Mary Ellen Piotrowski Post 94

Commander Jack Coyle Grumpyjack896@gmail.com 219-746-0360
First Vice Commander: Doug Miller dougmiller13908@gmail.com 623-882-5974
Second Vice Commander: Dennis Benjamin dandwbenjamin@msn.com 602-316-8856
Adjutant:              Jim Heller jmh7116@aol.com 623-975-4300
Finance Officer:      Bob Hasbrouck    
Chaplain:              Paul Van Rooy pauljvanrooy@gmail.com 608-669-0595
Judge Advocate:        Ron Ripley rsr-ur@hotmail.com 253-973-5652
Service Officer:      Vacant    
Public Relations Officer:       Rudy Grom                          rudy_grom@yahoo.com 623-328-9416
Sergeant-At-Arms:     Larry Fulcher lfulcher3@cox.net 623-377-6213
Trustee and Scout Chair:              Rod Martinson rrmartin49@aol.com 623-777-0747
Trustee:               Ruth Kanaley redbumble84@aol.com 973-714-4540
Honor Guard Commander: Jack Coyle        grumpyjack896@gmail.com 219-746-0360
Contact for Flags:    Ron Ripley rsr-ur@hotmail.com 253-973-5652

thumbJack Coyle, Commander: July 1, 2021 - Present

I graduated from high school in June of 1970 and received my induction notice in January 1971.  Reported for physical in February and went for basic training in May to Ft. Lewis Washington and Ft. Gordon for AIT telephone and switchboard maintenance.  Then a thirty-day leave to get ready to go to Viet Nam; instead, our whole group was sent to Korea to begin our thirteen-month tour.  After sitting in Kimpo Air Base for three days waiting for an assignment, a Sergeant walked in and said he was looking for a volunteer with a Signal MOS.  Not thinking anything of it, and what everyone had told me, “Never volunteer for anything in the Army,” I raised my hand and said, “Here, Sergeant.”  As we were walking to the processing room, the Sergeant said: “I have good news and bad news; the bad news is you just volunteered to go up on the DMZ; the good news is you will get an extra sixty-five dollars a month for hazardous duty pay.” 

I had just volunteered to be part of the JSASG-UNC (Joint Security Area Support Group-United Nations Command) in Pan Mun Jom on the 38th parallel; this was an all-volunteer unit.  On days of MAC (Military Armistice Commission) meetings, you would come face to face with the North Korean soldiers, and they would never smile at you.  Besides maintaining the telephone lines between guard posts, one of the duties was recording the meetings between the North and the South on reel-to-reel tape decks. I also entered North Korea twice during my time there to do routine maintenance on the TA-312 field phone that was kept in the North Korean building known as Panmon Hall.  This field phone was used for the UNC to contact the North to set you meetings between both sides.  I would go into this building escorted by two North Korean soldiers to clean the contacts and change out the batteries.  After my thirteen months were up, they were offering us to extend there to get a 5-month drop.  I extended another two months to get my five-month early out and arrived home before Christmas, December 16, 1972.  I then served two years of active duty in the reserves and two years in-active in the reserves

I stayed in communications my whole life, working for a couple of different contractors installing voice/data infrastructure systems, mostly in new construction environments.  Retired on February 27, 2015, and moved from Illinois to Sun City West, Arizona, in June 2015.  I have been a member of the American Legion for 18 years, 7 of those with Post 94.

My wife and I have been married for fifty-two years and have two daughters, five grandsons, and five granddaughters.    


     Doug Miller, First Vice Commander: July 1, 2021 - Present

I enlisted in the US Air Force in March of 1973 as the last draft call was on 7 December of 1972, and I was missed in the call. I was fresh out of High School, working in retail in a small town where my family was closely tied with many service organizations, including the local American Legion Post, which was named after an uncle and had my father and grandfather as past officers.  It was time to strike out and make my own way.

I was assigned a career in aircraft electronics and, after basic training, attended training at Lowry AFB.  The 3415th Technical Wing eventually had an opening in the in-shop avionic maintenance course for various aircraft, and I was deposited into the FB-111 class.

After training, I was assigned to my first and only duty station, Plattsburgh AFB. The day I arrived and attempted to report for duty in October of 1973, the base was on alert for the Yom Kippur War. That was as close to any excitement as I was ever around during my tour of duty. A few years later, I had orders to report to Thailand as our own war was winding down, but as I didn’t have enough time left in my enlistment, and was not going to extend, I stayed at Plattsburgh AFB. I worked on various avionics systems in shop, until my discharge in March of 1977.

I utilized the GI Bill benefits to attend college and further my electronics education. I continued to work on electrical systems, but instead of aircraft, the platform changed to medical imaging equipment. I worked for a few hospital groups and a few manufacturers of imaging systems and retired to Arizona in 2015.

I volunteered at our local hospital as a way to provide Service to the community, but I felt there was more I could do. A chance conversation with our Honor Guard Commander convinced me that I needed to join Post 94 and provide service to Veterans and their families. I am happy to serve again, in any capacity, to honor our Veterans.


  Dennis Benjamin, Second Vice Commander: 

In the fall of 1952, after graduating from high school, I went to the Navy recruiting station in Chicago to enlist. After qualifying for enlistment, they asked me if I was ready to be sworn in. At the time, I was several months shy of my eighteenth birthday. They told me to go home and wait. In early February of 1953, I received a postcard asking me to report for enlistment. This was the last time the Navy asked me anything!

I attended boot camp at the U.S. Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Illinois. After boot camp, I remained at Great Lakes to attend Electronics Technician School. My first assignment after graduation was aboard USS Intrepid, CVA 11, where I spent the rest of my first hitch making two deployments to the Mediterranean Sea as well as a tour to the Caribbean. At that point, U was an E-5. I was then discharged from active duty.

I remained out for a couple of months and then re-enlisted after briefly attending Advanced electronic training at Treasure Island, California. The next assignment was a two-year tour at the Naval Co_mmunications Facility in the Philippines, where I was promoted to E-6. Upon returning to CON US, I completed advanced electronic training at Treasure Island. Then, something unusual happened; I was ordered to Lackland Air Force Base to attend a special school. It turned out that I was the senior NCO, so I was placed in charge of the NCO barracks. After school, I was transferred to an underground base in Hawaii. A medical problem necessitated my return to the mainland. With the health problem solved, I reported aboard USS Perkins DDR877, where I first deployed to the Western Pacific. This was followed by a tour in USS Floyd B. Parks, DD 884.

Shore duty at the Naval Communications Station in Washington. D.C. came next. After making Chief Perry Officer E-7, I was assigned to the transmitter site at Annapolis, Maryland. This was followed by assignment to USS St. Paul, CA-73, a heavy cruiser that appeared in the movie In Harm's Way. Not liking large ships, I managed to swap ships with a Chief aboard USS Preston, 00795, where I made another deployment to the Far East and was promoted to E-8. Since Preston was not authorized an E-8 Electronics Technician, I was transferred to the USS Samual Gompers, AD-37, a destroyer tender under construction at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington.

The day before the ship's commissioning, I was sworn in as a Warrant Officer, Wl. Once again, the ship did not have a billet for a W-1 electronics officer. I was transferred again to the USS Topeka, CLG-8, a World War Two light cruiser modified for guided missiles. As stated earlier, I like small ships and was able to get a transfer to the staff of Commander Destroyer Squadron Thirteen (CDS-13). Now, instead of one ship, I was responsible for the electronic health of nine destroyer-type ships. In 1968, we deployed to Viet Nam, where CDS-13 became gunline commander, responsible for all gunline ships. During that time, the USS New Jersey.BB-62 arrived and fell under the tactical command of CDS-13. I was promoted to CWO2 during this deployment. In 1969, we deployed on a midshipman cruise where the academy sends plebes for their initial sea experience. 1970 saw another deployment to Viet Nam waters. After our return to Long Beach, I received orders to report to the Naval Schools Command at Treasure Island. Where I once was a student, I was to be the director of several schools. During my tour, I was promoted to CWO3. 

After two years, I was transferred to Oceanographic Unit Two aboard USNS Dutton, T-AGS22, for one year conducting oceanographic research in the Atlantic. Then, my final tour in the Navy Fleet Antisubmarine Warfare Training Center, Pacific, in San Diego as director of equipment training schools. I retired on June 30, 1977.