Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 . __ . . -*- N A M V E T -*- ____/ \_ . . ( * \ . . Managing Editor \ Quangtri . . ---------------- \_/\ \_ Hue . . G. Joseph Peck \_Ashau Phu Bai . . \_* \_ . . Distribution Manager \ * ) . . -------------------- _/ Danang . . Jerry Hindle \|/ ( \_*Chu Lai . . --*-- \_ ------- \__ . . Section Editors /|\ \_ I Corps \ . . --------------- \ ------- ! . . IN-TOUCH: Ray "Frenchy" Moreau /\_____ ! . . INCARCERATED VETS: Joyce Flory / ! \ . . VETERAN BENEFITS: Jim Hildwine ! !___ \ . . AGENT ORANGE: Jim Ferguson ! \/\____! . . NEED-TO-KNOW: Lefty Frizzell ! ! . . MIA/POW: Marsha Ledeman / Dak To ! . . VETERAN EMPLOYMENT: Fred Sochacki / * / . . KEEPER OF THE LIST: Charlie Revie ! \_ . . ! 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 12 December 17, 1991 ================================================================== T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S 1. Editorials & Comments Holiday Lights ........................................... 1 Copyright Notice ......................................... 5 Vietnam Veterans Incarcerated - Seasons Greetings! ....... 6 A Lone Soldier ........................................... 7 Institute for Study of American Wars ..................... 9 December 7, 1941 ......................................... 11 Veterans' Day - 1991 ..................................... 12 Dear Daddy's of the Vietnam War .......................... 13 NamVet Distribution Survey Form .......................... 14 To You and Yours ......................................... 15 2. Drums be not Silent POW/MIAs - A workable plan... at last! ................... 16 The Bunk ......................................... 19 The POW-MIA Myth ......................................... 20 They haven't forgotten US!!! ............................. 23 Soviets involved in MIA/POWs ............................. 24 Please don't forget... ................................... 28 Remember? . 29 Politicians Lax n' Lazy re our MIA/POWs .................. 30 Freedom Now! ............................................. 35 POW Items Available ...................................... 39 3. Sister Vets VWMP's Sister Search ..................................... 40 Monumental Difference .................................... 41 VWMP's Sister Search Form ................................ 42 Silent Night, Holy Night ................................. 43 4. In-Touch It's Not Finished Yet .................................... 44 Quiet Afternoon .......................................... 46 In-Touch: What is it??? .................................. 47 IN-TOUCH Registration/Request Form!!! .................... 50 Friends of Vietnam Vets Needs Your Help .................. 52 The Electronic Chapel .................................... 54 5. Don't drink the water! Background on Agent Orange Class Assistance Program ...... 55 Break out the Clearasil ! ............................ 59 Night Before Christmas - RVN-style! ...................... 60 6. Questions answered! Nam's most famous saying??? .............................. 61 Hands Across Time ........................................ 63 When Remembering is too much ............................. 64 7. Uncle Sam & NamVet want YOU to know Chartered Veteran Service Organizations .................. 68 Ask the Veterans' Affairs Counselor ...................... 70 For The Special Wives .................................... 74 8. Forgotten - again? Incarcerated Vets: Out of sight, out of mind? ............ 75 Jungle to Jail - Part 3 .................................. 78 Viet Cons - Part 3 ....................................... 79 A visit or note once in awhile? .......................... 82 From Felon To Freedom .................................... 83 9. NamVet/IVVEC Concentrated Service NamVet/IVVEC Service Department! ......................... 94 Grass Roots POW/MIA Activism ............................. 98 A deal is a deal ......................................... 99 You know who you are... .................................. 101 10. Charlie's Angels VIETNAM_VETS: Where? ..................................... 102 NamVet Distribution Survey Form .......................... 106 Some Gave All... ......................................... 107 NAM VET Newsletter Page ii Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 ================================================================== Editorials & Comments ================================================================== Holiday Lights By G. Joseph Peck NamVet's Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 "Don't let me die, Dan. Don't let me die!" As each holiday light cruelly transformed itself into the piercing, painful memory of an infrared dot flashing across his starlite scope, blurring his vision, and then settling on Paul's chest, Dan heard the words over and over and over again. "Don't let me die, Dan. Don't let me die!" CRACK!!! CRACK!!! He would never forget the sound of that AK47. December 24, 1966 in the Happy Valley area of Vietnam - and Paul's last moments were spent cradled in Dan's arms, tears streaming down the faces of both. Both orphaned early in life, they'd grown up in the same foster home, got their first jobs together, shared their first apartment, and even the purchase of a powder-blue 1965 Ford Mustang. Half- jokingly, yet as a symbol of the friendship between them, they'd had a small gold plate engraved with the words "Together we can do anything!" cemented to the dashboard. It was only natural they'd join the service together. After BASIC training, the two buddies were assigned different units and both eventually found their way to Vietnam - Dan, a sniper, base-camped at Khe Sanh; Paul, a radioman near Qui Nhon. It was when the "short-timer" in Paul's platoon DEROS'ed out and Dan was reassigned to replace him that they were reunited. A number of firefights and patrols later, they became an inseparable team that could accomplish almost anything their CO wanted done. VC activity had been reported on the trails leading to Pleiku. Dan and Paul were on the scout team that was sent out. Shots rang in the darkness and they found themselves sharing the same fallen log. "Time for the starlite! Let's find out where they are. Tell HQ what we've found..." The hair on the back of his neck bristled as the little red dot played across the lens of his scope. Quickly he lowered himself and, too late, turned to warn Paul. The spot of light on Paul's chest almost instantly became a fountain of blood, flesh and bone. "Don't let me die, Dan. Don't let me die!" "I won't, Paul. I won't! C'mon, buddy. Hang in there!" "Medic! Medic!" called Dan, half-whispering, half-shouting. NAM VET Newsletter Page 1 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 "I've bought it. You'll get to do for both of us now, Dan. Take good care of the car; start that business we were planning to, and tell Sherry that I'll love her forever. Marry your girl and if ya have kids, name one of 'em after me. Don't let me die, Dan. Don't let me die!" "I won't, buddy, I wont! Don't you dare die on me! You're all I got!" Moments - yet an eternity - later, Dan reached over and closed Paul's glazed eyes. The Mustang still sounded as good as the day they'd driven it home from the showroom as Dan headed toward the canyon road, the little golden plate now dim and tarnished. At the top of the canyon was a turnout that overlooked the entire city. It was "his" place - a place where he could be alone, yet still a part of everything around him. The hurt today, December 24th, was just a little more than he could bear. He could hardly breathe and his tears came without control. "Don't let me die, Dan. Don't let me die!" As each traffic light cruelly transformed itself into the piercing memory of that infrared dot flashing across his scope, blurring his vision, and then settling on Paul's chest, Dan heard the words over and over and over again. "Don't let me die, Dan. Don't let me die!" A thousand times over, he'd hear himself reply: "I won't, buddy, I wont! Don't you dare die on me! You're all I got!" A thousand times over he would call himself a liar. The gravel underfoot crunched and popped as he walked from the car to the edge of the mountainside overlook, city lights far below still taunting, still hurting him. There was no escape tonight. Lost in thoughts of remorse and sadness, body wracked with sob after sob, he barely heard the movement in the nearby brush. CRACK!!! CRACK!!! From underneath a discarded cardboard box thrown into the brush, barely able to move, crawled a tiny kitten, meowing pitifully. "I HATE cats! Leave me alone! Get lost!" he shouted at the pathetic kitten. "Get out of here!" He returned to his thoughts and watched as the lights of the city below turned kaleidoscopic in the blur of his tears. It was just recently that he'd began checking the box that said "Are you a veteran?" on his employment applications. When the city held a parade on the 4th of July, he'd finally been able to stand on the sidelines and proudly hold a flag. It wasn't until Veterans' Day and all the honor given to America's veterans that he began to feel his sadness at being a veteran become replaced NAM VET Newsletter Page 2 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 with an inner, lasting pride. "Don't let me die, Dan. Don't let me die!" Paul's last words returned again to haunt and hurt him, fill him again and again with guilt and pain and sorrow and deep remorse. There wasn't ANYTHING happy about Happy Valley. Not for him. The sobbing started again... "Why do I have to keep living this!@! Why can't I just die and put it all behind me!@! Why does it hurt so bad!@!" he shouted to the ink-black sky. "Why!!@#!#" A warm little body interrupted his pain. The tiny kitten had dragged itself across the clearing to nestle against him. "M-m-mm-e-e-e-ooo--p-p-pp. M-m-mm-e-e-e-rr--o-p-pp!" "Hold me! Hold me!" it seemed to be saying. "M-m-mm-e-e-e-ooo--p-p-pp. M-m-mm-e-e-e-rr--o-p-pp!" . "Hold me!" He NEEDED something to hold right then. Dan picked up the kitten and began stroking it gently, tears flowing down his face in torrents. He held the kitten close and sobbed into its fur. He could later give no reason for it - it just happened. Crying, he was looking at the reflection of the city lights in the kitten's eyes when he began to feel a deep inner peace. He could almost hear what he thought angels of long ago sounded like when they'd said "...and on earth peace among men of good will." He could FEEL the peace! And the triple-canopy darkness seemed to disappear as new thoughts flooded his once-painfilled mind. "Behold! I bring you glad tidings!" he imagined the purring of the kitten to be saying. "Behold! Paul is NOT dead as long as you continue to remember him and the things you did together. When you stand on the sidelines holding a flag; when you answer YES when asked if you're a veteran; when you stand tall and proud and help a fellow veteran, Paul and the many like him - and what they fought for - is NOT dead but LIVES in you and in all that you do! Behold! I bring you glad tidings!" Dan cried and sobbed a little while longer. The space between car lights in the city below him lengthened to many-block lengths and traffic signals were on flash when he climbed back into the Mustang. Gently he placed the little kitten in the seat next to him. A bond had formed between the two - something like a bond of many years ago. Turning the key in the ignition, he noticed it. The golden plate was shining brightly! No longer tarnished, an extra brightness seemed to surround the words: "Together we can do anything!" The kitten stirred, looked at him, meowed, and then crawled into his lap. "I know what I'm going to name you!" said Dan. "LZ English! That's where Dan and I first arrived in 'Nam. Wait'll Paul, Jr. sees you!" NAM VET Newsletter Page 3 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 Looking up at the early-morning sky, Dan half-sobbed "Yup... 'Together we CAN do anything'! And we will, the car, the kitten and me! I'll keep my promise, Paul! I won't let you die, buddy, I won't!" "M-m-mm-e-e-e-ooo--p-p-pp. M-m-mm-e-e-e-rr--o-p-pp!" ... and LZ English, the tiny kitten, snuggled a little closer. 'til next month Show a brother or sister veteran that YOU care!!! Ci'ao for Ni'ao - Joe - "...and on earth peace among men of good will." NAM VET Newsletter Page 4 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 > * - Copyright Notice - * ____/~~\_ < < ( * \ > > \ Quangtri < < Prepared by G. Joseph Peck \_/\ \_ Hue > > NamVet Project \_Ashau Phu Bai < < Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. \_* \_ > > Copyright (c) 1987, 1988, \ * ) < < 1989, 1990, 1991. _/ Danang > > ( \_*Chu Lai < < All rights reserved. \_ ------- \__ > > \_ I Corps \ < < NamVet is a collective volunteer \ ------- ! > > effort comprised of articles and /\_____ ! < < items sharing veteran-related news, / ! \ > > experiences and resources amongst ! !___ \ < < veterans, their family members, ! \/\____! > > concerned others and health, ! ! < < educational and correctional / Dak To ! > > institutions. / * / < < ! \_ > > ! Phu Cat\ < < Segments of this newsletter may be \ * * ) > > excerpted for counseling, self- \ Pleiku ) < < help, dissemination amongst veteran \ \ > > organizations and groups, and for / / < < scholarly purposes without further ( -------- ! > > permission; it is requested only _\ II Corps ! < < that proper credit be given to the / -------- \ > > author of a particular article and \ \ < < the contributor who submitted it. ! * / > > _/ Nhatrang / < < Any other use requires the _/ / > > written authorization of __/ ! < < _ __/ \ ! > > Berkshire ____( )/ ! Camranh Bay < < Veterans' / !__ ! > > Center, / \ / < < Incorporated. \ Bien Hoa \ / > > ! Chu Chi * \ __/ < < \_ * --------- \ ___/ > > . ____ \ III Corps \ _/ < < / \_____) )_(_ --------- !__/ > > ! ( ___/ < < _____! \__ * ___/ > > ! Saigon/ < < \___ -------- / \/ > > \ IV Corps / < < ) -------- / CONTACT: > > / ! < < / ____/ Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. > > / Mekong/ ATTN: G. Joseph Peck < < ! Delta/ Managing Editor - NamVet > > ! ____/ Post Office Box 2056 < < ! / Pittsfield, Massachusetts 01202 > < ! / (413) 442-1660 < < ! __/ > < \_/ gjp < NAM VET Newsletter Page 5 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 Vietnam Veterans Incarcerated - Seasons Greetings! By Joyce Flory NamVet's Incarcerated Veterans Section Editor Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM (505) 523-2811 Tis the season to be jolly, carols are being heard all around, tinsel, glitter, and brightly lit trees amaze our eyes, bustling shoppers appear with their arms filled with packages, Santas ring bells and delight children with their Ho-Ho-Ho's, and the Vietnam Veterans, incarcerated sit lonely and forgotten in their cells. Some have family and friends that have abandoned them. Some are in for life, others due for parole any day. Some suffer from injustice, others from Agent Orange and/or PTSD. Most all think themselves, your brothers, as the other Forgotten Warriors. At this time last year I was able to send over 70 Christmas cards out to our incarcerated and received over 60 replies (three had no forwarding addresses and two had been paroled and answered after the Holidays). I heard over and over again "Thank you for thinking of me." This season's cards have already started to arrive. From Colorado (and my first contact for the pen-pal program), "I haven't forgotten you or your family, I've just been moved around four times this year. How's the program going?" From Indiana, "Sorry I haven't written, but my case is going to the State Supreme Court and the research has kept me busy. I did want to remember you and your family for the holidays." From Michigan, "Another year has passed me by and I just re-found your address. Forgive me for not writing? I hope all is well with you and yours and please wish Kristen a Happy belated Birthday and Ken an early one." A twenty-nine cent stamp and a simple Christmas card sent can bring such joy and happiness to these vets. You don't have to start a correspondence with them, just sign your name and add "a fellow [Viet] vet". If the thought of sending a card to someone who's incarcerated worries you, simply don't enclose a return address. These are not strangers, they're your brothers (I've yet to find any of your sisters, but I *am* trying). I usually put this appeal into the newsletter but thought to try the Echo this year in an attempt to get more cards sent. Need a name and address to send one to? Ask me. I've got a listing of over 300 names in 19 different states across the country. Spread a little Christmas cheer, send a card. To all of you out there, a very Merry Christmas and a bountiful New Year. Joyce NAM VET Newsletter Page 6 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 A LONE SOLDIER Input by Jim Hildwine NamVet's Federal Benefits Section Editor VETLink #4 BBS - Shady Side, MD (301) 261-5644 In the field of battle, each man becomes of himself at that point in time, and at that place, a different person. After the first battle, the first sight of death, the stench of burning flesh, air thick with death and a haze of hell. He, the Newbie, becomes a "A Lone Soldier". He, for the first time in his young teenage/adult life has come face-to-face with death, and lived to talk about it. The lone soldier this day has changed. He has changed in the mental sense of he had to kill or be killed, nothing like this from kindergarten thru college. His mind is perplexed, his focus on life is now more real, and his right to exist is even stronger. The lone soldier also sees his life now something more precious than it was before stepping off that Pan Am flight coming into country. For this young soldier who received a "Greetings from the President of the United States", life has now become more important than anything. Staying alive. As a new man, it seems no one really cares if he lives or dies, for he is referred to as the "FNG", the F****** New Guy. The lone soldier finds himself trapped between a rock and a hard place. No one really wants to know him or show him anything, no one cares if he lives or dies. It's a strange feeling. He thought that in combat there was a fellowship. That was true of other war's in other places. In those wars, you left as a unit, and stayed as a unit with your fellow soldiers until the end. But not this war. This war is measured in days, and short-timer attitude's. For the lone soldier has more than 300 days to go. But somewhere, and only good god really knows were, the "Lone Soldier" undergoes a mental change. He knows somewhere in the tour that its half over, and only 180 to go. He is numb to the feelings of pain, and heat, and sweat, and stench. He becomes more into himself with the sole purpose of getting out and staying out alive. He knows now, that in the midst of 1,000,000 men, he is still a lone soldier. He longs for home, and welcomes all stand-downs. The lone soldier is just a person in a tread mill, he has no saying as to what missions or details he pulls. He takes his somewhat time off just cooling and blowing smoke, and drinking canned Bud. He lets no one close, and no one near. He does not want to make friends - when friends are killed, a pain comes upon him, and the pain is as unbearable as his tour in Nam. The lone soldier only wants one thing more than anything in life. For his time to be up, and going home on a freedom bird. The thought of that is the most driving impulse he has ever experienced in his life. The lone Soldier just wants to LIVE. There are many many more items that can be added. But the end result is getting out in one piece. It's a shame, even the movies like Platoon, and Hamburger Hill point to the plight of the Newbie. But, in the movies it was true, not fiction. Well, we were all at one time in Vietnam the "lone soldier". We can admit to this fact. So for all us "Soldiers" who were in it, and made it, lets not forget the "Loneliest Soldier" of all: Our brothers and sisters whose names are on that wall. We have a mission now, and that NAM VET Newsletter Page 7 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 mission is one of unity, brotherhood, and fellowship. Our mission now is not to have a lone soldier - not even in the Echo. For the guys and gals on The Wall paid the highest price of all - that of eternal darkness. Each of us standing in front of The Wall comes to grips with himself. Other like me have had the same feeling. My names not there. I have a purpose. Finding that purpose among our fellow vets, wives, lovers, and friends is hard, and even pressing. But, we Lone Soldiers are not alone any more, there are no FNG's in our ranks, for the new guy is welcomed with open hands, heart and mind. Like the 1st Infantry Divisions motto "No Mission Too Difficult, No Sacrifice Too Great"! We are not the unsung warriors of late, we are not the hero's of the past, we are just a bunch of guys who, when called, went and done the best they could with what they had. Let no US Serviceman again in history be the *FNG* or Lone Soldier. Let the mistakes of our past be the doorway to their future. Note from Jim: This was passed to me via a conversation with some fellow vets while attending an outreach program in Colorado Springs Colorado. It's not word for word, but I hope the meaning is there. -- Jim -- Dak To West NAM VET Newsletter Page 8 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 Institute for the Study of American Wars (ISAW) Input by: Ray "Frenchy" Moreau NamVet's IN-TOUCH Section Editor HBX Veterans Memorial Gateway/VETLink #2 - Herndon, VA (703) 471-8010 Retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Raymond J. Moreau, of Herndon, Virginia - technical manager at EDS Eastern Headquarters in Herndon joined General William C. Westmoreland and General Richard G. Stilwell, U.S. Army Retired, with veterans' groups and members of Congress to announce support for a national Veterans' Museum and a Center for the History of the Vietnam and Korean Wars. These projects will be built by the Institute for the Study of American Wars (ISAW); a non-profit educational research organization dedicated to preserving U.S. history during times of conflict, and the history of the veteran contribution in the defense of human rights and freedom. Generals Westmoreland and Stilwell commented that the Vietnam and Korean eras were unique in our country's history, and were instrumental in holding the line against communist aggression. According to ISAW Chairman, John Radell, the goal of the Institute is to build a facility where scholars have the opportunity to study America's wartime experiences in Vietnam and Korea in order to produce educational materials for all levels of education. The museums will provide a "time travel" experience in which visitors can visit a war era and have the experiences of that time brought to life. "This is not a glorification of war," Radell stressed, "it is a celebration of the commitment of the United States to freedom." Radell stated that ISAW will rely on corporate and individual contributions and foundation grants to finance the $126-million Phase I which will include the Vietnam and Korean museums and the educational center and create 500 jobs. Additional phases of the project will span the entire history of conflicts entered into by the U.S. from the Revolutionary War through Operation Desert Storm. Senators Dennis DeConcini and Joseph Biden announced that they will co-sponsor a joint resolution recognizing the ISAW project and its value to the American people. Ray Moreau, a 5-tour Vietnam veteran was recently appointed to the ISAW Advisory Board Group. His role on the board will be to provide automated solutions for the myriad of data that will be collected over the period of time and serve on the fund raising committee. Moreau, recipient of this years 1991 FOSE Award for his design and development of the "In Touch" program for the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial also operates a data center from his home. This data center provides services to our country's veterans by connecting into thousands of computer nodes which forms the International Vietnam Veterans Echo Conference throughout the United States and some overseas countries. Also a dedicated and committed veterans advocate, Moreau serves as the Secretary for Berkshire Veterans Center, Inc., a non-profit organization which has spearheaded the drive for "UNITY" within the veteran commUNITY" by sponsorship and technical support of numerous computer-based VETLink's throughout the United States and now rapidly expanding into Canada and Australia. The November 14, 1991 press conference was concluded with a videotape message of support from Bob Hope featuring General NAM VET Newsletter Page 9 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 Westmoreland, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt, Jr. and Lt. Gen. Frank Petersen and a question and answer session conducted by John Radell. More information about the ISAW project can be obtained by writing to: Raymond J. Moreau, 12711 Nureyev Lane, Herndon, VA 22070 and ISAW, PO Box 25005, Wilmington, DE 19899. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= More to follow on what ISAW will be doing and the assistance required from each veteran... we will have a big say-so of what could be incorporated at the ISAW facility in Arizona. Ray "Frenchy" Moreau USN Retired NAM VET Newsletter Page 10 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 December 7, 1941 By Joan Renne NamVet Guest Editor Friends BBS - Omaha, NE (402) 896-2669 50 years ago I was just a kid, but I remember all too well what happened on December 7, 1941. We had just come home from church and mother was getting dinner ready. My sister had been visiting with friends in the Black Hills, and heard the news on the way home. When she came in the door she went directly to the radio and turned it on, quite loud. She asked if we had heard the news about Pearl Harbor. We hadn't, and she tried to fill us in. We listened to the news as it came through, and waited for the president to speak. Both my mother and sister were crying and I didn't understand why. Jean (my sister) was a senior in high school and would graduate in May. She had been accepted by a nursing college in Denver. She was dating a young man who had graduated the year before, who had just completed training as a fireman. The day drug on, and it became more and more clear to me that my family was going to be very involved in whatever happened. A lot of fear was going on inside of me, because I really thought the United States had been attacked, and that we were all going to die at the hand of the Japanese. When you are only nine years old, it's hard to realize the difference between a group of Islands in the Pacific which were territories of the US, and where I lived in South Dakota. I was just flat scared. My sisters boyfriend left on December 9th to join the Navy, along with many of his friends, as well as the brothers of many of my friends. It was a time of many tears for all of us. I didn't know how many of them wouldn't come home, as that was a little more than I could understand at that time. Unfortunately it didn't take long to realize the terrible price we would pay. The Day of Infamy as President Roosevelt called it, was just the beginning of a very broad education in geography for those of my generation. Every day in school we had discussions about the war, map reading, histories of the countries we were fighting, and things we could do to help the war effort. I remember saving tin foil, cans, paper, and whatever else was needed. I remember rationing, War Bond drives, and listening to the radio throughout the war. My sister went to nursing school at one of the military hospitals, and her graduation. She went on to the college in Chadron and brought a whole carload of cadets home with her at Thanksgiving and again at Christmas and New Years. I don't know how my mother did it, but she put on the best feed I can remember... ever. Rationing or not. The guys brought pup tents, and mattresses of some sort and slept on the floor. What a wonderful time we had. I was so proud. Those cadets went on to become pilots, most of them in the Navy and Marine Corp. It's hard for me to realize that was fifty years ago. It still stands out much too clearly in my mind. It's also hard for me to realize how old I am now, and the places I've been in those fifty years. I've seen the Arizona, before it was made a memorial site, and since. I've also seen the Cemetery of the Pacific, in the Punch Bowl volcano crater on the island of Hawaii. I've heard Taps, and haven't been able to keep a dry eye. I think of this great country and I'm so proud I'm an American. NAM VET Newsletter Page 11 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 Veterans' Day - 1991 By Aaron Schmiedel The Chai Way - Dallas, TX (214) 239-7607 Today is Veterans Day. Most people know the name of the holiday, and realize the inconvenience it causes by the banks being closed and the postman not covering his appointed rounds. For me, however, it is a day of great joy and a day of great pain. As is rapidly becoming a custom in our household, I bundled up the family and went down to the state fair grounds to the Viet Nam Veterans Memorial. In the early morning sun, we walked to the memorial sat and looked. So many years, so many friends, so many names. Row after row after row the names on the stones glare out - comrades fallen many years ago. Row after row of shattered dreams. Row after row of the silent testimony of the horrors of war. Row after row of my brothers in arms, lying cold beneath the whims of the politicians. All stilled by the strike of the enemy's vengeance; killed by society's cruelty. And yet, here I stand in sad memory, angered by those who belittle us, patronized by those who sent us. But then, I see my daughter climbing on the walls, sitting and watching in confusion as her daddy cries. What god has destroyed the lives and dreams of these 2,000 men? What cool ire resulted in the death of my brothers? It is the same G-d who has brought my child to me by a miracle of birth. My brothers... my brothers. I love you and miss you intensely. Some nights I cry silently as the memory of your screams tears at the depths of my soul. But each morning I awaken.... Beside the stones stand some birch trees. Leaves turning a golden hue before floating gently to earth, to decay unnoticed by everything but time. And yet, there is a certain melody in the trees. They sing of the dreams of those of us who live - they foretell our future that we shall live to see another year. But yet, they also shed their leaves in order to grow, just as my brothers shed their lives for you and I. But weep not for those who cannot speak. Weep not for those who cannot see. Their voices can be heard on the winds, the lives can be seen in the leaves, and their names shall ever be remembered engraved in the cold stone left as a monument to their sacrifice. So, drink a drink of life to my brothers. But tonight, pour just a bit out onto the barren earth and make a toast to my brothers dear. "To G-d, to life, to liberty.. and to our brothers that are not here." My brothers, my comrades, I pray that the messiah will come soon that no one else need suffer your fate. AM YISROEL CHAI! WE WANT MASHIACH *NOW*!!! - Aaron Schmiedel 11-11-1991 NAM VET Newsletter Page 12 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 Dear Daddy's of the Vietnam War - Anonymous - [Note from Joe: Found this letter stuffed in my mailbox, dated not too long ago. There was something special about whoever wrote it and the words that s/he used that stopped me short, caused me to spend an extra minute or two with my own kids. Thought I'd share it with you... (It WAS marked: For Publication in NamVet.] There is a woman that didn't know her father for that long because of the Vietnam war. This woman, though her dad was killed in the war, she still loves him. It's not because she didn't know him before he died. Its because her father was proud enough to die for this country that, to me, is full of spoiled brats. We take everything for granted as if God owes us a life when it is US who owes Him for caring. This woman knew that and knew that her daddy knew that too. I was this type of person until a friend's mother killed herself. Then I knew that life is more than other people dying; people you know can also die and it is scary to think of. But people like what I used to be need to snap out of it or, if you go into the service, you might die just because of a cocky attitude. Now I know fear. Its probably not like what you would feel or what you felt in the war... but I know I know a little about the war. This letter is to all the Daddy's that were in the war and to the ones that were lucky enough to survive it, the ones that were going but didn't make it for one reason or another. THIS IS TO ALL OF YOU T H A N K Y O U ! Dad.... I'm lucky that I still have you! I love you! Be thankful for what God has given you because just think of the woman whose Daddy died in that cruel war. She still loves him and she is just as thankful for at least knowing of her Daddy. So be like that woman and be proud of what you have and then everything should be all right! NAM VET Newsletter Page 13 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 NamVet Distribution Survey Form NamVet's editorial staff would like to know where YOU received this copy of NamVet. Please take a few moments to complete and return this page (or a copy) to us. NAME_____________________________________________________________ ADDRESS__________________________________________________________ CITY_____________________________________________________________ STATE & ZIP______________________________________________________ Where did you obtain/read the NamVet Newsletter? ________________ _________________________________________________________________ Do you make NamVet available to others? _________________________ If YES: Individual / / Educational / / Vet Groups / / What do you find most/least helpful about NamVet?________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ What other information would you like to see in NamVet? _________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Additional Comments _____________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ YOUR poem, letter, article about the veteran Experience - whether you were in Vietnam, in the military or not - is extremely welcomed by the editorial staff of NamVet. We invite you to include one (or many) with your return of this form. Thank You for your time and help in making NamVet *-THE-* electronic newsletter by, for and about veterans and the issues that concern them! Please return replies/articles/poems/etc. to: Mrs. Joyce Flory NamVet Distribution Survey 1825 Evelyn - Las Cruces, NM 88001 -or- Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. PO Box 2056 - Pittsfield, MA 01201 NAM VET Newsletter Page 14 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 To You and Yours * * * * * * * * Happy Holidays * * * * * * | From The NamVet Staff | | | * * | | * | | and all its contributors | | * | | * | | \\=====// \\=====// m=============================================================m H/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////H H/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////H H/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////H H//| |/////////////////////////| |//H H//| MIA/POWs |/////////////////////////| MIA/POWs |//H H//| - - - - - - -|/////////////////////////|- - - - - - - |//H H===== =============================== =====H HHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHH HHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHH HHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHH HHHH `HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH' HHHHH HHHH `HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH' dHHHHH HHHHb ,' `. dHHHHHH HHHHHHb....... ' Happy Hanukah '.......dHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH Merry Christmas HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH Happy New Year !!! HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH . HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH . :. . HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH .,`: .: .`:. .: HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH O ::: `:.. :.. ::..: . O HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH O*O ,:.:: :::.`: :: .: ::. O*O HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH OoO ``'::: : :.:::..: ::`:. OoO HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH ||| `;: '::: :`:.:. ::`:`:::.||| HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH ||| `;:: ::::\\/::\::`:\\::; ||| HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH ||| `:\/.//.//\ \.\\\/|\\\\ '||| HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH ||| /////|/ //\\\ \\\ \\\|\\ ||| HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH |||//\|\/\/\/| /\\ \/\\\\ \\\||| HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH (O|O)//\/\///\///\\\|/\\|\\\\(O|O) HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHH HHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH /// ... and the Peck Family \\\ // Joe, Georgia, Michael, David, Kimberly, George & Rosa \\ - 1991 - NAM VET Newsletter Page 15 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 ================================================================== Drums be not Silent ================================================================== POW/MIAs - A workable plan... at last! By G. Joseph Peck NamVet's Managing Editor With "interruptions" for documentation VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 The letter opens... "Florida House of Representatives - 1991 CS/HB 1023 By the Committee on Transportation and Representative Bronson A bill to be entitled An act relating to road and building designations; designating U.S. High 1 from the City of Key West to the Georgia state line as the POW-MIA Blue Star Highway; amending sections 5 and 6 of chapter 90-368, Laws of Florida, designating the bridge over the Suwannee River on U.S. Highway 27 at Branford as the Frank R. Norris Bridge at Branford; designating the transportation complex on Marion Street in Lake City as the Jay W. Brown Transportation Complex; designating a portion of N.W. 54th Street in Miami as the Jefferson Reaves, Sr., Boulevard; directing the Department of Transportation to erect appropriate markers; providing an effective date. WHEREAS, it is fitting and appropriate that the noble service and costly sacrifices of the men and women of Florida serving in the United States Armed Forces who are now prisoners of war or missing in action as a result of actions on behalf of our nation around the world be recognized, and WHEREAS, Jay W. Brown, a native Floridian and career employee of the former State Road Department and current Department of Transportation, has completed 45 years of distinguished public service, and WHEREAS, he is recognized as one of the most outstanding graduates of the University of Florida School of Engineering, and ....." The "dream" is catchy. "Highways that crisscross America reminding travellers of another cost of war, each mile urgently echoing the now-famed words, 'Bring Me Home' 'Bring Me Home' 'Bring Me Home', each glance at a road-sign silently shouting 'Do something NOW!' 'Do something NOW!' 'Do something NOW!', and each turn of an automobile key gently reminding its holder 'Have you done anything?' 'Have you DONE anything?' 'Have you done ANYTHING?' A living memorial; a living focus and concentration of all our energies to "Bring them home - NOW!", and a beacon to those whose families were told: "We can keep them forever!" Man Paving Way to POW/MIA Memorial Roads By Thomas Jewell The Intelligencer Wheeling, W.VA - Thursday, August 8, 1991 Monuments have been built to commemorate every war and many of the battles that have taken place, as well as the heroes that have NAM VET Newsletter Page 16 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 taken their places in American history. "There's even one for the Unknown Soldier, but we do not have a memorial for Prisoners of War or those still Missing in Action," noted Jose N. Proenza Sanfiel, who has been working in recent years on a remedy for this conspicuous omission. The Cuban refugee and former U.S. Marine is proposing the creation of a living memorial by renaming two transcontinental highways the "POW/MIA Interstates," north-south and east-west, criss-crossing in the "imaginary heart of America." One of the prospective highways is U.S. 64, which runs through West Virginia, although Sanfiel pointed out that proposed routes for the "paths of honor" are tentative at this point, and could swing through Ohio as well. Sanfiel, who recently earned his registered nursing degree, is taking his first vacation in three years, visiting the family of his wife - the former Judy Schafer - in Hammondsville. After an initial brush-off at the state and federal levels, "Corporal Pro" took his campaign to his hometown of St. Cloud, Fla., near Orlando, and to his own street, formerly known as Hunting Lodge Drive. Along with the half-mile stretch of road running in front of his house, there has since been another dedication, this one for U.S. Highway 1 from Key West to the Georgia State Line, now designated the POW-MIA Blue Star Highway. Now he's back to "going national" with Project Interstate, which will take an act of Congress. But aside from the new road signs and highway markers to serve as a reminder, that's about all it would take, given enough of a groundswell of support. "I don't ask for money and I don't take donations," said Sanfiel, noting that this is a cause for consternation with many politicians. "I'm not a 'Patriot for Profit.' I'm asking people to put their money and effort into a 29-cent stamp and a letter to their respective congressmen. And to expect an answer from them." Coming to this country in 1968 at the age of 14, Sanfiel described himself as a "gung-ho" Marine, joining the corps in 1974. "I understood what freedom and communism meant, and I was willing to go that extra step, as these individuals had done," Sanfiel said. "And it made me think that if I had become the POW, I would only hope that somebody back here would be doing the same for me. It's a big disappointment that not everybody has made it back home yet." In addition to the remains of soldiers killed that have been withheld, Sanfiel is convinced that there are still survivors being held in captivity in Indochina. Citing reports kept classified for years by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, Sanfiel said he hopes the recent controversy involving an alleged photograph of MIAs will compel a more concentrated effort by the government, which he feels has "downplayed" the issue. But he noted that his POW-MIA recognition effort encompasses soldiers from all wars, not just Vietnam. Another law passed in Florida requires state-owned buildings to display the POW-MIA banner along with the American Flag. Accordingly, Sanfiel has been making a lot of flag presentations of late, many of them to schools. "It's getting to where kids look up and see that black flag and know what it's all about," Sanfiel said. "I'm getting old and I might forget, but I want to make sure the future doesn't. I'm NAM VET Newsletter Page 17 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 just one voice, but if others join we could become a choir. I'm trying to be a voice but it needs to be echoed." Project POW & MIA's Interstate will send a free decal to anyone who sends a stamped, self-addressed envelope to 4230 POW/MIA's Memorial Drive, St. Cloud, Fla., 34772-8142. * * * * * Not bad, Jose... not bad!!! In fact, I think if our readers out here in NamVetLand could get hold of a sample of the letter you'd suggest writing to their Congressmen/Senators, I think you might really have a workable idea to channel the energies of so many who've tried so hard to accomplish something that would both be a reminder and a LOUD SHOUTING to those who continue to hold our proud American soldiers. I've just read in our VIETNAM_VETS echo where you're also proposing a "Wake Up, America" event during 1992's Memorial Day events where those who wish to remember our MIA/POW's ("I" usually put MIA *-FIRST-* because our soldiers are MIA *-FIRST-*) by bringing a white carnation to The Wall in Washington, DC and taping it to the name of an MIA/POW. The story is told about the young soldier who was brought to the firing range by his D.I. where he was shown a round of ammunition which was used for his M16. Carefully breaking the round open, the D.I. poured its gunpowder-contents onto the ground in front of the soldier. "Soldier," said the D.I., "Take a match and light the powder." Not truly familiar with weapons and what makes them work, the soldier somewhat-fearfully hesitated as he began to obey. "Light it - NOW!" ordered the D.I. The soldier followed orders. A puff of black smoke - and the gunpowder was gone. "So is it to be," said the D.I. "If you take your energies and scatter them around, apply your resources in one area after another, empty yourself wholeheartedly into whatever you're doing at the moment, you will be like the gunpowder you just wasted - you and your efforts will go up in a harmless puff of smoke." Following the D.I. to his weapon, the soldier watched as a fresh round was chambered. "Now if you take your energies, concentrate them - like we've done with the gunpowder in the chambered round, watch what happens to your target, your objective." The D.I. squeezed the trigger - and a silhouette down-range vanished. The soldier finished his BASIC as Platoon Honorman. I have a feeling, Jose, that you might have crossed paths with that D.I. NAM VET Newsletter Page 18 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 THE BUNK -- Anonymous -- His name was Don. He was gone when I got there. I never knew him. He was part of my war. Reporting for duty, Assigned to his bunk, "He won't need it again; He was shot down last night." The shock of that moment, Heartless and hopeless, Like an ice-water dagger Welcomed me to the war. The first night in his bunk, With twelve months before me. What was he thinking The last time he lay here? Was he dreaming of home, Of his family and future? Or did he lie awake knowing That his time was too short? Would some other new guy Sleep here tomorrow? Would he get the same greeting, "He won't need it again." And each time I lay down In the bunk of a stranger A ghost whispered softly. "One day at a time." The last night in Don's bunk, Twelve hours before me, War safely behind me, I said my goodbye. I finally met Don A half-lifetime later. Panel 25E, Row 113, I said my hello. NAM VET Newsletter Page 19 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 The POW-MIA Myth Submitted by John Mendes POW/MIA BBS - Port Monmouth, NJ (908) 787-8383 November 27, 1991 The Atlantic Monthly 745 Boylston Street Boston, Mass. 02116 Re: "The POW-MIA Myth" Gentlemen: If H. Bruce Franklin wants to write a cultural critique panning Hollywood flicks on Vietnam, pulp novels, sartorial fads and Richard Nixon, that's okay by me, but what I don't understand is why he feels the need to incorporate slipshod, incomplete research on the facts of the continued detention of American POWs in Indochina into his review. He tells us there is a "numbers game" being played with the possible total of claimed POWs. Problem is, these numbers can be moved up, as well as down. (One activist recently obtained a Lao propaganda tract claiming that they received 369 US prisoners as "war booty." The bottom line is: the US and the Pathet Lao had publicly stated that the latter were holding into the hundreds of POWs, not a single one of whom was returned. Franklin shuffles the numbers to make it look like we received more POWs from Laos than we claimed were there; in fact, the seven (or 9) POWs in question were prisoners of the Vietnamese fraudulently passed off as Pathet Lao captives. If Franklin had bothered to read the Department of Defense POW-MIA Fact Book, which he cites, he would know this. Every "responsible" investigation, we are told, has reached the conclusion there is no "credible evidence" (or "conclusive" evidence) that POWs are still alive. Two key points: the "credible evidence" (aka. "usable proof") standard is a term of art, not to be confused with the plain, ordinary meaning of the words. The test is so rigid it will never be satisfied (an escaping POW who eyewitnessed other POWs in captivity wouldn't meet this particular test). Even if it could be satisfied, the intelligence analysts have a "mindset to debunk" - a charge initiated by Lt. Gen. Eugene F. Tighe, Jr., retired in 1981 as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and continued through this spring by Col. Millard Peck, just resigned as head of the POW-MIA special office at DIA. Solid intelligence will never surmount the barriers erected. As for the supposed merits of the "investigations" cited: 1) why should anyone continue to accept the conclusions of the 1976 Montgomery Report, when it predates almost all of the live sighting reports, which fuel the current debate, and when its panel did not have access to quite a few other pieces of since revealed intelligence? 2) since Franklin complains that the POW issue has been politically manipulated, why doesn't he apply this same analysis to the Montgomery Report? The select committee actually deadlocked 5-5, but the vote to release the report was adroitly scheduled when two Montgomery opponents were out of town. 3) If a book, "Politics of the Missing Man," by Douglas Clarke, NAM VET Newsletter Page 20 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 counts as one of the investigations, why don't other books, such as "First Heroes," by Rod Colvin, various works by Larry O'Daniel and David Dimas, or "The Bamboo Cage," by Nigel Cawthorne (this last considered by many activists to be the best book published on the subject)? 4) Hasn't Franklin ever heard of the 1986 Tighe Report? (If anyone condescends to respond to this letter, I'd recommend reading the hearing record of the House Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs on this report, before regurgitating whatever Pentagon whitewash of the embarrassment to the party line). 5) What about the Helms-Grassley reports? Or the Interim Report's reference to the 1974 Whitmire Report (currently denied by the Pentagon). 6) How does the Final Interagency Report of the Reagan Administration qualify as a true investigation, when it's nothing more than the aforementioned "Fact Book," coupled with a special section on how difficult it is to collect intelligence? Note also: why doesn't it mention the Tighe Report at all? And there are numerous lesser errors in Franklin's piece. To pick a few: the Nham Marrot raid didn't "discover" that the "Fort Apache" site "was not a POW camp after all" - as related in "First Heroes," the suspected POWs had been discovered in an interior compound; the ground reconnaissance team was never informed of this fact, and therefore only photographed the exterior camp: they didn't even look in the right place. We're told that Col. Charles Shelton is "known to have died a quarter of a century ago," although the documentation for this assertion (assembled by "debunkers") only "indicates" this; meanwhile, there is plenty of evidence (in the normal meaning of the word) that Shelton may have survived to this date. Citation of authority upon request. One has to be uniquely myopic today to act as if Korea and World War II MIA problems prove the triviality of the Vietnam issue. In the past five years, a torrent of long ignored data in the National Archives suggests that even more POWs were held back by the Communists at the end of both wars. See, e.g., the Helms- Grassley Report. Ultimately, I can't really reconcile Franklin's image of Ronald Reagan recklessly plunging the nation into a frenzied search for live POWs, to protect the honor of Sylvester Stallone, with the mundane realities of his Administration policy: the continuation of the "usable proof" standard, the rapid writeoff of remains cases in disregard of forensic science, the propaganda campaign that tarred all critics as necessarily favoring "private, irresponsible cross border forays," the blatant meddling in the internal politics of POW-MIA organizations, etc. Believe it or not, Professor Franklin, most of us didn't come to our positions by watching made-for-TV movies (I haven't even seen some of the ones you list). We did it by reading declassified intelligence reports, reading well-researched articles and position papers, noting the discrepancies between government rhetoric and action, and, yes, occasionally following pied pipers. One final question: if there's really nothing to this issue, why has the Senate just set up a very active select committee, including twelve senators and a growing staff? Sincerely, NAM VET Newsletter Page 21 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 William T Bennett General Secretary P.S. Has Professor Franklin ever even heard of: the Gaines Report Bill Paul the CIL Report David Hrdlicka Jerry Mooney "discrepancy cases" Tracy Usry ... ? NAM VET Newsletter Page 22 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 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 23 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 Input by Marsha Ledeman NamVet MIA/POW Section Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 11/09/91] by John Fellows, Minnesota COMMENTS On Sunday, October 27,1991, the Los Angeles Times Magazine published a story written by the same man who wrote the script for the BBC documentary "We Can Keep You Forever" -- Edward Tivnan. The story had been anticipated for some time but had a rocky road to publication. It had been purchased in July by the New York Times, edited and prepared for publication in September, but was pulled at the last second by Max Frankel, the Executive editor of the Times. He was reportedly "uncomfortable" with the story. The story details Soviet involvement in the interrogation and trans- portation of American Prisoners of War during and after the Vietnam War. It quotes a Soviet KGB Major-General who stated that he personally participated in such interrogations as late as 1976 -- 3 years after the war ended. It quotes two career intelligence analysts who said they monitored the movement of American POWs in Vietnam as late as 1979. It quotes NSA intelligence analyst Jerry Mooney, who said he had collected info about 1,000 men who had been captured by war's end, and knew of 290 men who were prisoners at the end of the war who were not released. Mooney is not new -- he surfaced in 1987 when he learned that the government was lying to families concerning its knowledge of their loved-ones, turning over alleged remains from excavated crash sites. Mooney knew for a fact that these men had not died in the crash, and that the government knew it also. Mooney's statements had been quickly forgotten by most of Congress and the Press, after the government denied they were true. Tivnan was able to support Mooney's statements in the person of Terrell Minarcin -- another career NSA intelligence analyst who retired in 1986, and worked for Mooney at one time. Minarcin said that he and his associates continued to monitor the movements of American POWs in Vietnam into 1979 -- about the time Robert Garwood managed his release. Minarcin said he monitored the transport of planeloads of Americans via Soviet aircraft, to KGB controlled areas in Siberia. Minarcin said he talked to some of his former associates at the NSA and some indicated they would be willing to testify, but only if they are first granted immunity from prosecution. Tivnan was able to quote others in his story, including Roger Shields -- former deputy assistant Secretary of Defense, and head of the POW/MIA Task Force at the end of the war, and retired Air Force General Eugene Tighe, who was head of Military Intelligence (DIA) during the Carter Administration Mooney said the collection of intelligence about the POWs was a matter of highest national priority during the Carter years, in spite of the fact that Carter was moving to declare the men dead publicly at the time. Tighe said he talked to Congress about the men about every six months at that time. Tighe led a commission investigating the DIA shortly after Reagan was elected, and testified before Congress concerning his NAM VET Newsletter Page 24 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 findings. His report was classified and not even available to other members of Congress until recently, but Tighe has stated publicly on many occasions that he was absolutely convinced that there were still living American prisoners in Vietnam while he was DIA head. Tivnan's story was expected to generate some public controversy when it was finally published, but most people outside of Los Angeles never learned of it. None of the wire services picked it up, and none of the television networks. Ted Koppel had been negotiating with Tivnan for an appearance planned for October 28, Nightline representatives reported recently that had no plans to schedule him. The Soviet General quoted in the article is KGB Major-General Kalugin. He said that while the military generals had a hands-off policy regarding American prisoners, assumably because of diplomatic concerns, KGB head Yuri Andropov (a future Soviet leader) approved a clandestine program conducted by KGB personnel. The story was supported by Soviet journalists who co-operated with Tivnan, interviewing ot her KGB sources. They confirmed that the Soviets monitored the interrogation of Americans (interrogations actually conducted by the Vietnamese). They did not confirm the movement of Americans to the Soviet Union, nor the existence of American prisoner after the war ended. There is a strong suggestion in Tivnan's story that many men were held back, or transferred to Soviet custody, specifically because they had been interrogated by the Soviets, presumably because the Soviets did not want witnesses to their participation. Ti said that not one of the men released by the Vietnamese reported being questioned by Soviets, something he found incredible because the knowledge these men had about electronic warfare and countermeasures systems would have been of vital importance to the Soviets. Government knowledge of this was recently suggested when a U.S. Senator told the son of one MIA that his father had recently been sighted "in and around Moscow". He did not reveal the source of his information, saying he had learned of a letter -- however he has close ties with Senate intelligence sources. Both Mooney and Minarcin are career intelligence analysts, and retired after 20 years service. Their specialties were airborne defense communications systems, and as such they monitored Vietnamese communications and decoded message traffic. Mooney said that for 18 months beginning in 1968, U.S. personnel broke a top Vietnamese code and had access to the highest levels of Vietnamese communications. Both have impeccable service records. Mooney never received less than the highest marks available for his work, and was described in those reports as "a perfectionist" and "one of the most outstanding intelligence analysts I have ever had the pleasure of supervising". Both Mooney and Minarcin had personal knowledge of the fate of the crew of an intelligence-gathering plane that was shot down after the peace accords were signed. One crew-member, Peter Cressman, had been drinking with Minarcin the night before he was shot down. Both traced the movement of the crew after they bailed out and were captured. They had knowledge of vital interest to the Soviets. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who negotiated the end to the war with the Vietnamese, has indicated that the Vietnamese refused even to discuss the men (presumably because NAM VET Newsletter Page 25 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 they were shot down after the accords were signed, and the flight was in violation of the agreement). The men's names were removed from the list submitted to the Vietnamese of men who were expected released. Roger Shields later apologized to the Cressman family and said the names were dropped against his strong objections. Minarcin made one comment supporting allegations made in the recent report released by the Minority Staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee -- that the actual number of MIAs may be double the number reported, because men on covert operations were automatically declared dead if they failed to return from a mission. The entire war in Laos was a covert operation. Minarcin said he noticed in the late 60's that captured flyers and "captured covert operators" were ending up in camps where intelligence had placed Soviet personnel. Minarcin said his department knew which prisoners were being transported to the Soviets because they were escorted by "white hats" -- Vietnamese jargon for special State security units who "only accompanied prisoners who were not taken to the Hanoi Hilton". The Hilton was the showplace for American prisoners in Hanoi. All of the prisoners there released at the end of the war. They included, among others, the pilots who were shot down near Hanoi. Minarcin and Moody said that prisoners were routinely divided into three categories: one was the Hanoi group, but two others were designated for slave labor, or execution. Minarcin recounted two instances of traffic about POWs after the war. One was in 1978 when he intercepted a message concerning a helicopter flight of 12 American prisoners who were taken to pick up wood which had been cut by another group of American prisoners. Another 1978 incident involved the complaints of a Vietnamese who had been sent to get rice after disastrous floods destroyed the rice crop. The man complained in his conversation that he had gone to Bai Thong, where he saw American prisoners who were drier and better-fed than he was. A former high-ranking Vietnamese propagandist, Bui Tin, was brought in to testify before the Senate Select Committee on Tuesday, November 5,1991, and supported the story of the two NSA analysts. It was obvious from stories leading up to the hearing that he had come to say that thoughts of live Americans are silly, and that normalization of relations would quickly resolve these questions. This, despite the fact that he is supposed to be a defector, having left Vietnam last Fall for Paris. He is the man who, as the highest ranking officer at the scene, accepted the surrender of South Vietnam in Saigon in 1975. He was editor of the Communist party newspaper and the Army newspaper, and was quoted as a government spokesman by the Press during Operation Homecoming, saying the Pathet Lao were holding Americans and wanted to negotiate for them. Tin read his initial lines as expected, appealing for brotherhood and a new era in relations. But as soon as Tin's formal statement was finished, he began to put his foot in his mouth. First, he stated that some American prisoners had been inter- rogated by Cubans and Soviet personnel. This was a misstep because it contradicted a statement made minutes before by Senator McCain that none of the men who were returned were ever interrogated by Soviets. Tin's statements indicated that some men were held as prisoners, but never returned, and that Hanoi should be able to account for NAM VET Newsletter Page 26 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 them. Tin said he had no knowledge that any men were sent to the Soviet Union. He insisted that he would have been informed if they had, though he described himself only as a journalist. He said the Soviets were extremely interested in men who had knowledge of electronics systems. Unwittingly, his statement verified what NSA agents Mooney and Minarcin have stated. McCain said he was very interested in this area because he was aware that the electronics systems crew members of B52s were not returned. Tin said voluminous files were required to be maintained for each prisoner, with entries each day indicating the prisoners attitude, and details such as what he ate. He said these records were in excellent condition, and kept today in the Defense Department Propaganda Department. Tin assured the committee that if there had ever been any Americans kept in Vietnam after the war, he would have known about it, because it was a special responsibility of his. He had access to all of the prisoner of war camps during the war and visited them regularly to interview the prisoners. He was editor of the military newspaper, and was gathering material for a book on the POWs. He outranked the camp commanders, as a Lt. Colonel. His good friend and former classmate was responsible for POWs, and his office was less than a block away. The existence of any Americans would not have been kept from him, he said. Tin was questioned in detail about men shot down over Laos. He said if a plane was shot down over Vietnam, but crashed in Laos, the Pathet Lao would turn the pilot over to the Vietnamese. He said they would do it willingly as relations were good between the two groups, and the Pathet Lao were very disciplined. Tin's explanation for the capture of so few pilots bailed out over Laos is that the jungle is very thick, and they could not be found. NAM VET Newsletter Page 27 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 Please don't forget Marsha Welch Submitted by Joyce Flory NamVet's Incarcerated Veterans' Section Editor Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM (505) 523-2811 [Note from Joyce: And in my mail today... This comes to you from the Vietnam Veterans for Christ Ministries newsletter out of Searcy, AK. It is re-printed by permission of the editor and publisher, Mr. Wes Keith.] During this special time, Please keep our live POWs in mind. They need our prayers, love and concern. Let's work together for their quick return! We are free. They are not. May our efforts to get them home never stop. What a joy it will be When our last POW is set free! Marsha Welch Wife of 1967 MIA NAM VET Newsletter Page 28 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 . =DMZ= Camp Carroll__Con Thien =DMZ= . . |___/ \_ Quang Tri . . Khe (| * * \ . . Sanh-/\* * Dong \Camp Evans . . (Hawk \_/\ Ha *\_ Hue . . LZ) / \_ \Phu Bai . . Cam Lo \_Bastogne\_ . . \ An. )Da Nang . . / Hoa \ (Marble . . ( ------- \_Mountain) . . \ I CORPS \__ . . \------ Hoi \ Chu Lai . . \ An ! . . /\_____ ! . . / ! Duc \ . . ! Ben !___ Pho\ . . ! Het \/\____! . . ! !English LZ. . / Pleiku ! Bong . . / Camp / Son . . V I E T N A M ! Holloway Happy \_Hammond . . ! Camp Valley \ LZ . . \ Enarl An Khe ) . . \ Qui) . . \ \ Nhon\ . . / Oasis / . . ( ! . . _\ -------- ! . . / II CORPS Tuy\ . . \ -------- Hoa \ . . ! / . . _/Ban Me / . . --------- _/ Thuot Nha / . . III CORPS Song Be_/ Trang! . . --------\Quan Loi __/ \ ! . . Katum\_____( )/An Loc! Dong Ba ! . . /Dau Loc Ninh!__ Thin ! Cam . . Tay /Tieng \ / Ranh . . Ninh\ Phu Phuoc Yinh\ Dalat / Bay . . ! Loi \ __/ . . Lai Khe\--* Di An \ ___/ Phan . . Cu Chi\ Bien Hoa \ _/ Rang . . / \_____) )_(_Tan San Long Binh !__/ . . ! ( Nhut Bearcat ___/ . . _____! An Long \__Long Thanh_/ . . ! | . \/ Long Giao . . \___ My /| \/ \ (Black Horse) . . \ Tho Dong / | \ Vung Tau . . )Vinh Long Tam / | Saigon . . / \\ ! Tan An . . /Can Tho Phu ___\\| . . /-------- Vinh . . !IV CORPS\ \ / . . !-------- \ \__/ (Due to rectangular restrictions of character . . ! Soc / placements/positions, locations approximate) . . ! Trang / . . ! __/ . . \_/ gjp . NAM VET Newsletter Page 29 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 Politicians Lax n' Lazy re our MIA/POWs by John Fellows, Minnesota EDITORIAL Input by Marsha Ledeman NamVet MIA/POW Section Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 After three days of hearings conducted by the new Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs, as a POW/MIA family member I don't feel capable of an objective account. The hearings can be a draining experience. Outrage is heaped on outrage. While Chairman John Kerry repeatedly states that he is starting with the assumption that there may be living Americans held prisoner in Southeast Asia, his casual remarks betray a prejudice against it. Each witness is asked if it would matter for normal relations to be established. At one point Kerry made the oft-heard official line of the DOD concerning the photo of Robertson, Lundy, and Stevens: "The DOD has not been able to prove it a fake -- yet." The daughter of Robertson was quick to ask if he wouldn't stop saying "yet", but Kerry doesn't even realize what he has done. Most of the time, only a few members of the committee are present to hear the witnesses. They include Kerry, former POW John McCain, Senator Nancy Kassenbaum, Kansas and Harry Reid of Nevada -- both obviously ignorant of the entire issue. Also, Senator Charles Smith of New Hampshire and Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa -- both staunch supporters of the families. They are the men who made the committee possible. Senator Helms is sometimes there. He sponsored the Foreign Relations Committee investigation that preceded the Select Committee creation, but it was Grassley who did the footwork, though; without Helms participation, it would not have been possible. Senator Herbert Kohl was present part of the time, and asked some tough questions of the Defense Director Cheney, General Vessey, and Tracy Usry. McCain was brutal in his questioning of Usry. Both men obviously dislike each other. Usry is cocky, confident -- he is a former Army investigator and takes no guff from anyone. McCain is transparent. As the popular new phrase of the computer age says it, "what you see is what you get." Subtlety is not a stock in his portfolio. Presidential Candidate, Kerry, of Nebraska, did not attend a single hearing, though he is a member of the Committee. And the Press is sitting this one out. Though Kerry says he stated at the beginning that there would be no revelations during this first round of hearings -- described as "baseline" hearings designed to set the stage for the coming months, there were revelations. For instance, on the second day, the new head of the U.S. MIA office in Hanoi testified that he is certain that as many as ten men were left behind in Vietnam after the war. He said the information on the men was known previously, but not confirmed until he was able to talk to villagers and others. He gave no names. Kerry indicated that most of the work of the committee will be done behind closed doors through the taking of depositions, or by closed hearings. It does not sound as if the old mistrust of Congress will be saved if this is the case. There is constant NAM VET Newsletter Page 30 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 reference to discussions in closed session as the conversation gets to sensitive areas and the practice of classifying 20-year old information will die hard. A former high-ranking Vietnamese propagandist, Bui Tin, was brought in to testify. It was obvious from stories leading up to the hearing that he had come to say that thoughts of live Americans are silly, and that normalization of relations would quickly resolve these questions. This, despite the fact that he is supposed to be a defector, having left Vietnam last Fall for Paris. He is the man who accepted the surrender of South Vietnam Saigon in 1975, as the highest-ranking officer at the scene. He fought in the South during the war. At one point Kerry, very serious, asked him where he was in 1967-68. Before he could answer, someone shouted "that's when he (Kerry) was shot". Tin thought for a moment and said he was in Quang Tri Province. Kerry was on an armored river patrol boat in Vietnam, with the Navy. Tin has already disclosed that he had questioned McCain at the time Mc Cain was a POW in Hanoi. MCCain says he was in a hospital the time and "in tough shape" and doesn't have any memory of the incident. Tin's notes of the incident have been turned over to the State Department, as well as his diary. He joined the Vietnamese Army 40 years ago, initially as a member of the Viet Minh fighting the French, then with Ho Chi Minh against the South and Americans. Tin read his initial lines as expected, appealing for brotherhood and a new era in relations. The U.N. Vietnamese ambassador attended the hearings, having recently been allowed to travel outside New York City. But as soon as Tin's formal statement was finished, he began to put his foot in his mouth. First, he stated that some American prisoners had been interrogated by Cubans and Soviet personnel. This was a misstep because it contradicted a statement made minutes before by Senator McCain that none of the men who were returned were ever interrogated by Soviets. Tin's statements indicated that some men were held as prisoners, but never returned, a nd that Hanoi should able to account for them. Tin said he had no knowledge that any men were sent to the Soviet Union. He insisted that he would have been informed if they had, though he described himself only as a journalist. He said the Soviets were extremely interested in men who had knowledge of electronic warfare systems. His statement verified what NSA agents Mooney and Minarcin have stated -- that men with this knowledge were turned over to the Soviet Union for interrogation. They say the Soviets took the men to the Soviet Union. McCain said he was very interested in this area because he was aware that the electronics systems crew members of B52s were not returned. Tin went on to say that voluminous files were required to be maintained for each prisoner, with entries each day indicating the prisoners attitude, and details such as what he ate. he said these records were in excellent condition, and kept today in the Defense Ministry's Enemy Propaganda Department. Tin assured the committee that been any Americans kept in Vietnam after the war, he would have known about it, because it was a special responsibility of his. He had access to all of the NAM VET Newsletter Page 31 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 prisoner of war camps during the war and visited them regularly to interview the prisoners. He was editor of the military newspaper, and was gathering material for a book on the POWs. He outranked the camp commanders, as a Lt. Colonel. His good friend and former classmate was responsible for POWs, and his office was less than a block away. The existence of any Americans would not have been kept from him, he said. Then, Kerry asked about Robert Garwood -- the POW who returned in 1979 -- according to Kerry, through the efforts of a third country. Tin replied that he didn't know anything about Garwood, but heard that people around DaNang knew a lot about him. Astonished, Kerry pointed out that if he didn't know about Garwood, it's possible there were others he did not know about. But Tin assured him that couldn't be. Tin says that Hanoi is operating and should be trusted, but adds that because they have lied so many times in the past they are not trusted. Tin was questioned in detail about men shot down over Laos. He said if a plane was shot down over Vietnam, but crashed in Laos, the Pathet Lao would turn the pilot over to the Vietnamese. He said they would do it willingly as relations were good between the two groups, and the Pathet Lao were "very disciplined". Tin was quoted as a government spokesman by the Press the war, during Operation Homecoming, saying the Americans should talk to the Pathet Lao because they were holding Americans. This is one of the gaping holes in the history of the end of the war, because Kissinger had protested when he realized that none of the names of men held by the Pathet Lao were on the list given him by the Vietnamese, of men to be released. His protests finally caused the Vietnamese to produce nine additional prisoners, who they said were the Pathet Lao prisoners. The DOD has always claimed that these men were never Pathet Lao prisoners. The men had been produced from a statistical vacuum, as the Vietnamese had already said they had already accounted for all the men they held. Tin's explanation was that he was ordered to make the statement about men held in Laos, by a Vietnamese General. Tin's explanation for the capture of so few pilots who bailed out over Laos is that the jungle is very thick, and they could not be found. He said he didn't know if there were any or Cambodia, but he trusted they were not interested in POWs. The last people to testify at the end of the three days were the family members of the men portrayed in the photos which surfaced this past July. Their frustration was evident, and though their experience was recent, there were the echoes in their words of many families over many years. They told how they had to fight for information, and how the DIA sat on information. At one point Albro Lundy told how he discovered that the DIA had prints of his father which had been submitted with the photo of his father, but which he had never been told of. He asked if the DIA had checked the prints against prints in his father's service record? He was told the DIA didn't do that unless the next of kin requested -- then they refused to do it at his request, insisting he -- as a son of an MIA -- was not next of kin. They then said Lundy's fingerprints were not in his service record, but Lundy pointed out a page in the service record that stated that a fingerprint card was supposed to be attached -- it NAM VET Newsletter Page 32 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 had been removed. All of the families said the fingerprints had been removed. The Borah family had been provided fingerprints supposed to be their son's, but they now question whether they are really their son's -- so deep is the level of mistrust in the government. Perhaps the most heartbreaking narration was provided by the daughter of MIA John Robertson. She told how she had recently spent five days in Hanoi as the guest of a Scottish news agency doing a documentary of the POW issue. She was given the royal tour, conducted to former prisons, and visited with high Vietnamese officials who assured her that ideas concerning the existence of her father were foolish. To prove their point they gave her a copy of a Washington Post article saying as much. But it was a U.S. document they provided her that shocked her. It was a full report from the DIA which informed them not only of the reported details of her fathers whereabouts, and the names people holding him, but the sources who provided the information to the DIA. Kerry asked if he could see the document, and she kiddingly said she could not, it was classified by the U.S. government and not even members of Congress could see the sources and methods -- but the Vietnamese could. The information was especially shocking because Judge Hamilton Gayden had just reported that an escape attempt had recently been made by a POW along with three men who assisted them. They were caught trying to cross the Mekong River. The POW was ALbro Lundy. One of the sources was a Cambodian minister. The credibility of some of the "known fabricators of evidence" was given a big boost at the hearings. The DIA has long tried to discredit men such as Al Shinkle and Jack Bailey -- retired Air force intelligence officers now retired, who devote their days tracking down POW/MIA intelligence. Bailey testified at the hearing. It became quickly apparent that he did not act alone, because he was accompanied by J. Turner -- like Bailey a retired Air Force Officer (Lt. Col). He also indicated that Larry Stark -- a former POW worked with him. Lundy's son is an eloquent attorney. The Senators -- most of whom are attorneys -- found themselves seated across from two judges, and another attorney, two retired high-ranking officers, as well as the very eloquent daughters of Lundy, and Gladys Fleckenstein -- mother of Robert Stevens. MIA John Robertson's daughter, Shelby Robertson-Quast, expressed a point that frustrates every P OW activist and family member -- the apparent success of the DOD in giving disinformation to the Press about the photos. The DOD successfully associated the photos with some previous photos which were obvious fakes. Now, the Press routinely refers to all of the photos as fakes. Yet, Robinson pointed out that: 1. None of the fake photos provided by the DIA accompanied the current photos. 2. All of the photos have been positively identified as genuine by forensics experts, including but not limited to the internationally renowned Dr. Michael Charney. 3. The DOD said they found a French/Lao man who posed for the Borah photo, but Judge Gayden submitted the photo to police forensics experts in his district, who said the Government photo, not the family photo, had been doctored. They pointed out, for instance, that shadows on the face of the Lao man NAM VET Newsletter Page 33 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 did not correspond with shadows on nearby objects, indicating that the face had been "dropped" on the photo to make the man look like Borah. Kerry, on hearing this, asked for the DIA man who had provided the government photo. "He's on his way to Laos, for that very reason", he was told. The DIA had known what the families would say. 4. There are now two photos of Stevens, positively identified through computer analysis. Thus, Lundy, Stevens, Borah, and Carr have all been positively identified through computer enhancement and analysis of the photos. Gladys Fleckenstein -- mother of Stevens, read the government analysis of the Lundy/Robertson/Stevens photo said that logically it didn't make sense that the photo could be real, because the men were wearing Russian uniforms, and were carrying bundles of WWII rifles, however; it concluded, they found that the photo had not been altered (except for the writing on the sign in the photo), and that they could not prove that the photo was a fake. Thus, none of the photos have been shown to be fakes. NAM VET Newsletter Page 34 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 POW FREEDOM FOUNDATION P. O. Box 65, MCRD San Diego, CA 92140 (619) 283-9879 FAX:(619) 283-0850 Did the United States knowingly abandon American Prisoners of War to Communist Governments world wide? Does evidence exist of these abandonments? Are American Service Personnel (ASP) still alive as POWs in Communist countries? Why would the U.S. Government (USG) leave our POWs behind? Why would the Communists keep and continue to keep American Service Personnel? What can YOU do to help? PLEASE SPEND FIVE MINUTES READING THIS SHEET [ARTICLE] THEN YOU DECIDE AND ACT! Fact sheet paid for from donations to: POW FREEDOM FOUNDATION WWII HISTORY OF POWs German records pertaining to Allied POWs showed 20,000 ASPs were in German POW camps that had been, or would be, liberated by Soviet Forces. Some had been "liberated" as early as February 1945. It was later learned that Allied POWs "liberated" by the Soviets had been transported to Siberia, with all Soviet troops that had also been POWs. In 1946, the USG declared all World War II POWs and MIAs dead, even though many were known to be held in Siberia. To declare these personnel dead, the USG used the authority of the one year clause of the MISSING PERSONS ACT OF 1942. In 1945, John Noble, a U.S. civilian, was taken from East Germany to Siberia for 9-1/2 years of slave labor. He was released only because a third country asked the USG why he was there. PFC Howard Humble, a "liberated" U.S. POW also disappeared from East Germany. He was declared dead in 1946, only because he had not been seen, or heard of, for one year. KOREAN AND COLD WAR The USG expected more than 10,000 POWs from North Korea. Less than 6,000 returned. Since 1953 the status of 8,000 POWs is still undetermined. Allied POWs have been reported in North Korean slave labor camps as late as 1979. USG intelligence reported nearly 3,000 ASPs were moved from China to Siberia in 1953 and 1954. Eleven ASPs, captured in Korea in 1952, were released from China in 1955, but only after the Secretary General of the United Nations brought them to the attention of the USG. John Downey and Richard Fecteau (pilots) were captured by China in 1952. Fecteau returned in 1971 and Downey in 1973 as part of the Vietnamese POW exchange. NAM VET Newsletter Page 35 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 Reports indicate that crew members of a U.S. Navy plane, shot down in the Baltic Sea in 1950, were captured by the Soviets. Since 1954, 200 ASPs have disappeared during brushes with Soviet Forces. All have been declared dead under the MISSING PERSONS ACT OF 1942. In 1954 all U.S. POW/MIAs were declared dead under the MISSING PERSONS ACT OF 1942. THE VIETNAM WAR The first American was imprisoned in Southeast Asia in 1961, the last in 1973, the last MIA in 1975. In 1973, the USG was expecting more than 1,200 POWs for Operation Homecoming. Only POWs 591 came home, some known live POWs did not. Of the 569 ASP MIAs in Laos, nearly half were known to be POWs. No POWs, held by any Laotian Forces were released. No accord was signed between Laos and the U.S. Col. Charles E. Shelton, shot down over Laos April 29, 1965 on his 33rd birthday, is the only American still officially listed as a PRISONER OF WAR by the U.S. Government. Except for Col. Shelton, in 1979 all ASPs were declared dead under the MISSING PERSONS ACT OF 1942. As of May 1991, there are 2,274 Americans still unaccounted for in SE Asia. Of the POWs, MIAs and Killed In Action-Body Not Recovered (KIA-BNR), 80 percent are pilots and flight crews, only 20 percent are ground personnel. EVIDENCE OF ABANDONMENT POWs came from 13 separate camps. U.S. Intelligence knew of only 9 camps so we received POWs from 4 camps we did not know existed. The USG received some POWs back in 1973 we had no knowledge were in captivity. In 1979, PFC Robert Garwood, USMC, was returned from Vietnam. He claimed he had knowledge of four Communist POW camps still active. In 1985, Special Forces Major Mark Smith and Sgt Melvin McIntyre filed suit against the U.S. Government alleging they were prevented from acting on evidence of POWs in SE Asia. In 1987, Hun Sen, Premier of Kampuchea, accused the USG of never having directly asked his Government about MIAs lost there. The USG confirmed that it has no intention of contacting Sen's Government directly on the POW issue. In 1989, a Buddhist monk was released by Hanoi after 14 years of imprisonment. He identified 6 ASPs being held as POWs by the Communists. Also in 1989, Stan Cottrell, a long distance runner and a member of the Billy Graham Crusade, said he witnessed about 20 Americans entering "heavily camouflaged tunnels" north of Hue, Vietnam. In October 1990, Vietnam's Deputy Premier Nguyen Co Thach told the USG that his government was holding an American. This man has since been identified as a civilian member of the GLOMAR JAVA SEA which sunk off the coast of Vietnam during a typhoon in October 1983. Other survivors are thought to still be there. An interim Senate report released n October 1990 states that the DOD "IN APRIL 1974 CONCLUDED BEYOND A DOUBT THAT SEVERAL HUNDRED LIVING AMERICAN POWs REMAINED IN CAPTIVITY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA". IMPORTANT POW/MIA QUOTES "Accounting for Americans Missing in Action is a matter of highest national priority." - PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH - JUL 28, 1989 and NAM VET Newsletter Page 36 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 again, JUL 1990. "There are today, Americans held against their will in foreign lands and Americans who are unaccounted for." PRESIDENT BUSH - JAN 20, 1989. "There is quite a lot of evidence given by people who have no ulterior motives and no reasons to lie, and they are telling things they have seen. I do think there has to be ... there have to be live Americans there." - FORMER NAT'L SEC. ADVISOR ROBERT McFARLANE - OCT 9, 1985 "During my tenure as Director, I saw more information on POWs than any other man in the world. I was convinced then, and I am convinced today, that Americans are being held against their will by the Communists in SE Asia. There could be 50-60 in Vietnam, maybe more." FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE DEFENSE INTEL AGENCY, LtGen EUGENE TIGHE - 1986 "Look, the nation knows they (the POWs) are there, everybody knows they are there, but there's no groundswell of support for getting them out. Certainly you are not suggesting we pay for them, surely not saying we could do anything like that with no public support?" FORMER CIA DIRECTOR WILLIAM CASEY - OCT 7, 1986 "There is no longer any question that there are live Americans in SE Asia. The question is who they are and how many of them there are. There could be Americans in the mountains, in the caves, in areas beyond their control. For God's sake, bring them home." CONGRESSMAN G. SOLOMON - 1986 "By the end of the war there was probably close to 480 names on the list of MIAs which I carried around... 302 to 304 alive. Only a small percent were returned. If you find anybody at my operational level that said we got 'em all back, I'll be totally surprised." FORMER NAT'L SECURITY AGENCY ANALYST, JERRY MOONEY - 1986. "My plan was to be totally honest and forthcoming on the entire issue and aggressively pursue innovative actions and concepts to clear up the live sighting business. I became painfully aware, however, that I was not really in charge of my own office. Practically all analysis is directed to finding fault with the source. The policy people manipulating the affair have maintained their distance and remained hidden in the shadows, while using the Office as a TOXIC WASTE DUMP to bury the whole MESS. Whatever happens in the issue, DIA takes the blame, while the real players remain invisible." CHIEF OF THE SPECIAL OFFICE FOR POW/MIAs, COL MILLARD A. PECK, Request for Relief - 12 FEB 1991 THE USG LEFT OUR POWs BEHIND Every administration since the Nixon administration has been unable to recover the ASPs in SE Asia. Each subsequent administration has compounded the tragedy and would become directly accountable for the men who died during their tenure in office. In 1973 the pressure to withdraw from SE Asia was immense and Congress refused to appropriate the 3.4 billion dollars in war reparations that had been promised by President Nixon. NAM VET Newsletter Page 37 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 There has been a conspiracy of silence and clear lack of resolve to address the POW issue. There has been a long history of neglect and incompetence, protection of individual career interest, poor judgment and insufficient correlation, synthesis, processing and dissemination of POW data. THE COMMUNISTS STILL KEEP ASPs Our representatives at the Paris Peace Accords failed to demand the return of all of our POWs. Hanoi never released them because we never asked for them. The countries of Laos and Cambodia did not participate in the Paris Peace negotiations which led to an agreement only between the U.S. Government and North Vietnam. No direct, formal negotiations for POWs were ever conducted with either country. Prisoners could have been retained as insurance against the 3.5 billion dollars that the Vietnamese termed a "blood debt". Remaining American POWs were to be used as a bargaining tool if the planned military objectives against South Vietnam were not successful. POWs were retained for purposes of internal propaganda. The countries of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia included many different regional and political factions. These factions may have held POWs outside of "official government control" in remote areas. Many of the missing men who were not returned had highly specialized expertise or advanced training in areas of particular value. A very small number of these "high priority captures" such as the Electronics Warfare Officer (EWO) on the F-4 Phantom jet were ever returned. Basic mechanical, repair and maintenance skills were also needed by an underdeveloped Vietnam. Many of the enlisted men captured and not returned had valuable "hardware" skills. The Communists consider POWs as "war criminals" who are not entitled to the protection of the Geneva convention which requires the return of POWs after a negotiated settlement. Further, the Vietnamese do not feel bound to recognize these men as POWs because the U.S. Government never officially declared war in Vietnam. WHAT CAN YOU DO? CALL/WRITE your Congressman, Senator and President weekly and demand that HR 1730, The Missing Service Personnel Act replace The Missing Persons Act of 1942. Demand that all Servicemen be accounted for and that our POWs be brought home - NOW! DISPLAY THE POW flag and stickers, WEAR a POW bracelet and T- shirt and GIVE ten friends a copy of this fact sheet. SUBSCRIBE to the FREEDOM FIGHTER newsletter and keep current on POW issues. Donate what you can to a POW/MIA organization. REMEMBER THEM - THEY STILL WAIT! NAM VET Newsletter Page 38 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 POW ITEMS AVAILABLE VIA DONATIONS QTY/TOTAL POW Flag, 3' X 5' $20 ____/_____ Double sided/Outdoor T-Shirt $10 ____/______ M L XL XXL POW Newsletter (yr) $15 ____/______ POW/MIA Bracelet $ 5 ____/______ POW Patch $ 5 ____/______ Run FT Wall Patch $ 5 ____/______ POW Window Sticker $ 3 ____/______ POW Lapel Pin $ 3 ____/______ Postage & Handling $ ________ ($1 for each $5 ordered) Total Enclosed $ ________ (VISA & MASTERCARD AVAILABLE) ___________________________________________________ (Name) ___________________________________________________ (Address) ___________________________________________________ (Address) The POW FREEDOM FOUNDATION is a nonprofit, tax deductible organization [501(c)(3)] (IRS #33-0384562) dedicated to the freedom of American and Allied POW/MIAs through public education, awareness and direct action. The FOUNDATION is the organizer of the annual RUN FOR THE WALL veterans POW awareness "run" between San Diego and Washington, D.C. each May. Thank you for your support. POW FREEDOM FOUNDATION P. O. Box 65, MCRD San Diego, CA 92140 (619) 283-9879 FAX: (619) 283-0850 NAM VET Newsletter Page 39 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 ================================================================== Sister Vets ================================================================== Vietnam Women's Memorial Project, Inc. "Sister Search" Submitted by: Martha Green VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 The Vietnam Women's Memorial Project's "SISTER SEARCH" is a program designed to locate the military and civilian women who served their country during the Vietnam War. The goals of "SISTER SEARCH" are to facilitate hope and healing among women veterans; to provide a network for them; and to assist research efforts on women who served during the Vietnam War. Vietnam era women veterans are asked to provide as much information as they feel comfortable sharing. Although "Sister Search" is NOT a locator service, should an inquiry be made as to whereabouts of a person included in the "SISTER SEARCH" database, the VWMP will pass the inquiry along in writing to the individual, allowing her to decide whether she would like to respond. If the individual is deceased, the inquiry will be sent to the closest family member identified by the VWMP. All women veterans in the "SISTER SEARCH" database will periodically receive information on the Project's progress and ultimately receive an invitation to the dedication ceremonies in Washington, D.C. The Vietnam Women's Memorial Project is a non-profit, volunteer organization with the threefold purpose of: educating the public about the women who served during the Vietnam era; locating and providing a network for these women; and placing a realistic representation of a Vietnam woman veteran on the grounds of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. The Project has the support of every major veterans group in America, including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. For more information, contact: "SISTER SEARCH" Vietnam Women's Memorial Project 2001 'S' Street NW Suite #302 Washington DC 20009 NAM VET Newsletter Page 40 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 Even a small donation can make a monumental difference. Efforts are now underway to erect a monument on the grounds of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial that recognizes the role played by women veterans. The Vietnam Women's Memorial Project is conducting this drive as part of a larger effort to educate all Americans about the vital services provided by over 265,000 women, military and civilian, during the Vietnam War. O O O O O O O O O O O O O Your contribution, large or small, O O will help ensure that these women's O O sacrifices are not forgotten. O __________ O O ) O /(O) / O\ / / O \ / VIETNAM / \ / WOMEN'S /HONORING\ / MEMORIAL /\ THE \ / PROJECT / \ WOMEN \ / / \ WHO \ / / \ SERVED / (__________/ \ / \ / \ / \/ _ /_/ Yes, I want to help honor America's Women Vietnam veterans. My tax-deductible contribution is enclosed. _ /_/ Send me more information about how I can help make this dream a reality. _ /_/ I am a woman who served during the Vietnam era. NAME ____________________________________________________________ ADDRESS _________________________________________________________ CITY ______________________________________ STATE ______________ ZIP ____________________ PHONE __________________________________ Clip and mail along with your contribution to: VWMP 2001 S St., NW Suite 710 Washington, DC 20009 VIETNAM WOMEN'S MEMORIAL PROJECT A legacy of Healing and Hope NAM VET Newsletter Page 41 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 Vietnam Women's Memorial Project, Inc. 2001 'S' Street NW - Suite 302 - Washington DC 20009 (202) 328-7253 FAX: (202) 328-0063 Submitted by: Martha Green VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 SISTER SEARCH Name:________________________Vietnam Era Name: ___________________ (If different) Address:_____________________________________ Work #: ____/_______ City:________________ State: __ Zip:________ Home #: Branch of Service or Civilian Organization: ___________________________________________ In-Country (Vietnam) Assignment #1: ___________________________________________________ Start Date: ___________________________ End Date: ________________ Assignment #2: ___________________________________________________ Start Date: ___________________________ End Date: ________________ Assignment #3: ___________________________________________________ Start Date: ___________________________ End Date: ________________ Vietnam Era (1959-1975) Assignment: ______________________________________________________ Start Date: ___________________________ End Date: ________________ The Project receives inquires from the press and researchers in search of Vietnam era women veterans who are willing to share their experiences.Your participation as a press/research/education contact is strictly optional. I authorize the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project to release my name to individuals or organizations who are seeking information on Vietnam era women veterans for press inquirries, research or educational activities. Signature ________________________________________ Date __________ I authorize the Vietnam Women's Memorial Project to release my name to the National Associate Volunteer, Regional and/or State Coordinator in my area. -------------------| FOR OFFICE USE | DATE RECEIVED: | | Signature ___________________ Date __________ TRANSFER: | | Please list the names and addresses of any ENTER: | other Vietnam era women veterans you know on | the back of this form. | COMMENTS: | -------------------| Thank you for participating in SISTER SEARCH NAM VET Newsletter Page 42 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 Silent Night, Holy Night By Gus Gustitus Editor - VVA 65 Newsletter VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and all through the A Shau Valley of South Vietnam Not a creature was stirring.. not even the enemy. The North Vietnamese had declared a truce. No one would die tonight. All through the valley there were watchtowers, bunkers, and small outposts manned by Americans, some celebrating their first Christmas away from home, in a War Zone. The loneliness was heavy but the silence was deafening. You could hear a pin drop and echo up one side and down the other of the valley. About Midnight... the hour Christ was born, far off in the distance, much too far to see, was heard, "Silent Night, holy night" - off in another direction miles away came "All is calm" - from another direction, "all is bright." Together they all finished the hymn. Then back to dead silence until morning. =============================== That's the way it was, Christmas 1968 in Vietnam. Merry Christmas, from Gus (I wasn't there then, but maybe you were.) NAM VET Newsletter Page 43 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 ================================================================== In-Touch ================================================================== It's Not Finished Yet By: Ed Henry From: Among Friends - a FVVM Publication In October (1989) I began a new endeavor with The Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. For the past year the organization has manned an assistance booth near the Memorial. Bob Evans, a founding member of VVA Chapter 227, has established himself at the booth and he's been doing an outstanding job of meeting the public, answering the myriad of questions surrounding the Wall - and the war. Bob and I have worked on many Vietnam-related projects so he asked me to come down to the Memorial grounds and help him out. For those of you who have the privilege of knowing Bob, and I know there are many out there, you know what kind of sensitive bearing he can bring to this solemn place. Bob will let you know right up front about how he feel about the Vietnam war and what it did to him and his brother and sister vets. He bears the scars of it on his face, and in his heart. He nearly died in the A Shau Valley when an NVA bullet ripped through his lower jaw. His story really begins after that horrendous incident, and he has shared it widely with high school and university audiences and he shares it now with the multitudes of visitors at the wall. He never preaches, he doesn't proselytize. He only answers when asked about the events that have shaped his live as a Vietnam veteran. He is especially good with the younger generation. Always patient, he expresses a special need to assist the families and loved ones of those who are now memorialized on the black facade. One particularly beautiful October day I was with Bob at the booth near the Lincoln Memorial and that day the crowds were fairly heavy. The site is near the TourMobile stop and it can be an interesting day spent just watching all the various nationalities and tourists go by. The kids come noisily with not much understanding of the events surrounding this monument. The foreigners approach it with an interested curiosity. The families of the men and women whose names are on the Wall approach it with great solemnity and silence. They also come with anger and bitterness harbored too long. They come with questions that have tugged at their lives since the day they got the news that someone was no longer in their lives. On this day, Bob and I were standing there talking about nothing in particular when three or four women strode abruptly up to our table and practically yelled "It isn't finished yet!" in our faces. Bob and I just looked at each other and then we looked at the women. They were about my mother's age, and I felt like a son who had just gone a bit too far with the amount of cookies he'd had that afternoon. Bob spoke first with the ever brilliant and diplomatic "May I help you?" I chimed in with something as equally brilliant: "Excuse me, but what did you say?" She said "It isn't finished yet. It's just not done. I don't like it. It needs something more - a flag or something. Just something to make it not look so plain. The names are just startling, and stark. What do you think about it? Do you agree NAM VET Newsletter Page 44 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 with me?" After one great big pregnant pause I decided to break the ice with introductions all around. Her name was Marie Nissen and she and her friends were visiting from Waterloo, Iowa. She asked if we were Vietnam veterans and we nodded our heads. We don't wear fatigues down there. We don't promote the fact that we are vets and that in and of itself has a calming effect on the public. Bob immediately dove right in with an explanation of the design of the Memorial; how Maya Lin wanted the names above anything else to be the focus of her design. Both of us talked at length about what the Memorial meant to us as vets, and what it means to other vets and the thousands of families who have been touched by the war. Mrs. Nissen's persistence continued. She probed and questioned us about this and that and how we felt about the war and its aftermath. We soon found ourselves embroiled in a 45 minute historical-psychological-political discussion that involved the geo-politics of twenty or thirty nations. In the end she said, "Yes. But it's not finished YET!" Bob and I laughed. The women from Waterloo laughed. It dawned on me that this provocation was taking on a profound magnitude. The lady from Waterloo taught me a lesson that day. While she and Bob talked, and I thought about it, her every word was correct in the concept. I finally said, "You're right. You're brilliant. In your one little statement you've summed up the whole of the situation. This Memorial isn't finished and may never be finished. The war isn't finished and that may never be finished, either. The aftermath isn't finished yet. We veterans of the war aren't finished yet in what we have to do with ourselves and the rest of the population that's been affected by the war. In summation, Mrs. Nissen, nothing was finished from this thing we called the Vietnam War and discussions about it may never get finished. As a matter of fact, Mrs. Nissen, because of your discussion, I'm off to write an article about all this unfinished business we have on our hands as Vietnam veterans. And when people tell me to go away as a Vietnam veteran and stop talking about the war and its aftermath, I'll mention your name and tell them that a woman from Iowa told me it wasn't finished yet!" Bob just nodded in agreement and embarrassment, being the saint that he is. I felt like giving Mrs. Nissen and her friends a big hug. I felt renewed and enlightened through this simple conversation with the visiting heartlanders. I thank you, Mrs. Nissen, for the lesson you taught me that day. My own process of daily insight isn't finished either. God bless you, Mrs. Nissen, and all the rest of your generation. We have so much to learn from people like you, if we would only take the time to listen - closely. As a Vietnam veteran, I have a long road ahead of me in trying to finish this thing. NAM VET Newsletter Page 45 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 QUIET AFTERNOON - Anonymous - I stood tall shivering in the winter wind today. Standing taller than I had for over twenty years. My reflection on the Wall was unpleasant to see. The face older. The body wider. A lot softer. But I stood tall on that hazy, wintry day. I came many miles and years to spend this moment here. Somehow a stranger uncertain if I should even be here. Walking past these flowers, the signs, and the names. Oh, please, God! Too many names for my tired eyes to see. I stood tall shrouded in silence on that gloomy afternoon. The names were everywhere silently staring back to me Reminders of my generation (suddenly nineteen years old again) So many of us to die in sorrow, in loneliness, and pain Never to see parents, family, sweetheart, or friends again. I stood at attention. The numbing chill quite forgotten. Clouded eyes stared at memories of young soliders with Frightened faces groaning under the strain of exhaustion. Sergeants screaming and pushing them towards jungle death. I could hear their cries of loneliness as I stood still. I then found the names that I had traveled so far to see. Holding back the bitter tears was suddenly not easy for me. Could touching those letters really stop the searing pain? Could it be this wall really soothes and heals unseen wounds? As I briefly felt the outline of the names washed with tears I paused and snapped to attention. I was standing tall again. The name of a childhood friend now long past suddenly appeared. The image of this handsome, young man will never be forgotten. He was a true soldier--unafraid to give all in his brief life. Death came in the arms of friends. Now only names on the Wall. The sad news had left me with head bowed. With spirit sagging. Soon, this quiet afternoon will be only a lingering memory. Years of shame and tattered fatigues mercifully left behind. I sensed I stood on hallowed ground this frozen day in time. As the wind scattered memories of lost friends--the tears came. I stood tall, turned and saluted. I proudly saluted them all. NAM VET Newsletter Page 46 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 In-Touch. What is it ??? Input by: Ray "Frenchy" Moreau NAM VETs IN-TOUCH Section Editor Herndon Byte eXchange/VETLink #2 - 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. | | | | Brothers and sisters, parents and even wives who were simply | | never allowed full expression of their grief because of the | | fierce pressures of the time, are now coming forward, | | looking for someone who can help with their healing. | | | | We hear from children, now 15 - 25 years old, who are | | searching for bits and pieces of information they can | | assemble to help fill that empty place in their lives that | | is the father they never knew well, if at all. And they want | | to talk to each other, to share their special needs and the | | unique experience of growing up with a father on the Wall. | | They understand each other all too well. | NAM VET Newsletter Page 47 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 | | | Millions of Americans need to meet and talk because of the | | Wall, and only the Friends can help them. | | | | Initial discussions with many other national organizations | | whose work brings them into contact with Vietnam veterans | | and their loved ones have attested to the need for IN TOUCH | | and their willingness to help. | | | | Simply put, the Friends will draw on its special work at the | | Memorial, its acquired and available data bases and | | programs designed and integrated by Electronic Data Systems | | (EDS), and the commitment and concern of its volunteers to | | place people with a common association to a name on the Wall | | to be in voluntary communication with each other. | | | | From there, we will let human nature take its good course. | | And let the healing begin. | | | | The starting point for the data base will be the more than | | twenty thousand names of people who have requested name | | rubbings from our volunteers in Washington. Each will be | | contacted and given the opportunity to participate by being | | listed in the IN TOUCH central data base file. | | | | Confidentiality is the keyword to cooperation and IN TOUCH | | will respect the integrity of all lists and records. Lists | | will be unavailable for public use and will not be | | distributed for any commercial purpose. | | | | By its nature, IN TOUCH must reach far beyond the veterans | | community in order to be successful. With professional | | guidance, the Friends will develop a program of on-going | | articles and other coverage in major media markets, high- | | lighting the personal experiences of people as they are put | | "in touch." The International Vietnam Veterans Echo | | Conference via the Herndon Byte eXchange 1:109/316 node as | | the enter point for gathering and disseminating information | | will be used. Aside from bringing the program into public | | awareness, these articles and stories will serve as a val- | | uable tool for public education on a wealth of matters | | relating to the Vietnam era. | | | | As a preliminary test of the IN TOUCH project, the Friends | | has implemented a pilot project to test the design and | | demands of such a program. Several hundred requests with | | full background information have been entered into a system | | designed to match requestor data with the existing Memorial | | data. Even with such a small sample, limited data and a | | fairly unsophisticated cross-indexing system, matches have | | been made and IN TOUCH has produced its first real | | connections. The results have been as profoundly moving for | | the participants as expected. And as gratifying for the | | Friends. | | | | But it was clear that the information management system and | | the supporting hardware system would have to be more power- | | ful and more complex in order to handle thousands, perhaps | | hundreds of thousands, of requests. Confidentiality of the | NAM VET Newsletter Page 48 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 | system and information must be paramount. | | | | With well over 2,000 Vietnam veterans, Electronic Data | | Systems (EDS) became involved and has been generous in its | | assistance with designing the data management systems which | | will be critical to a successful program. The Friends have | | reached a three-year working agreement with EDS which | | promises continuity and maximum potential for success in | | building an information bank that can truly help people in | | their search for others who knew a loved one. | | | | The Friends are delighted that Bob Hope has agreed to make | | a public service announcement which we can use on radio and | | television to help get the word out to the public on the | | availability of the service. | | | | The Friends are also pleased to note that Hewlett Packard, | | Zenith Data Systems, Borland International, FASTCOMM | | Communications Corporation and the First National Bank of | | Chicago have all contributed computer equipment, computer | | software, and office equipment to the project, so they are | | beginning to feel fully functional. | | | | The Friends hear from people who have long been living with | | the pain of loss and looking for a way to heal. For | | instance, the Friends recently received a letter from a | | woman who wrote: | | | | Dear Friends: | | For quite some time I have been searching for a | | way to know my brother. It seems hopeless at times. | | I was 12 when he was killed... I had waited for the | | day he would come back to us. He never did. A part | | of me will always be 12 and continue to wait. | | Thank you for giving me hope that there may be | | a way to find him and bring him home to my heart..." | | | | + + + | | | | The Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial | | Electronic Data Systems | | Herndon Byte eXchange TCOMMnet BBS 1:109/316 | | | |+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++| NAM VET Newsletter Page 49 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 IN-TOUCH Registration/Request Form THIS FORM REQUIRES SIGNATURE FOR CONFIDENTIALITY RELEASE PLEASE READ BELOW ------------------------------------------------------------------ I wish to be IN TOUCH with (Please circle and/or comment) Family, Friends and/or Fellow Veterans of the following: __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ ----------- PERSON WHO DID NOT COME BACK FROM VIETNAM ------------ First Name_____________ Middle Name___________ Last Name__________ Relationship to You and/or Reason for Request (Answer as fully as possible)_____________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ ================================================================== -------- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT HIM/HER - IF KNOWN --------- Rank_______ Birth Date ______________ Soc. Sec. # ________________ Tour Date of Birth _______________ Where Buried __________________ Branch of Service: AR__ NA__ AF__ MC__ CG__ RC__ CIV__ (Fill in his/her equivalent unit designations in the spaces below) Division ____________ Brigade ___________ Battalion ______________ Regiment ____________ Company ___________ Ship ___________________ Battles:__________________________________________________________ Locations:________________________________________________________ Nicknames:________________________________________________________ Hometown (while in Nam): ____________________ Home State: ________ ================================================================== ---------------------- INFORMATION ABOUT YOU --------------------- Title___ First Name ____________ Middle/Maiden Name _____________ Last Name ____________________ Address___________________________________________________________ City __________________________________ State ____ Zip: _____-____ Your Home Phone ( ) ____________ Work Phone: ( ) ____________ ---------------- IF YOU ARE A VIETNAM-ERA VETERAN ---------------- Tour date _______________________________ Rank __________________ Branch of Service: AR__ NA __ AF __ MC __ CG __ RC __ CIV __ Fill in your equivalent unit designations in the spaces below Division: __________ Brigade: ___________ Battalion: ___________ Regiment: __________ Company: ___________ Ship: ________________ Battles: _________________________________________________________ Locations: _______________________________________________________ Nicknames: _______________________________________________________ Hometown (when in VN) _______________________ Home State: ________ Comments: ________________________________________________________ CONFIDENTIALITY STATEMENT _____ I give permission to the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to release my name, address, phone number and relationship to other participants in the IN TOUCH project seeking information on the individual above (strike out NAM VET Newsletter Page 50 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 phone number if you do not want it released). OR _____ I would like to have the names, addresses, and phone numbers of persons who knew my friend or relative, but prefer NOT to have my name, address, and phone number released. I hereby release the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial from any and all liability that may arise from the operation of the IN TOUCH project. Signature ____________________________________ Date _____________ NOTE: Do not electronically transmit this form, instead mail to: Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial 1350 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Suite 300 Washington, DC 20036 ----------------------------------------------------------------- NAM VET Newsletter Page 51 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 Friends of Vietnam Vets Needs Your Help By: Ray "Frenchy" Moreau NAM VETs IN-TOUCH Section Editor Herndon Byte eXchange/VETLink #2 - Herndon, VA (703) 471-8010 Dear Fellow IVVECNet Sysop, User and NamVet Reader: I am writing to you on behalf of the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial concerning a matter of great urgency. You may have visited the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington in which case you know firsthand what an important place it is. You probably saw on the faces of the visitors there, the pain and the very real need to resolve personal issues resulting from the war in Vietnam. You may have also seen one of the Friends volunteers or staff helping the National Park Service rangers by assisting visitors with questions, helping them find names and make rubbings, or even giving a gentle hug and an understanding ear where needed to ease the painful tears and help begin the healing. The Friends began as a small volunteer effort at the Wall, for just these purposes, but it has quickly grown to embrace the needs of people far beyond those who are able to come to Washington to touch a name on the Wall. For instance: Over 20,000 people have asked for and received a rubbing of the name of a very special person listed on the Wall. Each rubbing was done and sent with the same care and respect that one would use when folding and presenting the flag, for these rubbings are family heirlooms, treasured beyond words. Every Fathers Day at sunrise, Friends volunteers line the Wall with roses and to each is attached a special personal message sent in by a family member or friend. A program called "In Touch", developed with the cooperation of Electronic data Systems, Zenith Data Systems, Borland International, FastComm, Quarterdeck Office Systems and Hewlett-Packard, allows people who knew the same person on the Wall to find each other and to give long overdue recognition and to pass on important information or mementos. For the family members of those men and women listed on the Wall, as well as for veterans, this is an extremely important experience. All of these services and more are offered free of charge to anyone who needs them. But the Friends can only operate with the help of many people, like you and I, who understand the importance of the Memorial and the work that the friends do. And it is very important work indeed. There are a lot of people who would like to say that the war was long ago and no longer affects peoples lives. But the sad fact is that if we now wanted to build a Wall of names for those veterans who have committed suicide since returning home, it would have to be even larger than the Memorial in Washington, for there are more names. All of us have been shaken, in one way or another, by that war and the saddest part is that we have not been able to talk about it or address it, so the healing never begins. But the Friends give people a chance. And in the process, they see that the Memorial is cared for to the best possible degree. However, they need our help and support. I have gladly given NAM VET Newsletter Page 52 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 mine and now I want to ask you to do the same. In return, the Friends will recognize your concern for Vietnam veterans, their families and loved ones, and all the other people whose lives are listed between the lines of names on the Memorial. For your contribution of $100 or more, you (or your firm) will be proudly listed in the Roll of Honor maintained by the Friends at their information site at the Memorial which is visited by over three million people a year. In addition, you will receive a Certificate of Honor from the Friends, suitable for framing and display at home or at work, attesting to your support of the Memorial and those who work in its service. You will also be recognized in their newsletter which is distributed to their entire membership and to many thousands of visitors at the Wall, free of charge. Your contribution is, of course, fully tax-deductible. For a more modest contribution of $20 or more, you can become a member of the Friends and receive not only the newsletter and other member benefits, but a beautiful gold lapel pin proudly identifying you as someone who still cares deeply. It is very important that you do this as soon as possible (today would be best) so the Friends can continue to serve so many deserving Americans and to honor so many who served when they were asked. Send your check today to: Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial 1224 M St., NW Washington, DC 20005 I appreciate your support and your understanding. Yours in faith, most sincerely, Ray "Frenchy" Moreau USN (Retired) ...but not from life, the Wall won't let me. 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IIXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXpX The Vietnam Veteran XII IIXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX has relatives in the III IIIXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXX Old and New Testaments III IIIXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX who also experienced loss II IIXXXXXXXXX XXX and grief, guilt and shame, II IIXXXXXXXXX XX rejection and betrayal, I IXXXXXXXXX alienation and estrangement, I IXXXX XX isolation and withdrawal. II IIXXXX II IIX Adam and Eve tried to hide from God; II II Moses, born Hebrew and raised Egyptian IIII IIII searched long and hard for his real self; II II Job, losing his children and all he owned, II II became sorely diseased; IIII III Biblical Joseph was rejected by his brothers, II II lied about and imprisoned; I Peter denied Jesus. II I "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" Matthew 28:20 NAM VET Newsletter Page 54 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 ================================================================== Don't drink the water! ================================================================== Background on Agent Orange Class Assistance Program Agent Orange Class Assistance Program Post Office Box 27413 Washington, D.C. 20038-7413 (202) 289-6173 Input by G. Joseph Peck NamVet's Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 Backgrounder THE AGENT ORANGE CLASS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM The Agent Orange Class Assistance Program was established to distribute a portion of the fund created by the settlement of the class action lawsuit by Vietnam veterans and their families against seven chemical companies which supplied herbicides used in the U.S. war effort in Vietnam. The Assistance Program provides funding for programs and services of benefit to Vietnam veterans and their families. THE LAWSUIT The Agent Orange litigation began in 1977 when a Vietnam veteran filed a lawsuit against the Federal government and a number of companies that manufactured a herbicide known as Agent Orange, which was used as a defoliant during the war in Vietnam. The suit alleged that troops were exposed to Agent Orange while serving in Vietnam and that after their return, many Vietnam veterans had suffered disabling injuries or had died as a result of this exposure. In addition, the suit alleged that the veterans' exposure to Agent Orange caused miscarriages among spouses and birth defects in their children. The suit was consolidated as a class action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, with the class being defined as all persons who served in the Armed Forces of the United States, New Zealand and Australia between 1961 and 1972 who were injured by exposure to Agent Orange while in or near Vietnam. The class also included parents, spouses and children of all such Vietnam veterans. THE SETTLEMENT On May 7, 1984, just as the trial was scheduled to begin, the veterans' attorneys and the defendant chemical companies agreed to settle the case for $180 million. The Federal government did not participate in the settlement and all claims against the government were later dismissed. The chemical companies deposited the money with the Court, but distribution of the fund was delayed by a number of appeals, some of which reached the U.S. Supreme Court. On June 30, 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the final appeals and cleared the way for distribution of the fund, which by that time had grown to approximately $240 million. NAM VET Newsletter Page 55 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 THE DISTRIBUTION PLAN On July 5, 1988, The Court issued an opinion setting forth the final plan for the distribution of the settlement fund. The Court created two separate programs to distribute the funds, the Agent Orange Veteran Payment Program and the Agent Orange Class Assistance Program. The AGENT ORANGE VETERAN PAYMENT PROGRAM is currently distributing cash payments to totally disabled Vietnam veterans and to the spouses or children of deceased Vietnam veterans. To be eligible for a payment, the applicant must show that the veteran meets a Court-approved test of exposure to Agent Orange and that the disability or death was not caused by traumatic, accidental or self-inflicted injury. The Court allocated $170 million of the settlement fund to the Payment Program. (For information on this program, contact the Agent Orange Veteran Payment Program, P.O. Box 110, Hartford, CT 06104. Telephone: 1- 800-225-4712.) The AGENT ORANGE CLASS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM will distribute approximately $52 million to support social services which will benefit the plaintiff class -- Vietnam veterans and their families. The remaining funds were allocated to plaintiffs' attorneys' fees ($13 million) and a distribution to programs in Australia and New Zealand ($5 million) to serve the needs of their Vietnam veterans. THE AGENT ORANGE CLASS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM On December 22, 1988, the Court announced that it had selected Mr. Dennis Rhoades, 44, of Burke, Virginia, a Vietnam veteran with broad and extensive experience in Vietnam veteran programs, to serve as Executive Director of the Agent Orange Class Assistance Program. While the Court retains ultimate control and jurisdiction over the grant-making process, the Executive Director assists the Court in the administration of the program and advises the Court in grant selections. The Assistance Program is supported in its planning and determination of priorities by a Court-appointed group of nine advisors from around the country, eight of whom are themselves Vietnam veterans. They periodically consult with the Court and Mr. rhoades on the grant selection process and overall policy issues. The broad mandate of the Assistance Program is to make grants to support programs and organizations which address the needs and concerns expressed by Vietnam veterans and their families. The Court has directed that the Assistance Program place a priority on responding to the concerns which gave rise to the original lawsuit, providing services which are not currently available and bringing services to Vietnam veterans and their families who, for a variety of reasons, are not receiving needed assistance. The Assistance Program does not seek to duplicate or replace existing services, especially those provided by the federal or state governments, but rather to augment those services and to work in partnership with organizations dedicated to assisting members of the Class. Furthermore, the Assistance Program focuses, for the most part, on projects and organizations with proven records of success. Through careful funding of selected projects, the Assistance Program hopes to stimulate greater interest among service providers in addressing the needs and concerns of the Vietnam veteran community on an ongoing basis. The Assistance Program began with a rather diffuse mission. In establishing the Assistance Program, the Court recognized that NAM VET Newsletter Page 56 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 there was a broad constellation of needs within the Vietnam veteran community. Since the class certified by the Court included not only Vietnam veterans, but their children, spouses and parents, the potential areas in which the Assistance Program could provide aid were even greater. In August of 1988, the first Request for Proposal (RFP) was sent out on behalf of the Class Assistance Program to over 1,000 prospective service providers across the country. This first RFP solicited proposals in four broad areas: assistance for Vietnam veterans' children with birth defects and other special needs and for the families of those children; counseling and support for families of Vietnam veterans; assistance for Vietnam veterans in obtaining government and other benefits; and services for disadvantages or homeless Vietnam veterans, including psychological counseling for post-traumatic stress disorder, treatment for substance abuse, employment placement and transitional housing. The first projects selected from the resulting proposal pool were well-distributed geographically. A similar pattern of funding priorities was followed in subsequent grants from these first proposals, with funding awarded for large scale regional and national projects providing services to disabled children of Vietnam veterans, legal support services to Vietnam veterans, and local projects to provide counseling services to Vietnam veterans and transitional housing and other services for homeless Vietnam veterans and their families. Two subsequent RFPs were issued in September of 1989 and February, 1991 in order to solicit additional viable proposals to provide services to children of Vietnam veterans who have needs relating to developmental or other chronic disabilities. The 1991 RFP continued the priority on services to children along with a broad range of additional services to Vietnam veterans' families. Proposals resulting from this most recent RFP will continue to be selected for funding over the next year, concurrent with development and funding of some remaining viable proposals received as a result of the 1988 and 1989 RFPs. CURRENT ACTIVITIES OF THE CLASS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM Although program achievements cannot be measured in dollars and data alone, it is worthwhile to note some of the milestones met during the 1990-91 AOCAP program year. Total funds awarded in AOCAP Program Year 90-91 (July 1, `90 to June 30, `91) equaled the amount awarded in the first one and a half years of operation. As the program year ended, a network of sixty-six programs serving Vietnam veterans and their families were operating with AOCAP funding across the U.S. More importantly, 46,000 Vietnam veterans, children and other family members were provided some services to address a myriad of needs since the program began. At the same time as the Class Assistance Program has been building up to an optimum level of grant award and disbursement activity, a great deal has been learned about the needs of Vietnam veterans and their families and the role which the Assistance Program might most effectively play in addressing those needs. Public policy has long viewed the needs of returning veterans as specific to the individual. Members of the veteran's family, characterized as "dependents," are recognized as having needs, in general, only if the veteran is disabled or deceased. The Agent Orange plaintiff class includes the members of the veteran's family as equal partners, and AOCAP programs must address the needs of the family as a totality. NAM VET Newsletter Page 57 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 The project development work accomplished over the first two and a half years of its existence has created a distinctive character in the Assistance Program's current network of active grants. Eighty percent of these involve, at least in part, services to developmentally disabled children, and over sixty percent render services to families as a primary thrust. Together with the ground-breaking work of the National Veterans Legal Services Project in improving access to existing veterans benefits and services, it has become increasingly clear that the Assistance Program is filling some vital gaps in the veterans service system. The Agent Orange Class Assistance Program is currently developing and forwarding grants to the Court on a continuous basis, and as of October 31, 1991, the program had generated 145 grant awards totalling over $26 million. Projects funded by the Class Assistance Program currently operate in forty-four states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Current plans project approximately 75-80 grants being awarded annually, in a combination of new grant awards and renewal grants for ongoing successful programs. It is anticipated that through its approximately five to seven year duration, over 120 individual programs providing services to Vietnam veterans and their families will be funded through the Class Assistance Program. Plans have been developed to implement a nation-wide outreach effort over the next four years to contact and provide services through the AOCAP network to large numbers of Vietnam veterans and their families, including many of the original claimants in the Agent Orange Settlement. 11/91 NAM VET Newsletter Page 58 Volume 5, Number 12 December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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 59 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, RVN STYLE L/Cpl W.C. Roberts Mike Co. 3rd Btn. 9th Marines December 24th, 1965 Da Nang, Vietnam 'Twas the night before Christmas, and all thru the bunker, I was on watch, the rest were in slumber, but visions of sugar plums don't dance thru my head, I wear a steel pot so I won't end up dead. Yet the night's not a waste, we do have a goal, They're sending my squad out on patrol. We'll have a big party when we get to the sticks, If we can get past the sentry at gate number six. We'll find us a bamboo tree, and decorate it up, With hand grenades, and trip flares, and other fancy stuff. Then we'll make Christmas dinner from little green cans, With turkey load C-rations, then eat with our hands. But up in the sky, what's that I see? Jolly St. Nick in a Huey 1-B. He's banking in now, he's rolling in hot, It looks like our Christmas no longer is shot. But next to his skids, what's that I see? My God, it's M-60s, he thinks we're VC! Crawling from cover, I roll on my back, Now I know why Mama-san dyed my utilities black! NAM VET Newsletter Page 60 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 ================================================================== Questions answered! ================================================================== Nam's most famous saying??? By Jim Hildwine NamVet's Federal Benefits Section Editor VETLink #4 - Shady Side, MD (301) 261-5644 I asked a question on the net on what was the most famous saying in Nam. Well I would say "It Don't Mean Nothing" or "B.F.D", but for the most-used word... I'd agree with " S H O R T" The short-timer in Nam was indeed a funny breed. During his last 30, he was a real trip. The short-timer in an Infantry outfit was, by all practical purposes, offline by his last 30, and running some sort of job, ie supply, mess hall, etc. The last 30 days, you could bet with any reassurance that he would let you know down to the minute, hours, and seconds on what time his "Freedom" bird was outbound. Some of the things I noticed in two tours were as follows (I did some of em too): 1. The short-timer seemed to gain a great disrespect for anything above his rank. 2. He tended to sleep in, and was a real trip to get up in the morning. (Lotta party the night before) 3. The only thing that would motivate him was the threat of putting him back "On Line" 'Yea, Sarge Go Ahead, try it...' 4. He would duck a detail faster than Chicken Man could make up a story for Ms. Hellfinger. 5. The short-timer during "Incoming" was "ALWAYS" the first one into the bunker with no exceptions. None! 6. All the short-timer did was talk about what he was gonna do when he hit the "World"... He never shut up, "I'm gonna this, I'm gonna that, I'm gonna.." That's all you heard. 7. He would do anything to get out of traveling on the roads. No way was he going to step foot out of the compound. No way! He has figured out every possible place or way he can get killed, and he avoids every thing and every body. 8. The short-timer was always letting the FNG's know how many hours, days and minutes he had left. 9. He could be counted on being stoned or drunk just about the entire last thirty days. 10. The short-timer became obsessed with making out of Nam in one piece. 11. He starts buying and ordering everything in the Pacex catalog. 12. He starts giving away everything he has gathered during his tour 365. 13. He starts to hit sick call every other day to make sure he's clean as whistle when going home. (Note: In Nam there were some personal type bugs (picked up from local ladies) that there was no cure for...) 14. He informs each of his girlfriends that the date he is coming home is their day. No two girls have the same arrival date of the short timer. (Gee I wonder why.???????) 15. The short-timer, upon arrival in Conus, takes his shower, drops his bonnie boots, showers off (in real hot water) one years worth of dirt and grime, chucks down his "Army Issue" NAM VET Newsletter Page 61 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 Welcome home steak dinner. Sits thru a boring briefing by some NCO who has somehow seemed to dodge going to Nam. He puts on his new "Greens" jumps on a bus and heads to the airport where, awaiting the flight out, gets crocked in the Airport Bar. He makes a pass at everything in sight, and can not wait to get home. Once airborne, he still drinks like a fish, makes time with the stewardess, and counts the hours, minutes and seconds till he's home. Upon arrival at his Home Town AO, goes hog wild in his home town, and tries to retake his home town with all the adventure and gusto known to man. 16. FINAL Epilog: The Returning Vietnam Vet takes very little time to readjust and get back into the mainstream of being home and taking care of business... Note: A lot can be added, good, and bad. The soldiers returning from Vietnam was and is going to go thru some changes. It takes along time to readjust. Some returning Short-Timers have never recovered from their trip back home to the World. Tho the topic is meant to be funny and the wording, it is known that many of our Brothers didn't make it upon their return home to the "World"... Later, much later, we were to hear of PTSD. -- Jim -- NAM VET Newsletter Page 62 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Among the honored and proud! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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!" . . . . Also from . . The Staff of NamVet . . . . and participants in . . . . The International Vietnam Veterans EchoConference . . and all of VETNet . NAM VET Newsletter Page 63 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 "When remembering is too much ... or not enough" by G. Joseph Peck NamVet's Managing Editor VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 Tears traced their crooked fingers down the paraplegic veterans' face, wrapped themselves around the stylus held in his mouth, and gently spiraled towards his computer keyboard. "Finally," sobbed the veteran, "Someone who understands what I'm talking about when I mention bouncing betty's, C-Rats or mad-minutes! A brother veteran!" 35-minutes later, telephone wires from his home jumped to life as he connected with a faraway computer bulletin board (BBS) that was part of FidoNet(tm), a worldwide network of over 11,000 amateur computer operators, and delivered his reply to a message he'd read earlier. The walls around him slowly began to dissolve as the howling winter wind screamed through the dark night outside. He was no longer alone. After working his eighth consecutive 16-hour day, the tired but restless veteran found himself again unable to sleep. Inside his luxurious home, trophies, plaques and civic awards hung on all the walls. To all that knew him, he WAS a success - but still something gnawed at, agitated, irritated him. He turned on his computer and called a local FidoNet BBS to see what new messages had come in that day. Reaching for her cup of tea, hand brushing a potted plant, the nurse began to tremble as hot steam and plant leafs reawakened memories of long-ago hurried footsteps from a medevac helicopter. Closed in on all sides by tall jungle grass, the pathway was soon dotted with droplets of blood and fluids from the battle-wounded soldier she helped carry to the field hospital. A wave of relief came over her as she saw the familiar characters: "Please input your name-" appear on the monitor screen of her computer. Quickly, she signed in and navigated her way to an area of the BBS entitled "VIETNAM_VETS International Echo". (An "echo" is a message base that is shared - echoed - from BBS-to-BBS around the world.) In March of 1987, G. Joseph Peck, a Pittsfield, MA service- disabled veteran, veteran activist, and founder/President of Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. (BVCI) - a grassroots electronic veteran service organization whose Board of Directors also includes members in Herndon, VA; Katy, TX; Shady Side, MD; Chatsworth, GA and Passaic, NJ - came upon the International VIETNAM_VETS Echo Conference (IVVEC) which had been created by Todd C. Looney of San Jose, CA, and added it to the offerings of VETLink #1, a BVCI-sponsored BBS veteran outreach effort. In a very short time, BVCI helped create the VETNet echoes - a collection of veteran-oriented file and message bases - which also soon began to be shared throughout the U.S. and Canada. Veterans, spouses and children of veterans, and those interested in the veteran experience began sharing and relating their various experiences, their nightmares, their good times and bad, as well as important veteran information into the message bases. Veterans who had long ago lost contact with others they had served alongside found long lost friends and service buddies. IVVEC and the VETNet echoes began to shine with a truly international hue as NAM VET Newsletter Page 64 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 veterans from Canada and Australia added their voices to the rapidly growing veteran kaleidoscope, and VETLink #1 became the Eastern hub of the VETNet echoes - which now number 21 and are daily/weekly growing. On Veterans' Day, 1987 (11/11/87) Looney and Peck, mindful of the fact that messages on many BBSs get deleted, created and produced the premier issue of an electronic newsletter called "NamVet" that would distill much of the information from the VETNet echoes, include contributions from echo participants, and add other important information for all veterans, their families, and those interested and concerned about America's veterans. Now Averaging 90-100 pages in length, NamVet continues to be produced monthly and is in high demand by Vietnam and other veterans and their families. With VETLink #1, the VETNet echoes, and NamVet, it appeared that the work of BVCI was complete and there was nothing left to do but polish up and keep adding to the offerings of VETLink #1 - among them being Electronic Service Officers (disabled or other house/homebound veterans who could devote time and energy towards serving their fellow veterans) and computerized versions of Department of Veterans Affairs forms for processing/submitting claims. The quiet breeze of support, camaraderie and veteran benefit information that had softly begun to rustle quickly became a whirlwind as, zephyr-like, more and more veterans discovered the variety of VETNet echoes and NamVet and soon others began asking about becoming a VETLink... Q - "Do I have to be a veteran to operate a VETLink BBS" A - No. What we generally look for is a proven record of dedication and commitment to veterans and an area of expertise and/or interest that will benefit our international audience. Q - "Is there a specific type of software required for my BBS to be functional within the VETNet?" A - No. All information and data easily fits within the configuration parameters of many BBSs. Our BBS of choice is OSIRIS because of its configurability, flexibility and security provisions. PLUS, all veteran help files and programs are done in OSIRIS ITP (Inline-Text-Programming) language which is difficult to modify for other BBS types. Q - "How do I become a VETLink?" A - Generally, by sending NETMAIL to VETLink #1 at FidoNet 1:321/203 with your name, address, voice telephone number. After receipt of your NETMAIL, your application is forwarded to the Board of Directors of Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc., sponsor of VETLink #1 for review and approval. Q - "Is there anything REQUIRED of me to operate a VETLink BBS?" A - Yes. There are 9 BASIC requirements: 1. The VETLink BBS SysOp will commit his/her efforts to aid a national audience of veterans for a minimum period of one (1) year. 2. The VETLink BBS SysOp will, in some way, add to the aggregate "veteran service" effort of VETLink either through technical expertise and/or by creating and moderating a veteran-oriented echoconference. NAM VET Newsletter Page 65 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 3. The VETLink BBS will be operational 24 hours per day at rates of 2400bps or higher. 4. The VETLink BBS will incorporate the VETLink # into his/her BBS name so that others will be able to quickly identify where veteran-related BBSs can be found. 5. The VETLink BBS will carry all of the VETNet echoes. 6. The VETLink BBS will have available the current years issues of NamVet - our electronic newsletter for and about veterans. 7. There is to be absolutely no charge for user access to the VETNet echo areas nor for downloading NamVet. (Our veterans have paid enough already!) 8. The VETLink BBS will collect and transfer to VETLink #1 user contributions for NamVet. 9. The VETLink BBS will have available a veteran-oriented file area. The VETNet echoes presently consist of: VIETNAM_VETS... by, for and about veterans - primarily Vietnam veterans - and the issues that concern them; ISAW... International Studies of American War; BROWN_WATER... Brown water Navy; MIA-POW... MIA/POW topics; HOSP_VETS... hospitalized veterans' discussions; KOREAN_VETS... for veterans of the Korean Conflict; VET_REUNION... veteran reunions; MILITARY_PEOPLE... military discussions; VETREACH... locate missing service members; IN_TOUCH... sharing families and friends on The Wall; TOUCH_BACK... reflections on IN_TOUCH experiences; FVVM_NEWS... news from the Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; SKY_PILOTS... faith found in combat; VETERANS_TOO... children of veterans; VETS_FRIENDS... from non- veterans concerned about veterans; JEWISH_VETERANS... veterans of the Jewish faith; CHRISTIAN_VET... veterans of the Christian faith; 12STEPS_VETS... veterans and addictions; VETS_JOBTALK... veteran employment discussions/info; DISABLED_VET... veterans and disability. As each new VETLink joins, its SysOp generally contributes the moderatorship of an echo or other form of overall help to veterans. "Getting veteran news and information out to the public, operated with a spirit of dedicated and committed care and concern, a VETLink is totally a volunteer effort on the part of all our VETLink System Operators," says Peck. "I would like to see telephone companies provide 800- numbers to the VETLink's so that veterans, who have already paid so dear a price for the freedom we enjoy today, wouldn't have to continue paying to get the information and camaraderie they've EARNED; I would like to see Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. - a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, listed in the IRS List of Charitable Organizations - become the recipient of funding because, since its creation, it has only been supported by my VA Disability Compensation check, donations of needed equipment and supplies from other VETLink's and members of our Board of Directors, and small donations from the general public; and I would really be happy, deep down in my heart, if I knew that any veteran, no matter where s/he is, could find the information, camaraderie, support and fellowship they so well earned by virtue of their military service." John F. Kennedy once said: "Some men dream dreams and say 'Why?' I NAM VET Newsletter Page 66 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 dream dreams and say 'Why not!'" When all that remains is a stylus to tap-tap-tap out a message; when memories of yesterday agitate and annoy, and when life-fluids seem to ebb low, the dream - and hard work - of G. Joseph Peck, Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc., and all VETLink System Operators stand ready for you and those you care about... when remembering is too much - ... or not enough. THIS holiday season, if there's a veteran close to you - or if you, yourself are a veteran wanting to "touch bases" with that unique time in your life, call a VETLink BBS - they'd be more than glad to have you share YOU with them... Season's Greetings from the VETLink family: VETLink #1 Pittsfield, MA 1-413-443-6313 SysOp: G. Joseph Peck - Army veteran VETLink #2 Herndon, VA 1-703-471-8010 SysOp: Ray "Frenchy" Moreau - Brown-Water Navy veteran VETLink #3 Cape Giradeau, MO 1-314-334-6359 Mike Bryeans - Technical Support VETLink #4 Shady Side, MD 1-301-261-5644 SysOp: Jim Hildwine - Army veteran VETLink #5 Passaic, NJ 1-201-778-1879 SysOp: Fred Sochacki - Marine veteran VETLink #6 Seattle, WA 1-206-528-0111 SysOp: Donald Kent - Concerned Veteran Activist VETLink #7 Portland, OR 1-503-254-6819 SysOp: Ed Brant - Marine veteran VETLink #8 Manchester, NH 1-603-622-2371 SysOp: Henry "Chip" France - Army veteran VETLink #9 Merrimack, NH 1-603-424-4915 SysOp: Harlow "Bob" Campbell - Air Force veteran VETLink #10 Dearborn, MI 1-313-562-0051 SysOp: Bruce Bowman - Brown-Water Navy veteran NAM VET Newsletter Page 67 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 ================================================================== Uncle Sam & NamVet want YOU to know ================================================================== Veterans Service Organizations Chartered by Congress and Recognized by VA for Claim Representation Input by Jim Hildwine NamVet's Federal Benefits Section Editor VETLink #4 BBS - Shady Side, MD (301) 261-5644 American Ex-Prisoners of War 3201 E. Pioneer Pkwy Ste 40 Arlington, TX 76010 (817) 275-8044 Members - 23,500 Established - 1949 American Red Cross 17th and D Streets, NW Washington, DC 20006 (202) 639-3586 Founded - 1881 AMVETS 4647 Forbes Blvd Lanham, MD 20706 (301) 459-9600 Members - 200,000 Auxiliary members - 50,000 Founded - 1944 Blinded Veterans Assoc 1735 DeSales St, NW Ste 600 Washington, DC 20036 (202) 347-4010 Members - 6,000 Founded - 1945 Catholic War Veterans, USA 2 Massachusetts Ave NW Washington, DC 20001 (202) 737-9600 Members - 35,000 Auxiliary members- 10,000 Founded - 1935 Congressional Medal of Honor Society of the U.S.A. Intrepid Square Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum 12th Ave/West 46th St New York, NY 10036 (212) 582-5355 Members - 259 Founded - 1948 Disabled American Veterans P.O. Box 14301 Cincinnati, OH 45214 (606) 441-7300 Members - 860,800 Auxiliary members - 90,930 Founded - 1920 Gold Star Wives of America 600 Bethel Street, NE Leeds, AL 35094 (205) 699-8394 Members: 12,000 Founded - 1945 THE JEWISH WAR VETERAN OF THE U.S.A. 1811 R Street NW Washington, DC 20009 (202) 265-6280 Members - 100,000 Aux Members - 50,000 Founded 1896 Legion of Valor of the U.S.A. 4221 Bel Pre Road Rockville, MD 20853 (301) 460-4822 Members - 800 Founded - 1890 Marine Corps League 933 North Kenmore St. Arlington, VA 22201 (703)524-1137/5026 Members - 25,000 Auxiliary members - 3,000 Founded - 1923 Military Order of the Purple Heart of the U.S.A. NAM VET Newsletter Page 68 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 54l3-B Backlick Rd Springfield, VA 22l5l (703) 642-5360 Members - l4,000 Auxiliary members - 3,000 Founded - 1932 Non Commissioned Officers Association of the United States (NCOA) 10635 IH 35 NO San Antonio, TX 78233 (512) 653-6161 MEMBERS: 160,000 ESTABLISHED 1961 Paralyzed Veterans of America 801 18th Street, NW Washington, DC 20006 (202) 872-l300 Members - ll,000 Founded - 1947 Polish Legion of American Veterans, U.S.A. 20 South View Road Lynn, MA 01904 (617) 599-4595 Members - 25,000 Founded - 1921 The American Legion 700 No Pennsylvania St. Indianapolis, IN 46206 (3l7) 635-84ll Members - 2,591,789 Auxiliary members - 957,584 Founded - 1918 United Spanish War Veterans P.O.Box l9l5 Washington, DC 200l3 (202) 347-l898 Members - 13,000 Auxiliary members 1,950 Founded - 1899 Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States 406 West 34th Street Kansas City, MO 64lll (8l6) 756-3390 Members - 2,000,000 Auxiliary members - 700,000 Founded - 1899 Veterans of World War I of the U.S.A. 801 N Fairfax St Ste 207 Alexandria, VA 223l4 (703) 836-3060 Members - l40,000 Auxiliary members - 63,000 Founded - 1949 Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. 2001 S St N.W., #700 Washington, DC 20009 (202) 332-2700 Members - 30,000 NAM VET Newsletter Page 69 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 "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 East 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 am a Korean War veteran who recently turned 65. If I meed the income qualifications, will I be entitled to VA pension benefits? A-- As of Nov. 1, 1990, the presumption that a veteran who reaches 65 is permanently and totally disabled was eliminated. You are now required to submit medical evidence that you are unable to work in order to draw pension benefits Q-- I recently received a letter from the VA saying VA was going to check my income with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Social Security Administration (SSA). What should I do? A-- The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990 gave VA authority to compare income reports with IRS and SSA. If you have accurately reported your income, the cross-check will have no effect on you. If there is a discrepancy or clarification is needed, VA will contact you. Q-- May a veteran qualify for adaptive equipment if he or she cannot qualify for the initial auto grant from VA? A-- A veteran entitled to compensation for permanent immobility of one or both knees, or one or both hips, may qualify. Q-- How much active-duty do I need to apply for a VA-guaranteed home loan? A-- World War II, Korean Conflict, Vietnam Conflict and Persian Gulf War veterans must have served on active duty for at least ninety days. Peacetime veterans must have served at least 181 days of continuous active duty. The only exception is the waiver of the time-in-service qualification for veterans discharged for a service-connected disability. All veterans must have been discharged under other than dishonorable conditions. Q-- Will VA guarantee a loan for a residence with a business on the same property? A-- A loan will be granted if the business does not exceed 25 percent of the space. Q-- I was granted a waiver of a VA home loan default. How is my entitlement affected. A-- The portion of the entitlement that was used to obtain the loan cannot be restored until the loss suffered by the government has been paid in full. Q-- I receive VA disability compensation at the 20 percent level for a service-connected injury. Am I entitled to an additional allowance for dependents? NAM VET Newsletter Page 70 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 A-- Additional allowances for dependents are limited to veterans whose service-connected disabilities are rates at 30 percent or more. Q-- Will my eligibility for VA medical care be affected by my insurance? A-- No. Eligibility criteria relate only to your military service and, in some cases, to income and type of medical service needed. Your eligibility for VA medical care does not depend on whether or not you have health insurance. Q-- Are students receiving VA educational benefits allowed unlimited changes in their educational program? A-- Public Law 101-366, The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Nurses Pay Act of 1990, removed the limit on the number of program changes that can be made. Q-- I pay my VA insurance premiums every month. Do I have other payment options? A-- Yes. You can pay your premiums quarterly, semi-annually or annually at reduced amounts. If you receive VA disability or pension benefits, your insurance premiums can be deducted automatically from your monthly check. You can also use the new VA Matic option, whereby premiums are deducted each month from your checking account. Complete information on VA insurance programs can be obtained by calling 1-800-669-8477. Q-- I have a five-year level premium term insurance plan with VA. I would like to convert to one of the permanent plans. Will I have to take a physical to meet health requirements? A-- A five-year level premium term insurance plan can be converted without meeting health requirements at any time the policy is in force. If you are totally disabled, however, it cannot be converted as an endowment policy. Q-- I was called to active duty during the Persian Gulf War. Can I get my old job back? A-- Federal law requires your reinstatement along with seniority and pay rate, plus increases that may have been granted in your absence. You must apply for reemployment within 90 days of separation. The law is administered by the U.S. Department of Labor. Your local chapter of Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve can also be helpful, should you encounter any difficulties. Q-- What is the current automobile allowance payable by the VA? A-- VA will make a one-time payment of up to $5,500 towards the purchase of an automobile or other conveyance for certain severely disabled veterans. VA will pay for adaptive equipment, its repair, replacement or re-installation on a vehicle purchased with VA assistance or for a previously or subsequently acquired vehicle. Disabilities entitling a veteran to the allowance include the loss of one or both feet or hands, loss of their use, or blindness. Q-- My father, a veteran of World War II, recently died and I purchased a headstone for his grave. Will the government reimburse me? A-- For veterans who died after Nov. 1, 1990, the headstone or NAM VET Newsletter Page 71 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 marker allowance is no longer paid. Eligible veterans are still entitled to receive a government-provided headstone or marker for the burial site. Q-- What is the current burial allowance for a service-connected veteran? A-- If the veteran's death is service-connected, VA will pay an allowance of up to $1,500 in lieu of basic allowances for funeral and interment expenses. Cost of transporting the remains to the nearest national cemetery with grave space is also reimbursable. Q-- My husband is a veteran of the Vietnam War. Will he be entitled to a flag for his coffin? A-- Yes. A flag is available to drape the casket of a veteran who was discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. The flag may then be presented to the next of kin or close associate of the deceased. Flags are available at any VA regional office, VA national cemetery, and most local post offices. Q-- Is the VA claim number identical to the veteran's social security number? A-- A veteran who filed an initial benefit claim before 1974 will have a VA claim number. A veteran who filed after 1974 will be identified by his or her social security number. There are, however, two exceptions. Veterans who file for vocational rehabilitation are always assigned a VA claim number. Applicants for a VA home loan guaranty are assigned a home loan application number, separate from either the claim or social security number. Q-- I am attending the U.S. Air Force Academy. If I am disabled during my schooling, will I be eligible for VA disability compensation? A-- Veterans who are disabled by injury or disease during active duty may be eligible for disability compensation. VA considers attendance at a military academy as active duty for compensation purposes. Q-- My G.I. insurance policy lapsed three years ago. How many premium payments must I make up in order to be reinstated? A-- You must make two payments; one for the month in which the policy lapsed, and one for the month in which it is reinstated. Q-- As a widow of a veteran, I draw Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) based on myself and my daughter. My daughter will be eighteen this month. When will she be eligible for DIC benefits in her own right? A-- The effective date of eligibility is the first month following the eighteenth birthday, provided your daughter is attending a VA-approved school and is unmarried. The upper age limit is twenty-three. Q-- I draw 40 percent disability compensation from VA. My divorce will be effective this month. When will my spouse be dropped as a dependent? A-- Your spouse will be removed from the dependent's list the NAM VET Newsletter Page 72 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 first of the month following the effective date of the divorce. Q-- May I use the tutorial assistance benefit to raise my grade point average? A-- No, it may only be used for a subject you are in danger of failing. Q-- I understand that students enrolled under the G.I. Bill can now verify their registration by computer. A-- Soon, but not yet. A one-year test program will get underway in California beginning in Jan. 1992. Known as SAVE, Student Automated Verification of Enrollment, the program allows students to confirm enrollment by telephoning a toll-free number monthly instead of submitting forms. The new procedure is expected to expedite benefit payments as well as reduce administrative costs. Q-- I have a service-connected disability and receive a monthly compensation check from VA. My wife and I have separated, and she has requested a portion of the payment. Can VA apportion an amount greater than that included in the award for dependents? A-- VA may apportion any or all of the check based upon the facts of the case. Q-- What is the maximum tutorial assistance payment? A-- Tutorial assistance cannot exceed $100 per month, up to a maximum of $1,200 for certain educational assistance programs. Q-- Does VA offer scholarships to individuals pursuing careers in the health fields? A-- For the 1991-1992 school year, VA is offering scholarships to individuals pursuing a career in nursing, or occupational or physical therapy. For more information, call 202-535-7528; or write: VA Health Professional Scholarship Program (143B2), 810 Vermont Ave., NW, Wash., DC 20420. Q-- Has VA's clothing allowance for eligible disabled veterans been increased? What is the amount of the allowance? A-- The new allowance is $436 per year. Depending on the qualifying disability, the aware may be recurring or the veteran may need to apply each year. Q-- I am the daughter of a deceased veteran and want to become a commercial airline pilot. Will my Chapter 35 Survivors and Dependents Education Program pay for flight training? A-- No. Only eligible veterans, reservists and active duty servicemembers may receive VA educational benefits for flight training. NAM VET Newsletter Page 73 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 It's 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 74 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 ================================================================== Forgotten - again? ================================================================== Incarcerated Vets: Out of sight, out of mind? Input by: Joyce Flory NamVet's Incarcerated Veterans Section Editor Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM (505) 523-2811 The following is a copy of a speech given by Mr. Lou ("Gunner") Muller on October 6, 1991 before the State Council meeting of the Vietnam Vets of America at State Correction Institution, Cresson, Pennsylvania. It so impressed those attending that it garnered a standing ovation and copies of it were requested by, and given to, Mr. Jim Brazee, the National President of the Vietnam Vets of America and Mr. Tom Miller, the State Council President. "People don't think about incarcerated Vietnam veterans. If they do, it's well, they probably deserve it." These are the words of Wayne Smith, while serving as assistant director of the Vietnam Veterans of America back in 1987. Wayne Smith goes on to say, "Incarcerated veterans are one of the last unturned stones, with respect to the Vietnam experience." Because we are locked away, society tends not to think of our problems. Out of sight, out of mind. Combat as well as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder may have contributed highly to the number of incarcerated veterans. The last survey conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, estimated that in 1979 about a fourth of the prisoners in state prisons were veterans. Of that group 39,500 served during the Vietnam era, and at least 13,000 of those had served in Southeast Asia. The 1983 survey estimated that about 11% of those in federal prisons had served in the military during the Vietnam era. There is also evidence that tens of thousands of Vietnam vets, and perhaps several hundred thousand Vietnam-era vets are on parole or probation, awaiting trial, or confined to some type of psychiatric institution. These figures indicate that roughly ten percent of the Vietnam era veteran population has been under some type of custody or legal curtailment due to legal, criminal, physical, or psychological difficulty. Adding to the trauma of combat and PTSD is the fact that most of those who were actually involved in combat in Vietnam were only teenagers at the time and were at a stage of life when one is very vulnerable to mental stress. Many armchair psychologists can tell you that when traumatic events are suppressed, eventually they'll rise to the surface. That's what happened in the early 1970's, and continues today. In the beginning the experts called it "Vietnam syndrome." Today we know it as PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Flashbacks are probably the most classic variety, but startle reaction, thrill seeking (living on the edge, so to speak), sleeplessness, nightmares, survivor's guilt, worsening of the condition when exposed to similar stressful situations, avoidance of activities that arouse recollection of the traumatic events, all of these factors add to the problem. Prison Programs and the VA are overcrowded and various departments of corrections are not budgeted to provide rehabilitation in any true sense of the term. The government agency that is supposed to help veterans, the VA, has had, to put NAM VET Newsletter Page 75 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 it mildly, a-less-than-sterling record regarding its work with incarcerated veterans. Emanuel Heard, a Vietnam vet, and a former prisoner who now a counselor at the VA-run storefront Vet Center in Springfield, Virginia says "Veterans feel, when they went to war, there was no contract stating that if they got into trouble, they wouldn't be able to get their benefits." The biggest VA-related problems facing incarcerated vets is the access to treatment at VA facilities. I have in my possession a letter, from James E. Van Zandt Medical Center (VA Hospital) in Altoona, PA., stating they were in receipt of a Request for Physical Examination for evaluation of a claim for disability, from the VA Regional Office, in Philadelphia, Pa., for a veteran, incarcerated at this facility. Their reply to him was as follows, "This facility (VA Hospital) Altoona, does not have a physician to conduct the exam at the prison, however, you may provide us with the name of a physician whom you wish to perform the exam for your disability claim. Once we receive the name of the physician, an Authorization for Medical Services will be issued to you." Here is a veteran in prison; how much access does he have to a physician? This veteran requires a neurologist for this examination because of possible nerve damage. He will be examined by a general practitioner, who works at the institution. One must wonder, if the VA will even accept this disability examination as valid. As far as disability compensation, vets in prison may only receive a maximum of ten percent, even if they are totally disabled. Families of the incarcerated vets, who are more than ten-percent disabled can apply to the VA to receive the balance of the disability, but the VA apportions those funds only if it deems the family is in need of the money. This policy is a hard pill to swallow, for a man who put his life on the line for his country, who is disabled, either from war related injuries or injuries that have happened since his service to his country. A man sitting in a prison cell worries about his family's needs, especially their financial needs. Incarcerated vets feel there is a great need for change in the way the VA handles the disability claim once a man becomes incarcerated. There is a great need for halfway houses, set up specifically for vets. First off, if you take a veteran who suffers from PTSD, and put him in a regular halfway house, and he starts having flashbacks or nightmares, there's a good chance that no one in that halfway house is going to understand what he's going through. But, by the same token, if he were in a halfway house with other vets, they could talk and help each other through those stressful times. There is also more of a need for job counseling for vets coming out of prison. He or she already have one strike against them and if they are to successfully become a part of society again, job counseling, other vets hiring vets, other vets just taking an interest in their fellow vets, are all part of helping an incarcerated veteran come back home into society. There is also a greater need for the awareness of the problems of the Vietnam vets in our state and federal institutions and even for some type of counseling at our county prison level; or just someone to talk to; even if a few vets on the outside contact their county prisons and volunteer their services to talk to vets, should the need arise. At the state and federal levels, more PTSD programs need to be organized. In 1987 a class action lawsuit was filed in Pennsylvania by a group of Vietnam vets at the State Correction Institution at Graterford, claiming that the Pennsylvania Department of NAM VET Newsletter Page 76 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 Corrections was denying them access to treatment for PTSD and access to Agent Orange-related information. Before judgement was rendered by a Federal District Court, the Department of Corrections agreed to allow outreach counselors from Vet Centers to come into the Graterford facility to work with Vietnam vets. "That was a clear victory, in that the VA set up a training protocol and the veterans were recognized by the institution as (being) in legitimate need of treatment or special attention to their problems." Victories such as this one at Graterford have come very slowly and have faced tough opposition from many prison systems and the VA. I and my fellow Nam brothers incarcerated here at State Correction Institution at Cresson would like to thank the administration here at the Institution for initiating a voluntary PTSD program on their own, recognizing that there was a need for such treatment for Vietnam veterans. We would like to thank the Corrections Officers, who work the vets block here, for being there when those occasions arise that we need to talk to someone other than those in the PTSD group. They show an interest and a willingness to listen to the problems. To Bill Mishler, our co- staff advisor, for his time and involvement with the vets. And to Tim Susengill, our staff advisor, for the unselfish amount of time and energy he contributes to the PTSD program as well as V.V.A. Chapter 359, while maintaining his regular duties here at the institution. And last but not least, I want to take the time to thank the members of Chapter 364 in Johnstown, for the unselfish time they give up to come here every month for a joint meeting, and the help and support they gave in helping get Chapter 359 formed. I want to thank you all for attending today, and for letting me speak on the behalf of the veterans incarcerated. Lou Muller BG 2894 Vice President, V.V.A. Maj. James A. Crew Chapter [Joyce's Note: Maj. Crew is one of our MIA's] Chapter #359 Drawer A, S.C.I. Cresson Cresson, Pa. 16630 NAM VET Newsletter Page 77 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 [Note from Joe: Joyce went to a LOT of work to get the O.K. for this article's reproduction in NamVet. Immediately preceding each segment of the article (it is in three parts), her request and the answer to her request are printed.] August 23,1991 To Who It May Concern; I am trying to locate Mr. Marc Leepson. I was recently sent a copy of his article called "Viet Cons" and I would like to reprint it, with proper credit, into a monthly Vietnam Veterans newsletter. I would like Mr. Leepson's permission, the magazine name, and date that it was published. The managing editor of the newsletter requires this information before reprinting anyone's work. I am the section editor for the Vietnam Veterans, Incarcerated section of the newsletter. I found Mr. Leepson's article informative and would like to pass this on to other Vietnam veterans. I, also, have contact with Vietnam veteran inmates in fifteen states across the country. I would like to pass this article on to them. It was stated at the end of the article that Mr. Leepson was a columnist and book editor for "Veterans" magazine and your's was the closest address I could find to locate him. If I have contacted the wrong person or place, thank you for your time. If there is any way you may be able to help me contact Mr. Leepson, I would appreciate the information. Thank you, in advance, for any time and trouble taken on my behalf. Yours truly; Mrs. Joyce Flory XXXX XXXXXX XXX Las Cruces, N.M. 88001 (505)-XXX-XXXX On Sept. 16th I received the following handwritten reply from Mr. Leepson: "9-12-91 TO Joyce Flory, My article on Vietnam veterans in jail appeared in the July 1988 issue of Gallery magazine. You have my permission to reprint it in your newsletter. Please send me a copy. And please identify me as: ARB Editor of "The Veteran," The Monthly Newspaper Published By Vietnam Veterans of America. Thank you, Marc Leepson" NAM VET Newsletter Page 78 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 VIET CONS "Why American Vets have gone from jungle to jail" By Marc Leepson, ARB Editor The VVA Veteran Magazine Input by Joyce Flory NamVet's Incarcerated Veterans Section Editor Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM (505) 523-2811 [Note from Joyce: The following piece was sent to me by Mike Harris. In order to have the article included in the newsletter, This is part 3 of three parts - Prison Programs and the VA] Prison Programs And The VA Larry Fine was lucky. He received professional help for his PTSD, and did not have to got to prison. Most Vietnam vets in prison today face a completely different life. "It's a horrendous situation in prison, period," Wayne Smith says. "They're overcrowded. Various departments of correction are not budgeted to provide rehabilitation in any true sense of the term. We like to think that those who served their country ought not to have their benefits or entitlements terminated because they broke the law. Certainly they should pay the penalty that anyone should for breaking the law. But where there are extenuating or mitigating circumstances, we feel rather strongly that they should have some attention paid to it." As Smith suggests, the government agency that is supposed to help veterans, the VA, has had - to put it mildly - a less-than- sterling record regarding its work with incarcerated veterans. Incarcerated vets "feel the VA has cheated them out of their benefits," says Emanuel Heard, a Vietnam vet and former prisoner who now is a counselor at the VA-run storefront Vet Center in Springfield, Virginia. "They feel that when they went to war, there was no contract [stating] that if they got in trouble they wouldn't be able to get their benefits. They also feel that with the little amount of health and psychological care they receive from the prison administrations, that the VA should be somewhat receptive to providing care to them." As far as disability compensation is concerned, vets in prison may only receive a maximum of ten percent, even if they are totally disabled. Families of incarcerated vets who are more than ten-percent disabled can apply to the VA to receive the balance of the disability, but the VA apportions those funds only if it deems the family in need of the money. Vets serving felony sentences are not eligible for full VA educational benefits, but in some cases the VA will pay for books, equipment, fees, and tuition for veterans enrolled in approved courses. The biggest VA-related problem facing incarcerated vets is the access to treatment at VA facilities. "Veterans who are incarcerated virtually are not able to gain access to treatment for things such as PTSD counseling or treatment for exposure to Agent Orange," Wayne Smith says. In some prisons, inmates are permitted visits to Vet Centers or VA hospitals, but only if they pay a prison guard to escort them. "We've had cases where incarcerated veterans have paid one hundred and fifty dollars [per] day to have a guard escort them to a VA hospital for Agent Orange screening or for PTSD evaluation," Smith says. "We would like to see that changed and have the VA [begin] outreach programs NAM VET Newsletter Page 79 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 to inform veterans of what their entitlements might or might not be." Smith and others involved in the issue believe the main reason so many formerly incarcerated vets wind up back behind bars is the VA's failure to help. "We do not think that Vietnam veterans who are in prison are in any way going to be better off after they get out of the institutions if they're denied access to various kinds of treatments [or to] general educational and vocational benefits," Smith says. With the VA showing little inclination to work inside the prisons, Vietnam veterans in and out of institutions across the country have developed a variety of programs - from psychological counseling to employment training and placement - that have been accepted by prison authorities and, in some cases, by the VA. There is an unprecedented array of programs available - not in every prison system, but in many - to help vets in a number of ways. There is, for example, the 20-week substance-abuse program developed by Chris Davis and the other Vietnam vets at Moberly now used throughout the Missouri penal system, both for vets and non- vets. There is the readjustment-counseling outreach program developed by Emanuel Heard while he was a prisoner at the Washington D.C., Department of Corrections facility at Lorton, Virginia. Of the more than 70 formerly incarcerated vets who have gone through Heard's program - which includes help with discharge upgrading, and employment training and assistance - since 1981, not one man has returned to prison. There is also a pioneering program designed to get PTSD rehabilitative therapy to incarcerated vets in Colorado's prisons, developed in 1982 chiefly by Clifford Knesel, the Colorado coordinator for VVA, and by Chuck Burrows, the former president of VVA's Chapter 57 and currently the coordinator of the Disabled American Veterans (DVA) Outreach Center in Grand Junction, Colorado. That program helps get DVA outreach counselors into Colorado's prisons to interview vets who may have problems with PTSD. Once it is determined that the incarcerated vet has PTSD problems, the counselor acts as an advocate with the VA on behalf of the prisoner. Acting as a liaison between the VA and the Colorado Department of Corrections, the outreach counselor sets up the time frame for the vet's treatment, contracts to have the vet supervised while he's under VA care, and helps determine wether the vet should get help on an inpatient or outpatient basis. The counselor ultimately is responsible for helping the vet get follow-up treatment, and even to help plan for his parole. "We have found that acting as liaison between Corrections and the VA often shortcuts bureaucratic holdups and significantly increases the possibility of the veteran receiving services," Burrows says. There is the 1987 class-action lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania by a group of Vietnam vets at the State Correction Institution in Graterford, claiming that the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections was denying them access to treatment for PTSD and access to Agent Orange-related information. Before judgement was rendered by a Federal District Court, the Department of Corrections agreed to allow outreach counselors from Vet Centers to come into the Graterford facility to work with Vietnam veterans. "That was a clear victory," says Smith, "in that the VA set up a training protocol and the veterans were recognized by the institution as [being] in legitimate need of treatment or special NAM VET Newsletter Page 80 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 attention to their problems." Victories such as the one at Graterford have come very slowly and have faced tough opposition from many prison systems and the VA. But there has been progress. The simple fact that someone such as Emanuel Heard - the former 25th Infantry soldier who served six years in three prisons for a series of burglaries and robberies - is now working for the VA as a strong advocate for incarcerated vets is one positive sign. As Heard puts it: " I feel that the VA, by giving me my shot, is giving not only me hope, but hope also to guys in the institutions who see me when I go out to Lorton. They look at me as a four-time loser, and now I've come back to society and I've made my readjustment and I've been home five years now without going back to any trouble with the law. They see that I have support systems throughout the community and [that] the work force did not turn its back on me." As long as there are success stories such as Emanuel Heard, there is hope for incarcerated Vietnam vets. Marc Leepson, who served in Vietnam with the U.S. Army in 1967- 68, is a freelance writer in Woodbridge, VA. He is columnist and book editor for The Veteran magazine, which is published by Vietnam Veterans of America in Washington, D.C." NAM VET Newsletter Page 81 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 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 .. 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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 82 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 FROM FELON TO FREEDOM A Guidebook for Incarcerated Veterans Input by Joyce Flory NamVet's Incarcerated Veteran Section Editor Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM (505) 283-2811 Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. 1224 M Street NW Washington, DC 20005-5183 (202) 628-2700 **-- Dedication --** This self-help manual has been designed to alleviate most of the burdens found during the process of reintegration by veterans recently released from the prison system. It is dedicated to: The over 59,000 veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country during active-duty participation in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. The undetermined number of Vietnam veterans who lost their lives as a result of suicide, who never found "peace" in dealing with the trauma experienced during their military careers, or who never received the joy of a simple "Welcome Home." The undetermined number of veterans who have lost their lives as the direct result of herbicide exposure while serving their country, and their survivors. The veterans across our nation who, to this day, still suffer from Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and other related mental-health problems resulting from their wartime experience. The undetermined number of veterans now burdened with chemical dependency or substance abuse problems. The over 403,000 Vietnam-era veterans presently incarcerated inside the U.S. criminal justice systems who deserve the opportunity to become productive members of the society for which they once fought. Each program in this manual is designed to provide a viable step towards developing each individual's "bridge" in making the transition from felon to freedom. Arthur John Woods Handbook Author Member, Special Committee on Incarcerated Veterans Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. Foreword This handbook is to be used primarily as a parole preparation/pre- release planning guide for the veteran ex-offender who is 90 days or less away from his or her release from a federal or state prison system. It is important for each individual who intends to take advantage NAM VET Newsletter Page 83 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 of these opportunities and benefits to understand that they may not be abused. It is a direct violation of the law for any person or entity to falsify any statements or applications when applying for federal or state assistance or rehabilitation services. Each individual should review all of these programs thoroughly to understand the opportunities available, then use these programs to develop a release plan. When these plans are used properly, the alternatives available will help minimize some of the outside pressures you will be confronted with: social acceptance, economics, and re- establishment as a productive member of society. This program is geared towards changing national statistics, which have shown that 80 percent of those released from prisons who return to crime do so within the first 90 days of their release. Recidivism rates are generally in the neighborhood of 65 percent to 67 percent of all ex-felons actually returning to prison within their lifetime. This appallingly high rate of recidivism is unacceptable. This high recidivism rate is a symbol of the failure of our penal system to provide viable alternatives for the majority of ex-offenders upon their return to the mainstream of society. VVA's Special Committee on Incarcerated Veterans is an investigative committee with channels of communication to federal, state, and congressional agencies with programs and information pertaining to, or of benefit for, Vietnam Veteran ex-offenders. Upon release, individuals participating in these programs should maintain contact with VVA's incarcerated veterans committee and inform us of any difficulties or problems involved in using this handbook. Without proper follow-up on its use, it will be impossible to ascertain its effectiveness, and thus keep it updated. By keeping us informed, you enable us to better prepare the veteran ex-offender who "hits the streets" behind you, thereby helping others to lead a productive crime-free life. This booklet is intended to be used as a tool by the ex-offender who wishes to find a new and better way of life. The alternatives to a life of crime are available for the individual who has the incentive to go out and seek them. Be aware that laws do vary from state to state. Therefore, the suggested general guidance should be checked against each individual's state laws and regulations. Section I ELIGIBILITY FOR VA BENEFITS DURING INCARCERATION Incarcerated veterans and incarcerated dependents may apply for the same compensation, DIC (dependency and indemnity compensation), and pension benefits as veterans who are not incarcerated. Congress has, however, greatly restricted the amounts and manner in which these benefits may be paid while the eligible veteran or dependent is incarcerated. These benefits are institutionalized as part of law: (38 U.S.C. S 3113(a)(1), 38 C.F.R. S 3.665(a), (d), which reads as follows: "If": A veteran is incarcerated as the result of a "Felony" conviction as defined by law: "Any offense punishable by death or imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, unless specifically categorized as a misdemeanor under the law of the prosecuting jurisdiction," NAM VET Newsletter Page 84 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 "Then": The amount paid to an incarcerated veteran for a service-connected disability is generally limited by law to the ten percent disability rate, or half a ten percent rating if the total disability rating is established at only ten percent. (If the veteran is rated before incarceration as twenty percent disabled or higher, he will receive only the amount payable to a ten percent disabled veteran.) Incarcerated DIC recipients will receive one-half the amount paid to a veteran receiving compensation payments for a ten percent-rated disability. APPORTIONMENT Although legally the incarcerated veteran can only receive apportion of the full amount payable for his/her disability rating, the remaining balance may be "apportioned" to the individual's dependent family. VA regulations clearly specify this apportionable amount will only go to family members if they can show financial need for such amount. This applies to the spouse, child(ren), or dependent parent(s) who are involved in the application. Factors considered in deciding wether any apportionment is appropriate, the amount of the apportionment, and to whom it will go, include: -the family member's income and living expenses; -the amount of compensation available to be apportioned; -the needs and living expenses of other family members; and -special needs of any of the family members. For example: an incarcerated veteran rated as 80 percent disabled can only receive the amount he/she would get if he/she were ten percent disabled. His/her family can be apportioned the balance of the 80 percent amount, or up to 70 percent. (DIC may also be apportioned with similar restrictions.) There is a 60-day "grace period" following conviction where the veteran, or DIC recipient, may still receive full benefits. If the veteran continues to receive benefits after the 60-day period, it will result in an "overpayment." The VA considers it to be the recipient's responsibility and fault if this occurs because the recipient failed to notify the VA of his/her incarceration. Attempts to obtain a waiver in these situations of overpayment are often unsuccessful, and as a general rule the veteran loses most, if not all, financial benefits until such time as the entire overpayment is recovered by the VA. It has also been a standard procedure that the family will not be entitled to receive an apportionment until the debt is completely recovered. For more information concerning potential new waiver rules which may effect the incarcerated veteran (against equity and good faith), contact either your local VVA service representative or the National Veterans Legal Services Project,Inc. (NVLSP). It is important that each disabled veteran receiving compensation or DIC payments promptly notify the VA in writing at the time of the commencement of his/her incarceration, as well as the end of the commitment, of any need for family member apportionment(s) in order to avoid losing benefit payments. Regular benefit payments should begin upon release, providing the VA is notified by the veteran of the release, which includes community treatment center NAM VET Newsletter Page 85 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 or halfway house placement in the community. There is one other relevant restriction on incarcerated veterans eligible for service-connected disability compensation: "No total disability rating, based on unemployability, may be assigned to an incarcerated veteran." For more information on this subject, or if you have any questions, contact your local VVA service representative. It is important to remember that "most" VA decisions, including those on apportionment, can be appealed to the Board of Veterans Appeals and, if need be, to the Court of Veterans Appeals. Section II STATE PROGRAMS TARGETED JOB TAX CREDIT (TJTC) PROGRAM TJTC is a tax credit for employers who hire individuals who normally have trouble finding jobs. Vietnam-era veterans and ex- offenders are two of the targeted groups. In essence, TJTC presents an incentive for employers to hire any disadvantaged minority. To apply, take a copy of your DD214 or discharge certificate and your prison release papers to your local state employment commission. Ask for the local veteran employment representative (LVER), who will assist you with your application. If you have an employment opportunity immediately upon release, you might still consider applying for a TJTC voucher. You will be qualified because you have not earned what is determined to be an adequate amount of income during the previous six-month time period. If the job you have after your release is not appropriate for your skills or does not meet your financial needs, you will have another option available to you. JOB TRAINING PARTNERSHIP ACT (JTPA) JTPA is also targeted toward Vietnam-era and ex-felon veterans as individuals eligible for federally funded training programs under Title IV C. The availability of training programs may vary from time to time in any given community, depending upon funding made available through the local private industry councils (PICS). Programs sponsored under JTPA are targeted towards employment training, placement, and follow-up. To find the JTPA programs in your area of release, contact the local employment office or look in the telephone book for the private industry council in your area and ask for a listing. In most cases, the JTPA programs funded by city or county private industry councils are maintained by the city or state offices or departments of Health and Human Services/Resources, so you should also contact these agencies about local JTPA programs and providers. BONDING Ex-offenders may be bondable through the Health, Education, and Welfare departments in each state, normally up to a standard limit NAM VET Newsletter Page 86 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 of $10,000. If you are applying for an employment opportunity which requires that you be bonded, explain to the job interviewer that if you are hired, your parole or probation officer will assist with obtaining your bond. After you secure the job, not before, notify your individual parole or probation officer of your needed assistance in obtaining a bond for employment purposes. LICENSES As a convicted felon, your rights may have been restored - the degree of restoration varies from state to state - to the extent that you're able to obtain a license necessary to start your own business. To acquire a license, such as a liquor, real estate, contractor, or insurance broker license, you must be able to submit documented evidence with your application to the city clerk that you were not convicted of a crime which related in any way to the license for which you are currently applying. For example: a licensed realtor commits land fraud and is arrested and convicted for the crime. The individual will probably never be able to obtain another real estate license. However, as an ex- offender, the person can apply for a contractor, an insurance broker, or even a liquor license in order to open his/her own independent business after release. (be sure to check the laws in the state where you are applying for the license because the laws vary from state to state.) FOOD STAMP PROGRAMS The food stamp program is available to the ex-offender through the local Human Resources or Welfare Department in all major cities. A person who is unemployed with no income, or, in some cases, employed with little income, will normally qualify for $85.00 to $100.00 worth of food stamp assistance, depending on the economic community determination. Individuals may be reluctant to apply for the food stamp program because they view it as "degrading." However, the difference between successful reintegration and recidivism might be found in obtaining this assistance for the short period of time it may be necessary immediately after release. To apply for this program, simply contact the local Department of Human Services or the Welfare Department and obtain an application before scheduling your appointment. VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION Each state has a department known as the vocational rehabilitation division, of which the state agency may vary: State Rehabilitation Commission; Department of Human Resources; Department of Health, and so on. Vocationalrehabilitation is a U.S. government- subsidized assistance program managed by a state agency within every community. This department is dedicated to helping disabled and handicapped individuals secure and maintain jobs. Some of the major disability groups served are: -orthopedic deformities (including amputations); NAM VET Newsletter Page 87 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 -mental health (including alcoholism, drug addiction, and character disorders); -internal medical conditions (including epilepsy); -mental retardation; and -deaf and hearing-impaired speech and language/learning disabilities. SERVICES Many services are available to eligible clients and are provided based on individual need. Some of these services are: -medical, psychological, and vocational evaluation to determine the nature and degree of disability, job skills, and capabilities; -counseling and guidance to help the client and his/her family plan proper vocational goals and adjustments to the working world; -interpreter services for the deaf; -medical treatment, including hospitalization, surgery, and therapy to lessen or remove the disability; -assisting devices, such as artificial limbs, braces, wheelchairs, and hearing aids to stabilize or improve functions on the job and at home; -training in trade school, business school, college or university, rehabilitation center, on the job, or in the home; -selective job placement compatible with the person's physical and mental ability; and -follow-up after placement to ensure job success. The vocational rehabilitation counselor works with each client to determine the client's needs, develop a vocational rehabilitation plan, and follow up on the client's success. The counselor works closely with doctors, employers, other agencies, and every resource available to carry out this job. You should contact the state vocational rehabilitation program immediately after your release from prison if you want to apply for any of these services. The address of the vocational rehabilitation services in your area should be in the local telephone book. Vocational rehabilitation counselors have reported inmates in both state and federal prison systems obtaining information and literature suggesting vocational rehabilitation programs are required to provide ex-offenders with extraordinary services upon their release from a prison system. Some of these reported standard suggestions are: a $1900 grant for transportation; a $400 grant for dress clothes; a $300 grant for work clothes; a $400 grant for tool purchases; and a counselor to "co-sign" at the bank of the ex-offender's choice for a loan to financially reestablish oneself. This information is not true. Harsh demands made by ex- felons are based on false information. Each individual should objectively discredit false literature and seek facts from the agency in his/her geographical location about the services provided. Section III YOUR RELEASE THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS NAM VET Newsletter Page 88 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 The first rule in preparing for release from the institution regarding any potential claim before the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is for each individual to seek professional counsel from the VVA service representative (SR) in your location of release. If VVA does not maintain an SR in your area of release, contact one of the other traditional service organizations (AMVETS, VFW, MOPH, DAV, AL, your state veterans commission) for assistance and information. In preparation for your release from the prison system, you should write the nearest VVA chapter incarcerated veterans liaison at least 120 days prior to your projected release date if you had a pre-existing VA disability claim or if you would like to file a claim for treatment and/or disability compensation. You should request the following forms: * Form SF-180; * VA Form 10-10; * VA Form 10-10 (F); * VA Form 21-526; * VA Form 21-4138; * VA Form 21-4142; * VA Form 28-1900; and * VA Form 70-3288. FORM SF-180 - MILITARY AND MEDICAL RECORDS Form SF-180 is used to obtain copies of your military and medical records. It is a simple one-page form, with adequate instructions found on the back side of the application. Under "Section II-Request," each veteran should request complete military and medical records as a standard rule. When requesting medical records, try to be as specific as possible with dates, facilities, and country locations. VA FORM 10-10 - APPLICATION FOR MEDICAL BENEFITS The 10-10 is used by the VA to determine your eligibility for medical benefits. It should be filled out and "hand-delivered" - by the veteran to the VA medical facility where he/she will seek medical evaluation for treatment. Although this form is not an absolute necessity, it has been found to save hours during the initial intake processing. VA FORM 10-10 (F) FINANCIAL STATEMENT VA Form 10-10 (F) is a financial statement report which should be attached to Form 10-10 when seeking VA treatment or assistance after release. Va FORM 21-526 APPLICATION FOR COMPENSATION OR PENSION Usually there will be no compensation or pension granted unless a 21-526 is fully completed. If you have a "permanent and total disability" ~ which is non-service connected, then you as a "wartime" service veteran, may apply for a VA pension claim. It is almost always best to apply for both compensation and pension. Complete this form in its entirety. If you need help, refer to the two page instructions attached to the form. This form, along with your DD214 and several, if not all, of the following forms, should be mailed directly to the VA regional office nearest your release destination 30 to 45 days before your actual release. The date your benefits begin to be calculated starts from when your claim is received by the VA. NAM VET Newsletter Page 89 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 VA FORM 21-4138 STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF CLAIM The 21-4138 is designed to express your reasoning as to your entitlement for benefits for your disability or disorder. In your own wording and in as much detail as you can apply, describe your injury and how it directly effects your present everyday way of life (for example: "I received multiple shrapnel wounds while in combat on February 16,1968, at Dong Ha, South Vietnam, and remained burdened with a severe limp for 19 years. Presently, I have a hip and back problem which I believe has been caused or aggravated by, my limping problem, which resulted from my combat wounds"). If your claim is for PTSD, describe "stressors" - combat episodes or the detailed conflict situations which continue to burden you emotionally. Describe your current problems in dealing with these issues (nightmares, flashbacks, depression, survival guilt, anxiety, rage or anger, avoidance of feelings, alienation or feeling isolated from others, etc.). Also describe how you believe PTSD may have affected your lifestyle or behavior pattern since Vietnam. Be as comprehensive in your explanation as possible. Be sure to also included a listing of any and all non-VA medical facilities or physicians you have been treated by for your disability or disorder. Briefly describe the related details of your treatment. Be as comprehensive in your explanation as possible. If you feel you have more than one legitimate disability claim, list them as "Claim #1, Claim #2," etc., on your 21-4138. Conclude the form with the statement: "I request that the VA, in addition to the information included on my statement of claim, develop all facts pertinent to this claim and any other service- connected medical problem that I might have. I also request that the VA presume to resolve any reasonable doubt involving my claim of disability in my favor." Mail this form with VA Form 21-526 30 to 45 days before your release to the VA regional office in your community. It is best to have the assistance of an experienced representative to help you complete the claim. Be sure you do not use your institution's return address - it has been found that most will not forward the VA's response to you in an appropriate amount of time. Use a return address where mail will get to you as soon as possible. Note: Many veterans lost their disability compensation claims during incarceration because of their inability to attend re- evaluations ordered by the VA. In these individual cases, begin your 21-4138 with the following sentence: "I am re-opening my claim, which was terminated as a result of my unavoidable failure to attend a re-evaluation or physical examination. I request a full reinstatement of all my benefits and suggest that I will be readily available to attend any necessary examination after [date of projected release]. I also request retroactive payment of all benefits if I am found to be still disabled." VA FORM 21-4142 AUTHORIZATION FOR RELEASE OF INFORMATION This form is used for non-VA hospitals or physicians and includes any records of treatment by the prison medical facility. If you have ever received medical or mental health care from anyone other than in a governmental agency and feel it may pertain to your claim, you need to fill out this half-page form (a separate form needs to be filled out for each individual facility NAM VET Newsletter Page 90 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 or physician) and include it/them with your package to the VA regional office. The VA will handle all further processing. Many private medical facilities may require their own release form to be used as authority for the release of information. It may be necessary for the veteran to write the facility in order to obtain copies of private records. VA FORM 28-1900 APPLICATION FOR VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION FOR DISABLED VETERANS The vocational rehabilitation program is designed to provide all services and assistance necessary to enable veterans with "service-connected" disabilities to achieve maximum independence in daily living and, to the maximum extent feasible, to become employable and to obtain and maintain employment. You are entitled to vocational rehabilitation if you meet the following three conditions: 1. You were discharged from service under other than "dishonorable conditions." (Undesirable discharges are usually considered under "dishonorable conditions.") 2. You have a "service-connected" disability which arose on or after September 16,1940, and for which you are receiving, or could elect to receive, VA compensation. 3. The VA determines you need rehabilitation services and assistance to overcome an employment handicap or to improve your capacity for independent living in your family and community. This program can present an outstanding opportunity to continue your education or training to those who qualify. If you are intending to apply for "service-connected" disability compensation, you should also apply for VA rehabilitation. If you already have a recognized service-connected disability with the VA, you should consider utilizing vocational rehabilitation while you are residing in either a halfway house or participating in a work-release program. Both those with established service-connected disability claims and those in the process of applying for service-connected disability should send VA Form 28-1900 to the appropriate VA regional office 10-15 days before your projected release from the penal institution. If your VA claim is pending, be sure to state this on your application. If you are denied vocational rehabilitation services based on a "pending" status on your claim, you should re-submit your 28-1900 application when service connection is determined. Note: By submitting an adequate service-connected disability claim 30 to 45 days prior to your release, followed by your application for VA vocational rehabilitation 10 to 15 days short, and your claim is favorably accepted for compensation, you may have averted a delay in receiving services. If your claim is challenged by the VA and/or an unfavorable decision is rendered, your 28-1900 will be rejected. It is recommended that each individual objectively determine if it will be worth your time in applying for services before your release. VA FORM 70-3288 REQUEST FOR AND CONSENT TO RELEASE OF INFORMATION FROM CLAIMANT'S RECORDS This form is used to obtain records only from Veterans Administration facilities (regional offices, medical centers, outpatient clinics, and vet centers) pertinent to your claim. 38 C.F.R. Sec. 1.526(h) requires the VA regional office provide NAM VET Newsletter Page 91 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 a veteran with one set of his/her records "free" of charge. Request a fee waiver under this section. You should only use this form if you were treated prior to your incarceration in a VA facility for the specific disorder which you are now applying to receive treatment or compensation, and you should obtain the records maintained by the facility if they prove relevant in determining your claim. For example: if you are seeking a PTSD claim and you had been to several different vet centers prior to your incarceration, you will want those records included in the regional office review for determination of your claim. To properly fill out this form, look to the upper left block under "To Veterans Administration" and print in the address of the VA facility where the records are to be found (if you are unable to get the correct address, write to your VVA liaison or service representative for assistance). Fill in your name, VA file number (if any), and your social security number. The next blocked area concerns the name and address where you want the information released. In this case, you print in the VA regional office where you are filing your claim. Under "Information Requested," print in: 1. any/all medical summaries; 2. any/all diagnostic reports; 3. any/all prognoses; and 4. any/all other evaluations. Under "Purposes for Information" print in: "VA claim development and determination." Be sure to date and sign this form. Mail the original 30 to 45 days prior to your release to the VA facility where the records are maintained, and include a copy of your 70-3288 in your package to the VA regional office. CONCLUSION Beyond the information presented in this self-help guide, each individual is encouraged to seek information from his/her state regarding "expungement" of arrest and conviction records or pardons. Each state varies in its procedures of expungement. It is, however, an option which should be pursued by ex-felons. Normally, this procedure can be as simple as requesting an application from the court system, or, in some states, the attorney general's office. In some states it is impossible. To obtain more information concerning this procedure, contact the VVA national incarcerated committee or incarcerated veterans liaison. Applications for state governor's pardons should also be considered by an individual concerning his/her previous felony conviction(s). Each state has a separate set of rules and regulations on how to properly apply for a governor's pardon. The first step is to communicate with your state's attorney general and obtain copies of the rules before proceeding. After receiving your state's pardon procedure, you should contact the county public defender's office in your area and seek further legal assistance. Usually pardons are not granted until a number of years after release from all restraint. Individuals who need information regarding discharge upgrading, stress disorder, direct referrals for assistance with VA claims, or Agent Orange class action questions, should write: National Veterans Legal Service Project, Inc. NAM VET Newsletter Page 92 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 2001 S Street NW, Suite 610 Washington, DC 20009-1125 (202) 797-8366 NVLSP can provide "self-help" manuals upon written request in these and other areas of veteran law and/or need. For further information concerning VVA's goals or agendas regarding the incarcerated veterans project write: National Incarcerated Veterans Liaison Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. 1224 M Street NW Washington, DC 20005-5183 (202) 628-2700 NAM VET Newsletter Page 93 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 ================================================================== NamVet/IVVEC Concentrated Service ================================================================== NamVet/IVVEC Service Department by G. Joseph Peck, ESO Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. Pittsfield, MA Now we've done it _____________ Electronic \ Service \ _____) Department )_____ _________(____(____________(_____(@) ) ) gjp / O O O O O O O O O/_/| /<> O O O O O O O O O/ | /MM O O O O O O O MM/ | / ___________ / . /O (___________) O O/ . 17 Dec 91 (====================(. For many of you who weren't aware, we have an Electronic Service Department here in NamVet which attempts to help any/all veterans and/or their families with things such as information requests, discharge upgrades, employment help and, generally, anything veteran-oriented that is needed to help America's veterans. It's been a busy, busy year!!! Starting on a tense-note with Operation Desert Storm, on a strictly personal basis, I accepted the position of Veterans' Coordinator of SaudiNet - an electronic communications network allegedly set up to deliver computer messages from those of us here at home to our Saudi brothers and sisters (I *-DID-* have some personal interest in it: my brother, a niece and a nephew - in addition to some close personal friends - were all part of Operation Desert Storm. PLUS I had two sons of my own in Active Duty military.). Research and investigations into the operations as well as management of SaudiNet, coupled with frustrated reports from many private citizens that their messages had not been received, plus telephone conversations verifying non-receipt of messages with my brother, niece and nephew, all brought about the revelation that, as it stood, SaudiNet was not a workable project. PERSONAL COMMENTS: If EVER a project like this is begun again, it is STRONGLY suggested that any and all COMMERCIAL interests be strictly forbidden from participation other than voluntary "no strings attached" donations of equipment to aid in the effort. It is also suggested that any persons spearheading such a project be thoroughly investigated - especially when their active assertive involvements involve members of other countries, other government agencies, other veteran organizations. ELECTRONIC SERVICE DEPARTMENT: Beginning 1/1/91 with only our main BBS, VETLink #1, as another article in this newsletter indicates, we have now expanded to ten (10) VETLink's. We are in the process of planning and developing Service Request Departments on each and soon hope to have this concept of the VETLink # BBS in full operation to serve each of you. Contacts are also being made NAM VET Newsletter Page 94 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 with National Veterans' Legal Service and with the Disabled American Veterans concerning formal training of additional ESO's (Electronic Service Officers). AGENT ORANGE: We have recently produced an ASCII-text version of the AGENT ORANGE PAYMENT PLAN - a hardcopy of which is usually mailed upon telephone request to The Agent Orange Payment Plan at their 1-800-225-4712 telephone number. I hope this will help each and every one of our proud veterans achieve the services to which they're entitled. DISCHARGE UPGRADE: We are presently researching and preparing paperwork to aid in a veterans discharge upgrade. The details are complex and, to be sure that we do not jeopardize the veterans position in ANY way, we have requested information and advice from the National Veterans' Legal Service which, in turn, referred us to about 10 other attorneys authorized to represent veterans before the DRB (Discharge Review Board). COMMENT: Our normal procedure in preparations of this type is to research, analyze, and come up with a suggested approach to upgrading the veterans' discharge which s/he then should review and deliver to his/her authorized veteran service representative (a list of organizations authorized to represent cases/claims before the Veterans Administration will be found elsewhere in this newsletter). Discharge upgrade requests should be handled with EXTREME SENSITIVITY AND CARE. If there is the SLIGHTEST DOUBT AND/OR QUESTION to anything pertaining to the proposed upgrade, a letter or visit to one's nearest Authorized Service Representative is a WISE investment of time and energy - and COULD result in a veterans' winning an otherwise marginable case/claim. MANDATORY ARREST IN DOMESTIC ABUSE SITUATIONS: Recently enacted in Massachusetts is a Mandatory Arrest Law concerning Domestic Abuse which mandates the arrest of the perpetrator of the alleged abuse without allowing the judgment, expertise and/or wisdom of the presenting officer any accord. In situations where there IS abuse (i.e., husband/wife/child beating/molestation), the law would seem to have a protective measure. In situations where angry physical contact has been made, prior to the enactment of the law, it would have been left for the presenting officer to determine whether or not actual abuse had taken place and/or referral to other local agencies for active intercession in the situation. The "judgment" of the presenting police officer(s), with the enactment of this law, now has no value nor effect. COMMENT: Personally, in respect to our veterans, I have "concerns" concerning the enactment of this law and potential additional danger/harm that may come to a) the person being arrested; b) the person being assaulted/abused/molested; c) the presenting police officers. MANDATORY ARREST implies GUILT and, for those who are NOT guilty of such violation, unneeded and unnecessary defensive posturing will more than likely result - such "defensive posturing" possibly resulting in additional charges of "Resisting Arrest" and/or "Assault on a Police Officer". In addition, if a person knows s/he will be arrested for violation of the Domestic Abuse Law, how safe, then, will the victim of his/her abuse be PRIOR to the calling of a law enforcement agency? Via voice and written communication to the governor of Massachusetts, William Weld, as well as members in the State legislature, I am working on this one. If any of YOU have NAM VET Newsletter Page 95 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 additional information you'd like to share concerning this, please NET-/SnailMail me at Berkshire Veterans' Center. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL PRACTICES IN COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS: On or about 28 Feb 91 the position of JOB SPECIALIST II - DVOP (Disabled Veterans Outreach Person) (a full/partially Federally funded position primarily intended for service-connected disabled veterans) became vacant in the Pittsfield, MA office of Department of Employment Security (DES). Said vacancy was properly posted 8 Mar 91. The "requirements" for this position SPECIFICALLY STATE: "This position must be filled by a veteran. Preference in hiring will be as follows: 1. Disabled Vietnam Era veterans, 2. Disabled veterans, 3. Other eligible veterans." I applied and was interviewed for this position - and waited, and waited and waited for a response/reply from the DES. Telephone calls and visits to the Employment Office and discussions with the Office Manager revealed that the position was being filled by a non-disabled veteran and that no decision had yet been reached concerning filling the DVOP position with a disabled veteran. On 6 Aug 91 I was called in again for an interview for the position. September came and then October, and the position continued to be filled by a non-disabled veteran. I telephoned our local veterans' service agent to determine the agency which this alleged misuse of funds intended for Disabled Veterans should be reported and was directed to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Labor. "Yes, the position SHOULD be filled by a Disabled Veteran," I was told. "No, it presently is NOT being filled by a Disabled Veteran because the Office Manager requested a waiver of the position requirements because no satisfactory applicants appeared." "But there was NO outreach - no REAL attempt to recruit a qualified Disabled Veteran," I said. "The Office Manager, in his request that the requirements be waived, says that no satisfactory applicants were interviewed." "But I *-KNOW-* that there were AT LEAST 5 or 6 applicants who ARE disabled and who ARE qualified and satisfactory! How do I file a complaint about this action and how do I request an investigation into WHERE funds allegedly targeted towards payment of a DVOPs position were spent?" "We're listening to you," said the MA DoL. "We've also heard similar complaints. We'll check into it - and we agree with you that the position SHOULD be filled by a disabled veteran." (Who knows the problems of a disabled veteran better than a disabled veteran?). I followed up the telephone call to MA's Department of Labor with one to the U.S. Department of Labor (learned a LONG time ago to CYA!) and repeated the same complaint/comment. I was assured that things would be taken care of. 7 Nov 91, after having received many complaints from local disabled veterans (and some out of my area) that they had NOT been approached nor contacted, I angrily telephoned the US Department of Labor and relayed the information I'd heard to my contact person there. He, too, was a little miffed that nothing had apparently been done and asked that I check back in a week or so to see what, if anything had been done. 12 Nov 91 I received a telephone call from my contact in the US Department of Labor informing me that the non-disabled veteran had been removed from the position and that a disabled veteran was NAM VET Newsletter Page 96 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 going to be filling it very shortly - possibly, too, the disabled veteran would be receiving retroactive wages. I was asked to call back on or about 20 Nov 91 to let my contact know if the changes had been made. 19 Nov 91 I received telephone calls telling me that "No! No outreach to the veteran community had been made; No! No telephone calls or letters to previous applicants for the position had been received; and Yes! A non-service-connected disabled veteran was now appearing at local establishments introducing himself as the DVOP for Pittsfield's DES!" The words to describe MY anger are not printable here . A telephone call to my contact in the US Department of Labor also resulted in anger at the other end of the telephone - not towards ME and/or Berkshire Veterans' Center/VETLink/NamVet but, instead, towards the personnel at the MA Department of Labor who had apparently been untruthful in the reports of actions taken. "How do I request a recall of their allotted funds for that position... and how do I ask for an accounting of the funds they HAVE received (and apparently spent)?" I asked. "You might have just done that," said the raised voice in Boston. "You might have just done that..." 17 Dec 91 - date of this writing - still no reports of outreach have been received; still no reports of previous applicants for the position have been received... and tomorrow I will call the DES to see WHO is filling the position. I will keep you apprised of our efforts! There are many other areas in which we have served - and have been helped to continue in our efforts to serve you and all our brother and sister veterans and their families (Thank You USRobotics!). For those of you who have helped - THANK YOU... For those of you we can help - THANK YOU... for allowing us the opportunity to prove the UNITY in our veteran commUNITY!!! NAM VET Newsletter Page 97 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 RICHARD A. GEPHARDT 3d District, Missouri Washington Office 1432 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Phone (202) 225-2671 MAJORITY LEADER CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES COMMITTEE ON THE BUDGET House of Representatives District Office Washington, DC 20515 9959 Gravois PERMANENT SELECT St Louis, MO 63123 COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE Phone (314) 631-9959 October 8, 1991 Mr. Gary J. Grant P.O. Box 62021 Phoenix, AZ 85062 Dear Mr. Grant: Thank you for contacting me regarding American POW/MIAs in Southeast Asia. Like you, I believe that we have a continuing obligation to those who have put their lives on the line for America. This commitment must never flag. Today there are still 2,273 Americans missing or unaccounted for in Southeast Asia. This includes 1,172 originally listed as POW and MIA and 1,101 listed as Killed in Action/Body Not Recovered. Eighty-five percent of our soldiers were lost in areas under control of Vietnamese forces. I have met with families of POW/MIAs, and I understand and share their loss. The Intelligence Authorization Act (P.L. 102-88) which the President signed into law in August contains portions of the Truth Bill and requires intelligence agencies to provide Congress full access to documentation of POW/MIA sightings. In addition, the House Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs held several hearings this year to determine if the POW/MIA issue has been handled correctly by Pentagon officials. The Senate has established a select committee to thoroughly examine the issue again. The 12-member Senate panel is chaired by Senator John Kerry, a Vietnam veteran. Until every soldier is accounted for, every piece of evidence must be examined and every lead must be pursued. However, care must be taken. For years, unscrupulous persons have preyed on the hopes of POW/MIA families with forged photographs and lies. There is no room for complacency, incompetence, or insensitivity in the handling of this important matter. If you have specific concerns about this or any other issue, or if I can be of any help, please don't hesitate to contact me. Please keep in touch. Yours very truly, /s/ Richard A. Gephardt House Majority Leader NAM VET Newsletter Page 98 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 A deal is a deal By Brian B. Riley VETLink #1 - Pittsfield, MA (413) 443-6313 29 November 91 President George Bush Senator Patrick Leahy Senator James Jeffords Congressman Bernard Sanders Gentlemen; I am writing this letter to you, my elected representatives to remind you of the obligations our government has to its veterans of military service. In the past I have been one of the fortunate ones; I had mine, the checks came on time and my needs were met; I didn't see a reason to rock the boat, despite all of the published evidence that veteran's care was a growing shame in this country. Recently an incident occurred that woke me up to the situation. I lost my left leg above the knee to injuries in combat in the Republic of Viet Nam. I was working in the woods cutting firewood and jumped down off a large fallen tree and tore up the knee mechanism of my prosthesis. I made my way out of the woods back to my cabin and made some phone calls. My spare prosthesis had been in New York for well over 2 months being rebuilt, so I had to go to a local business for repairs so I could walk again. The repairs were made and I was back on my feet. It would seem that all was well. However, 2 days later I received a call from the prosthetist with whom I work at the VAPC in New York and he told me that the reason my leg was not done is that they cannot order the material to finish it. A day after that I get a call from the office administrator at the local prosthetics repair shop that the clerk at the VA White River Junction office is giving her a hard time about the payment for the repair. Now its obvious that neither of these individuals is to blame for this. They are simply acting within tight budgetary constraints handed down, ultimately, from you gentlemen and your colleagues. I remind you that the Viet Nam War, which most want so badly to forget, was the first time in recorded history that a country broke the unwritten covenant with its soldiers by taking the privates to task for the sins of the generals. Mr. Bush, you further insulted us by your lavish praise of what was little more than a 'cattle roundup' in Iraq; our troops did their jobs, and did them well, but aside from the pilots and a few SOG types no one saw anything like Viet Nam. I remind you that "a deal is a deal." Implied contract is law. You asked of me and my brothers to go off and do this thing for you and you told us you would take care of us. Now please, sirs, live up to your end of the deal; you may not have been minding the store in 1968, but you have inherited the responsibilities. NAM VET Newsletter Page 99 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 I ask this not for me. I am a bullheaded Irishman who doesn't take no for an answer and, according to a navy Doctor 20 years ago, "... didn't have sense enough to die when I was supposed to!" I survived then and now. I am fortunate that you only got my body broken; but what of the Vets whose souls were ripped asunder often along with their bodies. They cannot speak up and even when they do they are dismissed as 'scruffy losers whining in the gutter.' Gentlemen, you helped put them there, you and you alone can offer the hand to help them pull themselves up and become a part of the country again. If compassion or honor will not stir you to do this, maybe I might point out that a continuation of the current policies will result in something along the lines of "what if we gave a war and nobody showed up?" Where will you get the fodder for the guns? No one will want to do your dirty work. I have taken the liberty of sending a copy of this to Senator Robert Kerrey of Nebraska. He is more than 'one of us'; he is my friend from the days of hell. If you want to know who I am, ask him. I thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and for any efforts you can make. I remain sincerely yours, Brian B. Riley Lt USMC (ret) cc: Senator Robert Kerrey Rene Phaneuf, VAPC, VA Hospital New York City, NY David van Sleet, VAPC, VARO White River Junction, VT Super-Tech Prosthetics, Essex Junction, VT G. Joseph Peck, VET-Link, Pittsfield, MA NAM VET Newsletter Page 100 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 You Know who you are Input by Dennis Sickmiller Semper Fi BBS - Ft. Wayne, IN (219) 424-4292 I just browsed throgh the Oct. issue of the NamVet. Interesting stuff you people wrote about. Kind of an eye opener for me. All you people are helping to make sense out of something that used to not make to much sense... I just read a message from a person who said he has been home for 20 years and doesn`t have much to do with that stupid war, that kind of makes sense, but then I rember the nightmares I started having at the beginning of this crazy Persian Gulf thing and well I start asking and seeking out the sense makers.....I for one appreciate the work all of you are doing......God Bless You!!!! [Note from Joe: And YOU, too, Dennis! What we do with NamVet and the VETNet echoes is because of and for all of us - one of the greatest team efforts I've seen in a LONG time! Comments like yours help keep us pointed in the right direction hoping and helping!!! Thanx!!! ] NAM VET Newsletter Page 101 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 ================================================================== Charlie's Angels ================================================================== VIETNAM_VETS: Where? By Charlie Revie NamVet's KOTL (Keeper of the List) Desert Dolphin BBS - Las Cruces, NM (505) 523-2811 [Note from Joe - The following is a list of where the VIETNAM_VETS echo has been known to be available for users to access and post messages. Charlie and his team of Angel's (Charlies Angels ) keep a constant monitor on the echo and, should a new entry be noticed, it is quickly added to the list. If you notice that the bbs where YOU access is NOT listed, please post a message in VIETNAM_VETS to let us - and other vets - know where it is being received. Thanx - Joe] AK Fairbanks Help Yourself BBS 907-451-0887 AL Huntsville Gateway 205-880-7723 AR Fayetteville Ozark Connection 501-521-4734 AZ Chandler Hog Trough! 602-899-3386 AZ Phoenix NCMC BBS 602-840-4752 AZ Phoenix Nighthawk BBS 602-582-1127 CA Anaheim CA Self Help Library 714-952-2110-NL* CA Antioch Cheers 510-706-0904 CA Azusa Azusa Pacific Mail 818-969-9542 CA Azusa Azusa Pacific BBS 818-969-9170 CA Benicia Byte Out of the Apple 707-747-5406 CA Benicia Byte Out of the Apple 707-747-0306 CA Benicia DCC BBS 707-746-6091 CA Castro Valley Combat Arms 510-537-1777 CA Folsom Second Opinion 916-985-4720 CA Los Angeles SoCalNet EC 213-874-9484 CA Navato Mover Mouse BBS 415-898-2644 CA Oxnard SURFBOARD BBS 805-483-1467 CA Pataluma Priv.Mial Runner(E-N*)707-763-4485-NL CA Sacramento Broken Rose BBS 916-483-8624 CA Sacramento Now and Zen Opus 916-962-1952 CA Sacramento WorldView I 916-739-8386 CA SAn Francisco Seahunt BBS 415-431-0473 CA San Jose 24 Hours-A-Day BBS 408-448-1126 CA San Jose Int'l Public Em Comm 408-298-2740 CA Twentynine Palm Desert Night RBBS 619-361-3421 CN Regina, Sask Holistic BBS 306-789-9909 CO Colorado Sprgs Coffee House 719-596-1565 CO Colorado Sprgs Electronic Locksmith 719-390-9249 CO Colorado Sprgs Military Connection 719-391-9387 CT Branford Alice's Restaurant 203-488-1115 CT Branford Fernwood 203-481-7934 CT Cheshire Soapbox 203-271-2249 CT Concord Online Computer Reso 510-687-0236 CT Danbury Treasure Island(E-N) 203-791-8532-NL CT Plantsville The Pig Pen 203-628-9346 CT Plantsville The Pig Pen 203-620-0562 CT Southington DownStairs 203-621-1930 CT West Haven Ascii Neighborhood 203-932-6236-NL NAM VET Newsletter Page 102 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 DE Dover DELFIRE BBS 302-739-6757 DE New Castle Hackers BBS 302-328-3993 FL Clarcona West Orange BBS 407-293-2724 FL Kissimmee The Program Exchange 407-870-2735 FL Ocala Echo World Data Sys. 904-867-0725 FL Orlando Digital Connection 407-896-0494 FL Orlando Freedom Line BBS 407-423-2111-NL FL Orlando Gourmet Delight 407-649-4136 FL Orlando UP-EAST BBS 407-273-7849 GA Albany 2/121st INformation 912-430-4543 GA Athens Classic City-Node 1 404-548-0130-NL GA Athens Classic City 404-548-0726-NL GA Augusta FORT KNOX'S BBS 404-592-6527 GA Savannah Night Owl 912-964-4266 GA Savannah Night Owl 912-964-1161 GA Savannah Night Owl 912-964-2425 GA Savannah Night Owl 912-964-1121 GA Savannah Night Owl 912-966-1167 IA Des Moines FOGLINE BBS 515-964-7937 IA Des Moines KARMA *VS* DOGMA 515-288-7793 ID Boise Compulink Northwest 208-375-4073 IL Chicago BIT WIZ Opus 312-935-6809 IL Chicago NETWORK Echogate 312-427-1395 IN Ft. Wayne Semper Fi 219-424-4292-NL IN Terra Haute WVAU BBS 812-238-9295 LA Baton Rouge Ranger's Place 504-925-9307 LA New Orleans New Orleans MUG 504-837-8188 LA New Orleans Southern Star(E-N) 504-887-3348-NL MA Amherst Pioneer Valley PCUG1 413-256-1037 MA Andover AEOLUS BBS 508-474-0328 MA Dalton Field St.BBS(E-N) 413-684-1938-NL MA Lynn Freedom's Choice 617-593-2605-NL MA Pittsfield Berkshire Estates BBS 413-499-1327-NL MA Pittsfield VETLink #1 413-443-6313-NL MD Baltimore Jim's Hooch 410-866-8613-NL MD Baltimore PainFrame BBS 410-488-7461 MD Shady Side VETLink #4 301-261-5644-NL MD Silver Spring Light Source BBS 301-439-7437 MI Dearborn VETLink #10 313-562-0051 MI Spring Arbor The Toy House 517-750-2003 MN Arden Hills The City Lights 612-633-1366 MO Cape Girardeau VETLink #3 314-334-6359-NL MS Vicksburg Southern Belle 601-634-1625 MS Vicksburg The Wishing Well 601-638-7056 NC Charlotte Carolina Forum 704-563-5857 NC Charlotte Carolina Forum 704-568-1663 NC Raleigh InfoSys 919-851-8460 NC Raleigh Shalom-3 919-851-3858 NC Spring-Lake Federal Post 919-436-2055 NH Manchester Checkmate BBS 603-622-2371-NL (VETLink #8) NH Merrimack Outer Limits/VETLink9 603-424-4915 NJ Garfield Quill & Inkpot BBS 201-340-1340 NJ Lyndhurst Starship ][ 201-935-1485 NJ Lyndhurst Starship ][ 201-935-7036 NJ Passaic VETLink #5 201-778-1879-NL NM Alamogordo Casa de La Luz 505-437-8267-NL NM Las Cruces Desert Dolphin 505-523-2811-NL NM Las Cruces MelMikes BBS 505-521-1527-NL NAM VET Newsletter Page 103 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 NM Las Cruces NASW (E-N) 505-646-2868-NL NV Las Vegas Sports Line BBS 702-565-5271 NY Albany The Times 518-452-4757 NY Bloomfield Log Inn 716-657-7660 NY Chili Flower City Central 716-889-2016 NY Marlboro ACORN I BBS 914-236-3265 NY Phoenix G A L A X I A ! 315-695-4436 OH Akron Buckeye Hamshack 216-867-6984 OH Cincinnati KIC-BBS 513-762-1115 OH Rocky River Nerd Nook II 216-356-1772 OH Rocky River Nerd Nook 216-356-1431 OK Edmond The Far Side QuickBBS 405-341-4720 OK Lawton DarkStar 405-248-9884 OK Norman The Family Tree 405-321-0642 OR Beaverton Chess Board 503-629-5473 OR Portland Landing Zone 503-254-6819-NL (VETLink #7) PA Butler Info Exchange RBBS 412-482-4721 PA Carlisle L & T's Spitfire! BBS 717-243-0055 PA Harrisburg The Other BBS 717-657-2223 PA Johnstown The Family BBS 814-536-7617-NL TN Memphis Just Mail 901-683-5410-NL TN Memphis Memphis Mail Hub 901-872-4893 TN Nashville Homestead 615-385-9421 TN Nashville Unicorn & Dragon 615-385-2260 TX Corpus Christi Ye Mailroom 512-855-7564 TX Dallas Chrysalis 214-349-9397 TX Fort Worth DD Connection 817-277-6989 TX Houston The Fireside 713-496-6319 TX Houston Leaders in Control 713-584-1821 TX Houston Info-Net & Police-Net 713-873-0403 TX Houston Soldier's Bored 713-437-2859 TX Katy Executive Washroom 713-347-2558-NL TX Pasadena Pier 7 713-477-2681 TX Richardson Night Lights 214-480-8170 TX Rosenberg Merlin's Keep 713-342-7629 TX San Antonio Heidi Search Center 512-659-2305 TX Tomball Texas Father's BBS 713-376-4767 TX Universal City The Ranch House 512-945-9304 TX Wylie Diamond Lil's Saloon 214-228-9173 VA Chesapeake Apex 804-436-3125 VA Falls Church GreyEagle 703-534-0177 VA Herndon HBX/VETLink #2 703-471-8010-NL VA Herndon HBX Veterans Memorial 703-471-8563-NL VA Newport News Brokedown Palace 804-591-8537 VA Oakton Washington ZEPHYR 703-620-5418 VA Virginia Beach HandiNet B B S 804-496-3320 VA Williamsburg Rainbow's End 804-872-7171 WA Brownsville Jimby BBS 206-698-1044-NL WA Edmonds Puget Sound TBBS 206-745-6340-NL WA Everett Mark's Point! 206-486-2415 WA Everett Silver Lake 206-338-3723 WA Everett Silver Lake Too 206-338-3168 WA Ft. Lewis Silent Sentry BBS 206-984-1048 WA Graham Last Frontier 206-847-8168 WA Kirkland SeaEast Exchange BBS 206-822-4615 WA Redmond GreyHounds BBS 206-868-4402 WA Seattle VETLink #6 206-528-0111 WA Spokane Think Tank II 509-244-6446 NAM VET Newsletter Page 104 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 WA Tacoma Group Medical BBS II 206-581-9088 WI Greenfield PC-Express 414-327-4104 ** Bremerton, WA British Hands Off 350/21.5 ** Custer, SD GOTCHA! 109/312.348 ** Phoenix, AZ Hirschfeld Law Office 114/74.2 ** Pittsfield, MA VetPoint 707 321/203.707 ** Portland, OR The Empty Bed Pan 105/41.20 ** Goshen, AR The Ironhand Troll 391/1020.2 ** Corpus Christi Corrosion by the Ocean 106/50.9 ** ............... Any Port in the Storm 106/499.1 ** ............... Jim Meadors 160/230.1 ** ............... OLD Soldiers Home 343/58.2 ** ............... Support our men 343/15.10 (USS Liberty) =============================================================================== (*) KEY: E-N = No IVVEC Echo, but does have the Nam_Vet newsletter NL = Carries both IVVEC and the Nam_Vet newsletter NAM VET Newsletter Page 105 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 1991 NamVet Distribution Survey Form NamVet's editorial staff would like to know where YOU received this copy of NamVet. Please take a few moments to complete and return this page (or a copy) to us. NAME_____________________________________________________________ ADDRESS__________________________________________________________ CITY_____________________________________________________________ STATE & ZIP______________________________________________________ Where did you obtain/read the NamVet Newsletter? ________________ _________________________________________________________________ Do you make NamVet available to others? _________________________ If YES: Individual / / Educational / / Vet Groups / / What do you find most/least helpful about NamVet?________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ What other information would you like to see in NamVet? _________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Additional Comments _____________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ YOUR poem, letter, article about the veteran Experience - whether you were in Vietnam, in the military or not - is extremely welcomed by the editorial staff of NamVet. We invite you to include one (or many) with your return of this form. Thank You for your time and help in making NamVet *-THE-* electronic newsletter by, for and about veterans and the issues that concern them! Please return replies/articles/poems/etc. to: Mrs. Joyce Flory NamVet Distribution Survey 1825 Evelyn - Las Cruces, NM 88001 -or- Berkshire Veterans' Center, Inc. PO Box 2056 - Pittsfield, MA 01201 NAM VET Newsletter Page 106 Volume 5, Number 12 December 17, 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 107