C. L. Elms Post 9951

Department of Pacific Areas

Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States

7 South Sathorn Road

Bangkok 10120 Thailand


March 8, 2008


  1. CMDR Owens opened a C. L. Elms Post 9951 regular meeting IAW the VFW ritual at 11:05 on this date in the Conference Room of JUSMAGTHAI located at 7 South Sathorn Road in Bangkok, Thailand.

  2. There was a roll call of officers and all were present or properly excused except for Chaplain Worsham. There were 17 members attending and two guests.

  3. There were two applications for membership. Mr. Nuttaporn Ooppapan wants to be a life member while Mr. Vernon Harrison requests annual membership. After some discussion, their applications were unanimously approved and we warmly welcomed these new Comrades into our Post.

  4. We gave copies of the minutes of the last meeting to those in attendance. JVC Key made a motion to approve them, subject to correction, and Advocate Oden seconded it. The motion carried.

  5. Quartermaster Neutzler gave the QM Report for the period 1 through 29 February 2008. Advocate Oden moved to approve the report, subject to audit. SVC Brose seconded this and the motion carried.

  6. There were no bills for collection.

  7. Service Officer Dyste gave the SO Report.

  8. We discussed some of the health issues of Comrade Pipas as well as Comrades Larsen from Pattaya and Miller from Korat.

  9. Committee reports are: (a) Membership: Our goal for this year is 244. We now have 254 members for 104.1 %. We again discussed the need for recruitment. (b) Bingo: We received $200.58 this period. (c) Buddy Poppies: We received a box of 500 poppies that we had ordered from National. These will be distributed, and paid for, at the District V Meeting in Korat. (d) POW/MIA: Comrade Picha made some interesting and informative observations (e) Community Activities: JVC Key gave an update. (f) Independence Day: The event will be held on July 5. The ID Committee is meeting and Advocate Oden attended a recent conference. The biggest issue now is that a venue for the festivities has not been located but, people are working this issue. There was a generalized discussion of ID activities although there were no conclusions. The next ID meeting will be in the AMCHAM Office on April 4 at 7:30 a.m. The QM will attend. (g) Webmaster: Comrade Petersen briefed us on his efforts to set up a new Web site. He has the new location set up and running now. It is a mirror of the old site but also has some additional enhancements. There is a link from the old to the new site, which is at vfwbkk.org. Both sites will be operating concurrently for the immediate future.

  10. Remembrance of our National Home was at 11:50.

  11. Old Business (a) We are still looking for a replacement for the SO as his age precludes him from being both the Post SO and the RAO. Please volunteer for this vital responsibility. (b) The next District V Meeting will be in Korat on April 18 and 19 at the Sri Pattana Hotel. We decided that Post 9951 would pay to rent a bus to take members and guests there, departing on the 18th and returning on the 20th. The motion was made by Trustee Hudson, seconded by Advocate Oden and unanimously approved. Advocate Oden accepted the task of arranging for the bus. (c) This year’s DPA Convention will be in Pattaya from June 15 to 20. Still needed is someone to accept the responsibility of being head of the Post’s efforts to sell advertising in the Convention Book. If you will do this, please tell the CMDR. Everyone is asked to sell these ads on an individual basis as this is an important source of revenue for us. (d) The QM reported on his progress to obtain new shirts for our Post. The CMDR will pick up the first batch at the Korat District Meeting. (e) There will be a lunch for the two National Officers who will visit this area in March. Advocate Oden has coordinated the meal to be at the Amari Boulevard Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 5, starting at 11:00 a.m. on March 17.

  12. New Business: (a) ANZAC Day is April 25. A bus, rented by us, will leave Washington Square at 7:00 a.m. so that Members can attend the ceremonies, refreshments and lunch in Kanchanaburi. For the first time, there will be a charge for this event. It is 300 baht for VFW members and 300 baht for one guest. So, if a member and spouse attend, the cost is 600 baht. Other attendees must pay 500 baht each. This expense covers all the day’s activities. Comrade Picha has agreed to collect the money at the bus and Advocate Oden will arrange for the transportation and meal. (b) We held nominations for Post Officers for the new VFW Year of 2008 - 2009. The nominees are: CMDR – CMDR Owens, SVC – SVC Brose, JVC – JVC Key, Chaplain – Comrade Cowperthwaite, Surgeon – Surgeon Rhodes, Advocate – Trustee Nestle, Three Year Trustee – Trustee Nicholls and Comrade Harrison, Two Year Trustee – Trustee Nestle and, One Year Trustee – Comrade Hudson.

  13. Good of the Order: (a) Trustee Nestle won the Post Raffle of some cash and a baseball cap. (b) Several people noted the commemorative days and events which will occur before our next meeting. (c) The VA facility in America acknowledged receipt of our donation of postage stamps. (d) Comrade Lawson donated a “Space A” map to us.

  14. CMDR Owens closed the meeting at 12:50 IAW the VFW ritual. The next regular meeting of C.L. Elms Post 9951 will be at 11:00 on April 12, 2008 in the JUSMAGTHAI Conference Room.



FOR THE COMMANDER:







David E. Neutzler, Adjutant