The Katy Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9182 celebrated the United States of America’s 135th birthday Monday.

With an auction, barbecue fundraiser and free entertainment by Bill Parish, the VFW hosted a Fourth of July program to honor the significant day and highlight recent events that threaten the civil rights and liberties of the American people.

The ceremony began with the presentation of the colors and Parish singing the National Anthem.

Post chaplain David Nixon provided the invocation, remarking that the day also celebrates the 400 anniversary of the publishing of the King James Bible.

Dressed as George Washington, Stephan Tanner, president of the Robert Rankin Chapter 62 of the Sons of the American Revolution, spoke about the importance of the American flag.

“The American flag symbolizes the love and pride that we have as a nation, is a reminder of America’s greatness and our fortune to live in a country that values freedom above all else,” Tanner said.

“It signifies the commitment made by our fallen comrades who have fallen bravely to defend the honor of the sacred emblem, our American unity, our power and our purpose as a nation,” he said,“and it exemplifies the devotion of our leaders who continue to uphold its promise of liberty, justice and liberty for all.”

Tanner presented the flag’s certificate to the VFW post in recognition of exemplary patriotism of the display of the flag. He also announced the chapter is donating a Betsy Ross 13-star flag is to the VFW post to display in the Katy Veterans Memorial Museum.

VFW post comrade Mike Warren spoke about the Prisoners of War/Missing in Action table.

“The table is our way of symbolizing the fact that members of our profession of arms are missing from our midst,” Warren said.“We call them brothers. They are not able to be with us this afternoon so we remember them, setting a plate in case they do come back.”

Warren recognized Adolfo W. “Bud” Fouga and Barton W. “Bart”Robertson, prisoners of war who now reside in the Katy area. He also recognized Mary Ann Russell, whose husband First Lieutenant Richard Russell was missing in action on April 22, 1972 and declared deceased/body not found.

VFW post commander Mike Mastrangelo made a few remarks, saying how it has been an unusual week for the post.

“We started off with working some city events with the heritage baseball and the retails stores, and preparing for the convention and putting this auction on,” Mastrangelo said.

“Then we learned bout the tragic death of former Katy ISD student Lieutenant Dimitri Del Castillo on June 25, a sobering reminder of what our business is really all about,” he said.

He also mentioned the incident involving the National Veterans Affairs Cemetery in Houston, where veterans are claiming the Department of Veterans Affairs is censoring prayer, including banning the words “God” and “Jesus.”

“They have done us a huge favor, in their own wrong way, they have eloquently told us that the threats to our individual liberty, our religious freedom and our right to honor and bury our dead and assist their families, remain under attack whether through external forces overseas or through internal forces who try to enforce some dogmatic rules on how we should behave,” Mastrangelo said.

“The Fourth of July is another rallying cries that somewhere in the world you can still hear the British muskets in the valley,” he said. “We will not rest until that issue is pushed back entirely. We owe it to ourselves, to our veterans and all those who will follow after us.”

District 22 Congressman Pete Olson said when he was sworn in to the U.S. Navy, he took an oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constrition of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”

“Sadly, last week, we heard that right here in Houston, Texas, this cemetery, made a decision that the very people that have fought and died for our country are being denied the right that they swore to fight for,” he said. “It’s outrageous what’s happening in that country.”

Olson said the good news is Americans are standing up for their rights and saying “enough is enough.”

Katy mayor Don Elder Jr. also mentioned he will be submitting letters in support of the VFW’s position on the issue.

“Let us not forget what the true meaning of the Fourth of July is – freedom and liberty – and don’t ever take for granted that these two things will be here even though they have been here for some 235 years,” Elder said, emphasizing the importance of taking interest and voting.

“So we all have to take a stand,” he said. “We have to stand up for what we believe is right, and we’re not going to let anybody just come in here and take this country.”

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