Chapter Elections

Oh yes, it’s that wonderful time of the year again, election time at Chapter 172. This is your official notice. Elections will be held at the Chapter on Thursday, April 5, 2007.

There will be a Board of Directors meeting beginning at 1800.  All members are welcome to attend the Board of Directors meeting prior to the Annual Meeting (election meeting) which will commence at 2000 hours.

If you plan to attend the Election meeting please make an effort to be on time. Once the voting ballots are handed out the Sergeant at Arms will secure the front door and no one will be admitted to the building until the election results are final.

If you did not turn your name into the Nomination Committee prior to the March 1,2007 meeting you still can be nominated from the floor on election night.

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House Rules

Several months ago the Board of Directors passed a by-law concerning attendance at meetings. It simply states that when there is a meeting in progress that the third floor is closed. If you are in the building you are expected to attend the meeting, if you elect to not attend the meeting you are free to leave until the meeting (BOD or Membership) has concluded. It has also always been the rule that no guest are allowed in the building without the consent of the President.

We are sorry if we have caused anybody an embarrassment it was not the intention of any board members or officers we just thought that everybody had gotten the word.

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Walter Reed a Mess

If you have been watching the news lately you no doubt know about the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital. Seems like this latest revelation has Senator Barbara Mikulski’s (D. MD) hackles up. I received this press release from her office this week; I think you’ll find it interesting.    

News from Senator Mikulski -

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, February 20, 2007 

CONTACT: Melissa Schwartz (Mikulski) 202-228-1122 Alex Glass (Murray) 202-236-1671

Senators Demand Investigation of Deplorable Conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center

Mikulski, Murray urge Defense Secretary to Launch Thorough Inspector General Investigation of Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Hospital

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) today wrote to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, urging him to launch an Inspector General's investigation of the deplorable living conditions facing returning Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans at the Army's flagship military hospital, Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. 

"If conditions at Walter Reed, the crown jewel of military health care facilities, have degraded to the point where mouse traps are handed out to patients, how can we feel confident that our troops and veterans truly have the care and transition assistance they have been promised at any facility across the country?" the Senators wrote.

The Senators also asked for an investigation into conditions at the Navy's top hospital, Bethesda Naval Hospital.  The letter follows an investigation by The Washington Post that revealed substandard living conditions, bureaucratic delays and inadequate benefits for seriously injured service members.  Mikulski and Murray are both members of the Senate's Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees funding for the two facilities.

Specifically, the Senators asked for:

* an inspection of each outpatient facility to assess their quality and safety.

* a report on the number of caseworkers and an assessment of their training and workload.

* a review of the paperwork requirements for recovering soldiers.

* a report on the accessibility and quality of psychological counseling for Soldiers and their families.

* a remediation plan, including a timeline and description of the steps the Department of Defense will take to improve outpatient care, and improve and simplify benefits for wounded military personnel.

The text of their letter follows:

February 20, 2007

Secretary Robert Gates

1000 Defense Pentagon

Washington, DC 20301

Dear Secretary Gates:

We have seen first hand the excellent medical care that our troops receive at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.  In many cases Walter Reed's professional care and military expertise means the difference between life and death for our wounded combat heroes. 

This is why we were so shocked and outraged to read the Washington Post's weekend series on the dire conditions many of our military wounded face as they transition out of acute care and into outpatient care at Walter Reed.  There is no more vivid image of the lack of planning by the Bush Administration for a prolonged military operation in Iraq than the neglect of our men and women in uniform when they come home.

We are writing today to demand an end to that neglect. 

According to the Post series, members of our military suffering from devastating physical and mental wounds are left to navigate a system of dilapidated living quarters, bureaucratic nightmares, language barriers, inadequate and confusing benefits and neglect on virtually every level.

Over 700 soldiers are living as outpatients either on post or in apartments and hotels near by.   The Washington Post showed shocking pictures of Building 18 - which is infested with rodents, has mold, broken doors and a broken elevator.  

While we understand from subsequent stories that work has begun on Building 18, these revelations raise a larger and even more concerning issue:

If conditions at Walter Reed, the crown jewel of military health care facilities, have degraded to the point where mouse traps are handed out to patients, how can we feel confident that our troops and veterans truly have the care and transition assistance they have been promised at any facility across the country?

We are well aware of plans by the Pentagon to close Walter Reed by 2011, but that is no excuse for atrocious conditions in 2007.  As long as we have troops coming home, we demand that they be treated with the dignity and respect they have earned from a grateful nation.

That is why we are calling for an immediate Inspector General investigation of conditions for outpatients at our premier military hospitals - Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval Hospital.  This investigation must include:

-an inspection of each outpatient facility to assess the quality and safety of each facility -a report on the number of caseworkers and an assessment of their training and workload -a review of the paperwork requirements for recovering soldiers -areport of on the accessibility and quality of psychological counseling for soldiers and their families -a  remediation plan, including a timeline and description of the steps the Department of Defense will take to improve outpatient care and improve and simplify benefits for wounded military personnel

We insist that you initiate the Inspector General review immediately, to insure that recovering troops and their families are treated with the care and respect they deserve.  With wounded heroes suffering every day under these unacceptable conditions, we respectfully ask that this review be given the highest priority and be completed in the shortest amount of time possible.  Our wounded veterans deserve no less. 

Sincerely,

Barbara A. Mikulski

United States Senator

Patty Murray

United States Senator                                                       

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Observation

Editorial Opinion

So now if you didn’t already know there are some parts of the VA system that are not quite up to par. We all know that the VA budget has been cut. Today it was announced that the President is going to ask for another One hundred billion dollars for Iraq. I had to spell the number out because I am not sure how to do it with numbers, but to me that seems like an awful lot of money???

Back in the sixties and seventies the VA was generally considered to be a mess. A dumping ground for political favors. I remember stories about how beds in certain hospitals had to be moved around when it rained to keep patients from getting wet. Stories about paralyzed veterans who would save the bread from their meals to throw around the their beds at night to feed the rats so they wouldn’t eat their toes and a thousand other nightmarish stories, read the book “Born on the Fourth of July.”

So some things never seem to change in the new national spirit of go get ‘em boys, let’s make ‘em pay we still can’t take care of our warriors who pay the price of defending our nation.

Here’s what I see, “Walter Reed” is one of the flag ship hospitals. It is located just outside of Washington, D.C. you would think that it would be the shining example of what military and VA hospitals should be. It’s right there next to all the political big shots and brass hats are we to believe that they just all found out about this at the same time? So what’s it like at all of the “lesser” places those hospitals and clinics that aren’t right there in the so called fishbowl of D.C.?  Is there something worse out there just waiting to be discovered, or are they all scrambling to save their own tails putting a coat of paint over everything that dowser’s move?   

Just when you think the monster is dead it rears its ugly head again.

Steve Parsons

February – March 2007

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>

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff gives wounded warrior a lift home
 By Capt. Vanessa Hillman and Staff Sgt. Candy Knight
 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs >
 TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- An injured Marine received an unexpected
 upgrade in his flight home from Iraq here Feb. 8.
>
 Marine Lance Cpl. Steven Eastburn from the Marine Corps Air Station
 Kaneohe, Hawaii, was on his way home to be with his family during his
 recovery. One of his stops along the way was at the David Grant USAF
 Medical Center's (DGMC) Aeromedical Staging Facility.
 
 Unbeknownst to him, at the same time he was awaiting his flight, Gen.
 Peter Pace, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, was landing at Travis for a
 quick "gas and go" en route to Hawaii.
 
 When General Pace learned a fellow Marine was on his way home after being
injured in Iraq, he didn't hesitate.
>
 "When I greeted General Pace and Mrs. Pace on the flight line one of the
 things I mentioned was that we currently had a Marine that was wounded in
 Iraq waiting transportation in our aeromedical staging facility," said Col
 Steve Arquiette, 60th Air Mobility Wing Commander. "The next words out of
 his mouth were 'let's go' and we were off."
 
 Arriving at the DGMC, the general went straight for the Marine's room and  knocked on the door.
 
 "Hey Marine! Are you up for a visitor?" he shouted. When the Marine  responded with a hearty, "Yes, Sir," he didn't have a clue who he was  responding to.
 
 "Corporal Eastburn was in shock to say the least," said Col. Arquiette.
 "General Pace found out the corporal was going to Hawaii as well and said,
 'You're coming with me, we'll go home together.'"
 
 The general's flight was delayed for a short period of time as medical
 personnel gathered Corporal Eastburn's belongings, checked him out of the
 hospital and prepared him for the flight home, but the general didn't mind
 one bit.
>
 "Delaying the flight to take a wounded warrior home was the right thing to
 do," the general said. "If I can get him home five or six hours earlier to
 see his family, I'm going to do it."
 
 The general's generous offer was not lost on the staff at the DGMC.
>
 "While it was amazing experience for me to meet the Chairman of the Joint
 Chiefs of Staff, I think it was more of a highlight for the patient," said
 Staff Sgt. Darwin Diaz, 60th Aerospace Medicine Squadron Aeromedical
operations technician. "Not everyone gets offered a ride home by the
 Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."
 
 "I was very impressed by his attitude toward the wounded Marine," said
 Senior Master Sgt. Scott Williams, 60th AMDS. "He was more concerned about
 the injured Marine than he was about all the prestige his position gives
 him."
& gt;
 General Pace departed the base with Corporal Eastburn commending Team  Travis' assistance.
 
 "This was a much more productive stop than I ever would have expected," he
 said. "In a very short amount of time, you all went above and beyond to
 support my request."
 
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CHAPTER 172 OFFICERS AND BOARD FOR

2005-2006

President, Roger Krueger

First Vice-Pres. Steve Parsons

Second Vice-Pres., Bobby Cook

Secretary, Bill Lange

Treasurer Rick Webb

Board of Directors

Chip Bosley, Dave Shaulis, Bob Peck,

Ken Darnay. Stan Kline  Rusty Dennison

State Council Delegates

Roger Krueger, Jim Harris, Harold Stallings

Jim Williams

Nominating Committee

Danny Bantz, Lawrence Wilson

Committee Chairs

Color Cmdr. Joe Brenen

Comm. Service Chip Bosley

Constitution…Steve Parsons

ETABO…Don Burkett—

Finance…William Lange

Govt. Affairs…William Lange

Membership…Ken Darnay

Minority Affairs Dave Shaulis

Vets Affairs Rusty Dennison

Veterans Benefits Bobby Cook

Women Vets Harlan Smith

Agent Orange…Robert Cook

Scholarship Rusty Dennison

Grunt Shirt…Harry Bosley

Health and Care…Robert Cook

Museum…Jim Feagles

Chap.Photog…Charlie Pennington

Newsletter…Steve Parsons

POW/MIA…Don Burkett

Reflections…Roger Krueger

SPOC… Steve Parsons

Social Comm. …Roger Krueger        

Vets Assistance…William Lange

Web site…Nelson Lindeman