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Dedicated to our fallen heroes and all past and present servicemembers, who unselfishly have given their lives and continue to put themselves in Harms Way.

Ralph W. Ashland, with his war bride, Jacqueline, bringing nations together.

This site is dedicated to Ralph Waldo Ashland, 01.12.22 - 15.09.84, a WWII Veteran, who landed on the beaches of Normandy on D Day, June 6th, 1944 and stayed in the European Theater until his death, dedicating his life to the preservation of freedom and democracy.  Whether by his role in the de-nazification of Germany or helping to rebuild Europe, his legacy lives on and is not forgotten.


Mesothelioma

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, there are currently 25 million living individuals who have served in the United States' armed forces. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions of these living veterans were exposed to toxic asbestos-containing materials during military service.  According to a revealing statistic, more than 30 percent of Americans beset with a terrible disease called mesothelioma were exposed to asbestos during military service. What is mesothelioma?  It is a rapacious cancer that attacks the internal lining of the lungs, abdomen, and heart.

Widely used by every military branch, asbestos was highly regarded for its heat resistance and fireproofing capabilities. In fact, asbestos was so valued that the military even mandated widespread usage before eventually phasing out the material in the 1970s.

Most military divisions utilized the caustic substance mainly for insulation purposes, but more than 300 products containing asbestos were used by the military, primarily by the Navy from the 1930s through the 1970s. Every ship and shipyard built by the Navy before the mid-70s was fitted with numerous asbestos-containing materials.

Asbestos dot com offers information on mesothelioma & veterans, as well as a complete list of occupations, ships, and shipyards that could have put our Veterans at risk for developing a mesothelioma disease.  Additionally their Veterans Assistance Department offers extensive experience in filing VA claims and can help any veteran coping with mesothelioma receive benefits from the VA system.


Defense Department Works to Eliminate Gaps in Medical Care

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan.  2008 – The trauma care that U.S. servicemembers receive is the best in the world, but the Defense Department must continue to eliminate gaps in the medical process as patients move from DoD facilities to the Department of Veterans Affairs and to private hospitals, a senior Pentagon medical official said.

Dr. Stephen L. Jones, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said the military health system’s future hinges on how it will become more efficient and how it will be more transparent to patients and families.

The Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs are working closely together to share medical records, Jones said.

“We have been working to ensure we have secure, global reach of electronic health records,” he explained. “The DoD and VA records would be integrated so when you saw that health provider in the VA, he would have access to the records from when the patient first entered the system.”

Groups appointed to study the system identified the need to fix seams between military and VA medical care, Jones said.

“All of the task forces and commissions said we needed more integration and cooperation between the DoD and VA, and we’ve made tremendous strides,” he said. “Are we where we need to be? No, because health records are a bit more complicated than financial institutions or airlines and such. Many more components have to be included – radiology, nutrition, provider nodes – all of the various aspects that touch you when you are in the health care field.”

Record-sharing may be only the beginning, Jones said. “We are looking, for example, at whether it would behoove us to have one in-patient system that would be used by DoD and the VA,” he said. “That study is under way now, and we will have recommendations in March.”

Another gap that needs to be closed is between government and private-sector health officials, Jones said. Many private health care providers are not as far along as DoD and VA in keeping electronic patient records, he explained, so the records from a beneficiary’s visit to a private physician may not make it into his or her military medical record.

“We need to build a system that will allow the folks working with patients and military families access to the records – whether it be DoD, VA, the state or a private institution,” Jones said. Private-sector health care providers and the government are working to set information technology standards for health care records, he added.

Improved efficiency in Tricare and other third-party insurance payments is another goal for the military health system, Jones said. He also pointed out that Congress has told the Defense Department to address changes in Tricare cost shares. While private insurance plans are indexed to keep pace with inflation, the cost-share portion of Tricare has not changed since 1996, he explained.

As military medicine moves forward, more and more work is going into how the system treats traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorders. The department is moving out on these and other aspects of psychological health, Jones said, and Congress has funded additional research into these disorders. “Exciting things are happening and will happen in that area,” he said.

The department has added specialists closer to the front to help warriors with psychological wounds. Jones said the military has come a long way toward eliminating the stigma associated with seeking mental health help, but more needs to be done.

“Let’s erase the stigma associated with psychological wounds,” he said. “Whether it’s a wound to your body or a wound to your mind, it’s the same thing. You need to get assistance.”

Jones said substandard conditions found at Walter Reed Army Medical Center last year gave the department “a black eye.” He noted that the problems at Walter Reed were not in trauma care, but in follow-on care and administrative processes.

“The department has made tremendous strides in trying to improve the care around the wounded warriors and their families,” he said.

At the Military Health Services annual conference here next week, Jones will host a discussion on the future of military health care. This year’s conference theme is “Caring for America’s Heroes.” More than 3,000 attendees are expected.

The conference is an attempt to communicate ideas throughout the force, and also provides an opportunity for DoD leaders to get input from the field, Jones said.

But it all begins with people, Jones said, and the nation’s wounded warriors are in the best possible hands. From the medics and corpsmen on the ground to the doctors at the combat support hospitals to the specialists at Walter Reed and the National Naval Medical Center at Bethesda, Md., all are providing the best trauma care in the world, he said.

“Without that team, without that system, we would not be able to do the job that we are doing,” Jones said. Servicemembers who would have died of their injuries in the past are now surviving, thanks to the commitment, training and medical know-how of those personnel, he said.

Biographies:
Dr. Steven L. Jones

Related Sites:
Military Health System

Longtime-Missing WWI Soldier Buried at Arlington National Cemetery

     Eighty-eight years after being killed in action along the not-so-quiet Western Front of World War I, Army Pvt. Francis Lupo of Cincinnati was buried with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

     Lupo, the son of Sicilian immigrants, was 23 years old when he was killed in July 1918 while participated in the combined French-American attack on the Germans near Soissons, France, in what came to be known as the Second Battle of the Marne. Lupo was buried in a shallow grave alongside another American soldier. Lupo was a member of Company E, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. Story


The National Symposium for the Needs of Young Veterans Hosts Fall Symposium

Anthony J. Principi William A. Boettcher
Symposium Co-chairman Symposium Co-chairman

     The National Symposium for the Needs of Young Veterans is an unprecedented event hosted by AMVETS (American Veterans) this fall in Chicago, Ill.  One of the greatest and yet largely unrecognized challenges facing America is how we will provide for the needs of future veterans-especially those
younger people who are serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and other parts of the
world today. It's an issue we must address now if our nation is to keep its
promise to those who have sacrificed so much in the name of humanitarian
relief and national defense.

     The National Symposium for the Needs of Young Veterans will bring together a diverse and representative group of active duty military, reservists and
veterans to discuss how to ensure a system of earned benefits that are both
adequate and relevant to the needs of today's younger veterans.  Current
benefits have remained largely unchanged since World War II.
Retired Marine Gunnery Sergeant Sylvia Landis has prepared an array of
visually appealing public service banner announcements for you to choose
from.  She can either send you these GIF files or you are invited to go to
the event's official Web site at veteransansnationalsymposium.org and download -- which ever you prefer. ­Please don't hesitate to write her back or call (202) 995-5544 if you have any questions.  We would really be most grateful if you could render a quick response back if you plan on helping us or if it's not
feasible.


Bastogne Rolls Out Red Carpet for Battle of Bulge Vets

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

BASTOGNE, Belgium, Dec. 2004 — A carnival-like atmosphere here today celebrated the U.S. Army's victory over Nazi oppressors 60 years ago.

Flowers honor Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, who replied "Nuts!" when ordered by Adolph Hitler to surrender here 60 years ago. Photo by Donna Miles
(Click photo for screen-resolution image); high-resolution image available.

It contrasted sharply with a solemn ceremony at the Mardasson Memorial overlooking the city honoring the more than 76,000 U.S. soldiers killed, wounded or missing in action during the Battle of the Bulge.

Downtown Bastogne was abuzz with excitement and activity honoring the 60th anniversary of the battle. Residents rolled out the red carpet for returning Battle of the Bulge veterans -- and anyone who appeared to be American.

U.S. and Belgian flags flew side by side throughout the city. Storefronts featured signs of thanks honoring the 101st Airborne Division, the unit that fought on against the Germans despite being heavily outnumbered and surrounded.

Groups from throughout the city donned World War II-vintage U.S. Army uniforms bearing the 101st Airborne Division patch, and a convoy of World War II-era U.S. military vehicles paraded through the city streets during the town's annual Nuts Festival.

Hats, T-shirts and posters bore the now-famous term "Nuts," that one-word relay U.S. Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe issued when Adolph Hitler called for his surrender here 60 years ago.

McAuliffe, in temporary command of the 101st Airborne Division during the battle, inspired his troops to a heroic stand that helped stop Germany's last major counteroffensive of the war in Europe.

Today, U.S. and Belgian civilian and military officials laid flowers at a bust of McAuliffe that graces the city square. Mayor Philippe Collard told those gathered that his city has never forgotten its American defenders, who stood with them in the path of an overwhelming German force in the bitter winter of 1944.

During another service today at the Mardasson Memorial, the supreme allied commander Europe encouraged today's servicemembers "to remember and honor" the sacrifices made here six decades ago by what he noted has been called "the greatest generation."

Speaking at a 40-foot-high concrete star that memorializes the Americans killed, injured or reported missing in the battle, U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Jones recognized the qualities he said made that generation so worthy of remembrance and honor. These, he said, are "quiet courage, a commitment to doing the right thing, selflessness of purpose, a profound and deep sense of honor and a forgiveness of former adversaries."

Jones urged those at the ceremony, which included King Albert II of Belgium and U.S. Ambassador to Belgium Tom Korologos, to remember the contributions these veterans have made in the defense of freedom, particularly those who made the ultimate sacrifice here. Their story, he said, sends a message "as powerful today as it was 60 years ago."

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstad recalled the tremendous hardship the Battle of the Bulge troops endured 60 years ago. "The only thing you could see was fog," he told the veterans at the ceremony. "The only thing you could hear were gunshots and the screams of your wounded colleagues. The only thing you could smell were lead and death. And the only thing you could feel was fear and bitter cold."

Verhofstad praised the veterans for their heroic actions and conviction despite what he acknowledged must have seemed like overwhelming odds. "When the situation looked hopeless, you continued to fight," he said.

The bonds forged during the Battle of the Bulge will never fade, he said, and Belgium will never forget America's role in its liberation, he said. "I'd like to thank every veteran…who made a contribution to victory and freedom," he said.

Everett Andrews, a second lieutenant in the 377th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion during the Battle of the Bulge, said he was "surprised at the outpouring" he and his fellow veterans received here today. Belgian residents surrounded him in the town square, asking him questions about his service, posing with him for photographs and thanking him for helping their country in its time of need.

"There's a real appreciation and expression of gratitude here," Andrews said.

1st Lt. Luke Margraff, a current member of the 101st Airborne Division, called the show of support in Bastogne "really impressive." Margraff, one of 10 soldiers who traveled here from Fort Campbell, Ky., to participate in the commemoration ceremonies, said he never imagined "that the public would be this involved."

Seeing their appreciation firsthand and the legacy left here by former members of his division "feels great," he said.

Of all areas of the Ardennes region between Belgium and Luxembourg, perhaps none is so closely associated with the Battle of the Bulge as Bastogne.

The city was a key to Hitler's desperate attempt to drive a wedge between the overwhelmed Allied Armies and ultimately capture the port city of Antwerp. To achieve that goal, his plan was to seize the vital crossroads at Bastogne and the Meuse River bridges beyond it.

What Hitler didn't count on was that Bastogne didn't fall. Hours after McAuliffe's refusal to surrender, the skies cleared and Allied forces were able to airdrop reinforcements and launch air attacks on German tanks. The Bastogne garrison soon received much-needed relief from Lt. Gen. George Patton's 3rd Army.

Bastogne hasn't forgotten its place as a turning point in the Battle of the Bulge, nor has it lost gratitude for its American liberators.

Collard called the 60th anniversary celebration "an opportunity for all of us to look back, remember, and once more show our gratitude to our American liberators."

He joined Jones, who urged children participating in the ceremonies "to remember and learn" from the lessons of Bastogne in a way that will transcend the anniversary celebration.

"Safeguarding the memories of the tragic events which took place during the war is of huge importance," Collard said. "But conveying a message of life and hope to our youth is equally so."

Biography:
Gen. James Jones, USMC

A color guard from the 101st Airborne Division participates in a ceremony honoring former members of the division and other veterans of the Battle of the Bulge at Bastogne, Belgium, Dec. 18. Photo by Bill Miles

High resolution photo

Everett Andrews, a second lieutenant in the 377th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion during the Battle of the Bulge, gets thanked by Belgian residents for his service 60 years ago. Photo by Donna Miles

High resolution photo

Bastogne residents don World War II-era U.S. Army uniforms during ceremonies Dec. 18 commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge. Photo by Donna Miles

High resolution photo

 

Battle of the Bulge lives on in war-scarred town


Bastogne, in southeast Belgium, has been a longtime friend to the U.S., ever since locals teamed up with American forces in the famous WWII battle almost 60 years ago.

BY PAUL AMES,Associated Press

BASTOGNE, Belgium - To find the city hall in Bastogne, walk past the White House Hotel, cross Gen. McAuliffe square, turn at the Dakota Cafe and it's the building on the right flying the stars-and-stripes, just before you reach rue de l'American Legion.

For 60 years, this rural town in southeast Belgium has been tied to the United States by bonds forged in the fire and fury of the Battle of the Bulge when the locals and their American defenders stood in the path of a German onslaught during the bitter winter of 1944.

''Bastogne has never stopped its friendship with the American people,'' Mayor Philippe Collard told dignitaries from the U.S. embassy on a visit to prepare this year's anniversary. ``In Bastogne, you are at home.''

ENDURING FRIENDSHIP

That friendship shows no sign of waning despite the passing of time and Belgium's outspoken opposition to the Iraq war.

While some neighboring towns called a halt to their World War II remembrance ceremonies after the 50th anniversary in 1994, Bastogne has a yearlong program of commemoration that culminates in mid-December with parades, a night vigil and a major exhibition designed to give new generations an idea of America's biggest and bloodiest battle of the war.

King Albert II is due to join U.S. veterans. An invitation has gone out to the White House, although Collard says he's yet to hear if the president will attend.

TURNING POINT

Bastogne was the key turning point in the Battle of the Bulge, a surprise attack by thousands of German troops through the December snow that was Hitler's desperate last attempt to reverse the allied advance that began in June on Normandy's beaches.

Surrounded, outnumbered and under intense bombardment, the commander of the U.S. 101st Airborne in Bastogne, Gen. Anthony McAuliffe received a message from his German counterpart on Dec. 22, 1944, offering him the chance to surrender. McAuliffe's one-word rebuff -- ''Nuts!'' -- ensured Bastogne's place in military legend and the town's continued resistance earned the allied forces time to regroup and repulse Hitler's last offensive.

The cost was high. A massive concrete star, 40 feet high and 260 feet across, stands on the Mardasson hill outside the town as a memorial to the 76,890 Americans killed, injured or reported missing in the Battle of the Bulge.

Built in the late 1940s, it bears the names of the 50 U.S. states and the badges of the American units who fought in the Ardennes. Beneath it is a crypt decorated by the mosaics by the French artist Fernand Leger in honor of Catholic, Protestant and Jewish soldiers.

Nearby, a little museum tells the story of the battle with a display of uniforms and weapons, one of several dotted around the Ardennes. A Sherman tank dominates the town square, which is named after McAuliffe and surrounded by cafes, including one that serves a locally brewed strong ale called ''Airborne'' that's served in a mug shaped like a WWII U.S. army helmet.

There's also a ''Nuts'' liquor distilled from walnuts, which already played a part in local folklore before McAuliffe's famous exclamation. In a custom dating back centuries, the year's newlyweds throw walnuts to children from the town hall balcony every December, to recall the matchmaking that traditionally went on among local farmers during a time-honored nut market.

For this year's anniversary, the local council has also ordered a commemorative wine from a French vineyard, and the Belgian postal service will issue a special series of stamps.

VACATION SPOT

Sixty years on, the Ardennes region is a popular year-round vacation destination in today's border-free Europe. It stretches from northern France, through Belgium and Luxembourg into western Germany in a swathe of forest-covered plateaux cut by steep valleys that plunge to trout-rich streams.

Today, snowfalls like those of the tragic winter of 1944, bring flocks of cross-country skiers to the region, while in the summer history buffs are joined by rock-climbers, hikers and families taking kayak trips down the Semois, Ourthe and Ambleve rivers which snake through the woods. Hunters and fishermen take to the forests in the fall.

Rebuilt after the war, Bastogne lacks some of the old-world charm of neighboring towns and villages, such as Bouillon, which is dominated by a medieval crusader's castle. La Roche-en-Ardenne and Houffalize are nestled in narrow gorges. Durbuy, with its ancient half-timbered houses, claims to be the world's smallest ``city.''

One thing all the Ardennes towns have in common is a reputation for good food.

`PEACE WOOD'

Bastogne's smoked hams and sausages are famed. Local beers include powerful Trappist brews made by monks in the monasteries at Orval and Rochefort. In season, boar and venison served in rich, dark sauces hold pride of place in restaurants.

A new sight on a hillside overlooking Bastogne is the ''peace wood'' planted in 1994 to mark the 50th anniversary of the battle and honor the U.S. veterans who flew over for the commemorations. Each of the 4,000 trees was given the name of a returning veteran, or of a unit that fought in the battle.

The local beech, birch, oak, hazel and elder saplings were planted to form the shape of a mother cradling her child -- the symbol of UNICEF, the United Nations' children's agency -- with the aim of creating a place of reflection and serenity on the site of so much carnage.

Around the edge of the woods, Bastogne invited other cities marked by war to plant trees of their own.

There's an oak from the Basque city of Guernica bombed by Hitler's airforce in the Spanish Civil War; an apple tree from Avranches representing the orchards inland from Normandy's D-Day beaches; a poplar from Oswiecim, the Polish city that the Germans called Auschwitz; and from Jerusalem, two Israeli and Palestinian women came together in 2002 to plant plum trees in memory of loved ones killed in the Middle East conflict.

At the entrance to the wood, a sign carries a heart-wrenching quote from an anonymous German soldier, found chalked on a blackboard in village school: ``May the world never experience such a Christmas night. There is nothing more cruel than to die a soldier's death away from your wife and children . . . from the ruins and blood and death universal brotherhood will undoubtedly emerge.''

A cemetery in the little village of Recogne holds the remains of almost 7,000 German soldiers. The graves of 13,317 Americans can be found in the villages of Henri-Chapelle and Neupre. Over the border, 5,076 more are buried outside the capital of Luxembourg, including Gen. George S. Patton who had his headquarters in the city.

Although the passing of time means fewer and fewer veterans return to Bastogne, new generations keep coming to the battlefields. Some are inspired by the Band of Brothers TV series that graphically portrayed the fighting. Others have a more personal link. In Bastogne's museum visitors' book, there's a simple message from Erica Flegel of Indiana: ``Thank's Granddad.''



 

       The establishment of the Veterans Administration came in 1930 when Congress authorized the President to "consolidate and coordinate Government activities affecting war veterans." In 1973, the Veterans Administration assumed another major responsibility when the National Cemetery System (except for Arlington National Cemetery) was transferred to the Veterans Administration from the Department of the Army. 

     The Agency was charged with the operation of the National Cemetery System, including the marking of graves of all persons in national and State cemeteries (and the graves of veterans in private cemeteries, upon request) as well and administering the State Cemetery Grants Program.


World War II Vet Recalls Her Service in Women's Army Corps

     Veterans Day is special for Ida E. Simpson, because it gives her a chance to reflect on serving her country during World War II, which was something she thought a woman in those days wouldn't be able to do. The 82-year-old veteran spoke of her service in an interview at the Armed Forces Retirement Home here, where she resides.

     Simpson, who joined the Women's Army Corps in January 1944, said she's proud of the fact that she was one of the "early ones."


MilitaryPartners pays Tribute to our 
fallen Heroes

Memorial Day Home Page

     Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. The birthplace of Memorial Day has many origins.

SUCH GOOD MEN

     I recall TV reports of fellow soldiers arriving at an airport, survivors of the Vietnam gauntlet, relieved at their 1st step on home ground.  Their grins morphed to astonishment as protesters threw packets of animal blood at them, shouting "Baby-Killers!"  Welcome home.


Commemorating 60th D-Day Anniversary
The Best Kept Secret!

     The first brief communiqué was electrifying -- ''London, Tuesday, June 6, 1944: Under command of General Eisenhower, Allied naval forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France.''   The world caught its breath.   For more..


Bush Honors Nation's War Dead in Radio Address

     President Bush pays tribute to the nation's war dead as America observes the Memorial Day weekend at the dedication ceremony for the National World War II Memorial

      The memorial's announcement stone reads, "Here in the presence of Washington and Lincoln, one the 18th century father and the other the 19th century preserver of our nation, we honor those 20th century Americans...


THE LONG MARCH OF BOB SLAUGHTER
Reporting the war was old-fashioned, anything but dull

By Mary Bishop
The Roanoke Times

      I was really keyed up and so were my buddies, and we went around. I know I took my General Eisenhower message that was issued to all of us, and I got autographs of all my buddies and everybody I could get to autograph it. As our teams were called, we assembled on the landing craft and were lowered into the water, and it was tremendously rough and the spray from the sea was cold, and it came over the sides of the landing craft and nearly everybody got soaked. We were taking water from the rough sea over the bow, and we were bailing to try to keep afloat.


Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Korean War

     To pay tribute to this anniversary, the ROK Government is planning a variety of events to honor the Allied Forces war veterans from all over the world, as well as from Korea. The commemoration is to promote friendship and goodwill among the Korean allies, who generously demonstrated their commitment to world peace and freedom by sending their troops to Korea 50 years ago.

     The commemoration will ran from June 25, 2000 to July 27, 2003. These dates marked the 50th anniversaries of the outbreak of the war and the signing of the Armistice Agreement ending the conflict. Fifty-two commemorative events, including the 50th Anniversary Commemorative Ceremony, were held in conjunction with various domestic and foreign commemorative functions

     A soldier's recount of the early Korean Conflict.


POW/MIA Documents Released to Russians

     Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW/MIA Affairs Jerry D. Jennings concluded a series of key meetings with Russian officials in Moscow. Jennings is the Department of Defense official responsible for policy oversight of the worldwide mission of accounting for America’s POWs and MIAs.

     Jerry D. Jennings passed to the granddaughter of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin important documents clarifying the fate of her father, Senior Lieutenant Yakov Iosifovich Dzhugashvili, eldest son of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin... More


Veterans' News:

Military Press - Veterans News
Veterans News & Information
Veterans of Foreign Wars
American Legion
Vietnam Magazine
World War II Magazine
The VVA Veteran
Red Clay Newsletter

American Freedom Network

POW/MIA Radio every Sunday from 3:00pm to 6:00pm Mountain

We broadcast on the internet on the American Freedom Network,
Americanewsnet , also via satellite and locally on KHNC-AM, 
1360khz,
Johnstown, Colorado.

"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of
chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!"   Patrick Henry, 1775

      The Brothers of Nam wish to declare May 1ST, beginning in 2003, as Vietnam Veteran Recognition Day. Our intent is to have a day to honor all Vietnam Veterans for their service to our country. We would like "Welcome Home" to be the slogan for this celebratory day. We feel that a day of this kind is long over due and would like others to join our cause by signing this petition. Please show your support of these neglected heroes by giving them the homecoming they deserved long ago. 

              Sign our petition today at http://www.petitiononline.com/mayday/petition.html


A Tribute to the Fist Black Marines in WWII

 T/SGT JAMES E STEWART SR.

     My father was one of the first black Marines.  I was born at Montford Point.
This is a story that needs to get out.  There were black Marines fighting in WWII on all the famous islands.



Associations
 

The American Legion was chartered by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic, mutual-help, war-time veterans organization. A community-service organization which now numbers nearly 3 million members -- men and women -- in nearly 15,000 American Legion Posts worldwide.

The American Retirees Association (ARA) is comprised of active, reserve and retired members of the Uniformed Services, male and female, across the United States. It was founded in 1984 for the exclusive purpose of addressing inequities in the Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act (USFSPA), Public Law 97-252 (Title 10 USC 1408).

 

"The decoration known as the Purple Heart (authorized to be awarded pursuant to Executive Order 11016) may only be awarded to a person who is a member of the armed forces at the time the person is killed or wounded under circumstances otherwise qualifying that person for award of the Purple Heart.".


Retiree Enlisted Organization
 

As TREA grows in membership and stature, our voices grow louder in Washington, DC. The larger our numbers, the more we can accomplish in safeguarding the promised benefits we earned while serving our country.



 
 
 

 

"FORGOTTEN SOLDIERS OF A FORGOTTEN VICTORY
FORGOTTEN NO MORE!"

Veterans Voice

     AMVETS was born in the midst of war, for it was in August 1943, with victory still two years away, that a new organization, later to be known as American Veterans of World War II, had its beginning.

Formed in 1920 and chartered by Congress in 1932, the million- member DAV is the official voice of America's service-connected disabled veterans -- a strong, insistent voice that represents all of America's 2.1 million disabled veterans, their families and survivors.

 
 

     Organized in 1896 from Jewish Civil War Veterans, is the oldest active veteran association in the United States.

The Jewish W

     To organize, promote and maintain for benevolent and charitable purposes an association of persons who have seen honorable service during the Korean
War at any time between June 25, 1950 and 31 January 1955, both dates inclusive, and of certain other persons, the particular qualifications for membership set forth in the By-laws of the Korean War Veterans Association

 

FirstGov for Seniors

     The unprecedented demand for services by this group is one of government's most pressing concerns in the new millennium.  An Internet website geared specifically toward seniors provides an outstanding opportunity to help meet those demands.


Veterans Affairs

Department of Veterans Affairs

      Missing Personnel Office  the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO). The information assembled on the following pages is to assist readers in understanding the U.S. Government effort to achieve the fullest possible accounting of our missing in action -- from all wars. U.S. military and civilian personnel are at work daily in locations across the globe, seeking information from our former enemies. The information here is the result of years of painstaking analysis and intelligence reporting. Additional case-specific information, both classified and unclassified, is available to the primary next-of-kin of our missing Americans

      Veterans Employment  Veterans Employment goal is to help all Veterans who served in obtaining suitable, long term, meaningful employment, or secure private business opportunities. Help with information and resources for benefits or services for the disabled.

     Veterans Search  Provides online search for veterans and links to top armed forces regiments.

 

Celebrate the Spirit of the Elbe!

     Commissioned in1995 to celebrate the end of World War II, this rare lithograph depicts the  historic meeting of the Russian and American armies at Torgau, Germany in 1945.  The painting is based on a Life Magazine photo of Lt. Alexander Silvasko and Lt. Bill Robertson. The original painting lies in the World War II museum in Russia.

Benefits & Pay
 
 

      A complete list of DFAS yearly 
pay tables from 1949 to present.

 
 

     The Personal Affairs Department staff  provides advice concerning benefits that veterans may be entitled to receive from Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Health

Military Health Care

Locate a military hospital, find out about health benefits, or general health information.

     Medicare If you are receiving Social Security or Railroad Retirement or disability benefits, you will be automatically enrolled in Medicare Part A and Part B. About 3 months prior to your 65th birthday or 24th month of disability, you will be sent an Initial Enrollment Package that will contain information about Medicare, a questionnaire and your red, white and blue Medicare card. If you want both Medicare Part A (hospital insurance) and Part B (medical insurance).

Travel

Armed Forces Recreation Center

     Armed Forces Recreation Centers (AFRCs) Mission Statement: Centrally-managed, U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center-operated Armed Forces Recreation Centers (Joint Services facilities) with mission to provide rest, relaxation, recreation, and sustainment for Army personnel, their families, and other members of the total Defense Force.

 

 

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