|
Military Order of the Cooties
08-15-09
The Military Order of the Cooties
By Maisie Rodenbaugh / Asst VFW News Editor
The Military Order of the Cooties of the United States is a non-profit Veterans Service Organization. We are known as “The Honor Degree of the VFW” and our members are comprised of the officers and leadership of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States. Membership in the MOC is recognition of outstanding service to the VFW and its programs.
We were founded in New York on September 17, 1920 and we are based on the principals of good humor and fun. For the last eighty nine years, the Cooties have provided social and entertainment programs to all veterans.
The VFW National Home for Children started out as a brainchild of the MOC because we firmly believe in caring for the widows and children of our Armed Forces. The beginning of the project was started in 1925 in Eaton Rapids, Michigan.
During the outbreak of World War11, the Cooties recognized a need to entertain hospitalized troops and veterans during their confinement and rehabilitation at Veterans hospitals. Our service program is described as a directive to “Keep ’em Smiling in Beds of White”. Our volunteers donated thousands of hours to DVA Hospitals throughout the U.S. Our distinctive red hat and unusual uniform sets us apart and draws attention to the plight of those less fortunate than ourselves.
Our local units or “Pup Tents” as they are commonly known, recruits thousands of new VFW members each year. We are “Closer than a Brother - Busier than a Bee.” We know that a smile is the one thing that you can give that you will always get back. We provide bingo and serve food once a month for the patients in the Kansas City VA Medical Center. When and if there is food left over we deliver it to the patients that aren’t able to come to the recreation room. We give them lap robes, canteen books, magazines and a thank you for their service to our country. For the birthdays of the month, we provide gift bags. Heart of America also sponsors a bingo at the Warrensburg Veterans home once a month. These are just some of the activities that we do to make our veterans stay in the hospital a little more pleasant.
In the Kansas City area, we have two Pup Tents. Heart of America #1 meet on the 4th Thursday of the month at 7:30 pm at VFW Post 5789 in Lee’s Summit and the Seam Squirrel, who is like the commander, is Robert Lyons. Tous Emsemble, which means “all together” meet on the 2nd Sunday of the month at VFW Post #5606 located at 5406 NE Oak Ridge, N. Kansas City. Their Seam Squirrel is Bart Shaw. If you are a member of a VFW Post and want more information about joining MOC, call Nat Simmons at 816-455-2747 in NKC area or Robert Lyons at 816-680-3377.
The name “Cootie” originated in World War I when the different armies were massed together on the battlefields of France. Each country represented in WWI contributed to what is now known as the Cooties, by amalgamation of lice. The common American Greyback, the Black Algerian Schinnels, the great Blue Louse from India, the British Blue Bloods, the Gold-Striped Heneckers, the French Grey and the Gold Parisian Cooties were all thrown together in the trenches and at once began to increase and multiply so that by the end of the war we had the most intelligent Cooties that could be produced. They were known to bite the soldiers at just the right time to save the soldier’s lives. When the shell left the German trenches, the cooties would bite the soldiers, causing them to stoop and scratch at just the exact time that the shell would pass over the place where the soldier’s head had been. AND THIS IS HOW WE GOT OUR NAME.
We have 6 Pup Tents in our state and we are called the Grand of Missouri. The Grands of each state make up the National Organization and it is called the Supreme. The Supreme convention will be held in Phoenix, Arizona this month in conjunction with the VFW National Convention. Kansas City’s own Pat McCaulla was Supreme Commander in 1965-1966.
| |
