Placement of flags in preparation of the Memorial Day ceremony at the Alabama National Cemetery in Montevallo
Patriotism, love of country, and sacrifice for the common good.
By Lee Hurley
Veterans Day is observed on November 11, whichever that day happens to fall on in any given year (Monday in 2024), but how did the 11th become the day we recognize our Veterans? The answer is that during World War I, hostilities ended between the Allied nations and Germany on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of World War I. That observance became the date to celebrate all of our veterans before, during and after WWI.
One hundred and one years later, in 2019, the Lance Corporal Rivers Memorial Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 12185 was chartered in Alabaster, the first VFW to do so since 1997. Its name comes from Lance Corporal Thomas E. Rivers, Jr. a 22-year-old Marine from Hoover who was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in 2010. The VFW is a nonprofit veterans service organization comprised of around 1.5 million regular and auxiliary members in the active, guard, and reserve forces in all 50 states and many foreign territories. While the title Veterans of Foreign Wars states the qualification of membership in its name, there are exceptions that allow those who have had boots on the ground overseas but not in a war or who have served in clandestine locations to join. Yet as Post 12185 Commander Matt Stephens says, “While technically our membership is limited to those who have served in combat, our philanthropic events are open to everyone, and we are here to help all veterans.”
Matt Stephens unfortunately knows a good deal about actual combat. He served in the Third Battalion 8th Marines from 2004 to 2008, with deployments to Fallujah and Ramadi in Iraq, where some of the heaviest fighting in the war took place. Stephens’ battalion conducted counter-insurgency operations (he lost several friends to IEDs), among many other operations including working with Seal Team 3. His third and final deployment was in the Mediterranean on a naval vessel, which may sound like a cushy job, but was anything but. Their job was to protect ships from piracy. It was a lot of cat and mouse and as Stephens put it: “We were bobbing in the ocean on top of Humvees with mounted machine guns circling international ships who had been taken hostage.” After a four-year stint Stephens decided to come home and eventually found his way to Cory Watson, a law firm in Birmingham that does work on behalf of veterans. “I’ve been at Cory Watson for over six years, and the opportunities there have allowed me to donate my time back to the VFW,” Stephens says.
Alabaster Connection asked Commander Stephens, a charter member of Post 12185, a few questions about plans for the future.
What is a VFW?
Most VFWs were created just after WWI or WWII, and then occasionally one would spring up after that, but most are not new, so establishing a post in 2019 presents us in Alabaster with the challenge of being a newer nonprofit that is also a well-established longer-lasting congressionally chartered 501c3. Many people think of the VFW as a rundown bar you can only get into with a membership card that offers cheap beer and cigarettes, but that’s the furthest from the truth at our Post.
What this Post do to support the community?
The first Saturday of every month after our meeting, we go to Veterans Park and pick up trash. Tim Hamm (Parks & Rec Director) might have a specific need, or if not we will send a couple of us out just to help clean up. Instead of looking at Veterans Park from a standpoint of something the city did for us, we want our veterans to adopt the position that this is our park, and we should be responsible for caring for it. Another activity we perform is to help place memorial flags at the intersection of Highway 31 and I65 for Memorial Day and the 4th of July. And then as an extended strategy, we are involved in the National Cemetery in Montevallo, and there are veterans in Alabaster at grave sites that are not in that cemetery, so we want to work with the city to help clean these grave sites up. After the city green and amphitheater are completed, we would like to host some sort of veterans picnic or regularly scheduled day to take advantage of the wonderful spaces the city is creating. And we like to attend a city council meeting at least once a month to show we are there and part of the community. And of course we have our 4th of July butt sale. That’s our largest fundraiser.
How many members do you have and where do you meet?
We have over 100 active members. Our meetings are at Siluria Brewery, which is owned by Tammy and Danny Sample. Danny has been the Post 12185 Commander as well as most recently the statewide VFW Commander overseeing 10,000 members.
Do you recruit new members?
Part of our structure is that the VFW wants to see the retention of and addition of new members. From a survival standpoint, we need paying members, and from my perspective the mission is to make sure everyone knows we exist.
I notice you have roles for your officers like Quartermaster, Judge Advocate, and Surgeon. What is the Surgeon’s role for example?
At the VFW, you have different officer roles, and there is context behind all of them. The Surgeon is the person who is traditionally assigned the role of helping coordinate visits to the sick and infirm. Our intent is to get our Surgeon Will Pierce linked in with Shelby Baptist to help make sure veterans feel supported and cared about.
You also mentioned you’d like to get more involved with the schools?
We want to make sure the schools in Alabaster know that the VFW has scholarship funds available like the Patriot’s Pen and the Voice of Democracy. Two essay contest winners get scholarships, and I have carte blanche to pick them, but that’s not where it ends. Once we have the proper funding in place, we want to create more scholarships to award the city schools. And we are touching base with the ROTC commanders to let them know we are available if they want motivational speakers at the school. For example, if a class is learning about Vietnam and would like someone from our group to speak, we can help. And we train our speakers. We would also like to be involved with any type of military appreciation going on at schools. We have attended veterans programs in the past but we want to interact and figure out how to help grow them.
Anything else to add, Matt?
Regardless of veteran status, we are here to help. We have the ability to get veterans linked in. We want to establish deeper relationships with the city to meet their needs so that when there are volunteer roles that come up, they will call on us. Lance Corporal Rivers Memorial Veterans of Foreign Wars Post meets on the first Saturday of the month at 9 a.m. For more information about scholarships, joining, or any other subject, visit vfwal.org, facebook.com/VFW12185/or email [email protected].