FORT LEE, Va. (July 5, 2012)- More than 1,000 Soldiers and Family members, mostly from the 49th Quartermaster Group, enjoyed a day of food, fun and friendship at a June 28 Williams Stadium picnic hosted by two local VFW chapters and their ladies auxiliaries.
The event included an assortment of carnival-style attractions -- a dunk booth, mechanical bull riding, bounce houses for the kids and a rock wall -- as well as enough food to … well … feed an Army.
"This represents a couple of things," noted Tom Ferguson, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2239, Colonial Heights, one of the sponsoring agencies. "It's part of our commitment to support the active duty service members in our community, and we want to build those bridges between today's Soldier and those who served before them.
"In other words, it's where the battle buddy concept goes beyond the formations and fighting vehicles. We want Soldiers and Families to know that their support network extends out into the local community. The VFW is ready to share its organizational strength and the vast experience of its members."
The VFW membership also recognizes the sacrifices the military community has made over the past decade, said Phil Arendsen, senior vice commander of Hopewell Post 637. "The 49th Group performs several support missions and has seen its share of frequent deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan," he added. "This is one way that we can say, 'Thank you, and job well done.'"
Arendsen said that he too would like to see more young Soldiers getting involved with veterans' organizations off post.
"The perception that it's just a bunch of old folk sitting around drinking beer and telling war stories is misleading," he said with a nod toward the military Families passing through the food line. "It's really about this … being a contributing member of the military community."
Speaking on behalf of the 49th Group, Operations Officer Maj. Craig Boston referred to a recent quote by Gen. Raymond Odierno, Army Chief of Staff. "The strength of our nation is our Army; the strength of our Army is our Soldiers; the strength of our Soldiers is our Families -- this is what makes us Army Strong."
"I think an event like this fits the spirit of that statement," the major said. "The community taking the time to say 'thank you' really does mean a lot. It's a good break in our day-to-day mission as well. Our operations tempo (frequent deployments and training) leaves us few opportunities to stop, take a breath and say 'thank you' to our Soldiers and Families, so it's always nice when we do something like this."
Still dripping water from his 20-minute tour of duty in the dunk tank where he issued sufficient teases and taunts to merit a solid barrage of target-bound softballs, Command Sgt. Maj. Jay Porter, 49th Group CSM, expressed his appreciation to the VFW for its support.
"These are the troops who served before us, and they're still contributing to the military community," Porter said. "How could you not appreciate that and feel so much gratitude for their support? I'm thankful because they do so much for our Soldiers. They give to the food pantries and help during emergencies. It's a positive message that I hope will resonate with the participants here today."
Dennita Miskimen, president of the Post 2239 VFW Ladies Auxiliary, referred to the picnic as a "two-year dream that came true."
"We had the desire; it was just a matter of who would need to get involved and when we could make it happen given the busy training schedule of the military organizations at Fort Lee," said the former military spouse whose husband, Master Chief Mike Miskimen, served in the Navy for 26 years.
"There's so much excitement here today because of what this event represents -- the possibility of an even stronger partnership between our organization and the Fort Lee military community," she said. "That's important for more reasons than just membership. We want to be seen as a resource, someone who has walked in their shoes and can offer help and advice. It's a personal commitment to show our support."
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