VFW post in Albany celebrates Loyalty Day

ALBANY — Albany Veterans of Foreign Wars hosted their annual Loyalty Day event Saturday at the VFW Barr-Allen Post 2785 on Philema Road.

Special guests included U.S. Rep Sanford Bishop, District 6 Dougherty County Commissioner Ewell Lyle, Ward 6

Albany City Commissioner Tommie Postell and some 20 patients of the VA Hospital in Dublin, many of them fully or partially disabled. VFW District Commander Ed Irby was guest speaker at the event.

Honored were two former World War II prisoners of war, Lee James and John Daniel, both of them 90 years old.

Loyalty Day originated in 1921 as “Americanization Day,” VFW officials said, as a counter point to Soviet Russia’s May Day celebration of the Russian Revolution. Around 10,000 VFW members staged a rally at New York’s Union Square on May 1, 1930, to promote patriotism and an organizational resolution was adopted in 1949 that officially made May 1 Loyalty Day.

“This occasion has special significance for members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States because our members have carried the Stars and Stripes into battle in many foreign lands, on hostile seas, and against enemy air forces around the globe,” said Rusty Rogers, service officer of Post 2785 and a past commander of the Georgia VFW.

A special proclamation read by Postell, standing in for Albany Mayor Dorothy Hubbard, declared May 3, 2014 Loyalty Day in Albany. In part, the proclamation read:

Following the proclamation came a brief ceremony featuring a small “POW” table draped with a white table and a lighted candle. The table symbolized the fact that some members of American armed forces are missing from the ranks, said Roger Lamb, VFW member.

Atop the table, a red rose in a vase signified the blood they may have shed in sacrifice, a red ribbon for the ribbons worn on the lapels of the thousands who demand a proper account of those service men and women, a slice of lemon to signify their bitter fate, salt sprinkled on a plate in memory of tears shed by their families, and an inverted glass because the missing cannot join in a toast with those present, Lamb said.

During his brief remarks Bishop informed the group that the U.S. House of Representatives had recently passed an important bill benefiting veterans.

“For the first time since 1974, the Congress has passed — this early in the session — the Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill,” Bishop said. “We passed it on Wednesday with only one dissenting vote. I don’t know who that crazy person was, but it was passed at 400-plus against one. It was bi-partisan because Americans and members of Congress on both sides of the isle understand and appreciate that the duty and the obligations that we owe to the veterans and their families are not democrat or republican. That’s why Loyalty Day and what the Veterans of Foreign Wars does for this country is so very important.”

In closing the event, Irby spoke in part about his efforts to serve as liaison for the benefit of veterans seeking Veterans Administration Benefits, and what members can do to make things better.

“There are some things the VA needs to improve upon,” Irby said. “Like getting more doctors to take care of our patients, more VA clinics so veterans on this side of the state don’t have to drive all the way to Augusta for an eye appointment or to Charleston for a heart catheterization.”

Irby advised members that the VA can only do what it has money for, and so to increase those benefits members should be talking to their senators and representatives.

“You should be asking what they’re doing to help us,” Irby said. “Don’t take no for an answer.”