Commander | Jack Coyle | commander94az@gmail.com | 219-746-0360 |
First Vice Commander: | Jim Andrews | andrews3651@sbcglobal.net | 623-800-2584 |
Second Vice Commander: | Dennis Benjamin | dandwbenjamin@msn.com | 602-316-8856 |
Adjutant: | Joseph Kaufman | joensirpa@icloud.com | 702-4805253 |
Finance Officer: | Paul Reichenbach | chiefreich911@msn.com | 717-577-3506 |
Chaplain: | Paul Van Rooy | pauljvanrooy@gmail.com | 608-669-0595 |
Judge Advocate: | Ron Ripley | rsr-ur@hotmail.com | 253-973-5652 |
Service Officer: | Michael Laing | MichaelLaing28@yahoo.com | 623-210-2538 |
Public Relations Officer: | Rudy Grom | rudy_grom@yahoo.com | 623-328-9416 |
Sergeant-At-Arms: | Larry Fulcher | lfulcher3@cox.net | 623-377-6213 |
Trustee and Scout Chair: | Rod Martinson | rrmartin49@aol.com | 623-777-0747 |
Trustee: | Ruth Kanaley | redbumble84@aol.com | 973-714-4540 |
Honor Guard Commander: | Jack Coyle | commander94az@gmail.com | 219-746-0360 |
Contact for Flags: | Ron Ripley | rsr-ur@hotmail.com | 253-973-5652 |
Jack Coyle, Commander: July 1, 2021 - Present
I graduated from high school in June 1970 and received my induction notice in January 1971. I reported for a physical in February and went for basic training in May at Ft. Lewis Washington and Ft. Gordon for AIT telephone and switchboard maintenance. Then, we had thirty days of leave to get ready to go to Vietnam; instead, our whole group was sent to Korea to begin our thirteen-month tour. After sitting in Kimpo Air Base for three days waiting for an assignment, a Sergeant walked in and said he was looking for a volunteer with a Signal MOS. Not thinking anything of it, and what everyone had told me, “Never volunteer for anything in the Army,” I raised my hand and said, “Here, Sergeant.” As we were walking to the processing room, the Sergeant said: “I have good news and bad news; the bad news is you just volunteered to go up on the DMZ; the good news is you will get an extra sixty-five dollars a month for hazardous duty pay.”
I had just volunteered to be part of the JSASG-UNC (Joint Security Area Support Group-United Nations Command) in Pan Mun Jom on the 38th parallel; this was an all-volunteer unit. On days of MAC (Military Armistice Commission) meetings, you would come face to face with the North Korean soldiers, and they would never smile at you. Besides maintaining the telephone lines between guard posts, one of the duties was recording the meetings between the North and the South on reel-to-reel tape decks. I also entered North Korea twice during my time there to do routine maintenance on the TA-312 field phone that was kept in the North Korean building known as Panmon Hall. This field phone was used for the UNC to contact the North to set up meetings between both sides. I would go into this building escorted by two North Korean soldiers to clean the contacts and change out the batteries. After my thirteen months were up, they were offering us to extend there to get a 5-month drop. I extended another two months to get my five-month early out and arrived home before Christmas, December 16, 1972. I then served two years of active duty in the reserves and two years in-active in the reserves
I have been in communications my whole life, working for a couple of different contractors installing voice/data infrastructure systems, mostly in new construction environments. I retired on February 27, 2015, and moved from Illinois to Sun City West, Arizona, in June 2015. I have been a member of the American Legion for 18 years, 7 of those with Post 94.
My wife and I have been married for fifty-three years and have two daughters, five grandsons, and five granddaughters.
Jim Andrews, First Vice Commander: July 1, 2024 - Present
American Legion Veteran Jim Andrews is a 25-year Navy veteran who has spanned the Vietnam Era through Desert Storm. After enlisting in the Navy on July 31, 1970, in Phoenix, AZ, he spent his first ten years on surface ships: the USS Ranger CVA-61 during Vietnam and the USS Edward McDonnell FF-1043 after Vietnam. After the McDonnell, he was transferred to Great Lakes Naval Training Center, Waukegan, Ill, for shore duty.
After shore duty, Jim volunteered for submarines. And was transferred to Pearl Harbor, HI. He was assigned to the USS George Washington SSBN-598, the first Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine. He and his wife, Marcie, and son, Jamey, spent three glorious years on this island paradise. It is also where we adopted our beautiful daughter, Jennifer. After three years, his family and the boat were transferred to Groton, Ct. where it operated in the Atlantic. After another three-year tour, Senior Chief Andrews was again transferred to shore duty, but he stayed in Groton this time. Senior Chief Andrews was transferred to the USS Sea Devil SSN-664 as its Chief of the Boat when his three-year tour was finished. The Chief of the Boat is the direct Enlisted liaison to the Captain and the Enlisted.
Master Chief Andrews spent another three years on the Sea Devil before transferring to the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS) in Cleveland, OH, as its Command Master Chief. He worked there, finished College there, and finally retired on July 31, 1995.
After retiring from the Navy, Jim stayed in Ohio, trying to find a job suitable to his talents. Finally, he settled on working for the United States Department of Labor as a Federal Investigator for the Wage and Hour Division. After almost 12 years, Jim retired and came home to roost in Sun City West, AZ.
Second Vice Commander: 2023-Present
In the fall of 1952, after graduating from high school, I went to the Navy recruiting station in Chicago to enlist. After qualifying for enlistment, they asked me if I was ready to be sworn in. At the time, I was several months shy of my eighteenth birthday. They told me to go home and wait. In early February of 1953, I received a postcard asking me to report for enlistment. This was the last time the Navy asked me anything! I attended boot camp at the U.S. Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois. After boot camp, I remained at Great Lakes to attend Electronics Technician School. My first assignment after graduation was aboard USS Intrepid, CVA 11, where I spent the rest of my first hitch making two deployments to the Mediterranean Sea as well as a tour to the Caribbean. At that point, U was an E-5. I was then discharged from active duty. I remained out for a couple of months and then re-enlisted after briefly attending Advanced electronic training at Treasure Island, California. The next assignment was a two-year tour at the Naval Co_mmunications Facility in the Philippines, where I was promoted to E-6. Upon returning to CON US, I completed advanced electronic training at Treasure Island. Then, something unusual happened; I was ordered to Lackland Air Force Base to attend a special school. It turned out that I was the senior NCO, so I was placed in charge of the NCO barracks. After school, I was transferred to an underground base in Hawaii. A medical problem necessitated my return to the mainland. With the health problem solved, I reported aboard USS Perkins DDR877, where I first deployed to the Western Pacific. This was followed by a tour in USS Floyd B. Parks, DD 884. Shore duty at the Naval Communications Station in Washington. D.C. came next. After making Chief Perry Officer E-7, I was assigned to the transmitter site at Annapolis, Maryland. This was followed by assignment to USS St. Paul, CA-73, a heavy cruiser that appeared in the movie In Harm's Way. Not liking large ships, I managed to swap ships with a Chief aboard USS Preston, 00795, where I made another deployment to the Far East and was promoted to E-8. Since Preston was not authorized an E-8 Electronics Technician, I was transferred to the USS Samual Gompers, AD-37, a destroyer tender under construction at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. The day before the ship's commissioning, I was sworn in as a Warrant Officer, Wl. Once again, the ship did not have a billet for a W-1 electronics officer. I was transferred again to the USS Topeka, CLG-8, a World War Two light cruiser modified for guided missiles. As stated earlier, I like small ships and was able to get a transfer to the staff of Commander Destroyer Squadron Thirteen (CDS-13). Now, instead of one ship, I was responsible for the electronic health of nine destroyer-type ships. In 1968, we deployed to Vietnam, where CDS-13 became gunline commander, responsible for all gunline ships. During that time, the USS New Jersey.BB-62 arrived and fell under the tactical command of CDS-13. I was promoted to CWO2 during this deployment. In 1969, we deployed on a midshipman cruise where the academy sends plebes for their initial sea experience. In 1970, another deployment was made to Vietnam waters. After our return to Long Beach, I received orders to report to the Naval Schools Command at Treasure Island. Where I once was a student, I was to be the director of several schools. During my tour, I was promoted to CWO3 |
After two years, I was transferred to Oceanographic Unit Two aboard USNS Dutton, T-AGS22, for one year conducting oceanographic research in the Atlantic. Then, my final tour in the Navy Fleet Antisubmarine Warfare Training Center, Pacific, in San Diego as director of equipment training schools. I retired on June 30, 1977. |
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