Pat Little-Upah AVHOFS President Class of 2014

I cannot believe how quickly the months are going by as we are at the beginning of March already.  The Patriotic Awards Committee is diligently working to make this Patriotic Awards Luncheon (PAL) our best event yet.  Despite some speed bumps along the way this is going to be an awesome event so get your tickets now during the early bird special.   In addition to our honorees and scholarships this year the Board has voted to make a donation to the Friends of Fisher House Phoenix to be presented at the PAL.

We are still looking for additional members, their families or friends to sign up for a four-hour shift at the Art and Wine Festival in Carefree March 22-24.  Veterans Heritage Project then gives us a percentage of their take of the gate for helping them out.  When you register you must put in the comment box AVHOFS so that they know you are doing this for the Society so we will get credit.  Remember you do not have to be a member of the Society to help us out as long as they put AVHOFS in the comment box. Registration link.

A number of Society members attended the Veterans Heritage Project Saluting Stories of Service Gala on March 2nd.  They honored Rose Mattie a Iraq and Afghanistan veteran with the Storyteller Award and Mark McCullough, one of the first students in the program with the Alumni Service Award.  A good time was had by all. 

Society members were present at the Memorial and services for Christine Diane Martinez (Class of 2022).  An encased Arizona Flag was presented to her husband Juan by Johnny D. Ramirez (Class of 2020) as I read a Citation outlining the contributions that Christine had made that contributed to her being inducted into the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame. 

Please remember to fill out the Flags for Families Honors Program forms linked below so your family knows to contact the Society when you pass away and we have their contact information to reach out and support them.

FLAGS FOR FAMILIES PROGRAM 

One of the most important programs that the Society provides is our Flags for Families Program.  When a member passes away, we want to honor that person and what he/she has done.  We want to be a support to the family during this difficult time and assist them if needed.  Often, we do not hear about the members passing timely and then have no way of contacting the family to arrange the flag and citation presentation to them. 

The link to the letter below is for your family so they know how to notify and reach us if you pass away.  Please send the completed Contact form to me as we are starting a file so that we have the information we need to reach your designated person when we learn of your passing.  Families are so grateful when our membership attends the services and deeply moved when the Citation is read and the flag presented.   If you know the deceased or family and would like to be the presenter or assist with the presentation, please contact  Pat Little-Upah (480)226-4454 or patupah@gmail.com. 

LETTER FOR YOUR FAMILY         CONTACT FORM

We are looking for a member who has a strong business financial background to help us with the Treasurers duties later this year.  Please let me know if you could help your Society in this way.  patupah@gmail.com   (480)226-4454.

As we grow our outreach programs to fulfill our mission, we are looking for ways to engage more of our membership in meaningful ways.  We need your ideas, suggestions and assistance to achieve part of our mission “to undertake charitable and other projects at the state and local levels and to work with veteran's organizations in the attainment of AVHOFS objectives, and to promote and to encourage responsible citizenship among all Americans. Particular emphasis will be placed on supporting AVHOFS members.”  A number of our members are dealing with physical limitations, many essentially housebound or in facilities.  We have members who have lost spouses or close family members and are grieving.  How can we support them?  Most times we are not even aware of what they are going through.  I would like to establish a compassion outreach program for our members, I need someone who is willing to put this together and oversight it.  Are you that person?  Please reach out to me at my contact information above.  

March is going to be one of the busiest months yet with numerous events and celebrations for Veterans, I hope you are able to attend some of these.  We have included events that our members are involved in such as the Honoring Military Woman’s concert on March 23rd that Joan Sisco founder of Veterans First is organizing.  For more info go to veteransfirstltd.org .

March 29th is Vietnam Remembrance Day with many commemorative pinnings being held throughout the state.  I will be giving the welcome address at the Scottsdale event on March 29th.  A number of our members are involved in putting together the Lori Piestewa Challenge on March 23. Member Wanda Wright is helping to coordinate a Veterans Recreation and Resource Fair with ASU and Phoenix College. Go to vetengagement.asu.edu .  There is also Luke Days and of course our Stand Downs.   Our partner organization Unified Arizona Veterans has started a newsletter which is trying to capture all the events going on in one place on one calendar.  Thank you to everyone for all you have done throughout the years and all that you continue to do for your Society, Veterans and your communities. 

Have you purchased your tickets yet?  The PAL Committee is working hard to plan an outstanding event and we look forward to seeing many of our Hall of Fame members at the 17th Annual Patriotic Awards Luncheon!  This year’s luncheon will be held on Friday, April 19th at the Doubletree by Hilton - Phoenix-Mesa, located at 1011 W. Holmes Avenue, Mesa AZ (right off the US-60 at Alma School Road). 

We encourage you to visit our PAL Eventbrite site for all the details and to purchase your tickets.  Early Bird pricing for members is just $40 per person for you and one guest and will only be available through March 31st, so don’t delay!  Ticket sales end on April 10th.  We also have a small block of lodging rooms set aside for our attendees at the Doubletree Mesa at the cost of just $151 per night, plus tax.

In addition to honoring the 2024 Copper Award recipients, our Scholarship recipients, and the Outstanding VA Employees of the Year, we are proud to welcome this year’s Keynote Speaker, U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Robert “R.J.” Mitchell, Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran and recipient of the Navy Cross. R.J. received this prestigious award for his actions during a ferocious firefight with insurgents during the Battle of Fallujah on November 13, 2004. While fighting inside a heavily fortified house, which later came to be known as the “Hell House”, he courageously attacked the enemy strongpoint to rescue five wounded Marines trapped inside the house. As you can see, this year’s PAL program is packed with honor, recognition, and patriotism – you won’t want to miss it!  

VIEW PAL INFO AND GET YOUR TICKETS HERE: 2024 Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame Patriotic Awards Luncheon Tickets, Fri, Apr 19, 2024 at 11:00 AM | Eventbrite   

Sponsorship opportunities are also still available for as little as $250. If you know a business or organization that might be interested, please send them to our website at www.avhof.org/donate-2/ to view the Sponsorship Benefits Sheet or contact Gordon James at gjames@gcjpr.com

Thank you!

PAL Co-Chairs:
Pat Little-Upah, patupah@gmail.com
Karen Craig, Kcraig1955@cox.net

ARIZONA VETERANS HALL OF FAME SOCIETY
STATE HOME OUTREACH INITIATIVE OUTBACK LUNCHEON EVENT

By popular demand, The State Home Outreach Initiative will sponsor its next Event:

When: Friday, April 5th, 2024

Time: Noon-2pm

Where: The Outback on 4715 E Cactus Rd. Paradise Valley

What: Come and mingle with State Home residents and enjoy a sense of community and camaraderie.

RSVP: By Wednesday, April 3, 2024 to Christeen Verchot (315) 272-9221

Volunteers attending will be required to pay for their own meals.

Paul Smiley AVHOFS Director Class of 2021

VETERANS HERITAGE PROJECT

UNVEILING COCHISE COUNTY CHAPTER PLAQUE

Tom Hessler (Class of 2007), as President of the Cochise County Chapter of the AVHOF Society, unveiled a plaque he created that lists all the AVHOF inductees from Cochise County.  The plaque currently has the names of 57 inductees.  The Chapter has had at least one new inductee every year since 2003.

The ceremony was orchestrated by Jane Strain, widow of Bob Strain (Class of 2012).  The short ceremony was conducted at the Veterans Resource Outreach Community Center (ROCC) in Sierra Vista on 14 February.  The ROCC is home of the Cochise Serving Veterans (CSV) which conducts many programs for needy veterans including local StandDowns.  Several Chapter members were in attendance.

Jerry Wojtas AVHOFS Treasurer Class of 2011

Remember that your Society supports a variety of other programs that are paid for    through funds other than members contributions.  The Century Club is the only program where we ask our members to accept the costs of the scholarships we award. 

StandDowns for our needy veterans continue on around the state.  You can help by volunteering.  Here is a listing of the StandDowns coming up in the next few months.

ARIZONA VETERANS HALL OF FAME SOCIETY
4980 S. ALMA SCHOOL ROAD
STE. A2-619
CHANDLER, AZ 85248-5545

Above is the COMPLETE mailing address that should be used whenever you mail anything to our Society.  If you don’t use the STE. A2-619, which is our P.O. Box, we won’t get your mailing! 

Below that are the names of those who have contributed to the Century Club by our March press time.  If your name is missing, please contact me and let’s see if we can straighten out the problem.  My phone number is 623-544-4477 and my email address is jp7wojtas@gmail.com.

BLACK- up to $100  GREEN - $101-$199   BLUE - $200-$299   RED - $300 and above GOLD - $400 and above

MASSING OF THE COLORS IN SUN CITY WEST

Pictured below is the annual Massing of the Colors / Service of Remembrance that was conducted on Feb 20th at the Palm Ridge Recreation Center in Sun City West.  The speaker shown is Ms. Winnie Fritz.  35 flag units representing organizations from around the West Valley were present.  Past president Gerry Berger (Class of 2016), current treasurer Jerry Wojtas (Class of 2011), and members Dennis Grau (Class of 2014), Phil Hanson (Class of 2004) and George Van de Langeryt (Class of 2018) represented the Arizona Veterans Hall of Fame Society.  Approx. 400 people were in attendance and heard the 38 piece Desert Brass Band perform for 30 minutes prior to the ceremony.

Roy McClymonds AVHOFS Quartermaster Class of 2017

This fall we are opening the Country Store A little early on August 15, 2023. Through September 15, 2023. I am doing this so our vendor can prepare clothing to be able to present the items right after they are inducted.

One last thing: when you complete the catalog PLEASE print clearly. I have had some catalogs that I have made errors on and I don’t want to inconvenience any members.

The country store catalog can be found on The AVHOF website. If you have problems finding what you want feel free to contact me at (480) 694-2425 or my e mail ramnpt@cox.net
Roy McClymonds

Request you let us know as soon as you know of an inductee’s passing.  If available, we would like to know the inductee’s name, date of passing, funeral and memorial service details, and a copy of the obituary.  Send notices to Pat Little-Upah at patupah@gmail.com.

Known members that have passed in the past twelve months.

CHRISTINE DIANE MARTINEZ
(below extracted from www.avhof.org)

Born in Lynwood, California in 1967, Christine Yates enlisted in the US Navy in Mesa, Arizona; served 22 years, and retired as Senior Chief Petty Officer Boatswain’s Mate Christine Martinez. Christine is the Military Outreach Manager at the University of Phoenix. Her veteran’s advocacy includes volunteering at Casa Veterans Ministries, Navigator at Maricopa County StandDown the last seven years, and Volunteer, Phoenix Veterans Day Parade Committee for six years. Christine’s memberships include the Fleet Reserve Association, VFW, The Mission Continues, and the Archer-Ragsdale Arizona Chapter, Tuskegee Airmen Inc. Christine Martinez’ proudest veteran moment is having served as a valued member of the national team which promoted and gained approval for the 6888 Central Postal Directory Battalion, US Army, WW II, to receive the Congressional Gold Medal in 2022.