“MAIL CALL”

Gen. Larry Oppenheimer Detachment, Marine Corps League

Overland Park, KS Commandant Bob Patterson, Commanding

Volume 7 Issue 2, February 2008

Calendar

Our next regular meeting will be this Wednesday, February 27th, from1900 at American Legion Post 327, 6521 Nieman Rd. in Shawnee. New Members Marine Jim Welcher was welcomed aboard at our January meeting.

Support for our Troops At this time of rebuilding & continuing conflict in Afghanistan & Iraq, please remember in prayer: Those who gave their lives and our President, and our men and women serving in these nations, along with our Allies working alongside us in Afghanistan and the Gulf – for their safety and for their work with the local peoples in the renewal of their nations.

Sick and Distressed Please remember all our sick and distressed members or family in your prayers. Marine Loueta Tostrud will have knee replacement surgery. Cards may be sent to Loueta at 6001 West 69th St., Overland Park, KS 66204-4241, or you may email her at semperfi1@everestkc.net. Loueta will be off work for about 6 weeks. Marine Don Ingram will be having back surgery. Cards may be sent to Don at 4651 Oak Grove Ct., Kansas City, KS 66106-3666. Marine Joyce Campbell’s mother, who was 90 last month, has inoperable cancer. Marine Campbell can be contacted at 8103 Perry St., Apt. 3, Overland Park, KS 66204-4778. Joyce can be called at 913/648-2133. Joyce’s mother is at home, and a hospice is assisting Joyce in the care of her mother. Pat Maes, wife of Marine Remy Maes, has a hernia in her stomach; at this time, doctors have determined that it is too risky to operate. Pat said, that overall, she is feeling better. Cards may be sent to them at 621 Meadowlark Circle, Raymore, MO 64083-8197.

Marine Hunt is at The Manor of Grace Gardens, Room 222, 5201 West 143rd St., Leawood, KS. 66224. Bob is doing very well, and cards may be sent to him here, or you may call the office at 913/685-4800, and ask to be transferred. Please feel free to visit Bob. Marine Emil Anderson has inoperable and incurable prostate cancer. Emil and Dolly can be contacted at emilcanderson@gmail.com, and cards may be sent to them at 6117 Mission Drive, Mission Hills, KS 66208-1250. They will be very grateful for visits, however please call them first at 913/362-0482.

Marine Nancy Pendleton Spoor will greatly appreciate calls (913/381-1833) and cards sent to her at 7628 Conser, Overland Park, KS 66204. She now has someone who lives there and who can assist her with her shopping, etc. Nancy’s email is nancypen@earthlink.net. Nancy is doing better.

Marine Earl Alderson is getting around on a wheelchair and a walker at the Shawnee Gardens Nursing home, 6416 Long, Shawnee, KS 66216. Earl’s in room 118-A. Please send cards.

Please convey info. on sick and distressed to Chaplain Lalumondier at 913/492-8978.

Marines in Need There were no Marines in Need during this recent period. Any member who is aware of someone in need is asked to first submit a request in writing to Marine Pat O’Malley of our Financial Assistance Review Committee, including a statement of the purpose, a cost estimate and the time period. Pat’s email is irishonflint@yahoo.com, and his address is 12412 Flint, Overland Park, KS 66213-2120. Fallen Marine Program There were at least two ceremonies since January. _______________________________________________________________________________ Fund Raising Activities Our activities at the Kansas Speedway will be on the week-ends of April 26th & 27th and September 27th and 28th. Toys for Tots All members who assisted during last year’s campaign were duly recognized, as well as Cmdr. Jim Welcher of the New Century Young Marines, Cpl. Brad Adbury, their Training Officer, and the Young Marine members of this unit, who assisted, all of whom were in attendance. A total of 18,261 toys were collected at 194 pick up sites, and 10,195 toys were collected during three week-ends, for a total of 28,456 toys. A big thank you goes to all of the above Marines and Young Marines. Marine Corps Scholarship Golf Tournament The local MCSF Chapter is gearing up for this September. Our local Chapter’s website is:

www.mcsfkc.org, and the national site is www.mcsf.org. There will be 2 flights this year, with a goal of a minimum of 200 golfers. The September event will be Monday, the 15th. In 2007 the net proceeds were $77,016.00. Oorah! Good of the League Marine Gonzalo Reyes is a candidate for the office of State Commandant. Let us come out to the State Convention (which we’re hosting) in June and support Gonzalo. This is info. from Gonzalo: The following veterans are eligible to receive eye care and eyeglasses from VA Med Centers: Veterans rated 10 % or more service-connected for any condition; veterans rated service-connected for an eye condition that requires corrective lenses; former prisoners of war; veterans enrolled in a VA –approved Vocational Rehabilitation Training Program, and veterans in receipt of increased VA nonservice- connected pension based on need of regular aid. For more info. on VA eye care, contact your local VA Med Center. Marine James Robinson has donated $200.00 to our Unit, the funds to be used as our members determine. Marine Joe Elliott has produced sharp-looking business cards for members at a cost of $15 for 100. The proceeds will go towards our Marines in Need Committee. The State of Missouri has issued a Vietnam War Medaillon; veterans who served in Vietnam may receive more information from Adj/Paymaster Hinrichs. There are benefits for persons who served in the U.S. Military prior to January, 2002. These Social Security benefits are credited for the years of active duty through 2001. Up to $1200/yr. of earnings credit can be received. This is credited at the time when application is made; bring in your DD-214 to the Social Security office. You must ask for this benefit to receive it! See socialsecurity.gov/retire2/military.htm. This benefit is not just for retirees. The Spring Conference of the Midwest Division, Marine Corps League, will be held at Watertown, S.D. from April 18-20. More information will be available at our meeting. For the Department of KS, MCL Convention, the Hilton Garden Inn on College Blvd. will be our likely venue. The date is Saturday, June 21st, 2008. Let us each strive to recruit a new MCL member by the March meeting. An additional area website for Marines is: www.kansascitymarines.net. Check it out. To look up fellow Marines from across the nation, go to www.militaryconnections.com. If you don’t have a computer, any of the area libraries can provide you with the opportunity to use the internet at these facilities. Thanks to Marine Hinrichs for the information on the above web site.

Other items More members are needed for our Color Guard. This will facilitate our being able to provide our Color Guard for various ceremonies, as some Color Guard members may not be able to be at an event on a given day. Please sign up with Marine J.O. Smith at our Wednesday meeting.

Editor Dave Altum of The Sunflower “Scuttlebutt” advises that the annual donation for mailing and expenses is now due. Any member who wishes to contribute $5.00 or more as a Booster is asked to send this to: Air Capital Det. # 773, Attn: Howard Runft, American Legion, 101 E. 31st Street, South, Wichita, KS 67216-1002. Make checks out to Department of Kansas, MCL. If you have any raffle articles, please bring them to our Wednesday meeting, where they’ll be raffled off in support of the Marine Corps Scholarship Fund, Marines in Need, etc. Life Memberships Dues are as follows: Age Group Currently As of Jan. 09 0-35 $400 $500 36-40 350 400 41-50 350 400 51-60 250 300 61-Over 125 150 To become a Life Member, you must already be a Regular Member in Good Standing. Volunteers are needed to head up committees for the Young Marines and Community Outreach. The uniform for all who participate in the Fallen Marine Program is the khaki shirt with blue trousers. The American flag patches shall be in gold trim on the khaki shirts. Marine Richard Hinrichs is soliciting ideas to enhance our website – www.mclopks.org – Please submit these to Marine Hinrichs at Rhinrichs@kc.rr.com, ph. 913/648-1029, or at our Wednesday meeting. Our site has had over 45,000 hits so far! Khaki and Blues Uniform Ordering Procedure Members who wish to have khaki shirts should first contact Marine Clinton, who can obtain these from Henderson Hall at the rate of $17.90 for long sleeves and $15.40 for short sleeves. These are the issue shirts; the creighton’s are more.

For members who desire to order other uniform items, the procedures are as follows: To order, fax the Navy/Marine Corps Support Center, Chesapeake, VA at 800-551-6289. Or enter your order by phone to Tanya at 800-368-4088, ext. 3512, between the hours of 1100 – 2000 EDT, from Monday through Friday. Prices for dress blue trousers w/NCO red stripes = $30.50 + $1.80. Belts are $2.60 and $6.50. A local tailor whom you can contact is Louise Bland, 10149 Edelweiss Circle in Merriam, ph. 913/831-4647 (h). An alternative source for white aviator shirts is Executive Apparel of New York. Shirts are $16.50 & $17.50/each, plus shipping. Please call 518/966-4424, with your size requirements. Uniform Items Marine Cammack has on hand the following items: covers, emblems, collar ornaments, and shoulder patches. Call Chuck at 913-492-6520, to be properly outfitted. As for name tags, contact Marine Rich Hinrichs at 913-648-1029.

Websites & Email, Etc.

The website of the Marine Corps League on the National level is http://www.mcleague.org and our Detachment’s website is www.mclopks.org. Anyone receiving a paper newsletter, but has email, please email our Adjutant at Rhinrichs@kc.rr.com with the subject of “email newsletter”. Thanks. This newsletter was printed by Marines Cast & Marsolek