Feature Story & Photos by Larry H. Oskin
The Clermont Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5277 is celebrating its 75th Diamond Jubilee.
Founded in 1946 in South Lake, the local VFW remains focused on helping and protecting American war veterans, their families and the entire community.
Two lots of land, located in downtown Clermont, were purchased from Lake County for $100. On these lots, VFW Post 5277 was built and remains the home of the Clermont Post. The building originally had only one floor, built to withstand air raids. In 1955, a second floor was added for potential weddings, parties, meetings and special events. Members are currently working to register the Clermont building with the National Historic Society and the US Department of Interior as most of it remains in its original condition.
VFW Post first received its charter in January 1946. This year, Commander Ronald Chappo, Quartermaster Robert Farrell, and Aloha Prince-Rosario, President of the VFW Auxiliary are serving in leadership roles. James Nelson is the current Senior Vice Commander, Stanly Lay is the Junior Vice Commander, and Kurt Schuh is the Post Chaplain. The three standing VFW Trustees are Dwayne Orth, Dick Hufnagel, and Chris Singh, who is also their past Commander.
A 75th Silver Jubilee was recently held and VFW members, friends, family as well as many local dignitaries attended including Clermont Mayor Tim Murry, Ebo Entsuah of the Clermont City Council, Lake County Commissioner Sean Parks, and Clermont Fire Chief David Ezell. Special certifications, proclamations and congratulatory letters were received from the city of Clermont, the national VFW office, the state of Florida, and former President Jimmy Carter. Outback Steakhouse, Publix Supermarkets, and Chick-Fil-A sponsored the VFW 75th Anniversary event.
Members also celebrated the birthday of 98-year-old Frank Klum Sr., the oldest living active member of the Clermont Post.
VFW Members are from all five branches of the United States military services – the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard, while most are veterans having served us in Vietnam. Some are veterans are from World War Two, Korean War, Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan & Gulf War. The VFW is a bit different from other organizations as all members must be survivors of American war experiences. They currently have about 340 members.
Now mostly inactive, Charlie Konsler is one of the oldest and last living Charter members from World War Two. One member was part of the original Tuskegee Airmen. A few members are surviving Prisoners of War. Often working together, the three most common military organizations are the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Disabled American Veterans and the American Legion. Some VFW 5277 members belong to all three military organizations. While there is now a sixth branch of the military with the new United States Space Force, there are fortunately no war veterans. Interestingly, these VFW members may not have been in the same positions in their lives and our wars, yet they all share the same common experiences of having proudly served to protect themselves, each other and all Americans
Saluting Our Soldiers! The Clermont VFW actively supports its members with advice, counseling, education, food, shelter, hospital visits and much more. The members regularly participate in donating services and funds to help their Florida district, the state of Florida and all national programs.
Special VFW Events, Scholarships & Fundraising Programs: Their programs are seemingly endless with everything from fun weekly bingo games, raffles, and spaghetti dinners to a variety of youth programs to inspire patriotism, ROTC, mentorships, high school educational, workshops and prestigious color guard presentations. They privately help our local veterans with groceries, utilities, financial assistance, crisis counseling, rent, mortgages, housing and much-needed morale-boosting programs during their most personal challenging times. In 2018, the post was awarded the National Community Service Award.
Even though the COVID 19 has dramatically slowed down their fundraising events, they still do what they can. Their red poppy program is their biggest fundraiser and facilitates all year long. Normally, this VFW chapter hosts at least several annual Clermont area events starting with Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day, working with the City of Clermont, South Lake County and all of the other branches of the VFW support groups. Poppy sales are primarily promoted on Veterans, Armed Forces, Armistice and other big American holidays. On Memorial Day, they work with the Daughters of the American Revolution and other non-profit groups. They offer Patriot’s Pen & Voice of Democracy Scholarship Awards for middle and high school students. The local VFW 5277 chapter participates in support of a National Citizenship Education Teacher Award.
They honorably hold retirement ceremonies for ripped, torn and tattered flags. Flag ashes are always entombed in a special roped-off hallow grounds section of the VFW Post. For the fourth year in a row and with Covid-19, they revitalized their VFW Disaster Relief Program. There are many more special programs hosted by the Clermont VFW who have recently helped our local South Lake area students, schools, veterans who need help, homeless veterans with their families, senior citizens, the disabled and much more. Clermont VFW 5277 has helped to place graciously donated flags at the gravesites of our Fallen Heroes who have served in the military, but have gone on before us. Many other long-standing fundraising and award programs have unfortunately been shut down for the Coronavirus restrictions. See: https://vfw5277.org/di/vfw/v2/default.asp?pid=3760 for a full list of Clermont VFW Post 5277 events and activities.
VFW Facts: The VFW started to fight for our American veterans, all service members and their families since 1899. Currently, there are 1.5 million VFW and VFW auxiliary members in the USA, who gather in 6092 American posts. Almost 10 million collective volunteer hours are contributed each year across the USA. Well over five million dollars is provided to help war veterans with safe housing each year. Over eight million dollars is raised annually from poppy donations, to help support our war veterans’ needs.
William Alfred Suggs Memorial VFW Post 5277: Donations to help our American war veterans are always welcome. For more information about VFW membership, events, fundraisers and scholarships, contact Robert Farrell at 352-250-2052, 352-394-5424 or by email at: RFarr47938@aol.com. Visit the local VFW Post at the lower level of 855 West Desoto Street, Clermont, FL 34711. Visit: https://vfw5277.org.
