Austin, Texas Chapter
I really enjoyed Lu Mitchell last month. Ballads and folk songs are my
kind of music. It was amazing to know she writes all of her songs
that she performs. It was fun to sing along Many thanks to Stan Bullard for not
only scheduling Lu's visit for our meeting, but also for sponsoring her trip as
well. Stan is truly a giving person. J. Robert Howard
As a deer longs for a stream of cool water, so I long for you, O God.
I thirst for you, the living God. When can I go and worship in your presence?...
Psalm 42:1-2
ROTC AWARDS PROGRAM
About the marriage of his friend Col. Ward,
Washington wrote to a mutual friend:
During March 21 and 22, 1918—the opening days of the great German
drive-there was comparatively little aerial activity. The aviators of both
sides were preparing for the impending battle, which actually began on the
morning of March 23d and lasted all that day and the day following.
The story of the air battle of March 23d-24th reads like one of the most
extraordinary adventure tales ever imagined. The struggle began with
squadrons of airplanes ascending and maneuvering as perfectly as cavalry.
They rose to dizzy heights, and, descending swept the air close to the
ground. The individual pilots of the opposing sides then began executing all
manner of movements, climbing, diving, turning in every direction, and
seeking to get into the best position to pour machine-gun fire into enemy
airplanes. Every few minutes a machine belonging to an Allied or German
squadron crashed to the ground, often in flames. At the end of the first
day's fighting wrecked airplanes and the mangled bodies of aviators lay
strewn all over the battle-field.
All next day, March 24th, the struggle in the air went on with unabated
fury. The Allied air squadrons were now on the offensive and penetrated far
inside the German lines. The German aviators counter-attacked whenever they
could, and more than once succeeded in crossing the French lines. But at the
close of the second day victory rested with the Allied airmen, and during
the next five scarcely a German airplane took the air.
In the period from September 12th to 11 o'clock on the morning of
November 11th, the American aviators brought down 473 German machines. Of
this number, 353 were con-firmed officially. Day bombing groups, from the
time they began operations, dropped a total of 116,818 kilograms of bombs
within the German lines.
Bombing operations were begun in August by the 96th Squadron, which in
five flying days dropped 18,080 kilograms of bombs. The first day
bombardment group began work in September, the group including the 96th, the
20th and 11th Squadrons. The 166th Squadron joined the group in November.
In twelve flying days in September the bombers dropped 3,466 kilograms of
bombs; in fifteen flying days in October 46,133 kilograms, and in four
flying days in November, 17,979 kilograms.
On November 11th, the day of the signing of the armistice, there were
actually engaged on the front 740 American planes, 744 pilots, 457 observers
and 23 aerial gunners.
Of the total number of planes, 829 were of the pursuit type, 296 were for
observation and 115 were bombers. In addition, several hundred planes of
various types were being used at the instruction camps when the war ended.
The Association for all Military Officers
Companion Bulletin-March 2009
Next month we will again be entertained by one of our distinguished
members and his wife. This time, Andrew McVeigh will provide us with some history,
adventure, and pathos when he and his wife Ervalyn disappeared for over a month
into the near east.
It's hard to believe that spring weather is already here. It's time
to start planning for graduations, awards, Youth Leadership conferences,
and vacations. At least this summer the price of gas should be
a reasonable part of our budget.
In the first week of March, we are off to Charleston, South Carolina, to
visit a new grandson: Grant Alexander Howard. We
expect him to follow our tradition of service to his country.
Chapter Commander
Our next meeting will be March 12th with Col
Andrew McVeigh at the Holiday Inn Northwest (Mopac & Hwy 183) Come
to the Inn at 1830 hours for the social period and 1900 for dinner.
Past Austin Chapter Commander, LTC Robert P. Vaughan was inducted into the University
of Texas at Arlington's Military Hall of Honor on St Valentine's Day. The event
included an elaborate honoree reception and banquet on campus. Companion Vaughan
was the Chapter's project officer during the infancy of the Youth Leadership Conference
program and laid the foundation for Austin Chapter's commitment to this outstanding
youth education endeavor.
He has been a counselor at the Texas A&M YLC for the past three summers and is a
seasoned veteran in that arena. Fellow counselors at the Texas A&M YLC, Ervalyn
McVeigh and Colonel John Thomas - National Sojourners, travelled to Arlington
for the induction festivities.
LTC Vaughan is the recipient of the Silver Patrick Henry Award.
Inspiration Selection
March 2009
(Chaplain Ernie Dean)
It is very human to long for things: the good old days, cheap gas, safety at
work, praise for a job well done, a time when a person's word was his/her bond,
a simpler time when the Sabbath was holy and we felt closer to God and to one
another.
A lot has changed. We are on a fast track to exhaustion, frustration, loss of
relationship. This is all of human making, for God is as steadfast and
everlasting as ever.
How wonderful it would be were all humankind to "thirst for the living
God." To be in relationship with God would untie the knots that bind our
hearts and souls. We would breathe easier, gain confidence that life truly is
meaningful, and we would be thrilled at the increased quality of our worship
lives.
God invites us in, into the circle of love, for God's creative spirit continues
to be active. Let us turn to God and commit ourselves to a sense of obedience to
God's ways, ways which are saving ways. God is present. God's steadfast love
endures forever!
Amen....
Chaplain Ernie Dean
This year our chapter will again support the area Junior and Senior ROTC
programs. We do so to honor young students, as our future leaders, for their
choice of dedicating themselves to hard work and subscribing to a sense of
patriotism.
We will participate in fifteen award ceremonies this year---10 junior and
5 senior ROTC programs. This translates to twenty-five awards because three
levels of awards are authorized for the senior program.
Each of us has an opportunity to contribute to our chapter’s ROTC
program. A $10.00 contribution will help defray the costs of the medal,
certificate and presentation folder for the 25 MOWW presentations to be made
during the months of April, May and early June.
In addition to your generous monetary contribution, you can also support
the program by serving as the MOWW presenter at an award ceremony. Additional
information will be provided in coming months should you be willing to volunteer
as a presenter.
In the meantime, please bring or mail your contribution to our chapter
treasurer, COL Andrew J. McVeigh III, at your earliest convenience. Please make
checks payable to AMOWW. Also mark your checks for the ROTC fund.
Leon Holland, COL, USA (Ret.)
Austin Chapter, MOWW
ROTC Coordinator
From
"Funny Letters from Famous People"
I am glad to hear that my old
acquaintance Colonel Ward is yet under the influence of vigorous
passions. I will not ascribe the intrepidity of his late
enterprise to a mere flash of desires, because in his military career he
would have learnt how to distinguish between false alarm and a serious
movement.
Charity
therefore induces me to suppose that like a prudent general, he had
reviewed his strength, his arms, and ammunition before he got involved
in an action. But if these have been neglected, and he has been
precipitated into the measure, let me advise him to make the first onset
upon his fair Del Toboso (a reference to the title invented by Don
Quixote for his ladylove) with vigor, that the impression may be deep,
if it cannot be lasting, or frequently renewed.
Legislative
Update:
Here are some items from the stimulus bill that might affect
us: Special Payment: Social Security annuitants,
disabled veterans, and certain others would be eligible for a one-time
$250 payment.
Military Homeowner Assistance Program (HAP): HAP
benefits (normally payable only at BRAC locations) are extended to certain
military homeowners who bought homes before 1 JUL 06 and who sell the
homes before 30 SEP 12.
Vehicle Sales Tax Deduction: Taxpayers purchasing a new
car, light truck, RV or motorcycle in 2009 will be able to deduct state
and local sales and excise taxes paid on the vehicle.
Incentives to Hire Unemployed Veterans: Businesses
would get a tax credit of 40% of the first $6,000 in wages for hiring
unemployed veterans who are within 5 years of leaving active duty and who
have drawn unemployment compensation for more than 4 weeks during the year
before being hired
Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) noted that between 2001 and 2007, health
care premiums for average Americans increased by 78%, which he called an “unsustainable”
and “unhealthy” trend.
The Postal Service has lost $7.9 billion in the past two
years. The Postal Service's biggest challenge: the cost of providing
health care to current and future retirees. Its $53 billion obligation is
greater than those of the Big Three automakers. The service owes its retiree
health fund $7.4 billion this year. With 650,000 workers, the Postal Service is
the USA's third-largest employer, after Wal-Mart and the Defense Department. It
has the nation's biggest vehicle fleet — and high gas prices cost it $500
million last year. Union contracts make layoffs rare. Raises are automatic.
Labor costs have been reduced through early retirement packages and cutting back
hours. The Postal Service has trimmed its workforce by 120,000 since 2002. It
wants to cut 100 million work hours this year. The average unionized postal
worker made $66,929 in wages and benefits in 2008, the Postal Service says.
Staff Meeting
The next staff meeting will be at the call of the Commander.
WW1 VET SEARCH UPDATE 04:
World War I took place so long ago — in a lost world of cavalry horses
and biplanes — that it’s a little startling to meet Frank Buckles in
the flesh. Buckles who turned 108 on 1 FEB is the last known survivor of
the American military personnel who took part in World War I. On Tuesday,
as a winter storm moved in from the west, he sat in a blue blazer in a
warm corner of his day room, surrounded by history books. Outside, white
wisps blew across the pale stubble on the 330-acre cattle farm where he
settled quietly in 1954 after what had already been a life’s worth of
adventure in two wars and as a commercial seafarer.
Beyond lay the river
town of Harpers Ferry, W.Va., and the Civil War battlefield at Antietam,
Md. Buckles said he had always known he would grow quite old. His father
lived to be 97. He had a sister who was 104. Other relatives on his mother’s
side lived to be 100. The national World War I veterans group, of which he
is the commander and sole member, used to publish a newsletter. Each issue
counted down the number of old doughboys still around. As the number got
smaller and smaller, "I realized I’d be one of the last," he
said, "but I never thought I’d be the last."
RAO Bulletin
From Old and Sold Antiques Digest.. Battles in the Air (Originally Published
1918)