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Among the perpetual members of our Chapter, from left: General of the Armies John J. Pershing, Major General George S. Patton, President John F. Kennedy, Governor and Senator Leverett Saltonstall

Military Order of the World WarsGreater Boston Chapter

Chartered: 11 September 1919

Chapter Meeting of 5 February 2013

Paul Mawn, fbi special agent Kevin Swindell, bill Maloney and region I commander captharry Weinberg Socializing prior to the start of the meeting

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It was the regular scene at our Union Oyster House Venue. In the foreground left Bob Gillen, opposite him leo lazo. On the right side jim dolan, region I commander harry

Weinberg, fred graham, fred Lincoln, al mundo and dave graham.

In the picture on the left, chapter commander Walt Stamper swears in Col Larry willwerth and cpt bill Maloney as perpetual members. On the right, walt poses a

question to special agent kevin Swindell during his speech to the chapter

In the picture on the right, walt presents special agent swindell a certificate of appreciation for his fine speech. On the right, cap ed rainsford joins walt and special agent swindell for a picture. At age 92 nothing stops ed from attending our meetings.

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Our regular luncheon meeting convened at the Union Oyster House on 5 February.

The meeting opened with an invocation offered by Leo Lazo, a pledge of allegiance to the flag, and a reading of the MOWW Preamble by Arthur Marcotti. Chapter Commander LTC Walt Stamper presided.

Finance Officer Mike Lavey reported that the Chapter’s balances amounted to $8,406.20. COL Larry Willwerth gave the Adjutant’s report as he has substituted for the Adjutant who is wintering in the South.

A discussion concerning the Massachusetts tax-exempt status of the MOWW was offered among the items of new business. It seems that the Order is federally-qualified as an Internal Revenue Code 501(19) exempt organization, but Massachusetts recognizes only IRC 501(3) status. This is obviously a situation that will need to be addressed in the near future.

Nothing could be more timely and important than a discussion of cyber hacking, security issues onthe internet, the wide-spread involvement of criminals on the internet, and the national and international defense questions presented by cyber-attacks, counterattacks, counter-terrorism and security. Lately in the news we have read about hacking into US financial institutions data banks from Iran, the breaking into the NY Times, Wall Street Journal and other newspaper computers by persons operating out of China, the suicide of a young man accused of hacking into classified government files; and we are all aware of the cyber war being conducted in the Middle East.Special Agent Swindell addressed all of those issues in his speech to the meeting. He highlighted the many challenges of the current era, especially focusing on cyber security – which is very lax –the willingness of the Chinese to gather every sort of cyber intelligence, information in which they have no present interest, and the activities of enemies of the United States who have unlimited time, resources and manpower to devote to cyber intelligence gathering and warfare. Special Agent Swindell mentioned some successful initiatives of the FBI, including the apprehension of the terrorist Richard Reed and the tracing of terrorist funds.

Following the speech, Walt presented Special Agent Swindell with a Certificate of Appreciation and expressed the gratitude of the Chapter for his taking the time to address the group.

GREATER BOSTON CHAPTER CALENDAR

Tuesday, 5 March Chapter Meeting, Union Oyster House. Speaker will be SSG Sharalis Canales, USA, Medical Service Corps.

Wed. 20 March, USCG Base, start time TBD Staff Meeting

Tuesday, 2 April Chapter Meeting, Union Oyster House. Speaker will be Deputy Chief Gerald Fontana, BFD. Topic: Emergency Planning and Preparedness

Wed. 17 April, USCG Base, start time TBD Staff Meeting

Tuesday, 7 May Chapter Meeting, World War II Museum in Natick, MA. See below.

Wed. 15 May, USCG Base, start time TBD Staff Meeting

Saturday, 1 June, Region I Annual Convention tentatively planned for Newport, RI. More details will follow as we approach the date.

Tuesday, 4 June Chapter Meeting, Union Oyster House. This is the final meeting before our summer adjournment. There will be no speaker. This is our traditional wrap-up for the year and special awards are customarily given at this meeting. Officers will be installed for the new season.

12 – 18 August, National Convention in Dallas. All members are welcome and invited. The site will be the Omni Dallas Hotel at Park West (800-843-6664 for reservations: refer to the Military Order of the World Wars). See the National Website or the Officer Review magazine for more details.

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Annual Youth Patriotic Leadership Scholarship Appeal: It was a Chapter tradition for those attending a meeting to put $5 in a basket to fund our annual Youth Patriotic Leadership program. With the change in IRS requirements for deductibility of donations, we now ask for checks for $50 (or whatever sum you would like to donate) to support this cause. In brief, the program is conducted by Norwich University with the participation of, and scholarships provided by, MOWW chapters.

We are very proud of this program which has been developed by Norwich and LTC Mike Jarvis of the Green Mountain Chapter. Our GB Chapter has led in providing financial support and instructors, notably Bob Gillen, Gerry Hayes, Larry Willwerth and Harry Weinberg. Please send your checks to MOWW, P.O. Box 290102, Boston, MA 02129 made payable to “Greater Boston Chapter, MOWW”. Please note in the memo section of the check that it is a scholarship donation. If you plan to donate to this year’s effort, please make a point to do so as soon as possible as the program is just about tocommence.

ADVANCE NOTICE: MAY MEETING: We have heard great things about the Museum of World War II in Natick. Therefore, we have tentatively scheduled a group tour of the Museum in lieu of our regular venue. The Museum admission fee is $25 and we must be at the site and ready to go by 1100 hours. Walt will scout the area for a suitable nearby restaurant so that we can meet for lunch/brunch and have time to move over to the Museum. Much more information will follow. In view of the arrangements for lunch and the tour, there will be no usual business conducted at the meeting. See the next item regarding the necessary re-arrangements.

NOMINATIONS, ELECTIONS AND INSTALLATIONS: In view of the Museum tour scheduled for May, nominations for next year’s officer slate will be pushed up to the March meeting, and elections will be held at the April meeting. Installation of officers will, however, occur on the usual schedule at the June meeting. If you wish to be considered for an officer position, you should contact Alan Rieper, the Chairman of the Nominating Committee. Alternatively, nominations may of course be made from the floor at the March meeting.

Please Reserve the Date: Region I Annual Convention - 1 June.