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DISCONCERTING COINCIDENCE
The last issue of your worthwhile magazine named VVA members
who recently passed away. My concern is that six of our
brethren died in December 2007 in Oxford, New York. All
six were permanently hospitalized members of VVA Owego
Chapter 480.
Was there a specific event that caused their deaths? Was
there an investigation, news releases, or other information
published regarding their deaths? All VVA members who passed
away had their specific dates of death published. All but
these six.
I am sure that many would like to have more information about
what happened in December 2007. If your staff or anyone who
has any information about the above would let us know it
would be greatly appreciated.
Richard S. Titilah
Via Email
Fr. Phil Salois, M.S., VVA National Chaplain, replies:
These six death notices from Oxford were all sent to me at
one time; December only indicates the month their names were
taken off the VVA membership roster. Due to the Privacy Act
and because VVA is not next of kin, it is very difficult
to get information on permanently hospitalized veterans.
Notices usually arrive in batches. Unless the local chapter
visits regularly, the death of a permanently hospitalized
veteran may pass unnoticed for a long time.
MANY HATS
I read Brian Bobek’s letter in the March/April issue,
which concerned his VFW experience in 1968. This, unfortunately,
did happen to many returning veterans during the Vietnam
War. But I have a news flash: We, Vietnam veterans, now run
the VFW. I never had the experience Brian had when I joined.
I was welcomed with open arms. I was commander for three
terms, and I’m currently second vice-president of my
VVA chapter.
Many of us wear many hats in the veterans’ communities
we live in. I’d never let a veteran from any war tell
me I don’t belong.
Cory Kilvert
Via Email
THE GUYS ON THE GUNS
The March/April issue was given to me by a friend and fellow
veteran. In this issue, “Mark Jury’s Quiet War
in Vietnam” contains photos from July 1969 to July
1970. I was in Fire Support Base Wood from September 22,
1969, until it was shut down (Vietnamized) in December of
1969. I have been looking for information regarding this
FSB and have found none until now.
I was a gun chief, and would like to get more
information and names of the guys who were on those guns
during the period. I would also like to speak to Mark Jury
regarding his photo book.
Ryan Neuhauser
Via Email
We have given Ryan Neuhauser’s contact info
to Mark Jury—ed.
THE VALUE OF SACRIFICE
I am a life member and read every issue with great interest.
I served with pride, then graduated from college, then started
a successful business, and taught high school for 31 years.
When
I retired several years ago, I went to the VA to see about
obtaining medical benefits. Of course, I was denied because
I made more than $28,000 a year. In reading your article
on the continuing underfunding of the VA, I see that it
is still the same.
Our leaders in Washington do not value veterans’ sacrifices
for the country although they give lip service to the concept.
Gary A. Melvin
Fresno, California
STOP THE COOKIES
I have just finished the March/April issue. The entire publication
is informative. One column, in particular, caught my eye.
The report of the Veterans Incarcerated Committee is an entire
column of nothing. It mumbles about VIN-1-95 content. It
points out that VIN-1-95 may be obsolete in the light of
the “Second Chance” legislation. The Second Chance
legislation (according to Government Track) is on hold and
is a paper life raft. The column rambles on about these two
bills without a single note of urgency.
Moreover, I would
suggest that the committee is blinded by its activities in
prisons. Although visiting incarcerated brothers-in-arms
is noble, we should be working to prevent incarceration to
start with—not delivering cookies
to the slammer.
Your column suggests that PTSD should be introduced
as a mitigating factor in sentencing. “Diminished Capacity” is
a legal defense for a person suffering from PTSD. We don’t
convict and beg. We don’t allow veterans to be victimized
by a system that has no interest in their combat legacy.
PTSD is a valid defense against prosecution.
Thomas J. Delaney
Via Email
REREADING THE NAMES
I just finished reading “Thirty Names” in the
March-April issue and feel compelled to thank you for making
this truly wonderful experience available to all of us who
wish we could have been there to hear the reading of the
names at The Wall.
When I started reading, I thought: How
hard can it be? You just get up and read a few names. But
as I read on, I began to feel the reverence and pride Fred
Wilhelm must have felt for those whose names he read, as
well as for all the others whose names appear on that “Great
Wall.” By the
time I finished reading, I, too, had a lump in my throat
and a tear in my eye.
I served in the 120th Avn. Co. as a
helicopter crew chief on assault helicopters from June ’69
to Aug. ’71,
and have high school classmates as well as fellow 120th Avn.
Co. soldiers’ names on The Wall. I visited in 1986,
and it was one of the most moving experiences of my life.
I still remember it as if it happened yesterday.
Ralph Torrey
Vergennes, Vermont
AMEND THE CONSTITUTION
During the 1960s, ’70s, and the ’80s, I did not
let it be known that I was in the service, let alone that
I had served in Vietnam. My attitude stemmed from the way
our government and the public treated us. You could say I
was ashamed. Today, after almost forty years, I finally am
proud to say that I am not only a retired serviceman, but
that I served in Vietnam.
This was accomplished with a lot
of counseling and with VVA setting an example for me by leading
the fight against the worst treatment ever received by veterans
from our government and the public. VVA set another example
by working to change our image, to insure we receive our
benefits, and to help all veterans.
This organization, its
name and what we stand for, needs to stay in the eyes of
the government and the public. Yes, there are other veterans’ organizations,
but the VVA name is a reminder of the worst times that veterans
ever had. We need to stand out forever as a reminder to all
who follow us.
We can do this by supporting AVVA, but we must
also change the VVA Constitution to permit AVVA to carry
on our name and our work, even at the chapter level. If we
do not do this, all of our accomplishments will disappear
as we slowly die off.
Harold Melvin Cook
Miami, Oklahoma
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