Travis Post 76 Newsletters 1997

We were highly favored at our January 20th dinner meeting by having Byron Sage,Special Agent,FBI Austin office,as our speaker.This was his annual report to us about FBI activities in the Central Austin Area.
For our February 17th meeting, our speaker will be Kyle Thompson, who will share his memories of his participation in the building of the railroad which passed over the River Kwai. Mr. Thompson was captured in March, 1942, when the Japanese overran the island of Java, and he subsequently spent three years as a prisoner of war, mostly in Burma. He has also authored a book which he will display at the meeting. For our dinner we will feature some of the areas best home made chili as several of our members compete for prizes in our Annual Chili Cook-off. Please continue to bring food to complement the entree.

We allow miserable misunderstandings to go on year after year.We mean to clean them up some day,yet some day never comes. Those silly quarrels,wretched childish things that hinder the best for all. Since we can never quite make up our mind that today is the day to sacrifice our pride and kill them. We actually pass by someone-a fellow Legionaire-not speaking out of some silly spite; and yet if one of those men were to die,we are filled with shame and remorse knowing we missed an opportunity to love and encourage them. We who may be allowing someone to go hungry or a friend whose heart aches for just a word of encouragement,appreciation or sympathy,which we may mean to give them some day. If we could only know how short our time is,maybe it would break the spell and we would all go instantly and do those things that we may never have taken the time to do. Opportunities do not wait for our leisure and when they pass we can never recall them. We must do acts of kindness while our friends are in need. You see,tomorrow may be too late!
Prayer: Father, on your compassion I repose in weakness and in distress; I will not ask for greater ease, or I may love thee less. Oh, what a blessing, such a great thing for me to need your tenderness. May each of us this very day find that need which you have blessed us with and do our part to fulfill it to your honor and glory. In the name of Jesus we pray. AMEN!

Albert Einstein once admitted that figuring out his U.S. income tax was beyond him-he had to go to a tax consultant. "This is too difficult for a mathematician," said Einstein. "It takes a philosopher."

We have been doing a lot of fixing up, painting and repair. We have added a chair rail in the Alamo & Freedom Rooms. This makes boths rooms look very nice. Each room has also been painted along with the entry hall, bathroom hall, stairway and landing walls.
Mark is replacing the screens upstairs with sun screens to block the heat on the landing. He is also painting all the screens above the Alamo Room.
This week we will start on the Ball Room. We will paint the ceiling to cover the rust spots and repair and paint the walls. The floor will be cleaned and finished with a polyurethane finish.
Last week, the ceilings in my apartment were repaired. While doing the repairs, they found termites in the living room and kitchen. These were treated. A ceiling fan was added to the kitchen ceiling. Also,they had to replace half the sheetrock in the living room;while they were doing these repairs, they supported the ceiling beams that had termite damage.
We will be getting new carpet in several places in the Post home which will be a dark navy blue with gold flecks. this really should help the appearance and will make a big difference in cleaning.
Mark Polastry has been doing the painting and I must say he is a very fine painter. He respects our Legion home as much as we do. Mark takes great care in insuring that his work is done right.
With his help, the Post home is looking very elegant. I know you will be very proud of all the work that is being done(and still to be done); why don't you come take a look?
Thanks to everyone for your support.

Four little words that aren't heard often enough are, you may be right.

November 17th...Holland Young, New airport
Project Team reporting on the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport
Entree...Turkey and Dressing

December 15th...Traditional Carols by Members and Friends!
Entree...Party Trays and Finger Foods

Romans 8:26-27 "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

If only we can understand what prayer is all about and rid ourselves of unrealistic expectations. God does not send our problems but gives us the strength to cope with them through prayer.
When someone asks for help through prayer, they know they are not facing their frightening situation alone. When group prayer is done, it releases people from isolation-it assures them that they need not feel alone or abandoned. It lets them know they are part of a greater reality with more depth, more hope, more courage, and more of a future than any indivivdual could have by himself.
Prayer, like religion as a whole, is meant to enlarge our spiritual soul.

I want to thank the Post 76 members for selecting me to serve as First Vice Commander, and to add thanks for the support I received in the years I served as Adjutant. Serving as Adjutant gave me the opportunity to know something of the many members with a glimpse at their military background and family. I have a sincere interest in continuing to serve veterans and their dependents, and I will draw on experience on committees of the AICHE, and church committees in addition to service in various offices of the TPEA. (AICHE=American Institute of Chemical Engineers; TPEA=Texas Public Employees Association)
I am pleased that I have passed on the duties of Adjutant to a qualified and capable Guy Davis. He will be sending your membership cards, keeping up with addresses and phone numbers, and ordering caps and such to name a few of his many duties.
The Commander has asked that each officer write briefly on our background, and I seem to be first on the list.
I enlisted in the Army right after high school in time to serve in the Army of Occupation in Korea.
I recieved Infantry basic and was assigned to an Infantry Regiment based on a former Japanese airfield near Kunsan, Korea. My company was quartered in barracks built oriental style for the Japanese Army. Korea had been occupied by the Japanese since 1910, and the southern part was essentially a wholly agricultural region.
In the spring of 1947, the army changed us from an Infantry company to an Engineer Maintenance Company and moved us to Kimpo Air Base near Seoul. We occupied quarters with an Engineer Construction Battalion and that's when I decided that I wanted to be an engineer. I visited Seoul on pass at a time when none of us could guess that the country would be completely changed by war in less than five years. A Russian military commission was meeting with a U.S. mission at Duk Soo Palace and going through the motions of discussing the reunification of North and South Korea.
The Russians pulled down their flag and left the conference about October 1947. Wen I returned to the States, I enlisted in the Army Reserve and started my engineering studies. I was meeting with a Reserve Engineer Brigade Headquarters Unit that was called to active duty in September 1950. We were stationed in Alabama and our primary job was to support training of personnel going to Korea. When my enlistment term was ended, I returned to the University of Houston, where I had one more semester of eligibility under the WWII G.I. Bill. Congress obligingly passed the Korean G.I. Bill that summer so that I was able to finish my first degree uninterrupted.
In looking back, I realize that this experience was interesting to me, but is another case of "You had to have been there". I look forward to the coming year as your First Vice Commander.

• November 17th...Holland Young, New Airport Team, Entree-Turkey & Dressing
• December 15th...Carols by Members and Friends--Party Trays and Finger Foods

Please keep a list of all your donations and turn them in to Unit 76 President Merle Wheeler and you will receive recognition in our service records. Deadline for mailing is November 18,1997. On behalf of the veterans, "Thank you" for your contributions.
For God and Country,
Merle Wheeler

Psalm 107:22 "Sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing". (116:17) "I will offer unto thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord".
The first Thanksgiving was celebrated by the pilgrims who knew the real meaning of being thankful. They were thankful to God who had given them the strength and determination to struggle for survival in a land that was worth their sacrifices. Sometimes, we wonder and ask ourselves about our past and present generations whether we could or would make such a sacrifice. As we enjoy the day of Thanksgiving with festivals, food and prayer, let us not forget the men and women who fought to keep our country free.
The other important day is Veterans Day - a day of remembrance.
John 15:13"Greater love hath no man than this, that one may lay down this life for his friends".
What more can be asked of a man than to die in the cross for you and I? Our veterans have done the same for us - many laid down their lives for this country. We should always be proud because we live in America, where we enjoy the freedom of speech and religion - just two of the many rights we possess. We all are of different faiths and travel down different roads but we are all headed in the right direction - belief in God.
Let us resolve to each other and all others that we are proud of our nation because of the endurance of the pilgrims and dedication of our comrades.

Entree for the November 17th dinner meeting wil be turkey and dressing.
Our November speaker is Holland Young, Planning and Environmental Manager for the New Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. His role in the new airport includes the devleopment of long range airport plans and environmental analysis. He has been with the projest from its inception in 1992.
Eevn though you may not be a "frequent flyer" you will see changes in traffic patterns on our streets when the airport is open.

Many activities in the month of December are in everyone's plans. It is hoped that your plans include the Post's dinner meeting on Monday the 15th. This will be quite informal, featuring a Christmas "sing-a-long". We appreciate those who participated in the Veterans Day Past Commander's Breakfast and other Veterans Day activities. Hats off to the cooks at the breakfast and to those hardy souls who braved the cold to either ride in or witness the parade.
Our dinner meeting on November the 17th provided an outstanding opportunity to learn all about the present status and plans for the new airport. Holland Young has worked on the project for several years and made a fine presentation.

When God gave us Jesus, he thought of us as one family-not Jewish or Gentile-but his chosen peopoe of the entire world. We are all God's children-not because we are good but because God is merciful. The child born that night so long ago redeemed us and claimed us as his family.
What would be your choice of a gift at Christmas-love,hope or a feeling of worthiness? It is always more blessed to give than to receive. Nothing can replace the warmth one gets when she or he has given of themselves in sharing their fortune or feeling with someone whether it be their children or someone else.
When the angels said, "Behold, I bring you tidings of great joy", little did anyone realize that this small infant would set the course for all humanity to follow. Faith will carry us through the darkest night, hope that we are on the right path, and love that is the greatest element of human kindness.