Austin, Texas Chapter

The Association for all Military Officers
Companion Bulletin-September 2008

Companions,     First, I must say that it is an honor to serve as your commander for the coming year.   A functioning chapter requires a team effort and the team for next year continues with a strong cast. Stan Bullard is the First Vice commander and will once again provide us with outstanding programs. Your suggestions and inputs are always welcome. Andrew McVeigh continues to play a big part in the chapter as the treasure.  Pat Egan will support our group as the Adjutant, and Ernest Dean is our Chaplain and counselor.  Tom Anderson will again coordinate the Youth Leadership Conference, and  Leon Holland will do the same for our ROTC program. The position of newsletter editor is still available.    It's a team effort, and we will strive to provide a meaningful year to our companions.  We would really like to have more participation from our members.  We are a small group, and a few leaders have contributed for years.

We would love to see you at our meetings, but even if you can't come, you can support the organization.   There are three important things you can do for MOWW.   1. We need  fresh blood; so when you meet a military person, check for war service and invite him to attend a meeting.   2. Support us with suggestions for speakers or entertainment.    3. Contribute articles to the Companion Bulletin. If you don't write, but would like a subject included in the newsletter, let us know.  We are here to serve. Finally, we wish to thank the great service that our departing board members, James Burrill and David Cochran, have provided the chapter.  Also, the service given by Andrew McVeigh to the chapter over the last 7 years was indispensable. J. Robert Howard Chapter Commander

 

Meeting.  September 11th   2008 Holiday Inn Northwest (Mopac & Hwy 183)  The cost for the evening is less than $20.00.  If you are not called by 8 September, contact  COL Andrew McVeigh III at 261-6272 Speaker Youth Leadership Conference student.

Schedule: 1830-1900-Social 1900-1905 - Invocation & Salutes 1905-1945-Dinner 1945-2000-Break 2000-2045-Speaker 2045-2100-Adjourn.

 

 

Inspiration Selection   Psalm 133:1 "How wonderful it is, how pleasant for God's people, to live together in harmony." These are phenomenally turbulent times. The crime, killing, raping, and destruction going on in every continent is an insult to God (for God is love) and a terrible disregard for the sanctity of life. God created humans in God's likeness and image, meaning there is a spark of the divine in each one. That spark is a creative and loving spark, not one of destruction and greed. The chaos we see now all over the world is vivid testimony to the selfish, self-serving, unholy mindset that drags humanity down to a hellish condition. Let us do all we can to honor God's wishes for harmony and wholeness. Ernie   Staff Meeting The next staff meeting will be at the call of the Commander.

AO & PROSTRATE CANCER UPDATE  Veterans exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange are twice as likely to get prostate cancer as other veterans, UC Davis researchers found in a study published online by the journal Cancer. Prostate cancer in those men also comes on earlier and is more aggressive, said Dr. Karim Chaime, chief resident in urology at UC Davis and the study's lead author. The findings are a clear signal that men who worked with Agent Orange should be cared for differently, getting earlier biopsies and more aggressive treatment, he said. "This is a high-risk group." Chaime described the study of more than 13,000 Northern California veterans over eight years as "the biggest study ever done" on Agent Orange effects. It will be published in the 15 SEP print edition of Cancer, after online publication last week, and Chaime hopes it soon could lead to new Department of Veterans' Affairs treatment standards.  In a move that could lead to significant changes in medical care for older men, a national task force in the United States recommended that doctors stop screening men ages 75 and older for prostate cancer because the search for the disease in this group is causing more harm than good. from RAO Baguio

 

MEDICARE AMBULANCE COVERAGE: If it is an emergency, Medicare will generally cover ambulance services, as long as an ambulance is the only safe way to transport you (medically necessary); and you are transported to and from certain locations. If covered, Medicare will pay for 80% of its approved amount for the ambulance service. You or your supplemental insurance policy will be responsible for the remaining 20%. All ambulance providers must accept Medicare assignment, meaning they must accept the Medicare-approved amount as payment in full. If it is not an emergency, Medicare coverage of ambulance services is very limited. An emergency is when your health is in serious danger and every second counts to prevent your health from getting worse. If the trip is scheduled as a way to transport you from one location to another when your health is not in immediate danger, it is not considered an emergency. Medicare will never pay for ambulette services (i.e. use of specially equipped motor vehicles for transporting convalescing or handicapped people). Also, lack of access to alternative transportation alone will not justify Medicare coverage.

 

Chapter Officers Commander - LtCol J. Robert Howard 1st Vice Cmdr. - Maj. Stan Bullard Adjutant - Patricia Eagan Treasurer - Col. Andrew McVeigh Chaplain - LtCol Ernest Dean Youth Leadership Conference Coordinator - LtCol Tom Anderson ROTC Coordinator - Col Leon Holland

You only need two tools in life: WD-40 and duct tape.  If it doesn't move and should, use the WD-40.  If it shouldn't move and does, use the duct tape.    If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem.

G.I. Bill Editorial The vast majority of the funds allocated for the new GI Bill will not be available until the 2009-2010 academic year. For the academic year about to begin, eligible recipients of the current GI Bill will receive a monthly benefit of $1,321 per-month, an increase of $220 per-month from the current amount. The new GI Bill is generous and broad in scope. Under this iteration of the program, there are no enrollment fees to pay - your eligibility is based solely on your length of service after September 10, 2001. Anyone on active-duty in the Armed Forces (including Guard and Reserve) for three years or more is entitled to the full benefit for themselves up to 15 years post-separation. At a minimum, anyone serving for three months after September 10, 2001 is eligible for 40% of the benefit. After that, eligibility is staggered based on the time you have served on active-duty status.  This new enhancement is a big step forward for the Reserve Component, who was previously required to remain in the Guard or Reserve to receive the money. To protect those injured in service to our country, anyone injured with at least 30 continuous days on active duty and discharged due to service-connected disability is eligible for 100% of the benefit. Full eligibility benefits include four years of tuition at any of the Service member's home state public universities, plus a monthly stipend for housing and living expenses which averages about $1100 nationwide. It also includes an annual expense of $1,200 in tutoring services and $1,000 more to cover books. Altogether, the benefit could exceed more than $25,000 a year in the most expensive states. Veterans who have not yet used up their education benefits, or those who never signed up for the GI Bill when they were serving, can take advantage of the new rules. With the Post-9/11 GI Bill, transferability of the GI Bill benefit to a spouse or dependants is now a reality. Under the new GI Bill, troops who served at least 10 years on active duty will be able to transfer their benefit to a spouse or dependent child. Spouses can receive the money even sooner if their service member has been in the Armed Forces at least six years and agrees to another four-year contract.  This is seen as more of a retention tool, rather than an immediate benefit for personnel and family. Unfortunately, this ability to transfer benefits only applies to the Post 9/11 GI Bill program, and not the previous renditions of the GI Bill. For those veterans who have already used all of their GI Bill benefits, the changes do not offer any new money.  The Senate is already working on technical amendments to clarify some administrative errors in the recently-passed legislation. Also, the VA is working to come to grips with this massive and complex new program and will need to promulgate rules on a host of applicability issues.  For more information, visit the VA's website for the new GI Bill at www.gibill.va.gov,   Information from the Air Force Association Web Site

 

The Battle of King's Mountain by C. Hammett, Coordinator Tennesseans in the Revolutionary War    King's Mountain is unique in America's history: This battle-fought by 1,000 plus militiamen-without orders, formal military training, uniforms or provisions, and with no promise of pay-against the supposedly “superior forces”  of noted English Col. Patrick Ferguson-is credited by most early historians with having changed the course of the Revolution in the South, and may have even insured that the original number of colonies in these United States of America would be thirteen, not ten.     In only one hour and five minutes, the American Whigs (Patriots, Rebels) totally decimated Ferguson's American Tories (Loyalists, Royalists), with every last man of them either dead or taken prisoner, and the Colonel himself left dead on the battlefield-having signed his own death warrant less than a month earlier when he sent a message from his camp in Gilbert Town, Rutherford County, North Carolina, to the "officers on the Western waters" (west of the Blue Ridge) that if they did not "desist from their opposition to the British army, and take protection under his standard, he would march his army over the mountains, hang their leaders, and lay their country waste with fire and sword."    Col. Ferguson's warning was the result of his frustration over the refusal of most of the Overmountain men (east Tennessean and southwestern Virginians) to cease providing safe harbors for militiamen from the Carolinas and Georgia (who had eluded him after the August 16th defeat of American General Gates and the American army at the battle of Camden).    It did not have the expected results: The message was delivered to Sullivan County,  Tennessee Militia Colonel Isaac Shelby of Sapling Grove (present-day Bristol, Sullivan County, Tennessee), who immediately rode out to confer with neighboring Washington County, North Carolina (now Tennessee) Militia Colonel John Sevier. The two men agreed that the best solution was to "march with all the men we could raise, and attempt to surprise Ferguson, by attacking him in his camp, or at any rate before he was prepared. Col. Shelby also convinced Col. William Campbell, commander of the county militia in neighboring Washington County, Virginia, to join him.    By the time they arrived at Kings mountain, about 1200 men from 5 counties had joined the force. After an all-night forced march in pouring rains, at three o'clock the afternoon of the following day, on the 7th of October, the men circled the mountain and charged.    Only one hour later, Ferguson and scores of his troops were dead, and the remainder, many wounded, taken prisoner.

 

Youth Leadership Conference This year, our Chapter supplied five $160.00 YLC scholarships for emerging Bowie HS Juniors and Seniors. Mark Warren, a Junior at James Bowie, attended the largest Southwest Youth Leadership Conference, which was hosted by Texas A&M University, and was selected as one of its six honor graduates. We were pleased to have three members of our Chapter serving on this particular YLC staff. Col. McVeigh completed his sixth year as Director, LTC Robert Vaughan completed three years as either Provost or male Division Chief and Ervalyn McVeigh dutifully served six years as the Female Division Chief. For her inspirational service, Mrs. McVeigh was awarded the MOWW Bronze Patrick Henry medal, medallion with stand and certificate.