Scott “the Loser” Losey

We always ( I did) got the old saw from a VFW service rep. that “Hey, we’re doin’ this for free for you. We don’t get paid a dime like those shyster attorneys that scalp you for all your winnings. We’re an up and up outfit. Say, are you buying another round? Way cool. Make it a double. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah. We’ll have your six all the way until we win. Hear? That’s why we’re here, dude.”

When my son was in middle school in the nineties, one of the prevalent hand signs to indicate a loser or someone with low, future social potential was to hold the extended thumb and index finger into an “L”and plant it firmly on your forehead.  This visual sobriquet belongs to Mr. Scott Losey. Were I to have embarked on this endeavor, the first stop would have been the Calhoun County Courthouse to file for a name change. Losey is like being given the surname of Burglar. That might work at McDonald’s if your Christian name is Hammond but not here.

I am always amazed at human greed when I encounter it. Nothing is sacred but it does seem a lot of misanthropy crops up in the Veterans sector. For it to come from this quarter (the VSO vector) is more troubling than it appears. We would like to ascribe this to a horrible aberration but what if it is merely a harbinger or the tip of the iceberg? I have personally had contact with four different organizations over the last 26 years. None petitioned me overtly for more than a year’s membership “since I was already there anyway”. It would seem that the mere act of signing the POA was also a commitment to the cause -if not  an unwritten financial prerequisite- to obtain top drawer service. We all know most VSO reps took a page out of the VA’s manual on sloth, inaction and gross neglect and practice it religiously. Most, granted, but not all. I apologize. My New Year’s resolution was “With malice towards none”.

I was destitute when I signed with DAV so a membership was out of the question. Getting any meaningful legal help was seemingly also impossible. And so it went from denial to denial and VSO to VSO. No one told me the secret to success was right there at my fingertips and I was too dense to absorb it. A simple concept. “Hey, how about I give you 20% of my winnings if you kick ass and take names?” All these years they’ve been funnin’ us and sayin’ they were doing it for free.  That was the intro and I missed it for the obvious tagline that it was. You just had to have the secret password to get into the VA winner’s circle- “How much?”

See how simple that is? I bet that’s why  you fellers come here to learn all these tricks. Wooooooo, doggies. I’d like to see some of you go into AmVets and say “Hey, I just got the briefing on this from Alex. So how much is this gonna cost me? He says you folks prefer Home Depot or Target gift cards to keep it on the up and up. I’m cool with that. ”

Happy Memorial Day weekend. It is the most glorious time in the world to be a dead Veteran. With that said, I contribute member WGM’s photo of his back yard and an inspiring poem he sent.

A Poem for Remembrance Day

“The inquisitive mind of a child”

Why are they selling poppies, Mummy?
Selling poppies in town today.
The poppies, child, are flowers of love.
For the men who marched away.

But why have they chosen a poppy, Mummy?
Why not a beautiful rose?
Because my child, men fought and died
In the fields where the poppies grow.

But why are the poppies so red, Mummy?
Why are the poppies so red?
Red is the colour of blood, my child.
The blood that our soldiers shed.

The heart of the poppy is black, Mummy.
Why does it have to be black?
Black, my child, is the symbol of grief.
For the men who never came back.

But why, Mummy are you crying so?
Your tears are giving you pain.
My tears are my fears for you my child.
For the world is forgetting again.

Author Unknown

Lest we forget