The Pottsville Joint Veterans Council, a nonprofit group dedicated to promoting veterans activities in the region since it was chartered in 1971, is cutting back its traditional activities, Robert C. "Bob" Bedford, the council's president, said Monday night.
"We're curtailing the bulk of our activities. We just don't have the manpower anymore," Leo F. Haley, the council's recording secretary, said Monday night.
In particular, the Pottsville Joint Veterans Council has recently ceased its participation at military funerals at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, Annville. Meanwhile, the joint veterans council is making plans to move out of its city-owned headquarters at 14 N. Third St., Pottsville.
"These dedicated guys are getting older and older," City Administrator Thomas A. Palamar said Thursday.
"I wonder who's going to take over Memorial Day activities," Mayor John D.W. Reiley said Thursday.
Haley said the Pottsville Joint Veterans Council will continue to conduct those Memorial Day activities.
"We will definitely run the parade and manage the program at Garfield Square. And on the Thursday before the holiday, we do a program at D.H.H. Lengel Middle School in Pottsville. And that will continue," Haley said Monday.
The council is not going to disband, Bedford said.
"The council is made up of five organizations. And the Pottsville Joint Veterans Council will continue on, as long as those groups keep the torch lit," Bedford said.
Present at the council's headquarters Monday night were the following officers of the Pottsville Joint Veterans Council:
- Bedford, 83, of Pottsville, president of the Pottsville Joint Veterans Council, is commander of American Legion Post 67, Pottsville.
- James Hoban, 67, of Pottsville, commander of Walter F. Griffiths AMVETS Post 180, Pottsville, is vice president of the Pottsville Joint Veterans Council.
- Leo F. Haley, 79, of Pottsville, commander of Catholic War Veterans Post 1051, Pottsville, is recording secretary for the Pottsville Joint Veterans Council.
- Frank Madara, 94, of Pottsville, trustee at Walter F. Griffiths AMVETS Post 180, Pottsville, is a judge advocate for the Pottsville Joint Veterans Council.
- Robert Rizzardi, 71, of Cass Township, adjutant with Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 129, Pottsville, is chaplain for the Pottsville Joint Veterans Council.
- David Fessler, 66, of Mill Creek, treasurer of Veterans of the Vietnam War Post 29, Schuylkill County, is a trustee with the Pottsville Joint Veterans Council. He's also assistant director of the Schuylkill County Veterans Affairs Office in Pottsville.
"You heard the ages of some of the people here. And we're some of the younger guys," Haley said.
Representatives of local veterans organizations started work to form the Pottsville Joint Veterans Council in 1968. It organized in August 1971, formed by members of American Legion Post 67, AMVETS Post 180, Catholic War Veterans Post 1051 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 129, Haley said.
"It was formed due to decreasing membership in the individual organizations," Haley said.
"We were running out of people back then. We foresaw what's happening today," Bedford said.
"The purpose of the council was to combine the efforts of the members of all the posts involved, in working for veterans benefits, to perpetuate and honor the memories of deceased veterans, and to provide leadership and manpower in cooperation with all civic endeavors in the City of Pottsville. A special emphasis is placed on those activities that involve the youth of the community," Haley said.
The World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War era soldiers who helped to establish the Pottsville Joint Veterans are aging. And the organization hasn't been able to attract new blood, Bedford said.
"We just don't have bodies any longer. Plain and simple. You heard the ages of the people sitting here," Haley said.
According to the representatives of the Pottsville Joint Veterans Council who gathered Monday night, the approximate number of members in the organizations that make up the joint veterans council are as follows: American Legion Post 67, Pottsville, 84; Walter F. Griffiths AMVETS Post 180, Pottsville, 260; Catholic War Veterans Post 1051, Pottsville, 85; Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 129, Pottsville, 150; and Vietnam War Post 29, Schuylkill County, 98.
"Veterans can't simply join the Pottsville Joint Veterans Council. They would have to join one of the parent organizations," Haley said.
"The average age of a member at the Vietnam War Post 29 is between 60 and the early 70s," Fessler said.
"And they're the babies," Bedford said.
So the future of the Pottsville Joint Veterans Council is in the hands of those organizations and their future members, Bedford said.
Funeral services
In recent weeks, the council started cutting back on its activities.
Since 1997, representatives of the council assisted with military honors at funerals at Indiantown Gap National Cemetery, Annville.
"We're not going down to the Gap anymore. We stopped after Monday, Nov. 4," Bedford said.
"It's been about 16 1/2 years now. We used to do about 250 to 300 funerals a year. We received a donation for our services. But we phased it out because of lack of participation. You should have 10 or 11 people to do it properly. We've been going down with four. We don't have the guys to do it," Bedford said.
Pointing to Madara, Bedford said: "That guy started with us and 16 1/2 years ago when we started going down to Indiantown Gap and our local funerals, he never missed a heartbeat until ... how many years ago, Frankie?"
"Four years," Madara said.
"Four years now," Bedford said.
The Pennsylvania National Guard recently formed a memorial service team to conduct those services, Bedford said.
"The joint veterans always followed the etiquette and protocol to the nth degree. They did my son Terry's funeral, folding the flag and presenting it to my daughter-in-law. It was professionally done," Reiley said Thursday.
Reiley was referring to his son, the late Terence P. "Terry" Reiley, who served as mayor from 1998 until he lost a 4 1/2-year battle with leukemia in February 2000.
Headquarters
The City of Pottsville owns the brick building at 14 N. Third St. The council has been using it as its headquarters since 2006, paying about $6,500 in maintenance and utilities there every year, Haley said.
"But money wasn't the reason why we're leaving. We don't have the manpower we use to have. So we're scaling back. Why maintain a building that we don't really need," Bedford said.
The city didn't charge the Pottsville Joint Veterans Council for using the building. The city only required the joint veterans council to pay for utilities, Palamar said Thursday.
In the first week of November, Bedford told Palamar the city can look for a new tenant.
"They're looking for someone right now to move in here," Bedford said.
Pottsville Third Brigade Band has been using the building's second floor for its rehearsals.
On Nov. 6, the Pottsville Joint Veterans Council started holding its monthly meetings at the AMVETS Post at 1300 Seneca St. in Pottsville.
"I don't know if the community realizes how important and what a wonderful organization the joint veterans is. They gave money to our fireworks and coordinate our Memorial Day ceremony. And when you hear about the sacrifices these veterans have made and how much they care about the vets and our country, you could shed a tear," Palamar said Thursday.
Veterans Day
There hasn't been a Veterans Day ceremony in Pottsville for a few years, Bedford said.
"And there were Veterans Day ceremonies at Garfield Square in Pottsville for years, back to when I was in high school," Haley said.
"We used to go out to the Square and we'd be there in numbers and we were there by ourselves. Nobody would show up. I think the last one was three or four years ago," Bedford said.
"I would say four years ago," Haley said.
Recently representatives of local veterans organizations have been talking about reviving the Veterans Day ceremony in Garfield Square, Haley said.
"We really should do something on that day," Haley said.