The Association for all Military Officers Companion Bulletin-February 2018
Commodore Dewey, in a three pronged effort, annihilated a Spanish fleet in Manila Bay in the Philippines on May 1st. Only 7 Americans were wounded in the effort. In June, an American force landed east of the Cuban city of Santiago, troops sweating in heavy winter uniforms thoughtfully issued and eating what was called 'embalmed' beef out of cans. On 1 July, Teddy Roosevelt and the "Rough Riders" helped by Buffalo troopers of the 10th Cavalry, commanded by John J. Pershing, took the San Juan Heights. The War was basically over other than small resistance. The peace treaty was signed in Paris in December. Spain lost its last colonies in the New World, the United States had responsibility for the Philippines, Puerto Rico and the Pacific island of Guam, and had achieved worldwide recognition as a great power. Cuba gained its independence. Far more Americans were killed by tropical diseases - typhoid, yellow fever and malaria than fell in battle. Interesting side note is that the 'embalmed' beef and the illnesses that it caused led to the first Food and Drug Act. |
I encourage you to read more as we "Remember the Maine" and our military leaders of the past. Charles Bush, COL (R) USA
 Stanley Bullard has once again provided our February meeting entertainment. Thank you, Stanley!
Austin-based cabaret troupe Take 5 will combine their love of song to fill the room with music.
Take 5 performs an eclectic blend of tunes from the past and present. Composed of five talented singers, the group takes on the tunes of Ella Fitzgerald and
Dave Brubeck, along with classics from the Beach Boys to Barbra Streisand, and Broadway show tunes to jazz standards.
The group mixes vocal harmonies, stylish arrangements and distinctive stage presence for a full-performance
concert experience. The five singers say they take pride in their esprit de corps, which makes Take 5 a fun and personable group.
For the eighth consecutive year, U.S. News and World Report ranked the National Institutes of Health- developed DASH Diet "best overall" diet among nearly 40 it reviewed. The announcement came just as new research suggests that combining DASH, or Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, with a low-sodium diet has the potential to lower blood pressure as well as or better than many anti-hypertension medications. |
| Originally published February 2009 Every nation goes through periods of joy and periods of sadness, just as each of us does. A nation is a compilation of the lives of its people. Yet, we seem to forget how intertwined our lives are. The people who make rash and short-sighted decisions can dictate the path our lives take. You and I need stability, support, and true friends, someone who exemplifies a sustaining love. We may be looking in the wrong places, thereby missing the one help that never fails: God! The Bible gives us word after word of the goodness of God, but Psalm 89 is a particularly clear and powerful representation. When the psalmist says always and for all time, he means just that. Constant love is stable, steady, permanent. Faithfulness of God is a blessing that cannot fail, will not fail; it is permanent! The messes our personal lives become at times, and that the world experiences to such a serious degree at this moment, have their origins in disobedience‒what the Bible refers to as sin. I believe sin is anything we do or do not do that causes us to separate ourselves from the will of God. We pay an enormously heavy price for "having it our way." Because our lives are so intertwined it actually works both ways: world leaders who make rash and short-sighted decisions can dictate the path our lives take, but citizens who make rash and short-sighted decisions can influence the decisions leaders make. None is blameless; none is incapable of making things better. It is healthy to confess our need for a holy relationship with God. Then to add credence to our option, we repent‒turn away from our sin and turn back to God. Verse 52 challenges us to praise the Lord forever! Amen and Amen. May it be so! Chaplain Ernie Dean No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. -Aesop
This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I'd never met herbivore. Just remember, once you're over the hill, you begin to pick up speed. |
These are actual comments made by 16 Police Officers. The comments were taken off actual police car videos around the country:
1. "You know, stop lights don't come any redder than the one you just went through." I know a guy who's addicted to brake fluid, but he says he can stop any time. I stayed up all night to see where the sun went, and then it dawned on me. "The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails." - William Arthur Ward |
Chapter Officers
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President Trump and Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, traded threats at the beginning of the year about the
size, location and potency of their "nuclear buttons." There is only one problem: There is no button. William Safire, the former New York Times columnist and presidential speechwriter, tracked the origin of the phrase "finger on the button" to panic buttons found in World War II-era bombers. A pilot could ring a bell to signal that other crew members should jump from the plane because it had been damaged extensively. But the buttons were often triggered prematurely or unnecessarily by jittery pilots. The expression is commonly used to mean "ready to launch an atomic war," but the writer added in "Safire's Political Dictionary" that it is also a "scare phrase used in attacking candidates" during presidential elections. {Source: The New York Times | Russell Goldman | January 3, 2018 ++] VA Health Care, Same-Day Services On 12 JAN the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced a major milestone, that 100 percent of its more than 1,000 medical facilities across the country now offer same-day services for urgent primary and mental health-care needs. Same-day services means a Veteran with an urgent need for primary care and mental health-care receives services that may include: a face-to-face visit with a clinician; advice provided during a call with a nurse; a telehealth or video care visit; an appointment made with a specialist; or a prescription filled the same day, depending upon what best meets the needs of the Veteran. "We made a commitment to our nation's Veterans that we would work to reduce wait times and improve access, and we are doing it," said VA Secretary Dr. David J. Shulkin. "We were able to meet this goal, in large part, because of the concerted focus of our staff who care for our Veterans in facilities across the country." |
Consider it America's other prescription drug epidemic. For decades, experts have warned that older Americans are taking
too many unnecessary drugs, often prescribed by multiple doctors, for dubious or unknown reasons. Researchers estimate
that 25 percent of people ages 65 to 69 take at least five prescription drugs to treat chronic conditions, a figure that
jumps to nearly 46 percent for those between 70 and 79. Doctors say it is not uncommon to encounter patients taking more
than 20 drugs to treat acid reflux, heart disease, depression or insomnia or other disorders. Unlike the overuse of opioid
painkillers, the polypharmacy problem has attracted little attention, even though its hazards are well documented.
But some doctors are working to reverse the trend. At least 15 percent of seniors seeking care annually from doctors or hospitals have suffered a medication problem; in half of these cases, the problem is believed to be potentially preventable. Studies have linked polypharmacy to unnecessary death. Older patients, who have greater difficulty metabolizing medicines, are more likely to suffer dizziness, confusion and falls. And the side effects of drugs are frequently misinterpreted as a new problem, triggering more prescriptions, a process known as a prescribing cascade. {Source: The Washington Post | Sandra G. Boodman | January 6, 2018 ++] Autonomous vehicles such as those being tested by Google or Tesla will be one of the most important and disruptive technologies for the future of how people move, work and live. But terrorist groups are tracking these developments closely, too. Finnish security firm F-Secure reports "concrete evidence" that ISIS is considering the use of self-driving cars in place of suicide bombers, or for ramming attacks such as those carried out as early as June 2007 in Glasgow, as well as more recently in Nice in July 2016, Berlin in December 2016, London in June 2017 and, just two months ago, in New York. |
| Entrenching Tool
In 1951, Medal of Honor recipient U.S. Army 1st Lt. Benjamin F. Wilson found a weapon of last resort in the
entrenching tool. His unit had come upon a much larger enemy force in Hwach'on-Myon, Korea. Wilson dashed into
enemy fire to assist members of his unit who were pinned down and he killed four enemy fighters with his rifle
and grenades. Wilson then "led a bayonet attack, which ... killed approximately 27 hostile soldiers," according
to his Medal of Honor citation. But enemy forces launched another counterattack. "First Lieutenant Wilson, realizing
the imminent threat of being overrun, made a determined lone-man charge, killing seven and wounding two of the
enemy, and routing the remainder in disorder." "A third assault ensued, prompting Wilson to resort to fighting with his entrenching tool. "Unhesitatingly, First Lieutenant Wilson charged the enemy ranks and fought valiantly, killing three enemy soldiers with his rifle before it was wrested from his hands, and annihilating four others with his entrenching tool," his award citation read. "His courageous delaying action enabled his comrades to reorganize and effect an orderly withdrawal. While directing evacuation of the wounded, he suffered a second wound, but elected to remain on the position until assured that all of the men had reached safety." The value of the entrenching tool, or "etool," which is a shovel issued to soldiers and Marines, has come back into the spotlight in recent days after Command Sgt. Maj. John Troxell used it to rally forces over the holidays and via Twitter. Troxell challenged Islamic State fighters to surrender or die and said that U.S. troops could kill them "by beating them to death with our entrenching tools." Troxell is the senior enlisted adviser to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph Dunford. The Military Times Hall of Valor includes many citations for medals and awards that U.S. service members have earned for relying on their entrenching tool as a weapon of last resort. "In 1969, Silver Star recipient U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Lewis Grover was without his weapon in Quang Nam Province, Vietnam, when he spotted a lone Viet Cong fighter in a bunker. Grover, a rifleman with Company H, 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines, was tasked to refill all of the canteens for his unit when he spotted the enemy. Grover pretended not to notice the fighter, then quietly picked up an entrenching tool he found on the river bank. "He then maneuvered to a position from which he could approach the bunker entrance unseen. When an enemy soldier carrying an automatic weapon came out of the bunker, Private First Class Grover, armed only with the entrenching tool, unhesitatingly attacked the Viet Cong," his award citation reads. "Finally, there is Medal of Honor recipient U.S. Army Pfc. Anthony T. Kaho'ohanohano. In 1951, Kaho'ohanohano was out of ammunition, wounded and determined to provide cover for retreating friendly forces in Chup'a-ri, South Korea. Kaho'ohanohano was in charge of a machine gun squad supporting Company H, 2nd Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, when the unit was overrun by a much larger enemy force. "Private Kaho'ohanohano fought fiercely and courageously, delivering deadly accurate fire into the ranks of the onrushing enemy," his award citation read. "When his ammunition was depleted, he engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat until he was killed. His heroic stand so inspired his comrades that they launched a counterattack that completely repulsed the enemy. Coming upon Private Kaho'ohanohano's position, the friendly troops found 11 enemy soldiers lying dead before it and two in the emplacement itself, beaten to death with an entrenching shovel." [Source: MarineCorpsTimes | Tara Copp | January 11, 2018 ++]
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