VFW to celebrate anniversary
The building at 106 E. Maiden St. in Washington looks like any other social hall. It’s inconspicuous among the other businesses that line the street, but inside sit four of its most interesting fixtures: the officers of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 927.
Three Navy men and one Army man, they warmly welcome guests inside their organization. Just looking at the four in their T-shirts and cargo pants and shorts, no one would ever guess the stories they had to tell – stories of military exploits and the transition coming home from overseas. But as they sit down to discuss their military careers, they obviously share a bond – one they credit to the VFW.
“My two grandfathers (were) in the military,” commander David Reese of Washington County said as he started his tale. “(I have) three brothers in the military, and my father was a World War II vet and Bronze Star winner.”
Reese joined the Navy as a 20-year-old in 1976, right after Vietnam, and he was stationed all over the world. He served for 19 years and joined the VFW after he retired. “When my wife passed away,” he continued, “Ray (the quartermaster) was there calling me every day. He helped me through. (The) transition is hard, and I had my wife diagnosed with cancer. … Whenever you get into an organization like this, you have fellowship.”
Post 927 will celebrate its 75th anniversary this Saturday with dinner, a band and an awards ceremony that will include life-membership recognition for three people. But the organization hasn’t always been at the same location.
“Buying this place, here, put a lot on me,” quartermaster Ray Parkinson said as he looked around the building. After countless meetings with the bank and even offering to put his house up for collateral, Parkinson finally asked: “What else do I have to do (to get the money)?” He didn’t have to do any more asking, and repairs soon began on the new building five years ago. Between a new roof, new air-conditioning, four new furnaces, new flooring and other improvements, the VFW post spent more than $100,000 on repairs.
Parkinson is the longest-standing member of all the officers at Post 927, and he saw a lot during his time in the military – even watching missiles go in and out on a guided missile destroyer during the Cuban Missile Crisis. After leaving the military in 1965, he eventually joined the VFW after playing softball for the organization. “(I’ve) been a part ever since,” he said. “When you get good officers, good people, you have a good operation.”
“It doesn’t matter what branch (of the military), we’re there for each other,” junior vice commander Greg Atkins added as he looked around at the other men seated – all Navy vets and he, an Army man. Atkins joined the Army when he was 17. It was something he had always wanted to do. “When I first enlisted, it was tough because it was special forces,” he said. He soon turned to automotive mechanics instead of special forces – he wanted to have something that would transfer to life after the military.
“The amount (of money) I made after (the military), made me wonder why I’d left,” Senior Vice Commander Kenny Gorby said as he recalled the time he left the military. A Navy man, Gorby was part of the submarine service and helped operate a diesel boat from 1963 to 1967.
“It’s the people that really make the VFW,” Reese said. “A lot of people don’t know what people did overseas or when they come back. Even though men and women fought or were in a place of combat, (it’s) so much more. It’s what our organization gives to the community.”