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V o l . 4 4 # 1 D E C 2 0 14 J A N 2 0 1 5

CHRISTMAS TRUCE 1914

WE REMEMBER THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GREAT WAR - WORLD WAR I - CHRISTMAS 1914

Club Hours
Mon - Fri 1pm-1am
Sat - 11am-1am
Sun - 12pm-1am

Though there was no official truce, roughly 100,000 British and German troops were involved in unofficial
cessations of fighting along the length of the Western Front. The first truce started on Christmas Eve, 24
December 1914, when German troops began decorating the area around their trenches in the region of Ypres,
Belgium and particularly in Saint-Yvon, w here C apt. Bruce Bairnsfather described the Truce.

Albert E. Johnson
VFW Post 1223
1505 West Center Avenue
Dilworth, MN 56529
218-233-6100

The Germans began by placing candles on their trenches and on Christmas trees, and then continued the celebration

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back behind their lines by burial parties. Joint services were held. The fraternization carried risks; some soldiers

by singing Christmas carols. The British responded by singing carols of their own. The two sides continued by
shouting Christmas greetings to each other. Soon thereafter, there were excursions across No Man's Land, where
small gifts were exchanged, such as food, tobacco and alcohol, and souvenirs such as buttons and hats. The artillery
in the region fell silent. The truce also allowed a breathing spell where recently killed soldiers could be brought
were shot by opposing forces. In many sectors, the truce lasted through Christmas night, but it continued until
New Year's Day in others.

Post Leadership
Commander - Joe Butler
Sr. Vice - Ray Pizarro
Jr. Vice - MK Lentz
Adjutant - Ron Gregor
Quartermaster - John Lopez
Chaplain - Roger Christopherson
House Cmte - Dennis Bushy

Bruce Bairnsfather, who served throughout the war, wrote: "I wouldn't have missed that unique and weird
Christmas Day for anything. ... I spotted a German officer, some sort of lieutenant I should think, and being a bit
of a collector, I intimated to him that I had taken a fancy to some of his buttons. ... I brought out my wire clippers
and, with a few deft snips, removed a couple of his buttons and put them in my pocket. I then gave him two of
mine in exchange. ... The last I saw was one of my machine gunners, who was a bit of an amateur hairdresser in
civil life, cutting the unnaturally long hair of a docile Boche, who was patiently kneeling on the ground whilst

Gambling Manager
Dan Hunt

the automatic clippers crept up the back of his neck."

Ladies Auxiliary
President - Joann Lien
Sr. Vice - Arlene hagen
Jr. Vice - Bonnie Christopherson
Treasurer - Cindy Erickson
Cancer Chair - Cindy Erickson
701-371-2760

to his mother on Boxing Day: "Dear Mother, I am writing from the trenches. It is 11 o'clock in the morning. Beside

Jr. Girls Auxiliary


President - McKenzie Bekaen
Advisor - Karen Haugen

Xmas day, & as I write. Marvelous, isn't it?"

Mens Auxiliary
President - Troy Winter

Future nature writer Henry Williamson, then a nineteen-year-old private in the London Rifle Brigade, wrote
me is a coke fire, opposite me a 'dug-out' (wet) with straw in it. The ground is sloppy in the actual trench, but
frozen elsewhere. In my mouth is a pipe presented by the Princess Mary. In the pipe is tobacco. Of course, you
say. But wait. In the pipe is German tobacco. Ha-ha, you say, from a prisoner or found in a captured trench. Oh
dear, no! From a German soldier. Yes a live German soldier from his own trench. Yesterday the British & Germans
met & shook hands in the Ground between the trenches, & exchanged souvenirs, & shook hands. Yes, all day

General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, commander of the British II Corps, issued orders forbidding friendly
communication with the opposing German troops. Adolf Hitler, then a young corporal of the 16th Bavarian Reserve
Infantry, was also an opponent of the truce.
Excerpted from WikiPedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce

ALBERT E. JOHNSON VFW POST 1223 DEPARTMENT NEWS


From the Post Commander
Comrades,
The holiday season is upon us.
First, I would like to wish my best to
all of you. The holidays can bring
happy times for many, but, it can
also bring times of grief, financial
hardship, and depression to many
others. If you know of a comrade in
distress, please do not hesitate to
bring them to the attention of
someone in a position to help. This
may be the buddy system, or it may
require the intervention of your VSO
or the VA. Together, we can make
sure that we all get through the
holiday season. To those that travel,
be safe and dont drive if youve had
too much to drink.
On a lighter note, we had a great few
months of fundraising. Dan Hunt
did an excellent job with the
fundraiser for the Fargo VA
Recreational Fund and the Fergus
Falls Veterans Home by raising
over $5400!
And John Lopez
brought the Wounded Warriors
Hockey team to the FM area which
raised over $1200 for their worthy
cause.
December we are hosting Army
National Guard, 2-136s Christmas
party again this year. If anyone
would like to donate their time to
serve these fine soldiers please stop
by the club around 5pm on
December 6th.
We need help
serving the diner and with cleaning
up. Finally, we are hosting the
VFW Christmas party this year
again. We havent done this since
Earl passed, and we are excited to
bring back the tradition. Please see
the ladies column for details and
contact info.
Best regards,
Joe Butler, Commander

From the Ladies Aux President


Dear Auxiliary Sisters,

CHILDRENS CHRISTMAS PARTY

The Holidays are upon us, we will be


hosting the Children's Christmas Party
on Dec 7th. There will be BBQ's,
cookies to decorate and crafts for the
kids. Santa will be showing shortly after
that. For more details please contact me
at 701-388-1563.

The VFW will be hosting a Christmas


Party for all the children and
grandchildren of our members. The
party will be Sunday December 7, 2014
at the VFW at 5:00. We will have
sloppy Joes and chips for everyone.

We are having another bake sale on Dec


20th at the VFW starting at 12, so if
you would like to donate something for
that please bring them to the VFW
either or that morning. The money
raised for that will go to our general
fund to help with our mission to help
our local Veterans. On the 24th there
will be Tom & Jerry's at the VFW
before they close at 4:00 PM.
Our January meeting will be January
5th at 6:00 PM which we will be
discussing ways to assist our Veterans.
Six times a year the Auxiliary hosts
Bingo for the Hospitalized Veterans,
this last Thursday the Junior Girls
Auxiliary came with and helped some
of the Veterans make change holders
out of frosting containers and stickers.
The Veterans really like having the girls
come and help raise there spirits.
Remember if you have any girls ages 516 to bring them down and sign them
up. They have fun doing crafts and
learning there patriotic duty at a young
age. For additional information please
don't hesitate in calling me at 701-3881563 or Karen Haugen at 701-3671518.
In January we have our mid Winter
conference in the Cities, it is nice to get
together with other sisters from around
the state and is very informative.

Have a Blessed Holiday and a Safe


New Year,
Sincerely,
Joann Lien
Auxiliary President

From the Junior Girls

Santa will be there with a gift for all the


children. The kids can decorate sugar
cookies to take home; they can make
Christmas cards, color pictures and
watch movies.
They go up to the VA to help the Ladies
Auxiliary on the 3rd Thursday with
bingo. They help the Mens Auxiliary
with the pancake breakfasts on the 3rd
Saturday; this is a way for them to raise
some money.
The Jr. Girls have been busy. In
October we cleaned the ditch and the
parking lot at the club. In Nov. and
Dec. we will be working on Christmas
presents to go to the patients at the
Fargo VA. The girls are busy working
on gifts to go to the patients at the Fargo
VA for Christmas. They are making
decorations and at the December
meeting they will be making sugar
cookies for the patients.
In January they are invited to the
Department mid-winter conference. So
we hope to take a few of them there to
meet up with girls from the other units
in the state and trade ideas.
We meet the 2nd Sunday of the month
at 12:30. They are a great group of
young ladies; they do have a lot of fun
at the meetings. We normally have
some type of craft and some educational
information at each meeting. We are
always looking for things to do for our
members, if you have any suggestions
please let us know.
If you know anyone interested in joining
the Jr. Girls, please give me a call at
701.367.1518.
Karen Haugen, Jr Girls Advisor
Karenhaugen@midco.net

DECEMBER 2014 - VFW POST 1223 CALENDAR


SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

SATURDAY

5-730 Burgers

1-7pm Taco Night

5-8pm Supper Club

2pm Bingo

5-8pm Supper Club

5pm XMAS PARTY

2pm Bingo

Cod Dinner $7.25

5-8pm Supper Club

Walleye $10.50

Open Grill 11-2:30

6pm Bingo

8oz. Steak $8.50

630pm BINGO

NATIONAL GUARD

KARAOKE

XMAS PARTY

6pm Ladies Aux


Meeting

7
Open Grill 12-6

FRIDAY

8
5-730 Burgers

10

11

12

Chilli $2 @11am

13

1-7pm Taco Night

5-8pm Supper Club

2pm Bingo

5-8pm Supper Club

Chilli $2 @11am

1:30,5pm BINGO

2pm Bingo

Cod Dinner $7.25

5-8pm Supper Club

Walleye $10.50

Open Grill 11-2:30

5pm Children's

8pm POST MTG

6pm Bingo

8oz. Steak $8.50

630pm BINGO

7pm Men's Aux.

KARAOKE

XMAS Party

14
Open Grill 12-6

15
5-730 Burgers

1:30,5pm BINGO

16

21
1:30,5pm BINGO

28
Open Grill 12-6

Chilli $2 @11am

2pm Bingo

Cod Dinner $7.25

5-8pm Supper Club

Walleye $10.50

Open Grill 11-2:30

6pm Bingo

8oz. Steak $8.50

630pm BINGO

$6.50 Spaghetti

KARAOKE

1:30,5pm BINGO

23

24

25

26

27

1-7pm Taco Night

5-8pm Supper Club

2pm Bingo

5-8pm Supper Club

Chilli $2 @11am

2pm Bingo

Cod Dinner $7.25

5-8pm Supper Club

Walleye $10.50

Open Grill 11-2:30

6pm Bingo

8oz. Steak $8.50

630pm BINGO

$6.50 Spaghetti

KARAOKE

1:30,5pm BINGO

30
1-7pm Taco Night

1:30,5pm BINGO

20

5-8pm Supper Club

29
5-730 Burgers

19

2pm Bingo

22
5-730 Burgers

18

5-8pm Supper Club

1230 Jr. Girls

Open Grill 12-6

17

1-7pm Taco Night

2pm Bingo

31

5-8pm Supper Club

2pm Bingo

5-8pm Supper Club

Chilli $2 @11am

Cod Dinner $7.25

5-8pm Supper Club

Walleye $10.50

Open Grill 11-2:30

NEW YEAR'S EVE

8oz. Steak $8.50

630pm BINGO

$6.50 Spaghetti

NEW YEAR'S DAY

KARAOKE

1:30,5pm BINGO

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

JANUARY 2015 - VFW POST 1223 CALENDAR


SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

10

Open Grill 12-6

5-730 Burgers

1-7pm Taco Night

5-8pm Supper Club

2pm Bingo

5-8pm Supper Club

Chilli $2 @11am

1:30,5pm BINGO

6pm Ladies Aux

2pm Bingo

Cod Dinner $7.25

5-8pm Supper Club

Walleye $10.50

Open Grill 11-2:30

6pm Bingo

8oz. Steak $8.50

630pm BINGO

$6.50 Spaghetti

7pm Men's Aux.

KARAOKE

1:30,5pm BINGO

Meeting

11
Open Grill 12-6

12

13

14

15

16

17

1-7pm Taco Night

5-8pm Supper Club

2pm Bingo

5-8pm Supper Club

Chilli $2 @11am

1:30,5pm BINGO

2pm Bingo

Cod Dinner $7.25

5-8pm Supper Club

Walleye $10.50

Open Grill 11-2:30

1230 Jr. Girls

8pm POST MTG

6pm Bingo

8oz. Steak $8.50

630pm BINGO

$6.50 Spaghetti

KARAOKE

1:30,5pm BINGO

18
Open Grill 12-6

25
Open Grill 12-6
1:30,5pm BINGO

5-730 Burgers

19
5-730 Burgers

20

22

23

24

5-8pm Supper Club

2pm Bingo

5-8pm Supper Club

Chilli $2 @11am

2pm Bingo

Cod Dinner $7.25

5-8pm Supper Club

Walleye $10.50

Open Grill 11-2:30

6pm Bingo

8oz. Steak $8.50

630pm BINGO

$6.50 Spaghetti

KARAOKE

1:30,5pm BINGO

26
5-730 Burgers

21

1-7pm Taco Night

27

28

29

30

31

1-7pm Taco Night

5-8pm Supper Club

2pm Bingo

5-8pm Supper Club

Chilli $2 @11am

2pm Bingo

Cod Dinner $7.25

5-8pm Supper Club

Walleye $10.50

Open Grill 11-2:30

6pm Bingo

8oz. Steak $8.50

630pm BINGO

$6.50 Spaghetti

KARAOKE

1:30,5pm BINGO

SPECIAL REMINDER:
Jr. GIRLS CHILDREN'S CHRISTMAS PARTY DECEMBER 7TH 5PM

VFW POST 1223


1505 Center Avenue West
Dilworth, MN 56529
ADDRES SERVICE REQUESTED

NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Permit No. 371
Moorhead, MN

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