American Legion Post 41 in Houston will be open on that day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to welcome Vietnam veterans. There will be refreshments and drinks, displays of related military gear, and for football fans, a new type of table-top football game invented by Navy veteran Michael Wray. There will be sea-stories, recounted history, and there might even be some re-unions.

Our adjutant will be there to present commemorative pins and certificates from the National Vietnam War Commemoration Association. Our Post meeting hall is located on the west end of Chilton Oil Company’s building, just north of Pizza Hut on South Sam Houston Blvd.

The planning meeting held on March 5 was all about assigning specific tasks for our committees. We’ll be contacting organizations at Fort Leonard Wood for military participation, working dogs, Army Corps of Engineers Museum, Military Police and others. We have set a tentative budget and our generous sponsors have so far contributed about 70% of the needed funds.

The program is starting to come together; the picnic-style barbecue meal will be free to veterans and their families, and the guest speakers will be Vietnam veterans. All veterans will be recognized and honored, but our theme and focus this year will be on Vietnam-era veterans. This program will be a combined effort by American Legion Post 41 and Veterans Of Foreign Wars Posts 473 and 6337, but anyone interested is invited to attend the planning meetings and volunteer.

The planning meeting held on March 5 was all about assigning specific tasks for our committees. We’ll be contacting organizations at Fort Leonard Wood for military participation, working dogs, Army Corps of Engineers Museum, Military Police and others. We have set a tentative budget and our generous sponsors have so far contributed about 70% of the needed funds.

The program is starting to come together; the picnic-style barbecue meal will be free to veterans and their families, and the guest speakers will be Vietnam veterans. All veterans will be recognized and honored, but our theme and focus this year will be on Vietnam-era veterans. This program will be a combined effort by American Legion Post 41 and Veterans Of Foreign Wars Posts 473 and 6337, but anyone interested is invited to attend the planning meetings and volunteer.

The next planning meeting will be at 1 p.m. March 19. Armed Forces Appreciation Day will be celebrated this year on Armed Forces Day (May 21) at the Texas County Fairgrounds.

Veterans organizations in Texas County:

•American Legion Post 41 meets at 6 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month at the meeting hall on the west end of Chilton Oil Company in Houston (just north of Pizza Hut). Changes to membership eligibility now allow U.S. veterans of all branches and periods of service to join the American Legion.

•Fleet Reserve Association Branch 364 meets at 2:30 p.m. on the fourth Sunday of each month at the American Legion Post 41 meeting hall in Houston. The FRA exists to serve all veterans and active-duty members of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard.

•Veterans Of Foreign Wars Post 473 meets at 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month at its meeting mall on U.S. 63 north of Cabool. The Post offers a free dinner from 4 to 7 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of each month, open to everyone.

•Veterans Of Foreign Wars Post 6337 in Licking meets at 5:30 p.m. on the third Monday of each month at the meeting hall on Main Street just south of Highway 32.

Source: https://houstonherald.com/2022/03/vietnam-veterans-special-event/