.
PO Box 55446
St. Petersburg, Fl. 33732-5446
February 1, 2009
Re-Enlistments:
Peter Hassapelis, Isaac Smith, Charles McDonald, Jack Cline,
James Engels, Charles Danasko, ArthurThorne (two years),
James Mosley, Leonard Cisek, Donald Wilson, Ervey Broste,
Paul Bruenger, Kenneth Reaves, Donald Brosnan, Stephen Czepiel
Donations:
Peter Hassapelis, Jack Cline, James Engels, James Mosley
Leonard Cisek, Donald Wilson, Donald Brosnan
New Members: None
Change of Addresses:
Jeff Nordahl
3818 73rd Street East
Inver Grove Heights MN 55076 |
David Scott
7011 W Parmer Ln
Apt 1610
Austin Tx 78729 |
Deceased: None
Introduction:
Several members have Emailed me and want their Emails available for other members. As of now the list is:
Name Email Address Era
======================== ========================== ==============
Jan Milles jmilles@hvc.rr.com ‘Nam and Berlin
Charles Farrell cturkfarrell@aol.com Berlin ‘68-69
Bill Harless BHarl95429@aol.com Berlin ‘52-54
William Zirkel ziirkel@earthlink.net Berlin ‘57-59
James Porter ms8x60s@yahoo.com Vietnam ‘68-69
Gary Kirsten garykirsten@snet.net Berlin ‘53-55
John Frye JFrye13@tampabay.rr.com
CSM Stanley Thornburgh Stanley39us@yahoo.com Berlin
Charles McDonald cmcd5052@sbcglobal.net Berlin ‘67-69
CSM Mike Foreman mandbforman@aol.com
The American Legion has launched a new Web site that is geared to help
explain the new GI Bill. I could never say anything but good things
about that GI Bill. To all of you to which it applies, please take
advantage of it. Your nation has given you this GI Bill. Only you
can take the next step. The statistics of wages earned by college
grads over non-college grads are astounding. Please take advantage of
it. The Web site is www.mygibill.org
The Sixth is now a part of the 4th Infantry Division in Sadr City, Iraq. Please remember them in your prayers.
Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC)
A. DIC is a monthly benefit paid to eligible survivors of a:
Miliary service member who died while on active duty, OR
Veteran whose death resulted from a service-connected injury or disease, OR
Veteran whose death resulted from a non service-related injury or disease, and who was receiving, or was entitled to receive, VA Compensation for service-connected disability that was rated as totally disabling:
a. For at least 10 years immediately before death, OR
b. Since the veteran’s release from active duty and at least five years immediately preceding death, OR
c. For at least one year before death if the veteran was a prisoner of war who died after September 30, 1999.
B. Eligibilty. The surviving spouse if he or she:
Validly married to the veteran before January 1, 1957, OR
Was married to the service member who died on active duty, OR
Married the veteran within 15 years of discharge from the period of military service in which the disease or injury that caused the veteran’s death began or was aggravated, OR
Was married to the veteran for at least one year, OR
Had a child with the veteran, AND
Cohabited with the veteran continuously until the veteran’s death or, if separated, was not at fault for the separation, AND -Is not currently remarried.
Note: A surviving spouse who remarries on or after December 16, 2003, and on or after attaining age 57, is entitled to continue to receive DIC.
The surviving child(ren), if he or she is:
a. Not included on the surviving spouse’s DIC.
b. Unmarried AND
c. Under age 18, or between the ages of 18 and 23 and attending school.
Note: Certain helpless adult children are entitled to DIC. Call 1-800-827-1000 for the eligibility requirements.
C. Compensation:
The basic monthly rate of DIC is $1,091 for an eligible surviving spouse. The rate is increased for each dependent child, and also if the surviving spouse is housebound or in need of aid and attendance. VA also adds a transitional benefit of $250 to the surviving spouse’s monthly DIC if there are children under age 18.
D. Applying:
Claimants should complete VA Form 21-534, Application for Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, Death Pension and Accrued Benefits by a Surviving Spouse or Child. I would recommend using a DAV national service officer to assist in completing this form.
A Tyson Foods plant in Shelbyville, Tn. has granted a union demand that it drop Labor Day as a holiday in exchange for an Islamic holiday to accommodate the hundreds of Muslims who work there.
At the Bay Pines VA Hospital where I volunteer in the pharmacy, I overheard one pharmacist ask another if November 11th was a holiday. I was tempted to beat him over the head.
Berlin was nice, but the weather was cool and windy. My next trip to Berlin, which won’t be till I am 100% with the VA, will be four days to see all of the museums I have wanted to see for many years. I’ll visit the Egyptian Museum in the old East. Then I’ll revisit Charlottenburg Palace. I’ll skip the DDR Museum, the Stasi Museum and the Russian Museum at Karlshorst. I suspect none of those museums mention the fact that there were some seven concentration camps in the DDR and when the wall fell they were building five more. In Canterbury, England a cab driver from the Middle East told me that we “still don’t know who caused 9/11.” I told him that not only we knew who caused it, if we get the right president in November we may bomb them back into the stone age. We didn’t get the right president.
Steel from the World Trade Center was melted down to form the bow of the USS New York.
There is a website, www.heromiles.org, at which you can donate frequent flier miles for those wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families. I’ll donate my American Airlines miles when I move to Asheville, a city not accessed by American. I have a little more than 13,000 miles. You might want to think about this also.
I received a letter from a DAV chapter in Hendersonville, NC. In it they state that Agent Orange was used in Germany in the 60s. I sent a letter to the Defense Department through my congressman to see if it was Wildflecken. The Defense Department denied using Agent Orange in Germany. I know they are wrong. The Defense Department can be reached at the following for inquiries, CBWebmaster@tma.osd.mil or you can call 1-800-497-6261. I had first Emailed them and never got a response. If you want to contact them, use the 800 number. Their response wasn’t too swift either. If anyone would like a copy of the ten page list of sites, please send me a check for $2.50 made out to the Sixth Infantry Assn. That will cover copying and postage.
I have a website some of you might want to look at and join - www.wildfleckenveterans.com
When I was in Berlin in 1968 and 1969, I taught religion classes on Sunday mornings after church. For that and my actions at a bad truck accident in Wildflecken in March, 1969, I would receive a commendation medal. I would recommend those of you currently on active duty to get involved when you return from Iraq. I found it to be a fulfilling experience.
When you go to church on Sunday, please remember that we have 6th Infantry comrades in harms way in Iraq.
The VA is building 39 new community-based vet centers to go with the 232 already in existence. The vet centers are open to any veteran who experienced combat in any war. They also offer bereavement counseling to the family of a veteran killed on active duty.
A blonde in New York was so depressed that she decided to end her life by throwing herself into the East River. She went down to the docks and was about to leap into the frigid water when a handsome young sailor saw her on the edge of the pier, crying. He took pity on her and said, “Look, you have so much to live for. I’m off to Hawaii in the morning, and if you like, I can stow you away on my ship. I’ll take good care of you and bring you food every day.” Moving closer, he slipped his arm around her shoulder and added, “I’ll keep you happy, and you’ll keep me happy.” The girl nodded yes. After all, what did she have to lose? Perhaps a fresh start in Hawaii would give her life new meaning. That night, the sailor brought her aboard and hid her in a lifeboat. From then on, every night he brought her three sandwiches and a piece of fruit, along with something to drink. They made passionate love until dawn. Three weeks later, during a routine inspection, she was discovered by the Captain. “What are you doing here?” the Captain asked. “I have an arrangement with one of the sailors,” she explained, “I get food and a trip to Hawaii, and he’s screwing me.” “He certainly is.” the Captain said. “This is the Staten Island Ferry.”
A Florida couple in their 70s go to a sex therapist. The doctor asks, “What can I do for you?” They ask, “Will you watch us have sexual intercourse?” The doctor is amazed that such an elderly couple is seeking sexual advice that he agrees. When the couple finishes, the doctor says. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the way you have intercourse.” He thanks them for coming, wishes them well, charges them $50 and says good bye. The next week, the couple returns and asks to be watched again. The sex therapist is a bit puzzled, but agrees. This happens several weeks in a row. The couple comes in, has intercourse with no problems, pays the doctor and then leave. After a month of this routine, the doctor asks, “I’m sorry, but I have to ask. Just what are you trying to find out?” The man says, “We’re not trying to find out anything. She’s married and we can’t go to her house. I’m married and we can’t go to my house. The Holiday Inn charges $98. The Hilton charges $139. We do it here for $50 and I get $40 back from Medicare.”
Danny’s wife, a blonde, came in the house jumping for joy. He didn’t know why she was so excited but he thought what the heck and started jumping up and down along with her when she said, “Honey, I have some really great news for you!” He said, “Great. Tell me what you’re so happy about.” She stopped jumping and was breathing heavily when she told him she was pregnant! He was ecstatic! They had been trying for a while, so he grabbed her, kissed her and told her, “That’s great! I couldn’t be happier!” Then, she said, “Oh, honey. There’s more.” He asked, “What do you mean ‘more’?” She said. “Well, we are not having just one baby. We are going to have TWINS!” Amazed at how she could know so soon after getting pregnant, he asked her how she knew. She said, “Well, that was the easy part. I went to the store and they actually had a home pregnancy kit in a two pack. Both tests came out positive!”
Michael J. Daly - Medal of Honor
Rank and Organization: Captain (then Lieutenant), U. S. Army, Company A, 15th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division, Place and Date: Nuremberg, Germany, 18 April 1945. Entered Service at: Southport, Conn.
Born: 15 September 1924, New York, N. Y. G. O. No. 77, 10 September
1945. Citation: Early in the morning of 18 April 1945, he led his company through the shell-battered, sniper-infested wreckage of Nuremberg, Germany. When blistering machine-gun fire caught his unit in an exposed position, he ordered his men to take cover, dashed forward alone, and, as bullets whined about him, shot the 3-man gun crew with his carbine. Continuing the advance at the head of his company, he located an enemy patrol armed with rocket launchers which threatened friendly armor. He again went forward alone, secured a vantage point and opened fire on the Germans. Immediately he became the target for concentrated machine-pistol and rocket fire, which blasted the rubble about him. Calmly, he continued to shoot at the patrol until he had killed all 6 enemy infantrymen. Continuing boldly far in front of his company, he entered a park, where as his men advanced, a German machinegun opened up on them without warning. With his carbine, he killed the gunner, and then, from a completely exposed position, he directed machinegun fire on the remainder of the crew until all were dead. In a final duel, he wiped out a third machinegun emplacement with rifle fire at a range of 10 yards. By fearlessly engaging in 4 single handed fire fights with a desperate, powerfully armed enemy, Lt. Daly, voluntarily taking all major risks himself and protecting his men at every opportunity, killed 15 Germans, silenced 3 enemy machineguns and wiped out an entire enemy patrol. His heroism during the lone bitter struggle with fanatical enemy forces was an inspira-tion to the valiant Americans who took Nuremberg.
Captain Ed W. Freeman - Medal of Honor
For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty:
Captain Ed W. Freeman, United States Army, distinguished himself by numerous acts of conspicuous gallantry and extraordinary intrepidity on 14 November 1965 while serving with Company A, 229th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile). As a flight leader and second in command of a 16-helicopter lift unit, he support-ed a heavily engaged American infantry battalion at Landing Zone X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley, Republic of Vietnam. The unit was almost out of ammunition after taking some of the heaviest casualties of the war, fighting off a relentless attack from a highly motivated, heavily armed enemy force. When the infantry commander closed the helicopter landing zone due to intense direct enemy fire, Captain Freeman risked his own life by flying his unarmed helicopter through a gauntlet of enemy fire time after time, delivering critically needed ammunition, water and medical supplies to the besieged battalion. His flights had a direct impact on the battle’s outcome by providing the engaged units with timely supplies of ammunition critical to their survival, without which they would almost surely have gone down, with much greater loss of life. After medical evacuation helicopters refused to fly into the area due to intense enemy fire, Captain Freeman flew 14 separate rescue missions, providing life-saving evacuation of an estimated 30 seriously wounded soldiers - some of whom would not have survived had he not acted. All flights were made into a small emergency landing zone within 100 to 200 meters of the defensive perimeter where heavily committed units were perilously holding off the attacking elements. Captain Freeman’s selfless acts of great valor, extraordinary perseverance and intrepidity were far above and beyond the call of duty or mission and set a superb example of leadership and courage for all of his peers. Captain Freeman’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.
Captain Robert B. Nett - Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Captain (then Lieutenant), U. S. Army, Company
E, 395th Infantry, 77th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near
Cognon, Leyte, Philippine Islands, 14 December 1944. Entered service
at: Lynchburg, Va. Birth: New Haven, Ct. G. O. No.: 16, 8 February
1946. Citation: He commanded Company E in an attack against a rein-forced enemy battalion which had held up the American advance for 2 days from its entrenched positions around a 3-story concrete building. With another infantry company and armored vehicles, Company E advanced against heavy machinegun and other automatic weapons fire with Lt. Nett spearheading the assault against the strongpoint. During the fierce hand-to-hand encounter which ensued, he killed 7 deeply en-trenched Japanese with his rifle and bayonet and, although seriously wounded, gallantly continued to lead his men forward, refusing to relinquish his command. Again he was seriously wounded, but, still unwilling to retire, pressed ahead with his troops to assure the capture of the objective. Wounded once more in the final assault, he calmly made all arrangements for the resumption of the advance, turned over his command to another officer, and then walked unaided to the rear for medical treatment. By his remarkable courage in continuing forward through sheer determination despite successive wounds, Lt. Nett provided an inspiring example for his men and was instrumental in the capture of a vital strongpoint.
.
