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Commentary:
This is the eighth Retiree Newsletter, published in Apr, Aug and Dec. Our purpose is to keep you informed and provide you a continuing sense of belonging to the Guard after retirement. We hope the newsletter helps accomplish that purpose. Let us know what you think of the newsletter and how we can improve it. We value your opinion. Information is furnished through various sources. Please advise the Council of any errors or omissions.
If you have information you would like published, please send it to the MEARNG Retiree Council, Camp Keyes, Augusta, ME 04330 or e-mail it to gmusk@mint.net.
We are constantly trying to update our mailing list to include all MEARNG retirees. If you know any retiree(s) who are not receiving the newsletter, please send their name to a member of the Retiree Council or e-mail us. Please advise us of mailing address changes due to 911. If you do not wish to continue receiving the newsletter, contact a council member.
If you'd like to communicate with other retirees by e-mail, please furnish us your address and we'll publish it in the newsletter.
For the latest information, call CW4 Roussel at 626-4338 or SFC Buck at 626-4283, MENG-HRO-AGR.
Nothing to report at this time.
The primary topics of discussion in the veterans community are summarized by Frank Soares, Director, Maine Veterans' Services.
Togus
There has been a lot of talk in the press about Togus, care of veterans and downsizing. I think all of the discussion can be best summed up by the results of the recent US Senate Hearings held at Togus last week. Approximately 20% of the comments were fiery and of great passion concerning care at Togus. The other 80% expressed satisfaction and on occasion, concern about travel to Boston and the desire to have more specialties available here in Maine. My personal experience as a patient at Togus has been pleasing and satisfying. Togus can improve but, in my opinion, they are doing an excellent job with what they have on hand. However, Washington continues to cut Togus and they cannot provide services in areas for which they do not have responsibility.
Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery
The budgets have finally come through and we are in a flurry trying to correct in one summer something that has taken 10 years to break. A new steel roof is being built on the chapel, a new fuel facility is under construction, roads are being paved and new vehicles are being purchased. We are also trying to hire five more people but are being delayed due to a number of bureaucratic requirements. Most of these items will be done very soon and we will then turn our efforts to a new cemetery for which land has been purchased in Augusta. Also, the request for the Master Plan continues; in addition, Washington is considering funding the project 100%. If all this goes through, the new cemetery will cost approximately $3 million and will include buildings, roads, gates and many thousands of plots. The 133rd Engr Bn, MEARNG, is planning to construct an entrance road, remove the stumps and level the entire lot next summer.
Veterans' Services
The Sanford office has been moved to Springvale in conjunction with a planned Vet Center move. Telephone numbers have not been changed. Presently, we are attempting to fill three Veterans' Services Office positions in Watreville, Lewiston and Portland. The last time these jobs were opened there were 127 applicants for one job! Hope we have that kind of response this time.
Veterans Homes
Gradually, our budget is moving back into the black. The stipend money is helping immensely but the major problem is still census at the homes. The current bed occupancy rate is 90% with some homes less than that figure. Below 90%, DHS penalized the homes about $25,000 each last year. Please refer needy veterans to the homes and help raise the census!
Retiree Council Meetings. Generally, the Council meets at 0900 in the TAG conference room, Camp Keyes, Augusta. Any retiree is welcome to attend. The 1998 meeting dates are 18 Aug, 20 Oct, 15 Dec.
New Members Needed. We are continually looking for new members. If you, or another retiree you know are interested, please contact a Council member.
Who Are Our Oldest Retirees? The Council would like to find our who our oldest retirees are so they may be recognized in the newsletter. If you are in this category please send a note to the Retiree Council at above address. In your note please include your birth date and any other information you would like to share with other retirees, such as, winter and summer locations, years of service, units served in and unit from which you retired.
CW4 Nathan F. Ford who will be 85 on 9 August was born in Bangor in 1913. His service began on 8 July 1932 with enlistment in HQ BTRY, 152d FA BN and spanned parts of five decades to his retirement from HQS, 133rd Engr Bn on 31 August 1973. CW4 Forc served in Europe during WWII. He now resides in Pembroke Pines, Florida.
Armed Forces of the U.S. Retiree Appreciation Day
As described in the notice mailed in June by HQS, MEARNG, all retirees are invited to attend Retiree Appreciation Day at the National Guard Armory, 771 Canal St, Manchester, NH, August 29, 1998 from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The event is sponsored by the New Hampshire National Guard in cooperation with the Maine and Vermont National Guard, the Brunswick Naval Air Station and the Maine and Vermont Army Retiree Councils. Here is an opportunity to update ID cards; make address changes; receive legal assistance; prepare wills; and receive information about TRICARE and CHAMPUS, Veterans Administration matters and much mor. Retirees from all branches of the Armed Forces and their reserve components may attend and it is open to gray area (under age 60) retirees. (Take Exit 6, Amoskeg Bridge, I-293. Stay to the right, follow signs to Elm Street in Downtown Manchester and the Armory is on your right).
MEARNG Aviation Crewmembers Reunion
A reunion of MEARNG aviation crewmembers will be held Saturday, September 26, 1998, at the 112th Armory, Bangor, Maine. all current and past aviators, crewchiefs, medics, technicla inspectors, flight surgeons and anyone else who wore wings is invited to attend. All known aviation crewmembers are receiving an invitation which will include all pertinent information. The reunion committee asks all crewmembers to pass the word. Please be sure your address is on file and current with the Army Aviation Support Facility in Bangor. The AASF number is 207-947-6593.
Military Ball
The Military Ball will be held October 17, 1998 at the Augusta National Guard Armory, providing no major construction setback occurs.
Retirees are encouraged to visit and suppor tthe Maine National Guard Museum located at Camp Keyes, Augusta. It is open for your enjoyment by making an appointment with CW4 Ronald Roussel at 626-4338. Admission is free but donations are gratefully accepted. The Maine Military Historical Society which operates the museum solicits donations or loans of military memorabilia for possible display. The society is always seeking new members and solicits funds for support of the organization. For more information, contact CW4 Roussel.
The following e-mail was received from Patrick Baker. Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. "This is a very, very long shot. I'm attempting to trace my father, Wallace Baker, who joined the U.S. Army or the U.S. Army Air Corps from Gardiner, ME, sometime in 1941 or 42. I believe he was with a headquarters company and know that he served as a Sergeant at Mitchell AFB on Long Island, NY in 1942. If, by rare chance you have any ideas about how I might continue my search, I'd appreciate hearing from you. I, too, am a veteran of both the U.S. Navy and Air Force (1960-68) and of the Vietnam conflit (65-66). If there's any information, please call me collect at 905-765-9716. Many thanks."
Romain Savoie
Gautrey Musk
Albert White, Jr.
James Laflin
Donald Laflin
Edward Davis
Nathan Grass
Robert Weymouth
Douglas Welsh, Jr.
Martin Asdourian