American Legion Post 642 (Stevens Creek) Cupertino, California

American Legion News

US sanctions alleged financiers of North Korea's weapons program

The United States imposed sanctions this week on six people and two companies in China, Russia and the United Arab Emirates that allegedly helped fund North Korea's weapons program.

The U.S. Treasury Department is freezing all U.S. property belonging to Yu Pu Ung, Ri Tong Hyok, O In Chun, Han Chol Man, Jong Song Ho and Jon Yon Gun, according to a news release from the Office of Foreign Assets Control on Wednesday. The office did not specify how much the frozen assets are worth.

Yu, based in China, is the "linchpin" of North Korea's illicit financing program, according to the Treasury Department.

Yu and Ri represented Tanchon Bank, the financial arm of the Korea Mining Development Corp., which the U.N. Security Council describes on its website as North Korea's primary arms dealer and funded by North Korean IT workers employed abroad. outh Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is sanctioning the same individuals and accused them of financing the North's nuclear and missile program, according to a separate news release Thursday.

The combined effort reflects Washington and Seoul's goal of curbing North Korea's "efforts to generate revenue for its illicit and destabilizing activities," Brian Nelson, Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in the department's release.

"The United States, along with our South Korean partners, will continue to take action to safeguard the international financial system and prevent [North Korea] from funding its illegal weapons programs," Nelson said.

Allis LLC, a Russian company, and Pioneer Bencont Star Real Estate of the UAE were accused by the Treasury Department of funneling over $2.5 million to their parent company, the Chinyong Information Technology Cooperation Co. Under the sanctions, U.S. citizens and companies are prohibited from dealing with the two companies and their U.S.-based assets are frozen.

Chinyong, based in North Korea, funds its military through the salaries of IT employees working from Russia and Loas, according to the Treasury Department.

The sanctions follow the creation of a U.S.-South Korean task force targeting illicit oil transfers to North Korea.

The new Enhanced Disruption Task Force met for the first time Tuesday in Washington, D.C., to discuss blocking North Korea's illegal procurement of refined petroleum, which is essential for the communist regime's nuclear and missile programs, South Korea's Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a news release Wednesday.

A 2017 U.N. Security Council resolution limits the communist regime's imports of crude oil to 4 million barrels and refined oil to 500,000 barrels a year.

Despite this cap, however, North Korea is estimated to have imported over 1.5 million barrels of refined oil between January and September 2023, using methods like ship-to-ship transfers, according to the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Russia and China are the primary sources of North Korea's oil, according to the Security Council. The task force members during their meeting "expressed concern over the possibility that Russia may provide refined oil to North Korea as their relations become closer," the ministry said.

"The two sides strongly urged Russia to faithfully implement the [U.N. Security Council] resolutions as it has declared that it would," the release said.

Creating a ‘kill web': Army brings other services, allies together to test new tech for a major fight

Army Rangers send a swarm of small drones out over the Marine Corps base in Southern California in search of potential targets. Off the coast, Navy destroyers stand by ready to fire, if called upon.

Meanwhile, Marine logisticians just off the shore move supplies onto land using autonomous boats to transport gear close to the coastal base and unmanned drones to deliver the equipment to troops on land.

Farther away, Air Force fighter jets patrol desert training ranges near Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas in search of enemy aircraft. And at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., Army special operators conduct secretive reconnaissance missions, quietly closing in on potential adversaries to gather intelligence.

These training operations across the western United States in recent weeks were linked together by top Army leaders working from a command center at Camp Pendleton, connecting those troops, their intelligence-gather sensors and their weapons to form a so-called "kill web," as part of broad experiment to share targeting information and other data at breakneck speeds among all U.S. military services.

The experiment, known as Project Convergence, was the largest effort yet to pull the services together under a single command and control apparatus to choose the best weapon in the Pentagon's arsenal to destroy a target quickly. Dubbed the Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control, or CJADC2, Pentagon leaders, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, have called it the Defense Department's top technology priority, and plan to spend some $1.4 billion on the program next year, according to its fiscal 2025 budget proposal.

Military leaders believe connecting all the military services sensors — from satellites in outer space to aircraft in the skies and from ships at sea to infantrymen on the front lines — in a communications network is the best way to fight, should U.S. troops find themselves in a conflict with near-peer rivals such as China or Russia, which have spent heavily in recent years on new military technology. In one instance during the experiment this month, a Marine F-35 stealth fighter discovered an enemy target, relayed the information to an Air Force battle management node and an Army artillery battery blasted the target with a missile — all in seconds.

That kind of success — rare in a military where the branches speak with jargon unique to their own troops and use weapons systems developed specifically for their branch — proves CJADC2 can work in future conflict, said Lt. Gen. Ross Coffman, the deputy commander for Army Futures Command, who helped lead the experiment.

 "There's no Army fight. There's no Marine Corps fight," Coffman said March 5 at Camp Pendleton as Project Convergence prepared to move its 2024 capstone experiment from a maritime fight at the Marine base to a desert operation at the Army's National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., some 150 miles northeast. "There's a joint fight. … Each of our services are extremely capable. I would say the best in the world. When those five services come together in exercises like this, we form a fist, and that fist delivers an incredible punch."

The experiment at Camp Pendleton and Fort Irwin from Feb. 23 through March 20, included two distinct focus areas, both aimed at transforming how the military fights. The initial phase at Camp Pendleton focused on the ability to move massive amounts of data — the intelligence collected by military sensors — between the U.S. services and several allies, including the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, and linking together offensive and defensive firing capabilities.

The second phase at NTC focused on human-machine integration in combat formations — adding small airborne drones and ground robots into the Army's front-line fighting units to expand firepower and reduce risk of harm to the troops closest to the enemy.

The Army launched Project Convergence in 2020 as a small experiment aimed at drastically reducing the time it takes to attack a target after identifying it on the battlefield. Futures Command worked to link various Army sensors across the battlefield — such as drones, radar systems and technology in soldiers' hands — to command-and-control nodes outfitted with artificial intelligence designed to rapidly determine what the target was and what weapon would best eliminate it.

Coffman, who also led the 2020 version of Project Convergence, touted at the time his team's ability to cut targeting processes from tens of minutes to tens of seconds, in some cases. In three subsequent iterations of Project Convergence, the Army has continued to shave time off its targeting processes, Coffman and other officials said.

This year, processing times to find a target, verify it and strike it improved since the initial experiment in 2020 was held at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, said Alex Miller, who serves as the top technology adviser to Gen. Randy George, the Army's chief of staff. Miller and Coffman declined to provide specifics about targeting timing in the experiment, citing concerns about revealing too much to adversaries.

"We did see things that took minutes of very human-central processing go down to seconds because the workflows were entirely automated," Miller said. "So, what we did see is from a sensor to someone who could affect a target — two orders of magnitude reduction at times. And it was pretty awesome."

The Army gradually expanded Project Convergence in recent years, adding other services to its second major experiment and several allied militaries later. This year, Project Convergence has grown to encompass a variety of experiments built into training exercises in the Indo-Pacific Command area of operations and the European theater, Coffman said. It will continue later this year with another exercise in INDOPACOM. Coffman described the program going forward as a continuous "campaign of learning."

The experiments this month served as the capstones for Project Convergence in 2024, which the Army had planned to pour some $90 million into this year, according to service budget documents.

"We started very small, proving tech [in the initial Project Convergence] and now today we're talking across services, we're passing data across services, and proving that we can work together to protect through defensive fires and affect through offensive fires," Coffman said. The project used a Joint Track Management Capability data bridge built by the Missile Defense Agency to link all the services' components together on a single network, he said. The bridge allowed the services and allies to pass data back and forth at rates the Pentagon had never attempted previously.

"This bridge absolutely allowed us to pass information from multiple sensors to multiple shooters, so that an Army sensor passed data to a shooter in every service, and the other services' sensors passed data to all the other services," Coffman said. "It worked magnificent. It was able to pass the amount of data that we have not seen before … ncreasing it tenfold, and it absolutely was able to pass that data and get it to the right shooter."

Fighting at ‘machine speed'

Inside a military tent, Army Maj. John Donaho stands before a large projection of the expansive battlespace and military assets involved in the first phase of Project Convergence. The battlespace spreads out from Camp Pendleton, the experiment's "nerve center," as far east as Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst, N.J., and as far west as Australia, said Donaho, who leads a Joint Modernization Command capabilities integrations team for Army Futures Command.

The massive battlespace was meant to represent the challenges presented by fighting a conflict in the Indo-Pacific Command area of operations, which spans nearly half the globe's land area and the Pacific Ocean. The region is the Pentagon's top security priority, highlighted by China, which is considered the top U.S. challenge as it expands its military and conducts increasingly destabilizing operations in the region, according to Adm. John Aquilino, the commander of INDOPACOM.

At Project Convergence, military leaders worked to ensure that a commander at Camp Pendleton had nearly real-time control of his forces across that huge swath of the globe — from artillery batteries in northern Australia and at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., to Navy destroyers and littoral combat ships operating in waters between Hawaii and California, and aircraft flying throughout the region, Donaho said.

The key is the automation brought by artificial intelligence and machine learning that allow any of those troops across the globe to relay information quickly to the commander who can then make a decision with that data, the major said. There are multiple reasons why the Pentagon wants to hasten its targeting practices to allow commanders to make those decisions "at machine speed," Donaho said.

 In some cases, targets might only present themselves for a small window of time. "So, if something's only there for 10 or 20 minutes, we don't have time for 15 telephone operators along the way to pass that message up, get a decision, and then pass it all the way back down to the person who is then tasked to hit that red button to make the rocket go boom," Donaho said March 5 at Camp Pendleton.

But Pentagon leaders also believe by speeding up the ability to share targeting information and other data between all services operating in a battlespace, it will also save them precious resources, including expensive missiles, which defense leaders fear would be at a premium in the early days of a conflict with a power competitor such as China.

Without a common operating picture among the services through a program such as CJADC2, the separate branches might end up "double targeting or triple targeting" an enemy asset that reveals itself, said Vice Adm. Michael Boyle, the commander of the San Diego-based 3rd Fleet. Boyle led the Navy's contributions to Project Convergence.

"If we can't connect ourselves together, we're going to all build individual stovepipe plans," Boyle told reporters March 5. "But if we can connect together, then we can draw from a single magazine across the joint force. We don't have unlimited magazines … so this enables us to pick whatever magazine we need to pick from."

The technology on display at Project Convergence was not limited to the efforts to connect sensors and shooters and share data across all the military services. Coffman said the Army has also used the platform to test the latest technology it hopes to bring to its formations in the coming years, including self-driving tactical vehicles, small drones and robots capable of firing machine guns or other weapons.

‘Machines before humans'

A four-legged robot resembling a dog marches through the streets of a small village built on NTC's vast desert training grounds. The semi-autonomous ground drone, which weighs about 110 pounds, is built to provide a soldier with a new means of reconnaissance — "acting as their eyes and ears" on the ground, according to Army officials.

The robotic dog can run about three hours and span distances beyond 6 miles, according to its manufacturer Ghost Robotics. The robot can move through water, climb stairs and send live 360-degree imagery back to its operators. For troops serving on the frontlines, it offers them the ability to stay hidden as it searches potentially dangerous areas, officials said.

The Army has been experimenting with robotic dogs and other ground robots at Fort Moore, Ga., in recent months. But at Project Convergence, it used the new technology for the first time in a major combat training operation. During the experiment, soldiers from several units, including the 82nd Airborne Division, the 3rd Armored Corps and the 316th Cavalry Brigade, tested dozens of robotic and autonomous machines as they fought their way into NTC's training grounds.

While soldiers have been using small aerial drones at NTC and in other training and combat environments for years, ground robotics have lagged behind their airborne counterparts, said Miller, the tech adviser to the Army chief of staff. "We've learned that ground robotics is a super hard problem," he said, comparing it to Tesla and other car manufacturers' long-running quest to develop safe self-driving cars.

But Army officials believe ground robots, like small unmanned aerial systems, are critical to building a force that can survive in large scale combat operations against an enemy with similar firepower to U.S. forces. In such an environment, Coffman said, it will be important that American troops make initial contact against enemy forces "with the machines before humans."

"That is ground and air robots that can move forward to identify where the enemy is, and if something goes … terribly wrong and the enemy identifies [the robot], then they have shot, and now we know where they are and how we can [attack] them," the general said. "Everyone on the battlefield can then move to a position of relative advantage, rather than anyone being shot" in that initial firefight.

The Army chose to move the training midway from Camp Pendleton to Fort Irwin to test its robots in its most demanding environment, where the desert routinely wreaks havoc on the soldiers who train there each month and their equipment. If the robots and human soldiers can work together on NTC's austere grounds, they can likely operate in most any environment to which they are sent, Coffman said.

George, the Army chief of Staff, said Project Convergence might help the Army hasten its pace at integrating some robots into its traditional combat units.

"This is a fast-moving train," George told reporters. "It needs to be. We have a real sense of urgency to get after this."

The Army will continue experimenting with robots as it moves forward into the next phase of Project Convergence, officials said. The service plans to conduct experiments under the Project Convergence umbrella in the summer during the Valiant Shield 2024 wargames in the INDOPACOM region. And the service requested some $73 million to continue Project Convergence in fiscal 2025.

"The lessons we're learning are going to be applied in the next Pacific exercise, then in Europe. We're stringing these lessons learned together with real exercises … so we can continually improve," Coffman said. "It's worth it. It's worth every penny. The readiness of the joint force and the partnership with our allies is invaluable. When called upon, the women and men of this nation, women, men of other nations will fight side-by-side, preserve liberty, and the cost of this … experiment is worth every penny to ensure that can happen."

Texas post's Buddy Checks geared toward wellness checks … and more

Chartered in 2017, Laramore-Osborne American Legion Post 100 in Royse City, Texas, has become a valued member of its community. The post of around 80 members has engaged in the Boys State program, provided assistance to area homeless veterans, hosted events honoring Vietnam War veterans and volunteered at a local assisted living facility.

But the post also recognizes the importance of taking care of its own, which is why early on its members began a Buddy Check program. Initially quarterly, the Buddy Checks now occur bimonthly and are an opportunity to both check on current and former members, as well as to let the membership know what is going on at the post.

"I've been doing this now three years as the chairman, and I've never had a negative result: ‘Please don't call me,'" said Post 100 First Vice Commander Jim Watson, who chairs the post's Buddy Check Committee. "Most of the membership are grateful that we're calling them. We've actually had some members call us back and say, ‘I got your message. Thanks.'

"Buddy Checks have been important to our post, particularly because of having a lot of members who are aging. I think every month that's been sick or hospital-ridden, something like that. But not only that, we'll find members that maybe need help in building a fence."

The post conducts a regular monthly Buddy Check on its members following guidance provided by the Buddy Check Toolkit made available through National Headquarters. When time allows, Buddy Check Committee members also will call former members to encourage them to rejoin the post, asking why they'd dropped out of the post.

A second Buddy Check session involves the post's officers cadre and is focused on updates of what the post is involved with, where committee participation is needed and other items "just to keep the officers in front of our members," Watson said. "A lot of people don't read their email and that type of stuff, so it gives us an opportunity to say, ‘Hey, we're having a registration drive in front of Walmart on March 4. We'd love to have you participate in that.' That type of stuff. And we are getting more and more younger veterans as we promote our programs."

The post initially made its Buddy Check calls on Fridays from 6:30-8:30 p.m. but moved them to Mondays because they had a better answer rate. "We were getting a lot of voicemails," Watson said. "Going to a Monday night we're getting more participation and actually getting to talk to somebody. I would say our participation has increased probably 40 percent by going to a Monday night."

Included on the post's Buddy Check Committee are both the post service officer and chaplain. That's by design.

"If we find somebody who's in dire straits or needs to talk to someone, maybe with a claim problem or maybe a problem where they would need the chaplain, I have that person right here with me that evening," Watson said. "We can get them immediate help. That's one thing that I think is very important."

The post also plans to make the Legion's Be the One suicide prevention program be a part of its Buddy Checks. Watson said he and other members want to take part in the Be the One online training being offer by the Legion and Columbia University.

"Suicide awareness … is probably our top program within the post," Watson said. "We're working on getting people more trained in that area … where we can become more aware when we're talking to a person, seeing signs of that, and bring our Buddy Checks along our suicide awareness program as well."

Get ready for the 2024 Major League Baseball season

The 2024 Major League Baseball season officially began with last week's two-game series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres in Seoul, South Korea.

But Thursday marks opening day for all 30 MLB teams, and there's plenty to watch for as the season gets underway.

American Legion Baseball alumni

The Texas Rangers won the first World Series title in franchise history last season thanks in large part to American Legion Baseball alumni Corey Seager and Jordan Montgomery.

Seager (Post 115/Kannapolis, N.C.) capped a season in which he was named the Legion Baseball Graduate of the Year with his second World Series MVP Award. But his 2024 got off to a slow start after sports hernia surgery in January.

Montgomery (Post 15/Sumter, S.C.) was 4-2 in 11 appearances during the regular season for the Rangers. A free agent after the 2023 season, he finally signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks — at least, according to reports.

Coincidentally, it was the Diamondbacks whom the Rangers defeated in the World Series. Montgomery will join another Arizona pitcher with Legion Baseball ties in closer Paul Sewald (Las Vegas).

Sewald will open the season on the injured list with a strained left oblique.

He's not the only Legion Baseball alum pitcher starting the season hurt. Houston's Justin Verlander (Post 201/Powhatan, Va.) has a sore shoulder, and Texas' Jacob deGrom (Post 3/Deland, Fla.) and Max Scherzer (Post 397/Creve Coeur, Mo.) are out until summer recovering from elbow and back surgery, respectively.

Other Legion Baseball alumni to keep an eye on this season include last year's AL Rookie of the Year, Baltimore's Gunnar Henderson (Post 20/Selma, Ala.); Seattle shortstop J.P. Crawford (Post 496/Lakewood, Calif.); and Philadelphia's J.T. Realmuto (Post 170/Midwest City, Okla.), Alec Bohm (Post 1/Omaha, Neb.) and Bryce Harper (Las Vegas).

In the dugout, six of MLB's 30 managers played American Legion Baseball — Atlanta's Brian Snitker (Post 105/Decatur, Ill.), Detroit's A.J. Hinch (Post 170/Midwest City, Okla.), Minnesota's Rocco Baldelli (Rhode Island), San Diego's Mike Shildt (Post 262/Charlotte, N.C.), San Francisco's Bob Melvin (Post 375/Palo Alto, Calif.), and Tampa Bay's Kevin Cash (Post 111/Tampa, Fla.)

Shildt and Melvin are in their first seasons managing their respective teams, with Shildt replacing Melvin with the Padres.

Academy ties

It's likely that he'll start the season in the minor leagues again, but Cincinnati's Jacob Hurtubise could very well become the second West Point graduate to play Major League Baseball at some point in 2024.

The outfielder played 119 combined games in Double-A and Triple-A in 2023, with a .330 batting average, .961 OPS, seven home runs, 45 steals and 46 RBIs. He hit .390 in 36 games for the Triple-A Louisville Bats.

Pitcher Chris Rowley was the first West Point graduate to play in the majors, appearing in eight games for the Blue Jays in 2017-18. Outfielder Walt French, who attended West Point but did not graduate, played for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1923-29.

Pitcher Paul Skenes, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 MLB draft, will start the season at Triple-A Indianapolis but could be called up at some point by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Skenes played two seasons at the Air Force Academy before transferring to LSU. The Tigers won the 2023 College World Series with Skenes being named the CWS Most Outstanding Player.

Hall of Famers

Jim Leyland and Joe Mauer will become the 86th and 87th American Legion Baseball alumni enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Leyland (Post 183/Pemberville, Ohio) and Mauer (Post 606/St. Paul, Minn.) will join Adrian Beltre and Todd Helton in the Class of 2024.

They will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., on July 21.

Other key dates

May 19-21: Armed Forces Day Weekend (camouflage caps for the weekend, uniform patches for Armed Forces Day on May 20)

May 27: Memorial Day (poppy patch)

June 2: Lou Gehrig Day

July 16: 94th All-Star Game, Arlington, Texas

Oct. 1: Postseason begins

Rule changes

Among MLB's notable rule changes this season, the pitch clock will restart following a dead ball as soon as the pitcher receives a new ball from the umpire, rather than when the pitcher enters the circle. And with runners on base, the clock time will decrease from 20 seconds to 18 seconds.

Also, mound visits will be reduced from five to four (although teams will receive an extra mound visit in the ninth inning if they've used their four before that), and a pitcher who warms up at the start of an inning must face at least one batter.

 

South Carolina Legion provides benefits help and other assistance to more than 1,100 veterans

In March of 2023, the American Legion Department of South Carolina conducted its first Veterans Experience Action Center (VEAC), taking the idea from what has been become an incredibly successful program in North Carolina. The VEAC brings together veterans face to face with U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs staff, state agencies and service officers to receive claims and appeals assistance, sometime providing decisions and disability ratings the spot.

South Carolina's first VEAC was attended by 717 veterans. A smaller regional event in Spartanburg later in the resulted in 355 veterans getting some form of assistance, again showing the need for the program in the state. And that need was on full display during the department's latest VEAC, which took place March 21-23 at the Bluff Road National Guard Armory in Columbia.

During the event's three days, 1,132 veterans were able to meet with VA and state staff, and service officers to discuss their disability claims and appeals, enroll in VA health care, receive housing assistance and guidance, and learn more about mental health counseling, and memorial and employment benefits. A mobile VA VET Center also was on site, as were representatives from other veteran service organizations and veteran-centric vendors. The event was a collaboration between the Department of South Carolina, VA and the South Carolina Department of Veterans Affairs.  

"We figured this one was going to be bigger for three reasons," said Past Department of South Carolina Commander Jim Jarvis, who coordinated the Legion's participation in the VEAC and has been involved with the program since its inception in his state. "The main reason was word of mouth now, because we got all kinds of positive feedback when they were leaving (the previous VEACs). Another area of significance was that on March 5 they opened up the window on the PACT Act, so we figured we'd get PACT Act questions. But the third one was that we were going to have the C&P (Compensation & Pension) exam. We had two contractors brought in … and that made a difference.

"So come Thursday morning when I got there, I almost had a heart attack. Instead of that trickling in, we were getting hit by 20 to 30 people at a time."

The heavy traffic continued throughout the weekend, up until closing time on Saturday. And with 55 veterans still in need of assistance, VA leadership opened up their Columbia Regional Office the following Monday to handle those claims.

During the VEAC's three-plus days, 497 C&P specific exams were conducted, 69 ratings decisions made, and 462 new claims filed (which Jarvis said could eventually almost double). In addition to VA staff, 12 accredited veteran service officers also were in attendance to assist with claims.

"We're giving them the opportunity to sit on one side of the table with a rater or a VSO on the other side table, face to face, putting them the system, the whole nine yards," Jarvis said. "I think that's what makes the difference. And there's so much out there that I don't even think they know they're eligible for."

Volunteers played a critical in helping the VEAC be a success. Jarvis said he had American Legion Family members from 25 posts assisting the effort, including Legion Riders directing the parking lot and other Legion Family members helping with registration, manning snack tables and passing out water. Around 50-60 volunteers showed up each day, some driving as far as six hours round trip.

"The volunteers are what made it work," Jarvis said. "Without the volunteers we would have never pulled it off. And I have not lacked for volunteers."

Jarvis also praised South Carolina National Guard leadership for providing free use of the Bluff Road Armory. "They're critical to the whole scenario because nowhere could I go in town and find anyplace big enough that wasn't going to charge me $25,000-$30,000," he said. "The South Carolina National Guard is critical."

Jarvis credits the Department of North Carolina for inspiring his state's efforts and hopes other departments will follow suit.

"Our whole purpose in life is veterans helping veterans," he said. "This is the best thing in the world, because very few people truly understand the VA. I'm very proud of this. I think it's worked. I'm proud of the fact it's a Legion event.

"I'm able to pull together five, six major organizations, which is always hard, and we seem to be working in the same direction … we're helping the veterans."

To watch News 19 WLTX's video coverage of the VEAC, click here.

Legionnaire using woodworking to heal from PTSD and help other veterans do the same

Department of Washington Legionnaire Steven McCullough learned woodworking from his grandfather while growing up in Maine in the 1970s. Decades later, he's using that skill to help other deal with the transition from the military to the civilian world – especially those dealing with invisible wounds.

A member of American Legion Post 164 in Yelm, McCullough is teaching veterans dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder the skill of woodworking. Whether it's pieces of furniture, plaques or other items, McCullough is using his garage to pass on his skills while aiding in the healing process.

"Being in the shop and showing people what I'm building myself and learning new ways to build, it just relaxes me inside and unwinds my head," said McCullough, who spent 15 years in the U.S. Army and Army Reserve. "When I go into my shop, it's not so much to build a project in one day. As I'm learning new skills … if I can learn it and be able to pass it on the younger generation, so they can learn it, that way they may get some relief from the pressures of the day."

McCullough realized teaching woodworking to others could be a form of therapy when he was tasked by Post 164 to build a bench on the post's property. "They had a log, and they wanted a bench," he said. "I said, ‘Bring it down and I'll build it.'"

That's when it hit him that woodworking could help relax others as well. But he hasn't limited his teaching to just veterans.

"It's also for the families. For a lot of families when (a servicemember) comes home, it's not only the soldier affected. It's everybody in that family," McCullough said. "Say a husband (deployed) with a kid … and when he comes home, he doesn't know how to connect. When they come together, I try to help them connect working with the wood, and not the stress of actual parenting. You're in there together. You're in there having a good time together.

"And it can be for the moms, for all the stress they went through when the husband was deployed, or vice versa. They can come together and relax. It helps the soldier come home to a more peaceful dwelling."

Woodworking has helped McCullough heal. But so has being a member of Post 164 and the feeling it gives him know he's got comrades.

"It gave me a different perspective," he said. "In the military, you did not see the family dynamics. You didn't see how mom was stressed or the husband was stressed in a military family. Because we stress differently than civilians.

"To be able to go (into the post) and have a brother want to come talk to you, and to find out what's going on with him because he's having a bad day or something, it really helps me. I understand a little bit about what he's gone through. I can't understand everything he's gone through because I'm not him. But I can be a listening ear and be able to say, ‘Alright, this is what I would do,' to try to help him."

Trailblazing Women Veterans: Shoshana Johnson, POW

The fourth and final 2024 podcast episode of "Trailblazing Women Veterans" features the harrowing and historic story of U.S. Army Spc. Shoshana Johnson, the first Black female U.S. prisoner of war, and the sheer determination she maintained until her rescue in April 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Caught in an ambush in Nasiriyah, Iraq, Johnson was shot in both ankles, beaten and taken captive by enemy insurgents. A POW for 22 days, she was finally rescued by a Marine Corps Delta Team. Faith and thoughts of her family at home kept her going throughout the ordeal, which she recounted in her 2010 book, "I'm Still Standing: From Captive U.S. Soldier to Free U.S. Citizen."

Following her discharge, she joined The American Legion in El Paso, Texas, where she continues to serve her fellow veterans, and continues to draw inspiration from her church.

"Trailblazing Women Veterans" is hosted by U.S. Army National Guard veteran Ashley Gorbulja and American Legion Media & Communications Director Jeff Stoffer. In tribute to Women's History Month, a new episode has been posted each Wednesday through March.

Episode 1, which posted March 6, describes the story of Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, the only woman so far to receive the Medal of Honor. The Civil War surgeon and prisoner of war broke ground for women not only in the military but in medicine, as well. The episode also looks back to women who served during the Revolutionary War, others in the Civil War and additional 19th century military conflicts.

The second episode remembers the heroic life-saving service of 56th Evacuation Hospital Unit nurses – known as the Angels of Anzio – who treated wounds on the coast of Italy during World War II at a time when enemy planes paid no heed to the red crosses atop field hospitals. Their calmness under pressure, which included the safe evacuation of 42 patients during one strafing, earned four of the women the Silver Star, third highest medal for valor.

Episode 3 takes listeners from the Angels of Anzio to the U.S. Air Force aviator known as the "Angel of Death" – Alison Black, whose combat action and "death ray" in the early stages of the war in Afghanistan befuddled enemy targets on the ground and inspired a new era for women in combat specialties. 

"Trailblazing Women Veterans" is available in video and audio formats at legion.org/tangoalphalima. The series can also be downloaded on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and other popular podcast hosting sites. Listeners of the series are asked to share stories of extraordinary military service among women using the hashtag #MilitaryWomenWednesday. 

 

 

Share your American Legion Family Day plans with your local media

In a new video, SAL National Commander Don "JR" Hall encourages American Legion posts to not only participate in American Legion Family Day, but to publicize the event at the end of April.

"Get your local press to promote American Legion Family Day in advance and invite them to cover your event. We need to let the community know we are here to support them in addition to the veterans and their families," Hall said.

A Legion Family Day press release template is available here. Download the document, update it with your post's details and submit it to your local media.

The National Executive Committee passed Resolution No. 7, American Legion Family Day at its Fall Meeting in October 2022. The resolution established an American Legion Family Day to be observed annually on the last Saturday of April — this year, that is April 27.

For Legion Family Day, posts are encouraged to open their doors to members of their community for the day to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of Legionnaires, Sons of The American Legion members, Legion Riders and American Legion Auxiliary.

"No two posts will do it the same," Hall said. "Some may have cookouts, welcoming the community to come in and visit the post. Others may have blood drives, dinners, or other events within their communities."

American Legion Family Day also is an opportunity to bring community awareness to the organization's "Be the One" initiative to reduce the rate of veteran suicide. 

Share your event

American Legion posts are encouraged to share details on their Legion Family Day events, either in advance or afterward, at Legiontown.org.

 

Connected and galvanized

Each March, more than 58,000 attendees from all corners of the trucking industry meet at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville for the Mid-America Trucking Show, the largest of its kind in the world. Exhibitors showcase both the past (the American Truck Historical Society) and the future (alternative-fuel, carbon-negative truck stops) of the industry. A trucker can find everything they need in 2024, from specialty bedding, to trucking-oriented media (including Wreaths Across America Radio), to health and wellness products, to support and charitable organizations such as Truck Stop Ministries and Truckers Against Trafficking. 

ArcBest Corporation, a logistics company, estimates that 10% of the trucking industry is staffed by military veterans. Some veteran-founded businesses had exhibit booths, and a number of war-period and service-branch hats and shirts were worn by attendees. ArcBest and its subsidiary ABF Freight are participants in the Department of Defense's (DoD) SkillBridge program, which connects civilian employers with soon-to-be-discharged servicemembers and spouses via training classes (such as for trucking licenses). SkillBridge is an important focus of the national Task Force Movement initiative to connect the military-connected community with jobs in understaffed sectors of the economy (such as trucking), which The American Legion has a steering-committee seat on. According to a March report, thanks to the efforts of the coalition of businesses, federal agencies, training institutions, labor unions and more, 750 transitioning servicemembers and veterans were credentialed and began trucking jobs in 2023. 

The two companies took out a large booth, offering veterans candy and branded freebies, a seating area and information on employment opportunities. Their display vehicle – one of dozens scattered through the show, both indoors and in parking lots – made their purpose clear: "Thank You For Your Service."

Another large booth area belonged to FASTPORT, a national career-placement company that also works with TFM. Executive Director of Workforce Development & Government Programs Dave Harrison, who spoke at the credentialing summit at the 2023 American Legion national convention, said in Louisville that they were there to maintain a network of connectivity between employers, drivers, CDL schools, social media and more in the industry – "we believe in that connectivity." One major objective was to talk to employers on how to engage and retain veteran drivers. Harrison added that setting them up for a future as operators is a "Holy Grail accomplishment: you're making them a business owner."

FASTPORT President Brad Bentley said the trucking industry has about 10-12% more veterans than they think, because not all actively self-identify as such. He has been to every Mid-America Trucking Show held since 1989. "This industry was always patriotic, veteran-friendly," he continued. Another goal for FASTPORT at the show was to "make sure we keep (it) galvanized" so prospects aren't lost to other fields like IT. Bentley concluded that the company's presence in Louisville was a small, but important, part of connecting the military community to trucking.

And not just veterans. Mike Richie is chairman of the Kentucky committee of Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a DoD office. His group was at the show to talk to trucking companies about hiring National Guard and reserve members. He listed some of that community's virtues as employees: they are guaranteed to be drug-free; they receive training in leadership and other fields as they climb the ranks; and, hearkening back to the national-security component of TFM's focus, they "understand that people's lives are at stake."

 

Deadline to apply for Legacy Scholarship is April 10

If you are the child of a parent who lost their life while honorably serving on active military duty on or after 9/11, or is a post-9/11 veteran with a combined VA disability rating of 50 percent or higher, you are eligible to apply for The American Legion Legacy Scholarship.

The 2024 American Legion Legacy Scholarship application is online. The application deadline is April 10.

Since the Legacy Scholarship's first grant in 2004, 825 military children of the fallen and disabled have received over $6.2 million in financial assistance for higher learning. The following are ways the scholarship has helped recipients:

"Receiving this scholarship over the course of my medical school career has truly been a life-changing opportunity for me. This scholarship helped me alleviate the financial stress that comes with the rigorous training required to become a doctor."

"Thank you for awarding me with The American Legion Legacy Scholarship. It is a great privilege to be a recipient of your generosity, and I look forward to utilizing these funds in pursuit of my college education. Your help will allow me to pursue my dreams of becoming an officer of the CIA and for that I am extremely grateful."

The Legacy Scholarship provides financial aid for graduate or post-graduate tuition, books, room and board, meal plans and other supplies needed to achieve a higher education. It is a needs-based scholarship – the grant amount each scholarship recipient will receive will be based on his or her financial need after all federal and state aid is exhausted. Recipients will have a year to use the grant and may reapply to The American Legion Legacy Scholarship up to six times.

The number of scholarships awarded and the amount of financial aid granted to each awardee (this includes returning applicants) will be determined on donations to the scholarship fund and one's financial needs.

For additional information about the scholarship and eligibility requirements, please learn more here

The 2024 American Legion Legacy Scholarship recipients will be selected by The American Legion's Committee on Youth Education during the organization's annual Spring Meetings in May.