Decatur VFW thriving in area

— From World War II veterans to soldiers who are just returning from Afghanistan, the Howard-Parrish Veterans of Foreign Wars is there for them all.

VFW Post 9834 was founded in 1947, according to trustee Jimmy Roberts. It was named after local soldiers Alvin Howard and Joe Parrish who were killed in World War II.

As the years went by and the original members grew older, numbers began to dwindle, but in 1994 a group of younger veterans took a renewed interest and participation began to increase.

Now, the Howard-Parrish VFW is the largest in the area, with about 20 active members, Roberts said.

Many of the members served in the Korean and Vietnam wars, but there are also members who have just returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. There are still several World War II veterans, but but some are living in rest homes, he said.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars and its auxiliaries, have about 2.2 million members and 8,100 posts worldwide, according to the organization’s Web site www. vfw.org.

Its mission is to “honor the dead by helping the living” through veterans’ services, community service, national security and a strong national defense, the Web site states.

The VFW provides veterans with help to get the services they have earned, Roberts said.

The post has been meeting at a building on Tilly’s Hill Road for about one year. Before that, they met on Y-City Road south of Decatur.

Members work together to serve the community and participate in community projects such as hanging flags along the main roads in Decatur for holidays and special events.

“These guys are the worlds best to step in and help,” said post commander Sterling Pollard.

They have also been cleaning a civil war cemetery north of Decatur. Both confederate and union soldiers rest in the Heaslett family cemetery, according to Pollard.

The cemetery was a tangle of weeds and brush, with so many stumps it couldn’t be mowed. With the help of some inmates from the Benton County Sheriff’s Office, VFW members cleared the stumps and brush and set the headstones upright again. They have been keeping the cemetery clean and mowed ever since.

“We enjoy it, we take a lot of pride in it,” Pollard said.

The post is also planning to give a scholarship to a graduating high school student this year, he said.

The post hosts social events, such as a fish fry, a couple times a year.

The local VFW Post meets on the first Tuesday of each month — at 7:30 p.m. New members and guests are welcome.

The facility is 3 miles east of Decatur on Arkansas Highway 102, right on Tilly’s Hill Road, and the first building on the right.