Kee-Notes
Weekly Newsletter
of the Kiwanis Club of Bethesda, Maryland
Serving the
Community Since 1945
Meeting Date: November
13, 2008
________________________________________________________________________________
President Jim Leder led us
in the Pledge and God Bless America. John Walker gave our
prayer.
Guests:
Ms.
Haf Zink, guest of Bob Quinn. Marcia Pennington,
guest of Bill Pennington. Ron Spratt’s guest was
Staff Sergeant Emmanuel Agbemble. Great to see Chuck Carlsen
back. Also Ron Spratt, who arranged for our military speaker.
Haf Zink
announced a project to give service themed and stuffed stockings to
wounded, on-ward and out-patient warriors and their families who will
be at Bethesda Naval or Walter Reed. Checks can be made payable to
The Military Order of The Purple Heart and mail the check to: Haf
Zink, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, 6849 Old
Dominion Road,
McLean, VA 22101. Pat Tiede circulated sign-up sheets
for the Joint Kiwanis Rotary Luncheon
on Tuesday, November 25 at Kenwood Club at 12:15 p.m. Also
sign-up sheets for the Holiday Cocktail
Buffet Party at Alfio's on Thursday, December 4, and
the Dinner at NIH Children's Inn
on Sunday, December 7. Please contact Pat if you plan to
participate in these events.
Happy Dollars:
Pat Tiede HD
for members Dick Ruprecht and Bob Cressy for arranging
and participating in the Veterans Day celebration at Woodmont
Triangle. We had 9 from our club participate in the serene service.
Bernadeen Zivkovic HD for her son who made honor roll.
Dick Ruprecht HD who is glad to organize and be helping
with the Veterans Day program for almost 20 years. He also reminded
club members about the Homeless
Walkathon on Saturday November 22. Bob Cressy 5 HD
for the Veterans Day program, also for Bob Vigderhouse as a
former member of our club who is a Bronze Star winner and had a
celebration with other Veterans at the Promenade on November 11.
Chuck Carlsen 20 HD he is glad to be back from San Francisco.
Bob Quinn 5 HD glad to be back.
Speaker:
Ron Spratt
introduced our speaker Gunnery Sergeant Michael Abragan.
He
enlisted in the Marines at age 17 and has been in the Marines for 13
years. He is currently a Marine Corps recruiter in Montgomery County.
GSgt Abragan reported that for the most recent fiscal year the Marine
Corps met its
goal of 65 recruits from Montgomery County. All are
volunteers, all have to have a high school education or at least be
working toward the degree. They also have to pass aptitude test and
physical tests. Only about 16% of high school grads will be able
to qualify as Marine Corps recruits. The Marine Corps basic training
is the most difficult of all the military branches and fondly referred
to as 13 weeks of Bad Luck. After basic training more specialized
training in jungle or desert warfare and other areas is required. He
spoke to us briefly about his tour of duty in Fallujah, Iraq. When he
arrived in 2006 there were at least 30 attacks a day against U.S.
troops. GSgt Abragan worked with the Iraqi unemployed forces to stop
being recruited by the insurgents. There were 24 members of battalion
killed in Fallujah but the situation there is now much better. A
great talk.
Editors Note:
Past Governor Bob Cressy took this great photo and provided the
caption. Thanks Bob. Bethesda
Kiwanian Ron Spratt, Major USMC (Ret.), on left, brought U.S.
Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Emmanuel Agbemble and Gunnery
Sergeant Michael Abragan, both Iraq War veterans, to address us
during Veteran’s Day “Week” services. They are from the USMC
recruiting station in Rockville. ‘Gunny’ Sergeant Abragan tried to
recruit PLG, veteran USN Medic ‘Doc’ Jim Leder to sign up.
Something didn’t work out. “Been there, done that”, says Jim. P.S.
Don’t they both look great? The Marines, too!
Chuck Carlsen
won the 50/50 and graciously donated it back to the club.
George
Patterson,
Editor for the Day
*******
Editor - GEORGE PATTERSON (301-652-7061,
geopatersn@aol.com)
Website Editors - BEN SCHLESINGER (301-951-7266,
bschles@bsaenergy.com), PAT TIEDE (301-493-6937),
patriciatiede@comcast.net