Comrades,  We are down to the end of the year with our Convention next month in Cebu. It is going to be a great event and I hope you all will attend. There are a lot of activities planned and hope you will take advantage of them all. PDC Larry Lyons has done a great job putting this together and it is sure to be a great one. Please register if you have not done so on the Department website so we can get good numbers. The better our numbers, the better we can plan and make things nicer and smoother for you.

       As many of you know, we are hosting a special dinner for our good friends from the Republic of China on Taiwan’s Veterans Affairs Commission (VAC) during our Convention. I would like for everyone to attend this dinner and show our appreciation for the VAC’s continued friendship. If you have been awarded the VAC’s Medal of Honor please wear it to the dinner. This would show them we appreciate what they do for us and that it means a lot to us. I appreciate your support with this.

       As with every Convention, we have our one and only fund raiser, the Convention Book. The Convention Book is in need of your advertisements ASAP. Please send your Convention Book ad to PDC Bob Zaher ( This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) as soon as possible and not wait any longer. This is going to be a great Convention Book and you will want to be a part of it. Please support our Department and make this year’s book another great one.

       The Scout of the Year this year for the Department is Victoria Lyn Hardebeck. Victoria has earned the Venturing Silver Award (equivalent to the Eagle Scout Award) as a member of Venture Crew 13. She was nominated by Post 1054. Thanks to all of the Posts who took the time to submit and entry this year.

       Again, if you are interested in serving on a committee for the next VFW year, please let SVC Shawn know so he can put you in a position. We often have unfilled positions because nobody stepped up. Please don’t make him have to look for someone to fill a position.

       If you have any questions, thoughts, or concerns, please email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Thanks for all that you do for Veterans, their widows, and their orphans.

YIC and Service

Darin Combs