To: Members of the Department Council of Administration and
Past State Commanders
From: Earl D. Fulk, State Commander
Date: 5/20/2013
Re: National Council Member position
An election will be held for the National Council Member position which is now vacant with the passing of Jim Rowoldt. The election will be held at the Council of Administration meeting on May 31st, 2013 at 3:00 PM. This is in accordance with Section 623 of the National By-Laws and Section 520 of our Manual of Procedure.
Anyone wishing to run for this position should have their nominator and second ready. The candidate(s) will be given an opportunity to address the Council for five (5) minutes before the election.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions, suggestions or concerns.
Thank you.
Earl Fulk
ARRANGEMENTS FOR
JIM ROWOLDT
Sadly, State Adjutant/Quartermaster, National Council Member and Past State Commander Jim Rowoldt passed away May 16, 2013. Arrangements are as follows:
Burial May 26, 2013, 2 pm, National Cemetery, 5810 Midway Road, Dixon, CA
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent in Jim's name to the VFW California Foundation.
On behalf of the VFW and Ladies Auxiliary, we send sincere condolences to Shirley Rowoldt, the Rowoldt family and the many friends of Jim Rowoldt. He will be missed by so many.
VFW NATIONAL
ADJUTANT GENERAL
ALLEN "GUNNER" KENT
TO BE NATIONAL REPRESENTATIVE
AT UPCOMING STATE CONVENTION
Allen F. "Gunner" Kent was appointed adjutant general in August 2005. Prior to this appointment he served as the Veterans Service Organization Liaison in the Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC from 1996-2005. Kent was on active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps from 1958 until 1982. He served with the 17th Interrogation and Translation Team, 1st and 3rd Marine Divisions in Vietnam in 1967-68, as well as a six-month assignment with an Army advisory group. He also participated in Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of U.S. personnel from Saigon on April 29-30, 1975. During his military service he received a Bronze Star with Combat V, Navy Commendation Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, Vietnam Service Medal with four stars, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, as well as several unit commendations, citations and foreign decorations. Kent's VFW activity began in 1968 when he joined Post 2811 in Gainesville, Fla. He has served as chairman of the Americanism Committee, vice chairman of both the National Legislative and National Security and Foreign Affairs committees, and was named All-American Post and Department commander. In 1994 he was elected National Commander-In-Chief. He is currently a Legacy Life member of VFW Post 9972 in Sierra Vista, Ariz. He was selected Arizona's "Young Vietnam Veteran of the Year" for 1979. Kent's other affiliations include the American Legion, AMVETS, Military Order of the Cootie, Marine Corps Mustang Association, Marine Corps League, Marine Corps Intelligence Association, Marine Corps Interrogator Translator Association and Vietnam Veterans of America. He and his wife Rebecca reside in Liberty, Mo. They have two grown children, Allen Jr. and Kimberli Kent Harney. Gunner has two grandchildren, a granddaughter Topaz and a grandson Dakota. The Dept. of California welcomes Allen “Gunner” Kent to the VFW’s 93rd State Convention.
RESOLUTIONS TO BE HEARD AT STATE CONVENTION
FROM EVERETT MARTIN, PSC, Redistricting Committee Chairman:
In an effort to bring clarification as to how the Redistricting Committee came to the decisions reflected in the following Resolutions, a number of things were taken into consideration. To give you some background, Cmdr. Earl Fulk appointed myself as Redistricting Chairman with the following members serving on the Committee: PSC and Adjutant / Quartermaster Jim Rowoldt, PSC Judge Brown, PSC Henry Wadahara and PSC Nick Guest. We met at the Department Headquarters in March and each member of the committee brought with them ideas, maps and charts. We also had on hand information from 2006 when PSC John Fitzke served as Chairman and attempted to redistrict the Department of California. After two days of "brain-storming" the Committee came to a unanimous decision to reduce the number of Districts from 23 to 15. We wanted to make it fair for everyone by creating stronger and more competitive districts and that can only be achieved by reducing the number of districts. Some districts are lucky to have people stepping up to run for office; others are not. Time and again we have been reminded by our State Quartermaster Jim Rowoldt as well as the Board of Trustees that we cannot continue with budgets based on membership that we enjoyed 10 years ago. In 2003 the Department had over 110,000 members. Ten years later we have a membership of approximately 87,000 members. Think about it comrades, we cannot sustain the Department of California, we must be serious about this matter. By reducing the amount of Districts from 23 to 15 would cut down on travel for the State line officers and eliminate travel and per diem for 8 District Commanders. This alone would be a savings of approximately $27,000. It would provide further relief to those seeking office - instead of traveling to 23 districts, they would only have to travel to 15 districts. If the Convention approves this redistricting, we will be a stronger, more viable Department. We should not be concerned about having to change a district number - we should be concerned about the financial disaster for the entire Department if we don't act now. Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at (760) 961-2460 (home) or (760) 217-3783 (cell). Looking forward to seeing all of you at our upcoming State Convention in Ontario.
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