May 02, 2012
VFW has announced the winners of the 2012 National Publications Contest. Two non-VFW-affiliated journalism professionals—a local news reporter and copy editor, and an editor for a national magazine—served as judges for the competition. This is designed to guarantee impartiality and objectivity in the judging. To reiterate, VFW staffers play no part in judging the entries.
Because all levels of VFW have seen declining membership in recent years, the small, medium and large qualifications were re-evaluated for the 2011 contest. This year’s competition used the same qualifications as 2011. The winning publications in each category are:
Department Publications
Large (24,000 or more members)
1st Texas VFW News
Roy Grona, Editor
2nd Pennsylvania VFW News
David Allen Sandman, Editor
3rd Wisconsin VFW News
William Bottoms, Editor
Medium (10,000-23,999 members)
1st Oklahoma Combat Veteran
Mike Devenitch, Editor
2nd Georgia VFW News
Wayne Hagan, Editor
3rd Nebraska VFW News
John Liebsack, Editor
Small (9,999 or fewer members)
1st Utah VFW
Dennis Howland, Editor
2nd The Montana Veteran
Timothy C. Peters, Editor
3rd Idaho Veterans and Auxiliary News
Susan Thompson, Editor
District Publications
Large (2,100 or more members)
1st The “Fighting 6th” District News
(District 6, Minnesota)
Delphine Kelly, Editor
2nd 9’er News
(District 9, Illinois)
Elton Murphy, Editor
3rd The Broadside
(District 4, Texas)
Jim Haycraft,
Editor
Medium (1,300-2,099 members)
No Entries in this Category
Small (1,299 or fewer members)
1st The Battle Cry
(District 2, Florida)
Carl J. Duncan, Editor
2nd Freedom Crier
(District 3, Oklahoma)
Michael A. Kennerson, Editor
3rd District 9
(District 9, Oregon)
Dennis R. Marsh, Editor
Post Publications
Large (180 or more members)
1st VFW Post 1038 News (Post 1038, Wisconsin)
Leroy G. Jansky, Editor
2nd Post Intelligencer
(Post 806, Minnesota)
Patricia Okafor, Editor
3rd VFW Post 382 Newspaper
(Post 382, Oklahoma)
Glenn Thurmond, Editor
Medium (100-179 members)
1st VFW Post 2016 News
(Post 2016, Massachusetts)
Dennis “Ski” Iworsky, Editor
2nd VFW Post 404 Newsletter
(Post 404, Arizona)
Elaine Martin, Editor
3rd Patriot Paper (Post 5917, Wisconsin)
Dennis Eis, Editor
Small (99 or fewer members)
1st VFW Post 3258 Newsletter
(Post 3258, Pennsylvania)
William Malone, Editor
2nd The Hotline (Post 2609, Minnesota)
Vern Wehlage, Editor
3rd Marshall VFW News
(Post 10510, Wisconsin)
Bernard Olson, Editor