American Legion “FOR GOD AND COUNTRY”Douglas MacArthur Post AU03

Correspondence Address:1 Doyen Court - Warner, QLD 4500

Phone: 3882-0112

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As the year comes to a close Douglas MacArthur Post has rounded off its final event for the year plus given a couple a trip to Hawaii on Hawaiian Airlines. They were the recipients of the draw for a Hawaiian Excursion. , staying at the outrigger Hotel in Honolulu. The winner was Varina Taylor of Springfield who will be taking her sister in February.

Other prizewinners in the raffle drawn November 5th.are:

2nd Prize: A Chrysler Long Weekend. Complimentary use of a Chrysler 300c . Pick up Friday and return Monday. Winner: Hilda Prince of Sunview St. Boronia Heights.

3rd Prize: Dinner for two at the Breakfast Creek Hotel . Winner: Mr. Les Dwyer of Yarraman.

4rh Prize: Dinner for two at the Regatta Hotel Boathouse Restaurant:. Winner: G&D McAteer, Maloneys Beach NSW.

We are grateful to our sponsors as follows: Hawaiian Airlines, Flight Centre, Chrysler Australia & Leo Muller Chrysler, The Breakfast Creek Hotel and the Regatta Hotel. All contributed generously to the raffle to support our activities with our band support.

Election Watch ‘08

One hundred guests attended our second Election Watch event at the Regatta Hotel on November 5th at the Regatta Hotel to observe the results of the United States Presidential Election watching the results live on screens in the Whitford Room. Commentary was provided from US Consul, Casey Mace, Political & Economics Officer, and Professor Peter Coaldrake, Vice-Chancellor at the Queensland University of Technology, ably supported by Chris Kjelland, Vice-Consul and American Citizens Services Chief.

The guests were from a cross section of Federal State and Local government representatives with business, Australian-American, American Legion and Education members enjoying a buffet lunch and beverages provided by the hotel. Major sponsors included R3 Consulting, Enhance Industries, Fosters Brewing, Chrysler and the Regatta Hotel.

While the result was conclusive, the event was a non-partisan observation of the United States election process. The United States Consulate-General provided buttons, flyers and decorations for the event and the room was festooned with balloons adding to the atmosphere with a media contingent also present.. In years past the election watches were covered by AMCHAM and the US Consulate General but with the closure of the AMCHAM office in Brisbane the 2000 election was not covered so the Legion, with Consular support conducted the 2004 event followed by this year’s event. Indications are for the support of the 2012

continued on Page 16

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Consular Corner

The United States of America recently an-nounced new entry requirements for all trav-ellers to the USA. Effective for travel from 12 January 2009, all travellers wishing to travel to the USA under the Visa Waiver Programme - which includes all Australian and New Zealand passport holders - will be required to "pre-register" their intention to enter America at least 72 hours prior to your scheduled departure. All intending travellers must apply on-line to the Department of Homeland Security for a travel authorisation form prior to boarding your flight or cruise vessel to the USA. Travellers who do not apply for and receive a formal travel autho-risation ahead of their intended departure date will not be able to board their flig http://direc-tory.presidentialtransition.gov/ ht or cruise ship to the USA. The application for this US Travel Authorisation is free of charge and only takes approximately 10 minutes to complete.

Miss all those gorgeous Christmas ornaments from America? Want some unusual ornaments, as well as some great patriotic ones as well? Go to: www.christmastraditions.com. They happily ship to Australia, with reasonable costs. We’ve already purchased from them and are very happy with our purchase!

Beautiful images of all 50 states with a beautiful soundtrack to put you in the mood. http://old-bluewebdesigns.com/mybeautifulamerica.htm

An online directory to introduce you to the op-eration of the US Federal government transition resources. An interesting guide on the various as-pects of the transition of one elected government to the next (as is going on now). Go to: http://directory.presidentialtransition.gov/

For an excellent online site with American reci-pes go to: www.e-cookbooks.net. It includes recipes for well-known restaurant items as well.

In tune with the season, go to: http://www.north-pole.com/ for all sorts of holiday stories, anima-tion, and more. Great holidays recipes will be found at http://www.northpole.com/Kitchen/Cookbook/

The American Red Cross is sponsoring a national "Holiday Mail for Heroes" campaign to receive and distribute holiday cards to servicemem-bers and veterans both in the United States and abroad. Holiday Mail for Heroes is a follow-up to the 2007 effort that resulted in the collection and distribution of more than 600,000 cards to hospi-talized servicemembers. This year's program will expand its reach to not only wounded service-members but also veterans and their families. The goal is to collect and distribute 1 million pieces of holiday mail. For all information, go to: www.redcross.org/holidaymail

A beautiful 11/11/11 tribute to those who have lost their lives protecting freedom. “A Pittance of Time” can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYlrrAWCTRg

A moving tribute to the American soldier: http://www.airshowbuzz.com/videos/view.php?v=9513e102

In tune with the season, take this test to see how many facts you know about Thanksgiving! Go to: http://home.aristotle.net/Thanksgiving/trivia-index.asp

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ADDRESS TO OPEN THE FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIAN AMERICAN ASSOCIATION’S

FEDERAL CONFERENCE 2008BY

AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ANGUS HOUSTON, AC, AFCFederal President: Mr David Stoba, Vice President: Marylou Badeaux; Immediate Past President: Bron-wyn Halbisch; Secretary: John Langford; other participants of member divisions; Ladies and Gentle-men. It is my great pleasure to be here to officially open the Federation of Australian American Associa-tions’ 2008 Federal Conference. It has been said by many prominent Australian leaders in recent years that America has no greater friend than Australia. Our two nations share a strong alliance that is based on shared values, interests and strategic outlook. We have many important linkages in the areas such as commerce, finance, tourism, culture, science and technology and education. And we have a close security relationship. As well as a mutually beneficial approach to intelligence sharing, we are also working side by side today to defeat new threats and challenges. Therefore, the aim of the Australian American Associa-tion—to contribute to the maintenance and development of friendship, mutual understanding and cooperation between the peoples of Australia and the United States of America—is vitally important for Australia. We must continue to encourage community awareness about the importance of the links between Australia and the United States. We should celebrate days of national importance and we should commemorate events in which our relationship was tested and indeed strengthened.Most importantly, we should be welcoming of our American friends when they visit, settle or come to work in Australia. The work of the Australian American Associations in this regard is very important and I sure the issues you will discuss at this conference will mean you are better postured to achieve your important objectives in the coming year. This afternoon I would like to set the tone for this conference by sharing with you the deep and honourable bond between Australian and American Defence personnel. I firmly believe the common sacrifices we have shared on the battlefield—that now extend back almost a century—are the foun-dation on which our entire relationship is built. It is also on the battlefield today that we continue to strengthen our alliance through our mutual belief in fighting for the freedom and liberty of others. Today I will share with you just three examples—one Army, one Navy, one Air Force—of when we have joined together against a common enemy to protect our nations and our national interests.

Australia and United StatesArmy—Battle of Hamel: WWI

The bond between Australian and American personnel began on the battlefields of France in WWI. In 1918, 1000 Americans were dispersed among Australian units just prior to the Battle of Hamel, which was a planned attack launched against German positions in the town of Hamel in western France. At the last minute, British headquarters ordered that the Americans be withdrawn. But Austra-lian General John Monash, who was in charge of the offensive, successfully resisted on the grounds that the Americans and the Australians had already formed a close bond and would fight very well together. We did, and by Great War standards, the Battle of Hamel—fittingly fought on the American Independence Day of July 4—was a stunning success and became the tactical model for the offensive which subsequently knocked Germany out of the war. The battle was over in 92 minutes at a cost of 1400 casualties. Over 2000 Germans were killed or wounded and together, we captured 1600 pris-oners and 177 machine-guns. In a book published that year, the Australian war correspondent, FM Cutlack, described the im-pression the Americans made: “Their clean cut faces – solider built, many of them, but wearing the same expression of alert intelligence – look very like those of our own Australians. They swear as a general thing perhaps a little less! They salute gravely...They drink coffee rather than tea. But except for these points they might be our own fellows. They bear themselves with the same sturdy self-reliance. They

AIR CHIEF MARSHALL ANGUS HOUSTON AAA ADDRESS - continued from page 8

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How the Electoral College works

(CNN) -- The 2000 election was the fourth time the Electoral College selected a candidate other than the one who won the popular vote. So do we the people really elect the president and vice president? Technically, we don’t. Presidents are elected by the states and the District of Columbia, not by a national tally of voters. When you vote, you cast your ballot for electors who will vote for a candidate they are politically aligned with.Most of the time, that means the candidate who wins the popular vote also wins the Electoral College vote. There are 538 Electoral College voters, one per senator and representative from each state. The District of Columbia, which has no congressional representation, has three votes - the minimum.California has 55 votes, while Texas (34) and New York (31) have the second and third most, respec-tively. Besides D.C., seven states have three votes. The colleges of electors from each state meet on the same date - this year, December 13 - and vote for a president and vice president. There is no central location that the voters meet - in this case, college refers to a body of electors, not a building. Most of the 51 slates of electors meet at their respective state capitols. There are measures to replace an original elector who cannot make it to the vote. On January 6, the new Congress will meet in joint session to tally and announce the vote. If no candidate has a majority of the electoral votes, the House of Representatives picks the president and the Senate chooses the vice president. The House of Representatives has not voted on a president since 1824, when Andrew Jackson won a plurality - but not majority - in the Electoral College. The House voted for John Quincy Adams, who became the sixth president. Generally speaking, a candi-date who has the most popular votes in a state also receives all of its electoral votes. Two states, how-ever, can split their electoral college. Maine and Nebraska apportion their votes between congres-sional district and two at-large votes. Yet neither state has ever split its electoral vote.

THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE - continued from page 5

1951 Buick LeSabre

1941 Chrysler Thunderbolt

1951 Chrysler K310

A HUGE thank you to Belinda and Rick Brown for hosting a SPECTACULAR Halloween party. From young to old, costumes and no costumes, EVERYONE had a blast! Games, pumpkin carving, American candy, hamburgers, cupcakes and much, much more! We hope they’ll consider hosting next year’s event !!

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election Watch.

Casey Mace, US Consul addressing Election Watch attendees. Ray Cassady & Mavis Train at Election Watch

In October, planning was already under way for the Election Watch hot on the heels of the visit of the United States Air Force Hana-Hou PACAF Band from Hawaii. The visit was initially planned for the Amberley Air Show, and while tentative, did not become a confirmed operation until final arrangements were in place for the air transport. With the inclusion of a USAF C-17 in the Air Show from Hawaii the band had their transport and made their first visit to Australia. While brief, only 5 days, the band members packed a lot in their short visit. Under the leadership of Task Sergeant Josh Fedele, Director of Operations the ten member group visited the Ipswich General Hospital playing music in the wards, gave a public concert at the Ipswich Riverlink Mall and gave three concerts daily at the Air Show. Their location at the Air Show was opposite a large tree which provided a large shady spot and guaranteed a ready audience for the band performances.

Accommodation location, necessary for the easy access to Amberley, restricted the band’s performances to the immediate area. However, the band enjoyed some free time and had the opportunity to visit Lone Pine, Mt. Coot-tha and dine at the Breakfast Creek Hotel courtesy of Sam Gullo. The Nth Ipswich RSL also provided meals for the band during their visit. We are grateful for the support of Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale, whose love of music always engenders input to the military band visits to the Ipswich area.

PACAF Band at Amberley Air Show and Ipswich General Hospital October 3rd to October 5th.

We have been saddened lately by the passing of Legion Stalwarts and friends of the Legion. Al Riken who served as Chaplain at Memorial Day; Bob Sullivan, a Legion member and former Federal President of the Australian American Association and was husband of Kathy Sullivan, former President of the Gold Coast Division Australian-American Association.

This month has seen the passing of Roy Taylor, former President HMA ex-Cruisers Association and a Battle of the Coral Sea veteran, having served on HMAS Australia. Roy was a familiar face at the Coral Sea services at Newstead Park, although ill health had prevented him from attending this year. Roy enjoyed meeting up with the Lexington survivors last year and renewing a friendship with Curly Elliott.

Legion News - contd from Page 10

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INGREDIENTS 415 g navy beans **225 g bacon1 onion, finely diced45 ml molasses10 g salt0.5 g ground black pepper0.9 g dry mustard120 ml ketchup15 ml Worcestershire sauce35 g brown sugar

DIRECTIONSSoak beans overnight in cold water. Simmer the beans in the same water until tender, approxi-mately 1 to 2 hours. Drain and reserve the liquid.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).Arrange the beans in a 2 quart bean pot or cas-serole dish by placing a portion of the beans in the bottom of dish, and layering them with bacon and onion.

Boston Baked BeansA wonderful old-fashioned baked bean flavor which tastes great served with fresh cornbread or

biscuits and honey. Although you need to allow time for soaking and sim-mering the beans, this recipe is still quite easy.In New England baked beans usually are sweetened with maple syrup, and

are traditionally cooked with salt pork in a bean-pot in a brick oven for a full day. In southern states along the eastern seaboard of the US, the beans become tangier usually due to the addition of yellow mustard. Ground beef also becomes common alongside bacon in these beans.

In a saucepan, combine molasses, salt, pepper, dry mustard, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil and pour over beans. Pour in just enough of the reserved bean water to cover the beans. Cover the dish with a lid or aluminum foil.Bake for 3 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until beans are tender. Remove the lid about halfway through cooking, and add more liquid if neces-sary to prevent the beans from getting too dry.

** we have not been able to find Navy beans in Australia. You can substitute haricot beans, which are generally available in health food shops.

A terrific collection of American recipes, many of them being popular foods from American restaurants is available in PDF form.

If you’d like us to email you this PDF book, just let us know and we’ll send it along.

Sorry, but we don’t have “hard” copies for any-one without a computer.

A FREE Recipe Collection

available to you

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AAA & Chamber of Commerce & Industry Queensland Host First AAA Business Breakfast

We are very happy to announce our first Business Breakfast to be held at the Sofitel on Thursday, the 19th of February, 2009. Our featured speaker will be Edgard Kagan, Economic Counselor from the US Embassy in Canberra speaking on the economy. We will be announcing pricing, times, etc. soon, but mark your calendars for this most timely talk!

Cmdr Forbes Peters, ADC Leaving Post

as CO, RAN

We want to wish a fond farewell to Cmdr Forbes

Peters as he leaves his post as Commanding Officer, Navy

Headquarters, So. Queen-sland. Arriving in the post in 2006, we’ve worked closely

with him, especially on the annual Coral Sea Commemoration.

Cmdr Peters joined the Navy in 1987 and is an electrical engineering graduate from the Australian Defence Force Academy. He has

spent a good deal of his career as a submariner. As he leaves his post, he will do some reserve time until mid-2009 when he will commence civilian employment in the engineering field. We wish him all the best! Coming in as the new Command-er, is CMDR Geoff Fiedler who has spent most of his career in the aviation world. We will be wel-coming him in January 2009.

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