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• V.B.O.B., and the M.O.P.H., Hold Banquets Twice a Year

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• Veterans' Organizations Directory

VETERANS' HOT LINKS

Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge Florida SE Chapter (62)

By Betty Thomas

(Photos by Betty Thomas)

Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, Fla SE Chpt. 62, meet twice a year at the Hilton Palm Beach Airport for their gala banquet in December near the anniversary of that bloodiest of battles during WWII and their spring luncheon in April.

Other veterans groups that attend the luncheon include the Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 717and the Combat Infantrymens Association.

Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, their wives/widows, and often the children of these veterans, attend the banquet which includes entertainment and a featured speaker.

For information on the chapter please call George Fisher, founder/president, at (561) 585-7086.

Special guests at the April, 2006, luncheon included two veterans of the wars against terrorism. Pictured above are, (L-R) Aaron Felthousen, NMCM14 out of West Palm Beach; Joan Felthousen, Aaron's mother; and Roger Goldberg, 36th Inf. Div. Felthousen served in Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom. Goldberg served in operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

He Was Her Knight in Shining Armor

Francis "Bob" and Yvette Sendker

Bob Sendker was serving with the 3rd Army, 34th Signal Corps, Lt. Const. Bn.during WWII. He is a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge. Yvette lived in Vieuvicq, France, an occupied town. After the 3rd Army broke out of Normandy on July 25th, 1944, they went through Vieuvicq on August 20th, liberating the town. That’s where Bob met Yvette. She was an interpreter, and they met at church. It was love. They wrote to each other for 2 years, and in 1946, Bob arranged to have Yvette brought to New York where the two were married. They will celebrate their 60th anniversary on August 24th.

The Sendkers spend their winters at their condo at Poinciana Place, Carlysle Building, Lake Worth, FL, and their summers in Sandwich, Cape Cod.

They are pictured at the reception for Gen. Osman held at Gen. and Mrs. Irzyk’s home following last April’s VBOB luncheon/meeting.

The speaker at the April 10, 2003 spring luncheon of the V.B.O.B. was Brig. Gen. William E. Carlson, who is a veteran of the wars in Korea and Viet Nam, and holder of the Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, Silver Star and Bronze Star. He played an important role in the creation of the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge Monument in Orlando, FL, and was the keynote speaker for the National Convention there.

Though he was too young to serve during WWII, Gen. Carlson has been a student of the greatest battle ever fought in modern times. He skillfully traced the Battle of the Bulge from the planning stage to the end in a breathtaking speech that drew vivid pictures for the rapt audience and rendered most eyes tearful and voices mute when it was over. It was so moving that we elected to carry it as a permanent feature of this Web page

Click here to read the text

of Gen. Carlson's Speech:

Brig. Gen. Wm. E. Carlson's Speech

"It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."

— Theodore Roosevelt

LET'S KEEP THE SPIRIT ALIVE. PLAN TO JOIN US.

George & Annette Fisher with Evelyn and Al Irzyk. George Fisher is founder and president of the VBOB chapter and Albin Irzyk, Brig. Gen. (Ret) is commander.

Four Stars and One Stripe

George Fisher (Pfc ret) (center), founder and President of Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge Fla. SE Chpt 62, stands tall between Brig. Gen. Al Irzyk (ret) and Lt. Gen. Peter Osmond who was the featured speaker at the Spring luncheon/meeting held Sunday, April 2, 2006.

Jimmy Walker, Commander of the Combat Infantrymen's Association. The chapter meets the 1st Thursday of each month at the Golden Corral Restaurant in Royal Palm Beach located behind Sonny's BBQ and Duncan Donuts on the SW corner of Okeechobee Blvd and 441 (SR7). For information, call Jimmy Walker at (561) 791-2476, or George Fisher at (561) 585-7086.

Following Submitted by

Jimmy Walker

Commander of the

Combat Infantryman's Assn.

Co. B, 1st Bn, 1st Reg, FL

What Is A Veteran

Some veterans bear visible signs of their service:
a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye.

Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding
a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg -
or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's
ally forged in the refinery of adversity.

Except in parades, however, the men and women who
have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem.

You can't tell a vet just by looking. What is a vet?

He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi
Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored
personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel.

He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks,
whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a
hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of
exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.

She - or he - is the nurse who fought against futility
and went to sleep sobbing every night for
two solid years in Da Nang.

He is the POW who went away one person and came back another -
or he didn't come back AT ALL.

He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat -
but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account
rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to
watch each other's backs.

He is the parade - riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons
and medals with a prosthetic hand.

He is the career quartermaster who watches the
ribbons and medals pass him by.

He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns,
whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever
preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor
dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield
or in the ocean's sunless deep.

He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket -
palsied now and aggravating slow - who helped liberate a
Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were
still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.

He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being -
a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in
the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions
so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.

He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness,
and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on
behalf of the finest, the greatest nation ever known.

So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country,
just lean over and say Thank You. That's all most people need,
and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could
have been awarded or were awarded. Two little words that mean a lot,
"THANK YOU."

Father Denis Edward O'Brien
USMC

Veterans Organizations Directory

Veterans of World War 1 U.S.A., W.P.B. Barracks No. 507

In Memoriam, Al Ross, 1902-2003

Airborne Veterans

(All Service Branches -- Jump Qualified Eligible)

James Hunter, Chairman: (561) 793-3597

Robert Robinson: (561) 706-9299 (M-F)

Air Force Sergeants Assn.

Chap. 558, Lake Worth, Richard Smith, President. (561) 588-7708

Auxiliary, A-558, Winnie Nicoletti, President, (561) 582-5075

American Legion District 11

David Knapp, Commander, 561-301-2961

American Legion

Auxiliary Palm Beach Unit 12, 3201 So. Dixie Hwy., W P B., (561) 655-1343

Post 47, 2315 N. Dixie Hwy., Lake Worth, FL 33460, (561) 585-4616

Post 258, 364 Swain Blvd., Greenacres, FL 33463, (561) 432-0781

Riviera Beach Memorial Post 268,

1690 Ave. H. West, Riviera Beach, FL 33404, (561) 844-7125

Post 367, meets in the Royal Palm Beach Cultural Center,

(561) 792-3813, (561) 795-4854

Post 371, Palm Beach Gardens, Duke Peters, Adj., (561) 626-1460

Combat Infantrymen's Association, Inc.

Jimmy Walker, Cdr. (561)791-2476; George Fisher (561) 585-7086

Disabled American Veterans, Chap. 42

Joseph Jakuboski, Cdr.

7305 N. Mil. Trl., Rm 1A-141, West Palm Beach, FL 33410

(561) 422-8312

8th Air Force Historical Society

Robert H. Nolan Fl. Chapter

For membership, Jim Hart, 114 Monterey Way, Royal Palm Bch., FL 33411

Jewish War Veterans

Post 266, Delray Beach, Ray White, (561) 499-9584

Post 321, Delray Beach, Harry Heyman, (561) 276-2751

Post 440, Boynton Beach, Marvin Liebensohn, (561) 731-2157

Post 501, Golden Century, WPB, Howard Lowenthal, (561) 478-2780

Post 502, No. Palm Beach, Gene Moore, (561) 638-6435

Post 520, Lantana-West Palm Beach, Philip Shapkin (686-2086)

Post 684, Royal Palm Beach, Al Weissman (561) 793-1121

Post 819, W. Boynton Beach, Mel Isaacson, (561) 737-4603

Treasure Coast District Council, Louis Augenblick, (561) 686-3631

Korean War Veterans Association

Lt. Richard E. Cronan Chapter 17

Delray Beach, FL

Arnold Bob Kempler, Sect. (561) 499-4892

Marine Corps League

Gen. A.A. Vandegrift Detachment of the Palm Beaches

PO Box 243888, Boynton Beach, FL 33428-3888

Military Officers Association of America

Palm Beach-Martin Counties Chapter

Membership, Call Larry Vick 561-434-2592

Military Order of the Purple Heart, Post 717-West Palm Beach

Office: Veterans' Administration Hospital, Suite 1A-143

Membership: Call (561) 422-5647

Navy Seabee Veterans of America

Department of Florida, Island X-12 Palm Beach County

William Edwards, Secretary, (561) 881-8245

Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, Inc. Fla. Gold Coast Chpt. 4

Jerome Mintz, Pres: (954) 472-2754

E.K. Carstens, Sec'y.: (954) 989-8438

Reserve Officers Association, Chapter 20, Palm Beach County, FL

Membership, call Don Isaacs (561) 697-4902

US Coast Guard Combat Veterans Ass.

PO Box 544, Westfield Ctr., Ohio 44251

Baker W. Herbert, LM, National Secretary

330-887-5339

Palm Beach County contact Jack Campbell

N.J.: 732-229-2413; W.P.B.: 561-842-3057

Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, Fla. SE Chapter (62)

Al Irzyk, Brig. Gen., Ret., Commander; George Fisher, President

Membership: George Fisher, (561) 585-7086

Veterans of Foreign Wars

Post 4143, 2404 Broadway (US-1), Riviera Beach, FL 33404, (561) 844-5718

Post 4360 & Ladies' Aux,217 Alemeda Dr, Palm Springs, FL 33461, 439-4515

Post 4445, 364 Swain Blvd., Greenacres. FL 33463, (561) 432-0781

Vetsville Cease Fire House (Shelters for Veterans)

291 NE 19th Ave., Boynton Beach, FL 33435 (561) 533-5797

Vietnam Veterans of America

Chpt. 25, West Palm Beach, FL

Membership call (561) 512-0678

Women Veterans of America

Chapter #11

Charlotte Rebillard, Commander

Membership, call (561) 686-7262.

To list your veterans organization, send your request by email to info@condonewsonline.com.

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