T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Dennis Myers, left, and Jerry Kremer, right, received special awards from Robert Shepherd, center, during Tuesday night’s VFW Post 839 meeting.

Robert Shepherd of the local VFW Post 839 presented two special recognitions to esteemed members Dennis Myers and Jerry Kremer during Tuesday night’s meeting at the headquarters on East Meadow Lane.

First, Shepherd credited Myers, who received the Commander’s Award, for his active role in fundraising and recruiting new members to the local veterans organization.

“He’s an extremely big help to the post. I wanted to let him know that the post cares and appreciates it,” Shepherd said.

Kremer earned the Stars and Stripes Award for his work on various committees and projects that further the good of the post. He told the T-R it was a recognition of his efforts to go “above and beyond” on projects as small as cleaning up the building.

“If the Post needed something, (Kremer) was instrumental in doing it and taking care of a lot of different entities that were essential to the post,” Myers said of his fellow honoree.

Myers, a Navy veteran, and Kremer, a Navy veteran, both served in the Vietnam War, and in reciprocating the praise, Kremer said Myers has been a strong advocate for veterans affected by Agent Orange, even making trips to Washington, D.C. to testify before Congress.

Currently, however, Myers’ biggest focus is raising money and working to bring in new members — especially those who served in more recent foreign conflicts.

“I made it a goal to go out and get at least 10 new members for this post, and then I achieved that because we need our younger people to step up,” Myers said. ‘We wish we could get more, but it can be hard getting them.”