VFW Fall Conference Review

It seems just yesterday that I attended the VFW and Ladies Auxiliary summer conference.  It's hard to believe the time had come for the fall conference. To be very honest, I was dreading it, like I dread most of the other conferences.  Let me rephrase that - it's just the politics, BS, and bragging that I dread; I get a kick out of seeing the state color guard march in with the flags, and I feel proud when I see the VFW members salute their Commander.  The Auxliary doesn't to much marching, and they do no saluting, so our meetings are where the politics, BS, and bragging comes in.  That having been said, today was the fall conference, and as an officer, I'm supposed to attend these things.  I signed in and gathered my Auxiliary members and we headed in for the joint session with the VFW and Auxiliary.  I have to say this was probably the coolest one I've attended so far. 

The highlight of the session was listening to Col. Peter Bayer - the Deputy Commander at Ft. Knox. When the State Commander introduced Col. Bayer, I'm sure some probably thought he was going to be all pro-war during his few minutes at the podium.  That was not the case at all; he was pro-support.  He reminded us all that we currently have an all-volunteer military, and he assured us that the Army has never had better trained military personnel than today.  He gave some staggering statistics during his breif but moving talk.  He said that currently, 73% of men ages 17-24 do not meet the mental, physical, and moral requirements to join the military.  Makes perfect sense to me, given the fact that the marjority of the homicide victims today fall in that demographic category. 

The Colonel thanked the VFW and Auxiliary for supporting the veterans, active troops, and their families.  And before he left, he lifted up his hand to show that he was wearing one of the "I Support The Troops" red wristbands from the VFW, and urged us all to continue our support work, and do everything we can to help the young people of today, because they'll be the ones fighting for us tomorrow.