American Legion Posts in South Mississippi Welcomed National Commander James E. Koutz to the Mississippi Coast
LEGION POST 42 NEWS
American Legion Post's in South Mississippi welcomed National American Legion Commander James E. Koutz. of Boonville, Indiana , at a breakfast hosted by Legion Post 160 of Pascagoula, noon lunch at Waveland Post 77 and dinner at Gautier Post 1992 this past Wednesday , February 20 . Distinguished guests at the dinner meeting included Gautier Mayor Tommy Fortenberry who addressed the assembled Legion members and Mr. T.J. Moran who represented Rep. Steven Palazzo also present were Mississippi District Commander John Tardy and MS Dept. President Sarah Edwards.
National Commander James E. Koutz was elected August 30, 2012 during the organization 94th National Convention in Indianapolis, In.. He prefers to address veterans as '' My Friends and Warriors '' who actively preserve our freedom. Commander Koutz highlighted projects that he wants to pursue in his year of office. Operation Comfort Warriors is an all volunteer effort to address the needs of veteran warriors throughout the country in a supportive manner. He encouraged Legion Posts to hold events to fund this worthy project. He set a target goal to have 3.3 million American Legion members by 2019 the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the American Legion. He wants to establish a Veterans Female Coordinator to access the needs of veterans in the state. He will meet with the President of the United States , next Thursday, February 28 and encouraged members to contact their congressional representatives and inform them of the following concerns of all veterans that a solution must be reached before March 1st or the sequestration will take effect which will impact the readiness of the military. He wants more then a 1% increase in our fighting men and women pay who preserve our freedom and if not he wants to ensure all government employees do not receive raises before our veterans. The more then two hundred veterans present gave a loud applause to this statement. Already Koutz noted the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman will not be deployed to support our men and women in harms way. He is opposed to a medal for drone operators that is considered higher in status then the Silver or Bronze Star. He stated 6800 border guards will be affected if our legislators don't do their job and pass a budget.
American Legion Post 42 located in Ocean Springs has seen an increase of young veterans of the Iraq/Afghanistan war joining the post. They are just as concerned of our eroding economy and lack of leadership in our national elected members of congress. There is one bright spot our local mayors, councilman and news media support our freedoms Members of Post 42 and veterans organization 40&8 are joining in distributing American flags in March to our 1st grade students in public and private schools in Jackson County. We inform the children of the history of the flag, its stars and stripes and recite the pledge of allegiance. Post 42 of Ocean Springs has reached their goal of 130 members and continues to grow. We encourage veterans to join Legion Post 42 of Ocean Springs, we meet every third Monday of the Month at the Senior Citizens’ Center on Washington Ave, 6:30 PM . Help us protect our freedoms. Our national emblem the eagle has a right wing and a left wing both must work together for it to fly.
American Legion Post 42 of Ocean Springs attending were left to right
Post 42 Commander Ed Wise , Sean Cassidy, Roy Davis, National Commander James Koutz, Ivan McAllister, Angel Anderson and Robert Endt. Ivan McAllister will be running for District Nine Commander and Robert Endt will be running for Southern Area Vice Commander this year Photo by Dick Eckert
