VFW District 8 Newsletter

CWO5 Randle M. Tolliver, USN (Ret)

Commander 

For veterans in crisis, the Veterans Crisis Line's number is "988” then press "1”.

Homebound veterans requiring assistance please contact any member. 

Veterans experiencing, or at risk of homelessness, please contact any member or the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at (877) 424-3838.

Buddy Checks! Please call or go visit elderly or homebound veterans and see how they are doing and if they need help.

We, the VFW, are always looking to have veterans who are eligible and want to continue serving our community to join us. If you are interested, please contact any member or post. 

Reminders:

The next VFW District 8 meeting will be on 8 February 2026 at VFW Post 2210 in Ste. Genevieve. The address is 852 Memorial Dr, Ste. Genevieve, MO 63670 and the meeting starts at noon.  This will also be our Voice of Democracy, Patriots Pen and Teachers of the Year Awards Presentation, and all members are encouraged to attend.  There will also be ZOOM access to the meeting at the posts. More information will be provided via Facebook and to the post Commanders. 

The next meeting of the VFW Department of Missouri Council of Administration will be held on February 20-21, 2026, at the Resort at Lake of Ozarks 3076 Bagnell Dam Blvd, Lake Ozark Missouri. All members are encouraged to attend.

Road Trip!  Please attend the 9 March Veteran’s Legislative Rally at 11 am in the Rotunda at the Capital building in Jefferson City to support the veteran’s community.

For your information:

For severely disabled veterans and service members who are eligible for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Specially Adapted Housing program, the VA has increased building and materials costs grant amounts. This program enables severely disabled veterans and service members to adapt their existing home or build or buy an adapted home. For more information please visit https://www.va.gov/housing-assistance/disability-housing-grants/how-to-apply . 

Starting now, all VA education beneficiaries, including "Survivors' and Dependents' Educational Assistance” students will be required to verify their enrollment EACH MONTH to receive their benefit payments. This is important, the student MUST VERIFY ENROLLMENT for the before the VA will BEGIN processing your monthly benefit. Once verified, payment processing can take five to seven calendar days. You can learn more about the different enrollment verification methods at https://www.va.gov/education/verify-school-enrollment/#verify-your-enrollment-online or contact your School Certifying Official. You can find their contact information listed at https://www.va.gov/education/gi-bill-comparison-tool .

Local events: 

The time and place of these and local post meetings and other events are provided on each post’s Facebook site; come join us!

Every Tuesday, VFW Post 5331 in Cedar Hill host "Veterans Coffee Talk” at 9 am at 1 Lynn Lane in Cedar Hill. If you have questions or would like more information, please call EverTrue @ (314) 446-2539, Col. (retired) Ted Hodgson @ (314) 221-2096 or Mark Newton @ (636) 222-3521.

Every Wednesday, VFW Post 5896 is hosting an "all-you-can-eat” breakfast at 814 E Karsch Blvd, Farmington. Food service is 7 to 9:30 am and the cost is $8 and children under the age of 10 eat for free.

Every Saturday, VFW Post 1831 is hosting a Shooting Match at 1651 Veterans Dr., DeSoto. Doors open at 10 am, practice at 11 am and shooting starts at noon. Clubroom will open for drinks & appetizers. For more information call (636) 586-9271.

Every 3rd Sunday of each month, VFW Post 6516 in High Ridge will host "Meat Shoot” at 2220 Gravois Rd, High Ridge. Rain or shine, shooting starts at noon. Ages 12 and up are welcome and they provide the shells. Nothing smaller than a .678 choke tube and no scopes, optics, bull barrels. For mor information call (636) 677-1772.

VFW Post 6883 in Bonne Terre will host multiple BB gun shooting contest at 1112 Roe Street in Bonne Terre. The schedule is 1 & 15 February and 1, 15, & 29 March. House guns are available. For more information, call (573) 358-4440.

On 14 February, Bonne Terre VFW Post 6883 is hosting a Valentine's Day Party. Doors open at 6 pm and the party is from 7 to 11 pm. There is no charge for admittance, and it is a cash bar. Music by "Voices.” For more call (573) 358-4440.

Legislative news:

Please support the "Major Richard Star Act” (H.R. 2102 and S. 1032) to fix a decade’s long injustice - combat disabled veterans are denied full access to their benefits. Over 50,000 medically retired veteran’s Department of War retirement pay is reduced to offset their VA disability compensation. These are fundamentally different benefits, earned for different reasons, yet Congress refuses to act. Please contact Senator Hawley at (202) 224-6154, Senator Schmitt, at (202) 224-5721, and your Congressman / Congresswoman. You can find your congress person at https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative .

Please support Missouri Veterans. We need to fully fund the Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC).  The MVC manages the seven Missouri Veterans Homes, six cemeteries, and numerous veterans’ programs.  Since 2020, MVC has yearly required crisis funding support. A stable funding solution is required, or these critical programs may be lost.  We also need to update the Real and Personal Property Tax exemptions for 100% service-connected disabled veterans.  The current tax exemption is only for 100% disabled veterans AND former Prisoners of War. We need to change the language from "and” to "or.” Finally, we need a Missouri law to fight unaccredited companies (Claim Sharks) that charge veterans for services in obtaining disability benefits.  Claim Sharks prey on veterans through misleading advertising by offering to file VA claims, charging fees as high as 40% of back pay and the first year of benefits for "consulting.” Accredited organizations such as VFW, DAV, MVC, and American Legion file for free.

Please contact your senator and representative to voice your support for Missouri Veterans.  You can find your representative at https://house.mo.gov/legislatorlookup and your senator at https://www.senate.mo.gov/LegisLookup . 

Now let us talk a bit about our history:

24 years ago, Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) disintegrated as it reentered the atmosphere, killing all seven crewmembers. During the launch of Columbia's 28th mission, a piece of the spray-applied polyurethane foam insulation broke off from the shuttle’s external tank and struck the leading edge of the orbiter's left wing. During reentry, the damage allowed hot atmospheric gases to penetrate the heat shield and destroy the internal wing structure, causing the spacecraft to become unstable and break apart. For more for information, see https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/shuttleoperations/orbiters/orbiterscol.html .

116 years ago, William D. Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America (BSA).  Boyce was  a newspaperman, entrepreneur, magazine publisher, and explorer. Continuing from the English Boy Scout movement founded by Lieutenant General Sir Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell and his nonmilitary field manual "Scouting for Boys”, Boyce focused the Scouting program on teaching self-reliance, citizenship, resourcefulness, patriotism, obedience, cheerfulness, courage, and courtesy in order "to make men".  Countless veterans have been Scouts. Consider this, 11 of the 12 humans to walk on the moon were Boy Scout alumni; and Neil Armstrong – the first – was an Eagle Scout and nine Medal of Honor recipients were Eagle Scouts.  VFW's partnership with the Boy Scouts began in 1915 when VFW Post 2100 helped to establish Troop 1 in Everett, Washington. The Boy Scout Oath has three promises, "Duty to God and country, duty to other people and duty to self.”  To learn more, see https://www.scouting.org/ 

I offer this from Lieutenant General Sir Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, "the most important object in boy scout training is to educate, not instruct.”

Bulletin Board:

The VA one-stop telephone number is 1-800-698-2411 and press "0” for immediate assistance. The VA one stop website is VA.gov Home | Veterans Affairs .

For more for information concerning VA "End of Life” benefits and services see www.va.gov/initiatives/end-of-life-benefits/

Veteran employment opportunities!  Please visit https://news.va.gov/138283/hiring-veterans-job .

The Missouri Veterans Commission (MVC) one-stop Benefits and Resource Portal is (573) 522-4061 or www.veteranbenefits.mo.gov .

To pre-certify for burial in a Missouri Veterans Cemetery, apply at https://my.mo.gov/gsp?id=vcp_preapplication .  For information on burial eligibility, visit https://mvc.dps.mo.gov/cemeteries . 

The Missouri Job Center offers no-cost employment assistance for veterans and spouses. Contact (417) 257-2630 or visit jobs.mo.gov/vets.

To order military service documents such as a DD 214/Separation Document or Official Military Personnel File (OMPF), contact the National Archives, National Personnel Records Center at https://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records, or call (866) 272-6272.

For more information, follow us at https://www.facebook.com/groups/967395123712841 or visit movfw.org

 

"Here to Serve”