Veterans of volunteerism

Jewish War Veterans' efforts cross religious boundaries

LEISAH NAMM
Managing Editor

Local Jewish War Veterans posts have furnished hospice rooms at Phoenix's VA Hospital.

Photo courtesy of Robert Sutz

In a sense, members of the Jewish War Veterans celebrate Veterans Day not only on Nov. 11, but all year long - their mission is to help hospitalized veterans of all faiths, and their efforts have resulted in a long list of accomplishments.

This week, Jewish War Veterans, Post 210, dedicated a hospice room at the Carl Hayden VA Hospital in Phoenix. The post, which has about 100 members, conducted a dedication ceremony for the room on Nov. 5, which will be used as a residence for terminally ill patients. Rooms in the hospice ward are "more homey than the regular ward," explains Melvin Brody, Post 210 commander. The group furnished the room with furniture - a bed, a couch, a chair - along with smaller items such as pictures, a lamp, a clock and a special tray to eat on. On the same day, the Ladies Auxiliary of Post 210 donated 13 red, white and blue afghans, crocheted by member Hilda Silberberg, and gift bags to patients in the hospital.

The post chose to sponsor a hospice room because "there was a need for it," Brody says. This is the second room furnished by Post 210. About "1,800 WWII veterans are dying each day all over the country," he notes. At the National Cemetery, located at Cave Creek and Pinnacle Peak roads, there are 12 to 16 funerals a day.

The Jewish War Veterans Red Mountain Post 128 and the Ladies Auxiliary also furnished two hospice rooms at the Phoenix VA hospital and, on Nov. 5, received a plaque for their efforts, says Ladies Auxiliary President Sue Singer.

Funds for the rooms were raised by poppy sales. Veterans sell poppies in front of local grocery stores such as Fry's and Bashas, and all proceeds go toward projects that benefit veterans, Brody says.

"The government has been cutting back the funding for vets," Brody explains. "It's gotten to a point now that a lot of services the veterans need are no longer being covered by the government. The more money we collect, the more we can do with it."

Poppy sales have funded many Jewish War Veterans projects - its current poppy sale will end Nov. 11.

Earlier this year, Post 210 purchased a vehicle for the National Cemetery, used to transport people from the parking lot to individual gravesites.

Also this year, Copper State Post 619 in Sun Lakes replaced nearly 60 flags in front of the VA Hospital and purchased televisions for the hospital. They also funded a flagpole that displays the American flag and a POW-MIA flag in front of the Sun Lakes chapel.

In 2001, Post 210 purchased a van to transport disabled veterans to and from the VA Hospital.

There are seven posts in Arizona, which make up the Arizona Council of Jewish War Veterans. This group will dedicate a granite memorial at the National Cemetery's Wall of Honor, 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7. The monument is dedicated to all those who died in wars, says Brody.

The council has also purchased televisions for the VA Hospital in Prescott.

Post 128 also donated televisions for the Prescott VA Hospital and the Ladies Auxiliary donated 10 extra remote controls, as well as clothing for the patients.

Post 210's next project will be to take care of the veterans at the retirement home next door to the hospital, Brody says.

Harold Riffer of Post 128 donates his time by playing the saxophone at the Phoenix VA Hospital.

Besides veterans programs, the Jewish War Veterans Ladies Auxiliary groups also raise money for other community organizations. In the past, they collected donations and toiletries for the Chrysalis Shelter for battered women and the Ronald McDonald house, which provides temporary housing for families of seriously or terminally ill children away from home. "We have a lot of little projects going," says Lorayne Simmons, senior vice-president of Post 210 Ladies Auxiliary.

Veterans Day was established to recognize the end of the first modern global conflict - World War I - with a resolution enacted by Congress on June 4, 1926, that named Nov. 11 a legal holiday, according to the Veterans Day Department of Veterans Affairs.

In 1954, Nov. 11 became a day to honor American veterans of all wars. In 1968, Veterans Day was part of the Uniform Holiday Bill, signed to ensure three-day weekends for Federal employees by celebrating certain national holidays on a Monday to "encourage travel, recreational and cultural activities and stimulate greater industrial and commercial production," according to the department's Web site.

In 1975, President Gerald Ford signed a law that returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of Nov. 11, beginning in 1978.

According to the 2000 U.S. Census report, there are more than 26 million veterans in the United States; 6 percent are women.

Approximately 600,000 veterans currently live in Arizona, accounting for 15 percent of the state's total population, according to the Arizona Department of Veterans' Services.

For more information about Jewish War Veterans, call Mel Brody, who is also the chief of staff for the JWV Department of Arizona and Nevada, 480-473-9076.

Contact the writer at leisah_namm@jewishaz.com.

Send a letter from home

In honor of Veterans' Day, Jewish News has compiled a list of some active military members from the Valley's Jewish community who may appreciate news from home.

Temple Beth Sholom
PFC Alan Kimmel
B-Troop 1-7 Cav, Fort Hood, TX 76544
alanjk11cm@aol.com

SPC Joseph Kurtz
UNCSBJSA, Unit #15162, Mailbox 78
APO AP 96251-5162
Joeyjsa@yahoo.com

SPC Josh Kurtz
A Co. 29th Signal Bn, Box 339500, MB #98
Fort Lewis, WA 98433-9520
Youngachi38@msn.com

Sgt. Foster Leaf
CCO 3-325, 82nd Abn Division
Unit #96931
APO, AE 09368 6931

AR Trenton L. Sheppard II
VF-143 NAS Oceana
Virginia Beach, VA 23460
Kosherman2003@yahoo.com

Temple Beth Israel
Capt. Andrew Leonard
leonardam@aol.com

2ND LT Lindsey Wallace
CMR 418 Box 2033
APO AE
09058-2033

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