that are not routine.

When Bud read the reason why he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, you can begin to understand what he went through and experienced, in order to help other servicemen involved in his operations. Also, the impact of his service in that war, obviously, left an indelible mark on him.

It was an honor to have him share his experiences with us. We all thank him for his service!

FINAL NOTE 50/50

Carl Lazzaro was the winner again this week and garnered a whopping $5 for his efforts. Carl pulled a card – which turned out to be the six of spades. The main pot now continues its slow growth, again, and presently stands at $128.00.

ADJOURNMENT

With no other business to come before the club, President Todd announced that the meeting was formally adjourned at 1:14 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Wayne T. McCabe

Past President (’88 – ’89)