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Community Corner

Veterans Group Gives Back for the Holidays

Mike Semenec gives more than just his spare time to the community.

The Veterans for Foreign Wars Post 8469 has a quiet, stoic, air surrounding the 112-year-old building.

The Post-Civil-War era farmhouse the Post calls home shows signs of wrinkles in the floor boards and walls, but otherwise remains steadfast. A 200-year-old oak tree stands indomitable in the front yard, despite the cable wires holding branches to the thick base. The man responsible for the grounds and home maintenance, Mike Semenec, has a similar air surrounding him: humble, quiet, and loyal.

“Mike is really dedicated to keeping that old Post home in decent shape,” said Assistant Quartermaster Floyd Houston. “It’s a huge undertaking.”

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Semenec is the volunteer building and grounds supervisor for the Post and has lived in Fairfax Station with his wife Ruth for almost 27 years. He spends four days of every week cleaning, organizing and assessing any maintenance issues for the historic Post location. But the most rewarding work he does comes from the community outreach programs he performs with the Post.

Semenec works closely with Operation Care for the Troops, an Alexandria-based non-profit company, to assemble and send care packages to the troops in combat zones. He also runs a scholarship program for local high schoolers called Voice of Democracy and he helps in the kitchen for a the Post’s annual Mother’s Day breakfast.

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“They (the programs) are very rewarding for me,” he said. “I remember when I was in Vietnam and got a care package and thought, ‘This is great!’.”

Semenec hopes his Post’s packages bring the same kind of joy to the servicemen out in the field today. The last couple of care packages were sent to the second unit of the 202 Military Intelligence Battalion in Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan and should be arriving just in time for the holidays. The group usually sends personal hygiene materials like toothpaste, lotions and soap, but also good-ole American treats like Pop Tarts. Many of the personal hygiene items were donated from the Operation Care organization.

“I met Joyce (Executive Director of Operation Care) outside the local Safeway one day,” Semenec said. “I went over to her place and just loaded up on deodorants and all that kind of stuff.”

Semenec also helps spread some joy locally as the manager of the Voice of Democracy scholarship program. Local high schoolers give three- to five-minute oral essay presentations about a national theme at the Post and three prizes are given: top prize recipient gets $500 in savings bonds, second gets $250, and third gets $125.

The work he does today would not be possible, however, if Semenec had not been in the military. Growing up in the Ukraine, he emigrated to the U.S. when he was just 13 years old and didn’t speak a word of English. He first lived in New York City and later moved to New Jersey. While attending the University of Akron, he signed up for the U.S. Army ROTC program.

“Vietnam was happening at the time, so I decided if I was gonna get drafted, I might as well go and be an officer,” he said. This smart-thinking may have saved his life. Semenec went to Vietnam to join the 82nd Brigade Airborne Division at Phu Loi, as a support officer and was then sent to Cam Ranh Bay to work as a maintenance agitent for the U.S. Marines. He thankfully never had to “beat the bush” while deployed and returned home without a scratch.

Since then he’s had many adventures that include meeting former head of state for the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev and locating the remains of a fallen American serviceman on the Russian island of Yuri. He retired as a Colonel with 29.5 years of active duty, with the title of Russian Foreign Area Specialist. A career military officer, he said he would not be the same man had he not joined.

“It (the military) has given me a lot of confidence in myself, leadership skills and a sense of honor,” he said.

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