To the Editor:

We the members of Disabled American Veterans Chapter No. 141, Belfry, Ky would like to thank everyone who gave us a donation at our last roadblock, and to tell them that we use this money to help veterans and their families.

We help veterans file claims with the V.A. to get compensation and help their spouses file claims to get benefits after they die. We also help the veterans to get healthcare for themselves and their dependents. Steven Hensley, our Certified Service Officer will try to help and he can be contacted at (606) 237-3978.

You may or may not know that we put on military rites (funerals) for deceased veterans. These are performed at no cost to the families. We fire a 21 gun salute, play “Taps”, and present the flag to the next of kin. Notify your funeral director you would like Military Rites performed for your loved one. To certify your loved one was in the military, a copy of their DD-214 or honorable discharge forms would be needed. The funeral director can contact me at (304) 475-4760.

I would like to let you know that our Chapter 141 has put on 68 funerals last year and 40 so far this year. Because our chapter is so busy, we have not been able to perform other activities like parades in places like Williamson and Kermit. We also go to a lot of local schools to help the next generation understand what it took to keep their freedom.

The Disabled American Veterans Chapter No. 141 have put funerals on in Pike, Martin, Boyd, and Lawrence counties in Kentucky and Mingo, Wayne, Logan, and Wyoming counties in West Virginia. So as you can see we go all over the area. If veterans need a funeral, we don’t care where we have to go. We just want to help the families in their time of loss.

To our members, we also need your help to keep this program going for our deceased comrades. If you can come out and help, you will find that helping veterans and their families the most satisfying feeling you can have.

Before I end I want to invite all honorably discharged veterans to come and join the Disabled American Veterans Chapter No. 141. Our meeting time is 2 p.m. on the third Saturday of each month at the Belfry Courthouse in Belfry, Ky.

Fred O. Baldwin

Commander