VFW Post 577 ~ Tulsa, Oklahoma 1109 E. Sixth Street Tulsa, OK 74120 918-585-9148 admin@vfwpost577.org Military Order of the Cootie Pup Tent 5

History of the Military Order of the Cootie 

	Consider the official uniform of the VFW's Military Order of the 

Cootie (MOC): red pants with a white stripe running down each side; ruffled 

white shirt; lace-trimmed red vest emblazoned on the back with a 

gold-outlined, bug-like creature with flashing light bulb eyes; red, 

overseas-style cap worn sideways so that the tassels dangle beside the wearer's 

ears. Surely whoever designed this outfit must have had in mind the old 

saying that "clothes make the man." After all, one of the principle 

objectives of the Cootie auxiliary is for its members to have and provide 

fun for themselves and others.

	The MOC can trace its ancestry to the Imperial Order of the Dragon - a 

similar fun-loving auxiliary that was affiliated with the United 

Spanish American War Veterans (USAWV). After World War I, two veterans who 

were members of both the USAWV and the VFW thought that the VFW might be 

able to attract more members if it formed an auxiliary modeled on the 

Imperial Order of the Dragon. These men, Fred Madden and F.L. Gransbury, 

began recruiting members for the new auxiliary on September 17, 1920, 

at the VFW National Encampment in Washington, D.C. By the end of the 

encampment, nearly 300 members had been enrolled, and Fred Madden had 

become the first Seam Squirrel (commander). Later that year, a complete 

slate of officers was assembled and ratified at a special meeting held in 

Cavalry Baptist Church in New York City. Madden developed a 

constitution and by-laws while Gransbury authored the ritual. (Together with the 

official uniform, these were approved in 1924.)

	In the years after its founding, the MOC took on several special 

projects designed to bring smiles to the faces of two special groups of 

people - hospitalized veterans and residents of the VFW National Home. Its 

involvement with the National Home came first. In fact, the Cooties were 

the first to back Amy Ross's plan for the Home, and, in 1924, helped 

persuade the VFW to sponsor the project. Since then, there has never been 

a period of any extended length in which the Cooties have not been 

involved in some project for the Home's betterment or for the happiness of 

those who live there. 

	Shortly after the Home was established, the Cooties began the tradition 

of sponsoring the Home's annual Christmas party. They took it upon 

themselves to make sure the residents had Christmas presents and a 

Christmas dinner, and also that Cootie volunteers were always on hand to help 

organize and run the party. Then in 1933, the MOC received permission 

from the VFW National Encampment to build an athletic field at the 

National Home. Over the next few years, the Cooties raised $15,000 for the 

field, which was dedicated in 1941. No sooner had they finished paying 

for the field than the Cooties took on construction of an outdoor 

swimming pool. Before this pool was dedicated in September 1950, the Cooties 

had drummed up over $8,000 more than the $40,000 needed to build it. 

	The next major Home project was the brainchild of two Cooties, Collin 

Small and Charles Millard of Ohio's Buckeye Pup Tent (local unit) No.2. 

Their "Operation Fire Department" called for the MOC to give the Home a 

fire truck and a building to house it, then train some of the older 

boys in fire fighting techniques. A Home fire department, they reasoned, 

could give a much faster response time to Home emergencies than fire 

departments of the surrounding towns. This operation was completed in 

1950, during Supreme Commander Ernie Moore's term. Subsequently, the Grand 

(Cootie equivalent of a VFW state department) of Maryland undertook the 

continual upgrading of the Home's real Fire Department by raising the 

necessary funding through the sale of mythical commissions in a mythical 

"National Home Fire Department." These fees allow the Grand of Maryland 

to make contributions towards the National Home Fire Department's needs 

on an ongoing basis. 

	At the 64th Scratch in 1985, the MOC approved the establishment of a 

Supreme Escrow Account as an incentive for the National Home's children 

to further their education beyond high school. Upon completion of a 

four-year college course, a student receives a check for $500 for each year 

attended. A $250 reward is given for each year courses are completed in 

a trade school or community college.

	As dear to a Cootie's heart as its National Home projects are, 

auxiliary members support its program for hospitalized veterans with equal 

enthusiasm. This program got its start in the 1940's, when auxiliary 

members realized that World War II would soon fill the hospitals with sick 

and wounded veterans. To help these veterans keep their spirits up, many 

Cooties took it upon themselves to entertain the patients. Soon Cooties 

all over the country were visiting hospitalized veterans, pledging to 

"Keep 'em Smiling in Beds of White." Today this goal is still one of the 

auxiliary's highest priorities. Many Pup Tents and their Auxiliaries 

not only work with VAVS Hospital teams, but also perform services of 

their own at VA Hospitals and nursing homes. Thousands of Cootie hours and 

thousands of dollars are donated each year in carrying out this 

program.

	Although MOC and ladies auxiliary members enjoy all Cootie activities - 

from supporting the National Home to visiting hospitalized veterans to 

helping out the VFW - members also engage in many activities that are 

designed solely for their entertainment. These include the method by 

which they govern their meetings and various procedures followed within 

them. To describe these methods and some of the other ways Cooties have 

fun would violate their bylaws, but it is possible to provide a glimpse 

of how Cooties sometimes have fun in public. 

	Picture Main Street in a Midwestern city of about 25,000 residents on a 

sunny Saturday morning in June. The sidewalks are crowded with 

shoppers, and traffic on the two-lane thoroughfare is almost bumper to bumper. 

Three men in Cootie uniforms, the lights on their vests winking, are 

sauntering down the sidewalk in front of the city's largest department 

store. 

	Suddenly, one of the men glances heavenward and mumbles, "Oh, my God." 

The other two look upward. As if they are watching the descent of a 

falling leaf, all three slowly lower their heads until they are staring at 

the ground. Taking small manuals from their hip pockets, the three sit 

down in a circle on the sidewalk, legs crossed and feet tucked under. 

Opening the manuals, they begin reading the service for a dead Cootie 

(most of it ad-libbed as they go along). 

	Gradually a crowd gathers around the men, some of it overflowing into 

the street. As the crowd grows and traffic comes almost to a standstill, 

two policemen approach to determine the cause of the blockage. 

	One of the officers glances at the seated trio, then informs them, 

"You've got three minutes to get him planted, then move on." As a 

knowledgeable member of the VFW, the officer has quickly sized up the situation. 

Shaking his head, the officer mutters, "Crazy Cooties," and walks back 

to his partner. 

	Attracted by this offbeat brand of humor and the Cooties' light-hearted 

approach to problem-solving, at present there are about 37,000 Cooties 

in 1,000 Pup tents. Membership is open to members in good standing in 

the VFW who have displayed their willingness to work for the parent 

organization. The Military Order of the Cootie Auxiliary (MOCA) draws its 

membership from the ranks of women eighteen and older who have been 

active members of the VFW Ladies Auxiliary for at least six months and who 

are the wife, widow, sister, half-sister, daughter, foster daughter, or 

granddaughter of an active VFW member in good standing. Today there are 

approximately 17,000 auxiliary members contained in 597 Pup Tents.

                                    HOW WE GOT OUR NAME 

	The name "Cootie" originated in World War I when the different armies 

were massed together on the battlefields of France. Each country 

represented in WWI contributed to what is now known as the Cooties, by 

amalgamation of lice. The common American Greyback, the Black Algerian 

Schinnels, the great Blue Louse from India, the British Blue Bloods, the 

Belgian Gold-Striped Heneckers, the French Grey and the Gold Parisian Cooties 

were all thrown together in the trenches and at once began to increase 

and multiply so that by the end of the war we had the most intelligent 

Cooties that could be produced. They were known to bite the soldiers at 

just the right time to save the soldier's lives; for often when a shell 

left the German trenches the Cootie would bite the soldiers, causing 

them to stoop and "scratch" at just the exact time that the shell would 

pass over the place where the soldier's head had been. 

	Many soldiers, lying in their shell holes, were saved from death when 

the highly intelligent Cooties, knowing that a shell was coming in their 

direction, would bite the soldiers, causing such agony that they were 

forced to retreat to the trenches or other places of safety for "shirt 

reading" and "seam running" while the shell burst harmlessly in the 

places they had just vacated. 

	The Cooties Organization carries on in the same degree of usefulness. 

The Military Order of the Cooties work for their parent organization, 

"the Veterans of Foreign Wars", and continuing to do good for all whom 

they come in contact with. They are always ready to help their Comrades, 

the Comrades' widows and orphans, and contribute generously to the 

maintenance of the Orphanage at Eaton Rapids, Michigan. At this orphanage a 

swimming pool and playground known as "Cootie Field", a complete and 

modern fire department has been built and financed by the Cooties.  

	The spirit of Comradeship and good will that exist in the Cooties is 

beyond comparison in other organizations, for in the Cooties, Fun is King 

and willingness to help in any cause for the betterment of humanity is our goal.  

	That is why the Cootie slogans are, "Busier than a Bee", and "Closer 

than a Brother"!

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