Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 . __ . . -*- N A M V E T -*- ____/ \_ . . ( * \ . . Managing Editor \ Quangtri . . ---------------- \_/\ \_ Hue . . G. Joseph Peck \_Ashau Phu Bai . . \_* \_ . . Editorial Assistants \ * ) . . -------------------- _/ Danang . . Pete Farias \|/ ( \_*Chu Lai . . Sarge Hultgren --*-- \_ ------- \__ . . /|\ \_ I Corps \ . . Distribution Manager \ ------- ! . . ------------ /\_____ ! . . Jerry Hindle / ! \ . . ! !___ \ . . Section Editors ! \/\____! . . --------------- ! ! . . IN-TOUCH: Ray "Frenchy" Moreau / Dak To ! . . INCARCERATED VETS: Joyce Flory / * / . . COAST GUARD: Jack Hawkins ! \_ . . NEED-TO-KNOW: Lefty Frizzell ! Phu Cat\ . . \ * * ) . . \ Pleiku ) . . -**- N A M V E T -**- \ \ . . / / . . "In the jungles of 'Nam, some of us ( -------- ! . . were scared and wary, but we pulled _\ II Corps ! . . one another along and were able / -------- \ . . to depend on each other. That has \ \ . . never changed. Today, free of the ! * / . . criticisms and misunderstandings _/ Nhatrang / . . many veterans have endured, _/ / . . NAM VET is a shining beacon, __/ ! . . a ray of hope, and a _ __/ \ ! . . reminder that the _____( )/ ! Camranh Bay . . lessons learned / !__ ! . . at such a high / \ / . . price shall not \ Bien Hoa \ / . . be forgotten - ! Chu Chi * \ __/ . . nor the errors \_ * --------- \ ___/ . . repeated!!!" ____ \ III Corps \ _/ . . / \_____) )_(_ --------- !__/ Duplication in . . ! ( ___/ any form permitted . . _____! \__ * ___/ for NONCOMMERCIAL . . ! Saigon/ purposes ONLY! . . \___ -------- / \/ . . \ IV Corps / For other use, contact: . . ) -------- / . . / ! G. Joseph Peck (413) 442-1660 . . / ____/ Managing Editor . . / Mekong/ . . ! Delta/ This newsletter is comprised of articles . . ! ____/ and items from individuals and other . . ! / sources. We are not responsible for the . . ! / content of this information nor are any of . . ! __/ NAM VETs contributors or Section Editors. . . \_/ gjp . . . NAM VET Newsletter Page i Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 ================================================================= T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S 1. Editorials Without a miracle... .................................... 1 2. Remember Them!!! Reaching Out - Again! ................................... 5 A visit or note once in awhile? ......................... 9 Not prepared to be forgotten ............................ 10 3. Ol' Glory n' Shiftin' Sands A Desert Storm Rages .................................... 15 To Veterans Of All Wars: Thank You ...................... 16 She Flies Ever High!!! .................................. 18 My Symbol ............................................... 19 Hands Across Time ....................................... 21 Homecoming III .......................................... 22 4. Veteran Groups Vietnam Veterans Locator ................................ 23 Berkshire Veterans Center - What is it? ................. 24 Brotherhood of Vietnam Veterans - Membership Info ...... 26 Berkshire Veterans' Center Membership Form .............. 28 5. In-Touch Kudos For Ray "Frenchy" Moreau! ......................... 31 In-Touch: What is it??? ................................. 34 IN-TOUCH Registration/Request Form!!! ................... 37 6. The NamVet Chapel Laos - Rebuilding and Helping ........................... 39 The Electronic Chapel ................................... 40 7. Of National Interest Soldiers' and Sailor's Relief Act ....................... 41 They haven't forgotten US!!! ............................ 43 8. Hearts n' Minds Short History of PTSD ................................... 44 Finally Here!!! ......................................... 53 Vets Hospital Echo is now on-line! ...................... 54 Break out the Clearasil ! ........................... 56 War Comes Home - Again! ................................. 57 9. Veteran info you want to know Ask the Veterans' Affairs Counselor ..................... 58 Benefits for NY Veterans and their Families ............. 59 Bring them home - NOW!!! ................................ 68 Common Reenlistment Codes ............................... 69 10. U.S.S. Liberty Analysis of Attack on the Liberty ...................... 71 11. Concentrated IVVEC/NamVet Service Congressman Adds Effort to Veterans Plight ........ 77 VA Director Assures Vet's Fair Treatment ................ 79 American Legion and Job Help for Veterans ............... 80 Research Help Requested - Site-85 ....................... 86 12. Look who's talking! BBS-Participants in VIETNAM_VETS EchoConference ......... 87 Some Gave All... ........................................ 91 NAM VET Newsletter Page ii Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 ================================================================= Editorials ================================================================= Without a miracle by G. Joseph Peck NamVet's Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 43 editions; over 3000 pages; hours and hours of putting together text-only graphics, hoping that somewhere, somehow we'd be able to provide the information and outreach many of our veterans need. Hoping that each editorial would, like AT&T, reach out and touch you , I put a lot of my heart and soul into ALL of NamVet. I remember clearly the invitations from close friends and requests from my kids to go fishing which I declined because "I gotta do my editorial for NamVet" - "Have too many folk a waitin' for NamVet. Gotta get it out for 'em!" I remember, too, the super-great help of all our Section Editors and THEIR many phone calls; THEIR many hours of putting together articles and information, and THEIR efforts to continue the UNITY in our veteran commUNITY. Saying "Good-bye" isn't easy, folks... especially when its saying good-bye to something I love so dearly. But, unless a miracle happens, this MUST be the goodbye I've so long dreaded and hoped would never come. Many of you out in NamVetLand "told" me that I was digging a grave for myself as I continued in my efforts to provide a SERVICE that, I felt, all our veterans NEED: NamVet and our VIETNAM_VETS international echoconference. "Forget it, Joe. Leave it behind and do something more productive, more useful with your time." Of course, I ALWAYS responded: "Not so! I'm not digging a grave! I'm constructing one of the finest foundations for 24-hour-a-day, nation- even world-wide veteran service that you can imagine!" Second Mortgage on my house/home; hundreds of dollars of telephone bills annually, and utility bills now into the thousands didn't phase me. I kept doggedly persisting, KNOWING that what I've been doing IS important to at least one of you. 26 years ago today, 13 Mar 65, continuing in MY proud military service, I was thrown from an Army jeep (ya know: the M151). Everything then seemed to come crashing down. My abilities and capabilities all seemed to disappear. A few months later, wrongfully diagnosed, I was Honorably discharged from something else I loved dearly: the US Military. I never stopped serving, though - nor trying to rebuild what was lost in the accident. 18 and a half years later, after thorough VA testing and evaluation, the original diagnosis - made after nearly a month lapsing in and out of coma - of "Unsuitable - due to conditions pre-existing original enlistment" was finally corrected to state "a misdiagnosed post-traumatic confusional state and a mild form of temporal lobe epilepsy." - and the VA graciously allowed me to participate in a program of Vocational Rehabilitation. (Little did I realize that, after the education was completed, I would fall through other cracks in the system: "You're overqualified!"; "Sorry, Joe, but Gramm-Rudman-Hollings has eliminated your NAM VET Newsletter Page 1 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 position here at the Veterans Administration"; "Sorry, Mr. Peck. The U.S. Post Office can't hire you. The VA says you're too disabled to be a Postal Carrier."; "What have you been doing the last few years, Mr. Peck? Aren't you a little old to be going to school?") With the reports of diagnosis/evaluation in-hand, I sought an attorney who would properly represent me before the ABCMR (Army Board of Correction of Military Records). He requested a $1500 retainer fee. I begged and borrowed (privately - NOT in the echo or through any veteran organization), took out a Student Loan and paid the attorney $750 of his requested retainer - the balance to be paid when I actually saw some positive results of his efforts. In over five years (diagnosis was corrected in 1983, attorney was hired in 1984), the attorney filed not even ONE affidavit in/on my behalf, gave me not even ONE positive indication that he was DOING anything in/on my behalf and, in 1990, I took his lack of actions before the Bar Association of the state in which he was initially licensed to practice law. The Board found that the attorney had done nothing wrong in doing nothing for five years - or in requesting a retainer for a case which, at the time, a fee in excess of $10 was not permitted ). In 1989, the bank who held the second mortgage on our house/home (the one I took out to help purchase our initial software and equipment) was going to foreclose and take possession of our premises. One of the alternatives I was presented with was declaring "Wage Earner's Bankruptcy" which would allow my family and I to keep our house/home and pay each creditor over a longer period of time. I continued my search for employment, hoping to have at least a WAGE in addition to my VA Disability Compensation that I could make payments with. I'm a firm believer in OPTIONS and ALTERNATIVES: If one doesn't work, try another and then another until, finally, something DOES. In 1983 I began my efforts to have a Vet Center established here in Pittsfield, MA. In 1984, after organizational and town meetings, Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. was formed - and officially registered with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in January, 1985. In May of 1985, Pittsfield opened its Vet Center and Berkshire Veterans' Center took on a grassroots type of veteran service which continues even today. In 1987, after local and CompuServe efforts as "VETLink - the POINT MAN", VETLink #1 went on-line as a computer-based veteran center. Finally, in 1990, Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. and its outreach effort of VETLink #1 were granted Federal NonProfit Status. VETLink #1 has been joined by VETLink #2 in Herndon, VA and VETLink #3 in Cape Girardeau, MO. Although, as President of Berkshire Veterans' Center and sysop of VETLink #1, I received a few donations in equipment, software and monies for operating expenses, a salary (or even partial repayment for any of what I've done to get it off-the-ground) just wasn't feasible if we were to continue providing the service and camaraderie that had begun. I have approached many local persons - both in the private and public sectors - regarding funding VETLink #1 and the service it provides. There have also been both NAM VET Newsletter Page 2 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Federal and State requests for help - but all resulted in negative responses. VETLink #1 has continued for the last two months only thanks to some of YOU who have helped with your donations. In fact, the last two months were the FIRST two months that Berkshire Veterans Center, Inc. was able to pay its OWN telephone bill! Throughout the latter part of 1990, after successfully passing the US Postal Exam for a custodian's position, I appeared for a couple of interviews. One I was turned down for; the second was a positive and I had to go again to the Medical Department of the Post Office for a physical. The doctor requested information from the Veterans Administration concerning any of my disabilities. The VA didn't hurriedly respond and, just last Friday (3/8/91) I got some good news and some bad news. The GOOD news: I learned that the USPO doctor had determined that I COULD work for the Post Office if I wore my neck brace and reported at 30-day intervals for checkups at his office. The BAD news: the position for which I'd applied had been filled and there are no more openings. I've also been interviewed by the Veterans Administration in Albany, NY for a supply clerk's position. Wouldya believe THEY tried to talk me OUT of the position? (Statements such as: "With a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and quite an extensive background in electronics, don't you think you're a little overqualified for this position?" - and - "What guarantees do we have that you're going to STAY in this position?" - and - "Why is it that you're coming all the way over from Pittsfield (MA) to work? Don't you think you'll have problems in winter weather?" It seems it didn't matter to them when I told them I HAD to have a job, HAD to feed my family, HAD to save our house/home. I got a letter two weeks later telling me that I was not the person selected for the position. I received another from them about three weeks later asking me if I was available for a Clerk Typists position to which I promptly responded. Haven't heard a WORD from 'em - although I responded by their deadline date.) On 2 Jan 1991, I brought most - if not all - of the above to the attention of the Veterans Administration at a personal hearing in Boston, MA where I repeated and emphasized my VA claims with supporting documentation and statements. (There are a few years of service-connected entitlements they've conveniently "forgotten" to compensate me for - in addition to some other items.) To date, I have still heard nothing concerning my efforts - and the "private sector" employers still seem a tad reluctant to hire. And now, 26 years after volunteering for a mission and then having my whole life turned upside down and inside out, it kind of looks like another door is closing for me. We've received many final notices from our utility company's; HUD and the bank are standing in line to take our house and home; the registration on my car has been revoked 'cause I haven't been able to pay for the insurance (required here in Massachusetts), and if a job EVER happens with the Post Office, its going to come WAY TOO LATE to help anything. Very selfishly, perhaps, I've tried to use my OWN personal experiences with federal and state agencies, with various employers and veteran counseling services as a means of helping each of you out here in NamVetLand. Most of what has happened in MY life over the past few years is somewhat documented here in NamVet and in the VIETNAM_VETS echoconference. I can look back through all the echo-messages, through all the editorials and all NAM VET Newsletter Page 3 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 the NamVets and, perhaps, find another way I COULD have done things - but, if I had the chance, I don't think I'd do anything other than what I've already done. I have tried my best, have not focussed my energies in only ONE direction, kept on keeping on - in the BEST and the WORST of all circumstances. First, foremost, and last - I sincerely give thanks to my wife, Georgia, and our children for their patience as I've continued on with NamVet and all that I've tried to do with VIETNAM_VETS and our VetNet echoes. A son in the military; another son who'd entered prematurely and is now a civilian again; a brother, a niece and a nephew in Saudi Arabia; another niece now joining the military; a brother-in-law in school at Moffet Field NAS; and all of you out here have kept me going, kept me reaching; kept me searching for new avenues of outreach, new ways to show that "America DOES care!" All of NamVet's Section Editors, too are sincerely to be thanked for the work THEY'VE done! To all of you who continuously reminded me that I was digging a grave for myself with all of my efforts, I STILL say: "Not so! I'm not digging a grave! I'm constructing one of the finest foundations for 24-hour-a-day, nation- even world-wide veteran service that you can imagine!" To those others who might feel that this editorial might be an appeal for funding: It is NOT (although help would NOT be refused - just hard to accept ). I have ALWAYS held high the IMAGE of my brother and sister Vietnam Veterans and would not knowingly jeopardize, corrupt, nor taint it in even the remotest instance. I might have made some wrong moves (my wife would be the first to agree ), and I could have done things differently - but I've also SHARED what's happened so that we may ALL learn from it. THAT's what NamVet and VIETNAM_VETS is all about: SHARING and MAKING THE NEXT PERSON's JOURNEY A LITTLE EASIER! If I'm not back next month and there's no NamVet, you'll know I just didn't make it folks. Sorry - but I HAVE tried my best! The "footprints" I've left here should be easy to follow... They're footprints of a Vietnam Vet: One of the proudest, toughest, most persistent and determined veterans in all of American history! I'm proud I am one - I've worked hard to pay my dues! 'til next time Show a brother/sister veteran ... That YOU care!!! Ci'ao for Ni'ao - Joe - Managing Editor: NamVet 1988-1991 Moderator/EchoMail Coordinator: VIETNAM_VETS President: Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. P O Box 2056 Pittsfield, MA 01202 NAM VET Newsletter Page 4 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 ================================================================= Remember Them!!! ================================================================= Reaching Out - Again! By Joyce Flory NamVet's Incarcerated Veterans Section Editor Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM (505) 523-2811 Hi to you all; I'm sorry there was no up-date on the incarcerated Nam Vets in the February issue, but to be honest, there was nothing to up- date. Since then, thanks to Mike Harris, I have been able to contact a few more prisons and have had super success in getting replies. The following names and addresses are new: William McCall #8031 ICH - 404 Karl N. Robison #852525 CCH - 343 James L. Davis #892971 E-Dorm W-5 Lowell K. Idle #893265 DCH - 424 Larry Lisenby #853325 CCH - 149 Steve Swafford #874932 CCH - 148 J. Michael Ensley #28828 F-Dorm W-84 Joe DeRado #902975 E-Dorm E-42 Richard Martin #9634 CCH - 164 Pat McGuire #892476 DCH - 153 Danny W. Hamby #892631 E-Dorm W-93 Scotty Hammack #10422 ACH - 148 Richard Kirby #31358 DCH - 262 Dinzel Miller #23977 CCH - 370 PO Box 41 Indiana State Prison Michigan City, In. 46360 Terry Snyder #193889 Alex Beaudine #145559 Bill Hammes #204434 Adrian Temp. Corr. Fac. PO Box 1900 Adrian, Mi 49221 Myer Pettyjohn #90722 Unit 9 NAM VET Newsletter Page 5 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Bobby Tate #123531 Unit 5 John Cobb #126878 Unit 12 Stanton Easley #86354 Unit 2 Charles Sprinkle #109200 Unit 4 Grant Henderson Unit 4 Johnny Ottinger Unit 14 Kenneth Teaque #112717 Unit 4 John Slate Unit 8 James Eades Unit 4 William Harris #77891 Unit 8 PO Box 2000 Wartburg, Tenn. 37887 Robert Dennstaedt #147258 G. Robert Cotter Facility PO Box 3003 Jackson, Mi. 49204 Robert White #182002 Chaplin, PMI/OP #39 Andy Cascarelli #201886 Eddie Stenton #198136 Antonio Lyte #165094 Earl Lord #196758 Tim Grassmyer #206270 Rick Isbell #207512 David Fox #200406 Charles Ray #205764 8201 N. Crosswell Rd. S.T.F. St. Louis, Mi. 48880 The following are new names to an already exsisting list from New York: Thomas Delmonte 86-C-1021 A-1-20 Robert T. Smith 81-A-2188 A-5-10 Thomas H. Harlowe 83-C-0834 E-9-16 Donald W. Knapp 88-C-0072 A-3-8 Ed Beaufort Cutner 89-C-1606 C-13-6 Gary Emry 89-C-1315 A-7-24 Ervun L. Armlin 84-C-0782 D-6-6 Ferdinand Quiles 83-A-5609 A-4-38 Elwood H. Fields 88-A-4043 D-8-13 Micheal Mantice 90-A-7640 B-7-18 135 State St. PO Box 618 Auburn, New York 13024-9000 I am also in contact with Larry DuBois 940561 Out Post Leader, Point Man Ministries International President, VVA #186 PO Box 1000 C2f3 Steilacoom, Wash 98388. He is the first to request my sending a disc and postage to send it back. I'm waiting on his reply. As always, I urge you to put that pen to paper and write just one of the many incarcerated veterans that I have listed. These guys (sorry no gals,YET) aren't out to "fleece" you, con you, or try to take advantage of you. All they want is some contact with the outside world and maybe a new friend. I, personally, write steadily, to 18 guys in 14 different states and never once have I been asked for ANYTHING other than to pass on this newsletter (I could get it they couldn't). I've been sent NAM VET Newsletter Page 6 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 a book of stamps (to cover MY postage), got a pin and patch sent to Gjoe, had offers of stationary, and a bunch of big " thank you for taking the time to write me" 's, not to mention a bunch of laughs and giggles that accompany most of the letters. Give it just ONE shot. It really is painless. From Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter # 205 Monthly Flyer for February 1991, sent to me by Alexander Michael Marathon: "FROM 1st. V.P. J.H. McAULEY, (MITCH): Our Letter Writing Campaign to the guys in "THE GULF " letting them know that "WE", the membership of "205" are behind them "200%" is going well. FROM OUR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS OFFICER, A. M. MARATHON: Our Outgoing Flyer Circulation List has grown to 25. Another list of names of potential candidates for a Pen- Pal Venture with THOSE WHO CARE in Las Cruces, N.M. has been sent out recently. FROM OUR POW/MIA DIRECTOR, D. ZORMAN: Those interested in expressing their feelings at the way that our soldiers are being treated as POW's by Iraqis can direct comments or suggestions to the Iraqi Delegation c/o The United Nations, 405 E. 42nd St., New York, N.Y. " Again,if there is any avenue I've missed in order to contact incarcerated Vietnam veterans, please contact me on the Echo, Netmail me at 305/105, or snail-mail me at 1825 Evelyn Las Cruces, NM 88001. Later,Joyce ________________________________________________________ This article literally fell into my lap one day. Though it was written in early 1989 (I think), it's still timely. "V.V.A. CHAPTER #161 Mr. David E. Piper, N. I. V. N. Reg. Dir. P. O. Box #14 Concord, N.H. 03302-0014 James River Veterans Group c/o James R. Rashid, Pres. James River Corr. Inst., State Farm, Va., 23160 'VETERANS CAN HELP' The purpose of Vietnam Veterans banding together, both inside and outside of prison, is for mutual support, self-help, and working towards our goals. We, the Incarcerated Veterans, are seriously in need of the programs and counselling of the Vet Centers. We are the segment of Vietnam-Era veterans nationwide who have had the hardest problems and, therefore, need assistance. It is being held back from us because of the Vet Center and Veterans Administration policy. The Vietnam Veterans of America are finally getting the respect and recognition that this country has owed them. Yet there remain the incarcerated veterans, the majority of whom have Honorable Discharges. Many of those with "Bad Papers" are eligible for upgrades, because of policy changes, yet these men can't get help NAM VET Newsletter Page 7 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 because the bureaucracy has washed its hands of them. Many Combat Vets couldn't find jobs, but saw the draft-card burners and those who sneaked off to Canada get amnesty!! Incarcerated Vets are a serious problem. They have skills and need your support. VVA is helping them to readjust and gain self-respect in order to become productive citizens again. Support your VVA Incarcerated Chapters. We worked together then; let's pull together again !! C. McLaren, The Eagle Speaks, Vol. II, No. 2" NAM VET Newsletter Page 8 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX \ \ \ \ \XXXX XXXXX XXXXX.::::::::::::::.XXXXX INCARCERATED XXXX XXXXX XXXXX --------- XXXXX \ \ \ \ \ \ \XXXX XXXXX .XXXXX W W I I XXXXX. VETERANS \ \XXXX XXXXX ::XXXXX --------- XXXXX::. \ \ \ \ XXXX XXXXX :::XXXXX ------------- XXXXX:::. XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX K O R E A XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX ------------- XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX ------------- XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX V I E T N A M XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX ------------- XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX::::::::::::::::XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX::::::::::::::::XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX::' `::XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX:: ::XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX `..........''`XXXXX:::: XXXX XXXXX ::::XXXXX .:(O) . (O):. XXXXX:::' XXXX XXXXX ::' XXXXX .. XXXXX:: XXXX XXXXX .:' XXXXX . .. XXXXX: XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX . .. ` XXXXX XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX ' '.. ` XXXXX. XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX" ' ` XXXXX . XXXX XXXXX ``. XXXXX ' . . . ` XXXXX '. ........., XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX'' ..''.'''. XXXXX .' '.XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX" ':.:'' XXXXX .'' .:::'XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX:.. .:XXXXX.'' .::::' .XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX '.. ..:' XXXXX ..:' . .:::'XXXX XXXXX ....::'XXXXX ':::::;' XXXXX .:''. .:::' XXXX XXXXX .:::::' XXXXX .: XXXXX :'. ..:... XXXX XXXXX.::' :: XXXXX: PREPARED TO XXXXX .'' ''.. XXXX XXXXX::' :: XXXXX`: FIGHT XXXXX.' '.XXXX XXXXX' :: XXXXX ``. XXXXX XXXX XXXXX '' XXXXX PREPARED TO XXXXX XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX DIE ...'XXXXX XXXX XXXXX :: XXXXX `...' XXXXX XXXX XXXXX `..' XXXXX .' XXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX /\ .' .' XXXX XXXXX /\ \ . . XXXX XXXXX / \ \...' `. .' XXXX XXXXX / NOT PREPARED TO BE DESERTED XXXX XXXXX / .'.' . .`.' XXXX XXXXX / ~ | : : : . XXXX XXXXX / |`. : : . .__________ XXXX XXXXX / ~ ~ ||.` ` : || \ / XXXX XXXXX / WRITE OR VISIT AN INCARCERATED VETERAN SOON ! XXXX XXXXX / ~ || . .'. / / XXXX XXXXX/ ~ ~ ~|| ||/ / XXXX XXXXX ~ ~ ~ || || / XXXX XXXXX || || / XXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX \_________XXXXX________|| XgjpX XXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXXX XXXX NAM VET Newsletter Page 9 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Not Prepared To Be Forgotten By Joyce Flory NamVet's Incarcerated Veteran Section Editor Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM (505) 523-2811 Thought you'd like the most recent listings of the addresses. Whitmarsh Bailey #56715 Chris S.Crespin #45523 Dennis E.Prentis #43497 Jerry Baack #57098 PO Box R Buena Vista,Colo 81211 Thomas Adams (don't write unless single female,I'm told,Grin) Dwight L.Lyons Donald E. Head EG 172282 RCI Box 8409 Columbus,Ga 31907- 8409 George Herbert (not a Namvet,but good people) Ron Gohn T2-rm 273 Lance Koren now at PO Box 1069 Concord, Mass. 01472 Arthur Coy Richard Ortiz Tyrone Smith Kevin M Pennell Robert Thompson Leslie Gomes now at PO Box 565 Billerica, Mass. 01821 Frank Komnenus PO Box 466 Gardner,Ma 01440 Billy Borkman #125740 (O-221) (not seeking pen-pal,but willanswer) Van Burton #108483 (A-120) M Davenport #155165 (N-321) M Donati #150219 (D-71) Joe Grace #136189 (B-108) M Glennon #140901 (O-101) (non-vet that likes to write) J Heidinger #102513 (O-421) Charles Ladison #138228 (O-330) G Magno #112810 (N-418) William Merriman #131789 (A-66) L Rainsford #126380 (B-108) Abdul Shah #101250 (O-417) Gerald Stovall Jr. #98899 (O-328) R Sutton #141041 (O-317) PO Box 488 Burkeville,Va. 23922 Jamal R Rashid #110781 D-2 Joseph Huggins #99433 D-6 Preston Parker #118311 D-5 William Moran #131271 D-2 Le'roi Mason #104969 D-5 David Bailey #153526 D-2 Oliver Mayfield #106330 HA-2 John Harris #133342 HA NAM VET Newsletter Page 10 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Robert Hall #148001 HA James Moody #160399 D-4 William Simmons #106399 D-4 Charlie Sherman #128403 D-6 Carlton Heflin #170297 D-5 Matthew Sanders #166545 D-4 Micheal Kay #136567 D-5 David Swink #157682 D-6 Gordon Cawthron #135734 D-6 Curtis Wright #125330 HA Roger Baxter #157594 D-2 Thomas Hawley #139294 D-1 Luther C Beasley #110375 D-2 James River Corr. Ctr. State Farm,Va. 23160 George W. Burd AJ2110 Vernon E. Miller Sr. AJ1004 Darryl Houseman AJ1063 Drawer A Old Route 22 Cresson,Penn. 16630-0010 David M. McCook (DA-118) EF 183542 Jack T. Ruthledge C.I. PO Box 8409 Columbus,Ga. 31907 Willi Henderson-Bey 128457 Richard Sheff 180946 Tony Slusarski 131661 Ronald Kramer 181007 Ronald Triplett 132615 Teddy Stephens 182636 Danny McKay 147064 Edwin Zimmerman 184779 Boyd Blair 156418 William Letzgus 187075 Herschel Davis 163765 David Oates 190210 Thomas Siemoneit 179536 David Prieto 193367 Leonard Pikaart 179858 Wendell Neview 196387 David Martin 180065 Teddy McCray 200255 James Wilson 180186 Tim Shagen 203886 2400 South Sheridan Rd. Muskegon,MI. 49442 A. David Baez #57020 Box 100 Somers,Conn. 06071 Harold Mize 863934 Cory Naples 901359 Westville Correctional Center P.O.Box 473 NAM VET Newsletter Page 11 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Westville,Ind. 46391-0473 Jeff Weil 28242 Cecil Williams 23818 James McGee 31489 Earl Grissom 27536 Roy Fudge 29966 Eddie Sanchez 26895 George McIntyre 25124 Eddie Romero 22115 Eugene Perry 29647 Brook De Nault 29594 Harold Weaver 17624 Harry Lilly 29894 Claude Theriault 11872 Dan Richmond 15601 Ken Jezierski 30790 James Raines 31445 John Doane 14686 Robert Turner 30473 James Bishop 31347 Brain Hern 14535 Nevada State Prison PO Box 607 Carson City,Nevada 89702 Sam Howard 18329 Pete Huertas 15239 Jake Reynolds 21763 Paul Stadtlander 23389 Ely State Prison PO Box 1989 Ely,Nevada 89301 Johnny Chadwick 110520 Holman Unit 5-U-5 Holman 37 Atmore,Ala. 36503-0037 Alexander Micheal Marathon 79-D-0127 B-2-7 Ron Chamberlain 81-C-0459 C-17-41 Giacomo A. Frascone 89-A-3512 A-6-22 William L. Hargrove 83-A4292 D-8-18 Andrews S. Tenny 81-B-2137 E-10-19 Thomas Delmonte 86-C-1021 A-1-20 Robert T. Smith 81-A-2188 A-5-10 Thomas H. Marlowe 83-C-0834 E-9-16 Donald W. Knapp 88-C-0072 A-3-8 Ed Beaufort Cutner 89-C-1606 C-13-6 Gary Emry 89-C-1315 A-7-24 Ervun L. Armlin 86-C-0782 D-6-6 Ferdinand Quiles 83-A-5609 A-4-38 Elwood H. Fields 88-A-4043 D-8-13 Micheal Mantice 90-A-7640 B-7-18 PO Box 618-135 135 State St. Auburn,New York 13024-9000 William R. McCall 8031 ICH - 404 NAM VET Newsletter Page 12 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Karl N. Robinson 852525 CCH - 343 James L. Davis 892971 E-Dorm W-5 Lowell K. Idle 893265 DCH - 424 Larry Lisenby 853325 CCH - 149 Steve Swafford 874932 CCH - 148 J. Michael Ensley 28828 F-Dorm W-84 Joe DeRado 902975 E-Dorm E-42 Richard Martin 9634 CCH - 164 Pat McGuire 892476 DCH - 153 Danny W. Hamby 892631 E-Dorm W-93 Scotty Hammack 10422 ACH-148 Richard Kirby 31358 DCH-262 Dinzel Miller 23977 CCH-370 PO Box 41 Indiana State Prison Michigan City,In 46360 Larry DuBois PO Box 1000 C2F3 Steilacoom,Wash. 98388 Terry Snyder #193889 Alex Beaudine #145559 Bill Hammes #204434 PO Box 1900 Adrian,Mi 49221 Myer Pettyjohn #90722 Unit 9 Bobby Tate #123531 Unit 5 John Cobb #126878 Unit 12 Stanton Easley #86354 Unit 2 Charles Sprinkle #109200 Unit 4 Grant Henderson Unit 4 Johnny Ottinger Unit 14 Kenneth Teague #112717 Unit 4 John Slate Unit 8 James Eades Unit 4 William Harris #77891 Unit 8 PO Box 2000 Wartburg,Tenn. 37887 Robert Dennstaedt 147258 G. Robert Cotton Fac. PO Box 3003 Jackson, Mi 49204 NAM VET Newsletter Page 13 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Robert White #182002 Andy Cascarelli #201886 Eddie Stenton #198136 Antonio Lyte #165094 Earl Lord #196758 Tim Grassmyer #206270 Rick Isbell #207512 David Fox #200406 Charles Ray #205764 8201 N. Crosswell Rd. S.T.F. St. Louis, Mi 48880 NAM VET Newsletter Page 14 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 ================================================================= Ol' Glory n' Shiftin' Sands ================================================================= A Desert Storm Rages January 29, 1991 By: Dale E. Malone Freedom Line BBS - Orlando, FL (407) 423-2111 Just a word in these troubled times, Writing lines, and constructing rhymes, If you're tired of watching the war, Unplug your set 'tis easy to ignore. But whate'er you do, I must implore, Our Sons and daughters on a distant shore, The hardest thing about being a vet, Returning home to hate and hurled epithet. Stand up for right, as is only just, The troops deserve our sacred trust, They're off in Arabie, rife with sand, Far from home in a barren land. Ordered in harm's way, not their choice, But Americans each, they have a voice, Not to raise against their peers, Nor to suffer from dissident's jeers. To particpate in a bigger thing, To right a wrong, let freedom ring, Suffer the heat, and probably pain, To end the pillage of Saddam Hussein. We all exault, all nations stand firm, Iraq misjudged us, look at them squirm, So out of travail there comes a gift, Leaders of Earth have healed their rift. Let the scribes record for all who follow, The U.N. stood tall, their conclave not hollow, Weep not mothers, for your sacrificed lambs, Blood 'twill be spilt but sheep become rams. From this date forward, mark ye well, You'll suffer our wrath, hear deaths knell, The planet moves forward into the light, We welcome depots and will willingly fight. Moving forward from division, into unity, Coalescing our might, in one whole community, So consider my words, Mr. Hussein, Or from the sky, death will rain. NAM VET Newsletter Page 15 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 To veterans of all wars: Thank you By John Laird New Mexico Section of 3/10/91 Issue of El Paso Times Submitted by Joyce Flory NamVet's Incarcerated Veterans Section Editor Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM (505) 523-2811 We rejoiced that the war is over, that this nation's military objectives were met, that the ground war lasted only 100 hours and that casualties were far fewer than we feared. That was Friday, March 8, 1990. When our troops began arriving home from the war. Remember, though, that on any date the door to war can swing both ways. Ironically, it was March 8, 1965, when the first U. S. ground troops arrived in Vietnam. As I've anticipated this homecoming celebration, I've also wondered: How much of this is celebration, and how much of it is the purging of our guilt? Are we only interested in welcoming home troops who are allowed by politicians to WIN wars? I hope not. But consider the differences between Vietnam and Mideast wars. The difference was affirmed early, when President Bush said this war would not be another Vietnam, that it would be waged relatively quickly and that a great majority of Americans would support the action. He was right on all counts. Perhaps a greater difference in the two wars: In the Persian Gulf several white-hat nations fought one tyrant of undisputed evil. In Vietnam, the military knew what it should do, but we back home never were sure. FOLLOWING THE WRONG STAR I was a junior in high school on March 8, 1965; lost, as I've written before, in the fog of adolescence. Later, in the war, though, I found inspiration in a John Wayne movie, "Green Berets." In college, I decided that mt future surely must be in a helicopter, waging war in the jungle with the same skill - met with the same adoration back home - that we were to observe 26 years later in the deserts of the Mideast. My older brother got wind of my John Waynesque scheme. He advised me to wait and reassess my ambitions. This I read in his letters... from Vietnam. Was he clairvoyant? Did he know there would be no glory in Vietnam? No parades, no rallies back home? Fortunately, my crude diet in college had created a stomach condition that caused me to fail the Army physical. Instead of protecting freedom in the tropics of Southeast Asia, I returned to reporting on high school football games in the Texas Panhandle. A CERTAIN GRATITUDE I'm about halfway sorry I never fought in Vietnam, just as I am about halfway sorry that I didn't get to work as a war correspondent in the Persian Gulf. But, I'm whole-way sure about one thing: From now on, every time a veteran mentions Vietnam, I plan to say, simply, "Thank you for going." About 57,000 U. S. troops will never hear our gratitude. They paid the ultimate price in Vietnam. And to this day, many more suffer the psychological scars of having gone there. Let our rejoicing grow and last for months. But, let us leave no one out. NAM VET Newsletter Page 16 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 To the soldiers of the Mideast: Welcome home. And to ALL who have served in the U. S. military: Thank you for stepping out. It is the American soldier - not some star of a war movie - who becomes the real hero for the rest of us." NAM VET Newsletter Page 17 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 NMNMNMNMNMNMNM\ Operation Desert Storm MH * * * HN/NMNMNMNMNMNMNMNNMNM\ NH * * * HM/MH * * HMNMMNMN/MMMMMMMMMMMMM\ MH * * * HN/NH * * * H////////MMMMMMMMMMMMM/MMMMMMMMMMMMMMH NH * * * HM/MH * * H//////////////////////MMMMMMMMMMMMMMH MH * * * HN/NH * * * HNMNMMNM/////////////////////////////H MH * * * HM/MH* * * HMNMNNMN/NMNMNMNNMNMNM///////////////H MH * * * HN/NH * * * H////////MNMNMNMMNMNMN/NMNMNNMNMNNMNHH NH * * * HM/MH * * H//////////////////////MNMNMMNMNMMNMNH MH * * * HN/NH * * * HMNMMNMN/////////////////////////////H H//////////////MH * * HNMNNMNM/NMNMNMNNMNMNM///////////////H H//////////////////////////////////MNMNMNMMNMNMN/NMNMNNMNMNNMNMH NNNNNNNNNNNNNN///////////////////////////////////MNMNMMNMNMMNMNH NNNNNNNNNNNNNN/NMNMNMNMNMNMNMNNMNM/////////////////////////////H H//////////////MNMNMNMNMNMNMNMMNMN/NMNMNMNNMNMNM///////////////H H//////////////////////////////////MNMNMNMMNMNMN/NMNMNNMNMNNMNMH MNMNMNMNMNMNMN///////////////////////////////////MNMNMMNMNMMNMNH NMNMNMNMNMNMNM\NMNMNMNMNMNMNMMNMNM/////////////////////////////H \NMNMNMNMNMNMNNMNMN\NMNMNMNNMNMNM///////////////H \MNMNMNMMNMNMN\NMNMNNMNMNNMNMH WELL DONE !!! \MNMNMMNMNMMNMNH NAM VET Newsletter Page 18 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 My Symbol Submitted by Joyce Flory NamVet's Incarcerated Veterans Section Editor Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM (505) 523-2811 This is a reprint from the February 22, 1991 issue of the Missle Ranger (the local post newspaper here in New Mexico). I did not have an answer To ease their angry pain Editor's Note: The following poem was recited by Col. Jerry D. Autry at the WSMR (Joyce's note: White Sand's Missle Range) Prayer Breakfast in the Officers' Club on Feb. 13. The poem was composed by SSgt. Michael R. Conner of Fremont, Calif., and sent to his family at Christmas. Conner was killed in Saudi Arabia on Jan. 25, 1991. *** MY SYMBOL I had a dream near 3 a.m. That crashed into my night A multitude of warriors Standing in full sight On their anguished faces Were grim and hateful glares; They wore Marine Corps blouses Yet all they did was stare. I saw wounds of Belleau Wood, I saw the scars of Guam, The dead were there of Heartbreak Ridge And a company from 'Nam. Then, one spoke out and asked me A question loud and strong: "Can they burn the flag we died for?" How can it NOT be wrong? I did not have an answer To ease their angry pain I could only give excuses For a country gone insane... I saw the flag on Iwo Just before I died I saw that lead pole lifted Where the flag was safely tied. I know it's just a symbol That flies above our graves, But, let it be a symbol Of what these men and I have gave. With that, the dream was over, And I woke with fear and shame. NAM VET Newsletter Page 19 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 To think a FOOL can trample The flag that bears OUR names... " With that said, I close and belatedly head to Hallmark to buy some black ribbon. Joyce NAM VET Newsletter Page 20 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 . . . For Information on our Saudi Soldiers: . . . . ARMY: 1-703-614-0730 . . 1-800-626-1440 . . 1-800-642-9254 . . NAVY: 1-800-732-1206 . . 1-800-255-3808 . . 1-202-746-5915 . . MARINES: 1-800-523-2694 . . AIR FORCE: 1-800-253-9276 . . COAST GUARD: 1-800-283-8724 . . . . Support Groups: . . National Guard Families: 1-800-356-2794 . . Army Reserve Units: 1-800-874-8451 . . . . . . xxxxx XXXXxxxxx, . . xx''xxxxxxX XX xX XXx . .xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXX x xX' x'' XXXx . . x x xX xXX Xx . . 'x' X XXxx . . xxx X. . xX . . xX . . VIETNAM x x x xX . . VETERANS x xX X x X IRAQ . . X X X X x < VETERANS . . X X X X X Xx . . xxxxxxxxxX X X X x Xxx . . XXX'' /__X__ XX__X___xXX xXxxxxx . . xXXX 'Xxxxx xX Xxx . .XX WE SUPPORT YOU XxxxxxxxxxxxX X. .X BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN SERVICE . . . . . . "We are with you . . Wherever you may be . . We are sailing . . With you on every sea . . We are standing . . With you on desert sand . . We're your country . . Together we stand!" . . . . . . The Staff of NamVet . . . . and participants in . . . . The International Vietnam Veterans EchoConference . . . NAM VET Newsletter Page 21 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 HOMECOMING III by G. Joseph Peck NamVet's Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 Silvery waters and a big yellow moon I'll be home friend, home very soon. I have seen the wars Watched other men die . . . Held their pain-wracked bodies Their existence - GONE in a sigh. A tear, a hug, a long last look "Hold my hand... read me the Book" ... and LIFE slips away. Who did they cry for with their last look at Earth? Who will miss them - and what's it worth? What's it worth when men fight and die, Never wanting to - never really knowing why? What's it worth when the bombs fall, Not killing one - but killing all: Newborn children, sisters and brothers Happy families - fathers and mothers? ... and LIFE slips away. So loudly that you, too must hear Those battlefield cries ring in my ear: "Rivers of white. Rivers of red. How hard we fought - how freely we bled! We gave 'em all that we had We fought for the good - not for the bad; So that children could grow to be old, Never going hungry - never being cold, For Tomorrow - America - promises that are true For Love - for Freedom - and especially YOU!!!" ... and LIFE slips away. An American Soldier From one battlefield I am free. I watch ... and remember: " Eternal Vigilance . . . " . . . the PRICE of Liberty!" NAM VET Newsletter Page 22 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 ================================================================= Veteran Groups ================================================================= VIETNAM VETERANS LOCATOR Return To: Rickard Stolz 34248 RD. Q Okauchee, WI 53069 Tel: 414-567-5833 Home of Reunion BBS Data 414-567-0437 Last Name: ______________________________________________ First : ______________________________________________ Address : ______________________________________________ City : _____________________________________ State : _____ Zip: _________ Phone # : ____-____-________ Primary Unit : ___________________________________________ Second. Unit : ___________________________________________ Year :______ - ______ Branch : _________________ Notes:_____________________________________________________ Notes:_____________________________________________________ Above information is not for profit. The above information will be transfered into a database file by Reunion. This is not just a list it is a querrying database. Just trying to help Vets find Vets. Reunion BBS also has databases on POW/MIA'S which include Bio's on over two thousand POW/MIA's. We will also be adding a Reunions Database in the near future. NAM VET Newsletter Page 23 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 ACTIVITIES AND OPERATIONAL INFORMATION of Berkshire Veterans Center, Inc. From IRS From 1023 (Rev. 12-89) Input by: G. Joseph Peck NamVet's Managing Editor President - Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. was initially created to meet the needs of Berkshire County, MA Vietnam and other veterans as well as their family and friends through the operation(s) of a storefront-type Vet Center. Adequate, timely, funding to provide the quality and type of services envisioned in its original corporate charter (attached) did not materialize and the corporation, after assuring that Vet Center Services would be available for local veterans, then concentrated its efforts on grassroots veteran service and the linking together throughout the nation of veterans, their dependents, and others desiring veteran service and/or information. Via its computer-based bulletin board service, VETLink #1, the corporation began its pioneer efforts at bringing veteran-related services to the homes of deaf, blind, house/homebound disabled veterans and their close others. In March, 1987 the corporation commenced providing on-line camaraderie, support, guidance in completing claim forms for VA Medical, Educational, Burial, Dependency benefits, Agent Orange Exposure claims and medical testing, Employment searches and help for the homeless through the sponsorship of the International Vietnam Veterans Echo Conference (IVVEC) for the computer-using general public. The corporation, through its nationally placed members, continues to provide 24-hour-per-day, seven-day-per-week coverage of the IVVEC alert to aid and/or assist any veteran and/or his/her immediate family in the event of any crisis. In addition to the heretofore mentioned areas of service, the corporation, on 11 November 87, co-developed and co-produced NAMVET - an electronic publication which aids in readjustment situations, coming to terms with life beyond the military, educating others from the experiences of Vietnam veterans, and generally strives to promote unity throughout the veteran community. Published monthly, NAMVET is distributed through a network of electronic bulletin board systems (BBS's) and is also made available in hard-copy form to various educational and penal institutions throughout the U.S., Canada and Australia. Presently, the corporation is concentrating its efforts towards developing its computer-based bulletin board service to include the capability of offering veteran-related items, to INCLUDE books, patches, hats, bumper stickers, and other memorabilia, and to EXCLUDE any form of weaponry or arms for sale, to its users. Additional separate sections of the computer-based bulletin board service, VETLink #1, will be allocated to accepting on-line membership applications for various local and national veteran organizations and groups. User/Member orders and membership applications shall be processed upon receipt of funds and/or chargecard authorization from the user/member to the home office of the corporation. The corporation is also presently developing a membership maintenance system which will allow authorized members of a NAM VET Newsletter Page 24 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 veteran group or organization to access, enter, maintain, produce mailing lists, labels and manipulate data concerning their respective members. Authorized in May, 1986 by the Veterans Administration in Washington, D.C. to reproduce, in computer form, any and all of the VA Claim and other forms in the public domain, the corporation shall endeavor to receive federal accreditation of its representatives authorizing them to act in and on a veteran or dependent's behalf in matters before the Veterans Administration for consideration. The future activities of the corporation include refinement and streamlining of the above-mentioned activities, continued production of NAMVET, and the development of personnel and methodology which will allow other Vet Centers and veteran groups to provide the same or similar services to veterans and others in their respective areas; the installation of a facsimile machine for rapid transmission of important documentation; multiline operation of VETLink #1; laser printing of NAMVET and other veteran-related information for distribution to incarcerated, hospitalized, house/homebound disabled veterans and to various educational and informational institutions and facilities. Wherever and whenever possible, as an adjunct to its self- sustaining, self-perpetuating methods of providing assistance, support and camaraderie to disabled and needy war veterans and members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their dependents, and the widows and orphans of deceased veterans, the corporation will seek grants and other funding in order to continue providing benefit information, care and assistance with a patriotic orientation which was EARNED by virtue of service in the United States Armed Forces. NAM VET Newsletter Page 25 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 BROTHERHOOD OF VIETNAM VETERANS VETERANS HELPING VETERANS HELPING VETERANS HELPING VETERANS Submitted by: Lefty Frizzell NamVet's Need-To-Know Section Editor The Executive Washroom - Katy, Texas (713) 347-2558 Q-- What is the Brotherhood ? A-- The Brotherhood of Vietnam Veterans was founded in spirit on the battlefields of Hue and Khe Sanh, in the steaming jungles of the Ia Drang Valley, north of Da Nang on National Route 1, in the Mekong Delta south of Saigon, in a thousand other places whose names they never knew, where they fought for their lives, for America, but ultimately, they fought for each other. It lives today as well, accepting all vets as members as comrades-in-arms in struggles in the Middle East, the Far East and throughout the World. The Brotherhood of Vietnam Veterans was founded, a Brotherhood which surpasses any other. Loyalty to country, loyalty to their beliefs and loyalty to each other. The Brotherhood of Vietnam Veterans, Inc. is a non-profit (501(c)(19) veterans health and service organization, founded in September 1980, in Austin, Texas. Originally, the "Brotherhood" was started by a Vietnam Combat Veteran, his wife, the widow of a Vietnam Veteran and a retired Sergeant Major. From these humble beginnings, the organization has grown to a group with nationwide membership and influence. Now approaching 80,000 members, the Brotherhood's Main Office is now located in Houston, Texas. With 2 offices in Houston, the Brotherhood is guided by President, Sibley Cooley, and Vice President, Michael L. Moore, LUTCF. The BVV was the first (1st) Vietnam Veterans group to effect state legislation providing direct aid to Texas Vietnam Veterans exposed to Agent Orange. Still ever important, the Agent Orange issue is not dead. President Sibley Cooley and fellow member David Clayton, Oklahoma, have been working with a California Medical Team to stem the effects of Agent Orange, soon to be discussed on "Donahue". The BVV aided in passing the Texas State Veterans Land Program. The BVV worked in Washington, D.C. on passage of the "Atomic Vets-Agent Orange" Act. The BVV performs daily acts of direct aid to Vietnam Veterans, from visits to the VA Hospitals to clothing and food drives for needy veterans. Although we are proud of what we have accomplished, we are very aware of the many problems that still exist for Vietnam Vets and ask your support so that these problems can be addressed. Your membership in BVV is Vital To You! If you would be interested in knowing more about the Brotherhood of Vietnam Veterans, or how you might assist or participate in the association, fill out the information below and return it to: NAM VET Newsletter Page 26 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Brotherhood of Vietnam Veterans 2909 Hillcroft, Suite 538, Box 20, Houston, Tx 77057 Or Re-Zip this file with your application filled out and call 713-995-0420 to arrange for Modem Transfer. Or call 713-977-5222 for more information on how you can join. Name______________________________________________________________ Address____________________________________City___________________ State_____ZipCode________Plus4_______Telephone_________Bus._______ Thank you in advance for your support. NAM VET Newsletter Page 27 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Berkshire Veterans' Center Membership Form BERKSHIRE VETERANS' CENTER, INC. was initially created to meet the needs of Berkshire County (MA) Vietnam and other veterans as well as their family and friends through the operations of a storefront-type Center. Adequate funding to provide the quality and type of services envisioned in its original corporate charter did not materialize and the corporation then focused its efforts on both quiet grassroots veteran-service and the linking together of veterans throughout the nation via its computer-based bulletin board, VETLink #1. During its existence, VETLink #1 (aka Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc.), through its System Operator, has provided on-line comraderie, support, and various forms of crisis intervention, as well as provided guidance in completing claims for VA benefits (Educational, Medical, Burial, etc.), Agent Orange testing, Employment searches, and help for the homeless. This has all been accomplished with nonexistent funding. Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. has now reached the stage where "funding" and "grants" will allow it to develop further its monthly electronic publication entitled "NamVet" (initally published 11/11/87), as another method of aiding in readjustment by Job Counseling, Family Counseling, and generally coming to terms with life outside of the military. These same benefits will be extended to veterans in the Berkshire County (MA) area. Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. also provides others who have not experienced the war in Vietnam an opportunity to interact and learn first-hand from Vietnam veterans about the war and the veterans experience. Through "NamVet", Berkshire Veterans' Center provides input to various educational institutions and has recently intensified efforts of outreach to the incarcerated veteran community. Since its creation, Berkshire Veterans' Center has continued to exist only because of the totally volunteer efforts of its members. Would you like to help us continue in what we began in 1985? Would you like to help VETLink #1 and NamVet continue in its outreach efforts to the veterans of our nation, their dependents and families? Would you like to be a member of the nation's FIRST national organization dedicated and committed to the veterans of our nation and the issues that concern them (Agent Orange, PTSD, Incarcerated Veterans, Homelessness, etc.)? Your membership, whether you're a veteran, wife/husband of a veteran, child or dependent of a veteran - or just care about veterans - is welcome. We would like YOU to take part in providing a very-needed service to the quiet heroes and heroines of our nation. THANK YOU for accepting this application for MEMBERSHIP in Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. - our county's OLDEST veteran center dedicated and committed to helping the veterans of our nation and bringing the outside world in to those who are NAM VET Newsletter Page 28 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 housebound through an international computer communication network. The membership "dues" are fifteen dollars ($15.00) - this is just about the smallest we could make them and still stay on-line. We hope to continue providing the nation's BEST in veteran service and advice with YOUR help... As a member of Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc., the sponsor of VETLink #1, you will have a part in making available to veterans everywhere our monthly publication entitled "NamVet" - an electronic publication by, for, and about the veterans of our nation and the issues that concern them. Eventually we hope to obtain electronic printing media and make NamVet available to all those who request it for only the cost of its mailing. You will also have a part in continuing what we've helped begin here: an international support and crisis intervention network where those who served in the military can share that time of their life - and share with those who haven't had the same experience. Members of our Board of Directors are located in key cities throughout the continental U.S. As they become available, there will also be some "extra's" that you, as a member, will be receiving (ie: a monthly BVCI newsletter, ways that YOU might be able to help in a situation near YOU - or that others may help you in return, etc.). As soon as you possibly can, please complete the form below and mail with your tax-deductible Membership Amount: ---------------------------------------------------------------- MEMBER APPLICATION / DONATION FORM (Receipt and a THANK YOU will be returned to you) BERKSHIRE VETERANS' CENTER, INC. ATTN: Membership Department Post Office Box 2056 Pittsfield, Massachusetts 01202 Dear Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc.: I would like to: __ be a member of Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. and help in providing veteran information and services to those who request and/or need it. __ donate funds to help in VETLink #1's continued operation. Full Name_______________________________ Amount enclosed $______ Street Address___________________________________________________ City, State, and ZIPcode_________________________________________ Birthday __/__/__ Business Telephone #_______________ Home Telephone #_____________ I am a Veteran __; Spouse of a Veteran __; Child of a Veteran __; NAM VET Newsletter Page 29 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Non-Veteran __; Relative of Veteran __; I understand that the opinions expressed on VETLink #1 are those of the individuals involved, and do not necessarily reflect those of Federal or State governments, the SYSOP or others who make use of this sytem. I explicitly acknowledge that all information obtained from VETLink #1 is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, and that I accept responsibility for any risks that may arise from acting on information obtained from VETLink #1, including the entire costs of all necessary remedies, and that I absolve all other users and the SYSOP of VETLink #1 and/or Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. from any such responsibility. Comment(s): ____________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Signature_______________________________________________________ Date____________________ NAM VET Newsletter Page 30 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 ================================================================= In-Touch ================================================================= (Our Washington DC mole just managed to come up with a text-file copy of some letters about our Frenchy that many of you will be interested in. ) (Letter One) January 21, 1990 Mr. Raymond J. Moreau Program Manager Navy Projects Electronic Data Systems Corp. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX M/S A5S-C54 Herndon, VA 22071 Dear Mr. Moreau Federal Computer Week and National Trade Productions Inc. are pleased to inform you that you are among FCW's second annual Federal 100, the group of 100 executives from government, industry and academia nominated by our readers and found by an independent panel of judges to have had the greatest impact on the government systems community in 1990. You were selected from scores of nominees for the difference you have made in the way agencies and companies develop, acquire and manage information technology in the federal world. A list of the 100 is enclosed. NTP, producers of FOSE, and FCW would like to recognize you for your achievement in a special supplement to the February 25 issue of the newspaper and at a reception and dinner to be held during FOSE at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, March 5. Highlighting the evening will be the presentation of the FOSE Award, given to the two officials among the 100 -- one from government and one from industry -- who are judged by NTP and the FOSE Advisory Council to deserve special recognition for their influence on the federal government's effective use information technology. In addition, we will be presenting you with a personalized award at the dinner and would like know whether your name as it appears on this letter is the way you would like it to appear on the award. Finally, a member of FCW's editorial staff will contact you in the next few days to conduct a brief interview for your profile in the supplement. We look forward to seeing you on March 5. Until then, please accept our congratulations for being among this year's Federal 100. (Letter Two) (Our Frenchy is the 1991 FOSE Award Recipient!!!) "Dear Mr. Moreau: It is with great pleasure that I am able to inform NAM VET Newsletter Page 31 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 you that you are one of the two recipients of the FOSE Award for 1991. The Award will be presented to you at the Federal 100 Dinner on Tuesday, March 5, being held at the Capitol Hilton. The recipient of the Award is selected by a large panel of judges, all of whom are involved in the information technology market. The Award is presented to the vendor and government employee who have had the greatest impact on the federal government's effective use of information technology. I am proud to announce that you have been chosen to receive this Award from a field of 100 designees. Congratulations! I look forward to meeting you at the Federal 100 dinner. Sincerely, Mark N. Sirangelo Executive Vice President" (Frenchy's Acceptance Speech - after all, what's a mole worth if all the information cannot be provided ) "I am extremely proud and deeply touched to be nominated and to receive the '1991 FOSE Award'. I want to thank Federal Computer Week's readers and the judges for this honor. My special thanks to the 58,175 brothers and sisters, Vietnam Veterans. For these men and women 'In Touch" is theirs. The Wall is and now represents a living memorial - for we shall never forget them. My deepest thanks to all our veterans of past wars and especially to our men and women of Desert Storm - We are very proud of all of you, "WELCOME HOME'. My thanks to the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and their heart warming and much needed volunteer service. They provide the comfort and comradery to our Vietnam Veterans searching and seeking to reach out. The Friends provided the seed for the development of the 'In Touch' tree of healing. One can never forget our teaming partners. Thank You Zenith Data Systems, Philipe Kahn of Borland International, Bob Dennis of FASTCOMM Communications, Terry Myers of Quarterdeck Office Systems, Rod Coleman of Hewlett Packard and Fifth Generation Systems for your generous donations to the Friends for this project. My deepest thanks to EDS and its Public Affairs office for their support - WE HAD A VISION THAT WENT BEYOND COMPUTERS, HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE. Special thanks to those EDS eagles - Chuck Pross and Chuck Funderbert - Programmers Extraordinaire, George DeBourde and Hebert Henri for their support in documenting the system. My heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the 70 EDS NAM VET Newsletter Page 32 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 facilities and the countless EDS volunteers who have taken 'In Touch' to their hearts to support our veterans by helping the Friends. My deepest thanks to my wife Jane for her undying love, constant understanding and support during the 'In Touch' development. Thank you Lord for this beautiful, wonderful and courageous United States of America and its Allies. Thank You. Congratulations Frenchy!!! From ALL of the NamVet staff - and IVVEC participants. Well done, bro' - WELL DONE!!! (Our thanks, too, to the mole ) NAM VET Newsletter Page 33 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 In-Touch. What is it ??? Input by: Ray "Frenchy" Moreau NAM VETs IN-TOUCH Section Editor Herndon Byte eXchange - Herndon, VA (703) 471-8010 ================================================================= |+++++++++++++++++++++++++ IN TOUCH ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++| | There are some 43 million people in the United States whose | | lives were directly and irrevocably touched by the Vietnam | | War. | | | | Almost four million people served in Vietnam -- the longest, | | and perhaps most difficult, war in our history. More than a | | quarter of a million were seriously wounded. 58,175 are dead | | or missing. | | | | Each of those who returned recognizes the true cost of war. | | But so too do the families and friends, wives and lovers of | | those listed on the Wall. They too paid a tremendous price, | | not always recognized... many still do. | | | | Though twenty years have passed, it seems that is the period | | people have needed to get the distance necessary to begin to | | address the unresolved, deeply personal issues that have | | been haunting them since the war. Perhaps that is a measure | | of the pain. | | | | But, the "healing of a nation" that was intended by the | | building of the Memorial, has begun. | | | | In the office of the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans | | Memorial, we hear them on the other end of the phone on | | any given day, and far into the night, they call from all | | corners of the country. | | | | "If only I could find out..." | | "I need to find his family so I can keep my promise..." | | "I just want to talk to someone who was with him... " | | "Please, can you help...?" | | | | At the Wall, we find them every day. Veterans who have not | | spoken of their experiences even to their most intimate | | family members are now beginning, tentatively, to seek a | | responsive ear. What's it worth when the bombs fall, Not killing one - but killing all: Newborn children, sisters and brothers Happy families - fathers and mothers? ... and LIFE slips away. So loudly that you, too must hear Those battlefield cries ring in my ear: "Rivers of white. Rivers of red. How hard we fought - how freely we bled! We gave 'em all that we had We fought for the good - not for the bad; So that children could grow to be old, Never going hungry - never being cold, For Tomorrow - America - promises that are true For Love - for Freedom - and especially YOU!!!" ... and LIFE slips away. An American Soldier From one battlefield I am free. I watch ... and remember: " Eternal Vigilance . . . " . . . the PRICE of Liberty!" NAM VET Newsletter Page 22 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 ================================================================= Veteran Groups ================================================================= VIETNAM VETERANS LOCATOR Return To: Rickard Stolz 34248 RD. Q Okauchee, WI 53069 Tel: 414-567-5833 Home of Reunion BBS Data 414-567-0437 Last Name: ______________________________________________ First : ______________________________________________ Address : ______________________________________________ City : _____________________________________ State : _____ Zip: _________ Phone # : ____-____-________ Primary Unit : ___________________________________________ Second. Unit : ___________________________________________ Year :______ - ______ Branch : _________________ Notes:_____________________________________________________ Notes:_____________________________________________________ Above information is not for profit. The above information will be transfered into a database file by Reunion. This is not just a list it is a querrying database. Just trying to help Vets find Vets. Reunion BBS also has databases on POW/MIA'S which include Bio's on over two thousand POW/MIA's. We will also be adding a Reunions Database in the near future. NAM VET Newsletter Page 23 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 ACTIVITIES AND OPERATIONAL INFORMATION of Berkshire Veterans Center, Inc. From IRS From 1023 (Rev. 12-89) Input by: G. Joseph Peck NamVet's Managing Editor President - Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. was initially created to meet the needs of Berkshire County, MA Vietnam and other veterans as well as their family and friends through the operation(s) of a storefront-type Vet Center. Adequate, timely, funding to provide the quality and type of services envisioned in its original corporate charter (attached) did not materialize and the corporation, after assuring that Vet Center Services would be available for local veterans, then concentrated its efforts on grassroots veteran service and the linking together throughout the nation of veterans, their dependents, and others desiring veteran service and/or information. Via its computer-based bulletin board service, VETLink #1, the corporation began its pioneer efforts at bringing veteran-related services to the homes of deaf, blind, house/homebound disabled veterans and their close others. In March, 1987 the corporation commenced providing on-line camaraderie, support, guidance in completing claim forms for VA Medical, Educational, Burial, Dependency benefits, Agent Orange Exposure claims and medical testing, Employment searches and help for the homeless through the sponsorship of the International Vietnam Veterans Echo Conference (IVVEC) for the computer-using general public. The corporation, through its nationally placed members, continues to provide 24-hour-per-day, seven-day-per-week coverage of the IVVEC alert to aid and/or assist any veteran and/or his/her immediate family in the event of any crisis. In addition to the heretofore mentioned areas of service, the corporation, on 11 November 87, co-developed and co-produced NAMVET - an electronic publication which aids in readjustment situations, coming to terms with life beyond the military, educating others from the experiences of Vietnam veterans, and generally strives to promote unity throughout the veteran community. Published monthly, NAMVET is distributed through a network of electronic bulletin board systems (BBS's) and is also made available in hard-copy form to various educational and penal institutions throughout the U.S., Canada and Australia. Presently, the corporation is concentrating its efforts towards developing its computer-based bulletin board service to include the capability of offering veteran-related items, to INCLUDE books, patches, hats, bumper stickers, and other memorabilia, and to EXCLUDE any form of weaponry or arms for sale, to its users. Additional separate sections of the computer-based bulletin board service, VETLink #1, will be allocated to accepting on-line membership applications for various local and national veteran organizations and groups. User/Member orders and membership applications shall be processed upon receipt of funds and/or chargecard authorization from the user/member to the home office of the corporation. The corporation is also presently developing a membership maintenance system which will allow authorized members of a NAM VET Newsletter Page 24 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 veteran group or organization to access, enter, maintain, produce mailing lists, labels and manipulate data concerning their respective members. Authorized in May, 1986 by the Veterans Administration in Washington, D.C. to reproduce, in computer form, any and all of the VA Claim and other forms in the public domain, the corporation shall endeavor to receive federal accreditation of its representatives authorizing them to act in and on a veteran or dependent's behalf in matters before the Veterans Administration for consideration. The future activities of the corporation include refinement and streamlining of the above-mentioned activities, continued production of NAMVET, and the development of personnel and methodology which will allow other Vet Centers and veteran groups to provide the same or similar services to veterans and others in their respective areas; the installation of a facsimile machine for rapid transmission of important documentation; multiline operation of VETLink #1; laser printing of NAMVET and other veteran-related information for distribution to incarcerated, hospitalized, house/homebound disabled veterans and to various educational and informational institutions and facilities. Wherever and whenever possible, as an adjunct to its self- sustaining, self-perpetuating methods of providing assistance, support and camaraderie to disabled and needy war veterans and members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their dependents, and the widows and orphans of deceased veterans, the corporation will seek grants and other funding in order to continue providing benefit information, care and assistance with a patriotic orientation which was EARNED by virtue of service in the United States Armed Forces. NAM VET Newsletter Page 25 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 BROTHERHOOD OF VIETNAM VETERANS VETERANS HELPING VETERANS HELPING VETERANS HELPING VETERANS Submitted by: Lefty Frizzell NamVet's Need-To-Know Section Editor The Executive Washroom - Katy, Texas (713) 347-2558 Q-- What is the Brotherhood ? A-- The Brotherhood of Vietnam Veterans was founded in spirit on the battlefields of Hue and Khe Sanh, in the steaming jungles of the Ia Drang Valley, north of Da Nang on National Route 1, in the Mekong Delta south of Saigon, in a thousand other places whose names they never knew, where they fought for their lives, for America, but ultimately, they fought for each other. It lives today as well, accepting all vets as members as comrades-in-arms in struggles in the Middle East, the Far East and throughout the World. The Brotherhood of Vietnam Veterans was founded, a Brotherhood which surpasses any other. Loyalty to country, loyalty to their beliefs and loyalty to each other. The Brotherhood of Vietnam Veterans, Inc. is a non-profit (501(c)(19) veterans health and service organization, founded in September 1980, in Austin, Texas. Originally, the "Brotherhood" was started by a Vietnam Combat Veteran, his wife, the widow of a Vietnam Veteran and a retired Sergeant Major. From these humble beginnings, the organization has grown to a group with nationwide membership and influence. Now approaching 80,000 members, the Brotherhood's Main Office is now located in Houston, Texas. With 2 offices in Houston, the Brotherhood is guided by President, Sibley Cooley, and Vice President, Michael L. Moore, LUTCF. The BVV was the first (1st) Vietnam Veterans group to effect state legislation providing direct aid to Texas Vietnam Veterans exposed to Agent Orange. Still ever important, the Agent Orange issue is not dead. President Sibley Cooley and fellow member David Clayton, Oklahoma, have been working with a California Medical Team to stem the effects of Agent Orange, soon to be discussed on "Donahue". The BVV aided in passing the Texas State Veterans Land Program. The BVV worked in Washington, D.C. on passage of the "Atomic Vets-Agent Orange" Act. The BVV performs daily acts of direct aid to Vietnam Veterans, from visits to the VA Hospitals to clothing and food drives for needy veterans. Although we are proud of what we have accomplished, we are very aware of the many problems that still exist for Vietnam Vets and ask your support so that these problems can be addressed. Your membership in BVV is Vital To You! If you would be interested in knowing more about the Brotherhood of Vietnam Veterans, or how you might assist or participate in the association, fill out the information below and return it to: NAM VET Newsletter Page 26 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Brotherhood of Vietnam Veterans 2909 Hillcroft, Suite 538, Box 20, Houston, Tx 77057 Or Re-Zip this file with your application filled out and call 713-995-0420 to arrange for Modem Transfer. Or call 713-977-5222 for more information on how you can join. Name______________________________________________________________ Address____________________________________City___________________ State_____ZipCode________Plus4_______Telephone_________Bus._______ Thank you in advance for your support. NAM VET Newsletter Page 27 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Berkshire Veterans' Center Membership Form BERKSHIRE VETERANS' CENTER, INC. was initially created to meet the needs of Berkshire County (MA) Vietnam and other veterans as well as their family and friends through the operations of a storefront-type Center. Adequate funding to provide the quality and type of services envisioned in its original corporate charter did not materialize and the corporation then focused its efforts on both quiet grassroots veteran-service and the linking together of veterans throughout the nation via its computer-based bulletin board, VETLink #1. During its existence, VETLink #1 (aka Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc.), through its System Operator, has provided on-line comraderie, support, and various forms of crisis intervention, as well as provided guidance in completing claims for VA benefits (Educational, Medical, Burial, etc.), Agent Orange testing, Employment searches, and help for the homeless. This has all been accomplished with nonexistent funding. Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. has now reached the stage where "funding" and "grants" will allow it to develop further its monthly electronic publication entitled "NamVet" (initally published 11/11/87), as another method of aiding in readjustment by Job Counseling, Family Counseling, and generally coming to terms with life outside of the military. These same benefits will be extended to veterans in the Berkshire County (MA) area. Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. also provides others who have not experienced the war in Vietnam an opportunity to interact and learn first-hand from Vietnam veterans about the war and the veterans experience. Through "NamVet", Berkshire Veterans' Center provides input to various educational institutions and has recently intensified efforts of outreach to the incarcerated veteran community. Since its creation, Berkshire Veterans' Center has continued to exist only because of the totally volunteer efforts of its members. Would you like to help us continue in what we began in 1985? Would you like to help VETLink #1 and NamVet continue in its outreach efforts to the veterans of our nation, their dependents and families? Would you like to be a member of the nation's FIRST national organization dedicated and committed to the veterans of our nation and the issues that concern them (Agent Orange, PTSD, Incarcerated Veterans, Homelessness, etc.)? Your membership, whether you're a veteran, wife/husband of a veteran, child or dependent of a veteran - or just care about veterans - is welcome. We would like YOU to take part in providing a very-needed service to the quiet heroes and heroines of our nation. THANK YOU for accepting this application for MEMBERSHIP in Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. - our county's OLDEST veteran center dedicated and committed to helping the veterans of our nation and bringing the outside world in to those who are NAM VET Newsletter Page 28 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 housebound through an international computer communication network. The membership "dues" are fifteen dollars ($15.00) - this is just about the smallest we could make them and still stay on-line. We hope to continue providing the nation's BEST in veteran service and advice with YOUR help... As a member of Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc., the sponsor of VETLink #1, you will have a part in making available to veterans everywhere our monthly publication entitled "NamVet" - an electronic publication by, for, and about the veterans of our nation and the issues that concern them. Eventually we hope to obtain electronic printing media and make NamVet available to all those who request it for only the cost of its mailing. You will also have a part in continuing what we've helped begin here: an international support and crisis intervention network where those who served in the military can share that time of their life - and share with those who haven't had the same experience. Members of our Board of Directors are located in key cities throughout the continental U.S. As they become available, there will also be some "extra's" that you, as a member, will be receiving (ie: a monthly BVCI newsletter, ways that YOU might be able to help in a situation near YOU - or that others may help you in return, etc.). As soon as you possibly can, please complete the form below and mail with your tax-deductible Membership Amount: ---------------------------------------------------------------- MEMBER APPLICATION / DONATION FORM (Receipt and a THANK YOU will be returned to you) BERKSHIRE VETERANS' CENTER, INC. ATTN: Membership Department Post Office Box 2056 Pittsfield, Massachusetts 01202 Dear Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc.: I would like to: __ be a member of Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. and help in providing veteran information and services to those who request and/or need it. __ donate funds to help in VETLink #1's continued operation. Full Name_______________________________ Amount enclosed $______ Street Address___________________________________________________ City, State, and ZIPcode_________________________________________ Birthday __/__/__ Business Telephone #_______________ Home Telephone #_____________ I am a Veteran __; Spouse of a Veteran __; Child of a Veteran __; NAM VET Newsletter Page 29 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Non-Veteran __; Relative of Veteran __; I understand that the opinions expressed on VETLink #1 are those of the individuals involved, and do not necessarily reflect those of Federal or State governments, the SYSOP or others who make use of this sytem. I explicitly acknowledge that all information obtained from VETLink #1 is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, and that I accept responsibility for any risks that may arise from acting on information obtained from VETLink #1, including the entire costs of all necessary remedies, and that I absolve all other users and the SYSOP of VETLink #1 and/or Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. from any such responsibility. Comment(s): ____________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Signature_______________________________________________________ Date____________________ NAM VET Newsletter Page 30 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 ================================================================= In-Touch ================================================================= (Our Washington DC mole just managed to come up with a text-file copy of some letters about our Frenchy that many of you will be interested in. ) (Letter One) January 21, 1990 Mr. Raymond J. Moreau Program Manager Navy Projects Electronic Data Systems Corp. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX M/S A5S-C54 Herndon, VA 22071 Dear Mr. Moreau Federal Computer Week and National Trade Productions Inc. are pleased to inform you that you are among FCW's second annual Federal 100, the group of 100 executives from government, industry and academia nominated by our readers and found by an independent panel of judges to have had the greatest impact on the government systems community in 1990. You were selected from scores of nominees for the difference you have made in the way agencies and companies develop, acquire and manage information technology in the federal world. A list of the 100 is enclosed. NTP, producers of FOSE, and FCW would like to recognize you for your achievement in a special supplement to the February 25 issue of the newspaper and at a reception and dinner to be held during FOSE at the Capital Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, March 5. Highlighting the evening will be the presentation of the FOSE Award, given to the two officials among the 100 -- one from government and one from industry -- who are judged by NTP and the FOSE Advisory Council to deserve special recognition for their influence on the federal government's effective use information technology. In addition, we will be presenting you with a personalized award at the dinner and would like know whether your name as it appears on this letter is the way you would like it to appear on the award. Finally, a member of FCW's editorial staff will contact you in the next few days to conduct a brief interview for your profile in the supplement. We look forward to seeing you on March 5. Until then, please accept our congratulations for being among this year's Federal 100. (Letter Two) (Our Frenchy is the 1991 FOSE Award Recipient!!!) "Dear Mr. Moreau: It is with great pleasure that I am able to inform NAM VET Newsletter Page 31 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 you that you are one of the two recipients of the FOSE Award for 1991. The Award will be presented to you at the Federal 100 Dinner on Tuesday, March 5, being held at the Capitol Hilton. The recipient of the Award is selected by a large panel of judges, all of whom are involved in the information technology market. The Award is presented to the vendor and government employee who have had the greatest impact on the federal government's effective use of information technology. I am proud to announce that you have been chosen to receive this Award from a field of 100 designees. Congratulations! I look forward to meeting you at the Federal 100 dinner. Sincerely, Mark N. Sirangelo Executive Vice President" (Frenchy's Acceptance Speech - after all, what's a mole worth if all the information cannot be provided ) "I am extremely proud and deeply touched to be nominated and to receive the '1991 FOSE Award'. I want to thank Federal Computer Week's readers and the judges for this honor. My special thanks to the 58,175 brothers and sisters, Vietnam Veterans. For these men and women 'In Touch" is theirs. The Wall is and now represents a living memorial - for we shall never forget them. My deepest thanks to all our veterans of past wars and especially to our men and women of Desert Storm - We are very proud of all of you, "WELCOME HOME'. My thanks to the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and their heart warming and much needed volunteer service. They provide the comfort and comradery to our Vietnam Veterans searching and seeking to reach out. The Friends provided the seed for the development of the 'In Touch' tree of healing. One can never forget our teaming partners. Thank You Zenith Data Systems, Philipe Kahn of Borland International, Bob Dennis of FASTCOMM Communications, Terry Myers of Quarterdeck Office Systems, Rod Coleman of Hewlett Packard and Fifth Generation Systems for your generous donations to the Friends for this project. My deepest thanks to EDS and its Public Affairs office for their support - WE HAD A VISION THAT WENT BEYOND COMPUTERS, HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE. Special thanks to those EDS eagles - Chuck Pross and Chuck Funderbert - Programmers Extraordinaire, George DeBourde and Hebert Henri for their support in documenting the system. My heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the 70 EDS NAM VET Newsletter Page 32 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 facilities and the countless EDS volunteers who have taken 'In Touch' to their hearts to support our veterans by helping the Friends. My deepest thanks to my wife Jane for her undying love, constant understanding and support during the 'In Touch' development. Thank you Lord for this beautiful, wonderful and courageous United States of America and its Allies. Thank You. Congratulations Frenchy!!! From ALL of the NamVet staff - and IVVEC participants. Well done, bro' - WELL DONE!!! (Our thanks, too, to the mole ) NAM VET Newsletter Page 33 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 In-Touch. What is it ??? Input by: Ray "Frenchy" Moreau NAM VETs IN-TOUCH Section Editor Herndon Byte eXchange - Herndon, VA (703) 471-8010 ================================================================= |+++++++++++++++++++++++++ IN TOUCH ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++| | There are some 43 million people in the United States whose | | liclearly recognized they were psychologically spent from previous battles. "They had no heart for the fight and were unwilling to take their share of the danger." ()Herodotus tells of another Spartan named Aristodemus who was so shaken by battle he was nicknamed "the Trembler" - he later hung himself in shame.) One thousand years later, things had changed very little at the front. The ANGLO SAXON CHRONICLE recounts a battle in 1003 A.D. between the English and the Danes in which the English commander Alfred reportedly become so violently ill that he began to vomit and was not able to lead his men. We also know PTSD doesn't confine itself strictly to the war experience. Samuel Pepys was an Englishman who lived in London during the 1600s. His surviving diary provides an excellent record of the development of PTSD. In writing of the Great Fire of London in 1666, Pepys recounts people's terror and frustration at being unable to protect their property or stop the fire. Pepys writes: "A most horrid, malicious, blood fire.... So great was our fear.... It was enough to put us out of our wits." NAM VET Newsletter Page 44 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Although his home was untouched, Pepys was unable to sleep for days after the fire. He scrawls: "Both sleeping and waking, and such fear of fire in my heart, that I took little rest." Two weeks later, Pepys writes: "[M]uch terrified in the nights nowadays, with dreams of fire and falling down of houses." The diary reports general feelings of anger and discontent over the next four months. Pepys then records that news of a chimney fire some distance away "put me into much fear and trouble." It appears Swiss military physicians in 1678 were among the first to identify and name that constellation of behaviors that make up the acute combat reaction or PTSD. Nostalgia was the term they used to define a condition characterized by melancholy, incessant thinking of home, disturbed sleep or insomnia, weakness, loss of appetite, anxiety, cardiac palpitations, stupor, and fever. German doctors diagnosed the problem among their troops at about the same time as the Swiss. They referred to the condition as HEIMWEH (homesickness). Obviously, it was strongly believes the symptoms came about from the soldiers longing to return home. In time, French doctors termed the same symptoms MALADIE DU PAYS, and the Spanish, confronted with the same reactions among their soldier, called it ESTAR ROTO (literally, "to be broken"). During the siege of Gibraltar in 1727, a soldier who was part of the defense of the city kept a diary. In it, there is mention of incidents in which soldiers killed or wounded themselves. He also describes a state of extreme physical fatigue which had caused soldiers to lose their ability to understand or process even the simplest instructions. In this state, the soldiers would refuse to eat, drink, work, or fight in defense of the city, even though they would be repeatedly whipped for not doing so. The French surgeon Larrey described the disorder - what we now call PTSD - as having three different stages. The first is heightened excitement and imagination; the second is a period of fever and prominent gastrointestinal symptoms; the final stage is one of frustration and depression. During the American Civil War, military physicians diagnosed many cases of functional disability as the result of fear of battle and the stresses of military life. This included a wide range of illnesses now known to be caused by emotional turbulence, including paralysis, war tremors, self-inflicted wounds, nostalgia, and severe palpitations - also called "soldier's heart" and "exhausted heart." It was reportedly surprising to some Civil War physicians that soldiers on normal leave often collapsed with emotional illness at home, even when they had shown no symptoms of mental debilitation before they had left the fighting. Many consider the Civil War the first step on the road to modern warfare. Civil War soldiers made the first frontal assaults into repeating rifles and pistols, as well as the Gatling gun and delayed-time artillery rounds that allowed air bursts. Civil War technology also included telescopic sights and rifles with spiral barrels that greatly increased the accuracy and destructiveness of battle. The immediate result was that psychological symptoms became so common, field commanders as well as medical doctors pleaded with the War Department to provide some type of screening to eliminate recruits susceptible to psychiatric breakdown. Military physicians, at a loss to treat the problems, simply mustered the extreme cases out during the first three years of the war. "They NAM VET Newsletter Page 45 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 were put on trains with no supervision, the name of their home town or state pinned to their tunics, others were left to wander about the countryside until they died from exposure or starvation," reports Richard A. Gabriel, a consultant to the Senate and House Armed Services committees and one of the best chroniclers of PTSD. Gabriel's research tells us that in 1863, the number of insane soldiers simply wandering around was so great, there was a public outcry. Because of this, and at the urging of medical surgeons, the first military hospital for the insane was established in 1863. The most common diagnosis was nostalgia. The government made no effort to deal with the psychiatrically wounded after the war and the hospital was closed. There was, however, a system of soldiers' homes set up around the country. Togus, Maine, was designated as the eastern branch of this system, and in 1875, its director noted that, strangely enough, the need for the hospital's services seemed to increase rather than decrease. For civilians in the 1800s, the growth of the industrial era created large companies with machinery operated by workers who often had injury-producing accidents. Train wrecks became very common. Author Charles Dickens was involved in a railway accident at Staplehurst in Kent, England, on June 9, 1865. He suffered symptoms which today would be diagnosed as PTSD. Dickens described the horrifying scene in a letter: "[T]wo or three hours work.... Amongst the dead and dying surrounded by terrific sights...." Sometime after, he wrote he was "unsteady" and said, "I am not quite right within, but believe it to be an effect of the railway shaking." Railway accident victims began suing the railroads. Lawyers for the railway companies fought back with the term "compensation neurosis," which charged that litigants were trying to get something for nothing. This discounting of effects of the trauma by charging the victim with having ulterior motives was also common in the military. "It is by lack of discipline, confidence, and respect that many a young soldier has become discouraged and made to feel the bitter pangs of homesickness, which is usually the precursor of more serious ailments," commented the assistant surgeon general in 1864, reflecting the sentiment that most who suffered signs and symptoms of war trauma were, in fact, malingering. Unfortunately, the attitude that combat veterans with psychological problems are really malingerers who are trying to gain economically is still with us today. That attitude, combined with veterans' pride and distrust, accounts for the fact that, while a Research Triangle Institute study concludes 830,000 Vietnam veterans have full-blown or partial PTSD, only 55,119 have filed claims, and the adjudication boards have only believed 28,411 (July 1990) of those claimants. Emotional stress builds very fast on a battlefield, and if there is no permissible emotional outlet, the soldier will "convert" his symptoms into physiological conditions. Gabriel, who was an active intelligence officer for 22 years, offers Maj. Marcus Reno and his soldiers as a classic example of the breakdown of men in battle. Major Reno's troops served as a blocking force for Gen. Armstrong Custer at the Battle of Little Big Horn. The battle had hardly begun when Reno himself became a psychiatric casualty. The major's Indian scout, Yellow Knife, was struck square in the face by a bullet, which sent his blood, flesh, and brains spattering NAM VET Newsletter Page 46 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 all over Reno, who immediately went into shock. He began foaming at the mouth, and his eyes rolled wildly in his head. He uttered sounds which made no sense. Some of Reno's men were so paralyzed with fear, they couldn't defend themselves. They were so terrified, in fact, the Indians thought them cowards and refused to kill them. Maj. Myles Moylan was found later by the cavalry rescue force, "blubbering like a whipped urchin, tears coursing down his cheeks." Some of the soldiers report they hallucinated during the fight, seeing columns of soldiers approaching and hearing voices when there were none. Other soldiers entered into states of shock approaching stupor from the emotional exhaustion generated by fear. About the only thing that didn't happen to Reno's men during the battle was desertion, but this was because there was simply no place to go. The first army in history to determine that mental collapse was a direct consequence of the stress of war and to regard it as a legitimate medical condition was the Russian Army of 1905 in their war with the Japanese. Military expert Gabriel states that Russian attempts to diagnose and treat battle shock represent the birth of military psychiatry. The Russians' major contribution was their recognition of the principle of proximity, or forward treatment. Although it's believed by most armies today that the Russians were right in treating psychiatric casualties close to the front, with the goal of returning them to the fight, the recorded rate of those who returned to battle suggests the method was not very successful. In actuality, less than 20 percent were able to return to the front. The outbreak of WWI produced large numbers of psychologically wounded. Unfortunately, what little had been learned up to then was forgotten. The only American experience with psychiatric casualties that anyone remembered was when American soldiers stationed with Gen. John J. Pershing on the Mexican front had exhibited an abnormally high rate of mental illness. Consequently, the medical establishment set out once again to recreate the wheel. This time, they began by attributing the high psychiatric casualties to the new weapons of war, specifically, the large-caliber artillery. It was believed the impact of the shells produced a concussion that disrupted the physiology of the brain, thus the term "shell shock." Although WWI generated stress theories based on models of the mind, such as Freud's "war neurosis," the theories never gained wide acceptance. Quite simply, Freud postulated, "war neurosis" was brought about by the inner conflict between a soldier's "war ego" and his "peace ego." Another diagnosis at the time which gained no widespread attention was that of neurasthenia: "The mental troubles are many and marked; on the emotional side, there are sadness, weariness, and pessimism; repugnance to effort, abnormal irritability; defective control of temper, tendency to weep on slight provocation; timidity. On the intellectual side, lessened power of attention, defective memory and will power. By the end of World War I, the United States had hundreds of psychiatrists overseas who were beginning to realize the psychiatric casualties were not suffering from "shell shock." These psychiatrists were beginning to realize it was emotions and not physiological brain damage that was most often causing NAM VET Newsletter Page 47 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 soldiers to collapse under a wide range of symptoms. Unfortunately, they continued to believe this collapse came about primarily in men who were weak in character. During WWI, almost two million men were sent overseas to fight in Europe. Deaths were put at 116,516, while 204,000 were wounded. During the same period, 159,000 soldiers were put out of actions for psychiatric problems, with nearly half of these (70,000) permanently discharged. Harking back to military medicine during the Civil War, it was concluded that the answer to psychological casualties was to more thoroughly screen the applicants. Based on this, the main effort to reduce WWII psychological casualties was to focus on sifting through draftees in order to weed out those predisposed to break down in combat. The military used the best available psychiatric testing and rejected no fewer than five million for military service. In World War II, the ratio of rear-area support troops to combat troops was twelve to one. In the four years of war, no more than 800,000 soldiers saw direct combat, and of these, 37.5 percent became such serous psychiatric cases, they were permanently discharged. In the U.S. Army alone (not counting Army air crews), 504,000 men were lost to the fight for psychiatric reasons. There were 1,393,000 who suffered symptoms serious enough to debilitate them for some period. In WWII, it became clear it was not just the "weak" in character who were breaking down. This is reflected in the subtle change in terminology that took place near the end of World War II when "combat neurosis" began to give way to the term "combat exhaustion." Author Paul Fussell says that term as well as the term "battle fatigue" suggest "a little rest would be enough to restore to useful duty a soldier who would be more honestly designated as insane." While the name changed showed movement away from the psychopathology, it didn't keep the military model of "predisposition plus stress equals collapse" from working its way back into military medicine. Fussell was a 20-year-old Army lieutenant and the leader of a rifle platoon in France. He was severely wounded in 1945 and came home to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard. He has written a highly acclaimed book, WARTIME. In the preface he says, "For the past 50 years the allied war has been sanitized and romanticized almost beyond recognition by the sentimental, the loony patriotic, the ignorant, and the bloodthirsty - I have tried to balance the scales." Fussell quickly cuts to the heart of the war experience, reminding us that those who fight are at once young, athletic, credulous, and innocent of their own mortality. He points out that the populace is naive to the pain and suffering. Fussell quotes Bruce Canton: "A singular fact about modern war is that it takes change. Once begun it has to be carried to its conclusion and carrying it there sets in motion events that may be beyond men's control. Doing what has to be done to win, men perform acts that alter the very soil in which society's roots are nourished." Astonishingly, Canton was writing about the Civil War, which Fussell in turn characterizes as "long, brutal, total, and stupid" - something that can be said about any war when we fully realize that before society's roots can be altered, soldiers' very souls are seared by the acts they perform and witness. The denial and naivete of the populace as to what war really is becomes a dynamic underlying the trauma of soldiers: "[S]evere NAM VET Newsletter Page 48 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 trauma was often the result of the initial optimistic imagination encountering actuality." Many Vietnam veterans can attest it's a long way from the jungles of Vietnam to Disneyland (America). That is just about as far as Erich Maria Remarque knew it to be from the western front to home in WWI: "Now if we go back we will be weary, broken, burnt out, rootless, and without hope. We will not be able to find our way anymore. And men will not understand us.... We will be superfluous even to ourselves, some others will merely submit, and most will be bewildered...." Fussell points out all wars are boyish and are fought by boys who are useful material for the sharp edge of war, but only for a short time: "[A]fter a few months they'll be dried up and as soldiers virtually useless - scared, cynical, debilitated, unwilling...." While the average age in the military during WWII was 26, it was the 18-year-olds who were up front. "Among the horribly wounded the most common cry was 'mother!'" Replacements got hit before anyone knew their names, "forlorn figures coming up to the meat grinder and going right back out of it like homeless waifs, unknown and faceless to us," said poet James Dickey. Fussell notes the detachment may be heartless but it makes it possible for sensitive people to survive the war relatively undamaged. While it's true that we detach ourselves from war in order to survive, it's also clear that the act of detachment is itself a kind of willed destruction. It's the price paid; it's why we never learn. The psychic numbing necessary to survive combat is not something you step into and out of easily. You can't do it halfway. The attitude is betrayed by phrases such as, "It's just dead meat," "Kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out," or "Bomb Hanoi, Bomb Saigon, Bomb Disneyland, Bomb everything." This attitude is about as tangible a thing as you can find. It is all consuming and pervades the soul. You carry it with you when you leave the battlefield. You carry it home, where you live with it. You share it with your family and your friends and your kids, and ultimately with your society. And it is poisonous, exceedingly poisonous - "and it alters the very soil in which society's roots are nourished." At the close of WWI, Edmund Wilson looked out over London and said, "No one pretends to give a damn anymore - unless they are one's close friends or relatives - whether people are killed or not.... The long-continued concentration on killing people whom we rarely confront, the suppression of the natural bonds between ourselves and these unseen human creatures, is paid by repercussions. The spitefulness and fear and stifled guilt, in our immediate personal relations.... Our whole world is poisoned now...." It takes time and effort to overcome such detachment - some people never do. To look at any of it is to look at all of it. It can be overwhelming. It may be the reason Kurt Vonnegut took 23 years to tell us about his experience during the fire bombing of Dresden, just as it took Fussell 50 years to say, "Now 50 years later, there has been much talk about 'The Good War,' the justified war, the necessary war, and the like, that the young and innocent could get the impression that it really was not such a bad thing after all. It's thus necessary to observe it was a war and nothing else, and thus stupid and sadistic, a war, as Cyril Connally said, 'of which we are ashamed, a war... which lowers the standard of thinking and feeling... which is as obsolete as NAM VET Newsletter Page 49 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 drawing and quartering...; further, a war opposed to 'every reasonable conception of what life is for, every ambition of the mind or delight of the senses." Of course, the same can be said for the Korean War. In Korea, 1,587,040 served - 33,629 were killed in combat and 103,284 were wounded. Of the 198,380 who were actually in combat, 24.2 percent were psychiatric casualties. In other words, the chances of being a psychiatric casualty in Korea was 143 percent better than the chances of being killed. In Vietnam, 2,8 million served. Given the nature of guerrilla warfare, it is hard to estimate the number exposed to hostile fire. However, the Research Triangle Institute's Vietnam readjustment study concludes 480,000 have full-blown PTSD and another 350,000 have partial PTSD. The British psychiatrist R.D. Lang has written that an insane response to an insane situation is sane behavior. Working with schizophrenics, he concluded many were the way they were because of massive double-bind situations they were put in - telling them one thing while their reality and treatment were the opposite. For instance, the religious child grows up being told, "Thou shalt not kill," until he is drafted and the message becomes, "kill, kill, kill!" Gabriel writes in NO MORE HEROES, a study of madness and psychiatry in war, that contrary to what is in the movies, television, and the military, it is not only the weak and cowardly who break down in battle. In reality, everyone is subject to breaking down in combat, :perhaps most telling, not only are there no personalities or demographic factors which are associated with psychiatric collapse; neither are there any factors associated with heroism. It's impossible to predict which soldiers will collapse and which will behave bravely." A soldier who is brave one day may well be a psychological basket case the next. Gabriel states flatly, "There is no statistical difference in the rates of psychiatric breakdown among inexperienced troops and battle- hardened veterans." When all is said and done, all normal men are at risk in war. Gabriel believes there is enough evidence from studies done after WWII to suggest it is only those who are already mentally ill, about two percent of the population, who don't break down in battle. In other words, only the sane can go insane; the already insane remain that way. "Perhaps it is simply that while collective insanity can destroy normally sane men, it cannot reverse individual insanity," writes Gabriel. This idea, that all normal men have a breaking point and all combat veterans will fall off a continuum at recovering, from mild to severely pathological, has been called the endurance model. It looks at war madness as a form of adaptation. The task for therapists and psychiatrists to unravel the sense behind the symptomatology, acute or chronic, that is observed in veterans today: "Fatigue and listlessness, depression, startle reactions, recurrent nightmares, phobias and fears involving situations associated with trauma, mixtures of impulse behavior, unsteadiness in human relationships and projects of all kinds (including work or study), that may take the form of distrust, suspiciousness, and outbursts of violence." Robert J. Lifton is a psychiatrist based at Yale University, and he is renowned for his work with trauma patients, including Vietnam veterans. His response to the illness model (soldiers in NAM VET Newsletter Page 50 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 their conflictive "neurotic" state become afraid to die and afraid to kill) is he doesn't see not wanting to die or kill as being very "neurotic" and that, in fact, perhaps mankind can use a little more of this attitude. Lifton points out this model worked in WWII because the Nazis were so obviously evil: "Those soldiers that broke down, who were afraid to die and afraid to kill on behalf of this crusade, could be quite comfortably viewed as neurotic." The dynamics were different in Vietnam, where conditions of the war were such that moral revulsion combined with psychological conflict lead to both acute and delayed reactions. Lifton writes, "[M]onths or even years after their return to this country, many Vietnam vets combined features of the Traumatic Stress Syndrome with preoccupation with questions of meaning - concerning life, and ultimately, all other areas of living." Lifton argues that in the search to understand the soldiers' traumatic stress reaction, doctors should focus on the death and destruction that actually took place and its related questions of meaning, rather than invoke the idea of "neurosis." "At the heart of the traumatic syndrome - and of the overall human struggle with pain - is the diminished capacity to feel, or psychic numbing. There is a close relationship between psychic numbing... and death-linked images of denial ('If I feel nothing, then death is not taking place'), or 'I see you dying but I am not related to you as your death.'" In order to survive, soldiers undergo a radical reduction in their sense of the actuality of things. One example is Canadian bomber-pilot J.D. Harvey on his return from rebuilding Berlin in 1960: "I could not visualize the horrible death my bombs... had caused here. I had no feeling of guilt. I had no feeling of accomplishment." Lifton tells us this happens in order for the soldier to avoid losing his sense completely and permanently. "He undergoes a reversible form of symbolic death in order to avoid a permanent physical or psychic death." Having closed off and numbed themselves in order to survive, soldiers are then faced with the task of working their way back toward humanity. The struggle is to "reexperience himself as a vital human being." However, it is not all that easy, for "one's human web has been all too readily shattered, and in rearranging one's self-image and feelings, one is on guard against false promises of protection, vitality, or even modest assistance. One fends off not only new threats of annihilation but gestures of love or help." This goes to the heart of current concerns about PTSD - that, paradoxically, its tremendous incidence in Vietnam was ultimately a sign of the sanity of those who fought in the war. Otherwise, why be disturbed by the killing, by the stuff of war? But ever after, in peacetime, the reconstruction of "the human web" becomes more and more implausible; if societies are sane - if, in fact, they are civilized - why are there wars? The arguments are circular. The question of PTSD is always thrust back upon us. The reason there are wars is because most societies are not civilized, but might be someday. There are "cures" offered in the best of societies for PTSD, programs that are established to reintegrate sane men and women into the established order. But always the absolute cure to the eradication of symptoms of PTSD is to eradicate their causes. We NAM VET Newsletter Page 51 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 are disturbed by war, and justly so. As we know it today, Post- traumatic Stress Disorder is marked by a reexperiencing of the trauma in thought, feeling, or dream content, which is in turn evidenced by emotional and psychological numbing. Today, PTSD is characterized by depression, loss of interest in work or activities, psychic and emotional numbing, anger, anxiety, cynicism and distrust, memory loss and alienation, and other symptoms. And why not? Who would not be alienated from the scenes of death witnessed by soldiers? The point is that throughout history, men and women have acted to suppress the horrors that they've seen. It's time we recognize that for what it is - as not only the outward manifestation of PTSD, but the clearest evidence we have that wars are destructive in other ways than in body county. It takes many years for even the most sane among us to arrive at what we have seen and wanted to forget. Psychiatrist Victor Frankel survived internment in four Nazi concentration camps during WWII. It would be quite a few years before he wrote his book, MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING. In the book, he states clearly that "an abnormal response to an abnormal situation is normal behavior." In other words, if some things don't make you crazy, then you aren't very sane to begin with. Unfortunately, it's an idea whose time has not yet come. NAM VET Newsletter Page 52 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 It's finally here - a patch which acknowledges the other side of the Vietnam Veteran: His wife! Hardly needing any explanation, it is multicolor with Red, White, Blue, Green and Gold for the Map of Vietnam. While the text drawing below doesn't really do it justice, I think if you run it out on your printer, you'll sorta get the idea of how special this unique patch is. They are available for $5 each from VETLink #1 - Dept. 65 P O Box 2056 Pittsfield, MASSACHUSETTS 01202 (Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery) @@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@ @@@@@ @@@@@ @@@@@@@@ @@@@ @@@ @@@ @@@@ @@@@ @@@@@ @@@@ @@@@ @@@@ @@@ V I E T N A M V E T S W I F E @@@ @@@ @@@ @@@ :@@@@@@@@@@@: :@@@@@@@@@@@: @@@ @@@ @.............@ @.............@ @@@ @@@ @...............@ @...............@ @@@ @@@ @.................@ @.................@ @@@ @@@ (...................@@...................) @@@ @@@ @............. ..............@ @@@ @@@ @.............. MAP OF USA ..............@ @@@ @@@ @................. .................@ @@@ @@@ @................. WITH .................@ @@@ @@@ @.............. ...............@ @@@ @@@ @............... MAP OF ...............@ @@@ @@@ (........ .......) @@@ @@@ @...... VIET NAM SUPERIMPOSED ......@ @@@ @@@ @........ .........@ @@@ @@@ @.......... OVER IT ............@ @@@ @@@ I @ ............................ @ N @@@ @@@ @............................@ @@@ @@@ @..........................@ A @@@ @@@ S @........................@ @@@ @@@ @....................@ M @@@ @@@ T @..................@ @@@ @@@ @................@ @@@ @@@ A @............@ Y @@@ @@@ @..........@ @@@ @@@ N @......@ M @@@ @@@ @..@ @@@ @@@ D @@ @@@ @@@ @@@ @@@ B Y @@@ @@@ @@@ @@@ @@@ @@@ @@@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ @@ (c) 1988 VVA Chapter #65 Pittsfield, MA NAM VET Newsletter Page 53 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Vets Hospital Echo is now on-line! Input by Joan Renne NamVet's Women Veterans Section Editor The Friends BBS - Omaha, NE (402) 896-2669 The Vets Hospital Echo is now on line! It came about after lengthy discussions with several veterans about the kind of care and treatment our newest wounded and disabled veterans will receive at Veterans Administration Hospitals. Many of us have experienced the good, the not so good, and sometimes the dreadful treatment from the Veterans Administration Hospitals and Clinics across the United States. It is not the purpose of this echo to cast blame on or aspersions at the staff or the administrative personnel of any V A Medical Center. Our purpose is to help presently hospitalized veterans of all wars, and especially the new disabled and wounded veterans from the war in the Gulf. Our second purpose is to help the family members of our veterans find their way through the red tape... to discover, as we have, what works, and what doesn't in dealing with the Veterans Administration or other institutions related to the veterans care. One thing we can all do is press our Senators and Representatives to restore the funds that have been cut from the budget of the Veterans Administration that has caused a shortage of doctors, nurses and research programs. Present staffing is way down, and beds are empty when there are many veterans who had been promised care, who are no longer considered a as "deserving" that care. It is my opinion that decreased budgets for the VA has created this situation which leaves many veterans without any care, many of them among the homeless and unemployed who need that care desperately. What can we do? President Bush has told us repeatedly that the war in the Gulf is not another Vietnam; that we will welcome home our Gulf War Veterans with Pride. Part of our pride in them must be that we respect what all veterans in time of conflict or war go through. We must also understand that the war does not stop once the wounded leaves the battle field. That last battle will remain in that veterans mind for the rest of his or her life. Not all of the wounded will bear the physical scars of war, but that many will have the psychological scars we cannot see. We *must* understand, and do all we can to help all the new veterans. Where can we go to get answers? Most of the answers we find will be through our own experience, plus information from the different service organizations such as the V.F.W., American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, and their auxiliary members. Title 38, which is the section of Government rules and regulations pertaining to the Veterans Administration changes rapidly, and we must keep up with it. G. Joseph Peck, from VETLink #1 in Pittsfield, MA and I will be co-moderators of this echo. I am a disabled Korean conflict veteran and G. Joseph is a Vietnam era veteran. Both of us care. NAM VET Newsletter Page 54 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Although neither of us have access to *legal* opinions, we *do have* opinions and a personal and historical knowledge of how the system works. =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= Note from Joe: This echo is, for the moment, not available on the FidoNet backbone. If you or your SysOp wish, you may request it from VETLink #1 (9600bps) or Friends BBS (2400bps). Remembering always "To care for him(her) who shall have borne the battle", I am both humbled and honored with this opportunity to see to it that America's veterans are never forgotten nor neglected. NAM VET Newsletter Page 55 Volume 5, Number 3 March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xxx _ -. . - .-. - . . . . - XXXXXxxXXXXXXXXXXXx -. - .- . - . . XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX-. .--. - .- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX -.- - -.- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX -. -. -. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx .g -. -. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX .- j. .- XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX . p .-. XXXXXXXX ]XXXXXXXXX ]XXXXXXXX .- - -. XXXXXX XXXXX XXXXXX -.- - -- XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX -- - XXXXXXXXX X'`XXX XXXXXXX Y Y XXXXXXXXX XXXXX XXX XXXXXXX X X XXXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXX XXXXXX XXX XX X XXX XX XX XXXX XX XXX XX XX XX XXXX XXX]XXXXXXXXXXXX XXX[ XX XX XXX XXXXXXXXXX " I t ' s o n l y t e e n a g e a c n e ! " -Robert Nimmo- NAM VET Newsletter Page 56 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 This Message brought up from POW Network BBS: Date: 01-24-90 (15:26) Number: 267 To: ALL Refer#: NONE From: CHUCK SCHANTAG Read: (N/A) Subj: THE WAR COMES HOME, AGAIN Status: PUBLIC MESSAGE Submitted by: Lefty Frizzell NamVet's Need-To-Know Section Editor The Executive Washroom - Katy, Texas (713) 347-2558 On December 20, 1989, the war came home to Gary Roth of Milan Illinois. Gary enlisted in the Navy in 1964 fully expecting to be sent to VietNam. Every generation of the Roth family served in wars and he wasn't going to be the exception. Early in his Navy training Gary was injured and spent well over a year in the Navy hospital in Maryland. As part of his recovery, he was made a corpsmans aid, assisting the hospital staff with all the war wounded then entering the system. Needless to say, the memories of what he saw during that time haunts him to this day. The War came home again to Gary Roth. On December 20, 1989, Gary's only son Scott, was killed by a snipers bullet in Panama. Scott was only 19 at the time he died, and was firmly convinced that what he was doing was right for America. Gary came to visit me the other day, said that he could not get any support from the older vets so he had to turn to his own. He asked if I would help him organize a committee to build a Memorial in Washington DC. I say no to many things, but I NEVER turn away my own. A call to a Marine Nam vet Attorney, got the corporation going and the 501 (c) 3 papers in process, a 9th Inf Arty officer, now a CPA has the fund accounting covered. Another Nam Vet, now a radio personality, has agreed to do press releases. Congressman Lane Evans of Illinois and Jim Leach of Iowa are going to introduce a bill before Congress to allocate the necessary land. The only thing Roth needs now, is your support. I'm not talking money either. What Gary Roth need most is encouragement, and a few kind words from his own. To deny him this, is to forget everything we have learned. Gary can be contacted (mornings) at the address listed below Gary Lee Roth 2618 136th Ave. Ct. (319) 787-3187 West Milan, Il. 61264 NAM VET Newsletter Page 57 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 ================================================================= Veteran info you want to know ================================================================= "Ask the Veterans' Affairs Counselor" DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS Office of Public Affairs - News Service Washington DC 20420 (202) 233-2741 Input by: G. Joseph Peck NamVet's Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 (Following are representative questions answered daily by VA counselors. Full information is available at any VA office.) Q-- I heard that Congress passed a law authorizing special life insurance dividends for World War II veterans. I understand that veterans are entitled to this dividend even if they haven't kept their policies in force. Is this true? A-- No. The VA does not pay dividends on lapsed insurance policies. It sounds as if you were misled by the insurance hoax that has plagued the VA since 1948. The hoax is refueled every few years by the mysterious distribution of "applications" that claim that dividends are available for the asking and that Congress has passed a law authorizing the dividends. There has been no such action nor is there any pending. Annual dividends on current GI insurance policies are paid by the VA to veterans who continue to pay premiums. Dividend payments are made automatically, usually on the anniversary date of the policy, and no application is needed. Q-- I own a manufactured home on a rented lot. I would like to purchase a lot for it. Can I do this using the VA guaranteed loan program? A-- Yes. A VA guaranteed loan may be used to buy and improve a lot on which to place a manufactured home you already own and occupy. NAM VET Newsletter Page 58 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 BENEFITS for NY VETERANS and their FAMILIES STATE OF NEW YORK EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT DIVISION OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MARIO M. CUOMO, Governor DR. NICHOLAS F. SALLESE, (Past) Director "What you don't know about veterans' benefits can hurt you. That's precisely why the State of New York - through the medium of its Division of Veterans Affairs - provides professional counseling in the preparation and presentation of claims for all veterans' benefits. The well-being of veterans and their families is a prime concern of my administration." "I urge you to contact your nearest New York State Veterans' Counseling Center where you will find State Veteran Counselors who will explain your entitlement to veterans' benefits and extend sympathetic help in resolving your problems." Mario M. Cuomo, Governor "Veterans' benefits are not granted automatically; they must be applied for and the laws and regulations determining entitlement are extremely complex and beyond the comprehension of the average claimant. Your State Veteran Counselor is a professionally-qualified expert - especially trained to represent you before the various boards and adjudication officials of the Veterans Administration. All services rendered by your State Veteran Counselor are free and entail no fees or charges. County Veterans' Service Agencies are also equipped to give veterans information and offer advocacy services." Dr. Nicholas F. Sallese, (Past) Director CIVIL SERVICE FEDERAL: Ten-point preference for eligible disabled veterans in competitive exams only. Certain requirements waived and special priority given in certain job categories. Unremarried widows, certain wives and mothers of disabled veterans are also eligible for preference. STATE AND LOCAL: Ten-point original appointment preference for disabled veterans and five-points and 2-1/2 points, respectively, for promotional exams. Job retention rights applicable to veterans and wives of totally disabled veterans. DEATH PENSION FEDERAL: A non-service connected death pension is payable to eligible unremarried widows and minor children of deceased veterans who served during a period of hostilities. Amount depends upon their income and, in some instances net worth. Minor children may be eligible even though the widow has remarried or is ineligible because of income. Widowers, under certain conditions, may also be eligible. Certain widows may become eligible if remarried status changed due to death or NAM VET Newsletter Page 59 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 divorce of second husband. DISABILITY BENEFITS COMPENSATION: Apply for service-connected condition anytime in lifetime. Disability rating based on severity of condition and reduction or loss of earning power. Additional allowances for dependents of veterans with 30% or more disabilities and veterans with certain presumed chronic diseases. THE KEY TO ALL VETERAN BENEFITS ... an HONORABLE DISCHARGE SERVICE PENSION: A pension is payable to eligible wartime veterans with non-service connected disabilities which are permanent and totally disabling. Veterans who served at least 90 days between 5/19/16 and 4/16/17 in or around Mexico qualify. Payments based on need, annual income and net worth. DOMICILIARY Admission limited to eligible veterans who are disabled, unable to earn a living and in need of medical treatment and full care other than hospitalization. One domiciliary located in New York State at Bath in Steuben County. Nursing home care is up to 6 months at any VA approved nursing home on direct referral from VA hospital. EDUCATION FEDERAL: Honorably discharged veterans with active duty of at least 181 days, any part of which occurred after 1/31/77, may qualify for up to 45 months in approved training. Avocation or recreational courses not permitted. Veterans may complete high school without charge to educational entitlement. Those satisfying active duty obligations after 18 months service are entitled to the full 45 months. Servicemen with two years active duty are eligible for benefits while still in service. Allowances for predischarge education courses available to servicemen to complete high school or prepare for courses above high school level. Generally, education must be completed within 10 years of separation. A monthly financial stipend is provided for veterans. Proportionate allowances payable for half and three-quarter time. Special tutorial help available for essential courses to help overcome subject deficiencies. ON-THE-JOB TRAINING AND APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM Available with allowances for full-time training in addition to wages paid by employer. NEED CASH? YOU CAN BORROW ON YOUR GI INSURANCE POLICY See YOUR STATE VETERAN COUNSELOR FARM COOPERATIVE TRAINING Allowances may be provided for eligible veterans engaged in agricultural employment and enrolled in approved institutional agricultural courses. Proportionate allowances payable for half and three-quarter or full-time. TUITION ASSISTANCE Vietnam veterans who served in Southeast Asia are entitled to $500 per semester for full-time or $250 NAM VET Newsletter Page 60 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 per semester for part-time undergraduate study at any institution of higher learning in New York State. CHILDREN OF VETERANS whose death or permanent and total disability was due to service in Armed Forces during a period of hostilities may pursue approved courses in school and colleges under the War Orphans Educational Assistance Act. Orphans age 18-26, receive a financial stipend for 45 months schooling. Certain children, beginning at age 14, are eligible for special restorative training. CHECK THE BENEFICIARIES ON YOUR GI INSURANCE YOU CANNOT CHANGE THEM BY LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT WIDOWS AND WIVES OF VETERANS eligible for educational benefits receive a financial stipend. The veteran must have died of a service-connected disability, or be 100% disabled from service- connected causes. SPECIAL REGENTS GRANTS are awarded to eligible children of deceased veterans or those who suffered a disability of at least 50%. No competition for these $450 a year awards. EDUCATION LOANS: The National Defense Student Loan Program may be available to eligible college students attending participating institutions. Student loans are also available up to $2500 a year through the New York State Higher Education Service Corporation. HOSPITALIZATION Emergency or "bed available" admittance for veterans of any war or, of service after 1/31/55. Emergency hospital treatment may be obtained at civilian hospitals, at VA expense, for service-connected disabilities, provided VA is notified within 72 hours of admittance. Most retirees from service are eligible for treatment in Armed Forces hospitals, dependents of retirees are also eligible. Line-of-duty cases have top priority for VA hospital admission. Exceptions made for emergencies. Out patient treatment authorized for service- connected disabled veterans. Prescriptions, drugs, and certain prosthetic appliances approved for veterans receiving house-bound or Aid and Attendance benefits. Dental treatment available for Vietnam veterans on one-time completion basis if application is made within 3 months of separation. Hospital and medical care is provided certain members of Armed Forces or nations allied with the United States in World War I and II. Public Law 94-432 extends hospital and medical care to any person who served during World War I or World War II as a member of Armed Forces of Czechoslovakia or Poland in armed conflict with an enemy of the United States. Must be a citizen of the United States for at least ten years. INDEMNITY COMPENSATION Dependency and Indemnity Compensation is payable to eligible widows, unmarried children under 18, children 18-23, if attending approved schools, certain helpless children and dependent parents, for a veterans' war-time or peace-time service-connected death after 1/1/57. Annual income of parents is an eligibility factor. The widower of a female veteran may NAM VET Newsletter Page 61 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 qualify if he is incapable of self maintenance and was, at the time of her death, permanently incapable of self-support due to physical or mental disability. INSURANCE Holders of USGLI, NSLI and VSLI policies can obtain information concerning conversion, beneficiary changes, loans and disability riders from their local veterans counseling center. Servicemen with SGLI may convert to a permanent plan 120 days following separation from service. LOANS For eligible veterans and widows of World War II, Korean (Conflict) and Vietnam. Conventional home loan guaranty may be authorized not to exceed $27,500 or 60% of the loan whichever is less. Repayment period of loan not to exceed 30 years and 32 days. 50% mobile home loan guaranty available without reduction of entitlement to purchase conventional constructed homes. Loan may not exceed $27,500 for mobile home with suitably developed lot. Repayment period not to exceed 20 years and 32 days. REEMPLOYMENT Application to former employer for restoration to former position, other than temporary, should be made within 90 days following separation. Job reinstatement is for like seniority, status and pay. Reservists after initial duty training must apply for reinstatement within 31 days. REAL PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION Exemption from real property taxes is based on both condition of service and degree of disability. Applications must be filed with local assessor before Taxable Status Day. REVIEW OF DISCHARGE Boards of Review have authority to correct and upgrade most discharges according to facts presented. VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION Entitlement to vocational rehabilitation available up to twelve years after date of separation. ABSENTEE VOTING Apply to local board of elections for absentee military ballot before designated deadline each year - generally in October. AUTOMOBILE FEDERAL: Up to $3,800 is payable toward automobile or other conveyance purchased by certain seriously disabled veterans. STATE: Auto registration, Thruway permits and public campsite and park permits furnished free to certain qualified seriously disabled veterans receiving VA auto grants. BLINDNESS FEDERAL: Veterans in receipt of compensation for service-connected disability and blind in both eyes or who are in receipt of aid and attendance may qualify. Blindness need not NAM VET Newsletter Page 62 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 be service-connected. Seeing Eye Dogs, electronic and mechanical aids available. STATE: Annuity for blind veterans, $500 annuity to NYS residents who qualify. After veterans' death, annuity goes to widow, if eligible. BONUS Eligibility for NYS World War II Veterans Bonus terminated March 31, 1965 by State Legislature. No application accepted now unless veteran can prove inability to file prior to deadline was due to physical or mental incapacity. OTHER STATES: Some states pay former residents varying amounts for wartime military service. BURIAL FEDERAL: Financial assistance for burial and plot expense available for eligible veterans. Burial in National Cemeteries available to deceased veterans and close relatives. Claim must be filed within two years after permanent interment. Headstones or grave markers and burial flags also provided. STATE: Payment up to $950 toward burial of indigent NYS veterans and certain family members; $200 toward headstones. WHEELCHAIR HOMES Certain seriously disabled or blinded veterans may be eligible for a grant for building or remodeling home adapted to meet veterans' wheelchair needs. Grant equal to 50% of cost of home and necessary land up to a maximum of $32,000. For complete information and counseling on all veterans benefits, visit your New York State Division of Veterans' Affairs local counseling centers located at: (see selection at the end of this article) WHERE AND WHEN MAY A VETERAN RECEIVE COUNSELING? A veteran and his family may receive counseling at any one of the Division's conveniently located offices throughout the State. Exact locations are listed at the end of this document. Telephone numbers are listed in most telephone directories under "New York State - Veterans' Affairs, Division of." All offices of the Division of Veterans Affairs are usually open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. In the few areas served by itinerant counselors, the local office may be open during these hours one or two days a week. In special cases, counselors make arrangements to visit the veteran or his family at his home, hospital, or other convenient place. NEW YORK STATE COUNSELING CENTERS ALBANY - 855 Central Avenue Albany, NY ALLEGANY - Municipal Building 156 North Main Street Wellsville, NY NAM VET Newsletter Page 63 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 BRONX - 2488 Grand Concourse Bronx, NY 511 E. 233 Street Bronx, NY BROOME - County Office Building Hawley Street Binghamton, NY CATTARAUGUS - 265 North Union Street Olean, NY CAYUGA - Carr Building 188 West Genesee Street Auburn, NY CHAUTAUQUA - Clothier Office Building Room B-02E Mayville, NY CHEMUNG - 180 Clemens Center Parkway Elmira, NY CHENANGO - 20 South Broad Street Norwich, NY CLINTON - County Government Center Room 231 137 Margaret Street Plattsburgh, NY COLUMBIA - 454 Warren Street Hudson, New York CORTLAND - Court House Cortland, NY DELAWARE - Civic Center Sidney, NY DUTCHESS - County Office Building 22 Market Street Poughkeepsie, NY ERIE - State Office Building 125 Main Street Buffalo, NY Amherst Municipal Building 5583 Main Street Williamsville, NY FRANKLIN - Veterans Counseling Center Town Hall Saranac Lake, NY FULTON - 64 East Fulton Street Gloversville, NY NAM VET Newsletter Page 64 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 GENESEE - County Building #2 Batavia, NY HAMILTON - Long Lake HERKIMER - Herkimer County Office Building Mary Street - Box 307 Herkimer, NY JEFFERSON - State Office Building 317 Washington Street - 3rd Floor Watertown, NY KINGS - War Memorial Building Cadman Plaza at Orange Street Brooklyn, NY LEWIS - Court House Lowville, NY LIVINGSTON - Livingston County Campus Building #2 Mount Morris, NY MADISON - City Hall Oneida, NY MONROE - Terminal Building - Room 300 65 West Broad Street Rochester, NY MONTGOMERY - NYS Armory 49 Florida Avenue Amsterdam, NY NASSAU - 320 Old Country Road Garden City, NY City Hall Long Beach, NY 977 Hicksville Road Massapequa, NY NEW YORK - 80 Centre Street New York, NY 252 7th Avenue New York, NY State Office Building, 4th Floor 163 West 125th Street New York, NY NIAGARA - NYS Armory 901 Main Street Niagara Falls, NY NAM VET Newsletter Page 65 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 ONEIDA - Oneida County Office Building 800 Park Avenue Utica, NY ONONDAGA - State Office Building 333 East Washington Street Syracuse, NY ONTARIO - 120 North Main Street Canandaigua, NY ORANGE - 361 Broadway Newburgh, NY ORLEANS - 14016 Route 31 West Albion, NY OSWEGO - County Office Complex 70 Bunner Street Oneonta, NY PUTNAM - 179 East Lake Boulevard Mahopac, NY QUEENS - 1600 Central Avenue Far Rockaway, NY Lost Battalion Hall 93-29 Queens Boulevard Rego Park, NY RENSSELAER - County Office Building 1600 7th Avenue Troy, NY RICHMOND - Boro Hall Building - Room 313 Staten Island, NY ROCKLAND - 39 South Main Street Spring Valley, NY ST. LAWRENCE - 201 State Street Ogdensburgh, NY SARATOGA - Arcade Building 376 Broadway Saratoga Springs, NY SCHENECTADY - County Office Building 620 State Street Schenectady, NY SCHOHARIE - Professional Building 254 Main Street Schoharie, NY SCHUYLER - 909 Franklin Street Watkins Glen, NY NAM VET Newsletter Page 66 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 SENECA - County Office Building Waterloo, NY STEUBEN - City Building 108 Broadway Hornell, NY SUFFOLK - Suffolk County Center Riverhead, NY State Office Building, 3rd Floor Veterans Highway Hauppauge, NY SULLIVAN - County Government Center Monticello, NY TIOGA - 56 Main Street Oswego, NY TOMPKINS - Terrace Hill 304 Babcock Hall Ithaca, NY ULSTER - Box 1800 - 300 Flatbush Avenue Kingston, NY WARREN - County Municipal Center Annex Lake George, NY WASHINGTON - County Annex Building Hudson Falls, NY WAYNE - County Office Building 9 Pearl Street Lyons, NY WESTCHESTER - City Hall 505 North Avenue New Rochelle, NY County Office Building - Room 103 White Plains, NY Health Center Building - Room 314 87 Nepperhan Avenue Yonkers, NY 750 Washington Street Peekskill, NY WYOMING - 422 North Main Street Warsaw, NY YATES - 105 Court Street Penn Yan, NY NAM VET Newsletter Page 67 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 W W M M W W M M M M W W \ / M M M M OOOO W W W --*-- M M M IIII O O W W W W / \ M M II O O W W W W M M II O O W W M M II O O II PPPPPP O O ..... II AA PP PP OOOO . '' '' .. IIII A A PP PP ..' '.. A A PPPPPPP ..' ''. A A PP ..' '. AAAAAA PP .' ''. A A PP .' '. A A .' .:::::.. '. .' .::::::::::. ' .' .::::::::::::::. '. .' __ .::::::::::::::::;:... '. .' _- -_ .:::::::::::::::::::::::. '. .' _-_ _ _ -_ ::::::::::::::::::::::::' '. .. _- -!!___!!!-_:::::::::::::::::::::::. .. .' ==_ _- _= .:::::::::::::::::::::::: ', . =-_= _= = :::::::::::::::::::::::: . .' =-_ =_- = ::::::::::::::::::::::: '. .' = - -_ =_:::::::::::::::::::::. '. .' -_ -_- .:::::::::::::::::::;;;. '. .' _-_ ..::::::::::::::::::::::::; '. . _ _ .:;:::::::::::::::::::::;, . ' _ .:::::::::::::::::::::::::. '. Y .'.....::::::::::::::::::::::::::;' '. N ::::::::::::::::::::::::' `''' ': O `::::::::::::::::::::::: \v/ \ / :'E `:::::::::::::::::::::: =========================== :' U `:::::::::::::::::::::. /^\ \ :'T `:::::::::::::::::::: .: A `:::::::::::::::::: .:'T `::::::::::::::::::. .;' R `:::::::::::::::::. .;' T `::::::::::::::::. .;' E `:::::::::gjp::: .:' O `:::::::::::::...........'' G N O T F O R " Bring them home --- NOW !!! " NAM VET Newsletter Page 68 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 COMMON REENLISTMENT CODES Input by G. Joseph Peck NamVet's Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 ARMY RE CODES RE-1 Fully qualified for immediate reenlistment RE-1A Fully qualified for immediate reenlistment; ineligible to reenlist for 93 days after date of separation RE-2 Fully qualified for immediate reenlistment; separated for convenience of the government under a separation which does not contemplate immediate reenlistment (see AR 632-200 Chapter 5,6,8,9,11 and 12) RE-3 Not eligible for reenlistment unless a waiver is granted RE-3A Not eligible for reenlistment unless a waiver is granted. Waiver, if approved, is valid only for the purpose of providing continuous, unbroken service for RA in-service personnel RE-3B Not eligible for reenlistment unless a waiver is granted. Applicable to EM who have lost time during their last period of service RE-3C Not eligible for reenlistment unless a waiver is granted. Applicable to persons who have completed over 8 months service who do not meet the prior grade and service criterion of the Qualitative Management Program (see AR 600-200 Chapter 4) RE-4 Not eligible for reenlistment. Disqualification is nonwaivable RE-4A Not eligible for reenlistment. Applicable to EM who fail to meet citizenship requirements NAVY AND MARINE RE CODES RE-1 Recommended for reenlistment RE-2 Recommended for reenlistment but ineligible because of status: Fleet Reservist Retired (except for transfer to TDRL), Commissioned Officer, Warrant Officer, Midshipman, Cadet RE-3 Recommended for reenlistment except for disqualifying factor RE-3A Alien RE-3B Parenthood RE-3B Pregnancy RE-3C Conscientious Objector RE-3D Demonstrated dependency or hardship not meeting criteria specified in Bupersman article C-10308 RE-3E Erroneous induction RE-3F Erroneous enlistment RE-3G Condition (not physical disability) interfering with performance of duty RE-3H Hardship RE-3K Disenrolled from Naval Academy, not considered qualified for enlisted status RE-3M Marriage RE-3N Importance to national health, safety or interest RE-3P Physical disability (includes discharge and transfer to TDRL) RE-3P Obesity NAM VET Newsletter Page 69 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 RE-3P Motion sickness RE-3P Disqualified for officer candidate training RE-3S Sole surviving son RE-3T Overweight RE-3U Minority RE-4 Not recommended for reenlistment AIR FORCE RE CODES The following are codes recommended for reenlistment: RE-1; RE- 12; RE-13; RE-14; RE-3/93. All other codes are ineligible. NAM VET Newsletter Page 70 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 ================================================================= U.S.S. Liberty ================================================================= Analysis of ATTACK ON THE LIBERTY Broadcast in the UK by THAMES TELEVISION Broadcast in the US by The DISCOVERY Channel Rex Bloomstein, Producer/Director By Joe Meadors, Chairman USS Liberty Veterans Association 3 Burns Avenue Hicksville, New York 11801 SeaBat BBS - Corpus Christi, TX (512) 387-6638 PARTICIPANTS USS Liberty Survivors interviewed: 1. Lloyd Painter (Officer of the Deck during the attack) 2. James M. Ennes, Jr. (Officer of the Deck morning of 8 June 1967) 3. George Golden (Engineering Officer) 4. Phil Tourney (Petty Officer) 5. Dr. Richard Kiepfer (Medical Officer) 6. Stan White (Senior Chief Petty Officer) 7. Joseph Lentini (Petty Officer) 8. John Hrankowski (Petty Officer) 9. Wayne Smith (Chief Petty Officer) 10. John Scott (Damage Control Officer) Israeli personnel interviewed: 1. Unidentified Former Flight Engineer (Israeli Air Force) 2. Pinchas Pincasy (Former Naval Liaison Officer with Israeli Air Force) 3. Avraham Lunz (Former Duty Officer Naval HQ, Haifa) 4. Issy Rahav (Former Israeli Chief of Naval Operations) 5. Moshe Oren (Former Commander of Torpedo Boat Flotilla) 6. General Yeshayahu Bareket (Former Head of Israeli Air Force Intelligence) 7. Ahron Yifrach (Former Torpedo Boat Communications Officer) 8. Colonel Shmuel Kislev (Former Head of Israeli Air Force Operations) 9. Admiral Schlomo Erel (Former Head of Israeli Navy) ANALYSIS 1. The Israelis repeatedly asserted that there was no flag flying on the USS Liberty. The anonymous "Former Flight Engineer" stated there was "no flag on the ship." General Yeshayahu Bareket, Former Head of Israeli Air Force Intelligence, stated, "There was no flag on the ship. The question was asked and repeated and repeated again and again. Are you sure you can't see any flag are you sure you can't see any kind of identification. And all the words came back - no." Chief Petty Officer Melvin Smith was the USS Liberty's leading enlisted cryptologist. Chief Smith, and the radio intercept operators under his command, overheard the Israeli pilots NAM VET Newsletter Page 71 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 reporting back to their base that were flying an American flag. 2. NARRATOR: "Here in Tel Aviv the Air Force, which apparently had not been told that the Liberty had been recognized, was becoming concerned about reports from its won pilots of an unidentified spy ship." The Report of the Israeli 1967 Preliminary Inquiry (the Yerushalmi Report 1/67 dated July 21, 1967) states: "At 1055 hours the Naval Liaison Officer AT AIR FORCE H.Q. reported to the Navy H.Q. that the ship about which he had reported earlier in the morning was an electromagnetic audio- surveillance ship of the U.S. Navy, named Liberty, whose marking was GTR-5. At the same time the Acting Chief of Naval Operations was present at Navy H.Q." (emphasis added) According to the documentary, the Air Force had not been notified that the Liberty had been recognized, while the Report of the Israeli inquiry states that it is the Air Force who reported the identification of the Liberty to the Navy. 3. General Yeshayahu Bareket was emphatic that he contacted the American Embassy before the attack to find out if there were any US Navy ships in the area. At the time this claim was first made (immediately after the attack) it caused great consternation in the US State Department and was the subject of several messages including AMEMB Tel Aviv serial 4178 JUN 67, USDAO Tel Aviv 161945Z JUN 67, and AMEMB Tel Aviv 162000Z which said flatly: "No request for info on U.S. ships operating off Sinai was made until after Liberty incident. Had Israelis made such an inquiry, it would have been forwarded immediately to the Chief of Naval Operations and other high naval commands and repeated to the Department (of State.)" 4. Avraham Lunz (Former Duty Officer Naval HQ, Haifa): "I got on duty in the morning abut 8:00. The situation was very calm. I had some old information. One of them was about an AGI, Intelligence Gathering Ship, American Type, in the southern part of the area. The information was quite old. It was dated 6 hours this morning. At around 11:00, checking the situation and knowing that no ship would stay on its place, and five hours old information was quite old, we took it off without knowing where it went." Admiral Shlomo Erel (Former Head of Israeli Navy): "The description of the Liberty sailing innocently in broad daylight is all so very picturesque but this wasn't the case. This was the heart of fighting, with aircraft flying overhead all the time in the heart of a war area." Admiral Erel would have you believe that aircraft were flying all over the place, yet NONE of them reported seeing the Liberty between the hours of 6:00 and 11:00. 5. Issy Rahav (Former Israeli Chief of Naval Operations) ordered the dispatch of three Motor Torpedo Boars from Ashdod "at about 1200." He ordered them to "sail and see whether they can see anything in the area." NAM VET Newsletter Page 72 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Moshe Oren (Former Commander of the Motor Torpedo Boat Flotilla) stated that "we were actually ordered to find this ship that is bombarding the shore, our forces, and destroy it. That was the order." The Yerushalmi Report: "At 1205 hours an order was given to three torpedo boats of the division at Ashdod to proceed in the direction of El Arish. Reports about the shelling continued to reach G.H.Q./Operations, and pressure was exerted on the naval representative, on the lines that 'the coast has been shelled for hours, and you - the Navy - are not reacting.' The Naval representative contacted Navy H.Q. and proposed an immediate action. He was informed that torpedo boats had been sent to the spot to locate the target, and it had also been agreed with the Naval representative at Air Force H.Q. that as soon as the torpedo boats locate the target, aircraft would be dispatched." In 1982, the Israeli Defense Forces History Department Research and Instruction Branch issued a report on the USS Liberty incident. (The Preface to this Report states, "Recently, with the publication of the book, ASSAULT ON THE LIBERTY, the American Congress appointed a committee, headed by Adlai Stevenson, for the purpose of investigating the affair and publishing the results of the investigation. Immediately upon learning of the appointment of the committee, it was decided that the History Department would research the affair and submit the official version of the State of Israel." Stevenson's committee was disbanded after Israel agreed to pay the US financial claims for the destruction of the USS Liberty.) On page 10 of that report, it states: "Division 914 ('Pagoda" on the radio code), under the command of Commander Moshe Oren, consisted at that time of three torpedo boats - T203, T204 and T206; the flagship was T204, with the Division commander aboard. THE DIVISION HAD LEFT ASHDOD PORT AT 1120 HOURS, with the task of patrolling between Ashdod and Ashkelon." (emphasis added) Elsewhere, "Division 914 continued on her way to El-Arish and after an hour's sailing (at 1317 hours) she was informed (by Naval Operations/3) of the shelling from the sea, of El-Arish." 6. Ahron Yifrach (Former Torpedo Boat Communications Officer) located the Liberty on radar at a range of 22 miles "about an hour later" (this would be about 1300 hours) and plotted the contact travelling at 30 knots. He stated the contact "was running away west at high speed, we cannot achieve it, our high speed was slower, and we asked for support of aircraft." The Yerushalmi Report: "According to the division log-book, a target was located at 1341 hours situated at a distance of about 20 miles north of El- Arish." Not 1300 hours as stated by Yifrach The Israeli Defense Forces History Department Report: "At 1341 hours, the Division detected the target on its radar - 20 miles northwest of El-Arish and 14 miles off the coast of Bardawil. The officer at the CIC on the flagship, Ensign Yifrach Aharon (sic), reported that the target had been NAM VET Newsletter Page 73 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 detected at a range of 22 miles, that the target had been tracked for a few minutes, after which he had determined that the target was moving westward at a speed of 30 knots." The torpedo boats were sent from Ashdod at 1200 hours. "About an hour later" they had the Liberty on radar at a distance of 22 miles travelling at 30 knots "in a westerly direction" which, according to Yifrach, was faster than the fastest speed the torpedo boats could attain. At this time the Liberty was 77 miles from Ashdod which meant that in order to have the ship on radar from 22 miles away, the torpedo boats (with a maximum speed of less than 30 knots) would have to travel the 55 miles in one hour. This is impossible. Radar is line of sight. As a result, the maximum range of the Torpedo Boat's radar is 12-15 miles. They did not come close enough to detect the Liberty on radar until 1400 hours, and by that time the attack was already underway. 7. Ahron Yifrach: "I reported to headquarters in Haifa that we found the target, it's running away west at very high speed, we cannot achieve it, our high speed was slower, and we asked for support of aircraft." The Yerushalmi Report: "(The Naval representative) was informed that torpedo boats had been sent to the spot to locate the target, and it had also been agreed with the Naval representative at Air Force H.Q. that as soon as the torpedo boats locate the target, aircraft would be dispatched." The Israeli Defense Forces History Department Report: "The Division Commander (Moshe Oren) was told to listen to the air-sea-liaison radio channel (86 and 186) and that IAF planes would be dispatched to the area after the target had been detected by the Division." Aharon Yifrach asserts that the aircraft were dispatched because the torpedo boats reported that the contact was travelling at 30 knots and the boats were not capable of achieving that speed. The two other reports contradict this. 8. Colonel Shmuel Kislev states the pilots were told there was only one ship in the area and, if they determined that the ship was "the warship that had been shelling the shore of El Arish," they were permitted to attack. During one of the strafing runs one of the pilots reported that there was no flag flying. After that report, the aircraft were ordered to halt the attack. The Yerushalmi Report: "The aircraft carried out a run over the ship in an attempt to identify it. According to their statements, they were looking for a flag but found none; likewise no other identification mark was observed. As against this, it was established that the painting of the ship was grey (the color of a warship), and two guns were situated in the bow. This was reported to H.Q. On the assumption that they were facing an enemy target an order was given to the aircraft to attack." NAM VET Newsletter Page 74 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Note that the Yerushalmi Report states that the pilots were ordered to attack AFTER they indicated they saw no flag flying, but the pilots did not report seeing no flag until the last strafing run. The Israeli Defense Forces History Department Report: "The two 'Mirage' aircraft reached the ship at approximately 1400 hours. The formation leader, Captain Spector, descended to a height of 3,000 feet and circled the vessel twice; his number two executed one identification run. These runs revealed to the pilots that the ship was not an Israeli vessel since she did not have the identifying markings (a white cross on a red background). The ship was colored battleship grey, had a foremast, one smokestack and two guns on her bow. No flag or other identifying sign was discerned. The formation leader reported this to the torpedo boats and Control then the aircraft received permission to attack." Elsewhere, "The lack of response from the ship raised suspicions in the mind of the formation leader and he decided to descend for an identification run. In this first run he discerned letters on the ship's bow but did not succeed in reading them clearly although the markings looked like p-30. In order to be sure the pilot descended for a second, slower identification run at a height of 30 meters and then he was able to discern the letters CTR-5 ('Charley,' 'Tango,' Romeo') and reported this to control. Although he searched for a flag or other identification marking, he detected nothing." Note that in the documentary, the pilot reported seeing CTR-5 during the last strafing attack (even going to the extreme of providing "transcripts" of the pilot's conversation). This is contradicted by the Israeli Defense Forces History Department Report which states that the pilot reported seeing CTR-5 when he made two special identification runs over the ship. 9. The pilot's conversation conversation was "recreated from transcripts." Why was the conversation of the pilots recreated from the transcripts instead of using the tapes themselves? 10. Two Torpedo Boat commanders, simultaneously and independently, identified the Liberty as the El Quseir. In a September 21, 1967 memo from Carl F. Salans, The Legal Advisor in the United States Department of State, to the Undersecretary of State, Mr. Salans writes: "The Clifford report noted 'That the Liberty could have been mistaken for the Egyptian supply ship El-Quseir is unbelievable. El-Quseir has one-fourth the displacement of the Liberty, roughly one-half the beam, is 180 feet shorter, and is very differently configured. The Liberty's unusual antenna array and hull markings should have been visible to low-flying aircraft and torpedo boats....Trained Israeli naval personnel should have been able easily to see and identify the larger hull markings on the Liberty' NAM VET Newsletter Page 75 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 "The Israeli report states that the initial speed of the target reported by the torpedo boat commander at 1341 hours as 30 knots was verified within minutes and confirmed as a speed of 28 knots. The report notes that it was the speed of the target which led to the final conclusion that there was no reason for surmising that the target could possibly be the Liberty. "The reported speed would have ruled out the 'El Kasir' as the target, as well as the Liberty, since the top speed of the Kasir, published in Janes Fighting Ships, is in the range of 14 knots. The Liberty's top speed is 18 knots." 11. Commander Ernest Castle, US Military Attache in Tel Aviv at the time of the attack states that if the Israelis really wanted to sink the Liberty they would have attacked at night and, since they recently wiped out the Egyptian military with such ease, they would have no problems sinking the ship. Would the Israelis have waited until night to attack the Liberty? Would the Israelis have waited until the Liberty had spent the entire afternoon spying on them? Instead of waiting for night, wouldn't they have jammed her radios? They did. Instead of waiting for night, wouldn't they have sent in fast attack jets to destroy her antennas and wipe out her defensive capabilities? They did. Instead of waiting for night, wouldn't they have brought in torpedo boats to sink the ship? They did. Instead of waiting for night, wouldn't they have those torpedo boats machine gun the Liberty's life rafts to ensure there were no survivors? They did. SUMMARY According to the 1982 Israeli Defense Force History Department Report, "such an incident must be thoroughly investigated, that all the causes of the tragic encounter must be examined, conclusions drawn, and proper instructions issued which will prevent the occurrence of such an incident in the future." The questions raised by the documentary add support to this argument. A complete and comprehensive investigation of the USS Liberty incident is long overdue. NAM VET Newsletter Page 76 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 ================================================================= Concentrated IVVEC/NamVet Service ================================================================= ROBERT A ROE WASHINGTON OFFICE 5th District, New Jersey Room 2243 Rayburn House Office Building CHAIRMAN 202-225-5751 SCIENCE, SPACE AND DISTRICT OFFICES TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE Law Building CHAIRMAN 66 Hamilton Street Subcommittee: Room 102 INVESTIGATIONS AND Paterson, NJ 07505-2003 OVERSIGHT CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES Subcommittees: HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES US Post Office Building WATER RESOURCE Washington DC 20515-3008 Bloomfield Avenue INVESTIGATIONS AND BLOOMFIELD, NJ 07003-3471 OVERSIGHT 201-645-6299 SURFACE TRANSPORTATION PERMANENT SELECT COMMITTEE 158 Mountain View Boulevard ON INTELLIGENCE P.O. Box 407 Wayne, NJ 07474-0407 February 26, 1991 201-696-2077 Mr. XXXXXXXXX XX XXXXXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXX XXXXXXX, New Jersey 070XX Dear Mr. XXXXXXXX: Just a note to advise that I have had an opportunity to thoroughly review your file and I must say that you certainly have NOT been treated very well by the Veterans Administration. In an effort to be of further assistance to you I have, again, contacted Mr. Baglio, Director of the Veterans Administration Medical Center in East Orange bringing to his attention that their (sic) were several positions that you were qualified to fill and that you were passed over as a disabled Vietnam Veteran and have asked him to look into this matter. In further checking with the Veterans Administration regarding the Veterans Readjustment Appointment Program we were advised that this program is administered by the State Division of Employment Benefits as well as the State Veterans Administration. I have, therefore, taken the liberty of contacting both of these State Agencies bringing your case to their attention. Also, in our file it was noted that you still did not receive a final determination regarding your request for Vocational Rehabilitation and we note that you do have a scheduled appointment with your Counselor on March XXX. I wish to assure you of our continued efforts in every respect and I will keep you advised. With all good wishes, Sincerely, NAM VET Newsletter Page 77 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 ROBERT A. ROE Member of Congress cc: Honorable Louis J. Gill Assemblyman - 36th District G. Joseph Peck, President/Service Officer VETLink #1 NAM VET Newsletter Page 78 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center East Orange, NJ 07019 February 5, 1991 In Reply Refer To: XXX/XXX Mr. G. Joseph Peck President/Service Officer Berkshire Veterans Center, Inc. P.O. Box 2056 Pittsfield, MA 01202 Dear Mr. Peck: This is in response to your correspondence regarding Mr. XXXXXXXXX X. XXXXXXXX, XX XXX Street, Passaic, New Jersey, 07055. As we informed Congressman Robert Roe, who also wrote to us on behalf of Mr. XXXXXXXXX, Mr. XXXXXXXXX applied to this Medical Center for our XXXXXX XXXXX position in Fiscal Service, but the position had already been filled by the time we received his application. Since we had another vacancy in Fiscal Service, that of XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX, we reviewed Mr. XXXXXXXXX's application, determined he was qualified for the position and referred his application to the selecting official along with applications received from other qualified candidates. After considering all the candidates, an individual who was employed with the Internal Revenue Service was selected. In your letter you stated that Mr. XXXXXXX "was apparently not considered for even a VRA appointment and/or trial period". Both you and Mr. XXXXXXXX should be assured that if Mr. XXXXXXXX is selected for a position for which he qualifies, he may be given a VRA appointment, or an appointment for veterans with a disability of 30% or more, or some other type of appointment for which he meets the eligibility requirements. However, being eligible for one of these appointments does not obligate a Federal agency to hire the individual. The applicant must still meet the qualifications for the position and be selected by the selecting official. We will continue to maintain Mr. XXXXXXXX's application on file and refer it to selecting officials for consideration if the qualifications for the position are met. We hope this information is helpful with your response to Mr. XXXXXXXX. Sincerely, PETER BAGLIO Medical Center Director NAM VET Newsletter Page 79 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 From a 1988-89 American Legion Handout Input by: Gjoseph Peck NamVet's Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 AVAILABLE PROGRAMS AND SERVICES This section describes a variety of education, training and employment programs available to veterans. As Employment Chairman, you should contact each to become familiar with its program. In turn, the staff would get to know you and what you are trying to do for veterans. Your job begins with these programs, but it doesn't end there. New programs, new jobs, open up constantly. Job information can become available through any type of community contact - school, church, bowling league. Wherever you go, you're meeting potential employers and others who know about job openings. EMPLOYMENT RELATED PROGRAMS STATE EMPLOYMENT SERVICE AGENCY A visit to the state Employment Service office (Job Service) is the first step in every veteran's job hunt. It is the largest single source of job information in the country. Over 2,000 local offices make up an employment team with nationwide resources. By federal law and regulation, veterans are to receive priority in job counseling, referral, development, testing, and in other areas as well. Depending upon the veteran applicants, each local Job Service office has appointed a Local Veteran Employment Representative (LVER) and/or a Disabled Veterans Outreach Program (DVOP) specialist whose primary function is to assist the veteran. Additionally, the Job Service office provides current information on job openings, training opportunities, labor-market information, and other information. It's entirely proper for a member of The American Legion, particularly a Post Employment Chairman, to make a friendly inquiry about veteran services to either the local office manager or the State Director for Veterans Employment. The letter or visit might include the following points: (1) Point out the requirement for a full-time LVER/DVOP in specified local offices. How many local offices are subject to this requirement? Do any of these offices not have a full time LVER/DVOP? Is there an approved exception, if called for? (2) Are all LVERs authorized and trained to be "functional supervisors" of office-wide employment services to veterans? Do the LVERs regularly analyze services to veterans and bring any needed correction to the manager's attention? (Veterans should be directly helped by all local office placement and counseling staff, not just the LVER/DVOP. The LVER should have the freedom to review and evaluate services to veterans.) (3) Do all local offices observe the practice of reviewing each veteran's application every 30 days in order to provide helpful service? How well do the offices meet this requirement, according to the local office analysis and evaluation? NAM VET Newsletter Page 80 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 For the veteran, real quality in employment assistance often makes the difference between the payroll line and the unemployment line. Don't forget, such inquiries are a part of the Legion's "Jobs for Veterans' programs. VETERANS EMPLOYMENT SERVICE The Veterans Employment Service of the U.S. Department of Labor has over the decade grown and matured into a separate and independent component of the department. Now headed by an Assistant Secretary of Veterans Employment, who must be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, the ASVE serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary of Labor on veterans affairs as well as having direct control over all veteran programs within the department. The Office of Assistant Secretary for Veterans Employment is comprised of the VES and its nationwide network of State/Assistant State Director for Veterans Employment and an office of Policy, Planning and Legislation. The office of the VES has responsibility for: VES personnel and duties, the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program, national veteran programs and the mandatory job listing. As every state is assigned one State Director for Veterans Employment, and depending upon the veteran population, an Assistant State Director for Veterans Employment, it is most important that you establish and maintain a relationship with these individuals. They should serve as an excellent resource expert on veteran employment training issues and programs. The name and address of your SDVE can be secured from the state Employment Commission or by contacting the: Office of Assistant Secretary for Veterans Employment U.S. Department of Labor Room S1315 200 Constitution Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20210 LOCAL VETERANS EMPLOYMENT REPRESENTATIVE Nearly every one of the more than 2,000 nationwide Job Service offices is to have assigned a Local Veterans Employment Representative (LVER). This individual is to service the veteran and to provide "functional supervision" of office-wide employment services to veterans. Additionally, the LVER is to provide the veterans with registration, counseling, job development and other services. DISABLED VETERANS OUTREACH PROGRAM First begun under the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, the DVOP was made a permanent federally funded program by enactment of PL 96-466. By statutory formula there are to be just over 2,000 nationwide full time specialists stationed in local Job Service offices, VA facilities such as the Outreach Centers, and elsewhere. DVOP specialists are to provide to disabled and other veterans: job development/training, outreach, assistance to LVERs, counseling and promotion of employment opportunities for veterans. Both DVOP specialists and LVERs will serve as excellent veteran employment training reference sources. NAM VET Newsletter Page 81 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 OFFICE OF FEDERAL CONTRACT COMPLIANCE PROGRAM By federal law, any contractor or subcontractor who has a contract with the federal government for $10,000 or more must have, and promote, an affirmative action program for the hiring and promotion of eligible Vietnam era veterans and disabled veterans. They must file this plan with the local Job Service office which services its area. In turn, the Job Service office is to refer qualified veterans. This requirement can be of great significance to veterans who reside in areas of major contractors. You should thoroughly discuss this law with the LVER/DVOP and State Director for Veterans' Employment to ensure maximum veteran participation. Questions concerning this requirement should be directed to the SDVE or Office of Assistant Secretary for Veterans Employment. REEMPLOYMENT RIGHTS This program enables a veteran discharged under honorable conditions who formerly held a permanent job to return to the position he would have attained (or another position of comparable seniority, status and pay) had he not served on military duty. His entitlement includes all benefits he would have received had he not been absent, such as seniority, pay increases, and for retirement and pension calculations. The veterans must be qualified to do the job to which he returns. If disabled in service, the veteran is entitled to another job of comparable seniority, status and pay. The Local Veterans Employment Representative can provide information about the specific requirement for reemployment. For more information, contact the Veterans' Reemployment Rights representative at your area Dept. of Labor office or: Office of Assistant Secretary for Veterans Employment Office of Veterans Reemployment Rights U.S. Department of Labor Room S1315 200 Constitution Ave., N.W. Washington, D.C. 20210 TARGETED JOB TAX CREDIT This program gives eligible Vietnam era veterans better odds at finding a job. TJTC gives a tax break to employers who hire persons in one of seven "target groups" which includes eligible Vietnam era veterans. Veterans who think they may be eligible should go to their State Employment Service office and ask for a "TJTC Applicant Characteristic Form." If eligible, the veteran will receive a TJTC voucher to take to job interviews to show employers they will get a tax break by hiring him. This is a form of on-the-job training. JOB TRAINING PARTNERSHIP ACT OF 1982 Enacted into law in late 1982, the JTPA replaced the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act. Greater latitude is placed on state governors as to how federal training funds are to be allocated given federal guidelines. Governors are to appoint advisory councils and boards who will determine the expenditure of funds. Although not specifically assigned to these councils and boards, there remains ample language to allow veteran representation. It would no doubt be NAM VET Newsletter Page 82 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 to your advantage to ensure adequate veteran representation on all councils and boards. Unlike CETA, the JTPA does not identify veteran as a specific target group to be served, unless, of course, they are made eligible by other criteria. In any event, you should become familiar with the working of the JTPA in your area to ensure veteran participation. NATIONAL VETERAN EMPLOYMENT TRAINING PROGRAMS Under Title IV of the Job Training Partnership Act, there is established a national veteran employment training program administered by the Office of Assistant Secretary of Veterans Employment. By the way of grants or contracts, funds are provided to meet the needs of eligible veterans at the local level. Guidance, monitoring and technical advice are provided by the respective State Director for Veterans Employment. Not only should you ensure veteran participation in this program; but, if feasible, consider establishing a program of your own. Advice on programs can be secured from your State Director or by contacting the Office of Assistant Secretary for Veterans Employment. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT Qualifying veterans are entitled to preference in federal employment throughout the country. This may be accomplished in a number of ways: (1) All physical requirements are waived for veterans who are physically able to perform the duties of the position. (2) Regulations prohibiting the filing of applications after the closing date of an exam may be waived. (3) Extra points may be added to a veteran's Civil Service test scores. (4) Lists of eligible applicants give preference to veterans. When an agency passes over a veteran and selects a non-veteran, its action is subject to review by the Office of Personnel Management, and disabled veterans passed over must be notified and given an opportunity to respond. (5) Veterans are given credit towards experience requirements for the time spent in military service. (6) Preference is given to veterans for retention when layoffs occur. By federal law, the positions of guards, elevator operators, messengers and custodians are reserved for eligible veterans. Eligible veterans should bear this requirement in mind when they are looking for a position with the federal government. Like any other employer, the government requires all applicants to complete an application form. In this case it is an SF (Standard Form) 171. The form should not be filled out hurriedly; it must be neat and legible (preferably typed); if necessary, supporting documents and/or continuation sheets may be attached. It is important to tailor the form to the job being sought. That is, attempt to match as closely as possible your qualifications to the job desired; be specific with your answers and use words that emphasize your abilities (advised, directed, NAM VET Newsletter Page 83 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 planned, coordinate, etc.). Finally, always retain one or two copies for your records, information on veteran opportunities and rights in the federal service can be obtained by contacting the nearest Veterans Federal Employment Representative or: Chief of Veteran Programs Office of Personnel Management 1900 E Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20415 It should be remembered also that the Veterans Preference Act of 1944, and subsequent pertinent legislation as well as the Postal Service Reform Act of 1978 require the Postal Service to observe, promote and enforce all rights and benefits guaranteed to veterans. If there is a Postal installation near you, you should establish a rapport with the Affirmative Action officer to learn more of the installation's DVAAP, VRA, 30 percent disabled and other veteran hiring programs. Some state and local government bodies give preference to veterans. You may wish to check your area to determine eligibility requirements. It may be discovered that the government bodies have no form of veterans preference or that veterans preference is being weakened, in which event you must be prepared to mount a counter-effort. VETERANS READJUSTMENT APPOINTMENTS This program provides special federal civilian jobs to VEVs on a non-competitive basis. Appointments may be made to veterans with other than dishonorable discharges, with at least 180 days of active duty during the Vietnam era; or less, if there is a service-connected disability. ("Active duty for training" does not qualify.) A veteran can hold the appointment as long as he shows satisfactory progress in his education or training program and on the job. After two years of satisfactory service, the appointment automatically becomes a regular civil service appointment. For information, contact your regional Veterans Federal Employment Representative, the Federal Job Information Center, or: Office of Personnel Management Chief, Veterans Programs address listed on previous page 30 PERCENT DISABLED PROGRAM Like the VRA, the 30 percent disabled is a special non- competitive hiring authority for any eligible veterans rated 30 percent or more disabled. Federal agencies who have this program conduct a training program; at the conclusion, appointments are made to the regular Civil Service. For more information, contact the Federal Veterans Employment Representative or the Chief of Veteran Programs, OPM at the above address. DISABLED VETERANS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PROGRAM Every federal agency and installation is to have an approved Affirmative Action plan for the hiring and advancement of qualified disabled veterans. Also, every agency and installation has assigned in its personnel office an Affirmative Action officer who handles DVAAP. NAM VET Newsletter Page 84 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 If there is an agency and/or installation near you, you should contact the veteran official to learn more of its DVAAP and VRA and 30 percent programs. It may also be advantageous to establish a rapport with this official and invite him/her to speak at official meetings, conferences, etc. NAM VET Newsletter Page 85 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Research Help Requested - Site-85 By Hugh Taylor Submitted by: Lefty Frizzell NamVet's Need-To-Know Section Editor The Executive Washroom - Katy, Texas (713) 347-2558 I am in the process of researching a book on the fall of Site-85 near Phou Pha Thi, Sam Nuea Province, Laos, March 11, 1968. I plan to cover not only the establishment, operation and loss of the site but what has happened to the families of the men lost there since. As I pick up more on the possibility that some of those men were taken prisoner and may be still alive, that will be included also. I would appreciate it if anyone with information on this subject would leave a message on the board. I'll either contact you here or give you a personal call as you desire. I've been working on this project for more than three years and it looks as if I have a major publisher truly interested in backing the project. This is a hot one and could be a real barnburner for the entire MIA/POW effort. When the American people hear about this one, they'll demand that something be done to get the government off its dead ass and do something. For you info: I'm a retired Navy Commander, Naval Aviator, currently working as a writer. I just recently moved to Roswell, NM, to get out of the Los Angeles ratrace so I can do some serious research and writing. I was light attack and have some 30 reasons for wanting to get an accurate accounting of our people. Not the least of those reasons is the father of my son-in-law. Thanks and I'll keep watching the board. I see a number of familiar names on here. It's good to be among friends. Let's bring 'em home! Hugh NAM VET Newsletter Page 86 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 ================================================================= Look who's talking! ================================================================= BBS-Participants in VIETNAM_VETS EchoConference Input by: Lefty Frizzell NamVet's Need-To-Know Section Editor The Executive Washroom - Katy, Texas (713) 347-2558 Please Remember and Honor Our Vietnam Vets & MIA's (1:3603/210) The Recovery Room BBS Rochester,N.Y. (716)461-5201 (1:260/207) "Andy's Point from GROUP MEDICAL BB'S" * (1:138/116.11) "I never accepted the Israeli explanation"Dean Rusk (1:160/230.1) Group Medical BBS * Tacoma, WA * (206) 581-9088 (1:138/120) WWWWWHHHHHAAAATTTSSS UUUPPP????? (Quick 1:271/220.6) Chrysalis* Multi-User (214) 349-9397 Dallas, Tx (124/4214) --=> NITE CONNECTIONS BBS <=-- (For those HOT nights) (1:371/21) / A Point Of Desperation NOLA TCTFtC / (1:396/20.1) 12 & 12 Anonymous II, (714)539-1246 9600 V.32/V.42bis (1:103/201) 1st Special Forces - First in SE Asia (1:105/204) 24 Hours-A-Day BBS (408) 448-1126 San Jose, CA (1:143/302) 37th Street Coffee House 719-596-1565 CoS Co (1:128/76) <> Home of USS Liberty Vets Association (1:160/230.1) ==[ Wildcat of course ]== (1:370/10) >> /\/orthway BBS * Northboro, Ma * (508) 393-5346 <<(1:322/540) >> Thunder & Lighting for a KRACKLING Good time<<(RAX 1:375/12.9) ?ksa uoy od yhW .enif s'gnihtyrevE (1:160/230.1) AFIMS WILDCAT! (206)486-0609<>337-9187 HST DS (1:343/26) America's Finest -We stood up to be counted!407-423-2111(1:363/10 Amiga Fido *Ram-On Line* 504-283-2817 *HST/V.42* (1:396/20) AmoCat BBS Tacoma Washington (206)566-1155 =N6LA= (1:138/115) Andy's Manor (1:138/116.11) Asci Neighborhood(141/333)203-934-9852 HST/DS (Fidonet 1:141/333) ATTEL Node 1/A (Opus 1:2230/100) Azusa Pacific University E-Mail System. (1:102/896) BBS USA ..708-301-2872.. See the USA ! Lockport,IL. (1:115/301) Berkshire Estates *HST* 413-499-1327 (1:321/210) BG's Bar and Grill BBS (517) 783-4005 (1:159/2002.0) BJ's Corner BBS 301-277-4035 IBM Spoken here (1:109/529) Bragg IDBS,( 82nd Airborne, We're kicking IRAQ and taking na Brokedown Palace:1-(804)-591-8537 Virginia HST V42.bis(1:271/220) CA Self-Melp & Sciences of the Mind - Multi-Line 714-952-2110 Cat's_Meow (1:3620/8.0) Charles Towne BBS - Charleston, S.C. (803)763-4657 (1:372/1000) Chicago's BIT WIZ Opus HST (Net 115 NEC) (1:115/689.0) Classic City Node-2 (1:370/10) Clay's Point of View - Charleston, SC (1:372/4.4) CocoNuts BBs Honolulu Hi 808-845-7054 (1:345/2) Coffee House 719-596-1565 CoS CO (1:128/76) Combat Arms BBS - (415) 537-1777 (1:161/357) Coming to you From GROUP MEDICAL BB'S * Tacoma,WA *(1:138/116.11) Corrosion by the Ocean (1:160/50.9) Country Computer 1:154/288 Milwaukee, Wi. 414-355-3691(1:154/288) Crystal Palace The Ghost in the Machine (1:382/1.0) Custer's Last Point - Custer, S.Dak. (1:109/312.348) Dak To Ridge Runner - VetPoint 47 (1:321/203.47) DarkStar Prime - Lawton, OK (405)248-9884 [HST/V32] - (1:385/49) DD Connection 1, Arlington TX (817/640-7880) (Opus 1:130/10) NAM VET Newsletter Page 87 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Default origin line (1:150/201) Desert Dolphin...Remembering Our MIA/POW'S (1:305/105.0) Don't fight forces, use them. (1:105/204) E Pluribus Unum - The Mail Drop BBS (803)747-0559 (1:372/4) Electric Locksmith, Security, CO (719)390-9249 HST (1:128/22) Eschew obfuscation? The No*Name BBS, Norfolk VA (1:275/7) EX-USAF PJ, I got my senses back. (1:351/211) FAMILy TREE * (SDN 196.00) * 1-405-321-0642 * HST! (1:147/32) Flower City Central, Rochester, NY (1:260/204) FOG-LINE, Ankeny,IA, 515-964-7937, (1:290/627) Freedom Line BBS: Where the Kahuna IS!! (407) 423-2111 (1:363/10) Freedom's Choice << We Will Never Forget >> (1:101/215.0) GET SOME, Custer, SD. (1:109/312.348) GreyEagle - Falls Church, Va. 703-534-0177 (1:109/312) Grimace BBS >>> Ft. George G. Meade's Only Fido BBS! <<< HandiNet B B S Virginia Beach, VA (804)496-3320 (1:275/429.0) HARDWIRED - The WOCin' Bug Zapper (1:124/4210.0) HBX/EDS Vietnam Vet "In-Touch" Point 1:109/316.1 Hirschfeld Law Office - Phoenix AZ (1:114/74.2) If you don't like this wait, it will change (1:30022/3) In your heart, you know I'm right (1:114/74.4) Info-Net/Police-Net BBS (1:106/911) INTERSTATE BBS NETWORK Sea WA (206)631-3231 450 Meg (1:343/36) Jim's Hooch,Once part of Meyers Motel-21st SOS (301)866-8613 KIA USS Liberty = Scum; Mama, Your Son Could Be Next! (1:160/230) KIC-BBS (1:108/89.0) Leaders In Control (1:106/116.0) Live Free or Die! (1:132/130) Long_Island RB (Opus 1:102/138) LSO Systems * Everett WA * (RAX 1:343/17.28) McScott's NorthEast Arkansas' VetLink -HST- (1:389/2001) Melancholy Mikes (1:305/109.0) Mountain Retreat * Felton Ca * 408-335-4595 (1:143/506) My eXpress Response System Point-Less Point (RAX 1:343/17.28) Nat'l.Cong.for Men & Children (602)8404752 Voice(202)FATHERS NCC-1701: "Beam me up, Scotty!!" (1:124/1701.0) Nerd's Nook (216)-356-1431 - HST (1:157/3) NET 3603/Region 18 Hub - Cat House BBS! - HST/14.4 (1:3603/210) Network Echogate (1:129/34) Network Gateway to RBBS-NET (RBBS-PC 1:10/8) New Orleans MUG Multi-Line * RA/D'Bridge * PEP/V.32 * (1:396/13) NEW Safe Shareware & Multi-Line BBS HST 714-952-2110 (1:103/227) Nick's Nest (612) 490-3415 - (612) 490-0341 HST (1:282/3.0) Nightline BBS (1:203/39.0) Northwestern's - ACNS (WOC'n a thin line) HST, NEC 1:115 (Opus Now and Zen Opus HST (916) 962-1952 (1:203/34.0) NPI III (617) 592-5772 Lynn, MA 01904 (1:101/193.0) OIS/DSMUG BBS - Capitol of the First State (1:150/201) Ol'Codger's "Hats OFF" to our VETS 714-639-1139 (1:103/301) Ole Tinbrain - Charleston, SC (1:372/1) One of many 'YELLOW RIBBON'homes (1:138/116) Passing Thru [1:107/3] (107/583) PC-Express *Multiline HST* - Milwaukee, WI 414/327-5300 (154/200) Pinecliffe BBS (303)-642-7463, Multi-Line (1:104/28.0) Pioneer Valley PCUG1 (1:321/109) Point of Sunnyvale Fido Connection (408) 738-1119 (1:143/207.1) ProtoStar (1:13/13.0) Quadram (A Trilogy Affiliate) Newport News, Virginia (1:271/230) Rendezvous, San Diego - 619-275-1040 - 9 lines, 600 MEG (202/718) NAM VET Newsletter Page 88 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 RiverCity MailBox Austin TX 512-327-5376 (1:382/4.0) Scott's Bunker (1:106/449.1) SeaEast Exchange BBS (1:343/15) SeaHunt BBS, Burlingame, CA 415-344-4348 (1:125/20) SeaMist Point Alpha (1:343/6.1) Self-Help&Sciences of the Mind-Multi-Line 714-952-2110(1:103/227) Semper Paratus! - VetPoint 72 (1:321/203.72) Sonoma Online, RFE! 707/545-0746 Fido V12S/HST (1:125/7) SOX! Military spouses count too! (305) 821-3317 Hialeah, FL Still in after 24 years (1:389/2001.3) SURFBOARD BBS (805-483-1467) Oxnard, CA (1:206/2506.0) Texas Father's for EQUAL Rights, Houston, TX (1:106/1555.0) The F e d e r a l Post -*- Fayetteville, NC (1:151/301.0) The "Sandbox" Newport News, Va. (804) 874-5832 (1:271/210) The AIDS Chat Line HST-14.4 SDS/SDN/DDS (1:130/55) The Broken Rose BBS-Hear Our Songs-[CASAC]-(916)971-0589 (203/11) The Ca Self-Help Library SDN Software 714-952-2110 (1:103/228) The Chai Way - Dallas, Texas - (214) 239-7607 (1:124/4106) The Edge of the Pacific Rim: Azusa Pacific (1:102/895) The Executive Washroom -- An Alternet System (1:106/449.0) The Federal Post - * - Fayetteville, NC (1:151/301.0) The Fireside Houston, Texas (713)496-6319 (1:106/114.0) The Gordian Knot (1:261/1095) The Helix (1:343/74) The Homestead, Nashville TN (615)385-9421 HST (1:116/3000) The Hoosier Heart's Land (BareFoot Bliss) (1:231/290.0) The Intensive Care Unit II BBS 1:139/940 (1:139/940) The Jimby BBS! * QMX/XRS Response System (Quick 1:350/21.2) The Jolly Green Giant (USAF Rescue) - (1:366/38) The Just Talk BBS - Calgary - 403-273-5697 (1:134/30.0) The Landing Zone - HOT!Safety here - Jesus walks point.(1:105/12) The Last Frontier Graham,Wa (206)847-8168 (1:138/136) (1:138/136) The Leaders in Control (1:106/116) The Lighthouse BBS Austin, TX (512) 389-2839 (1:382/22.0) The McMaster Family ReUnion, RBBS-NET(8:924/1) FidoNet (1:375/20) The Medical Forum: Jacksonville, NC (919)455-1075 (1:3614/106) The Memory Board (916)361-7016 (1:203/530.0) The NETWORK Echogate [8:70/0] (1:129/34.0) The No*Name BBS, Norfolk VA (804)622-5236 (1:275/7) THE REAL AMERICAN BBS [Mpls, MN] **612-535-3196** (1:282/71) The Sandbox Newport News Va (804)874-5832 (1:271/210) The Soldier's Bored, Ft. Gordon, Ga. <> (1:360/12) The Toy Room BBS * Hudson, Nh * 603-886-5722 HST (1:132/159) THE TROJAN EXPRESS - V V A CHAPTER #25 - WPB FL - DS HST - The Williamsburg Trilogy (804)872-7171 (1:271/225) The Zoo BBS (1:108/50) There are only two kinds of ships: Subs & targets HST V42 Think Tank II - Spokane, Wa -=We DO Windows!=- (1:346/8) Thunder & Lightning for a KRACKling good time! (1:375/20.4) Trilogy: A Rainbow Connection (804)872-7171 (1:271/225) United we shall NEVER be defeated-God Bless the U.S.A.(1:105/204) USCATCOM * Quaboag Valley Ware MA HST (413)967-9541 (1:321/131) VETLink #1 - Home of the Floppy Disk VetCenter (1:321/203) VetPoint 707 "VetCenter on a Floppy Disk!" (1:321/203.707) Vietnam Veterans' Valhalla (408)298-2740 D'Bridge/Max (1:143/27) Vietnam Vets on <<< SYSTEM ONE >>> (803) 556-1999 (1:372/111) View from the Icehouse (1:106/449.1) Village BBS, Mahopac, NY 914-621-2719 *HST* (1:272/63) Vote the Incumbents out of office. HST 505-437-8267 (1:308/60) NAM VET Newsletter Page 89 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Vox Vietnam_Vet from RiverCity MailBox (1:382/4.0) Winthrop's BBS - Rock Hill, SC 803-323-2369 (376/34) WVAU BBS (1:2230/111.0) Yorktown Opus - Not Saudi Arabia Again!!! (1:271/201.0) ZEPHYR, HST National Capital Area, 703-620-5418 (TComm 1:109/124) Lansing Forum Michigan - 517-337-0624 - (1:159/500) NAM VET Newsletter Page 90 Volume 5, Number 3 March 14, 1991 Some Gave ALL ... Some Still Give!!! O O O SOME GAVE ALL ... ________O__________________________________O______________ ! O O ! ! pow mia pow mia - BRING THEM HOME NOW! - pow mia pow mia ! ! O O ! ! ~~~~~ ~ ~ O~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~ O ~~ ~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~ ! ! ~~~~ ~ ~~ O ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~O~~~ ~~~ ~ ~~~~ ~~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ O~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ O ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~ ! ! ~~~ ~~ ~~ ~ O ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~ O ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ ~ ! ! ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~ ~ O ~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ O ~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ ! ! ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ O ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ O ~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ O ~_~_~_~_~_ ~ O ~ ~~~~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ! ! ~~~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~~ ~ O ) O ~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ /(O) / O \ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~ ~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ / / O \~~~~ ~~ ~~~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~ ! ! ~~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~ / PRISONER / \~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~ ~~~~~~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~ / / MISSING \~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~ ~~ ! ! ~~~ ~ ~~ ~~ / OF /\ \~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~~ ~ ! ! ~ ~~~~ ~~ ~ / / \ IN \~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ! ! ~~~ ~~~ ~ / WAR / ~~ \ \ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~~ ~ / / ~ ~~ \ ACTION / ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ! ! ~~ ~~ ~~~(__________/ ~~ ~~~ \ / ~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ! ! ~~~~~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~~ \ / ~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ! ! ~~ ~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~~ \ / ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~ ! ! ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~ \ /~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ ~ ! ! ~ ~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ! ~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~ SOME STILL GIVE ! ~ ~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ! ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~ ~~~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ! ! mia pow mia pow - BRING THEM HOME NOW! - mia pow mia pow ! !__________________________________________________________! NAM VET Newsletter Page 91