The American Legion of Montana

As many of you will know, Montana lost its last two members of the
First Special Service Force(FSSF) on Sunday this week.  In honor of
Mark Radcliffe and Joe Glass and all the other Montana FSSF veterans
who preceded them in death, the Governor has issued the attached
proclamation ordering flags lowered on the days of the services
scheduled for these two fine men.  Please see:

http://helenair.com/montana-wwii-heroes-die-on-same-day/article_9c3ef8bc-7d55-11e1-afd6-0019bb2963f4.html



Please join the Governor in honoring all members of the First Special
Service Force, especially those who returned to Montana and
contributed so much to our state.

The Department of Agriculture signed a memorandum of understanding
Tuesday with the American Legion creating a partnership to get
information about jobs, training and medical care to veterans who live
in rural communities across the country.

This is the first of many notices of USDA jobs available to veterans.
Please help us uphold our end of the agreement by getting the word out
to the rural areas.  Please preview the attachment and forward to the
local Posts for distribution to all veterans in their respective
areas.  Thanks and let’s get out there and reduce the high veterans
unemployment rate!

Click here for the flyer.

   WASHINGTON (February 28, 2012) -- American Legion National Commander Fang A. Wong and U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack signed a memorandum of understanding today to kick off a nationwide campaign to increase the percentage of military veterans employed by the USDA.

“This is a great day and a big step forward in The American Legion’s push to give veterans jobs when they get back home,” Wong said after signing the MOU during the 52nd American Legion Washington Conference. “We appreciate the secretary’s efforts to pull us closer together. Hopefully, we can influence the other departments to join in the same effort.”

“It’s a great match because people coming out of the military service are problem solvers,” Vilsack said. “Particularly these war vets have had to deal with very significant circumstances that require them to think quickly and clearly and to reach a solution to a problem. Plus, they are technically efficient. In their service to the country, they have learned skills that are absolutely necessary for us at USDA. There are lots of good reasons for this, apart from the fact that the country owes a debt to these folks.”

USDA opened a Veterans Employment Office in late 2009 to focus on raising the percentage of veterans employed within the department’s 17 agencies and 15 offices. Since then, the percentage of veteran employees at USDA has climbed from less than 6 percent to 12.7 percent. Vilsack has set 17 percent as a year-end target for the department, which employs approximately 97,000 workers nationwide.

Vilsack sees The American Legion, which has approximately 5,300 posts in counties with less than 40,000 population, as an ally in the effort to reach veterans in rural areas where jobs in such agencies as the U.S. Forest Service may be a good fit for those with military backgrounds. “What we want to do is make sure we know who the (American Legion) leadership is so we can communicate to them directly through our state offices and regional offices about all of our programs. We have housing programs. We have business-development programs. We have farm-loan assistance. We have beginning farmer efforts to encourage people to think about how they might get started in farming. We have the Forest Service. We have telecommunications. We have utilities. We can help returning vets.”

“We certainly will coordinate with USDA and help identify the leadership, identify the posts that can help, and have our folks join in and work together so that the veterans, when they return home, can be channeled to the proper offices and liaisons to get the process started,” Wong added.

With a current membership of 2.4-million wartime veterans, The American Legion was founded in 1919 on the four pillars of a strong national security, veterans affairs, Americanism, and youth programs. Legionnaires work for the betterment of their communities through more than 14,000 posts across the nation.

I hereby order all flags on property of the State of Montana be flown at half-staff on Tuesday, February 21st, 2012 to honor the memory of retired U.S. Army Reserve Colonel, Bill Beaman,who died on February 16, 2012 after a long battle with cancer. Further, I urge all Montanans to fly flags at their homes, schools, public buildings, parks, communities and business at half staff in honor of Colonel Beaman.

Click to view the proclamations