President:Senior Vice President:



dinner with the ROA speakers the Gates Room in the Garrison Restaurant atDrum & BugleDepartment of IndianaPublication by and for the Members of Indiana ROA“The price of liberty is eternal vigilance”November 2017Presidents Message. Fellow ROA Members,We live in an ever-changing world. The enemy of which we fight is ever changing their tactics, which means we must also change to meet those threats. The Reserve and Guard is a major part of the fight. My last unit the 560th RED HORSE Squadron just finished their second tour in five years performing heavy construction throughout the AOR. The unit was reactivated in the Reserve just 8 years ago, was the lead Heavy Construction force supporting our troops throughout the region. It is organizations like the ROA that has been an important force in getting home station equipment to train our Reserve Forces to where they can support the mission as well as any Active Duty unit.While things have changed, one thing has not; the need for the men and women of our military, especially our Reserve and Guard, to be active in the ROA. With changes come challenges that our active duty commanders are unable to go and lobby Congress about. But ROA can. And only through your membership, support and active participation are we able develop and push for legislation in our State and in our Nation.Our Indiana Department of the ROA is at the forefront of the legislative lines and over the past several years had some key successes not only in getting needed funding and equipment for our troops, but also the health care, pay, benefits and veteran status that was not on par with our Active Duty counter parts. Our reserve troops who have deployed face the same health concerns as the Active Duty troops have. And they deserve the same heath care as those who are on Active Duty. That is why the Department of Indiana, and partnering with the Indiana Military Coalition, has made medical care top priority in our legislative agenda. Veterans suffering from PTSD, TBI, and other injuries are the costs our men and women have paid for our nations freedom. We should never forget their sacrifices and never forget the care that they need and are owed. Our organization helps to keep that before our legislators for their needs.So I ask each of you to keep your membership current. And if you are not a member, join. As a member, be active. And by that we can be active not only by attending meetings; but more importantly, contact your State or National Representatives on these crucial bills when asked to. Numbers makes a difference to our elected officials when they see ROA, and your phone calls or emails to their offices on bills and issues gets their attention.Thank you and God BlessJoe SwaimINFORMATION from our State TreasurerWell here we are in October. Where did the year ago? It seems like it was just yesterday we were getting over the New Year’s Eve festivities and now here we are approaching Columbus Day and Halloween and the start of the holiday season. With the arrival of the holiday season is time to reflect on the accomplishments of the year and look forward to time with friends and family and gift giving. On that point COL John Topper, Dept. President and I ask you to consider giving to the Indiana Department of the Reserve Officers Association of the United States (IN ROA) by way of a sustainment fund donation. Any amount goes a long way in supporting the programs and efforts of the IN ROA. So please send a sustainment fund donation check to the department treasurer COL James Scott at 4020 E. Stonegate Ct. Bloomington Indiana 47401-9802.2016 Department Annual Meeting & Global Affairs Seminar Saturday, 18 November 2017 Lawrence National Guard Armory9920 E. 59th St., Lawrence, IN (East of Ft. Harrison PX)Veterans, Retirees, widows, survivors, & dependents of Active, Guard & Reserve Members invited to displays, community health fair & seminar from 0900-1200 hrs.Activities:Health Screening by Company B, 801st CSHFlu Shots - free to all attendees provided by AseraCareBlood pressure checkVeterans and Retiree Luncheon (12:05 PM)$8 per personCall Mrs. Dolly Vandrey at 317-876-7526 or email at dollyvandrey@ for reservations by November 10SEMINAR SPEAKERS BG Joseph Edwards II, Dep CG, US Army Cadet Command & CG, 104th DivisionDakota L. Wood, Sr Research Fellow, Defense Programs, Heritage FoundationHon Jim Baird, State Rep. Dist 44, of Greencastle, Vietnam Vet (Purple Heart)LUNCH....................................................................................................………..RESERVATIONS REQUIRED:Contact Dolly Vandrey, 317-876-7526 or dollyvandrey@.___Dolly: I’m coming to the 20th Indiana ROA Seminar ($8 at the door) on Saturday, 18 November ’17 at the Lawrence National Guard Armory, 9920 E. 59th St., (Old Ft. Harrison), Lawrence, IN. Our Kroger Community Rewards Program.? Just go to the appropriate website mentioned below and begin enrolling.? This program has already added much needed funds to your Department’s balance sheet. Kroger distributes a portion of their community fund pool to organizations enrolled based on active shoppers using their “Kroger Plus” card. The Department’s organization number is 32927. This is a no-cost program and Kroger, Ruler, Jay-Cee, and Payless grocery stores participate. This is a No-Cost fund raiser. TO USE THE KROGER COMMUNITY REWARDS PROGRAM:?Simply encourage your family and friends to register online at Be sure to have your Kroger?Plus card handy and register your card with your organization after you sign up.If you do not yet have a Kroger?Plus card, please let them know that they are available at the customer service desk at any Kroger.Click on Sign In/RegisterMost participants are new online customers, so they must click on SIGN UP TODAY in the ‘New Customer?’ box.Sign up for a Kroger Rewards Account by entering zip code, clicking on favorite store, entering your email address and creating a password, agreeing to the terms and conditionsYou will then get a message to check your email inbox and click on the link within the body of the email.Click on My Account and use your email address and password to proceed to the next step.Click on Edit?Kroger Community Rewards?information and input your Kroger?Plus card number.Update or confirm your information.Enter NPO number or name of organization, select organization from list and click on confirm.To verify you are enrolled correctly, you will see your organization’s name on the right side of your information page.REMEMBER, purchases will not count for your group until after your member(s) register their card(s).Do you use your phone number at the register?? Call 800-576-4377, select option 4 to get your Kroger?Plus card number.Members must swipe their registered Kroger?Plus card or use the phone number that is related to their registered Kroger?Plus card when shopping for each purchase to count.FOCUS: IRA CHARITABLE ROLLOVERThis Charitable Giving Tool has potentially great consequences to the individuals making a gift to your Reserve Officers Association- Department of Indiana. If you personally can NOT take advantage of this idea, perhaps because of your age, please consider suggesting this to your parents, an aunt or uncle, or a friend who might be willing to help us. Your ROA has developed some new approaches to making our organization more financially viable over time and meeting our many objectives this year and we really could use the additional financial support. BACKGROUND ON THE IRA CHARIABLE ROLLOVER Individuals may begin taking distributions from their individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) as early as age 59 ?, but are required to begin taking them at age 70 ?. Normally, these distributions are subject to income taxes. The IRA Charitable Rollover provision, established under the Pension Protection Act, allows individuals who have reached age 70 ? to donate up to $100,000 to charitable organizations directly from their IRA, without treating the distribution as taxable income. In order to qualify, contributions must go directly to a public charity and be made from traditional IRAs or Roth IRAs. Donors may receive no goods or services in return for their contributions, and must obtain written documentation of their contribution from each recipient charity.THE IRA CHARITABLE ROLLOVER SHOULD BE EXTENDED PERMANENTLYAfter being allowed to expire in 2008, the IRA Charitable Rollover has been temporarily renewed five times in recent years. It expired again on January 1, 2015. Bipartisan legislation to make the provision permanent was introduced in the Senate as the Public Good IRA Rollover Act (S. 1159) and in the House as the Permanent IRA Charitable Contribution Act (H.R. 637). Subsequently the House language was included as part of the America Gives More Act of 2015 (H.R. 644), which overwhelmingly passed the House on February 12, 2015 and awaits Senate action. The uncertainty caused by the need for an annual extension, as well as the fact that the provision has been allowed to lapse, makes it difficult for people to manage effectively their finances and plan their estates. This uncertainty diminishes the incentive effect of the IRA Charitable Rollover, which reduces charitable giving and increases the tax burden on older Americans.THE IRA CHARITABLE ROLLOVER IS FAIR AND HELPS OLDER AMERICANSThe tax benefits of the IRA Charitable Rollover are available to taxpayers regardless of whether or not they itemize their returns. In particular, this helps older American who may have paid off their home mortgage and no longer file itemized tax returns. The mandatory distribution from their IRA would otherwise trigger a tax burden, EVEN IF they donate the money to charity. The Charitable IRA Rollover provision removes these negative tax consequences and encourages Americans to give back to their favorite charities and communities during their lifetime.SUMMARY & SUGGESTED ACTIONWell that’s it!!! You now have sufficient information to do three things. (1) Review this with your tax preparer if you deem it necessary (2) Contact your financial institution to obtain the necessary forms to sign/date to take the funds directly to your ROA and possibly other charities of your choice (3) Put a flag on your December calendar about the second week in December to see if the Senate and the President have signed off on this legislation. (Note last year this did not happen until December 19, 2014).Finally, do not forget to review all your estate plans at a minimum of every two years with the appropriate personnel. You will always find employment changes, family changes, health changes and other factors that will necessitate critical changes in your estate documents. Please for your own good do that near term and keep your ROA – Department of Indiana in mind when you are doing so.Rear Admiral Thomas J. Hill, SC, USN, (RET) retired from the Naval Reserve in 2002 and has been a Financial Advisor for over 23 years. He can be reached on his personal email at ret.chop2002@ should you have any questions about this article. He can also direct you on how you can make a contribution to the Reserve Officers Association – Department of Indiana.Neither the developer of this article, nor the Reserve Officers Association- Department of Indiana, is providing legal or tax advice as to the matters discussed herein. The discussion herein is general in nature and is provided for informational purposes only. There is no guarantee as to its accuracy or completeness. It is not intended as legal advice and individuals may not rely upon it (including for purposes of avoiding tax penalties imposed by the IRS or state or local tax authorities). Individuals should consult their own legal and tax counsel as to matters discussed herein and before entering into any estate planning trust, investment, retirement or insurance arrangement.______________________________________________________________________The 2018 Upcoming Indiana General Assembly—ROA Advocating! Your help is needed for next year! The major help you can provide is to update your e-mail address on eh ROA website. DO NOT USE A MILITARY E-MAIL ADDRESS! We have built our 2018 Legislative Agenda as part of The Military / Veterans Coalition of Indiana (TMVCI). The theme for 2018 is:“RAISING INDIANA’S FAMILY PROSPERTY”The Military / Veterans Coalition (TMVCI) developed several legislative proposals that would grow veterans in Indiana and keep more Hoosier veterans and their families staying in the state. These “investments” include making Indiana competitive with surrounding states in helping veterans achieve higher results (earned benefits).Indiana Veterans and Retirees contribute between $5.5 and 6.0 BILLION ANNUALLY to Indiana’s economy. State tax receipts average $.10 on every dollar spent in Indiana and when you consider the effect of this money changing hands about 6 times a year (velocity of money per the St Louis Federal Reserve); the resulting income to the state tax coffers is an unbelievable $3.3 BILLION and 3.6 BILLION ANNUALLYTMVCI goals for 2018 are:Fix the Indiana Veteran Recovery Pilot Program (IVRP). Extend for at least ONE year the Indiana Veteran Recovery Pilot Program (evidence based clinical trial). Extend existing funding to provide treatment and funding for veterans with traumatic brain injury or posttraumatic stress disorder, and to obtain reimbursement from third parties (federal government). Select up to 5 hospitals/service providers that cover the four quadrants and center of the state. Remove requirement of co-pay. Eliminate any restriction of when the injury occurred. Require Rules be done by June 15, 2018. Add protections for provider and medical staff. Specify block grant versus grants for each person put into the trial. Require all services to be done at costs by providers. Restrict IDVA and ISDH (all state government) from receiving any of the $1 MILLION budgeted amount. Require reporting periodically to ISDH, IDVA, General Assembly, and Governor. 2.? Increase State Income tax exempt status for all military income, current or retired from adjusted gross income (AGI). 3. Lottery games to benefit veterans. Require the state lottery commission to adopt rules and establish a scratch-off ticket to benefit Indiana veterans. Use the revenue to fund additional County Veteran Service Officers and expand current hours as needed.4. Keeping and growing veteran population in Indiana. Provide the INDIANA Work Opportunity Tax Credit (IWOTC)?for hiring qualified veterans. Through IWOTC, for-profit employers may receive tax credits of $3,000 per qualified eligible service member currently serving in the United States Armed Forces or for $2,000 for qualified non-profit organizations. The tax credit can be claimed after the eligible service member currently. Add or assign one staff person to lead and create a group within State Personnel Department to recruit service members coming off active duty at their active duty discharge locations 6 months prior to their expiration of service. Team with economic development commission and private enterprises to develop marketing packages and financial incentives to lure skills desired for employment in Indiana. Provide loans for home purchase, salary while training for job, relocation expenses, property tax abatement for up to 10 years, and Indiana Income Tax credits. Program should be modeled after “Regional Cities” projects where private industry joins with local government and state government to build a “regional” marketing package to be used as a major tool in winning new veterans coming to Indiana. The idea is building a template for communities to use to get and keep veterans and execute on a community level with coordination by STATE level. ?5.? 21st Century Veterans Support. Fund Service Officer training, renewal, and training expenses. Require the designation and duties of county service officers to serve for 5 years. Poor performance should be considered to remove service officer sooner. Expand duties of the IDVA director to include notification to county/ city leadership, governor, of non-compliance to IC 10-17-1-9 County service officer, city service officer, and assistants within 60 days of date the vacancy occurs. Require a portion of local income taxes to be withheld from cities and counties that fail to enforce accreditation and reaccreditation requirements for city and county service officers. Require County Veteran Service Officers, City Veteran Service Officers, District Veteran Service Officers to be initially accredited by the National Association of County Veteran Service Officers (NACVSO).6. Provide children of all service connected disabled veterans full remission of fees at any State supported post secondary school or university in the State of Indiana. Funds are only available if all GI Bill benefits available to the individual are first exhausted. Provide a requirement to maintain a “C” GPA to continue to receive remission. Provide remission of accrued debt to the VA disability decision start date. Limit funding to undergraduate degree or associates degree. 7. Fix current funding for Veteran Homelessness and help End Veteran Homelessness. Fix HB1001 to include Hoosier Veterans as defined in IC and include all individuals who have served in the armed forces regardless of the character of their discharge should they have a discharge. Extend the period by 1 year. Provide one full time staff person (assign) to lead a Veteran Homelessness Task Force to design, coordinate, and execute plans to manage the entire state problem—working with federal, state, county and other entities. Also provide property tax credits for Landlord/Property Owners/Managers who house Veterans that are connected to the VA or Veteran Organization. These providers shall be granted this credit only if they are associated with a not-for-profit organization helping homeless veterans in Indiana. Credits will be limited to two (2) years for the same property if the occupant is the same homeless veteran for the duration. Make Veteran Homelessness Elimination a priority. Direct State of Indiana Agencies to develop and execute policies and procedures to make elimination of veteran homelessness a priority and to meet federal guidelines. The policies and procedures should focus on treatment (to include substance abuse), elimination of barriers to temporary and permanent housing, job training, and elimination of barriers to employment that will support returning this individual to productive contribution to society.8. Veteran Identification. Require Bureau of Motor Vehicles to ask TWO questions to gather military service participation of applicants/renewals for driver’s license or ID Card. Require Bureau of Motor Vehicles to issue a Disability Parking Placard with all Disabled Hoosier Veteran license plates. 9. GUARD AND RESERVE EDUCATION MATTERS. Enact academic protections for mobilized Guard and Reserve students including: refund guarantees; and, exemption of a state or private student loan payments during mobilization. Exempt GI Bill, disability compensation, and vocational rehabilitation funds from being considered income in any need based financial aid calculations. 10. Veterans inclusion in boards. Require all workforce development boards, Commission on Higher Education, Civil Rights Commission Board of Directors, Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, all state university board of directors, Department of Financial Institutes Board of Directors, Governor’s Commission on Minority & Women Business Enterprise, Indiana Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors, Indiana Board of Tax Review, Indiana Career Council, Job creation committee, Midwestern Higher Education Compact, State Board of Education, State family Support Council, State Workforce Innovation Council, to have veteran representation and the boards shall prioritize actions to support veterans. Person(s) can satisfy multiple requirements of board membership as a veteran.11. Provide that Veteran Non-Profit Organizations/Associations can get resident rates for out of state disabled veterans for fishing and hunting licenses for a group event. 12. Renter Credit for Disabled Veteran. Provide a renter credit for a disabled veteran who would qualify for the property tax credit for disabled veterans except for the fact that the disabled veteran rents living quarters. 13. Veteran Property Tax Matters. Exemption for Surviving Spouse of Service Member killed in Action, Dies While On Active Duty, or receives Dependency Income Compensation (DIC). Property Tax Exemption at 100% rate for veterans who are classified as individually unemployable by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs regardless of their service connected disability rating. Remove the property value limitation for a disabled vet to receive a property tax reduction. Abandoned homestead property taxation. Allow a county or city fiscal body to adopt an ordinance to grant an assessed value property tax deduction for abandoned homesteads that become owner occupied by a military veteran, member of the military, public safety officer, or licensed teacher. Provide that the deduction may be for up to 10 years and at percentages specified in the fiscal body's ordinance. Permit the fiscal body to establish additional criteria for a homestead to be eligible for the deduction. Require an application process and an annual filing by the property owner. Allow the department of local government finance to adopt rules to implement the deduction.14. Provide Employer tax credits as a means to help offset costs associated with employees' Guard or Reserve activities and reinforce employer support.? Lawmakers Unveil Planned VA Health Reforms House lawmakers are looking to dramatically increase the number of veterans who can seek medical care outside the Veterans Affairs system, but VA department officials want them to go even further. They’re arguing in favor of an even more radical shift in traditional veterans’ medical care, opening community care options to nearly any veteran and allowing free walk-in care at local doctor’s offices for routine appointments. “We don’t believe there should be strict mileage criteria or wait time criteria,” Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin told members of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee on 24 OCT. “These are going to be individual clinical decisions based on feasibility and access.” Shulkin’s plan — the new Coordinated Access & Rewarding Experiences (CARE) Act — has already received criticism from federal unions for shifting too many department responsibilities and funds to private sector practices. Last week, those critics labeled the plan a full “voucherizing” of veterans’ care. Shulkin, himself a practicing physician along with his Cabinet role, has repeatedly insisted the sweeping overhaul does not amount to diminishing or privatizing VA health care but instead, simplifying and modernizing the overburdened system. “Having a veteran drive 100 miles for a blood test or flu shot doesn’t make sense,” he said Tuesday. “We’re trying to model VA after how medicine is practiced across America today.” It’s also in keeping with U.S. President Donald Trump’s repeated promises to free up veterans to see doctors in their neighborhoods instead of requiring them to get their free health care directly from VA clinics and hospitals. The CARE plan and a similar slate of VA health care reforms unveiled by the committee on 24 OCT would consolidate a host of community care initiatives into a single, more flexible program with a single funding source. That has been a goal in recent years of both Republicans and Democrats, who say current systems are too complicated for patients, doctors and bill collectors. Veterans groups have endorsed the idea. Both plans would also abandon the current eligibility rule allowing only veterans facing a 30-day wait or 40mile distance to the nearest VA facility to access the Choice program, letting them seek private-sector care at government expense. But the House plan, offered by committee Chairman Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., would leave VA physicians with “the right of first refusal” of patients and allow them to seek outside care only if a primary care provider or specific medical services aren’t available within the VA system. “It should go without saying that VA cannot be everywhere, providing everything to every veteran,” he said at the hearing. “Expecting VA to perform like that sets VA up to fail.” “That is why my draft bill preserves VA’s role as the central coordinator of care for enrolled veteran patients,” he said. “But when VA can’t do that, my bill would ensure that veterans aren’t left out to dry.” Shulkin said he supports much of the House plan but indicated it still may fall short of the goal of meeting patients’ “clinical needs.” He pushed for even more flexible rules with a goal of having veterans work with their VA doctors to set up a care plan that may be almost entirely outside the current department network. About one-third of VA medical appointments each year are conducted by physicians outside the department. Veterans groups have expressed concerns about a massive expansion of that number, arguing it could undermine the integrity of the department and harm veterans’ health care by sending them to doctors unfamiliar with issues like post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. Officials from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America questioned whether VA medical records are modern enough to allow seamless sharing with private-sector offices. AMVETS officials said sending more veterans into the community to find medical appointments won’t solve VA’s own physician recruitment and retention problems. Several groups also objected strongly to the potential cost. Earlier this year, a coalition of veterans groups forced lawmakers to add nearly $2 billion in funding to existing VA programs to offset a new $2.1 billion extension of the Choice program. The CARE proposal includes a round-down of cost-of-living disability pay increases to help pay for the costs of the expanded program. Officials from the Veterans of Foreign Wars said they continue to “strongly oppose” that plan and a proposal to cap some education benefits to provide other savings. Officials did not provide specifics on the costs of either the House or VA plans, saying the details are still being worked out. Shulkin said he suspects an overhaul of VA community care will save “billions” over the next decade, with thousands of employees potentially cut as the administrative burden of the programs are simplified. Critics have called that unrealistic and said that promises of cheaper care from private-sector offices are misleading. Committee ranking member Tim Walz (D-MN) said those cost details will determine whether his caucus will be able to support the plan. “While I am pleased at how close we are to settling on the policy underlying a Choice replacement program, I am concerned with how it will be funded,” he said. “I continue to believe that veterans do not benefit when we scrape the barrel for money by skimming from some veterans’ benefits or health care programs to pay for others.” Shulkin has said that lawmakers need to make a decision on potential reforms before the end of the year, when money funding the current Choice program is scheduled to run out. Without a replacement plan, medical care for tens of thousands of veterans could be disrupted in the new year. [Source: MilitaryTimes | David shane III | October 24, 2017 ++] _____________________________________________________________________ VA ID Card Update-- Must Obtain New Photo Cards Online Honorably discharged veterans of all eras who want a new identification card from the Department of Veterans Affairs will be able to apply online by registering with the VA and uploading a photo, officials said. Officials had previously told that the process will include an online application, but offered no further details. A 2015 law requires the VA to issue a hard-copy photo ID to any honorably discharged veteran who applies. The card must contain the veteran's name, photo and a non-Social Security identification number, the law states. To apply for the card, veterans must register with , a process that authenticates users through the ID me system, VA officials told on 16 OCT. Doing so requires users to upload a copy of a valid government photo ID, such as a driver's license or passport, and provide their Social Security number, among other information. To complete the card application process, users will then upload a recent photo to the VA site that can be printed on the ID card, according to a lawmaker who introduced the legislation requiring the IDs. The cards will be directly mailed to the veteran. No further information was available as to when in November applications will open, the turnaround time for the IDs or a specific address on the VA website where veterans can apply. The ID cards are meant to offer a way for veterans to prove their service without carrying a copy of their DD214, which contains sensitive personal information such as veterans' Social Security numbers. The new IDs will not, however, qualify as official government-issued identification for air travel or other uses. "Every veteran -- past, present, and future -- will now be able to prove their military service without the added risk of identity theft," said Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican who introduced the ID card legislation in 2015. "These ID cards will make life a little bit easier for our veterans." Vets who receive health care from the VA or have a disability rating can get a photo ID VA health card, also known as a Veteran Health Identification Card. Military retirees also hold an ID card issued by the Defense Department. Veterans are able to get a proof of service letter through the VA's ebenefits website. And some states will include a veteran designation on driver's licenses if requested. The new VA ID card program begins as the military exchange system opens online shopping to honorably discharged veterans of all eras. That benefit, which will officially launch on Veterans Day, requires veterans to first be verified before they can shop. The benefit does not allow shopping at brick and mortar exchange stores or the commissary and does not include base access. [Source: | Amy Bushatz | October 16, 2017 ++]26 Things the new Forever G.I. Bill Will Do “This legislation will enable veterans to use the education benefits they’ve earned through the G.I. Bill when and how it suits them best, setting them up for future success in whatever career they pursue,” said Rep. Phil Roe, of Tennessee, chair of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, after the Forever G.I. Bill was signed by the president. While it will indeed erase the expiration date on the benefits themselves for current and former service members and their dependents — it’s certainly not all it will do. Here’s virtually every provision (26 to be exact) in the bill that officially became law on August 16, 2017. ? Eligibility Fix -- Time spent in recovery due to battlefield injuries will count towards G.I. Bill eligibility. Effective August 1, 2018. ? Purple Hearts Get More --Approximately 1,500 Purple Heart recipients will become eligible for the G.I. Bill. Effective August 1, 2018 ? More Children Get the Yellow Ribbon Program -- Children who lost a parent in the line of duty will have access to the Yellow Ribbon Program. Effective August 1, 2018 ? More National Guard & Reservists Get Their G.I. Bill -- Authorizes additional G.I. Bill funding for members of the National Guard and Reserve. It increases money and eligibility for individuals who served at least 90 days but less than six months on active duty, from 40% to 50% benefit payable. It also does the same for individuals who serve at least six months but not 12 months, from 50% to 60% benefit payable. Effective August 1, 202 National Guard & Reservists Get Their Benefits Back -- Education benefits that were pulled unexpectedly from Reservists and National Guard members in 2015 — when Congress repealed the Reserve Educational Assistant Program (REAP) — will have them re-implemented. Effective immediately Housing Stipends Improve -- A student taking online classes will be compensated more accurately for their cost of living. It happens by changing the way living stipend amounts are calculated — from the living stipend payment being based on where the school is located to having it calculated based on where the student takes classes. Effective August 1, 2018 Vets Won’t Be Charged a Whole Month for Testing --Under the old rules, a veteran would be charged a whole month’s entitlement to pay for any national test (GMAT, GRE, SAT, etc.) or one for state licensing. It’ll now change, to pro-rate just the cost of the test itself. Effective August 1, 2018. Restoring Benefits Wasted on Schools That Closed -- It gives back benefits lost at schools that closed out of nowhere and it continues education assistance programs for vets who were disapproved or who “would not have the term during which their studies were interrupted count toward the aggregate of their G.I. Bill entitlement.” It also allows vets to continue collecting payments for education assistance “through the end of the term, quarter, or semester in which the school closes, or for 120 days from the date of the school closure, whichever is less.” Effective November 14, 2017 (applies to closures after January 1, 2015), New Transferability Option -- A vet can now transfer months worth of a G.I. Bill to another dependent if the original dependent owner dies without getting through all of the benefits. A dependent can also transfer benefits to another dependent after the death of the service member or veteran. Effective August 1, 2018 (respectfully applies to deaths on or after August 1, 2009)STEM Scholarship -- The VA can now offer a scholarship (additional G.I. Bill funds) to allow a student veteran to finish a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) degree. Effective August 1, 2018.End of 15-Year Time Limit -- The 15-year time limitation to use the G.I. Bill will no longer exist for new service members. Effective immediately for service members and dependents discharged on or after January 1, 2013. Pro-Rate Housing Allowance for Activations -- The VA can now pro-rate housing stipends for Reservists who get called up for active duty during the middle of a month. Effective August 1, 2018 for members of the Reserve component of the Armed Forces pursuing an educational program using current G.I. Bill benefits. VA Must Now Submit Performance Reports -- The Secretary of the VA must now submit reports from institutions on students’ performance to Congress (no later than March 1 of every year). Effective immediately. $30 Million to Improving Claims Process -- About $30 million will go to improve G.I. Bill claims processing IT system. Effective fiscal years 2018 and 2019. ? Tech Pilot Program -- The VA will create a five-year pilot program that gives vets the chance to enroll in tech courses, like coding boot camp, garner IT certifications, and more. It’ll provide tuition and other payments on a scale while also giving the participating schools an incentive to graduate the veteran students as well as help them find a career within their field of study. Effective no later than 180 days after August 1, 2018. Work-Study Program Extended -- Repeals the sunset date of the VA work-study benefits for outreach to student veterans. Effective immediately. DEA Benefits Consolidated -- The number of months of entitlement changes for those eligible for the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance Program (DEA) from 45 months to 36 months (similar to other programs). Effective August 1, 2018. DEA Payments Increased -- Monthly payments for assistance under the DEA will be increased by $200 per month. Effective October 1, 2018 (applies to all survivors eligible for DEA benefits). ? Independent Study Programs -- Someone eligible to receive G.I. Bill benefits can now use them toward accredited independent study programs (including open circuit television) at qualifying schools and institutions. Effective immediately for those currently using G.I. Bill benefits. ? G.I. Bill Comparison Tool Addition -- The useful comparison tool provided by the VA at will now have to include whether or not a school a priority enrollment system in place especially for veterans. Effective immediately, VA Advisory Committee on Education (VACOE) -- Extends the authority of the VACOE from December 2017 to December 2022. Effective immediately. Codification of Vet Success on Campus (VSOC) -- Right now there are almost 100 schools with a VSOC program, a system that provides a counselor at each participating institution to assist vets with their transition from military to college. Effective immediately. 12304(b) Reservist Equity -- Individuals who serve under the 12304, 12304(a) and 12304(b) orders will now be eligible for Post-9/11 G.I. Bill benefits. Effective August 1, 2018 (applies to National Guard members and Reservists who have received 12304(b) orders after June 30, 2008) 12304(b) Reservist Order Equity for Vocational Rehab -- Vets receiving Vocational Rehab (VR&E) benefits will now be able to “pause” their benefit time after being called up for 12304(a) and 12304(b) active duty orders. Effective immediately for National Guard members and Reservists with service-connected disabilities. Housing Allowance Fix -- Some time ago, the annual percentage increase to active duty BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) was reduced to 1% a year for five years, but G.I. Bill payments were exempt. They will now be aligned so that a G.I. Bill recipient will get the same allowance as an E-5 active-duty service member with dependents. Effective January 1, 2018 (for those using G.I. Bill benefits after this date) World War II Mustard Gas Exposure Restitution -- The Department of Defense will be tasked with investigating the sites of mustard gas exposures during World War II, then submitting their findings to the VA and Congress. Effective February 12, 2018 Go to to check on your G.I. Bill benefits, or apply for them online. [Source: The SITREP | Kevin Hobster } August 17, 2017] Lee Marvin – the tough guy who drew from personal experience Lee Marvin was born in New York City in 1924, the son of Lamont Waltman Marvin, a decorated Great War veteran, who in turn was a direct descendant of one Matthew Marvin, one of the founders of Hartford, Connecticut in 1635. Both Lee and his older brother Robert were named in honor of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, who was their first cousin, four times removed. Even as a teenager, Lee Marvin already displayed some of the boisterous toughness that later characterized him as an actor, spending his free time hunting deer, puma, wild turkey and quail in the Everglades while getting expelled from several schools for bad behavior.In 1942, Marvin left school and enlisted in the Marine Corps. His father, 51 at the time, enlisted as well and was sent to England to set up anti-aircraft emplacements against the Luftwaffe. Lee Marvin’s military career got off to an inauspicious start. He was sent to serve in a Service Company in San Diego as a corporal but eventually got demoted to private after several incidents of troublemaking.His chance for action arrived in 1944, when he was shipped to the Marshall Islands as a scout-sniper in the 4th Marine Division, his unit tasked with surveying the area before the American attack. It was there that he first faced the realities of war, which led him to later comment: “This insanity, this raving inhumanity- it was then I suddenly knew: This is what war does to a man, what war means.”It got worse for him in the summer of 1944, when he was deployed to the invasion of Saipan, an important Japanese stronghold and the gateway which would allow B-29 Superfortress bombers to reach the Japanese Home Islands. “We went in on Yellow Beach Two. The first day…we clawed forward and hit the basic scrub of the beach…They had us nicely pinpointed on a checker-board. They didn’t miss. The artillery got very bad, and all the bombing was coming down very heavy…We lost quite a few that night.” – he later recalled. Marvin’s 247-man unit was wiped out during the battle with the exception of him and five others, leaving Marvin wounded.Rising to a height of 1,500ft, Mount Tapochau was a vital part of the Japanese lines, serving as the anchor point for defensive emplacements in numerous caves from which soldiers could sally out at night. Many areas on and around the mountain received such American nicknames as “Hell’s Pocket,” “Purple Heart Ridge” and “Death Valley.” It was at the last location that Marvin was hit in the buttocks by a machine gun round that severed his sciatic nerve. Shortly after this he was shot in the foot by a sniper. He recounted the event in a letter to his father: “You may think it’s funny to get hit in the can like that but at the time I was very lucky that is all I got. I was pinned down and could not move an inch and then a sniper started on me. His first shot hit my foot and his second just about three inches in front of my nose. It was a matter of time, as I knew I would get hit sooner or later. If I got up and ran, I would not be writing this letter so I just kept down.”The nerve damage almost paralyzed his leg for life but 13 months of treatment saw him through to recovery. His disability status prevented him from reenlisting and he returned home feeling frustrated, angry and guilty. “[The war] ruined him. He came home from that half dead, totally broken. He was never the same” – his father later said.?After the war, Marvin took odd jobs until he got his unlikely break. Working as a plumber’s assistant at a community theater, he was asked to stand in for a sick actor. This launched his theatrical career that took him from amateur acting all the way to Hollywood, where he worked along such luminaries as John Wayne or fellow WWII veteran Jimmy Stewart. His tough demeanor made him a natural choice for westerns and war epics such as The Dirty Dozen and The Big Red One. Off-stage, he maintained his penchant for reckless shenanigans: while shooting The Professionals in Las Vegas, he allegedly took another actor’s bow and arrows and shot at the famous cowboy sign, hitting and damaging it. On stage, however, he was known as a team player, often putting his military background to good use advising his directors and fellow actors on realistic troop movements, costumes and firearm handling.In 1968, Marvin returned to the islands of the Pacific to film Hell in the Pacific, a two-character war drama. Opposite him played Japanese acting legend Toshiro Mifune, who himself was a WWII veteran, having served as an officer in an Aerial Photography unit. “[The islands) were all beautiful then, when you went in. That was a strange thing about it” – he commented on his return to the region, contrasting it with his wartime experience: “I remember what it looked like when we came in past the reef. The place had been bombed and shelled for weeks and the floor of the ocean was covered with brass casings that hadn’t deteriorated yet. Then the smell hit you- death and fire. You’d give a panic look to your buddy. ‘How did we get here?’”Lee Marvin passed away in 1987. He is interred at Arlington National Cemetery, close to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers.Lee Marvin’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery ?________________________________________________Murphy's Other 15 Laws1. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.??2. A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.?3. He who laughs last, has found another meaning.?4. A day without sunshine is like, well, night.?5. Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.?6. Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don’t.?7. Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.?8. The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.?9. It is said that if you line up all the cars in the world end-to-end, someone from California would be stupid enough to try to pass them.?10. If the shoe fits, get another one just like it.?11. The things that come to those who wait may be the things left by those who got there?first.?12. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day drinking beer.?13. Flashlight: A case for holding dead batteries.?14. God gave you toes as a device for finding furniture in the dark.?15. When you go into court, you are putting yourself in the hands of twelve people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty.?“In times like these, it helps to recall that there have always been times like these.” — Paul Harvey?How Desert Storm Destroyed the US MilitaryPOSTED ON?APRIL 21, 2017?BY?RAY STARMANN?The US military that won Desert Storm or Gulf War I in 1991 was a spectacular military, a gargantuan industrial age military with high tech weaponry and well-trained personnel, that when called upon, achieved victory with the speed of Patton and the élan of Teddy Roosevelt.?Overlooking the vast eight-mile carnage on the Highway of Death in Kuwait, destruction that was caused by a US Air Force and Navy that bore almost no resemblance to the two services now, a sergeant in the 7th US Cavalry remarked, “America sure got its money’s worth from those Joes.”?In 44 days, the largest military force assembled by the US and its allies since Normandy destroyed the world’s fourth largest army in a brilliantly led, fabulously executed air and ground war in the sands of the Middle East.?The ghosts of Vietnam were vanquished by men who had experienced the horrors and strategic errors of that war and who inculcated those lessons to the personnel they led.?Both General Colin Powell and the late General Norman Schwarzkopf had both served multiple tours in Vietnam and their experiences there made them highly skeptical of the press and its intentions. Therefore, no reporters were embedded with combat units during the war. The world was given a Nintendo video game, sanitized version of a war; while albeit short, had many elements of the nastiness of wars past, but appeared to be nothing more than a high-tech cake walk.?Because there were no journalists in the field, the world never saw H.R McMaster, the President’s National Security Adviser, who was then a captain in the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, fighting the Tawakalna Division of the Republican Guard at a now famous grid line dubbed the 73 Easting.On McMaster’s left flank, the scouts from the 4th Squadron, 7th Cavalry were also battling the Tawakalna and the ghosts of the Little Big Horn, at a nameless speck of desert landscape known as Phase Line Bullet. Later that night, grunts and tankers from the 1st Infantry Division, the Big Red One, hit the Guard at Objective Norfolk and before the night was over, found themselves engaged in close quarters fighting with fanatical Guardsmen in a place most of them want to forget, but can’t. Two days before, the Big Red One had spent the opening hours of the war burying Iraqis in the trenches alive with bulldozers.On G Day +3, the US 1st Armored Division hammered the Iraqi Al-Medina Division of the Republican Guard at a place now known as Medina Ridge. The Battle of Medina Ridge was to date the largest tank battle since Kursk in 1943.?On the left flank of Lieutenant General Fred Franks’ VII Corps was the XVIIIth Airborne Corps, which included the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division. The 24th Mech was led by the extremely aggressive, highly competent and definitely non-PC, Major General Barry McCaffrey. The first two days of the ground war, the 24th Mech raced across the Iraqi desert, heading towards its objectives in the Tigris-Euphrates Valley. On February 26, 1991, the 24th Mech advanced through the valley and captured Iraqi airfields at Jabbah and Tallil. At the airfields, it encountered entrenched resistance from the Iraqi 37th and 49th Infantry Divisions, as well as the 6th Nebuchadnezzar Mechanized Division of the Iraqi Republican Guard. The 24th’s Task Force Tusker attacked entrenched Iraqi forces on February 26th to seize battle position 143, effectively severing the Iraqi Euphrates River Valley line of communication to the Kuwait Theater of operation and destroying the major combat elements of the Iraqi Republican Guard Forces Command’s elite 26th Commando Brigade. [Despite some of the fiercest resistance of the war, the 24th Mechanized Infantry Division destroyed the Iraqi formations and captured the two airfields the next day.] The 24th then moved east with VII Corps and engaged several Iraqi Republican Guard divisions on the last day of the conflict.?Two days after the Gulf War ended, on March 2, 1991, elements of the 24th Mech were fired on by the Iraqi Hammurabi Division of the Republican Guard, which was retreating north in a five-mile-long convoy. McCaffrey ordered his division to destroy the Hammurabi and by the end of the day, the 24th Mech had annihilated the division, destroying 187 armored vehicles, 43 artillery pieces, and over 400 trucks. The Battle of Rumaila Oilfield was a classic showcase of the kind of warrior aggression the US military’s senior leaders used to display, but which, in the era of the perfumed prince with stars, has all but disappeared. Barry McCaffrey would last about five minutes on active duty today, as would Norman Schwarzkopf. McCaffrey and Schwarzkopf are the type of generals who win wars. What do the generals do now??Yet, the world saw none of those battles being fought as they saw no Marines storming through Kuwait. There were no journalists; hence no video, no film, no photos; nothing to show the world except a few shots of B Roll of the Iraqi Army surrendering to Marines on the border. To the American public, the Iraqis were surrendering en masse, when in actuality the Republican Guard was going down with the ship. For example, the 10,000 man Tawakalna Division was virtually annihilated, including the division commander who died in an artillery barrage on the night of February 26, 1991.?While General Schwarzkopf’s power point presentations enlightened the world, the soldiers and Marines found themselves in a Dante’s Inferno, with smoldering vehicles, dead Iraqi soldiers strewn over tank turrets in a man-made darkness of oil fires that smothered any sunlight and the vast remnants of an army, which littered the battlefield: rifles, helmets, sundry equipment and arms and legs that were picked at by packs of roving wild dogs.War is hell…but the American public never knew.?The day Desert Storm ended, the death of the US military commenced. The Pentagon, basking in glory and bowing to pressure from the public and crackpot feminists like Patricia Schroeder, started drinking the Kool Aid and they’ve never stopped The war was a video game, a clean, quick rout. Modern war was now sanitized, where the bad guys would die at stand-off ranges of a mile or two and explode in little black and white pixels on Pentagon TV screens. In fact, war was now so quick and so easy that women should be allowed to serve in the combat arms and Special Forces.?Our victory in Desert Storm became the catalyst for every left-wing wacko to hack at the military with a meat cleaver.Since, 1991, the US military has been slowly coming apart at the seams. Stress cards, open homosexuality, transgenders on active duty, sensitivity training, pregnancy simulators for male troopers, lactation stations in the field, babies born on US ships of war, female graduates of Ranger School, including a 37 year old mother (it’s funny how the women looked so well fed), women in the SEALs, women in Marine infantry units and females in the field artillery (even though most cannot carry a 155mm round) are just some of the insanity that has taken place in the last 26 years, but which snowballed into hell under the Obama administration.A social revolution engulfed the military, starting with Tailhook and continuing to this day. Warriors were forced out and feather merchants and PC flag bearers were promoted. Girl power was in and masculinity was out. The warrior culture was buried and a new culture was reborn that resembles corporate America, not the US military of yesteryear. No, General Kennedy, it’s not your father’s army and that’s a problem - a big, festering problem.?And, now, with the world in flames, with ISIS blowing up Europe, with Putin pumping weights in the Arctic while he watches his BMP’s on skis roll by, with Kim Jong-Loon on the loose with a toy chest of nukes and missiles and with Iran figuring out that Trump ain’t Barney Fife, the US military needs to be rougher and tougher and more ready for a fight than ever. And… we ain’t. And, that’s the fact, Jack.Many are waiting for Mad Dog Mattis to stick a pike in the heart of the military’s social engineering forever. We are still waiting… Perhaps Secretary Mattis is so busy dealing with the thugs on the planet, that he has forgotten that the armed forces that will be engaging the thugs is still in trouble.??Secretary Mattis must once and for all shut down the feminist fantasy of women in the combat arms.? There are thousands of jobs for women in the military where they can serve honorably and be promoted, without, in Mattis’ own words, ‘setting themselves up for failure in combat.’?Mattis also needs to get rid of the perfumed princes, and the feckless duds who have infested the senior ranks of the armed forces. I would rather have a sergeant with guts running a division than a two-star coward who is more worried about his pension and future job on cable news than the mission and the troops.The US military is still being led by people who believe that the military is nothing different than working for Google, except that the military has uniforms and weapons.? When you eschew the glorious traditions of the military and combine that with ludicrous social engineering, you are setting yourself up for massive failure.?While the US military interpreted the results of Desert Storm incorrectly, the real lessons from that conflict are crystal clear. The US military functioned well in an environment that focused on the mission, not on political correctness, LGBT rights, day care centers on submarines and breastfeeding Rangers.With our enemies stacking up against us, time is running out to fix the problems which were initially caused by a victory 26 years ago, in a war that has largely been forgotten.?INTERESTING INFORMATION ON OUR PRESIDENTS???Subject:???Special Forces Soldier arrested“Kill ‘em all and let God sort ‘em out”!BERKELEY, California (Reuters) U.S. Army Special Forces Master Sergeant John Martin was arrested in connection with an altercation involving an estimated 100 anti-fascist protesters.Aerial footage shows Master Sergeant Martin involved in a violent melee which ended in 53 anti-fascist protesters in the hospitals with 24 of them listed in critical condition.The injured personnel were brought to Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Berkeley Campus.According to Berkeley authorities, the incident started when Master Sergeant Martin was visiting the Berkeley campus to speak at a rally for wounded warriors. According to several eyewitnesses, as Master Sergeant Martin was exiting the vehicle he was immediately assaulted by an estimated 100 demonstrators who were there to protest the involvement of the United States military in Iraq and Afghanistan.Campus police were unable to quell the violent skirmish due to the amount of demonstrators assaulting the Special Forces Soldier. One campus officer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, was shocked by the number of people who were injured by Master Sergeant’s ability to defend himself. The officer was more involved with extracting the numerous injured demonstrators out of the destructive path of Master Sergeant Martin.“The City of Berkeley Police Department is a small to medium-size department,” he said. “Our police department total is 176. I can tell you most of that 176 responded here today.”According to the Berkeley campus police report 26 of the 100 estimated demonstrators were arrested. Their charges ranged from battery on a law enforcement officer to inciting a riot to resisting police with violence, according to their arrest reports. One was charged with marijuana possession. Master Sergeant Martin was part of the 26 arrested and was segregated at the Berkeley Police Department. The Berkeley Progressive Coalition, which organized the protest, has scheduled a second demonstration beginning at noon Saturday outside the Superior Court of CA, County of Alameda – Berkeley Courthouse. There protesters will call for the release of those jailed Friday. The Chief of the Berkeley Police Department spoke to reporters and stated Master Sergeant Martin will not be charged with any offenses related to today’s incident. He states, “Master Sergeant Martin was simply defending himself against a group of demonstrators who thought he was an easy target.” As other news agencies pressed and asked the Chief of Police if he would consider, and classify Master Sergeant Martin’s Special Forces training as the use of “deadly force?” The Chief eloquently replied, “We have high hopes that Master Sergeant Martin would consider our proposition of being the lead hand-to-hand instructor for our police department when he retires next year.”Master Sergeant Martin was observed leaving the police station from a side entrance in an unmarked police car and was taken out the back gate of the police department.The Department of the Army Special Forces spokesman from the Pentagon, LTC Richard Cabeza, said they were looking into the incident as a teaching point to other Special Forces Soldiers on how to defend themselves in similar situations and he will be consider for a soldiers medal due to being in harms way and potentially saving the lives of several demonstrators from getting killed by his own hands.Snowflakes .........be careful!Henry Ford's Aircraft - Fascinating! ?Very interesting!!? Did you know this??History is sometimes so amazing...... The time is June 1941, just months before Pearl Harbor! Henry Ford was determined that he could mass-produce bombers just as he had done with cars, so he built the Willow Run assembly plant in Michigan and proved it. At the time it was the world's largest building under one roof. This short film will absolutely blow you away; one B-24, each with over a million parts, assembled every 55 minutes . . .Ford had their own pilots to test them and they had no recalls!HITLER HAD NO IDEA THE U.S. WAS CAPABLE OF THIS KIND OF THING.See plant and operation at address below by pasting into your browser of IN Officer Election and Appointment results as of 22 APR 2017 Department of Indiana ROA Officers for 2017 - 2018 President:Senior Vice President:Lt Col Joseph M. Swaim, USAF (Ret.) CWO3 Jay P. Morgan USN (Ret) 151 S. Hughes St. 1121 W. Meadow Ln.Columbus, IN. 47201Bloomington, IN. 47404e-mail: swaimjoe@e-mail: jpmorgan@indiana.edu(H) 812-374-8463(H) 812-337-8982(C) 843-963-3076(W) 812-854-2962Chapter 7Chapter 7Vice President for Army Affairs: Junior Vice President for Army Affairs:COL Daniel L. Oates, USA (Ret)VACANT3155 Brookfield Dr.Newburgh, IN. 47630e-mail: DOates@ (H) 812-490-3155 (C) 812-453-6256Chapter 1Vice President for Naval Services: Junior Vice President for Naval Services: RADM Thomas J. Hill, USN (Ret) VACANT 12316 Windsor Drive .Carmel, IN 46033e-mail: ret.chop2002@(H) 812-337-8982(C) 317-805-1326Chapter 7 Vice President for Air Force Affairs: Junior Vice President for Air Force Affairs:Col Scott S. Russell USAFRSMSgt James R. Frier, USAFR 2018 Wellesley Lane5021 Saddle DrKokomo, IN 46902Lafayette, IN 47905e-mail: ssruss0726@e-mail: frydog@ (H) 817-343-9004(H) 765-449-8035(C) 817-343-9004 (C) 765-430-4547Chapter 63Chapter 63Director at Large – Army: Immediate Past President: BG James L. Bauerle, USA (Ret) COL John A. Topper, USA (Ret.)10721 Lakeshore Drive East.1007 W Star Cir.Carmel, Indiana 46033Santa Claus, IN. 47579e-mail: bgjimbauerle@e-mail: jt1@(H) 317-844-6432(H) 812-544-2064Chapter 7(C) 317-331-0470 Chapter 1 Director at Large - Naval Services:Director at Large - Air Force: CAPT Charles A. Jindrich, II, USN (Ret) COL Larry W. Alexander, USAF (Ret) 100 Elvernan Dr. 1448 Franklin St.West Lafayette, IN. 47906Columbus, IN. 47201-5716e-mail: captjindrich@e-mail: lwalex88@(H) 765-490-1748(H) 812-372-5643(W) 312-909-5077Chapter 63 (F) 765-583-0611Chapter 15APPOINTED Offices: Secretary:Treasurer:Lt Col. James C. Schluckbier, USAF (Ret)COL James C. Scott, USA (Ret) 581 N. Knollwood Dr.4020 E Stonegate CourtColumbus, IN, 47203-9334Bloomington, Indiana 47401-9802e-mail: jcbier@e-mail: James_C_Scott_Jr@(H) 812-376-0654(H) 812-332-0650(C) 812-343-3015(C)Chapter 7Chapter 7National Councilman: Alternate National Councilman: COL William G. Willis, USA (Ret) BG James L. Bauerle, USA (Ret) P.O. Box 10010721 Lakeshore Drive EastFrench Lick, Indiana 47432-0100Carmel, Indiana 46033e-mail: wgw@e-mail: bgjimbauerle@(H) 812-936-9450(H) 317-844-6432(C) 812-381-2068Chapter 7(W) 812-936-9100(F) 812-936-9060 Chapter 7Global Affairs/Defense EducationPublic Relations Officer: Fund/Congressional Liaison: COL William G. Willis, USA (Ret) COL William G. Willis, USA (Ret) P.O. Box 100P.O. Box 100French Lick, Indiana 47432-0100French Lick, Indiana 47432-0100e-mail: wgw@e-mail: wgw@(H) 812-936-9450(H) 812-936-9450(C) 812-381-2068(C) 812-381-2068(W) 812-936-9100(W) 812-936-9100(F) 812-936-9060 (F) 812-936-9060 Chapter 7Chapter 7 Legislative Chairman: Editor Newsletter- (Drum & Bugle): BG James L. Bauerle, USA (Ret) BG James L. Bauerle, USA (Ret) 10721 Lakeshore Drive East.10721 Lakeshore Drive East.Carmel, Indiana 46033Carmel, Indiana 46033e-mail: bgjimbauerle@e-mail: bgjimbauerle@(H) 317-844-6432(H) 317-844-6432Chapter 7Chapter 7Chaplain: ROTC Chairman:CH (LTC) Edward N. Moore, USA (Ret) LTC James M. Turley, USA (Ret) 5659 Colonist Circle1030 Windwood LnIndianapolis, Indiana 46254West Lafayette, Indiana 47906-4737e-mail: nedmoore1@e-mail: turleyj2mj@(H) 317-297-4317(H) 765-743-9591(W) PendingChapter 15(F) 317-297-4317-call before faxing(C) 317-509-0944Chapter 7Membership: ROA Web Master: COL Gregory L RunyonLt Col. James C. Schluckbier, USAF (Ret) 4337 W County Road 200 S581 N. Knollwood Dr. Cory, IN 47846-8084 Columbus, IN, 47203-9334 e-mail: glr1055@e-mail: jcbier@(H) 812-864-2377(H) 812-376-0654(C) 812-239-7390(C) 812-343-3015Chapter 1Chapter 7Judge Advocate: Building Fund/Endowment Chairman: COL David J. Sutherland, USA (Ret) VACANT 345 Rapid Rill LaneBrownsburg, IN. 46112e-mail: Dsuther73@(H) 317-852-8455Chapter 7Historian: Surgeon: VACANT VACANTDepartment Financial Audit Committee Chairman: LTC Richard O. Albright USA (Ret) 9944 Estep Drive Indianapolis, IN. 46280-1588e-mail: ralbright@(H) 317-846-5546(C) 317-847-6515(W & FAX) 317-581-8877Chapter 7VIP dinner at 2017 Annual Meeting in Lafayette, IN. Presentation made by Bill Willis to speaker against a Nuclear IranRobert Feferman, of South Bend, Outreach Coordinator, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a non-partisan advocacy group seeking to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons & support of terrorism through economic and financial sanctions. Presentation to Congressman Jim Banks at annual conventionCongressman Jim Banks, (R-3rd Dist), of Columbia City, IN. He is a member House Armed Services and House Veterans’ Affairs Committees; Former State Senator on Senate Veterans Affairs & the Military Committee. USNR officer who deployed to Afghanistan September 2014 to May 2015.POW story of "Angels of Bataan" army nurses is one of the greatest WWII stories never told.By Jennifer G. Hickey Published April 07, 2017 Fox News Known as the “Angels of Bataan and Corregidor,” the group of army nurse continues to hold the distinction of not losing a single member during their three years in internment. One of World War II’s greatest untold stories began on April 8, 1942 when Lt. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright, the commander of the U.S. Army in the Philippines, ordered the evacuation of military and civilian nurses to the island of Corregidor. A month later, Corregidor fell and 77 American nurses were captured by the Japanese, becoming the largest group of female prisoners of war.??Known as the “Angels of Bataan and Corregidor,” the group continues to hold the distinction of not losing a single member during their three years in the Santo Tomas Internment camp.“It is not that they were some of the first women POWs that made them special, but that they were average American from average towns and they survived in a horrific environment while never losing their commitment to serving their patients,” says Bernice Fischer, granddaughter of U.S. Army nurse Mary Bernice Brown-Menzie. Mary Bernice BrownFischer tells Fox News her grandmother entered the prison camp in 1942 weighing 130 pounds but had dropped to 75 pounds when she was liberated in February 1945.Many of the women sought assignment in the Philippines prior to December 1941 when the Pacific was relatively peaceful and where they enjoyed dances and other luxuries.But that changed after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and then launched an invasion of the Philippines. For months the nurses faced constant attack by Japanese planes, deteriorating conditions and dwindling rations. “There were 77 American women who became POWs and there were 77 who walked out in 1945. This is unprecedented, particularly for women who had no formal survival training,” says Elizabeth M. Norman, who chronicled the nurses in the book, “We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan.”According to Norman, under the informal leadership of World War I veteran nurse Capt. Maude Davison, the women always kept to strict schedules waking every day and dressing in uniforms they fashioned themselves.The discipline combined with a singular dedication to care for their patients, some of whom had been among the 75,000 American and Filipino soldiers captured on April 9, 1942 and forced on a 68-mile “death march” in 100-degree temperatures without food or water.The nurses cared for the men, known as “The Battling Bastards of Bataan,” despite suffering from starvation and other diseases themselves.Fischer tells Fox News her grandmother and the other nurses never thought of themselves as heroic because they saw their patients as the real heroes.Many of the nurses kept diaries, which document the emotional trauma they endured as they witnessed the torture by their Japanese captors.In one entry, Bernice’s grandmother writes about a soldier who was bound and tied up outside in the heat for three days before being shot in the back.“Whether he died instantly or wounded and bleeding lived on until he finally died, we will never know. But this cruel, heartless and brutal treatment filled us all with deep grief and sorrow,” she wrote. HYPERLINK "" Adelaida GarciaA gritty refusal to give in and a commitment to care was life-sustaining for nurses, says Lt. Col. Nancy Cantrell, an historian with the Army Nurse Corps,“They were a tough bunch,” Cantrell added. “They had a mission. They were surviving for the boys … and each other. That does give you a bit of added strength,” Cantrell told Soldiers Magazine.Despite the experience, some of the women carried on after the war without any bitterness. ................
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