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Who We Are
Military Order of the World Wars
The Order has a long an honorable history. It was organized in 1919, following World War I, as “The American Officers of the Great War.” In 1920, at its first National Convention held in Detroit, the name was changed to “The Military Order of the World War.” Following World War II the name was changed again to “The Military Order of the World Wars,” the name it proudly carries today. It is important that you should be informed of several of the order’s more important goals and how we became the National organization now referred to as a prestigious, patriotic and non-partisan group of commissioned officers and warrant officers who have served their County honorably and with great credit in time of urgent need, and are still working for their Country.
One concept that sets our Order apart from similar organizations: we hold it nobler to serve than be served. It has, therefore, been established for the welfare of our Nation as a whole rather than for the individual benefits of its members. The Order has never asked the National government for anything for itself or for its members.
We firmly believe in a strong national defense being in existence today as a deterrent to discourage aggression by other nations – and more than strong enough to be a worthy opponent, if necessary. We strongly believe in patriotism and actively work to inculcate patriotism in young and old across the broad reached of the United Sates of America. The Order’s structure consists of a National Headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia with Regional, Department and State organizations , administratively spread throughout the United States (including Puerto Rico) .
This introduction is very brief. I highly recommend you contact any or our members, all of whom will be more than happy to sit down with you anytime at your convenience to discuss with you the Order’s goals, purposes and how you can personally help us achieve them.
Robert L. Gillen
Commander, USN (Ret.)
Massachusetts Dept. Commander
Among the perpetual members of our Chapter, from left: General of the Armies John J. Pershing, Major General George S. Patton, President John F. Kennedy, Governor and Senator Leverett Saltonstall
Military Order of the World Wars
Greater Boston Chapter
Chartered: 11 September 1919
welcome to the greater boston chapter
MOWW: The Military Order of World Wars is an organization founded in 1919 for present and former commissioned officers, their spouses and descendants.
The Order’s leadership has included many important figures in our nation’s history such as Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, Ronald Reagan, Herbert Hoover, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and George H.W. Bush, General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral Ernest King. The Order was founded by General of the Armies John J. Pershing, who was a member of the Greater Boston Chapter, as was President John F. Kennedy. We have been honored with the companionship of many men and women who have had important military careers and significant civic responsibilities.
GREATER BOSTON CHAPTER: Ours is one of the original Chapters of the Order having been chartered in 1919. We meet for a luncheon meeting ten times a year, September through June, on the first Tuesday of the month in a private dining room at the Union Oyster House at 41 Union Street in downtown Boston. As a member, you will receive a notice of every meeting by mail or by email. Our Chapter’s newsletter will be included with each notice to keep you posted on our local activities. We have a guest speaker at every luncheon except during our December meeting, which is reserved for our holiday party, and the June meeting at which officers are installed and awards granted. Attendance at these luncheons varies from 15 to 20 Companions who create a warm social atmosphere allowing members to socialize in a relaxed setting.
PROGRAMS: While our luncheon meetings are the way we get to know each other and keep in touch, we do much more. Our awards program involves more than 30 JROTC programs and all of the ROTC programs in the Greater Boston Area. Our Chapter participates in all of the major memorial and veterans memorial ceremonies. Our members also participate in the annual decoration of veterans’ graves. Recently, we have raised funds for the creation and maintenance of a new Veterans Memorial at Northeastern University and supported the creation of new memorials at Boston College and Harvard University. We present an annual cash award to an outstanding JROTC cadet from an inner-city high school. Our members participate in national observances the major national veterans organizations sponsor.
OUR NATIONAL ORGANIZATION: Our Order is based on approximately 145 chapters distributed across the country. As a member of the Order, you will receive our national magazine, Officer Review, which will keep you up-to-date on activities of National HQ and the many other MOWW Chapters. You will also have the opportunity to attend all national conventions, notice of which is contained in Officer Review. We hope you will also attend the New England mid-mid-year and annual conventions. The National website address is: www.militaryorder.net. For those of you on active duty, accessing the national website is the most efficient way to keep in touch with the Order, and our national magazine appears on the site as soon as it is published.
UPGRADE YOUR MEMBERSHIP: You can upgrade your membership to a perpetual membership at any time. Those in the first year of commissioning may qualify for a special reduced rate during the first year they hold their commissions. We recommend that all Companions consider perpetual membership because of the financial advantages. If you are interested, please inquire of any Chapter officer for details.
KEEP US POSTED: We know that some of you will be changing addresses often. Please keep us informed of your address. Our Adjutant is COL Lawrence Willwerth whose e-mail address is lwillwerth3@yahoo.com. Alternatively, write to our post office box: MOWW, P.O. Box 290102, Boston, MA 02129. Or you may merely write or call any Chapter officer, especially our Finance Officer, LTC Michael Lavey, whose e-mail address is: lavsale@concentric.net. .
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Reservations are never required for any of our meetings or parties unless special notification is given.
Guests: Companions may bring whoever they wish to our meetings and parties. A guest need not have military experience. We allow our members to select guests who will be respectful to our proceedings, and we have never had the slightest problem with a guest.
Dress: We strongly favor jackets and ties for men (or uniforms of any type, including fatigues) and dresses or pants suits for women (or uniforms of any type, including fatigues). Conditions of snow and ice (check the Chapter’s webpage for possible cancellation) may dictate some practical adjustments to your customary wardrobe, and a medical appointment scheduled for the day of a meeting may also suggest the usefulness of somewhat more casual attire. We have had situations when out-of-area companions, their spouses or significant others, and children are visiting Boston as tourists. It is perfectly fine in those situations to attend our meetings in “tourist” attire. Additionally, you should have no hesitation in bringing your (well-behaved) children along.
A FINAL WORD: We are pleased and honored to welcome you as a Companion of the MOWW and the Greater Boston. We hope that you will also treasure your membership as generations of past Companions have done.
The Order: Founded in 1919 pursuant to an Act of Congress under the leadership of General John J. Pershing, the Military Order of World Wars is a patriotic, non-partisan organization open to present and former commissioned and warrant officers of the armed forces and certain other federal organizations and their spouses and descendants. There are currently approximately 145 chapters across the country.
Greater Boston Chapter: Ours was one of the earliest chapters, and we are proud to have included among our membership General Pershing and President John F. Kennedy.
Insigne: The insigne of the Military Order of the World Wars, which is reproduced on the cover, was designed by Major Michel Jacobs, one of the designers of the WWI Victory Ribbon. Major Jacobs, a member of the Order, was wounded in France and wore six service bars. The insigne is gold antique finish with transparent ruby enamel. It is two inches from top to bottom. It consists of a shield with the figure of Justice in the center over with the words “Military Order of the World Wars” on the outer edge. The oval is superimposed with a red cross, symbolic of courage and at the same time complimentary to France, whose Crusaders wore crosses of that color. A wreath of victory is entwined in the arms of the cross; and above all is the American eagle, emblematic of the supremacy of the American Government.
PAST CHAPTER COMMANDERS
1919 COL Willis W. Stover
1920-21 LTC Carroll J. Swan
1922 Joseph W. Bartlett
1922 COL Frederic A. Washburn
1924 LTC Charles R. Cabot
1925 BG John H. Sherburne
1925-27 COL Howard Emerson
1927-29 MAJ Frank O. Robinson
1929-30 MAJ William W. Wade
1930-32 COL Horace C. Landon
1932-35 MAJ Fordham B. Kimball
1935 COL Stuart G. Hall
1935-37 CPT Oscar C. Bohlin
1937 MAJ Richard H. Miller
1938-39 COL Arthur N. Payne
1939-40 COL G. Phillip Grabfield
1940-41 MAJ Willoughby H. Stuart, Jr.
1940-41 COL Henry A. Hale
1942-43 CPT Alan C. Virtue
1943-45 LT Arthur C. Sullivan
1945-46 COL Arthur N. Payne
1946-47 COL Clement Kennedy
1948-50 ENS James M. Roche
1950-52 COL Willoughby I. Stuart
1952-53 MAJ John Tulley
1953-55 CPT C. Proctor Stanley
1955-57 COL Donald A. Heath
1957-59 CDR Francis W. Young
1959-61 LTC Reginald S. Ward
1961-63 COL LeRoy M. Hersum
1963-64 LTC Charles G. Turner
1964-66 COL James J. Dugan
1966-67 LTC Alvin W. White
1968 LTC Dwight D. Evans
1968-69 CPT Robert E. Dobbyn
1969-71 COL John R. Webb
1971-72 COL Hervey J. LeBoeuf, Jr.
1972-74 COL Wah G. Chin
1974-76 CDR James A. Lamphier
1976-78 CAPT Kenneth D. Robertson, Jr.
1978-80 LTC Walter I. Brown
1980-83 MG Richard E. McLaughlin
1983-84 MG John F. Cremens
1984-86 CAPT Scott G. Kramer
1986-88 CPT W. Ray Baldwin, Jr.
1988- CAPT Paul C. Danforth,
1988-90 CDR Robert L. Gillen
1990-92 CAPT Leo M. Lazo
1992-93 LTC Richie Garrison
1993-94 LTC Timothy F. O’Brien
1994-95 CPT Paul R. Tierney
1995-97 MAJ James C. Doyle, Jr.
1997-98 MAJ Edmund J. Rainsford, III
1998-00 LTC Ronald J. Itri
2000-02 COL Gerald J. Hayes
2002-05 CPT Albert J. Mundo
2005-07 CDR John F. Carey
2007-09 CAPT Harry H. Weinberg
2009-12 CDR Redmond L. Clevenger
2012-14 LTC Walton B. Stamper
2014-16 LTC Frederick J. Maguire
2016-17 LCDR David W. Graham, USN (Ret.)
CHAPTER OFFICERS FOR 2017 -2018:
Chapter Commander
COL (MA) Lawrence A. Willwerth, USA, Ret.
Sr. Vice Commander
CAPT Paul E. Mawn, USN (Ret.)
2nd Vice Commander
BG Emery Maddocks, USA (Ret.)
Finance Officer
LTC Walter G. Opanasets, USA, ( Ret.)
Asst FinO
CAPT Paul P. Daley, USN (Ret.)
Adjutant and Webmaster
CPT William J. Maloney, USA ( Fmr)
Judge Advocate
Gerald B. O’Grady, III, USN, (Fmr.)
Immediate Past Commander
LCDR David W. Graham, USN (Ret.)
Marshal
COL James R. Littleton, USA, (Ret.)
Newsletter contact:
Typical Meeting Agenda:
1200-1230 Social Half Hour
1230 Call to Order
Invocation
Moment of Silence If Appropriate
Pledge of Allegiance
Recitation of MOWW Preamble
1245 Submit Lunch Orders
Obtain Restaurant Stamp on Parking Garage Tickets
Welcome by Chapter Commander
Introduction of Guests
Reports by Treasurer, Adjutant, Membership Committee,
Chapter Commander’s Report
Old and New Business,
Introduction of Speaker
Present Certificate of Appreciation and Adjournment
SUGGESTED INVOCATION:
“It is with grateful hearts, our heavenly Father, that we stand before you today, giving thanks for the freedom that we enjoy. We are a nation, under God, which is pledged to freedom, tolerance, honor, and truth. Our ancestors gave us this nation and its heritage often giving their lives to establish and defend the United States of America. We give you thanks for their sacrifices and our heritage. We ask your help that we, as citizens, may never falter in our duty to preserve our nation. AMEN”
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LONGER ALTERNATIVE SUGGESTED INVOCATION
(adapted from a prayer for United Kingdom armed forces):
Heavenly Father,
Grant to the armed forces of the United States, and all leaders of our government,
The assurance of your presence, the knowledge of your love, and the guidance of your spirit;
Bring healing and wholeness to our people and nation; let your mercy rule all that we do;
Be with all who defend your truth and peace that they may vanquish injustice and wrong;
Give wisdom to leaders and commanders, that they may be a force for good;
Be with all medics and chaplains, and all who support the suffering; give them wisdom, skill, sympathy and patience;
Sustain the anxious and fearful, and renew them with courage from on high;
Comfort all worried families whose loved ones are in danger;
Be with the sick and wounded; give them the strength to bear their suffering; and stand by all prisoners and captives;
Receive those fallen in battle, and all innocents who have died, surround their loved ones with compassion and give them comfort;
Confirm that justice shall abide on the Earth, and all shall rejoice in your peace. AMEN
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PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION
To cherish the memories and association of the World Wars waged for humanity;
To inculcate and stimulate love of our Country and the Flag;
To promote and further patriotic education in our Nation;
Ever to maintain law and order, and to defend the honor, integrity, and supremacy of our National Government and the Constitution of the United States;
To foster fraternal relations between all branches of the Armed Forces;
To promote the cultivation of Military, Naval and Air Science and the adoption of a consistent and suitable policy of National Security for the United States of America;
To acquire and preserve records of individual services;
To encourage and assist in the holding of commemorations and the establishment of Memorials of the World Wars;
And to transmit all these ideals to posterity; under God and for our Country, we unite to establish THE MILITARY ORDER OF THE WORLD WARS.
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Copyright 2010 Military Order of World Wars - Region I . All rights reserved.
The Web Master
MA
ph: (781)942-0771
billmalo