Next Meeting:

27 March at 7:00 PM

February Meeting Minutes

Meeting called to order at 1907 by Commander Wrigley. 7 members present. Colors advanced, prayer offered, POW/MIA empty chair recognized, prayers offered for those lost and unaccounted for and the Preamble recited.

Minutes of January meeting read and accepted.

Treasurers Report read and accepted.

Sick Call:

·       Greg d’Arbonne is recovering from surgery. Ben Perreault will circulate a card to send.

·       Phil Winter was seen recently out and about in town.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

·       As the Post did not formally contract snow plowing this year, we were fortunate to have Clarence and David Farwell offering their services voluntarily. The high number of storms this year made it difficult to keep up. Attempts to thank them both with gas were not fulfilled. It was discussed that we would wait until the winter is over and decide on a donation.

·       The $50 honorarium voted last meeting to Contestant Frances has been withdrawn as he decided not to participate in the debate.

·       At present, Post 74 is at 97%. Commander Wrigley is looking for one more member so the Post can reach 100% membership.

·       A request was made by two previous visitors to the Post (presented slideshow of their Iraq and Afghanistan tours last year) asking if they can join Post 74. It was agreed they should apply and we would accept.

COMMITTEE REPORTS: Slate of Officers for 2008

·       Installation for the Post 74 slate of 2008 Legion officers is scheduled for the May 22 meeting.

·       Commander Wrigley is stepping down as commander this year and will continue actively at the District II level.

·       Bill Graham offered to serve as a candidate for Commander.

·       Ben Perreault plans for school will reduce his time and he is resigning as Treasurer after this term.

·       As officers are needed for the positions of Commander, Vice Commander, Treasurer and Adjutant this coming year, candidates are welcome.

·       The following persons have agreed to keep their existing positions:

o   George Farwell: Sergeant at Arms

o   Ed Zandrovec: Chaplain

o   Del Porter: Historian

o   Sonny Farwell: 2nd Vice Commander.

·       At next meeting, nominations will be solicited.

NEW BUSINESS:

·       Oil usage has been up this winter and the level is again under ¼ full. George Farwell will organize another delivery and try to negotiate the best price he can.

·       The Library asked to use the Legion Hall for about 10 days starting May 3^rd for their annual book sale. In Coordination with VFW meeting on 3^rd Sunday on May 18^th, there should be no conflict. They plan to take up the whole room with tables and books during that time. Voted and passed.

·       Motion to propose a representative for legionnaire of the year at our next meeting on March 27. Voted and passed.

CORRESPONDENCE:

·       None received this month.

FOR THE GOOD OF THE ORDER:

·       It was noted that the Cemetery flag is a bit tattered from the rough winter. George Farwell will follow up.

·       The Post’s Meeting schedule for the calendar year 2008 is:

o   March 27

o   April 24

o   May 22

o   June 26

o   July 24

o   Aug 28

o   Sept 25

o   Oct 23

o   Nov 20

o   December – a decision whether to have a meeting or not will be decided at the November meeting.

There being no further business, the closing prayer was said, the colors were retired, and the meeting adjourned at 1950. The next meeting is March 27, 2008 at 1900.

Commander’s Comments

Greetings Legionnaires,

 

This month, District 2 will be meeting at the Brookline Post on 20 March 2008 at 7:00 pm.  As always Post 74 is invited.

I have informed the Friends of the Library that their book sale on 3 May has been approved by the Post.

 

Please come to our next meeting with recommendations and nominations for next year’s officers. We need to have positions filled!!

 

Jeremy Gath will have an Eagle Court of Honor Ceremony to receive the Eagle Scout Award on 5 April at 1:00 PM at the Brookline Community Church. It would be wonderful if the Post could have a turnout to congratulate him on this high achievement. I will be there.

 

I have a listing of the Post 200 members living in Hollis and Brookline NH. I will be giving out names during the next meeting to have members contact either via phone or in person. I need 2 volunteers to make up my team and we will set up appointments to visit these folks. All we need is 1 more to make our goal of 46 members of Post 74.

 

Please NO MORE SNOW!!!

 

Always,

Ruth

Do You Have An E-mail Address?

E-mailing the newsletter saves mailing costs. If you have e-mail access, send a message to Greg, at Gdarbo6844@aol.com. Addresses are for the exclusive use of the members to pass information and not to be sold or freely passed to others outside the Post without formal consent of the member. No funds solicitation is authorized via e-mail.

News For & From Members

Surgery Went Well! I am on the Mend!

Thank you to everyone for their prayers and well wishes for my successful operation. As mentioned in the Minutes, I went in for surgery to repair a ruptured disc in my neck. All went well and I am recuperating. I should be back to full-time work right after Easter.

Thanks!

Greg d’Arbonne

Please Join Fellow Veterans at the Middle School to share our Time with the Students

Once again, the Hollis-Brookline Middle School has invited Veterans of the local community to visit and share with the 8^th Grade Students our experiences as Veterans. If you have never attended this event before, it is a great experience not only for the veterans but also for the children who learn something from us about serving our great nation, whether at war or in peace time, and we get to learn from the children what the next generation of Americans is really like, not the media version of them or the “Britney Spears” version.

For the past several years, the Middle School Administration has invited local Veterans just prior to the 8^th Grade Class going to Washington, DC. The 8^th Graders get to talk to us and ask questions about us before they go on their trip where they will lay a wreath at Arlington Cemetery, visit the various war memorials and other historic sites throughout the DC area. When they return, they will invite us back just before Memorial Day and share with us their experiences and thoughts about what we told them and how that affected their experience to Washington.

Below is the letter from the Middle School with the date and times. Please make sure you contact the Middle School before the 17^th of March. They need a count of veterans and for safety reasons, we need to respect their requirements concerning visitors to the school. Please not4e, if there is snow the morning of the 20^th, tune to the local TV and radio stations to see if the schools are open. If there is a delayed opening or no school that day, the event will be held the 21^st of March.

Again, if you have never attended, please consider joining us. For those of you who have attended in the past, we hope to see you there again.

 

 

 

News of Interest to Veterans

VA Is Leader in Hospice and Palliative Care

Washington (January 8, 2008) – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is providing hospice and palliative care to a growing number of veterans throughout the country as the need continues to rise for care and comfort at the end of life.

VA provides palliative care consultation services at each of its medical centers and inpatient hospice care in many of its nursing homes throughout the country. VA contracts with community-based hospice programs to enhance VA’s ability to provide this critical service when and where needed.

“Wherever veterans receive their health care, VA has a system in place to address their hospice and palliative care needs,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake. “We are dedicated to providing compassionate care and personal assistance to the thousands of veterans and their families who face terminal illnesses.”

Nearly 9,000 veterans were treated in designated hospice beds at VA facilities in 2007, and thousands of other veterans were referred to community hospices to receive care in their homes.

The number of veterans treated in VA’s inpatient hospice beds increased by 21 percent in 2007. In addition, the average daily number of veterans receiving hospice care in their homes paid for by VA increased by 30 percent this past year.

Because of the large number of World War II and Korean era veterans and a tripling of the number of veterans over the age of 85 from 2000 to 2010, the increase in the need for hospice care is expected to continue. The proportion of Vietnam-era veterans over the age of 65 will continue to increase through 2014, when Vietnam veterans will account for nearly 60 percent of all veterans in that age group.

VA’s expansion of its hospice and palliative care capabilities came about through a collaboration with community-care providers. In 2001, the National Hospice-Veteran Partnership Initiative began to build partnerships between VA facilities and community hospice providers, funded in part by the VA and by nonprofit groups such as the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the Advanced Illness Care Coordination Center.

To date, VA has partnered with community hospice programs in 35 states to promote hospice services that are not provided directly by VA staff. These partnerships help veterans transition from VA hospitals to their homes in the community.

Palliative care adds a focus on quality of life and comfort to veterans with life-limiting illness, and their families. Palliative care consultation teams include physicians, nurses, social workers and chaplains. Additional support may be provided by pharmacists, rehabilitation therapists, recreation therapists, mental health professionals and other specialists.

VA provides palliative care consultation teams at all of its hospitals nationwide, although such services are provided at only about one-fourth of all American hospitals. Nearly half of all veterans who died in VA facilities received care from a palliative care team prior to their deaths.

“VA is committed to helping veterans spend their final days with dignity and comfort, in the setting that best fits their needs and wishes,” Peake said.

Five Years of VA Health Care for Combat Veterans

Washington (February 26, 2008) – Military veterans who served in combat since Nov. 11, 1998, including veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, are now eligible for five years of free medical care for most conditions from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This measure increases a two-year limit that has been in effect nearly a decade.

“By their service and their sacrifice, America’s newest combat veterans have earned this special eligibility period for VA’s world-class health care,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake.

The five-year deadline has no effect upon veterans with medical conditions related to their military service. Veterans may apply at any time after their discharge from the military -- even decades later -- for medical care for service-connected health problems.

The new provision, part of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 signed by President Bush on Jan. 28, 2008, applies to care in a VA hospital, outpatient clinic or nursing home. It also extends VA dental benefits -- previously limited to 90 days after discharge for most veterans -- to 180 days.

Combat veterans who were discharged between Nov. 11, 1998 and Jan. 16, 2003, and who never took advantage of VA’s health care system, have until Jan. 27, 2011 to qualify for free VA health care.

The five-year window is also open to activated Reservists and members of the National Guard, if they served in a theater of combat operations after Nov. 11, 1998 and were discharged under other than dishonorable conditions.

Veterans who take advantage of this five-year window to receive VA health care can continue to receive care after five years, although they may have to pay copayments for medical problems unrelated to their military service. Copayments range from $8 for a 30-day supply of prescription medicine to $1,024 for the first 90 days of inpatient care each year.

Statue Planned to Help Honor Gold Star Mothers

By Michael Cousineau - New Hampshire Union Leader Staff (March 2, 2008) – For nearly every soldier or Marine killed while serving in uniform, there is a mother back home who mourns her child's death.

A move is afoot to honor those mothers -- known as Gold Star Mothers -- with a bronze statue at Stanton Plaza, across from Veterans Memorial Park, on Manchester's Elm Street.

A groundbreaking ceremony is set for March 30, with a goal of erecting the 400-pound statue in September.

"They don't feel they should be honored," said Debbie Murphy, who is heading up the publicity campaign. "They want their son and daughter to not be forgotten for what they've done for their country."

An 11-person committee, formally known as the New Hampshire Gold Star Mothers Memorial Association, needs to raise $150,000. About $22,500 has been collected so far.

New Hampshire has lost about two-dozen servicemen and women who died in uniform in Iraq and Afghanistan this decade. The names of 227 others killed or missing from Vietnam are listed on a memorial at the New Hampshire Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen. By one count, more than 1,500 Granite Staters gave their lives in direct line of duty during World War II.

Mothers of Vietnam War-era soldiers are at least in their 70s.

"The Korean (War) mothers are all gone; the World War II mothers are all gone," said Georgie Carter-Krell, first vice president of the American Gold Star Mothers Inc. in Washington, D.C.

Her son, Bruce Wayne Carter, was killed Aug. 7, 1969, when he threw himself on a grenade.

"He tried to save the squad around him," the 76-year-old said.

Her group is trying to get a similar statue put up in Washington, D.C.

"The Gold Star Mothers have been neglected," she said.

The New Hampshire statue -- which would stand between 5 feet 6 inches and 5 feet 8 inches tall -- would be similar to one put up in Carmel, N.Y., in 2006.

The statue is of an "unsteady woman holding a crumpled telegram. The statue represents a mother who just received news of her son's death during World War II. The mother will stand atop a shiny black-granite pedestal that sits on a gold star with branches at the end of each point," according to the Armed Forces Press Service.

For the New Hampshire statues, two fundraisers are planned.

On April 3, the United States Air Force Concert Band will perform a free concert at the Palace Theatre. Donations from concertgoers will go to the statue efforts. Legacy Financial Solutions also will host a pre-concert reception with proceeds going to the statue fund.

The association will also receive a portion of the money from tickets its members sell for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats game on May 9. The baseball team will hold an Armed Forces appreciation day that will include honoring Gold Star Mothers and an Air Force flyover. Tickets must be bought through the memorial association to aid the statue fundraising effort.

The association is trying to push every New Hampshire resident to donate a dollar. A 10 percent participation rate would reach the fundraising goal.

Murphy said the Gold Star Mothers found themselves in situations they did not seek.

"These ladies didn't have a choice," she said.

Tax-exempt donations -- by check or money order only -- can be mailed to: New Hampshire Gold Star Mothers Memorial Association, P.O. Box 10455, 165 S. River Road, Suite C, Bedford 03110-0455.

 

New Credit Card Scam

See this site for more on this: www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/creditcard.asp

This one is pretty slick since they provide YOU with all the information, except the one piece they want.

Note, the callers do not ask for your card number; they already have it. This information is worth reading. By understanding how the VISA & MasterCard Telephone Credit Card Scam works, you'll be better prepared to protect yourself.

One of our employees was called on Wednesday from "VISA", and I was called on Thursday from "Master Card".

The scam works like this: Person calling says, "This is (name), and I'm calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My badge number is 12460. Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I'm calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card which was issued by (name of bank). Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for $497.99 from a Marketing company based in Arizona?" When you say "No", the caller continues with, "Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the charges range from $297 to $497, just under the $500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you your address), is that correct?"

You say "yes". The caller continues - "I will be starting a Fraud investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 1- 800 number listed on the back of your card (1-800-VISA) and ask for Security.

You will need to refer to this Control Number. The caller then gives you a 6 digit number. "Do you need me to read it again?"

Here's the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works. The caller then says, "I need to verify you are in possession of your card." He'll ask you to "turn your card over and look for some numbers." There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the next 3 are the security Numbers' that verify you are the possessor of the card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card. The caller will ask you to read the 3 numbers to him. After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he'll say, "That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any other questions?" After you say, "No," the caller then thanks you and states, "Don't hesitate to call back if you do", and hangs up.

You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the Card number. But after we were called on Wednesday, we called back within 20 minutes to ask a question. Are we glad we did! The REAL VISA security Department told us it was a scam and in the last 15 minutes a new purchase of $497.99 was charged to our card.

Long story - short - we made a real fraud report and closed the VISA account. VISA is reissuing us a new number. What the scammers want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don't give it to them. Instead, tell them you'll call VISA or Master card directly for verification of their conversation. The real VISA told us that they will never ask for anything on the card as they already know the information since they issued the card! If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you're receiving a credit. However, by the time you get your statement you'll see charges for purchases you didn't make, and by then it's almost too late and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud report.

What makes this more remarkable is that on Thursday, I got a call from a "Jason Richardson of Master Card" with a word-for-word repeat of the VISA scam. This time I didn't let him finish. I hung up! We filed a police report, as instructed by VISA. The police said they are taking several of these reports daily! They also urged us to tell everybody we know that this scam is happening.

Please pass this on to all your family and friends. By informing each other, we protect each other.

VA Gets Veterans to ‘Move’

Washington (March 3, 2008) – With more than 70 percent of patients coming to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for health care found to be overweight, VA is boosting its efforts to increase veterans’ fitness through exercise, good nutrition and healthy lifestyles.

“VA’s patients should consider themselves partners with our health professionals in managing their own care,” said Dr. James B. Peake, Secretary of Veterans Affairs. “They need to ensure they eat right, exercise regularly and stay on the move.”

MOVE, in fact, is the name for a VA program at each of the Department’s 153 medical centers in which veterans have their body fat measured and receive “prescriptions” for exercises and nutrition.

VA officials say the need for fitness is clear. Not only do its veteran patients have a higher rate of obesity than the rest of the country’s population, but 20 percent of VA patients also have diabetes, a rate almost three times higher than other Americans.

Under VA’s MOVE program, diabetic patients get regular screenings of blood sugar levels and other problem areas. Patients can complete a questionnaire about their lifestyle and vital signs that gives doctors information about how to best support patients’ efforts to improve their lifestyles.

Veterans and VA employees are eligible to take part in a “Champions Challenge” by committing themselves to walk 100 miles in 100 days. Applications can be made online at http://www.move.va.gov/challenge.asp.

MOVE and the “Champions Challenge” are part of a broader VA program called, HealthierUS Veterans. A joint project between VA and the Department of Health and Human Services, HealthierUS Veterans educates veterans and their families about the risks of obesity and diabetes, and encourages them to eat healthy, stay active and get fit for life.

Points To Ponder

The views expressed in the following article were deemed interesting enough by me to include in the newsletter. I take full responsibility and the content does not reflect the opinion of the members of the Post. Please contact me if these articles offend you. – Greg d’Arbonne

'Change'

What fun, and yet true!

 The buzzword of this election is "CHANGE." Candidates toss it around without saying what they want to change to.

Years ago, there was an old tale in the Marine Corps about a lieutenant who inspected his Marines and told the "Gunny" that they smelled bad. The lieutenant suggested that they change their underwear.

The "Gunny" responded, "Aye,aye, sir. I'll see to it immediately." He went into the tent and said, "The lieutenant thinks you guys smell bad, and he wants you to change your underwear. Smith, you change with Jones, McCarthy, you change with Witkowskie, Brown, you change with Schultz ...." "Change, now get on with it"

A candidate may promise change in Washington but the stink remains.

Semper fi, Col. James "Wes" Hammond, Jr. USMC (Ret.) Reno.

The New 'Lepers'

By Ralph Peters - New York Post (January 18, 2008) – I've had a huge response to Tuesday's column about The New York Times' obscene bid to smear veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan as mad killers. Countless readers seem to be wondering: Why did the paper do it?

Well, in the Middle Ages, lepers had to carry bells on pain of death to warn the uninfected they were coming. One suspects that the Times would like our military veterans to do the same.

The purpose of Sunday's instantly notorious feature "alerting" the American people that our Iraq and Afghanistan vets are all potential murderers when they move in next door was to mark those defenders of freedom as "unclean" - as the new lepers who can't be trusted amid uninfected Americans.

In the more than six years since 9/11, the Times has never run a feature story half as long on any of the hundreds of heroes who've served our country - those who've won medals of honor, distinguished service crosses, Navy crosses, silver stars or bronze stars with a V device (for valor).

But the Times put a major investigative effort into the "sensational" story that 121 returning vets had committed capital offenses (of course, 20 percent of the cases cited involved manslaughter charges stemming from drunken driving, not first- or second-degree murder . . . ).

Well, a quick statistics check let the air out of the Times' bid to make us dread the veteran down the block - who the Times implies has a machine gun under his bathrobe when he steps out front to fetch the morning paper. In fact, the capital-crimes rate ballyhooed by the Gray Lady demonstrates that our returning troops are far less likely to commit such an offense.

Again, the Times' smear certainly wasn't an accident. The paper's staff is highly paid and highly experienced. Its editors know that a serious news story has to put numbers into context. But their sole attempt at context was to note that offenses by former soldiers have ticked up since we went to war.

The Times is trying to make you fear our veterans (Good Lord, if your daughter marries one, she's bound to be beaten to death!). And to convince you that our military would be a dreadful place for your sons and daughters, a death-machine that would turn them into incurable psychopaths.

To a darkly humorous degree, all this reflects the Freudian terrors leftists feel when confronted with men who don't have concave chests. But it goes far beyond that.

Pretending to pity tormented veterans (vets don't want our pity - they want our respect), the Times' feature was an artful example of hate-speech disguised as a public service.

The image we all were supposed to take away from that story was of hopelessly damaged, victimized, infected human beings who've become outcasts from civilized society. The Times cast our vets as freaks from a slasher flick.

The hard left's hatred of our military has deteriorated from a political stance into a pathology: The only good soldier is a dead soldier who can be wielded as a statistic (out of context again). Or a deserter who complains bitterly that he didn't join the Army to fight . . .

At the risk of turning to anecdotal evidence - a technique much-abused by the left - I have to declare that I personally know hundreds of veterans. (Can anyone at the Times head office make that claim?) Not a single one of them has committed a crime worse than exceeding the speed limit on the Interstate.

Not one vet I know is in prison for a crime he or she committed after taking off the uniform. And in nearly 22 years of active service, I encountered only two soldiers who committed violent crimes (no murders).

Contrary to the Times, veterans are consistently among the most upstanding members of their communities. They volunteer. They vote. They take pride in being good neighbors. And those I know have raised their children more successfully than the average liberal household.

But what's the image that the left, whether the Times or the silly people in Hollywood, presents to us? Vets are nuts. Violently nuts. They kill their neighbors. They kill their own kind. And they're just waiting for the right moment of madness to kill you.

A longstanding goal of the left, recently invigorated, has been to drive a wedge between our military and our society. The real vet is the neighbor who fixes your kid's bike (or your computer). But the left's archetypal vet is the Marine colonel in "American Beauty" who, frustrated in his suppressed gay passions, murders poor Kevin Spacey.

Yes, war is a terrible crucible. Some vets, past and present, do need help. And they deserve the best help our country can give them. But the left-wing fantasy of hordes of psychotics driven mad by drill sergeants and Army chow is just that: a fantasy.

Of course, if the Times responds at all to the storm of protests their insult to our veterans aroused, the editors will try to fudge the numbers in their favor. You just can't argue with ideologues. They lie and they cheat. And they justify it as being for the greater good of ignorant fools like us.

So let me suggest the best-possible revenge on the veteran-trashing jerks at The New York Times: Instead of fleeing in terror the next time you see a veteran you know, just thank him or her for their service.

And let's save the leper's bells for dishonest journalists.

Ralph Peters is a retired Army officer who has yet to kill any of his neighbors (although they'd better keep their grass cut).

 

10 Signs You Might Be a Taliban

10. You refine heroin for a living, but you have a moral objection to beer.

9. You own a $300 machine gun and a $5,000 rocket launcher, but you can't afford shoes.

8. You have more wives than teeth.

7. You think vests come in two styles: bullet-proof and suicide.

6. You can't think of anyone you HAVEN'T declared Jihad against.

5. You consider television dangerous, but routinely carry ammunition in your robe.

4. You've never been asked, "Does this burka make my butt look big?"

3. You were amazed to discover that cell phones have uses other than setting off roadside bombs.

2. A common compliment is, "I love what you've done with your cave."

And, the NUMBER ONE SIGN you might be a member of the Taliban:

1. You wipe your butt with your bare hand, but consider bacon unclean.