HISTORY

The decade was the 1950’s.  A new era befell our nation.  Americans were still reeling from World War II and Korea.  GI’s home from combat, were ready to settle down, regain their lives and start anew.  A big part of that process involved the VFW; but where?

A new post was needed.  The first meeting of the new VFW post of Rush-Henrietta was on August 28, 1956.  It was temporarily held in the Henrietta Hayloft.  The second meeting held in the following month of September, officially named the post Rice-Hallick to honor S/Sgt. Donald Rice and S2/c Edward Hallick who lost their lives in the line of duty in WWII.  The post was officially dedicated on December 2, 1956 in the Rush-Henrietta Central School, where the original officers were formally installed.

These are those first members:

The 1950’s and 1960’s were tremulous times, full of change and excitement.  Fear spread over the Cuban Missile Crisis, an assassin’s bullet stole our president and man landed on the moon.

The 1970’s saw the end of the war in Viet Nam, the scandal of Watergate with our president resigning, and the Iran hostage crisis.

 In the 1980’s we invaded Panama to stop a tyrant, the space shuttle Challenger exploded, and the world awoke to the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Operation Desert Storm was in the 1990’s.  Terrorism showed its face with the bombing of the USS Cole and the first attack of the World Trade Center.

The new millennium brought terrorism out in the open and into every home in America with the fall of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.  Operation Iraqi Freedom was kicked off, as well as Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

More to come later.