Veteran’s Corner 

Jason Hicks | Commander United Patriotic bodies

Fargo Memorial Honor Guard

This month marks our 6th year of conducting services at the Fargo National cemetery. I cannot convey how proud I am of our volunteers from the Fargo Memorial Honor Guard. All of our volunteers are getting up there in age, yet they are still sharp as ever and are very dedicated to the families of our fallen veterans that we lay to rest. There have been many ups and downs since we began this journey. We are finally making some real progress in our dream for a building worthy of our nations best. I cannot wait to give further details on recent events, but that has to wait a bit unfortunately.

Among other things that I am involved with, next month we celebrate Veterans Day. We will have our traditional ceremony at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. This year, as others it will be held at the Air Museum. There is plenty of parking and seating. As always, all area Veterans and supporters are welcome to attend. More details to come.

Have you ever heard of the Fisher house? It is much along the lines of the Ronald McDonald house but for Veterans seeking treatment at the VA. There is a group working on making that a reality here for the Fargo Veterans Hospital. There was recently a fund raiser held at the Horace shooting park. I simply love when organizations think outside the box regarding fund raisers. On all counts it was a success. There is still a ton of work to do and money to be raised but its moving right along. More info to follow.

Funny Army story:

Anybody that has the pleasure of eating a field ration knows this. From C rations to MREs. While they certainly CAN be eaten cold its way better to heat and eat. There are many ways to heat; submerge in hot water, laying in the sun, placing on a hot engine, putting under your arm pit etc. Soldiers always think of ways of making life a little bit better in challenging times. As the saying goes an Army travels on its stomach. That being said there are always the stand outs that people do not like, but theres always that weirdo that likes the meal. Case in point during my early Army years there was the dreaded chicken ala king. Not well regarded and almost always passed over in the box. At the time there were 12 meal choices ranging from corned beef hash to turkey diced with gravy and many meals in between. They all held a meal, a snack (think cheese and crackers) fruit selection, a dessert-like yummy fruit cake and an accessory packet which held salt, sugar, cream substitute, matches and toilet paper. In the C rations of the Vietnam era there was also a 4 pack of cigarettes. Of course the utensil provided was a spoon, because the thought was if you can’t eat it with a spoon you could eat with your fingers.

Now there are 24 meal choices and even vegetarian options (although I’ve never served with a vegetarian I know they exist, like gnomes and gremlins) The Army puts a lot of time and planning in these meals even on the scientific level. Combat burns calories like no gym in existence so we take care of the soldiers accordingly.