VFW Magazine articles from June 2003

VFW Magazine archives from June 2003

Honoring veterans: past & present: two groups of vets rate special recognition this month: those now arriving home from Iraq and those who left Korea 50 years ago. (command post).
June 1, 2003... America's three-week war with the regime in Iraq was mercifully swift and relatively light in terms of casualties. But to the families of the 146 American dead, there was nothing "relative" about their losses. Our first thoughts go to them and...

VA category 7 & 8 patients rate more concern. (mail call).
June 1, 2003... The decision to charge a $250 annual enrollment fee (see Washington Wire, April) to Category 7 and 8 VA patients is unfair. After all, it was the VA that launched a big push to get them to enroll in the first place during the past several...

Why No VA center on West Coast? (mail call).
June 1, 2003... "Studying the Health Consequences of War" (April) by Susan K. Keating was very informative. But being a 100% disabled Persian Gulf War veteran, it left me puzzled as to why no such research centers are located in the West. With the veterans...

An Army of volunteer reserves. (mail call).
June 1, 2003... Your emphasis on volunteerism in the April issue prompted me to write. American Volunteer Reserves (AVR) has a threefold mission: assist in homeland security, back up the military services during emergencies and provide military funeral honors....

Telling the rest of the Pork Chop story. (mail call).
June 1, 2003... "Combat on 'The Chop'" (April) failed to mention that 1st Plt., K Co., 17th Inf. Regt., actually secured Pork Chop Hill on April 18, 1953. My unit cleaned up the hill and stayed on it for several weeks thereafter. Richard Baughman ...

Younger members are VFW's future. (mail call).
June 1, 2003... Recent letters in Mail Call about broadening membership eligibility have raised issues concerning new VFW members. Specifically, notions of "diluting" eligibility and thus our reputation have been brought up. As a 1987 Navy vet of...

Kids' safety foremost. (mail call).
June 1, 2003... Editor's Note: The April NRA letter by John Sywak prompted this response: NRA's Eddie Eagle Gunsafe Program does not involve the handling of firearms. It has been provided to more than 16 million children by some 10,000 schools, civic...

Vietnam battle series: send us your accounts. (Now hear this: brief news items of interest to veterans and their families.).
June 1, 2003... Beginning this fall, VFW magazine will launch a years-long article series on the deadliest U.S. battles of the Vietnam War. We would like written details of the battles provided to the best of your recollection. If you do not type, please print...

History & national security. (Now hear this: brief news items of interest to veterans and their families.).
June 1, 2003... June and July are months during which Americans typically celebrate patriotism, so the recent findings of a Senate panel are particularly relevant now. While it is appropriate for the public to participate in Flag Day and Independence Day...

Participate in flags across America. (Now hear this: brief news items of interest to veterans and their families.).
June 1, 2003... On June 14 at noon, the National Flag Foundation is sponsoring a national flag-raising program. Called Flags Across America, the nationwide salute to the colors is enthusiastically endorsed by VFW. VFW Posts also will conduct flag retirement...

Archives now accessible to public. (Now hear this: brief news items of interest to veterans and their families.).
June 1, 2003... Countless government records are now available on the Internet to the general public. Through Access to Archival Databases (AAD), administered by the National Archives and Records Administration, some 350 databases are currently accessible....

Dole Institute's WWII reunion. (Now hear this: brief news items of interest to veterans and their families.).
June 1, 2003... To coincide with the dedication of the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, a host of WWII-related activities will be held July 20-22. They include a WWII veterans reunion, vintage vehicle and...

Truman library offers Vet-speakers. (now hear this: brief news items of interest to veterans and their families).
June 1, 2003... The Truman Presidential Museum & Library in Independence, Mo., has an interesting lineup of speakers in its Patriots of War series this summer. They include a WWII OSS agent (June 7), a Korean War psychological warfare expert (July 19) and a...

Imminent danger pay raised 50%. (Legislation).
June 1, 2003... President Bush on April 16 signed into law a bill that increases imminent-danger pay for active-duty troops and separation pay for their families. Public Law 108-11, an $80 billion measure, provides supplemental funds for the Iraq War and...

Montgomery GI Bill Hike proposed. (Legislation).
June 1, 2003... A bill introduced in April would enhance veterans benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill. H.R. 1713 would provide the full cost of tuition, fees, books and supplies for those who serve four years on active duty. Currently, the GI Bill pays for...

POW compensation could increase. (Legislation).
June 1, 2003... A bill to grant compensation for U.S. POWs was reintroduced in February. H.R. 850--the Former Prisoners of War Special Compensation Act--died when the 107th Congress did not vote on it last year. Former POWs held 30 to 120 days would...

Disabled Vets offered benefits boost. (Legislation).
June 1, 2003... Two bills pending in Congress would improve employment and adaptive-housing benefits for disabled vets. VFW supports both bills. H.R. 966--the Disabled Veterans Return-to-Work Act--would provide vocational training to low-income vets...

Spina bifida benefits could expand. (Legislation).
June 1, 2003... A bill pending in the House would provide benefits for children of all veterans exposed to Agent Orange. Currently, only children with spina bifida whose parents were exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War are eligible for VA benefits....

VA copayment refunds available. (Service).
June 1, 2003... Veterans insured by the Hartford Life Insurance Company or the USAA Life Insurance Company may be eligible for a refund of their VA copayments. Hartford and USAA paid an $11.1 million settlement to VA for care VA provided to vets insured with...

Higher estimate on Vietnam defoliant use. (Service).
June 1, 2003... Researchers at Columbia University announced in April that herbicides used to kill foliage during the Vietnam War might have been sprayed at twice the rate previously believed. The study, published in the April 17 edition of Nature...

Hospital errors prompt VA study. (Service).
June 1, 2003... Patient deaths and serious procedural errors have led VA to review research practices at 115 of its medical centers across the country. "The veterans hospital appeared to be a research machine, using these elderly patients without enough...

VFW backs blue star resolution. (Service).
June 1, 2003... VFW Commander-in-Chief Ray Sisk notified Congress in April that the 2.6 million members of VFW and its Ladies Auxiliary fully support a resolution (H. Con. Res. 109) encouraging families of GIs to display the Blue Star Banner and, if the...

Soldier and Airman killed in Afghanistan. (Security).
June 1, 2003... Two GIs died following an April 25 firefight in eastern Afghanistan. Army Pvt. Jerod Dennis of the 3rd Bn., 504th Parachute Inf. Regt., 82nd Airborne Div., from Fort Bragg, N.C., and Airman 1st Class Raymond Losano of the 14th Air Support...

Remains of last Iraq War MIA found. (Security).
June 1, 2003... The Pentagon announced April 28 that the remains of the last American MIA from the Iraq War had been identified. Spec. Edward J. Anguiano of the 3rd Forward Support Bn., 3rd Inf. Div., from Fort Stewart, Ga., was declared missing March 23 after...

Clue points to lone Gulf War MIA. (Security).
June 1, 2003... U.S. investigators searching a Baghdad prison in April found the initials "MSS" scratched into a cell wall. Some believe that Capt. Michael Scott Speicher, the only MIA of the Persian Gulf War and missing since Jan. 17, 1991, may have etched...

Battling for Baghdad: soldiers and marines take on Iraqis in what Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called "the fastest advance on a capital city in modern military history." (War in Iraq).
June 1, 2003... From the beginning of the war in Iraq, the battle for the capital city of Baghdad loomed in the distance. As U.S. troops making their way toward the city met limited resistance from Iraqi forces, a fierce confrontation at Baghdad seemed...

Korea and Vietnam: comparing participants and casualties.
June 1, 2003... America's two wars against communism in Asia called on more than 5 million Americans to serve in both war zones. Those wars combined also claimed the lives of nearly 100,000 Americans. Here, for the first time, is a side-by-side comparison...

Onslaught on the Berlin Outposts: even as the Korean War was winding down, the Chinese kept up the pressure--by attacking Outposts Berlin and East Berlin in July 1953. But Marines tenaciously resisted to the war's bitter end. (Korean War).
June 1, 2003... As summer was fast approaching the Korean Peninsula, all eyes were turned to the peace talks being held in Panmunjom. There was talk of a long-awaited armistice after three years of bloody and savage war between the North Korean and Chinese and...

Last battle for Pork Chop Hill: from July 6-11, 1953, the 17th and 32nd regiments of the 7th Infantry Division waged a deadly struggle against the Chinese. (Korean War).
June 1, 2003... At 10:25 p.m. on July 6, 1953, during a heavy monsoon rainstorm, a thunderous artillery and mortar barrage began falling all across the 7th Infantry Division's Main Line of Resistance (MLR). A reinforced battalion of more than 700 soldiers from...

Chaos along the Kumsong River Salient: two weeks before the end of the Korean War, Chinese Communist Forces launched a furious six-division assault on the Main Line of Resistance. The weeklong battle established the boundaries of Korea's present-day demilitarized zone. (Korean War).
June 1, 2003... By the beginning of July 1953, the Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) prepared to launch its largest offensive in two years. The target was what the Chinese perceived to be a soft spot in the allied lines in central Korea. CCF Marshal Peng De-huai...

The final fights: July 1953: for the Marines it was Boulder City; the Army: Outposts Dale and Westview. (Korean War).
June 1, 2003... Boulder City: 'A Ghastly' Four Days "It was arguably the single bloodiest battle of the outpost war," Lee Ballenger wrote in The Final Crucible. "A ghastly four-day affair." Indeed it was for the men of the 1st and 7th Marines, who, mostly...

Last to die: final KIAs of the Korean War: the following American servicemen have the dubious distinction of being the last killed as a result of hostile action in Korea on or near July 27, 1953. They deserve to be remembered on this 50th anniversary of the war's end. (Korean War).
June 1, 2003... It is every warrior's nightmare. Knowing a war's end is near and he could be the last to lose his life in a conflict that is virtually over. But someone has to be that unlucky person, and the Korean War was no exception. On the war's last...

Korean War: a reading list. (Korean War).
June 1, 2003... Air Force, U.S. Bruning, John R. Crimson Sky: The Air Battle for Korea. Dulles, Va: Brassey's, 1999. Futrell, Robert F. The U.S. Air Force in Korea, 1950-53. Washington, D.C.: Office of Air Force History, 1983. Jackson,...

Visit the Alamo--despite the politically correct: while you are in San Antonio for the national convention, be sure to take in some history. But be aware you are treading on "controversial" ground.
June 1, 2003... With nearly 3 million visitors a year, the third most-visited landmark in the U.S. remains under constant scrutiny by the politically correct. The Alamo in San Antonio is the historic site of a bloody battle of the Texas War of Independence,...

VFW, Chamber seek employment for veterans: Operation Transition aims to promote veterans as 'highly skilled workers.'.
June 1, 2003... VFW has long shown concern for veterans transitioning from the military to the civilian world. Ensuring these men and women find quality employment is a top priority. To this end, as part of VFW's national outreach effort, VFW contacted the...

Posts pay tribute to American flag: June 14 is flag day but members remember to practice--and lead by example--patriotism every day of the year. (VFW in action).
June 1, 2003... Though June 14, Flag Day, annually is set aside to honor "Old Glory," VFW members do this daily. Some examples of VFW's demonstration of patriotism include: flag donations and education programs, retiring ceremonies and disposal services. ...

Southwest Asia service medal recognizes 1991 Persian Gulf War duty. (membership).
June 1, 2003... Today there are 582,136 Persian Gulf War vets in civilian life. And 105,922 are still on active duty. Together, they form a significant potential pool of members. Executive Order 12754 established a campaign medal for the Persian Gulf War...

Use VFW-online to shop, swap on the internet. (member benefits).
June 1, 2003... (NAPS) Dedicated athletes and sports enthusiasts who are interested in saving money turn to the Internet. Many buy new gear and recycle current gear--especially in sports such as cycling, fishing and golf, where upgrading is often linked to...

Reunions & claims.
June 1, 2003... REUNION COORDINATORS: To publicize your unit's reunion, fill out the form on page 47 of the February 2003 VFW magazine 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...

Jest a minute.
June 1, 2003... * A man drove his cat into the woods a long way from home. The cat went back home. The second time he drove farther from home. The cat went back home again. The third time he took the cat for a longer ride and went left, then right, then left...