VENICE – Richard Rogala, one of 48 surviving crew members of the USS Pueblo, hopes that a Feb. 10 fundraiser featuring a documentary based on the vessel’s plight, will help spur a resurgence of Tamiami Trail Memorial VFW Post 8118 in Venice.
The 832 E. Venice Ave. post is one of 10 active in Charlotte, Manatee and Sarasota counties operated under the auspices of Veterans of Foreign Wars – the oldest major veterans organization and the largest organization of war veterans in the nation.
Rogala has already watched as the local chapter of American Ex-Prisoners of War dwindled in membership from as many as 75 in 2012 to just a few, while Fleet Reserve disbanded last year its membership fell to nine, one shy of the minimum.
Last September, he attended the final reunion of USS Pueblo survivors as only 15 of the 48 survivors were able enough to travel.
He worries the same fate may await his beloved VFW Post as soon as this summer.
“I want to keep the doors open,” said the 76-year-old Rogala.
“I’m hell-bent on keeping the place open and I’m hell-bent on appealing to people −anybody that can − to help us out over there,” he added.