Our Mission: The mission of the Military Order of the Purple Heart is to foster an environment of goodwill and camaraderie among Combat Wounded Veterans, promote patriotism, support necessary legislative initiatives, and most importantly, provide service to all veterans and their families.

Commander’s Page:: As my year as Chapter Commander draws to close, I can’t help but reflect on all of the chapter’s activities and accomplishments this past year. I want to thank the chapter for allowing me the honor of serving as Commander, and thank our Patriots for all of the support they have given me. Each and every one of you are a Hero in my book, and I am proud to be in your company. I also want to thank all our Officers for their assistance and advice given me throughout the year. I am reminded of the old saying “Many Hands Make Light Work”. This is particularly true in a small, yet elite veteran’s organization such as ours. We all comprise a team of Patriots, a “Band Of Brothers”, with a common goal to promote patriotism, serve our country in whatever way we can, and support veterans and veteran causes. Thank You! Van Johnston, Commander

Next Meeting: Our next regularly scheduled Chapter Meeting will be on Sunday April 27, 2008 at 3:00 p.m. at the Covenant Presbyterian Church on Lone Pine Avenue in East Springfield.

This will be an important meeting, in that we will be electing our new slate of Chapter Officers for 2008-09. It is essential that every position be filled by a willing, qualified and committed Patriot. Make sure you come to the meeting to cast your votes and make your wishes known. We also have a few appointed positions vacant and in need of a dedicated volunteer. Maybe one of those jobs is just right for you.

At our April meeting we will ask for additional nominations from the floor to fill the elected positions, and encourage patriots to volunteer their services for the appointed positions. Remember, a patriot cannot hold more than one elected position, but it is possible to hold both an elected and appointed position in the same fiscal year. So far we have two candidates nominated for office, as follows:

If you want to step up for a position or two, speak to a fellow Patriot, and ask that they nominate you when we call for candidate names. Be sure to approach your preferred candidates for these positions and try to ensure that they get, and accept, nominations when those positions are called for. Remember as well that Associate Members are now eligible for appointed positions, so any of you Associates who wish to serve, please speak up. We would love to have you serve in these jobs. I hope to see you all on the 27^h of April.

The Chapter Newsletter: Next year I would like to see our newsletter composed of individual articles submitted by each of the key Chapter positions. This would make our newsletter action oriented and more informative. But, even with contributed articles, the newsletter will need someone to put it all together, get it published, printed and mailed. Traditionally this burden has fallen to the Adjutant. That is why I think we need to create a new position of “Public Relations Officer/Newsletter Editor” This new position would also serve to interact with the various news media in the area and make certain our organization and our activities are covered so the public will know about us.

The positions offered in April - and starting their duties effective May 1^st are:

Newsletter Printing: We are pleased that First Impressions Printing at 1901 S. Stewart continues to print and fold our newsletter - free of charge. This service is greatly appreciated, and makes the job of producing our newsletter much easier. Thank you Danny Correll, President & General Manager (417) 887-4434.

Americanism Officer’s Comments: "Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom."
-- John Adams (Defense of the Constitutions, 1787)

We are still working on the “Tattered Flag” program, and hope to get the assistance of some of other local veterans groups to help us make this work. We are also hopeful that we can involve the Boy Scouts in the flag retirement part of the program. If you see a tattered, torn, dirty or unserviceable flag, speak with the manager of the business and ask them to consider replacing their flag to show respect for the symbol of our Nation, or call (Hank Halls) and give him the location and name of the business/individual so we can follow up and hopefully get things corrected. It is not our intention to pay for, or subsidize, the replacement of flags, but instead to educate the public about flag history and etiquette, and encourage them (without antagonizing them) to fly only serviceable flags to show pride and support for our Country.

Quartermaster’s Corner: Our Quartermaster Daryl Mitchell still has a suitcase full of MOPH hats and other goodies available to sell you. See Daryl at our monthly meetings and Purple Heart Breakfasts to purchase a hat, patch or pin or place an order.

Purple Heart Breakfasts: Don’t forget our Purple Heart Breakfasts at 8:30 a.m.:

- on the 2^nd Friday of the month at Price Cutters on Battlefield Road in Springfield, and

- on the 3^rd Friday of the month at the NLA Café (a.k.a. the Sale Barn) at 533 Tracker Road in Nixa.

Red Shirt Fridays: Wear your Purple Heart baseball cap, Red shirt or tie/lapel pin whenever you go out (and especially on Fridays) – to show support for our Troops & be visible to prospects.

Membership: Life Membership Promotion: The special $50.00 Life Membership Promotion ends in June. We need new members so we can continue to grow and become an even stronger voice for the needs of combat-wounded veterans, and for all veterans. Membership is our Future! Use your recruiting business cards to remind your prospects to attend our next monthly meetings.

Department of Missouri Convention: The Department of Missouri State Convention will be hosted this year by Kansas City Chapter #115 from May 16-18 at the Rodeway Inn, 15201 South Highway 71, Grandview, MO, 64030. Room rate is approx. $50/night – for reservations call 816-331-0300. Check out the Banner on the Home page of the Dept. Web-site (www.mophmissouri.com) for more details.

From the Department Commander: The Department (and all Missouri Chapters) now has an active web-site (still under construction). Check it out at: www.mophmissouri.com . This web-site is thanks to Bill Ball of the Fenton Chapter #215 who has cloned their Chapter’s site for the use by the rest of us in Missouri - and he has done a great job. Be sure to check in periodically to see what has been added or improved since your last visit.

Condolences: We were sorry to hear about the passing of Life Member Guy Z. Akins of Columbia, Missouri. Guy moved to Columbia in 1998 and had been out of touch with us, except through the newsletters and Purple Heart magazine. Guy was born on December 27, 1923 in Houston, Missouri and passed away on January 11, 2008. Guy is survived by his wife Dorothy, a son Stephen, a daughter-in-law Rochelle Sidie, grandsons, a brother Duard Akins, nephews and nieces. PFC Guy Akins served in the Army as a rifleman, earning a Bronze Star, 2 Purple Hearts, the WWII Campaign medal w/5 Bronze Battle Stars (Rhineland, Central Europe, North France, Ardennes, Normandy), CIB, GDCON, European, African, Middle Eastern Theatre Campaign Ribbon and 2 O/S Bars. Farewell Patriot Akins.

First Responders Program: The 2008-09 Chapter leadership will be taking up a new program called the “National First Responders Program” that “…salutes and honors the Police and Firefighters KILLED or WOUNDED in the line of duty…” Our representative would monitor www.odmp.org and www.firefightinglinks.com for likely candidates in our area to honor. If you are an ex-policeman or fireman or interested in being our Chapter Representative, please contact your new Commander.

REMINDER: Dedication of WWII Memorial: On Saturday, April 26 at 11:00 a.m. in Marshfield Rotary Park, “…an engraved granite bench placed in a small peace garden planted with Japanese ornamental tree will be dedicated to serve as a reminder to future generations who enjoy the freedom of walking Heritage Celebration Trailways in Rotary Park, 798 South Marshall Street, Marshfield, MO.”

President Truman’s grandnephew, John Ross Truman, will speak at the dedication of this memorial. Hope to see you there.

National Convention: The Military Order of the Purple Heart 76^th National Convention, hosted by the Department of Nevada MOPH, will be held August 12-16, 2008 at the J.W. Marriott Rampart Resort, 221 N. Rampart Blvd., Las Vegas, Nevada 89145. Rooms at $125.00 plus

tax per night can be reserved by calling 1-800-297-5056. Rooms reserved after July 8, 2008 will be assessed a “Late Registration Fee.” Registration forms will be available at the March meeting.

Memorial Day Quote: “America’s armed forces are made up entirely of volunteers who knew the risks of service when they joined, and who willingly embrace those risks and their accompanying responsibilities every day, both to protect their homeland and to protect each other while working for the greater good of accomplishing their various missions throughout the world. As Memorial Day nears, take a moment to thank a friend, family member, or total stranger who has served—or is serving—this country, for, while they will never seek the praise or thanks of their fellow man, all will appreciate the gratitude. It is our solemn duty to honor those who have kept us safe and free for the past 230-plus years. America has stood strong for those years largely because of men like [them]... and it is because

Memorial Day Ceremony: A short Memorial Day Ceremony will be held at the Missouri Veterans Cemetery off Evans Road starting at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, May 26^th. Invocation will be by Father Reidy. The Marine Corps League will post the Colors. Greene Co. Chief Deputy Arnott will lead the pledge of allegiance, followed by Bob Dixon doing the introduction of distinguished guests. The guest speaker will be Lt. Governor Kinder. And there may be a surprise participation by one of our own as well. A good turnout by our Chapter Patriots dressed in their MOPH uniform would be appreciated. Don’t Miss it - see you there!

Remember: NO MEETING IN MAY – due to our Memorial Day Rest Stop activities starting on Friday May 23^rd through May 26^th. Our Next Meeting is Sunday, June 22, 2008

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