14 Jan 2021

Army Settles on Bad Discharge Upgrade Reviews
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As mentioned in the previous post about discharge upgrades, service members who received less than honorable discharges related to mental health issues stemming from PTSD can request to have their discharge reviewed for possible upgrade. Not long after I made that post, the Army reached a settlement in a class-action lawsuit regarding this exact situation. In a lawsuit filed against Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy, a class of veterans argued that the Army should overhaul its process of reviewing discharge upgrade ...

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12 Jan 2021

Civil Air Patrol updates – Jan 2021

The Squadron had several promotion and awards given out to start off the New Year. Congratulations to all the members of the Pangborn Composite Squadron on their achievements. AWARDSOn Jan 4, c/A1C Oliver Cawdery received the Outstanding Cadet of the Squadron Award from the Air Force Association. This award is generally given to a non-commissioned officer cadet with more time in the program, but Cadet Cawdery stepped up to the plate and took a leadership position as an Element Leader. ...

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07 Jan 2021

Hilton Honors program through WorkSource

The Hilton Honors™ Military Program is aimed at giving back to military service members, Veterans, and their families. This program allows Veterans or transitioning service members to receive 100,000 points to stay at Hilton brand hotels for approved job search related activities such as interviews, training, or acquiring housing in conjunction with starting a new job. Individuals must be a Veteran, an active-duty transitioning service member, or National Guard/Reservist. Individuals can receive up to 100,000 points once in their lifetime. ...

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05 Jan 2021

Post 108 Announces Teacher Grant Program

In the last quarter of 2020 the Manson American Legion, Post 108 initiated exploration of possible ways they could assist Manson School District teachers and students during the difficult times brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Helping “Youth & Children” is one of the four pillars the American Legion was founded upon in 1919, so this was a perfect fit. From their research the “Teacher Grant” program was developed and will be implemented January 2021. The program offers four grants ...

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02 Jan 2021

Legionnaire of the Year Awards 2020

Recipients of the American Legion’s annual Legionnaire of the Year award are chosen by their peers and are recognized for their outstanding leadership and service as a member of their post and community. Below are some of the Legionnaires from around our region who received this honor in 2020. Post 108 – Brian Strausbaugh Brian retired from the Navy in June 1975 after serving for 20 years. He was a Chief Petty Officer working in Aviation. Brian has been a ...

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27 Dec 2020

County Veteran Advisory Boards

In accordance with WA RCW 73.08.035, each county in Washington state must establish a veterans’ advisory board, which shall advise the county legislative authority on the needs of local veterans, and the resources and programs available to benefit local veterans, and their families, in need. These advisory board meetings are open to the public. Okanogan County VAB meets on the first Tuesday of every 3rd month at 1pm at the US Armed Forces Legacy Building (Tonasket). Next meeting is 02 ...

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21 Dec 2020

The Yes Vets Program

The YesVets Campaign is part of a state-wide initiative to increase employment for veterans by recognizing employers who actively hire veterans, and encouraging and enabling other employers to do the same. Created by HB 2040 during the 2015 Legislative Session, YesVets is a partnership between Washington Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA), Employment Security Department (ESD), Department of Commerce, the Military Transition Council, and local Chambers of Commerce across the state. Registered employers will receive a YesVets window decal to proudly ...

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15 Dec 2020

“New” Old posts are coming

This site, and all I do with it, seems to always be in flux. Back in January, I had a renewed passion to improve the site, planning out new blog posts, sharing stories from local organizations, and generally fine-tuning my behind-the-scenes process. One day during a backup process I made a detrimental mistake and lost all of the previous work I had done in the blog section. All of the old Weekly Briefs, the snippets that had been submitted from ...

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12 Dec 2020

Manson American Legion aids Heritage Heights

The Manson American Legion, Post 108 continues its support of our community with a $700 donation to Heritage Heights, the only senior living facility in the Valley. Norm Manly, Post 108’s Service Officer and Craig Pittson, Post 108 member and Santa for the day, presented the check to Heritage Heights board member, Timi Starkweather. Heritage Heights was built in 1996 as a senior living facility and has 32 rooms. Since the pandemic struck earlier this year, the number of residences ...

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02 Dec 2020

Holiday Donation Drive for Veterans

Screaming Octopus, a multi-modal massage clinic serving the Wenatchee Valley, has teamed up with new veteran-focused nonprofit Tour of Duty Foundation, to host a holiday donation drive benefiting area veterans. Chantz and Cherise are accepting donations of non-perishable food items, grocery store gift cards, new socks and gloves, and gently used items like coats and boots. There is a tote outside the East Wenatchee location (101 Eastmont Ave, Suite B) doors to accept donations, which will then be sanitized and ...

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19 Nov 2020

Civil Air Patrol updates – Nov 2020

All of our meetings have gone completely virtual thanks to the hard work of Capt Audra Keyanna, Dept Commander for Cadets. NEW MEMBERS Welcome to Cadets Audrey Skupic and Alexandrea Toledo-Blanchfield, both from East Wenatchee. This brings our squadron up to 19 total members. TRAINING 2nd Lt Douglas Gardner has completed Character Development Specialty track, Communications track, and several Emergency Services Training schools for Ground Team Member 3 level. PROMOTIONS Austin Jeffris to c/Tech Sergeant and “A” Flight Element Leader ...

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15 Nov 2020

Manson Legion Celebrates Veterans Day

In an effort to make sure their community properly recognizes, honors, and remembers its veterans, American Legion Post 108 in Manson was involved in a number of events for Veterans Day 2020. “On Sunday – November 8th the Manson American Legion, Post 108 and the Chelan VFW, Post 6853 held a pre-Veterans Day celebration at North Shore Bible Church. At the start of Sunday service Norm Manly talked about why it is important that we honor our veterans who have ...

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