Local Marine veterans signs Devil Dogs Charter

[November 16, 2022]  On Monday, October 31st, members of the Robert Graue Marine Corps League in Lincoln signed the official charter for a new chapter of the Military Order of the Devil Dogs.

The new chapter identified as the Lt. Jon D. Baker Dog Pound # 399 is named for a soldier who lost his life in battle in Vietnam.

Mary Rousey, Gary and Barbra Burdett

At the signing ceremony Baker’s sisters and brother-in-law that was also a dear friend were on hand to witness the signing. Bakers’ sister are Mary Rousey and Barbra Burdett, and the brother-in-law is Barbara’s husband Gary. All three posed for a photo of the cake that would be served at the reception after the ceremony.

The signing and swearing in of the inaugural officers of the chapter was overseen by Vice Chief Devil Dog for the Central Division Joe Pollock.

The ceremony took place at the Cronin Brothers VFW in Lincoln and included the swearing in of officers and the signing of the charger. Those who signed the charter included Raymond Gonzales, Rick Parker, Gene Hickey, Kevin Keller, Dave Edwards, George Harcort and Eian Poblador.

After the signing, veteran Marine Jim Harnacke stood and spoke about the naming of the dog pound. He said that he had been involved with another dog pound and dropped out. When he was asked to support the formation of a new dog pound in Lincoln, he agreed with one condition. He wanted the pound to be named for Lt. Baker. The Pound had agreed, and the name was decided.

He said that he recently had the great honor of accompanying his father on an honor flight to Washington D.C. While there, he had visited the Vietnam Wall and located Lt. Baker’s name. Harnacke said he did two rubbings of Lt. Baker’s name on the wall and had them framed to give to Baker’s two sisters at this ceremony.

He presented the rubbings to Burdett and Rousey who were very touched by the gesture. Mary said that it was a “very good day, an honorable day,” for the pound and her brother.

The purpose of the dog pound is to have a secondary group within the Marine Corps League with a role of being the subset having fun and showing honor. Harnacke said this was the honor portion of the club.

According to Charter member Gene Hickey, the Dog Pound will be a brotherhood of marines who enjoy time together and who serve to improve the lives of others. Work will be done in the future with many local service organizations and with local humane societies and no kill shelters. He said among the many benefits of having a local dog pound will be the added support the marines will get in their quest to serve local veterans with medical equipment and accessibility tools such as wheelchairs and wheelchair ramps.

The dog Pound will be a private organization, open to members only. From time to time the group may host or participate in community events, but future meetings will not be open to press or public.

[Nila Smith]