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Post Elected Officers & Appointments 2010 - 2011
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Sr. Vice Commander
Jr. Vice Commander
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the Year
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Chairperson
Newsletter
Name
Albert Kudrle
Ray Nelson
Ryan Felden
Steven Conto
Michael L. Borg
Edward Koleske
William J. Remter
Mike Page
Richard Rettler
Kimberly Kamps
Jim Kuhlmey
Jacob A. Paltzer
Steve Conto
Jack Voight
Jacob A. Paltzer
Albert Kudrle
William
Remter
Fred Mc Crory
Dan Luebke
Robert
Brown
Robert Lichtfuss
William Remter
Emmet
Erdmann
Michael
Borg
Name
Andy
Weyker
Jake Paltzer
Shirley Hopfensperger &
Weyker
Patrick McCormick
Quartermaster (Steve
Conto)
Sr. Vice Cmdr & Aux Sr. Vice Pres.
Dick
Rettler
Post's Three Trustees
Dick Rettler
Jr. Vice
Cmdr & Aux Jr. Vice Pres.
Post Cmdr & Aux
President
Jr. Vice Cmdr & Aux Jr. Vice Pres.
Sr. Vice Cmdr
& Aux Sr. Vice Pres.
Post's Adjutant (Jake Paltzer)
Past
Cmdr & Aux Past President
Jack Voight
Adjutant (Jake
Paltzer)
History of Appleton's VFW Post No. 2778
Harvey Pierre Post 2778 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States was instituted on February 20, 1933.
Harvey Pierre, for whom our Post is named, was the first soldier from Appleton who died in World War I. He was born April 11, 1899 in Appleton. He attended Third Ward Grade School, two years of High School and was a graduate of Bushey Business College. He was employed as a bookkeeper at Fox River Knitting Factory until his enlistment on April 11, 1917. Private Harvey Pierre was in Company “G”, 2nd Wisconsin Infantry National Guard and served overseas with the 50th Machine Gun Battalion 42nd Rainbow Division. He was killed in action on July 15, 1918 in Champaign, France.
Harvey was a boy well liked by the soldiers in his company. They wanted him to go with them wherever they went and always helped him out of difficulties. When he enlisted, he was under the minimum weight of 110 pounds so the boys made him drink water until it ran out of his ears. They put weights in his shoes and pegs in his heels so he would stand in regulation height. This boy was but 18 years old.
As stated by John J. Pershing, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Army, he bravely laid down his life for the causes of his country. His name will ever remain fresh in the hearts of his friends and comrades. The record of his honorable service will be preserved in the archives of the American Expeditionary Forces.
Comrades William Reetz, Raymond Voight, Paul Wilke, Louis Jeske, and Ferdinand Radtke are responsible for the organization of Harvey Pierre Post 2778 Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States. The first organizational meeting was held on January 9, 1933 at Appleton’s Armory G. Building with thirteen comrades present.
The next meeting was called to order on January 16, 1933, to nominate and elect the first officers who were as follows: Armin Scheurle, Commander; Louis Jeske, Senior Vice Commander; Paul Wilke, Junior Vice Commander; John Pierre, Quartermaster; J.B. Rasmussen, Adjutant; William Speel, Chaplain; William Reetz, Officer of the Day; Dewey Hottenstein, Guard; Joseph Witmer, Service Officer; and Ferdinand, D. Hedberg, and Chris Guckenberger as Trustees.
Our first Commander, Armin Scheurle went on to become Department Commander in 1940, also bringing the first Department Convention to Appleton in 1941.
John Pierre, brother of Harvey Pierre in whose memory the Post is named, was one of the original charter members and our first quartermaster. He later became commander in 1942-1943 and was committed to this organization all his life.
The third meeting was called to order February 20, 1933 by 6th District Council member, Walter Brown, to install the first officers, obligate members, and institute the Post.
This group laid a foundation for an organization that has grown into an outstanding Post in the State of Wisconsin currently consisting of 480 members.
History of Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States
This is the story of how the Veterans of Foreign Wars began, how it has grown and how it is shaping the future. It’s a history of a few veterans who refused to be forgotten. They were spurred into action by necessity and they developed the VFW, a national organization whose 1.8 million members employed two powerful principles – comradeship and service.
Our story begins in 1899. That was the year of gas lights, five cent beer and the first horseless carriage. We find the main action in two cities - Columbus, Ohio and Denver, Colorado. The characters in the our drama were Spanish-American War Veterans who had just returned home from the Cuban and Philippine battlefronts.
Those were young fellows, but they were prematurely aged by the ravages of tropical fever, bad food and medical neglect. They were fighting men who had been victorious against foreign enemies. They received their discharge pay, $15.60 per man. They should have been happy, but they couldn’t be. Some of the men were desperately ill, too sick to work steadily. Most of them quickly became penniless. There were no governmental hospitals to which the disabled could go for medical aid. There were no helping hands, no such thing as financial assistance. The plain fact was that no one seemed to care what happened to them. They were truly Forgotten Men.
James Romanis, a young Veteran of the Cuban campaign, lived in Columbus, Ohio.
He was disturbed when he saw his suffering comrades going to the poorhouse and dying in squalor. He decided to make the first move. So, on the night of September 29, 1899, Romanis called together about 12 of his veteran friends. They met in the back room of a tailoring shop in Columbus. There they discussed the plight of the returned men. They organized a club and called it the American Veterans of Foreign Service. Membership in that club was limited to overseas veterans. All members were pledged “to help one another and to work together for the benefit of our country and for the men who fight for this nation.”
Those were the first foundation stones of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. There were other units organized in Altoona and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1901 and Philadelphia in 1902. All these different veterans’ units agreed from the very beginning that their job was to represent the men who had fought in the defense of American democracy. The V.F.W. overseas veterans have stressed patriotism, comradeship and service ever since. That describes the character of our organization today as set forth in the charter granted the Veterans of Foreign Wars by the 74th Congress of the United States.
Our Charter says: “The purpose of the this corporation shall be fraternal, patriotic, historical and educational; to preserve and strengthen comradeship among it’s members; to assist worthy comrades; to perpetuate the memory and history of our dead and to assist their widows and orphans; to maintain true allegiance to the Government of the United States of America and extend the institutions of American freedom and to preserve and defend the United States from all her enemies, whomsoever.”
These were the first of several units, which later merged into what is today the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States. It makes you proud of what this organization has become and of all veterans of all wars and conflicts that have made it what it is today.