The month of February honors the four military chaplains who gave up their life jackets & seats on their lifeboats for the safety of their shipmates, and heroically, went down with the ship. The chaplains of the many VFW Posts, while landlocked, will not have to suffer the same fate, but their jobs are still very important and worthy of mention.

Not only do most of the chaplains write their own prayers for different occasions if they are not specific to a particular ceremony, they find themselves administering to sick comrades during hospital visits, sending out appropriate cards for different events, officiating at Memorial services and regular Post meetings, counseling veterans and their families when needed, opening prayers at any other type of gathering which may include attendance by veterans and also, sending in reports to the district of which they belong at the end of each term of service. The reports not only include their many activities of which they participated, they also include any of the beautiful prayers they may have written for their Post.

Here, at the VFW Post 4174 in Lehigh Acres, our chaplain is Steve Dennison and he has been in his position for six years. Not only is he an avid writer of worship services, he is very seriously involved in the newly established Veterans Combat Trauma Support Group Center. When started, the meetings were to take place in the Lehigh Acres Flea Market at Beth Stacy Boulevard, but that has become the meeting place for the board members only, as the Combat Group quickly grew out of that space. The Combat Support meetings are now at the VFW Post 4174, at 25 Homestead Road in Lehigh Acres on the first Wednesday of every month beginning at 5 p.m. For more information on this worthy venture, a call to the VFW at 239-369-5100 will put one in further contact with either Steve Dennison, our chaplain, or our commander, Mike Slone.

If neither one is available immediately, a message will be given to them and they will reciprocate with a call as soon as possible. The care with which both veterans show towards their “brothers in arms” is something so special, it must be experienced to be appreciated. If you are a veteran or first responder, please don’t hesitate to contact the Post and become a member or join the Combat Support Group. You’ll be glad you did!