National News | Mothers Day | Sojourn 250 | Fleet Reserve Association | FSU Baseball Honors Veterans
Weekly Report 💐
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers in the coalition. I especially want to thank G-d for the Gold Star and Red Star Mothers among us. Your sacrifices and losses weigh heavy on my heart today. 💐
Special thanks to Fleet Reserve Association Branch 34 for leading the May Monthly Meeting. We have 6 months remaining in 2026 and need other VSO’s to step up to lead the coming monthly meetings. Remember, Commanders Coalition only leads a meeting when another VSO is unable to. We are here to help YOU grow your organization.
We still need someone to step up and serve as the Outpost 1 Commander. Once Outpost 3 gets started, Outpost 1 news will be reduced to monthly minutes until we find someone willing to serve.
That being said, our national newsletter is live and is focused solely on national news and events including work national is doing. I recently posted an article explaining Commanders Coalition Outposts which contains some history about the Coalition. Click on the article below to read it.
In your Service,
Edward W. Hood
National Commander
Interim Outpost 1 Commander
Saturday, May 16, is Armed Forces Day in the United States. For you FSU Baseball fans, it is also the date for the University of Miami vs FSU baseball game. Florida State Baseball will honor veterans at the 2:00 pm game. Commemorative t shirts will be available on a first come, first served basis. General Admission tickets are still available for $10.00 a ticket. The number for the FSU Ticket Office is 850-644-1830. If you are interested, please call them asap.
Best regards,
Dennis Hall, Commander Post 13
“For God and Country”
https://www.legion.org/information-center/news/usa250/2026/may/sojourn-250-lets-be-a-part-of-history
Greetings, Team
Please plan to come to Court on Monday, 3 pm, May 18th for the next Graduation for Veterans completing the Veterans Treatment Court program!! (Leon County Courthouse, Courtroom 2E). Maybe you will consider becoming an invaluable Veteran Mentor for one of the other Vets working their way through the program and recovery. Several Veterans are awaiting a Mentor, both men and women.
And this Tuesday, May 12, is the SECOND TUESDAY luncheon at the National Guard Armory, 11:30 am. All invited for a great ham or turkey dinner (small donation appreciated). 1225 Easterwood Drive.
Despite the storm and tornado warning, today’s walk-in legal clinic involved our Team of 14 Volunteers again (including 7 attys) working with 14 Veterans and family members (Thursday, 5/7/26) at American Legion Sauls Bridges Post 13.
On Wednesday, the Food Delivery team (Khalid Shafi, Charles Robinson, Eddie McMillian, Sam Adams, and Johnathan Delille) drove the truck and trailer load to various sites around the county. And at the same time yesterday, the Commander’s Coalition welcomed new VSO’s and Veterans Services to our monthly meeting at the Legion Hall, featuring Kiwanis’ Firecracker 5K and 1 mile Sparkler Run (for July 4) and Clover Medical Solutions new treatments available thru VA. 2 Elected officials also attended and a third was represented by District Staff.
REDUX: It’s time for an advocacy email from you! These next couple of weeks the Governor will be receiving, reviewing and deciding whether to approve many of the bills that were passed in this year’s legislative session that “ended” last month. His office needs to hear your emphatic support for General Patt Maney’s House Bill 199 which will strengthen Veterans’ Treatment Courts all over the state by increasing the number of Veterans entering the Criminal Court program to rebuild their lives and record, recover from addiction or other behavioral/ trauma personal problems and succeed in moving forward for their families and their future. Even a brief phone message to his office will accomplish the same purpose of showing our support (850/717-9337). The link to the Executive Office of the Governor is: https://www.flgov.com/eog/leadership/people/ron-desantis/contact
One special need: The number of issues with the VA is outstripping our local resources to keep up with the complications, new claims, and VA delays; so, any other attorneys wanting to join our “VA Law team,” we need you, and have training and national legal resources available to bring you into the fray. Were you a JAG? Have you helped with Social Security or other federal agencies that you already have a headstart on picking up VA law?
What else?
Thank you,
Dan Hendrickson, for the Tallahassee Veterans Legal Collaborative www.Tallahasseeveteranslegal.com
PO Box 11091, Tallahassee, Fl 32302, 850/ 570-1967
