“Aloha”


Peggy Haake 2014-2015 National Guard


Arkansas, New York, New Jersey, Georgia, Missouri, California, Wisconsin, Germany. New National Guard Peggy Haake lists some of the homes of an “Army brat” like herself quicker than a writer can take them down. She was born in Little Rock while her dad was serving in Korea and didn’t meet him until she was two years old. Fast-forward to her 10th-grade year in Augsburg, Germany, where she met her future husband, Richard, who was serving in the Army. Fast-forward again to her husband’s retirement, when the couple moved to Maui, Richard’s home. His cousin was Commander of the local Post and persuaded him to join. Peggy offi cially became an Auxiliary member in the late 1980s after realizing how much time she was already investing in the organization. “After I joined, other Vietnam veterans’ wives started to join and we started getting more members,” she said.


New National Guard Peggy Haake and family members (left to right): sister-in-law Frances Yamamoto, husband Richard Haake, Peggy and sister Patsy Hilderbrandt.


In 2012, several members began encouraging her to run for national offi ce. “‘What are you talking about? I’m happy doing what I’m doing,’” she told them. “So I didn’t even consider it.”


With her husband’s wholehearted support, she fi nally decided, “Why not?” Peggy sees the next six years of meeting many, many members as an opportunity to gain a vast amount of knowledge, and she intends to teach what she learns. While talking about the importance of gaining membership, Peggy shared a light-bulb moment from her own experience. While campaigning during one of the conferences, she and another member found themselves in an elevator with another woman they didn’t know. T ey chatted with her, but more importantly, they listened, Peggy said. “If we had just kept talking and never listened, we never would have known she was eligible to be a member.”


Peggy clearly sees the challenges of membership in the 21st century as she takes her place alongside our other National Offi cers. She will lead members in communicating in numerous ways with potential members who would enthusiastically serve with 475,000 other women striving to honor veterans and ensure they are given the resources they deserve.


November 2014 | 7


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