(This didn’t get wide media coverage)
Trump welcomes wounded veterans to White House
Military Times, April 6, 2017
WASHINGTON — President Trump is thanking wounded veterans and soldiers for their service as he welcomes them to the White House. Trump calls service members "real heroes." He addressed them Thursday as part of the annual Wounded Warrior Project's Soldier Ride.
The president says soldiers and veterans have "risked all that you have" to protect the country. He added: "You've earned our freedom with your sweat and your blood and your incredible sacrifice."
The service members gathered in the White House with Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and their wives. Trump says he hopes to participate in the annual event for "about seven more years." The ride is a four-day event in the Washington area.
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VA finalizes disability benefits plans for contaminated water exposure at Camp Lejeune
Military Times, By: Leo Shane III, March 14, 2017
WASHINGTON—Former service members exposed to contaminated water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune over a 35-year period can now apply for veterans disability benefits, under a new federal rule finalized Tuesday.
The move, which comes after a two-month review of the department’s plans, is expected to affect as many as 900,000 veterans and cost more than $2 billion over the next five years.
In a statement, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin called the move “a demonstration of our commitment to care for those who have served our nation and have been exposed to harm as a result of that service.”
Marine Corps Times
U.S. agrees to pay billions of dollars to Marines affected by toxic water
It comes after years of lawsuits and lobbying by veterans groups who said tens of thousands of troops and their families were exposed to unhealthy levels of contaminants from leaky fuel tanks and other chemical sources while serving at the North Carolina base from the early 1950s to the late 1980s.
In 2012, Congress passed a law providing free medical care for troops and family members who lived at the base and later developed one of 15 illnesses. But that measure did not include the authority to extend VA disability benefits to those veterans.
The new rule will allow that, for veterans who suffer from one of eight diseases that VA officials have said are definitely connected to adult exposure to the water contamination. Those issues are leukemia, aplastic anemia (and other myelodysplastic syndromes), bladder cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and Parkinson’s disease.
Labeling the illnesses as presumptive conditions allows veterans to provide only proof of their medical status, and not evidence the conditions are linked to a specific event or exposure.
VA officials will accept applications from any service member who spent at least 30 cumulative days at the base, whether that service was on active-duty, reserve or National Guard status.
Veterans have a year to file the benefits claims, and and if approved will receive payouts from their date of filing.
For more information, visit the VA web page.
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Dentists Warn New Tricare Rates Will Cause Drop in Providers
Military.com | Week of April 03, 2017
Dentists in several states are warning reimbursement rates in the new Tricare dental contract are so low that many providers will be forced to stop participating in the plans and pass on higher out-of-pocket costs to military families. The $2.9 billion Tricare Dental Plan (TDP) contract for the families of active-duty, Guard and reserve troops is set to move from MetLife to United Concordia on May 1. About 1.8 million beneficiaries are enrolled in the program. Military retirees are not impacted by the new contract. For more details, see this Military.com article.
For more on Tricare benefits, visit the Military.com Tricare section.
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Veterans Appointment Request APP
mobile.va.gov
VA's new Veterans Appointment Request app helps veterans to schedule appointments with the VA care team from the convenience of their mobile phone, computer, tablet or any device with an internet connection. Vets can use VAR to: - Schedule primary care appointments - Request dates and times for primary care and mental health appointments - See details for all pending, confirmed and upcoming appointments (both those requested through the app or through a VA scheduler), including date, time, clinic, care team and reason for visit - Send up to two messages to a VA scheduler about requested and booked appointments - Get email notifications about appointment updates - Cancel an appointment if you are unable to make it to that appointment To use VAR, you must be a VA patient and have a DS Logon account. There is no cost to register. Visit to learn more about registering. If you are having trouble you can call the help desk at (877) 470-5947 weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The VAR app is available to Veterans at select locations. To see if it is available at your VA facility go to:
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140 miles: 75 years after the Bataan Death March and what you need to know
Military Times, by: Ashley Bunch, April 10, 2017
On April 9, 1942, U.S. forces in the Philippines surrendered to the Japanese, and so began what we call the Bataan Death March today. After the surrender, 75,000 American and Filipino soldiers were taken captive by Japanese soldiers and forced to march throughout the Philippines to confinement camps.
To commemorate the 75th anniversary of the start of the Bataan Death March and the devastation survivors and the fallen endured during, here are a few facts you need to know.
1. 140 miles to Camp O’Donnell
U.S. and Filipino soldiers surrendered to the Japanese were more than just POWs, they were captives of the Japanese. Forced to march six excruciatingly long days in the hot sun with no shade, clean water and a scarce amount of food, many became victims of mistreatment, starvation and illness. Soldiers reportedly marched anywhere from 65 to 140 miles to confinement at Camp O’Donnell, where they were forced to work under harsh conditions with a lack of medical treatment and nourishment. During the march, soldiers were placed into box cars in San Fernando. After a few hours, they stopped, but not at their destination. The soldiers were forced to walk several more miles to camp. However, not all captured men were ‘privileged’ to stand cramped shoulder-to-shoulder in the hot cars, but instead forced to finish the trek on foot because there wasn’t enough room.
2. Fort Drum (Philippines): Two days of mistreatment
Soldiers surrendered over to the Japanese were all mistreated. They were shot, beaten, beheaded, buried alive and given “sun treatments.” Fort Drum soldiers in particular were given two days of mistreatment following the U.S. surrender because it was reported that Americans defending Fort Drum were responsible for killing a large number of Japanese soldiers when they dropped a 14-inch shell, killing a high-ranking Japanese soldier according to the Office of the Provost Marshal General Report in November 1945. For two long days, Fort Drum soldiers were not authorized to lay down, sleep, eat or drink any water.
3. Buried alive
Through the march, several soldiers became weak from lack of food and clean water. Many soldiers fell out of line and were shot or bayoneted by the Japanese soldiers. Some were reported to have been run over. Some soldiers who fell out or became too slow due to sickness were buried alive. Japanese soldiers made those captured bury their fellow comrades. It has been reported that the only decent thing the Japanese did was take the dog tags from the dead and throw them on the side of the road before burial, even if it was to keep the U.S. from identifying the dead.
4. The march was not one long line
While 75,000 soldiers were surrendered over to the Japanese, not all started the march at the same time.
“We weren't one close-knit group by any means. When the Japanese got a bunch together, say one hundred or so, that group would start walking. You might get the impression it was one long line, but it wasn't. One group would start and then a couple of days later, another one came along. When we got to our destination, Camp O'Donnell, soldiers kept coming in. For how long or how many had passed before and after us, I don't know. On the sixth day, we got to Balanga and were fed a second rice ball. From Balanga, we walked to San Fernando,” bataansurvivor.com recorded a survivor saying.
5. Soldiers were not the only victims
Often, local Filipinos along the route would try and offer food to the malnourished soldiers marching by. They would try to give them food or water, but the Japanese soldiers would shoot them as soon as they noticed. One Filipino man was reportedly beheaded and women were raped and mutilated. Filipino women who worked as nurses in the local field hospitals were imprisoned, as well.
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'Face of Battle' exhibit, highlighting troops deployed since 9/11, opens Friday in Washington
Military Times, by: Kathleen Curthoys, April 5, 2017
A new exhibit called “The Face of Battle: Americans at War, 9/11 to Now” opens this week in Washington, D.C.
Portraits of deployed troops, both in combat and off duty, will be shown along with other images to represent the reality of the modern war fighter and the human cost of the ongoing wars, say organizers with the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery.
Among the artists contributing to the exhibit is a decorated combat veteran and award-winning military photojournalist, Stacy Pearsall, who has photographed thousands of veterans for the Veterans Portrait Project.
The exhibit of more than 50 art works, including paintings, photographs, drawings and video, will open Friday at the National Portrait Gallery.The works will be on view through Jan. 28.
The intent is not just to portray the experience of war, but to show “a stronger connection to the personal ramifications of war and reveal deeper perspectives on the lives affected,” according to Smithsonian’s description of the exhibit.
Six artists are included in the exhibit: Pearsall, Ashley Gilbertson, the late Tim Hetherington, Louie Palu, Emily Prince and Vincent Valdez. Hetherington was the British photojournalist who co-directed the film "Restrepo" with Sebastian Junger. He was killed in 2011 amid fighting in Libya while covering the civil war there.
The art works focus on the impact and consequences of war for service members who experience it “in the context of a culture that has, in many ways, normalized warfare,” according to the organizers.
Pearsall is one of those American service members who went to war and suffered injuries in combat. She began her career as an Air Force photographer, traveled to more than 40 countries and served three combat deployments, according to her website.
She earned a Bronze Star and Air Force Commendation Medal with valor for combat actions in Iraq. Pearsall left the service as a staff sergeant, disabled because of her injuries. She is now an independent photographer and one of two women to win the National Press Photographers Association Military Photographer of the Year competition, which she won twice.
The National Portrait Gallery is part of the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture at Eighth and F streets N.W., Washington, D.C.
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AFRH Washington Accepting Applications
Army Echoes
The Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH), the premier beltway retirement community for eligible American veterans, is now accepting applications. AFRH offers residents an affordable lifestyle on a scenic, wooded campus just minutes from downtown Washington, DC. Many veterans choose to live at AFRH for the superior medical, dental and vision care offered. The amenities include: private rooms with a shower, cable TV, three delicious daily meals prepared by licensed nutritionists in a modern dining facility, a wellness program and deluxe fitness center, movie theater, bowling center and hobby shops. Persons are eligible to become AFRH residents who:
- Served as members of the Armed Forces, at least one-half of whose service was not active commissioned service (other than as a warrant officer or limited-duty officer).
- Are 60 years of age or over; were discharged or released under honorable conditions with 20 or more years of active service.
- Are determined to be incapable of earning a livelihood because of a service-connected disability incurred in the line of duty in the Armed Forces.
- Served in theater during a time of war declared by Congress or were eligible for hostile fire special pay; were released from service in the Armed Forces under honorable conditions; and are determined to be incapable of earning a livelihood because of injuries, disease or disability.
- Served in a women’s component of the Armed Forces before June 12, 1948; and are determined to be eligible for admission for compelling personal circumstances.
Married couples are welcome in the community, but both must be eligible in their own right. Veterans who have been convicted of a felony or are not free of drug, alcohol, or psychiatric problems are ineligible to become a resident. Veterans must be able to live independently upon admission to the AFRH. This means being able to care for personal needs, attend a dining facility for meals, and keep all medical appointments. Fees for independent living are about 40 percent of total current income (not to exceed $1,425/month). For further information or to request an application, visit: or contact the Office of Public Affairs at: or (800) 422-9988
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POW/MIA Update:
Army Air Forces Capt. Albert L. Schlegel, 25, of Cleveland, Ohio, was buried March 30 in Beaufort, South Carolina. On Aug. 28, 1944, Schlegel was the pilot and sole occupant of a P-51D Mustang aircraft, departing his base in England on a ground strafing mission to Strasbourg, France, when he radioed that he had been hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire and would need to bail from his aircraft. There was no further communication from Schlegel. Historical records indicated that locals in Valmy, France reported that an unknown American aviator was captured in their village that same evening.
On Nov. 18, 1944, a set of remains was found near a train station in Valmy. The remains were transferred to the temporary American cemetery at Champigueul, and designated as X-73. On Dec. 6, 1948, the American Graves Registration Command declared the remains unidentifiable. He was interred in the Epinal American Cemetery in France under a headstone that read “Here Rests in Honored Glory a Comrade in Arms Known but to God.”
In January 2016, DPAA researchers determined that through advanced forensic technology, the remains might be identified, and X-73 was disinterred and the remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory in Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for identification.
To identify Schlegel’s remains, scientists from DPAA used laboratory analysis, including dental and anthropological analysis, which matched his records, as well as circumstantial evidence.
DPAA is grateful to the American Battle Monuments Commission for their assistance, support and care of his burial site. Additionally, Schlegel’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at an ABMC site along with nearly 79,000 other MIAs from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name, to indicate he has been accounted for.
Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 73,074 service members still unaccounted for.
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12 military awards now eligible for 'C' and 'R' devices, and 2 no longer rate a 'V'
Military Times, by: Andrew deGrandpre and Charlsy Panzino, March 30, 2017
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has quietly implemented a series of changes to its awards policy for troops involved in combat, establishing new criteria for recognizing contributions both on and off the battlefield.
Commanders may now recommend their troops for 12 types of awards affixed with new "C" or "R" devices, products of an internal review focused on honoring drone operators, cyber warfare specialists and others who use emerging technology to influence the battlefield in unconventional ways. The former, which stands for "combat," signifies meritorious performance "under combat conditions" while the latter, which stands for "remote," is reserved for those “not directlyexposed to hostile action or significant risk."
Equally noteworthy,the Pentagon's guidanceestablishes new eligibility rules for awarding medals with the coveted "V" device intended to recognize valorous combat actions taken at great risk and under duress. Service specific Achievement Medals are no longer eligible for a "V," only a "C" or "R," a decision some may call controversial. That's true now, too, for the Legion of Merit, heretofore awarded with a "V" only by the Navy and Marine Corps. However, each of the services is clear to award the Distinguished Flying Cross with "V," as the Air Force has since for heroism dating to the Korean War.
"Overall, I find these changes surprisingly good and well thought out," said Doug Sterner, an expert on military awards who operates Military Times' Hall of Valor database. "It does bring the awards into conformity across the branches."
This chart includes the awards now eligible for "C," "R" and "V" devices: