LCDR JOYCE J. HOOVER, USN (NC) (RET.) Upon my graduation from Harris Hospital School of Nursing in Fort Worth, Texas in February, 1947, World War II had ended. I had seen the movie "So Proudly We Hail" and was so impressed with this movie that I believed my destiny was in the military. At that time, there were only two branches of the military-the Army and the Navy. There was no decision, it must be the Navy! A classmate and I applied for a commission in the Navy. One little procedure I had to do was change my date of birth on my birth certificate to meet the requirements of being at least twenty- one years of age. That being accomplished, my classmate and I submitted our documents to the Navy. Our official orders arrived in October, 1947 We were ordered to report to the new U.S. Naval Hospital (USNH), Houston, Texas. Our dreams of seeing the world started with a trip from Fort Worth to Houston. Here we were indoctrinated into the Navy with twenty other nurses from all parts of the United States. After only eight months in Houston, my second assignment was the USNH, Charleston, South Carolina. When the U.S. entered the Korean conflict, need for air evacuation nurses was evident. I was accepted for flight school at Gunter AFB, Montgomery, Alabama. After completion of flight nursing school, several classmates and I were ordered to Hawaii for flight nursing duty. The Navy nurses were assigned to VR-8 and flew with the 145th Air Evacuation Squadron [(USAF), We flew in C-54's and C-97 propeller transports into Japan to pick up patients and staged on Kwajalein, Johnson Island, Wake Island, and Midway Island en route to Hawaii and the States. My tour of duty in Hawaii lasted only eight months. I was assigned to VR-2, Naval Air Station (NAS), Alameda, California next. There I had one air evacuation flight on the Mars, a seaplane that landed and took off on water. From Alameda, I was assigned to the USNH, Mare Island, California. After eight months, I received orders to Military Sea Transport Service (MSTS) North Pacific, Seattle, Washington. I was one of two Navy nurses assigned to the transport USN Funston and several months later to the USN Freeman. We carried troops and dependents from the West Coast to Japan and Alaska. It was during this tour of duty that the Korean conflict ended. After seventeen months of sailing the seas, I received orders to return to flight nursing and was assigned to VR-5, NAS, Moffett, California. We flew air evacuation from Adack and Kodiak, Alaska, and back to California. It was during this tour that I accompanied a group of entertainers which included Buddy Rogers (Mary Pickford's husband) throughout the military bases in Alaska in 1954 over the Christmas holidays. After seven- teen months of VR-5 duty, I was ordered to USNH, Corpus Christi, Texas for nineteen months. After nine years of active duty in the Navy, it was time to decide where I was going with my career I applied for full time instruction and I was accepted and approved by the Navy to attend the University of Minnesota. After two and a half years, I graduated with a B.S. in Nursing Education with a minor in Operating Room Technic. My next assignment was USNH, Camp Pendleton, California, as the instructor in O.R. technic. This tour lasted less than one year, for I received orders for Navy recruiting duty at Dallas, Texas, covering the area of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and half of Texas. The Army, Air Force and Navy nurse recruiters together visited all of the three- and four-year nursing programs in our area. After three and a half years of recruiting, 1 applied and was accepted in the graduate program at the University of Washington to major in Nursing Service Administration. In March of 1965, 1 graduated and was assigned to USNH, Guam, Mariana Islands. The Vietnam War was in full force. Eighteen months later, I was assigned to USNH, Newport, Rhode Island. This tour was my last duty station after having served twenty years and six months on active duty. I retired from the Navy on 1 May 1968 and returned to my native home state of Texas. And incidentally, before my retirement papers were finalized, I changed my date of birth back to the real date. -LCDS Joyce Hoover. USN (ret.)

DINNER MEETING  -  16 FEBRUARY 2000 Tracor Dining Hall - 6500 Tracer Lane (Highway 183, south of Webberville overpass, just off Ed Bluestein 1830 hours Attire: Coast & Tie or Military Uniform  Charge: $12.00 (Check payable to TROA) Note: Reservations may be made with your assigned caller or with your service representative by calling before 2100 hours on the Sunday prior to the Wednesday of the dinner. Cancellations should also be made by the aforementioned time. Individuals who do not honor reservations will be billed. GUEST SPEAKER Coach Mack Brown has notified us that he will be unable to speak at the February meeting. Instead, our guest speaker will be Judge Lee Yeakel.  Judge Yeakel who serves on the 3rd Court of Appeals will have as his topic "The Appellate System in the State of Texas." FYI... Because of the requests of several councils and chapters, national TROA published in its December 1999 TROAGRAM the following words found on the plaque "affixed to a small monument in front of the tree" which was planted as a memorial in Arlington National Cemetery several years ago: '"This living memorial is dedicated to all the men and women of the uniformed services, past and present. Their sacrifices and dedication ensure that America remains a land of the free.' Engraved on the left side of the plaque is the TROA emblem, which bears the initials of the seven uniformed services that make up TROA's membership. TAROA's Executive Board requests, as a matter of courtesy to our guest speakers, that audience members remain quiet until speakers have finished and the question and answer session (if applicable) has begun. -MAJ Jack Garrison, USAF {Ret) Happy Valentine's Day

 

Program Lee Yeakel Judge, 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals Topic: "The Appellate System of Texas" PLEASE NOTE: If you are not bring called each month concerning the dinner meeting on the third Wednesday, please call your service representative (listed on page 7 of this newsletter) and ask him/her to add your name to the list. DUES DUE AND PAYABLE TAROA's financial year begins on January 1 and ends on December 31. If you have not paid your dues for the year 2000, please fill in the form on the last page (back) of this newsletter and mail it along with your check to the address indicated on the form.

ORDER OF THE EVENING  1830-1900: Social Period Pay for Dinner,  Check in with Service Representative, Select Seats (sign form at end of table)  1900-1910 : Invocation Pledge of Allegiance National Anthem  1910-2000: Dinner and Door Prizes 2000: Speaker Menu Waldorf Salad Marinated  Roast Pork Loin w/ Demi-glace  Wild Rice & Steamed  Broccoli Spears Rolls  Lemon Meringue Pie  Coffee & Tea TRANSPORTATION NEEDED If you live in the zip code 78739 area or an adjacent one and are willing to provide or share transportation to the monthly dinner meeting for/with a fellow TAROA member, please contact Peggy Holland at 335-1224 or at e-mail PHeditor@aol.corn.

LONG TERM POLICY CARE "Did you know that approximately 43 percent of those turning 65 years old can expect to spend time in a long-term-care facility? What's more, about half of them will spend five years or longer in a nursing home. You can prepare for the possibility of requiring long-term care in your older years by purchasing long-term-care insurance ... A good policy should offer: Strong financial backing; an adequate daily benefit; inflation protection; a home health care option; a reasonable elimination period; and an acceptable benefit period." -CWO2 JohnLysmsht, USCG-Ret  [Note: Mr. Lysaught's entire article may be found in the January 2000 TROAORAM] If the star symbol  is found on the first page of your bulletin this month, please bring the bulletin to the 16 February dinner meeting and show it to the treasurer. VETERANS HEALTH CARE AND BENEFIT ACT      Washington - Veterans will be entitled to VV improved long-term care and other benefits thanks to a new law signed by President Clinton in November.      The comprehensive Veterans Millennium Health Care and Benefit Act directs the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve access to long-term care for disabled veterans. It also provides veterans with other health care benefits, new veterans' cemeteries and educational benefits.      VA will also examine innovative ways to provide nursing home care and ways to help families. Specifically VA will provide geriatric evaluation, nursing home care-either in VA facilities or in community-based facilities, home care services, adult day health care, non-institutional alternatives to nursing home care and respite care. The new law includes provisions that: Extend the housing loan program for members of the reserve components who serve at least six years to 2007. The current programs expires in 2003. Permit veterans to use their Montgomery GI Bill money to pay for preparatory courses such as those readying students to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test or the Graduate Record Exam. Authorize VA to pay reasonable emergency care costs for veterans who receive their medical care from VA. Authorize VA to provide care to TRICARE-eligible military retirees and| Purple Heart recipients.

Direct VA to examine the creation of six new  national veterans' cemeteries.  While not specifying where the new cemeteries should be, the law urges  VA to closely examine such "underserved" areas as Detroit, Atlanta, Miami, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma City, and Sacramento California. Add bronchiolo-arveolar carcinoma a rare form of lung cancer not associated with tobacco use, to the list of service connected diseases for Atomic veteran; Authorize the American Battle Monuments Commission to borrow $65 million from the U.S. Treasury to begin construction of the World War II Memorial in November 2000. -Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service TROA greatly needs the help of all members to ensure the passage of the "Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act." [Last November's Bulletin Board described the provisions of bill H.R.2966 introduced by Repasentative Ronnie Shows (D-MS).] Of the several bills that address Medicare subvention H.R.2966 is "the only one introduced so far that would authorize Medicare-eligibles a choice of continuing Tricare coverage after age 65 or enrolling in FEHBP For retirees who entered service before June 7, 1956, H.R.2966 would provide this coverage without charge to the retiree." So, if you did not contact your congressman or -woman when he or she was in your home district, please use "the Health Can Equity Hot Line to send mailgrams urging your U.S. representative to take immediate action or health care equity legislation." You may send mailgrams via TROA's Web Site (http://www.troa.org/Legislative/HealthMail- gram.asp) or you may dial 1-800-423-8440 (Western Union's toll-free Health Care Equity Hot Line). Using the latter method, you must "give the operator your full name, address and ZIP code, plus your major credit card number and expiration date. Ask the operator to send The Military Coalition's health care equity mailgrams to your elected officials" (You need not know their names.) "You will be billed $6.75 on your Visa/ MasterCard/American Express card. Please contact your representatives, tell them how you feel and help make the passage of the "Keep Our Promise to America's Military Retirees Act" a highlight of 2000' -TROA's Legislative Update 1/94/00