KARNES COUNTY — Karnes County Memorial VFW Post 8572 did not begin with the same name. In fact, the Post is a consolidation of three former posts – two from Kenedy and one from Karnes City. One of the consolidated Kenedy Posts was Gerald Jones VFW Post 6282, which was located in a large log cabin building on the back side of the Kenedy golf course.The second consolidated Kenedy post was Kenneth L.
Remmers VFW Post 2641, which was located in the city owned Kenneth Remmers Building adjacent to a swimming pool behind the old Kenedy High School off School Street. The Gerald Jones VFW Post 6282 was deactivated and merged into the Kenneth Remmers VFW Post 2641. Since this post did not have a permanent address, it held meetings in restaurants or community locations. Kenedy Post 6282 merged with Kenedy Post 8572 in 2006. Kenedy Post 2641 merged with Karnes City Post 8572 early in 2006. The two posts decided to retain Post Number 8572 because there were more active members from Post 8572 than Post 2641. The membership voted to change its name to Karnes County Memorial VFW Post 8572. Karnes County Memorial VFW Post 8572 is now located at 945 Farm-to-Market 99, which, many years ago was the business office for El Oso WSC. The Post has 68 members, of which fewer than 10 are active. All members are veterans of foreign wars, and they hold monthly meetings on the second Sunday of each month at 2 p.m. Any veteran of a foreign war, honorably discharged is welcome to become a member. The post has an indoor facility and actively recruits new members. Several of the post’s members are also members of the Karnes County Honor Guard, who perform their services at civic functions and funerals for veterans. VFW Post 8572 members visit the Veterans’ Home in Floresville monthly to play bingo with the residents. Freshly cooked donuts are provided to the residents as a special treat. VFW Post 8572 members provide support for community and civic functions such as flag details or speaking engagements. VFW Post 8572 members provide assistance for the Karnes County Food Distribution and Senior Citizen Food Distribution Programs. The Post sponsors an essay contest for middle school and high school students. The middle school essay contest is called “Patriots’ Pen.” And the high school essay contest is called “The Voice of Democracy.” One winner at each school level is selected by the Post Judging Committee and each winner is awarded a $200 check. Falls City ISD, Kenedy ISD, and Karnes City ISD all compete for winning essays at each level. The Post essay winners could be awarded a total of $1200. But sadly, there are usually only two or three winners of the $200 scholarship award because not enough students apply. Essay winners from the post level are passed to the district level, whose winners are successively passed to the state and national levels for monetary awards. VFW Post 8572 volunteers also place flags on the graves of veterans in all of the cemeteries in Karnes City and Kenedy each Memorial Day. The Karnes City Cub and Boy Scouts help out each year with the Karnes City Cemetery. And the Kenedy Police Department helps out with the cemeteries in Kenedy. All of the grave flags are purchased by VFW Post 8572, with occasional donations from the Karnes City Garden Club for the Karnes City Cemetery and the Kenedy Police Department for the Kenedy Cemeteries. VFW Post 8572 assists sponsors of the “Wreaths Across America” each year by volunteering for numerous duties. All monies to support the post are provided from public donations made during the offering of “Buddy Poppies” in front of the Kenedy Walmart during each Memorial Day and Veterans Day period. VFW Memorial Post 8572 respectfully thanks the public for supporting their “Buddy Poppy” donations and allowing them to support many public and civic activities. VFW Memorial Post 8572 is a non-profit IRS 501(c)(19) documented unit for all activities. Some local veteran’s organizations collect pubic money for “things,” but are not registered with the IRS by EIN documentation. Their expenditures may or may not meet IRS review regulations. Points of contact include Commander Gary L. Deskin, 830-780-2122; Quartermaster Charles Norman, 830-583-9952; or Junior Vice Commander Juan Morales, 830-400-2882.
