HERDWORD

February 2003

1- 40th Anniversary Reunion in Reno, Nevada 2-8 June, get Registration form here and register Now

2- The Winner, Randy Davis of Millinton, MN, wins free airfare for (Sky Soldier) himself because he registered for the Reno reunion early.

3- Sky Soldiers who send their paid registration, postmarked by 1 March 2003, will be eligible for a another free roundtrip airline ticket to Reno for the Reunion. Raffle held by 15 March 2003 (per Frank Mantua 6 Jan 2003). So Register now and you may see Randy on the plane.

4- Chapter X now has a web site, http://www.wscx173dabn.org check them out!

5- Another Book by a Sky Soldier (Robert Vasquez ) Heart of the Hawk - "Tom Red Hawk, a young Apache from Arizona, returns from Vietnam. A man whose appetite for adventure has been whetted by his experience of war, he sets out on a long journey to find his place in a world that seems to have lost its respect for daring and valor. His odyssey takes him back to the steaming jungles of Vietnam, through the lethal streets of Belfast, the sinister New York underworld, and the explosive Middle East. For Tom, the line between daring and recklessness has become blurred by a taste for adventure, and his recklessness costs him in ways he could never have imagined. Finally, he must call upon all of his native cunning and intelligence in order to find and punish those who brutally murdered his brothers." You can get a copy of this book by clicking here or on the graphic above!

6- NEW MEDAL: WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Jan. 2, 2003) - A new defense medal will eventually be issued to military members who served in the Republic of Korea, or adjacent waters, after July 28, 1954. The new medal will be for those who served in Korea after the war, up to an undetermined ending date. Some of the actions that must be completed are: designing the medal, obtaining necessary funding, developing policy for issuance and wear and processing to include verification of service and then award of the medal. The first three actions should be completed in approximately four to six months, officials said. However, based on previous experiences when creating service medals the entire process can take up to a year, officials added.

7- 15 Month Enlistment- WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2003 A new military short-term enlistment program will begin Oct. 1 aimed at expanding the opportunities for all Americans to serve the country. Basic medical specialties, some engineer skills, and personnel, administration and combat specialties will be part of the mix. The first members who opt for this program will go into the delayed-entry program beginning Oct. 1, 2003.

8- VA closing to the door to some... for now; In order to ensure VA has capacity to care for veterans for whom our Nation has the greatest obligation - military-related disabilities, lower-income veterans or those needing specialized care like veterans who are blind or have spinal cord injuries -- Director Principi has suspended additional enrollments for veterans with the lowest statutory priority for the rest of 2003. This category includes veterans who are not being compensated for a military-related disability and who have higher incomes.
The suspension of enrollment affects only veterans in Priority Group 8, the lowest group in VA's eight-level system for setting health care priorities, who have not enrolled in VA's health care system by January 17. Priority Group 8 veterans already enrolled will be "grandfathered" and allowed to continue in VA's health care system.

Work is underway with the Department of Health and Human Services to determine how to give Priority Group 8 veterans aged 65 or older who cannot enroll in VA's health care system access to the "VA+Choice Medicare" plan. The plan calls for VA to participate as a Medicare+Choice provider. Eligible veterans would be able to use their Medicare benefits to obtain care from VA.

9- AGENT ORANGE; Researchers have found a link between a type of leukemia and Vietnam soldiers exposed to herbicides like Agent Orange, prompting the Veterans Affairs Department to announce it will extend benefits to veterans with the illness. veterans diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL, would start receiving disability compensation and priority health care services, in about a year, Secretary Anthony Principi said Thursday.