{"id":192,"date":"2022-10-09T19:13:03","date_gmt":"2022-10-10T00:13:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimsandman.com\/jim-sandman\/?p=192"},"modified":"2022-11-15T13:26:15","modified_gmt":"2022-11-15T19:26:15","slug":"service-in-the-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimsandman.com\/jim-sandman\/2022\/10\/09\/service-in-the-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Service in the Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The purpose of USSVI is to perpetuate the memory of our shipmates who gave their lives in the pursuit of their duties while serving their country<\/span>\u00a0that their dedication, deeds, and supreme sacrifice may be a constant source of motivation toward greater accomplishments, and to pledge loyalty and patriotism to the United States of America and its Constitution.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

(the text above was copied from the website: www.ussvi.org)<\/em><\/p>\n

I joined the Volunteer Base of USSVI (Nashville, TN) on July 4, 2003 and am currently serving as Base Chaplain. In November 2021, I was humbled and honored to be appointed as National Chaplain for USSVI. An old shipmate named Pete Juhos, from my first boat (USS Bergall, in the late 1970’s), had nominated me upon the sudden passing of the previous Chaplain in the autumn of 2021.<\/p>\n

Pictured below are fellow USS Bergall shipmates (L to R) – me, Nik Lewis and Curt Escher, at the Bergall reunion in Nashville, TN, September 2017. We hadn’t seen each other since the early ’80s. Reunions are probably the best part of serving together in the military.<\/p>\n

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Below are more USS Bergall shipmates (L to R) – Bill Padgett, Pete Juhos, me, and Lenny Krug, at the annual USSVI convention in Buffalo, NY, in August 2022.<\/p>\n

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(TO BE CONTINUED)<\/p>\n

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SAR is the largest male lineage organization in the United States and consists of 50 state-level societies with more than 500 local chapters, several international societies (including Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom), and over 33,000 members. Prominent SAR members include sixteen U.S. presidents, U.S. senators and representatives, local business and community leaders, as well as foreign dignitaries such as Sir Winston Churchill, and\u00a0 \u00a0 Kings Juan Carlos I and Felipe VI of Spain.<\/p>\n

SAR members have also answered their country\u2019s call in every major American conflict beginning with the battle of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775, and continuing to the present day, including Operation Desert Storm, Bosnia, and the recent actions in Afghanistan and Iraq. SAR members have received the highest awards America can bestow, including the Medal of Honor.<\/p>\n