THE Military Order of Foreign Wars Hawaii Commandery
newsletter Vol. II, Issue 4, June 9, 2013
Commander’s Comments. Aloha Companions and Commandery Supporters! The months of April and May comprised a period of great activity for the Commandery, and this newsletter will attest to the enthusiasm and volunteer spirit of our Companions and Supporters who are fulfilling the purposes of our Order here in our local communities in Hawaii and Japan. Mahalo to those Companions and Supporters who volunteered to personally make the medal presentations to our deserving CAP/ROTC/JROTC cadets. The Commandery executed all the planned Memorial Day observances in a professional manner, honoring veterans and those who died in War. Our membership continues to grow, with our newest Companion, LTG (Ret) Wiercinski being appointed by the Order at the biennial convention as an Honorary Companion and assigned to the Hawaii Commandery. I ask each of you to bring in one new companion to the Order. Arthur N. Tulak, COL, U.S. Army, HI MOFW
Chaplain’s Corner One week from today is Father’s Day. It is a day that many people either think about their children or we think about our fathers or people who are like fathers to us. As I write this column, I am TDY/TAD to Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. My wife, Vicki, and I were assigned here eight years ago while I taught at the AF Chaplain Service Institute. During that time, I was also the de-facto interim pastor for a small church in Wetumpka, Alabama, where we were embraced as family.
If anyone told us that we Chicago-types would fall in love with Montgomery/Wetumpka, Alabama, we would have thought that person had lost control of their senses – but we did. In fact, some of the folks, at that time, told me (insert your best southern drawl here), “Dave, you’re the first northerner in the pulpit of our church in our 170 year history.” Sure enough, their pulpit Bible is from 1857, several years before the beginning of the Civil War. But what is family, really? For all of us affiliated with the Military Order of Foreign Wars, at some point in our lives, our family is who we were deployed with during a foreign war. Many of us serving in the military have adopted our comrade-in-arms as our family while we are away from home. I think a woman at the church in Wetumpka defined family today when we visited the church for the first time in years. She asked if we were coming to the church picnic this afternoon. Vicki told her that we had a prior commitment with some friends and she responded, “well, that’s fine, but you have family here.” It’s another illustration that one does not have to be related by blood to be family. The family of faith and the family of service can be as strong as the family of blood. My hope for all of you reading this column is that you will create, or allow to be accepted, into a “family” wherever you may be. Enjoy each moment because every moment is fleeting. Make good memories while you can. Memories are one of God’s gifts to help sustain us when times are tough and to give us strength when we need some empowerment.
God Bless and Peace. David M. Terrinoni, Ch, Lt Col, USAF
Annual Hawaii JROTC Governor’s Review For those who attended the Governor’s Review and Awards Ceremony on April 11th at Palm Circle, Fort Shafter, Governor Abercrombie’s speech inspired the audience to strive harder to support
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