C. L. Elms Post 9951

Department of Pacific Areas

Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States

7 South Sathorn Road

Bangkok 10120 Thailand


April 12, 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. There were 20 members attending.

  3. There were two applications for membership. Ms. Lesley Alexander wants to be a life member while Mr. Danny Nicholls requests annual membership. After some discussion, Trustee Nestle motioned we admit them and Advocate Oden seconded this. Their applications were approved and we warmly welcomed them into our Post.

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

  5. Quartermaster Neutzler gave the QM Report for the period 1 through 31 March 2008. Trustee Nestle moved to approve the report, subject to audit. Advocate Oden 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 who is improving.

  9. Committee reports are: (a) Membership: Our goal for this year is 244. We now have 258 members for 105.74 %. We again discussed the need for recruitment. (b) Bingo: We received nothing this period. (c) Buddy Poppies: Our next appropriate occasion for soliciting donations will be Memorial Day, May 26. (d) POW/MIA: Comrade Picha made some interesting and informative observations (e) Community Activities: JVC Key gave an update. (f) Independence Day: Brian Housh is the F&B Chairman and Everett Schmidt is the project Chair. The event will be held on July 5th at The Port Authority of Thailand’s Sports Club Football Field. We will post the colors and sell hamburgers and beer. Our Ladies Group will take care of bingo. An issue here is whether we will accept gratuitous gifts from the I Day Committee and donate the bingo proceeds to charity or, provide our own awards and keep the money. There was general discussion of this but no conclusion. The matter must be resolved before the next ID Meeting which will be in the AMCHAM Office on May 9 at 7:30 a.m. The QM will attend. (g) Webmaster: There was a lot of talk about the utility of the “forum” feature on our new Web site. The general agreement is we do not like this capability and prefer to have Post news distributed to us by individual emails. Trustee Nicholls agreed to accept the challenge of devising a system to do this.

  10. Remembrance of our National Home was at 11:40.

  11. Old Business (a) Comrade Harrison volunteered to be the Post SO. (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 which will cost 23,000 baht. In view of this expense, Advocate Oden motioned we charge each bus rider 1,000 baht. Comrade Picha seconded this and the motion carried. Advocate Oden is charged with collecting the fee when riders board the bus. Comrade Picha will be the Post Delegate and Trustee Nicholls will be the Alternate. (c) This year’s DPA Convention will be in Pattaya from June 15 to 20. (d) The new shirts for our Post were available and were sold at the meeting. (e) The lunch for the visiting National Officers at the Amari Boulevard Hotel on Sukhumvit Soi 5, on March 17 went well. (e) 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 fee 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. (f) We held elections for Post Officers for the new VFW Year of 2008 - 2009. The Adjutant cast one unanimous vote for the following new officers: CMDR – CMDR Owens, SVC – SVC Brose, JVC – JVC Key, Quartermaster – QM Neutzler, Chaplain – Comrade Nuttaporn, Surgeon – Surgeon Rhodes, Advocate – Trustee Nestle, Three Year Trustee – Comrade Harrison, Two Year Trustee – Trustee Nicholls and, One Year Trustee – Comrade Hudson. These Officers will be installed at the May Meeting.

  12. New Business: (a) For the first time in the recent history of the Post, we agreed to give CMDR Owens travel money to attend the District Meeting. Advocate Oden motioned we provide funds, not to exceed 2,500 baht for this purpose. Comrade Houck seconded this and the motion carried. (b) There were inconclusive talks on how to raise money for our prostheses charity. (c) The Chief, JMAG will soon be leaving. We will make arrangements to give him a certificate of appreciation; Comrade Picha has the lead.

  13. Good of the Order: (a) Comrade James won the Post Raffle of some cash and a prize. He then generously donated part of the money back to the Post. (b) We received a new streamer from the VFW. (c) Several people noted the commemorative days and events which will occur before our next meeting.

  14. CMDR Owens closed the meeting at 12:55 IAW the VFW ritual. The next regular meeting of C.L. Elms Post 9951 will be at 11:00 on May 10, 2008 in the JUSMAGTHAI Conference Room.



FOR THE COMMANDER:







David E. Neutzler, Adjutant