Sons of The American Legion
1304 Park Blvd.
Detachment of New York
www.sonsdny.org
Troy, NY 12180
(518) 463-2215
Spring 2025 Edition
COMMANDER’S MESSAGE…by Gaither E. Espey
2024 the Detachment ended with 32,096 Detachment office.
members. We have 4,361 members from Some other travels completed included:
2024 who have not renewed. Retention is The American Legion Legislative Confera huge factor with membership. Current- ence in Washington DC. New York had a
ly New York’s retention rate is 85.87%.
delegation visiting our area representaPlease reach out to these members to get tives on Capitol Hill to discuss the Amerithem renewed.
can Legion Legislative priorities. We
While my schedule is slowing down at
made visits to the War Memorials where
this point in the year, since the MidI placed the Detachment of New York
Winter issue of the Liberty, travels have
wreath at the Vietnam Wall. Department
been busy. The week prior to Mid-Winter Commander Keith, myself, Vice Comwe completed the 3rd District Visitations. mander Joe Guidice, and David Perry had
After Mid-Winter we completed 7th & 8th the extreme honor to place a wreath at
District Visitations. Our Legion family rolls the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier. It was
out the red carpet when we arrive at eve- truly and honor, and the experience of a
Fellow Sons,
ry County. The tours, the great meals,
lifetime.
and the friendships made are second to
I hope you are all doing well. The calennone. We even got to make our way
dar says it’s Spring but Ol’ Man Winter
through a couple nice snowstorms. That
does not want to give up. Hopefully in
is what living in the Great Northeast is
the next couple of weeks we will see sunabout. With all County visitations done.
ny days.
Again, I want to thank everyone for the
The Detachment has been doing well
great hospitality showed to us.
with membership. Currently New York
On behalf of myself and the Detachment
has 30,193 members for 93.29%. To
of New York, I would like to thank all
reach our goal and achieve 100% we
Squadrons and individuals who made
need 2,170 more members. As the
donations to the CWF (recently renamed
weather gets warmer and activities in(Continued on page 2)
the Child Well-Being Foundation) and
crease, Squadrons need to reach out and
other programs throughout our visitapush to get those 2024 members retions. If your Squadron has not made a
newed. To date the Detachment has
donation and would like to, it’s not too
2,458 new members for 2025. Subtract
late. Simply mail your donation to the
that number from our total (27,735).
Commanders Message
Spring 2025
D ETAC HM EN T OF N EW Y O RK N EWS LETTER
PAGE 2
Commanders Message
(continued from page 1)
I also had the opportunity to attend the Department of New York Oratorical Contest Final. It was truly amazing to sit and listen
to our young adults speak on stage about the United States Constitution. The is an excellent program that the Sons of The American Legion needs to continue to support.
In March, the Detachment had a delegation attend the Eastern Regional Gathering in Maryland, honoring our National Vice
Commander Robert Manzo.
I recently finished up the National American Legion Commander visits, and attended National Commander Joseph Navarette’s
homecoming in New Mexico, honoring his year as our National Commander.
I then was on my second to last plane ride, out to Indianapolis for the National Executive Committee meetings. New York had
17 guys in attendance for different committee/commission meetings. Having this many guys, shows how strong New York is on
the National level.
The Detachment Walk-A-Thon is well underway. “They Marched for Us, Let’s Walk for Them” I would like to thank PNC (Past
National Commander) Chris Cerullo for chairing this Statewide event. I look forward to a walk later this month. Let’s beat last
year’s donation.
In closing I cannot express my appreciation enough for everything the members of this great Detachment do in support of our
Veterans, Children, and the Communities that we live in. After traveling across this State, I have seen what you do. Wear your
cover or logo shirt with pride and your head held high because you all certainly deserve it.
See you all at the Detachment Convention in Syracuse July 17-19, 2025.
God bless you, our Veterans, and God Bless America.
Gaither E. Espey,
Detachment Commander
From the Adjutants Desk, …by Timothy S.Van Patten II
Greetings all,
Spring is finally upon us, giving us the opportunity to not only experience nature’s yearly renewal of life with the blossoming of
trees and flowers, much needed warmer temperatures, and sights and sounds of various creatures frolicking about, but it also
gives us the opportunity for personal renewals (and not just membership). We can take the time to rededicate ourselves to our
commitment to our veterans and communities, to take the online class for the Columbia University Be The One protocol (it is
free and available to anyone at www.Legion.org), and to help our organization when we go to Washington DC to testify before
congress by submitting our Consolidated Squadron Reports so we can give an accurate accounting of our impact across our communities, states and nation. With Memorial Day right around the corner, one of the best ways to honor our veterans is to continue supporting the legacy of The American Legion through active support and participation in our programs.
This is also the time of year when we start holding election of officers on all levels of the organization. Please be sure to submit your new Officer Certification Forms after your elections. I am trying my best to collect email addresses from these forms to
help in sharing information from the Detachment as well as sending out calls and required forms to adjutants and commanders,
so please type on the online forms if you can, the handwritten ones can be a bit hard to read.
If you ever need any of our forms or documents, they can be found on our website or you can email me directly at
TSVP2@AOL.COM. Please put your squadron name and number in the subject line.
I hope to see as many of you in Syracuse as possible for our Detachment Convention.
~Tim
D ETAC HM EN T OF N EW Y O RK N EWS LETTER
Adjutant, etc… by Robert Avery
Members of the Detachment of NY worked at the SAL National Commander Candidate Reception in
support of our own Candidate Bill Clancy last week which was held at the Indiana War Memorial in Indianapolis, IN. The reception took place during the National Executive Committee Meetings.
It is now less than four months when we hope to see our candidate Bill get elected National Commander at the upcoming Annual National Convention. This year’s event takes place August 22 – 28, in
Tampa Bay, FL.
This campaign is not yet over. An endeavor of this magnitude costs over
$100,000. We thank all those Posts, Squadrons, Units and others who have
already generously donated to the campaign fund. For those that have yet to
contribute, you can show your pride in our great detachment organization and
candidate Bill by sending a financial donation of any amount. Thank you in
advance for your kindness!
Checks should be made payable to “American Legion Bill Clancy SAL Fund”
All correspondence can be sent to:
AL Dept. HQ
1304 Park Boulevard
Troy, NY 12180
In closing, all squadrons are reminded of the “Big Three” forms that you must complete and submit EVERY year!
Officer Certification Form (OCF)
Squadron Data Report (SDR)
Consolidated Squadron Report (CSR)
Submittals of all three reports are now tracked for compliance. All forms are available on the Detachment websites:
For the Good of the SONS,
Robert J. Avery
Secretary, Bill Clancy Campaign
Detachment Adjutant Emeritus
PAGE 3
D ETAC HM EN T OF N EW Y O RK N EWS LETTER
PAGE 4
National Executive Committee…by Dennis George
As NEC liaison with the National Member Training & Development Committee, I have been involved in
the monthly Zoom meetings which have focused on the upcoming training for the Regional Training
Conferences, 2025 Spring NEC meetings, and for the Commanders Training at the 2025 National Convention in August.
I submitted 4 Nominations for 2025-2026 National Commissions and Committees positions.
Training Library: list of modules that are ready for submittal to National: 8 modules with Q&A Modules that are ready we need to submit to IA Commission for final review * List of Modules under development: – Duties of Officers, Membership and retention, Squadron Adjutant Training, How to get
youth involved, Public speaking, Legion programs, SAL Blue Book (Commander and Adjutant Manual).
Will look at adding this to the SAL Training library.
- Training Modules: Levels 101-103 * Development of SAL Leadership levels 1-3 similar to NMI, and
On-Line SAL Basic courses being developed.
Our membership is growing and the 2025 numbers are looking great. Keep up the good work. Let’s
finish the year meeting that 100%+ goal established by our National Commander Joseph Navarte.
I encourage you to complete and submit the SDR, CSR and OCF forms in a timely manner. This will
keep a steady and accurate communication with National
This is time of year that we post flags to honor our deceased veterans. I wish to remind all of the Flying Flags for Heroes program, which is an continuing goal of our National Americanism Commission,
and to register posted flags your CSR and on the website: www.flyingflagsforheroes.com.
I have been working with Adjutant Tim Van Patten and Convention Chair Dean Williamson on getting
ready for our 2025 Detachment. We welcome National Eastern Region Vice Commander Bob Manzo
back to New York and look forward to a rewarding Convention, as we prepare for installation of our
Leading Candidate for Detachment Commander Joe Guidice, and for installation of our Leading Candidate for National Commander Bill Clancy III.
Do not forget to utilize Voter’s Voice to your legislators so that programs supporting our veterans get
promoted and passed.
Keep supporting our Veterans and their families. Every day is Veterans Day!
Be The One!
Dennis George
NEC-NY
D ETAC HM EN T OF N EW Y O RK N EWS LETTER
PAGE 5
Americanism…by Herman Downer, Jr,
Fellow Sons,
As we put out flags on our Veterans Graves this year, take time to report it to Flying Flags For Heroes.
Many Squadrons, Post and Units put them out and reporting is simple. Click the link or scan the QR Code below to
report.
Flying Flags For Heroes
Many Posts and Squadrons have held events at their Post for American Legion Family Day. If your Post had an
event you can report it to us so we can forward the report to the National Americanism Commission. They are
tracking how many Squadrons and Detachments have had events. For the report form, send a request to:
dnyamericanism@gmail.com
We will send a report form. It’s that time of year that Consolidated Squadron Reports are also due. The goal is
100% of Squadrons reporting in. Even if your Squadron has very little, or even nothing to report still submit your
report. It all counts!
Herman Downer Jr
Detachment Americanism Chairman
D ETAC HM EN T OF N EW Y O RK N EWS LETTER
A Message from the National Commander
PAGE 6
D ETAC HM EN T OF N EW Y O RK N EWS LETTER
PAGE 7
William Clancy for National Commander
In just a few short months, our own Bill Clancy will be elected as our National Commander of the
Sons of The American Legion!
On April 19, 2025 Suffolk County sponsored a Karaoke fundraiser for Bill that raised over $2500.00!
Special thanks to the Suffolk County American Legion Family, PNC Christopher Cerullo, who organized the event, Detachment Commander Gaither Espey who presented a check on behalf on the
4th District, and to everyone that attended.
A Great Time was had by all!!
Help is still needed! Make checks payable to: “American Legion Bill Clancy SAL Fund”
Please send all correspondence to:
AL Dept. HQ
1304 Park Boulevard
Troy, NY 12180
VOLU M E 14 ISSU E 4
D ETAC HM EN T OF N EW Y O RK N EWS LETTER
PAGE 8
On Saturday April 26, Cassadaga Memorial Post 1280 in
Chautauqua County held a Walk A Thon. Despite the cold
weather and rain they had a good turnout. We would like to
Special thanks to the students from Cassadaga Job Corps
who came out and participated! Pictured are students from
Cassadaga Job Corps, ALA Cassadaga members Ivory Fishgold & Mitzi Kendrick, Chautaqua County SAL
Cmdr.Knobby Walsh, Diman Smith, SAL 8th District Vice
Commander, and Joshua Spinler, 8th District SAL Commander.
Levittown Squadron 1711 Adjutant Dennis Darcy
(center) recently received the Americanism Award from
the Veterans at Levittown Post 1711. Pictured are Post
commander Frank Marcinek (right), Post 3rd vice
Herb Tracy,(left) Americanism Chairman,behind Dennis is John Farley (center) Squadron 1st vice commander, along with Senator Rhodes and other local
dignitaries.
The Detachment of New York leadership recently attended
the Northeast Regional Gathering in Maryland honoring
our National Vice Commander Robert Manzo.
The members in attendance also attended a leadership
seminar as part of the weekend events.
City Island Post 156 held its first American Legion Family
Day on April 5th. Despite bad weather, a good time was had by
all. Event highlights included carnival games and prizes, flag
folding instruction, a cupcake decorating table, and a nice
spread of food prepped, cooked and donated by our volunteers.
Have some news or event you’d like to Share??
We want to hear from you!!
Squadron Commanders, County and District Commanders, ALL members of the Sons, please let us know what you are doing and what you have accomplished in pictures and in words. We don’t need long essays, just captions to pictures showing
your members in action. (PLEASE: Send pictures in .JPG or .PNG format, and make them individual image files, not in collage or combined formats). SEND SUBMISSIONS TO PR CHAIRMAN JOE GUIDICE libertysalnyeditor@gmail.com
