Chapter 172 Election Results

 President
*Roger Krueger  83 votes

Jim Feagles           16

1^st Vice President

*Steve Parsons      52

Jim Williams         46

Second Vice President

Bobby Cook…(unopposed)

Secretary

Bill Lange…(unopposed)

Treasurer

Stan Kline….(unopposed)

Board of Directors

*Joe Brennen 78

*Bob Peck      77

*Denny Bantz 76

*Dave Shaulis  72

*Chip Bosley   66

*Rodger Long 61

  Carl Garlitz   47

  Chip Sours    43

State Counsel Delegates

• Roger Krueger 78  *Jim Williams 72
• Harold Stallings 55 *Rodger Long 53

Jim Harris 51 Chip Sours 21

               Denny Bantz 8

Alternates to the State Council

Gary Shope, Bob Peck, Bobby Cook

Harlan Smith (all unopposed)

Nomination Committee

Jackie Miller, Ken Hausman (unopposed)

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A Shout Out

An old friend of Chapter 172 Don “Redhorse” Wilhide and his lovely bride Gloria just celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary. Don is recovering from a bout with esophageal cancer and hopefully everything is looking up for these two crazy kids. Best wishes and congratulations.

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To a Friend and a Pal

I remember a time in basic training we had a man whose name was “Higgins”, a big man. He couldn’t do anything right. Groover took “Higgins” shirt and put it on and took his PT test for him, plus his own test; which included running a mile the low crawl and many other activities all in one day, so “Higgins” could pass basic.

       Groover Hott was not only a friend and pal he was a man. I guess the good Lord has another “Higgins” he wants Groover to help with. Groover has gone to a better place.

He will be missed by many.

Written by: Larry C. Lewis

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March 10, 2008 – Sen. Mikulski

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) today led a bipartisan group of her Team Maryland colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs James B. Peake, calling on him to provide emergency staffing to immediately address the growing backlog of compensation, pension claims and disability cases at the Veterans’ Benefits Administration’s (VBA) Baltimore Regional Office.  At the Baltimore office, there are 6,445 claims and cases – almost one third of the office’s workload – that have been pending for over 180 days.  This is well above the national average.

“We have a sacred trust with the veterans who risked their lives so that we may live in freedom.  Part of that sacred trust is making sure we provide our veterans with the services and support they need,” said Senator Mikulski.  “This backlog is unacceptable.  Many of the vets waiting for their compensation are seniors.  They shouldn’t have to battle their government for months to get the benefits they need and deserve.”

Joining Senator Mikulski in signing the letter were colleagues Senator Benjamin L. Cardin (D), House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D) and Congressmen Albert Wynn (D), Roscoe Bartlett (R), Elijah E. Cummings (D), Chris Van Hollen (D), C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D) and John Sarbanes (D).

The text of the letter is below:

Dear Secretary Peake,

We are deeply disturbed about the growing backlog of compensation and pension (C&P) claims and disability cases at the Veteran’s Benefits Administration’s Baltimore Regional Office.  We ask that you take immediate action to address this crisis situation.

The most recent VBA Workload Report says that 6,445 claims and cases (32.2 percent) have been pending for over 180 days.  This is well above the nation’s average of 26 percent.  Baltimore has the third highest percentage of C&P claims pending for over 180 days out of the 16 Eastern Area regional offices.  Exacerbating the situation, only 2 Decision Review officers are currently available and holding hearings.

We know that Baltimore recently hired 7 new claims specialists.  But, these specialists will need 2 years of training until they can effectively process all types of cases and claims.  Veterans who have filed cases and claims have service-connected disabilities, limited incomes, are unable to work and/or are over 65 years old.  This is a vulnerable population that can’t afford to wait 2 more years before receiving their benefits.

We ask that you take immediate action by providing emergency staffing assistance to the Baltimore Regional Office until this crisis is under control.  Veterans and their families are suffering as they wait for the benefits our nation promised to them for proudly serving our country.  Please do all that you can to make sure promises made to our nation’s veterans are promises kept.

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FIGHTING BACK PHASE I PART I
OR
SAVING SOME GOLD BEFORE AND DURING OUR GOLDEN YEARS

Last month’s article addressed the fact that our government has designed "the system" so that our purchasing power, and at times even our net income, will decline as we enter retirement . This will result in most senior citizens experiencing a decreasing standard of living . If you live long enough you will probably reach those economic stages of life called poverty and destitution. Once you reach this stage and get sick you can expect to be tossed into the lowest quality nursing home or sheltered care facility that cannot find a legal loophole to keep from taking you or your spouse . The politicians blame the system and hope you will not remember that they are the ones who changed the system into what it is today, during our lifetime . If change occurs it will be because we veterans, leading the rest of the nation’s citizens, drag the cursing, reluctant, politicians into that change. You must get involved in the political process.
The best news, you can do much more than just becoming politically active to help yourself and your family. How, you ask, I am already stretched to get from week to week or month to month.
How is a question each individual or family must answer for their particular situation. Part of the answer to saving depends on the talent and skill levels of the individuals. It also depends on the time each person has available and how each person or family chooses to spend that time. Determining how to change your life style with out reducing your quality of life will play a part in changing the amount of gold you can generate for savings for retirement also .
Before you do anything you need to set down and consider what you need to live on now once you make changes and also what you will need to live on in retirement. You need figures for survival and figures for extras as well. Consider retirement location and the amount of money your government is going to steal from you each year by taking your social security cost of living increases for medicare etc. (remember this is a negative compounding process that leaves you with less purchasing power each succeeding year). Where are you going to get the money to replace this ever increasing drain on your purchasing power, IRA’s, 401 K’s, private investments or the tooth fairy? Be conservative with your figures. It is a lot better to end up with a little extra to live on than a lot less.
The next one is KEY and a lot of people miss it. The total pool of money from which your retirement income is derived must increase in value each year at the current level of YOUR PERSONAL inflation rate IF you want your net income to grow at your inflation rate. In other words if you want to keep your purchasing power i.e. your financial life style all your life and keep your investments to pass along to your children you must grow your investments at the rate of inflation. Most people are not of this frame of mind but some of you may be and this are is written for all veterans so I included it.
Now for the rest of us. Yes we want to maintain our present lifestyle or as close to it as financially possible in retirement. Well, we still have to set down and figure it out, but our total funds only have to last till a minimum of age 93 for men and 96 for women (the percentage is said to be 1 of 4 married people will reach this age) . With this set of figures we don’t have to
2.
leave the kids anything. Aren’t they the lucky ones.
When doing these financial work up’s don’t forget the cost of disposing of your dead body. Personally I plan on doing this on the cheap. I have already signed up for the VA Cemetery. I plan on letting Uncle Sam pay for cutting the grass. This is in my opinion the least your country can do for you.
The longer your delay crunching the numbers the greater your risk of living in poverty in the future. It may not be as bad as it appears when you stop and think about it. Most people know what they are spending a year. Tax forms tell you a lot as do banking, checking, and credit card statements.
It has been proven that people who are deep in debt and getting deeper in debt can by their own initiative turn their financial life around . Some simply by finding one small area where they could save just a little and use the savings to pay off one small bill. Then they used that savings to pay off another bill etc. till they got out of debt. Then they took part of that money to save and part to enjoy a better life. Some of these people have gone on to become extremely well off financially. This took time so it is important to start now, from where ever you are financially.
Step one is to find out where you are now financially, step two is to find out where you want to be and step three is to find out when you want to be there (retirement).
Last and most importantly not least: Most, but not all, people who retire travel and do other activities that take more money up until age 70. Then, as they age further, they gradually curtail these higher cost activities due to aging and health concerns. Reasonably you may want to consider this information and factor it into your calculation for a financially secure retirement. You may want to save up part of your extra money one year to do something special the following year. But don’t save it till you can no longer enjoy it because if you do your money will have been of no use to you .

Next Month: FIGHTING BACK PHASE I PART II
Jim Feagles

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M.S. Walk

Saturday, April 5^th Chapter 172 turned out in big numbers to support Jessica Potter as members of the “J Team.” The walk started at the Western Maryland and went to the “Narrows” and back. The color guard was there in force to present the colors. Despite the cold weather every one seemed to have a good time while supporting this great cause. This was a high profile event where we were able to support one of our own.  Well done.

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Taps

Chapter member Harold Turner died March 31, 2008 at his home. Our prayers and best wishes to his wife Susan and family, he will be missed by all who knew him.

We have been notified that Allegany County will make a donation to Chapter 172 in his memory.

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Spring Has Sprung

Editorial Opinion

Seems like spring is finally upon us the Chapter elections are over and we can move forward to another rewarding and productive year. FY 07-08 has seen one accolade after another being directed at the Chapter Senator Benjamin Cardin has recognized Chapter 172 for our patriotic principles, letter to follow.

Listening to the experts on the radio recently about the war and how well the surge is working and what great troops we have and how proud they are of them and how we have to stay the course. Did you ever notice all of these talk show experts who all know exactly what it would take to run this country have never worn the uniform? They have no idea what it is like to be a young man or woman going through the hardships of deployment and being away from your family to say nothing of the occasional night in hell. But they’re all for somebody else doing it. I hope that they remember how gung ho they were when the VA is overwhelmed next year and needs more money provide the basic needs for these veterans. I hope all of these talk show experts will ride Congress to provide funding just as hard as they ride everybody else who has the nerve to disagree with them.

If you missed the episode of “Boston Legal” that aired April 8, 2008 it is worth going to abc.com it has one of the best monologues on how we treat our veterans and how we should treat our veterans.

And on a closing note remember as I said earlier it is spring. Always wear your shoes there are snakes in the grass, everywhere.