VFW Magazine articles from April 2000

VFW Magazine archives from April 2000

Serving the community: a special week is designated each April to commemorate the concept of volunteering. (Volunteerism).
April 1, 2000... America values volunteerism as an underpinning of society. Without the dedication of time and energy to countless causes by its citizens, the nation would be in desperate social straits. So National Volunteer Week (April 9-15) honors selfless...

More on military recruiting. (mail call).
April 1, 2000... Rep. Steve Buyer's "Military Recruitment & Retention: What's the Problem?" (February) was excellent. However, it did not address health care for military retirees. There is certainly a "moral obligation" to provide what was promised. ...

Agent Orange used in Korea in 1963. (mail call).
April 1, 2000... Documents show that herbicides were used in South Korea's DMZ as far back as 1963. I personally witnessed spraying there during my tour in 1965-66. Fifty-five-gallon drums were striped in different colors. Their contents were sprayed around...

Remembering war dogs. (mail call).
April 1, 2000... "Saluting Canine Courage" (February) by Gary Turbak was outstanding. There is a K-9 Corps memorial in Antelope Park, Lincoln, Neb. The training program started at the War Dog Reception Center in Fort Robinson, Neb. A war dog section is in the...

Several Posts Honor Women after all. (mail call).(Editorial)
April 1, 2000... Editor's Note: "Post Honors Woman Sailor Killed by Terrorists" VFW in Action, (February) garnered the names of three additional Posts named after women: Catherine Eckert (WWII nurse KIA) Post 5321 in Pittsburgh, Pa. Pamela Curtis...

Operation Northern Watch update. (mail call).
April 1, 2000... "Targeting Troops on Duty" (Membership, February) mentioned Operation Northern Watch in discussing the Military Initiative Program (MIP). In the case of Turkey, only personnel actually assigned to Incirlik Air Base for at least 30 consecutive...

Shocked at support for homosexual ban. (mail call).
April 1, 2000... Re: "VFW Opposes Lifting Homosexual Ban" (Now Hear This, February). VFW insults and denigrates homosexual servicemen and vets who fought and died throughout U.S. history by backing this ban. Know this: They are everywhere. They deserve...

MOH awarded to vet 34 years later. (Now hear this: brief news items of interest to veterans and their families.).(Medal of Honor awarded to Alfred Rascon)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Alfred Rascon finally received his well-deserved Medal of Honor on Feb. 8, 2000--34 years after his incredible act of heroism. Presently the inspector general of the Selective Service System, he accepted the award with characteristic modesty....

Vets educating students. (Now hear this: brief news items of interest to veterans and their families.).(House concurrent resolution, Veterans Educate Today's Students introduced by representatives Deborah Pryce and Frank Pallone)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) along with Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) introduced a House concurrent resolution--Veterans Educate Today's Students (VETS)--last year of special interest to the VFW. As Pryce explains: "It would encourage local...

USO to salute Korean War vets. (Now hear this: brief news items of interest to veterans and their families.).
April 1, 2000... If you plan on attending 50th anniversary events in Korea this June, you could become one of 150 Korean War veterans to be specially honored. For information and an application (due May 15), contact: USO Seoul, Attn: USO 50th Anniversary of...

Register now for convention. (Now hear this: brief news items of interest to veterans and their families.).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... VFW's 101st National Convention in Milwaukee will be here before you know it. Manager of VFW Convention and Meetings Vanessa Kane, CMP, reminds all Posts to support VFW programs by registering members early for $10. The registration fee...

Students flunking history. (Now hear this: brief news items of interest to veterans and their families.).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... The need for the bill mentioned above is self-evident. American students' knowledge of their own history is abysmal. According to a survey, "Losing America's Memory, Historical Illiteracy in the 21st Century," which was conducted at 55...

Pilgrimage to remember POWs/MIAs. (Now hear this: brief news items of interest to veterans and their families.).
April 1, 2000... Rolling Thunder XIII, which remembers the plight of unaccounted Americans from all wars, jumps off from Ontario, Calif., May 17. It culminates with a rally in Washington, D.C., on May 28. For information, contact: Mike East, national...

Primaries attracting record turnouts. (Now hear this: brief news items of interest to veterans and their families.).(presidential primaries)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Presidential primaries are attracting a larger-than-expected voter turnout. Participation in Republican primaries in New Hampshire (239,523), South Carolina (570,513) and Michigan (1.24 million) far surpassed the turnout in 1996. It was more...

VFW says VA needs $500 million more. (Legislation).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Although the Administration asked for $1.4 billion more for VA's budget this year, VFW believes it is not enough. "The increase is a significant step," said VFW Commander-in-Chief John Smart, "but it still does not adequately fund...

Bills would provide retirees health care. (Legislation).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... One hole in the Administration's proposed defense budget is the lack of restoration of full health care benefits for military retirees over the age of 65. A bill introduced in January, however, would provide those benefits. S. 2003--Keep...

Better quality of life proposed for GIs. (Legislation).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... For active-duty troops, the Administration's defense budget contains a 3.7% pay raise and $80 million for an HMO-type provision for Tricare, the military's managed health care system. The proposal also would eliminate co-payments for off-base...

Congress honors Korean War vets. (Legislation).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Two members of Congress introduced resolutions in February honoring veterans of the Korean War. H.J. Res. 86, introduced by Rep. Tom Ewing (R-Ill.), and S.J. Res. 39, introduced by Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), recognize the...

Evidence points to U.S. GIs as Soviet POWs. (Security).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... The memoir of a former Soviet gulag prisoner purports that U.S. servicemen were POWs of the Communist country in the 1950s. Obtained by American representatives of the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on MIAs, the memoir is noteworthy because it...

MIA remains searches continue. (Security).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Though the search sites and clues are more difficult to find, work continues in Southeast Asia to find remains of GIs lost during the Vietnam War. Currently, 236 sets of remains are in the identification process at the Army's Central...

U.S. troops will go back to East Timor. (Security).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... The Administration announced in February that some 100 U.S. troops will participate in a U.N. peacekeeping mission in East Timor. The United States also will contribute more than $70 million in assistance. In addition to serving as...

Agency helps reservists, employers. (Employment).(National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Now that National Guard and Reserve troops face more overseas deployments, friction between them and their civilian employers is often inevitable. To ease the problems, a national agency exists that citizen-soldiers can turn to. With the...

VFW backs larger GI Bill stipends. (Service).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... The current Montgomery GI Bill stipend must be increased in order to keep pace with rising college costs, VFW announced in February. Because the monthly payment is inadequate, VFW officials say, the GI Bill is no longer an inducement to serve...

WWII vets star in history roundtable: veteran-speakers boost the booming popularity of a World War II history roundtable in Minneapolis. Participating veterans find rewards for themselves as well.(Cover Story)
April 1, 2000... Don Patton, head of the Dr. Harold C. Deutsch World War II History Roundtable, explains why his program features veterans as speakers: "If you look at the successes of Stephen Ambrose in Citizen Soldiers, and of so many of the prominent...

On `eternal patrol': in honor of the 100th anniversary of the U.S. Submarine Service, VFW magazine presents this tribute to all those men who have served, and especially sacrificed their lives, in the "Silent Service."(Chronology)(Illustration)
April 1, 2000... Although submarines were used well before the 20th century, the U.S. Submarine Service traces its birth to April 11, 1900. However, this memorial list includes all known deaths of American submariners in the line of duty dating back to 1851....

Cholesterol phobia: here's the straight scoop on cholesterol--know the warning signs and how to treat them.
April 1, 2000... Of all the health issues in the news, cholesterol has to be the most perplexing. And the latest advice on diet is just as confusing. As a result, adults are flip-flopping on food choices like margarine, salt and coffee, according to a recent...

Center rekindles Vietnam War's bitter memories: New Jersey's Vietnam Era Educational Center, opened Sept. 27, 1998, in Holmdel, is billed as a one-of-a-kind project. It serves as a glowing example of why the Vietnam War has never really ended for a certain segment of the American public. And caught in the crossfire are veterans.
April 1, 2000... You could hear the explosion of anger six states away. New Jersey's veterans were enraged. They had seen the first scripts for the planned Vietnam Era Educational Center. Those scripts were politically correct, totally biased and insulting to...

Famous founding fathers among nation's veterans. (Famous War Veterans).(Illustration)
April 1, 2000... April 2000 marks the 225th anniversary of the opening shots of the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). Veterans of the American Revolution assumed positions of leadership in every area of post-war society. They literally guaranteed the success of...

Korea before the war: 1945-1949: during the 3 1/2-year U.S. occupation of South Korea, all the warning signs were clear that an invasion from the North was inevitable. GIs monitored a tense situation without notice.
April 1, 2000... When combat-seasoned GIs landed in Korea only a week after the official surrender of Japan, they soon found themselves "in the midst of a sullen and even hostile population" according to author Charles M. Dobbs, and "came to sense another...

Korea on track: the Pentagon's Korean War Commemoration Committee has a host of activities planned to remember the 50th anniversary over the next three years. (Events To Remember).
April 1, 2000... The U.S. and South Korea, and several other allied nations such as Canada and Turkey, are preparing to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Korean War. Planning has been under way for three years now. The first commemorations are...

Catastrophe at Catubig: from April 15-18, 1900, a handful of American soldiers were besieged by guerrillas in the Philippines. They suffered a 61% KIA rate. (Philippines War 1899-1902).
April 1, 2000... The N.Y. Times called it "one of the most thrilling and picturesque incidents of the entire Philippine war." The War Department used far less glowing terms, saying it was the "heaviest bloody encounter yet for American troops" in the colonial...

Sr. Vices get a taste of what to expect: next year's leaders gathered to learn what's new and how to help the organization grow. (Gwizdak: `follow me').
April 1, 2000... Next year's Department commanders should be well aware of the importance of maintaining a vibrant organization. Speaking at the Sr. Vice/Adjutant meeting in Las Vegas in February, Sr. Vice Commander-in-Chief John Gwizdak called for his fellow...

Communities in need count on VFW volunteers: Posts exemplify the ideals of volunteerism. (VFW in action: VFW members and Posts demonstrating community service.).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... VFW and Ladies Auxiliary members continue to serve America's communities in a variety of volunteer capacities. April 9-15 is National Volunteer Week and members are sure to be out in full force. Be sure to honor your volunteers during this...

Remaining `evergreen': how will VFW attract younger members so the organization can remain a viable and effective group into the 21st century? Here are the opinions of a few young Post leaders. (membership).
April 1, 2000... It's a refrain VFW members hear and repeat with increasing frequency: We need younger members. "One of the things VFW doesn't do is attract younger veterans because most members are older," said Rich Dunne, quartermaster for Post 1307 in...

Money for living today. (member benefits).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... The VFW cares about the ability of veterans and their families to have financial options. If you are age 65 or older, or are suffering from a life threatening illness, you may qualify for a new financial option called Life Benefits. Life...

Jest a minute.(Brief Article)
April 1, 2000... Kinder, gentler ways to say someone is stupid: * Dumber than a box of hair. * Doesn't have all his cornflakes in one box. * All foam, no beer. * Couldn't pour water out of a boot with instructions on the heel. * Missing...

Reunions & claims.
April 1, 2000... REUNION COORDINATORS: To publicize your unit's reunion, fill out the form in the February 2000 issue or print out a form from VFW's website: http://www.vfw.org/magazine/51.shtml. Send to VFW Magazine, 406 W. 34th St., Suite 523, Kansas City,...