March 28 is Vietnam’s National Remembrance Day.

American Legion Post 41 in Houston will be open that day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to welcome Vietnam veterans. There will be refreshments and beverages, displays of related military equipment and, for football fans, a new type of table football game invented by Navy veteran Michael Wray. There will be sea stories, stories told, and there may even be reunions.

Our Warrant Officer will be there to hand out commemorative pins and certificates from the National Vietnam War Commemoration Association. Our Post meeting room is located at the west end of the Chilton Oil Company building, just north of Pizza Hut on South Sam Houston Blvd.

ARMED FORCES APPRECIATION DAY NEWS

The planning meeting held on March 5 was to assign specific tasks to our committees. We will be contacting Fort Leonard Wood organizations for military involvement, working dogs, the Army Corps of Engineers Museum, Military Police and others. We have established a tentative budget and our generous sponsors have so far contributed around 70% of the funds needed.

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

The next planning meeting will be at 1:00 p.m. on 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 6:00 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month in the west end meeting room 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 American Legion Post 41 meeting room in Houston. The FRA exists to serve all veterans and active duty members of the US Navy, US Marine Corps and US Coast Guard.

•Veterans Of Foreign Wars Post 473 meets at 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month at its mall on US 63 north of Cabool. La Poste offers a free dinner from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the fourth Wednesday of each month, open to everyone.
• Post 6337 Veterans of Foreign Wars in Licking meets at 5:30 p.m. on the third Monday of each month in the Main Street Assembly Hall, just south of Highway 32.

Houston resident Robert E. Simpson is a retired US Navy chief electronics technician who served from 1969 to 1990. Email [email protected]