Ukrainian American Veterans (UAV) Post 42 was founded in 2006. Viktor Litkevycz was the first Post Commander.
Post 42 Meetings
The post meets the 4th Thursday of each month at 19:00 at St. Mary Ukrainian Club. Please contact the Post Commander to verify meeting time and location.
St Mary’s Ukrainian Club
803 N. Front
Allentown, PA 18102
Post 42 Founding
The post was organized at the initiative of Mathew Koziak in 2006. Matt is a UAV Past National Commander and a past member of Post 27 ( Brooklyn). From the outset, the post has been focused on membership and fund-raising to enable us to support both UAV national initiatives and local projects.
Projects and Activities
Our most successful fund-raising projects have been an annual Easter kovbasa sale (kovbasa is home-made Ukrainian sausage), Christmas caroling and an annual “Basket of Cheer” raffle.
The raffle is conducted annually at the post’s November anniversary dinner held at St. Josaphat Ukrainian Catholic Church in Bethlehem, PA.
Christmas caroling is done in the traditional way with a group of Post members and friends visiting Ukrainian homes bringing Christmas wishes and joyful songs of the season. This has been very well received by the community, and each year we are asked by many to remember them and not miss their homes. The requests have been so great that we will have to expand the participation to multiple groups on multiple weekends. The proceeds of this fundraiser are dedicated solely to the UAV National Monument project.
Our members have also participated as Color Guard at the Arlington National Cemetery Veterans Day Memorial in November.
We are currently working to locate and update memorial plaques and commemorative statues related to the memory of Ukrainian American veterans in the Lehigh Valley. We are working with local Ukrainian Churches and social clubs to document veterans of Ukrainian descent that have served since the last time the plaques were updated.
Post 42 Patron
Our Post is dedicated to the memory of Jack Palance. Volodymyr Palahniuk(Ukrainian: Володимир Палагнюк, born February 18, 1919 – November 10, 2006), known professionally as Jack Palance, was a Ukrainian American film actor. During half a century of film and television appearances he was nominated for three Academy Awards, all for Best Supporting Actor, winning in 1991 for his role in City Slickers.
Jack was extensively involved with the Ukrainian community and its causes. He made his cattle ranch available for outings and camps by the Ukrainian Boy Scouts (Plast), and lent his fame and talent to many events throughout the world for Ukrainian organizations. In 1986 he was honored by the Ukrainian Institute in New York as Ukrainian of the Year.
With the outbreak of World War II Jack Palance joined the US Army Air Force and served until his discharge in 1944. The GI Bill of Rights provided his tuition at Stanford University, where he studied journalism.
Past Post 42 Commanders
- Viktor Litkevycz (2006 – 2008)
- Oleh Balaziuk (2009 – 2010)
Contact
Oleh Balaziuk, UAV Post 42 Commander
403 4th Street
Easton, PA 18042
610-258-9476
uavpost42@gmail.com