There is an American Legion in Mazatlan!!

Yes Virginia.......... There is an American Legion in Mazatlan!!

The Mazatlan American Legion falls under the department of Mexico and consists of twenty-three posts in Mexico and Central America. Our post has been named “The Garcia/Jiménez Post 11” in recognition of two Mexican born veterans. Marcario Garcia, awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II, and Jose Francisco Jimenez awarded the Medal of Honor during the Vietnam Conflict.

Our primary purpose is to assist veterans, Legion members or not, with problems they encounter in our district. We were all comrades in arms and wish to see a world at peace. In comparison to many other posts we are relatively small in number (only about thirty members) but we are large in spirit as you will see by the projects we have sponsored.

Our business meetings are held at 1:00 PM on the third Tuesday of each month at the “The Place Restaurant” (El Paraje on Sabalo Avenue), and we socialize on the first Tuesday of each month by holding a “Dinner At Eight” at one of our sponsoring restaurants. (Dinner might be at 8:00 but we get there at 7:00 for happy hour). During the summer months we become inactive as many of our members are true “Snowbirds” and return to the States.

Our post motto is “Aid The Children”, and this we do! Our post has been pioneers in Mazatlan. The oldest program to aid the children was Father Tovar’s Hogar Sab Pablo. In addition the post sponsors the “Scouts of Mexico”. Each year our budget provides funds for these charities through our one and only fund raiser held in January. Surprisingly enough called “The After Christmas Fundraiser.”

Another task undertaken by the post was called “The Garbage Dump Kids”, and fell under our Scholarship Fund. It was discovered that there were Mazatlan children living near the garbage dump that were not attending school. Instead they would pick through the trash each day for anything of value to assist their families. Our first adoptee in the program was a twelve year old boy who had never attended school! The following year the program was able to sponsor three more children. Under this program the post provides the children with uniforms, shoes, books, and other school supplies. Early in the program we discovered that our sponsored children were falling asleep in the classroom. After investigating further we determined that the reason for the sleepiness was that they had eaten no breakfast before school! We immediately increased our donation to include a good breakfast for our sponsors.

Today, after five years in the program, our post now supports a total of seven children! In addition, Legionnaires from the United States who were visiting Mazatlan, learned about our “Garbage Dump Kids” and convinced their posts back home to sponsor sixteen additional children. Great news!

Last year, our “Garcia/Jiménez Post 11” tried something new and created a sub-group called “Friends Of The Post”. This enabled us to permit people not eligible to join the legion to attend our monthly meetings and dinners. They cannot vote on Post issues, but are given a voice in the discussions and contribute many new ideas. “Friends Of The Post” pay a yearly membership fee and are issued a membership card. Their annual fees are put in our charitable fund and used to further the Post’s goal to “Aid The Children”.

p.s. If you would like more information on “The Garcia/Jiménez Post 11” or “Friends Of The Post” please contact Sam or drop in at the next monthly meeting.

Bio,Sam Pelzman (Sam I Am)

OK! Here goes. I will be 72 on July 11th, and retired here in Mazatlan 10 yrs. ago. My wife is from Mazatlan and I married her 32 years ago. I met her through my mother who also retired here in Mazatlan on a widow's S/S pension soon after my father died. Bertha spent 22 years with me in the San Francisco Bay Area, and I said when I retired we woud go back to Mazatlan and spend our Golden years there. We have a daughter by our marriage who has given us 2 grandsons, ages 11 & 6. Bertha, my wife, had a son by a previous marriage who I raised as my own but died in the States 5 years ago. He was married and left a beautiful daughter. I also had been married before and have 2 other daughters and one son living in the Bay area. The two daughters have given me 2 granddaughters and one grandson. The granddaughters are attending UC, the grandson travels around the world and is a world class surfer. I retired from American Arlines maintenance dept as a Lead Mechanic at SFO with 30 years of service. I have been in aircraft maintenance all my life starting with my major in high school. I spent 3 years with the U.S.C.G in air sea rescue holding the rate of AM3, also know as a "Tin Bender". I spent all my working life at the San Francico Airport in the maintenance field. I worked for Pan Am, 5yrs, Slick Airways, also 5 years with some of the time as their Maint. Rep. in the Viet Nham conflict in the far east. I also worked 2 years at SFO helicopter. I enjoy retirement here in Mazatlan. Hey! Be good and God bless.
Sam---