Da Hawg Frog Blog

There is a bond among veterans that crosses generations and genders. They share common experiences that the average civilian will never understand. Within their hearts the gunfire of distant battle fields still resonate and they mourn the loss of friends and brothers in arms from decades past.

Today there is a healthy support of Americans veterans by a new generation of people who appreciate the sacrifice of those fighting today to preserve our freedom and way of life. Today’s young veterans carry the battle to Iraq and Afghanistan in their endeavour to secure our safety from global terrorism and Islamic extremist who would like to destroy us. Unfortunately not all Americans support our veterans, present and past.

Each year brothers from the Fire and Iron Motorcycle Club, New York Fire Riders Motorcycle Club and the American Legion Riders of Post 104 visit the Domiciliary at Bay Pines Veterans Hospital. They go there to pass out thanks and tee shirts to the veterans living there. Veterans from World War II, Korea and Vietnam make up the bulk of those residing in the domiciliary. Veterans who are often forgotten while the rest of the country concentrates on the present men and women serving.

This April the brothers of these motorcycle clubs and Legion Riders decided to go a step beyond just visiting and talking to our veterans living at Bay Pines. They wanted to show their appreciation by having a cookout and treating those confined by age and infirmity to the fellowship and gratitude of the community. These clubs and veteran’s groups charged nothing for the cookout. The food was great but it turned out to be a pretty dry event. My friend and fellow American Legion Riders Brother Butch explains:

Today we held a BBQ for all of the veterans at Bay Pines Veterans Hospital. We had 120 lbs of Pulled Pork, 80 lbs of BBQ Chicken, Baked Beans, Potato Salad, Watermelon, Deviled Eggs and many other dishes. We served around 250 veterans and their families.

This BBQ was planned and paid for by a retired member of the N.Y. Fire Dept and a member of the New York, Fire Riders “Vinnie” and his wife “Carol Ann” an Air Force veteran herself. They planned this event and paid for most of it out of their own pocket. The American Legion Riders of American Legion Post 104, Fire & Iron M/C & members of the U.S. Military Veterans M/C and the American Legion Auxiliary of Post 104 helped with the cooking and serving and Post 104 donated their kitchen facilities to the event. It was a beautiful day and everything went smoothly with plenty of volunteers showing up to help with the cooking and serving, and passing out T-shirts, Thanking all of the veterans for their service.

Sam’s Club gave us the meat at their cost. A special thanks to Nick Ellis for his countless hours cooking and the use of his truck and mobile cooker, and to Bob Albert for always being there, also to Littleman’s Printing for doing the T-shirts on such short notice.

But my purpose for this article is to inform everyone of how we were treated by
Coke and Pepsi. When they were approached to donate sodas for the event, they
showed us just how much they appreciate the sacrifices that our veterans have
made that allowed them to be two of the largest and most profitable companies in
the world.

After Coca Cola was approached, they didn’t respond initially, but finally told
Vinnie that ” They weren’t interested” and “there wasn’t any money in the
budget for this”.

Now figure this out. We were only talking about 300 – 400 sodas. They sell 12
packs of Coke at 4 for $12.00. That equals $0.25 per can retail. 400 sodas at
retail would have been $100.00. Their cost wholesale would have been minimal,
but that was too much to invest in our veterans. I hope this will make you think
next time you order a drink.

Now moving on to Pepsi. They were even worse than Coca Cola. Despite
numerous attempts to contact their charitable events coordinator. They refused to
even respond to Vinnie’s request for a meeting, despite 3 phone calls to their
office, they never even bothered to respond.

It is unfortunate that these two companies couldn’t find it in their hearts to help out. Da Frog commends these motorcycle clubs and the American Legion Riders for their sponsorship and efforts to make our brothers from past conflicts lives a little brighter.

I also want to say shame on Pepsi and Coke. Those who participated in this past event are not soon to forget their attitude. We’ll find something else to mix our rum with. Patriotism goes beyond a few yellow plastic ribbons made in China displayed on windows and bumpers.

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