Salute to Veterans

Heroes

onoring

A Salute to Veterans

INSIDE Vietnam veteran forever linked to military route Decorated WWII vet recalls time as a radio operator Former crew chief has loved planes since childhood

The Eagle • November 2013

Salute to Veterans • Sunday, November 10, 2013

Table of ConTenTs For some families, Veterans Day is honored every day. Service men and women might not be thanked daily, but those close to them know the sacrifices they made or are making, and they recognize the critical nature of the job.

Most the public also appreciates United States military personnel, both active duty and retired, along with those in the reserves.

Nov. 11 officially has been set aside as a national holiday since 1838 to emphasize the important of those who serve our country. Today we thank and honor the scores of men and women across the Brazos Valley who have worn and wear a military uniform, along with the 1.5 million other Americans serving now.

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Aggie honored for service

Page 10 Local museum brings U.S. military history to life

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Job fair planned for veterans

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Veterans get small-business help

Page 11 Texas historical markers in need of restoration

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Vet forever tied to Vietnam route

Page 12 War memorials going digital

Page 8

Decorated WWII veteran: I’m not a hero

Page 13 Repaired bikes provide lifeline for needy vets

Page 9

Love of planes propelled veteran into Air Force service

Page 14 Periodontist provides free dental care for veterans

Cover photo | Stuart Villanueva

Eagle photos by Dave McDermand

American Veterans from all your friends at College Station Medical Center.

The Eagle

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Thank You

We proudly salute America’s veterans and active-duty military for their drive and dedication, contributions and courage. Their commitment to our country and our freedom has protected us for generations, and we owe them a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. This Veterans Day, please join us in honoring the brave men and women of our Armed Forces who have fought, sacrificed and served their country

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with pride.

• Sunday, November 10, 2013

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We are proud to offer an extensive selection of heavy equipment rentals and sales in Texas.

Salute to Veterans

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American Revolutionary War (1775-1783): 4,435

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War of 1812 (1812-1815): 2,260

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Mexican War (1846-1848): 1,733 battle deaths; 11,550 died of disease

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Civil War (1861-1865): Roughly 498,302 (Estimates published in 2012 increase it to 750,000)

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Spanish-American War (1898-1901): 2,446

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World War I (1917-1918): 116,516

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World War II (1941-1945): 405,399

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Korean War (1950-1953): 36,574

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Vietnam War (1961-1975): 58,220

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Persian Gulf War (19901991): 383

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Iraq (2003-2011): 4,486

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Afghanistan (2001-present): 2,269

Aggie honored for service Medal of Honor winner added to Hall of Honor in MSC

The Eagle

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Special to The Eagle

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Medal of Honor recipient Clarence E. Sasser, who attended Texas A&M on a scholarship offered by then-President Earl Rudder for his heroic service as an Army medic in Vietnam, recently had his name and likeness added to the university’s Medal of Honor Hall of Honor in the Memorial Student Center.

The highlight of the public ceremony was the formal unveiling of the display of Sasser’s likeness with an inscription stating the 1968 battlefield circumstances that prompted his heroics. The display will be permanently housed in the MSC’s new and expanded first-floor section for formally recognizing recipients of the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor in combat.

Texas A&M previously had seven Aggies whose names and likenesses grace the specially designated Medal of Honor Hall of Honor section in the MSC. All seven of them received Medals of Honor — including five posthumously — for service in World War II. Sasser was a private in the 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division in Vietnam at the time he performed his heroic actions that resulted in him receiving the Medal of Honor. On Jan. 10, 1968, he was helping evacuate soldiers

wounded in a helicopter crash in a flooded rice paddy. While under fire, he carried one of the wounded to cover and returned for more. Sasser continued to help his fellow soldiers despite running out of supplies and sustaining wounds in both his legs.

In an interview in 1968, Sasser was asked if he waded into the marsh to get all the wounded.

“Everyone that I could,” he replied, “whether or not I had medical supplies. If they called, I went after them.”

Following his military service, Sasser enrolled at Texas A&M as a chemistry major in August 1969. University officials say Sasser embodies all that the Hall of Honor represents.

The program included remarks by Sasser and several other notable speakers, including Texas A&M University System Board of Regents Chairman Phil Adams, A&M System Chancellor John Sharp and Judge Willie E.B. Blackmon, a 1973 Texas A&M graduate and recipient of the university’s distinguished alumnus award. Blackmon and Lt. Gen. Joe Weber USMC (Ret.), the university’s vice president for student affairs, spearheaded the effort to honor Sasser with the full support of A&M President R. Bowen Loftin.

“On behalf of the entire Aggie community, I welcome Clarence Sasser back to campus to give us thisopportunitytohonorhimfor

his heroic service to our nation — and for all of us, particularly ourstudents,tobeabletopersonally say ‘thank you,’” Loftin said.

Weber, a 1972 Texas A&M graduate, cited the significance of the ceremony to honor Sasser, for which his office coordinated the program.

“November 7, 2013 [was] yet another historic day on the campus of Texas A&M University. Clarence Sasser, an AfricanAmerican former student and Medal of Honor recipient from the Vietnam War, will take his place among seven other Aggies who have been previously recognized for their courage, sacrifice and the highest level of service and action one could render to this nation,” Weber said.

“The inclusion and acceptance of Clarence and his Medal of Honor into our Medal of Honor Hall of Honor is fitting, proper and long overdue,” the retired general said. “Texas A&M University is both honored and privileged to ensure that his sacrifice will never be forgotten, and that his Medal of Honor and associated citation will be housed and protected in perpetuity on this campus within the hallowed halls of our Memorial Student Center.”

Generations of Aggies will have an opportunity to learn about Sasser’s courage, along with the other seven Medal of Honor recipients who have

served the nation with distinction.

Sources: Department of Defense, The New York Times

HONOR. APPRECIATE. SALUTE! At The Bank & Trust, we salute and give thanks to our Veterans, active military personnel and their families for their sacrifice and commitment to preserving our freedom.

Timothy N. Bryan Chairman of the Board

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4450 State Hwy 6 South College Station, Texas 77845 (979) 260-2100

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Salute to Veterans

U.S. WAR DEATHS

Eagle Staff Report

ONLINE

Andres Alcantar Texas Workforce Commission Chairman with their next career opportunity. Employers may participate at no cost and are encouraged to contact their local Workforce Solutions office for more information. Last year’s Hiring Red, White & You! job fairs attracted more than 12,000 veterans and 1,400 employers statewide, and resulted in about 2,800 hires by participating employers.

Workforce Solutions of the Brazos Valley is sponsoring the Bryan job fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at the Center for Regional Services, located at 3991 E. 29th St. “Military veterans possess the skills, discipline and leadership experience that are ideally suited to employers in need of a ready workforce,” said TWC

Chairman Andres Alcantar.

“The Hiring Red, White & You! statewide employment effort connects veterans with employment and helps them successfully transition to the civilian labor force.”

The Texas Veterans Commission is preparing veterans for these events by conducting workshops across the state.

These workshops are designed to assist veterans with applications, résumé assistance, interviewing techniques, and oneon-one counseling services.

“Hiring veterans is not just goodwill, but it is great for business,” said Thomas Palladino, the Texas Veterans Commission Executive Director. “Events like these are just another example

of how our state government partners with the private sector to ensure that veterans and their families obtain longtime, meaningful employment.”

The national unemployment rate for all veterans is 6.2 percent. In contrast, for those veterans who served in the military post-9/11, the unemployment rate is higher at 10 percent.

The Hiring Red, White & You! statewide hiring campaign will help provide opportunities for employment to the estimated 1.7 million veterans in Texas.

The Eagle

Salutes ourVeterans!

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TEEX VA Approved Programs

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Recruit Fire Academy • Basic Peace Officer Unexploded Ordnance • Fire Programs Emergency Medical Services • Electrical Certified Safety & Health Official The time has never been better for military veterans to further their training. The Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) is committed to helping veterans make the best choices possible while attaining the maximum assistance, guidance, and support using the GI Bill and other programs. Qualifying veterans may use Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits for certain TEEX programs.

www.TEEX.org

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Information on how employers and job seekers can participate in Hiring Red, White & You! job fairs may be found at www.texasworkforce. org/hrwy. Please note that some job fair locations have changed since last year.

“Military veterans have many skills and credentials qualifying them for work in a variety of occupations,” said TWC Commissioner Representing Labor Ronny Congleton. “These job fairs are a great chance for veterans to expand their network and gain faster entry into rewarding careers in Texas. I also encourage our veterans to take advantage of services available at Workforce Solutions offices across the state.”

Among other benefits of hiring veterans, the Work OpportunityTaxCreditallowsemployers to receive up to a $9,600 tax credit on federal business income or payroll tax benefits when they hire a qualifying veteran.

“The Hiring Red, White, & You! event benefits both our Texas veterans and employers,” said Hope Andrade, TWC Commissioner representing employers.

“Our highly-skilled veterans can start their civilian careers, and our employers are matched with the skilled workers they have been looking for. We encourage Texas employers to participate in this great event.”

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The Texas Workforce Commission, along with 28 local boards and the state’s Veterans Commission, will host job fairs across the state Thursday.

TWC’s second annual Hiring Red, White & You! campaign is a joint initiative supported by Gov. Rick Perry, Texas Medical CentersurgeonandUniversityof Texas Health Science Center at Houston professor Dr. James H. “Red” Duke Jr., and Texas Veterans Commission to connect our returning veterans in Texas with employers who are hiring.

“The Hiring Red, White & You! campaign is one way we can thank Texas’ veterans for their service to our nation,” Perry said in a statement. “We want to do everything in our power to help our heroes utilize their skills to build a career in Texas, and connect employers with these talented and experienced individuals to fill open job opportunities.”

Hiring Red White & You! jobs fairs are designed to help veterans and their spouses connect

Military veterans possess the skills, discipline and leadership experience that are ideally suited to employers in need of a ready workforce.

Salute to Veterans

Job fairs planned statewide for veterans

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Salute to Veterans • Sunday, November 10, 2013 theeagle.com • The Eagle

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Agency offers business TBIposeschallenge for vets’ caregivers advice, help to veterans Eagle Staff Report

The U.S. Small Business Administration is honoring veterans through Monday as part of an initiative to reach out to entrepreneurs and small-business owners.

Veterans Small Business Week, which wraps up Monday, is part of SBA’s work throughout the year to make sure our nation’s veterans have the tools and capital they need to start or grow a business, officials said.

“Our nation owes a debt of gratitude to the brave men and women who have served our country,” said Acting SBA Administrator Jeanne Hulit.

“SBA’s Veterans Small Business Week is so exciting because it really shines a light on what makes our nation strong. Veterans are highly-skilled and highlytrained leaders in their communities; it makes sense that after serving their country they would want to bring these skills back

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Each year SBA helps more than 200,000 veterans, service-disabled veterans and reservists. To learn more about additional opportunities for veterans available through the SBA, please go to www. sba.gov/veterans.

home and start businesses. Our job at the SBA is to make sure veterans know what tools and programs are out there to help them achieve their dreams.”

During Veterans Small Business Week, SBA staff all across the country will be working with partner organizations on educational efforts, mentoring and trainings for veterans. SBA provides veterans access to business counseling and training, capital and business development opportunities through government contracts. In the past year, SBA

supported $1.86 billion in loans for 3,094 veteran-owned small businesses. And since 2009, the dollar amount of SBA lending support to veteran-owned firms has nearly doubled.

According to the U.S. Census, veterans are a significant part of the small business community. Nearly one in 10 small businesses is veteran-owned, and our nation’s 2.4 million veteran-owned small businesses employ almost 6 million people and generate more than $1 trillion in receipts. In the private sector, veterans are 45 percent more likely than those with no active-duty military experience to be self-employed.

SBA currently engages veterans through its 68 local SBA district offices, 15 Veterans Business Outreach Centers nationwide, its partnership with 63 Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) with more than 900 outreach locations, and 12,000 SCORE volunteers.

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Eagle Staff Report

Traumatic brain injury is known as the signature wound of war during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. The number of those wounded with TBI and accompanying complications has necessitated major changes in the ways in which the Department of Defense and the Veterans Affairs treats these injuries.

Although family caregivers are to receive education about TBI as early as possible, many families find they need additional and ongoing support.

Living with TBI can present many difficulties for families, as side effects can include problems with regulating negative moods, displays of aggressive behavior, memory loss and physical symptoms such as recurrent headaches and fatigue. Family members are often at a loss in their attempts to understand these be-

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For online TBI resources go to: www.extension. org/pages/68059

haviors and assist their loved one in day-to-day routines and during times of stress.

In a recent presentation, Timothy R. Elliott, a professor in the department of educational psychology at Texas A&M, reviewed basic information about TBI, its complications and issues family members face living with TBI. The presentation gave information about coping and specific problem-solving strategies that have been useful to other caregivers living with TBI. Service providers benefit from such discussions because they also learn the utility of problem-solving strategies and how to help family caregivers learn these approaches.

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Gary Banta Vietnam Army veteran

Eagle photo by Dave McDermand Veteran Gary Banta is still haunted by the memories of his time in theArmy traveling Route One inVietnam in protective convoys.

He was 19 years old when he was deployed to Vietnam.

Forty years after his service ended, Banta was diagnosed

with post-traumatic stress disorder, a disorder that the

See BANTA, Page 13

The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation.

–Gen. George Washington

VETERANS DAY 2013 An annual patriotic and respectful ceremony and program

BRAZOS VALLEY VETERANS MEMORIAL

Monday, November 11, 2013 • 4 pm

Louis L. Adam Memorial Plaza Veterans Park and Athletic Complex 3101 Harvey Road • College Station, Texas

theeagle.com

A Memorial for All Veterans of the Brazos Valley, Inc.

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4 pm - Dedication of “Letters from Home” WWII memorial on the Lynn Stuart Pathway 5 pm - Reading of the Names added for 2013 by Bill Youngkin Louis L. Adam Memorial Plaza 5:30 pm - Annual Veterans Day Program Louis L. Adam Memorial Plaza KEYNOTE SPEAKER: 2nd Lt. John H. “Lucky” Luckadoo, WWII veteran, 100th Bomb Group

The Eagle

After 13 months of protecting convoys in Northern Vietnam, Banta was sent home.

“I never wrote home or nothing,” Banta said. “I knew that they were watching the television, and I couldn’t tell them what was going on. When I did come home, my mother wept when she saw me because of the condition I was in.”

Banta had two years of service left in the Army after Vietnam, and his next station was Fort Knox, Ky. There, Banta was staff driver for Lt. Gen. John Sutherland. During his time at Fort Knox, Banta entered the vault with Sutherland and saw the gold stored there, making him one of the few Americans who has ever seen it. After driving a year for Sutherland, Banta was sent to Holland for six months and then moved again to Germany to work as an assistant chaplain.

Banta finished out his last year of service in Germany, setting up services for Protestants and Catholics.

“My signature thing is this,” Banta said as he ran his hands over the map he’d drawn.

“This here is what changed my life. It was not an experience a 19-year-old was equipped for. I was just a kid off the plains of Kansas, I had no way of knowing what I was getting myself into.”

Nebraska Department of Veterans’ Affairs estimates affects 30 percent of veterans who return from war. PTSD comes from experiencing or witnessing life-threatening events, which Banta experienced daily.

“I saw my friends hurt and killed by the Vietnamese, and

Sunday, November 10, 2013

he map is burned in Gary Banta’s brain.

“You have what they call Route One, and it ends at Da Nang, and that was as far north as you could go on pavement,” the Vietnam veteran said as he started hand-drawing a map of Vietnam on the paper-covered table in front of him.

Starting with Da Nang, the Bryan resident detailed the geography of the Hyvan Pass, down Route One to Pnu Bai, Quang Tri, Dong Ha, Lz Ann, and other Vietnamese cities along the way.

“OK, here is Camp Evans, 101st Airborne.”

It took Banta three minutes to draw out the whole map. He traced over the lines in front of him, the routes he used to follow every day for 13 months.

“So our job was to pick up whatever it was and to take it to these five places off Route One, or wherever they needed us to,” he recalled. He explained what a typical day was like, driving up and down these roads, the sleepless nights and the ambushes that occurred while delivering supplies to the bases.

Banta rode in trucks or jeeps as part of a convoy that protected armored trucks. He was deployed to Vietnam in 1968 with the Army in the 51st Air Calvary Division.

“I had never seen war before. I was 19, just a boy off the plains of Kansas,” Banta said.

As part of a protective convoy, Banta and the rest of D-Company spent their days delivering supplies to the American soldiers at different bases. He sat with an M-60 machine gun in his lap while they traveled through the dirt roads of the jungle.

Banta pointed to his map.

“The most interesting trip was over the Hyvan pass. On even days, you could only go south.

On odd days, only north. It was a narrow road, and they couldn’t risk the ambush of the traffic going both ways.

The mountains jetted all the way out to the South China Sea, and above you, there was jungle. You never knew where they were hiding or when you would get ambushed. It was always an adventure going over the Hyvan pass.”

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To serve is the most noble calling that can be afforded to an American citizen.

I had it better than most. I wish it had been different, but I would do it again if they asked me to.

By Hailey kilgo hailey.kilgo@theeagle.com

Salute to Veterans

The long route home:

Vietnam veteran feels forever connected to military journey

A 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization established in 2000 to recognize and honor the service and sacrifices of all American veterans past, present and future.

info@bvvm.org • www.bvvm.org

979.450.3296

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Salute to Veterans • Sunday, November 10, 2013

I

t started with eight boys from Baytown. Eight football players and friends who decided to join the service together in 1942, during the beginning stages of the second World War. A couple went to the Marines, a few to the Army and Navy, but 19 year-old Alfred Hanson chose the Air Force.

“These recruiters would walk around, and if they liked the looks of you, they would say ‘you look like an Army man,’ or they would tell you how grand life would be in the Air Force,” Hanson said. “They split the eight of us up, and boy were they all liars.”

Alfred’s military career began in South Dakota, where he became a radio operator and went to code school.

“Most of those boys in school with me dropped out, said it was too hard for them to do,” Hanson said. “But I loved it. Nobody bothered you unless a pilot had a message for you to send or the navigator needed coordinates. It was a

good, clean job.”

After code school, Alfred spent a short time in California before being sent to his base in Biak Island, New Guinea.

“We were beautiful soldiers, just arrived from California, come to win the war,” Hanson said about his arrival in Biak.

From Biak, Alfred was the radio operator on a C-47 crew. His job was to send messages from the pilot back to base, or to the camps they were approaching.

The C-47s carried everything from supplies, troops, armor and on one occasion, Alfred recalled, a group of nurses.

Every day for two years, Alfred and his crew carried supplies around the Pacific, from 1943 to 1945.

“We were a big plane, and the Japanese wouldn’t shoot at us because they didn’t want to give away their position,”

Hanson said. “The only time I was scared was every day. Every day when the tires would lift off from the strip until they were back on the ground.

You just never knew what was coming for you in the air. Weather mostly, having to land in awful conditions, but you never knew.”

One of Alfred’s trips took him and his crew to Clark Base, in the Philippines, and there he experienced doubts about war.

“We came to some natives and they were taking us into the village, but all around war was happening,” Hanson said. “There was Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the United States of America fighting, and these natives were used to it. I found myself asking ‘weren’t we supposed to be the civilized ones?’”

At the end of the war in 1945, Alfred’s

last job was to fly Japanese dignitaries to sign end-of-war declarations.

“I wasn’t allowed to know who they were, but the Japanese were real polite,” Hanson said. “They would bow to you. And they were the nicest-dressed people I’d seen in years. They even wore top hats.”

During his service, Alfred received several medals, but the greatest honors are his five Bronze Stars. The stars were given to service members sent into occupied territory to take supplies. Alfred is one of the only people in Texas to have five stars.

“Those medals and stars weren’t my greatest award,” Hanson said. “The greatest was to be discharged. I was so glad to get out of there. I was burnt out, and I had a wife to get home to.”

See HANSON, Page 10

Jim McLoud Air Force veteran

Eagle photo by Dave McDermand Veteran Jim McLoud holds photos of himself when he served in the Air Force as crew chief on F-89 jet fighters. McLoud’s love of planes began during his childhood after a visit to an air base. sistant, McLoud became chief of his own plane, an F-89.

“I was in charge of everything that happened to that

plane; it was my first one, and I loved it,” McLoud said. “I had the cleanest planes. I treated them like my babies, and they

were maintained perfectly.”

McLoud spent his career following planes, and that took him to Hill Air Force Base in Utah. There, McLoud attended factory school and learned more about the fighter jets and the new versions the Air Force had created. From Utah, McLoud moved to Panama City, Fla., to test missiles for fighter jets. For a year, he and his team tested missiles in all weather conditions and environments.

“One time, we were waiting for a rainy day so that we could get out and test the missiles in those conditions,” McLoud said. “And the day finally came. So we ran out there and fired them off, taking down the calculations, speeds, heights and all the stuff that the engineers needed to make sure they would work. And that’s what I did, and that’s what I loved.”

In 1960, McLoud was sent overseas to a Royal Air Force station in Weatherfield, England.

“This was the best news

I’d ever had in my time in the Air Force,” McLoud said. “I wanted to go overseas, and I finally had my chance. I’d actually volunteered to go to Vietnam so that I could have the experience and be a part of it, but I was never deployed. So England was what I needed.”

Just like he’d done stateside, McLoud cared for planes on the Air Force base, but this time they were F-100s. From England, McLoud was sent to Tripoli, Libya, three times to work with the 20th Fighter Wing, dealing with nuclear missiles and the planes that would carry them.

“I would prepare the planes and then watch as the pilots went up with nuclear simulators attached to the wings.

They would go up and try to hit an eight-by-eight target back on the ground,” McLoud said. “And a couple of them hit it. They were very good.”

McLoud spent time in Norway during the Cold War, preparing the planes, waiting for war to break out. In 1962, McLoud was sent back to Hill Air Force Base, and then discharged from the Air Force three years later in 1965. He then went to work for Bell Helicopter. When he lost his job there, he went to work for Santa Fe Railroads as a locomotive engineer.

After 11 years in the Air Force, five with Bell and 48 with the Santa Fe Railroads, McLoud retired in 1998.

See McLOUD, Page 11

Brazos Valley Veterans day eVents

The Eagle

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By HAILEY kILgo hailey.kilgo@theeagle.com

J

im McLoud has always loved planes. In grade school, he drew pictures of planes on all his papers and passed the hours daydreaming about them. When he got older, a friend invited him to the Stephens County Airport, where he paid $5 to become a member.

“There was a captain who came out from Fort Worth and lectured us twice, and he talked about B-36 bombers,” McLoud said. “Then later that year, we got to road trip to Wichita Falls and got to see all different types of planes at the Air Force base there.”

After Wichita Falls, McLoud went to camp at Randolph Air Force Base. There, he was allowed the chance to test flight simulators and really learn about planes.

“My ambition was to go into the Air Force after that,” McLoud said.

His love of planes spurred McLoud to join the Air Force in 1954 at age 19.

“I was ready to go,” McLoud said. “I did my basics in Amarillo and then lived in a 12-man tent in Yuma, Ariz., for 18 months while working on jet fighters.”

As part of the 50th Air Force Defense, McLoud began as an assistant crew chief, servicing planes, changing tires and providing maintenance to all parts except the engine. After three months of work as an as-

I had the cleanest planes. I treated them like my babies, and they were maintained perfectly.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Eagle photo

by Dave McDermand

By HAILEY kILgo hailey.kilgo@theeagle.com

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Decorated WWII veteran says he was lucky to return

A passion for planes:

Veteran’s military ambitions sparked by childhood visit to Air Force base

Salute to Veterans

‘Not a hero’

WWII veteran Alfred Hanson displays a shadow box at his home in Bryan that contains medals he earned for his service in the Air Force.

Hanson was the radio operator on a C-47 crew based on Biak Island, New Guinea.

“Run for Heroes,” noon to midnight. The Quad. The Corps of Cadets will host the annual run to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project. Wounded veterans run for free and the community can sign up as individuals or as teams for $20 per person. Starting times begin every 30 minutes.

The Challenger 17 barbecue team will offer burger plates from noon to 3 p.m. and again from 5 to 8 p.m. For more information, contact Mitchel Gams at 210-422-3551.

Monday

• National Roll Call, 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Texas A&M’s Rudder Plaza. Sponsored by the Student Veteran’s Association, volunteers will read names of the men and women who died while serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.

• Class Council flag ceremony, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Adjacent to Texas A&M’s Rudder Plaza. Students will have the opportunity to honor a veteran by placing a flag.

• Whoop! For Troops, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rudder Plaza. Sign cards and donate items for U.S. troops overseas.

• Veterans Day ceremony, American Legion Hall in Bryan at 11 a.m. Joe Ramirez, commandant of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets, will be the guest speaker.

• Wreath Laying Ceremony, 11:11 a.m. World War I Memorial near Albritton Bell Tower on A&M campus. The Corps

of Cadets will hold a wreath-laying ceremony with a rifle volley. Additional wreath ceremonies are planned at 11:30 a.m. at the WWII Memorial in the Corps Plaza and at 11:45 a.m. at the Spanish-American War Memorial at the south entrance of the Sanders Corps of Cadets Center.

• Statue dedication, 4 p.m. Veterans Memorial Park in College Station. The dedication of a new statue, “Letters from Home,” will be followed at 5 p.m. by the reading of 125

new names engraved on the Wall of Heroes. The annual Veterans Day program will then begin shortly after at the Louis L. Adam Memorial Plaza. The keynote speaker will be John H. “Lucky” Luckadoo, a WWII veteran from the 100th Bomb Group. Members of the A&M Corps of Cadets, Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band and Corps Center Guard will participate in the ceremony. For more information, go to www.bvvm.org.

Wednesday

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Sunday

Women’s Basketball Military Appreciation Game, 7 p.m. Reed Arena. Two free tickets for current and or former military service members available at www.12thmanfoundation.com/ticket-center/promotions. aspx. The promotion code is: military. Must be able to show proof of military service at the gate.

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Salute to Veterans • Sunday, November 10, 2013 theeagle.com • The Eagle

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WWI history comes alive in Brazos Valley Museum of the American GI’s FT 17 tank is one of a kind

By RoBin Silva Special to The Eagle

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he Brazos Valley is fortunate to be home of the Museum of the American GI, which has one of the largest collections of restored, functioning historic military vehicles in the United States.

One of the featured pieces is a World War I French Reneault FT 17 Light Tank, built in 1917

by Renault in France. This tank is an incredible piece of military history, a true combat “veteran” from WWI. WWI was the first time the U.S. used armored tanks in combat. In April 1917, the U.S. declared war on Germany, Gen. John J. Pershing became commander of the American Expeditionary Forces (A.E.F.) and George Smith Patton Jr., promoted to captain, accompanied Pershing to France.

Pershing was so impressed by the use of British tanks at the Battle of Cambrai in 1917 that he ordered the creation of the first tank force to support the newly formed AEF’s infantry.

Patton was detailed to set up a U.S. Army Tank Corps and establish a tank school in Langres, France. Under his command, two tank battalions consisting of 514 French-built Renault FT light tanks, finished training by September 1918. These became the 344th and 345th battalions of the

Special to The Eagle The blueprint details the position of soldiers and artillery inside the French Reneault FT 17 Light Tank (left).The Museum of the American GI is currently restoring a World War I-era FT 17 tank as part of its collection of functioning historic military vehicles.

4details

• To make an appointment to view the Museum of the American G.I. in south College Station, call 979-739-4037.

• View pictures of restoration projects, information on new collection additions and other museum news, visit the museum’s Facebook page: facebook.com/ MuseumOfTheAmericanGI or the museum’s website: magicstx.org.

304th (1st) Tank Brigade of the U.S. Tank Corps.

Maj. Sereno Brett led the 1st Tank Brigade into battle, an offensive at St. Mihiel salient with the First Army. In addition to the AEF tanks, the attack was supported by 275 French tanks (216 FTs and 59 Schneider CA1 medium tanks) of the French 1st Assault Artillery Brigade; a total of 419 tanks.

In 1918, the Renault FT light tank was the first tank in history with a “modern” configuration: a revolving turret on top

and an engine compartment at the rear. It would be the most numerous tank of the war.

Although mud, lack of fuel and mechanical failure caused many tanks to stall in the German trenches, the attack succeeded, and much valuable experience was gained.

By the armistice of Nov. 11, 1918, the AEF was critically short on tanks, as no American-made ones were completed in time for use in combat.

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, an armistice between Germany and the Allied nations became effective. Commemorated as Armistice Day the following year in 1919, it became a legal federal holiday in 1938.

In 1920, the U.S. Tank Corps was disbanded, and the remaining 200 tanks were shipped home to America in 1921. The tanks were eventually put up for sale by the government. Our tank, part of the 345th Tank Battalion, was purchased in 1925 by a Michigan family who retained ownership until we purchased it in 2005.

It had traveled 6,524 miles over 88 years from St. Mihiel

HANSON: Said he would fight again Continued from 8 Back in the civilian world, Alfred and his wife, Ruby, moved to Texas. Alfred attended Luling Foundation, where he learned about the meat business. Alfred owned his own meat-processing plant in Hearne, selling it when he retired. Alfred and his wife had seven children, six of them alive today and scattered across the United States.

“When we all came back from the war, no one knew what to do. We all asked ‘what now?’ For years, we had become so used to taking orders that we were lost. I was unemployed with a wife,

and I had no idea what to do. Someone told me, ‘Alfred, go to business school and get into business for yourself.’ So that’s what I did.”

Seventy years later, Alfred reflects back on his World War II service with no regrets.

“I’d go again,” Hanson said. “You’re an American, you go. But I was lucky to come back. I don’t want any more of war. I came back and people said ‘Oh you’re a hero.’ I told them no, the real heroes are back there. They are the white crosses that stretch on and on when you get to Clark Base in the Philippines or in Japan. So I’m not a hero, I was lucky.”

Renault, France, to the Brazos Valley. It is the only Frenchbuilt FT 17 in civilian hands in North America, and the only one that runs. Others from that era are part of the 1,200 that were produced in America but never used in combat.

One of the first in American combat, it weighs in at 6 tons, uses gas fuel and gets one mile to the gallon. The tank has a revolving turret on top and

an engine compartment at the rear and holds a 2-man crew.

Our tank, Registration No. 1456, is currently under restoration at the Museum of the American GI. The tank will debut on March 21 at the museum’s open house. z Robin Silva is the operations manager at the Museum of the American GI in College Station.

Veterans Day ceremony

Monday November 11th • 10:00 AM American Legion, Earl Graham Post 159 ic is the Publ eD g encoura !

D n e to att

By ALLAN TURNER Houston Chronicle

broom, pushing away inches of leaves to reveal the still legible letters in the hidden stone: “Site of the home of George Thomas Wood. Colonel of a regiment in the Mexican War. Senator in the congress of the Republic. Governor of Texas, 1847-1849.”

Once the stone is righted and cleaned, Point Blank residents hope to transform the site into a

from the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum!

•

We want to thank all of the many veterans, current military and their families who all sacrifice so much every day. Please take this opportunity today to thank a service member or veteran for all that they do for us.

FREE ADMISSION for

Military retirees and veterans with ID on Nov. 11 Active-duty service members and up to five family members year-round

McLOUD: An American Legion officer Continued from 9

“War taught me how fragile peace is in this world, especially today,” McLoud said.

Today, McLoud is the public information officer at American Legion Post 159 in Bryan, a position he’s maintained for the past 10 months.

“We can never forget our veterans,” McLoud said. “Veterans are unique. They protect one another. They will come to each other’s aid even if they are outnumbered, even if they don’t know each other. That is what a veteran does and that is why the American Legion is important. We help make sure veterans are appreciated.”

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biggest enemy, but some damage clearly was caused by thieves — out for the bronze Texas star and wreath — and vandals. Unsympathetic landowners also may have played a role. Two years after the centennial, a marker vanished from a Northeast Texas site associated with U.S. Vice President John Nance Garner, Brinkman said. It later was recovered from a pig sty.

Typical is the lichen-splotched gray marker in San Jacinto County, about 80 miles north of Houston, that marks the home site of George Wood, Texas’ second governor. Elements and perhaps the burrowing of forest animals, have toppled the stone.

Point Blank resident Bill West, a retired high school coach active in historical groups, said the stone is all that remains at what once was a sprawling antebellum cotton plantation.

The Wood home long since has moldered away.

West gingerly picked his way through dense, sticker-studded undergrowth, stabbing at tree limbs with one hand, wielding an oversized janitor’s broom in the other. Silently he moved through the forest. Clouds of mosquitoes rose with every step.

Then he stopped at what seemed a slight rise in the forest floor.

He raised and lowered the

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to the leaders of 1836 battle for independence and their associated sites, but the program’s scope quickly grew.

“They didn’t even go by the 50-year rule,” Brinkman said.

“They had one for the Lucas Gusher at Spindletop, and that was just 35 years in the past at the time. They did all this in the middle of the Depression, but Texans were so proud of where they had come from in 100 years.

Now we’re almost at the 200-year mark. We want to get everything back in good shape.”

Inscribed on most of the gray or pink granite markers are terse summations of a site’s significance. “The language on some is really poetic,” said Brinkman, adding that while some are “one-sided or insensitive” others reflect a “forward thinking vision.” Those that are found to contain factual errors will be corrected on the historical commission’s website.

About 10 of the granite markers requiring professional cleaning are in Harris County. Among them are the state gravestones for San Jacinto battle veterans Moses Brigham, John Cheevers, Fielding Secrest and William Durham, all in the Founders Cemetery near downtown Houston.

Time has been the markers’

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Texas Historical Commission photo

mini-park, complete with paved walkways and directional signs.

In adjacent Walker County, a similar marker designating the home site of Henderson Yoakum, Sam Houston’s friend and attorney and early Texas historian, likely never will be anything but remote. As with the Wood home, the Yoakum residence, a two-story frame dog-trot building, collapsed decades ago. Only the fireplace bricks remain, said Huntsville Mayor Mac Woodward, a Yoakum descendant.

Despite the marker’s relative inaccessibility — visitors must follow a railroad track into the countryside, then make their way through 50 yards of dense forest — vandals apparently found it.

Missing from the stone are half the bronze wreath and the tip of the Texas star.

Woodward eyed the mutilated tribute to his great, great, greatgrandfather and grew somber.

“It’s tragic,” he said. “These markers, like historic documents or artifacts, are one of a kind. When they’re gone, they’re gone.”

•

HUNTSVILLE — Deep in the Great Depression, Texas leaders — bursting with a pride that perhaps only Texans can understand — went on a celebratory centennial building spree.

From San Jacinto to the West Texas mountains, statues, monuments, markers and museums sprouted along roadsides, in pastures and in towns and cities. Thanks to almost $800,000 in state and federal money, Texas’ glory, it appeared, would be enshrined for eternity.

Eternity, though, may not be as infinite as it seemed. Just 77 years after the 1936 centennial blowout, more than a fifth of the state’s 1,028 old historical markers and plaques have met an ignominious fate. Cowrubbed, bullet-pocked, ruststained, tilted, fallen or totally missing, the bronze and granite tradition-bearers are decaying in obscurity.

Now, though, the Austinbased Friends of the Texas Historical Commission is poised to launch an effort to clean, repair and replace the deteriorating markers, about a third of which are in East Texas.

Officials said work in the greater Houston area should begin next year as funds, collected through a public subscription campaign, become available.

Statewide, at least 12 markers, valued at $5,000 each, will need to be replaced said Robert Brinkman, historical commission markers coordinator.

Bronze stars, wreaths, plaques and steel supports will be replaced on about 111 markers, 21 will be set upright and 92 will need professional cleaning.

“What’s important is the stories the markers tell,” said Rebecca Borchers, the state agency’s development officer and friends’ group director. “If the markers are lost, the stories are lost as well.”

Brinkman said centennial markers initially were devoted

The Austin-based Friends of the Texas Historical Commission is preparing to launch an effort to fix decaying historical markers.

Work in the greater Houston area should begin next year, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Salute to Veterans

Turning back time:

Austingrouppoisedtorestoredozensof deteriorating Texas historical markers

bushlibrary.tamu.edu/military 1000 GEORGE BUSH DRIVE WEST COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS 77845 979.691.4000 bushlibrary.tamu.edu @bushlibrary

11

Salute to Veterans • Sunday, November 10, 2013

Virtual tour allows visits to Korean War Memorial from anywhere Associated Press

ARLINGTON,Va.—Anyonefromaround the globe can now experience the largerthan-life statues of military service members at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The Korean War Veterans Memorial Virtual Walking Tour is the first War Memorial to be made available to veterans and the public electronically by the Department of Defense 60th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee. The virtual walking tour, a Korean War Wiki, a Korean War E-encyclopedia, oral histories of Korean War veterans and other resource materials about the Korean War can all be accessed using an iPhone, Android, iPad or other mobile devices.

“Korean War veterans and individuals who want to learn more about the Korean War can now access a wealth of information including videos, electronically, regardless if they are at home on a desktop computer or traveling with a smartphone or another mobile device,” said LTC Tim Washington, administrative director of the committee.

“We want veterans and, in particular young people, to take advantage of all of the electronic resources that are now at their fingertips.”

The Korean War Wiki is an interactive site where veterans, their families and others can visit to share stories, leave messages of thanks, and remember those who have passed. The E-encyclopedia gives individuals the ability to research topics such as the Chosin Reservoir battle, information about women in the Korean War, the first use of jet fighters in combat, the integration of the military during the war, medical advances, and other information. Video oral histories

stock.xchng photo The nonprofit Trust for the National Mall has released an app for visitors to theWorld War II Memorial inWashington.The app has information about the war,the site’s symbolism and the people it honors.

WWII Memorial in D.C. gets app Associated Press

stock.xchng photo The Korean War Memorial can now be viewed from anywhere in the world by computer or mobile device thanks to the new online virtual walking tour. with Korean War veterans speaking about what they experienced during the war are available with other resources including graphic novels, E-books, and the virtual tour of the Korean War Memorial.

“The Korean War Veterans Memorial Virtual Walking Tour provides a visitor the ability to move 360 degrees around the memorial and view the large statues from a variety of vantage points and the wall with the names of the allied nations that fought in the war,” said Washington. “There is also a video of the memorial from the capstone event held in July, in addition to the virtual tour.”

On July 27, President Barack Obama,

4online

To access the Korean War Memorial Virtual Tour and other electronic products, go to koreanwar60.com.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Special Envoy and Chairman of the Republic of Korea Political Committee, Kim Jung Hun and other officials placed a wreath at the Korean War Veterans Memorial to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Korean War during a special program to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the armistice.

WASHINGTON — The World War II Memorial in Washington is getting a free mobile app to help teach visitors about the war, the site’s symbolism and the millions of people it honors.

The nonprofit Trust for the National Mall released the smartphone app Tuesday.

The memorial app includes details about the memorial’s construction and architecture, as well as a virtual scavenger hunt about the memorial’s content. It also includes firsthand accounts from veterans who served in the war, a timeline of milestones in the war and a database to look up the names of service members who were killed.

The app is available for download on iTunes and Google Play.

Salute To Our Veterans

The Eagle

•

theeagle.com

War memorials launch digital tools

Naomi Hernandez Pledger Born August 8, 1991

April 11, 1913 - April 8, 2006

Served in Guantanamo Cuba &

Served in the Army

US Army - Specialist 4 class

12

Emilio Salazar

Ft. Leavenworth, Ka.

(Ret.) WWII - TSGT

and Army National Guard

George A. Myrick

of Bryan. Born: November 10, 1922 Army Air Force 1943 to 1946, WWII & Strother AFB Kansas, 1082nd Basic Flying Training Squadron Staff Sergeant and Line Chief Airplane maintenance and repair

William L. “Billy” Edwards, Specialist

March 10, 1984 - Aug. 11, 2007 Served in 3rd ID in Ft. Stewart Ga. Killed Aug. 11, 2007 in Iraq

By MEG JONES Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

M

AP photo

Continued from 7 that made me angry. At that point, I was willing to shoot and kill the enemy, it didn’t matter anymore,” Banta said. “I’m not going to tell you any war stories. They run in my mind like a movie, constantly. I dream them still, all these years later.”

Reflecting back on his time in the Army, but specifically in Vietnam, Banta said he would do it all over again.

“To serve is the most noble calling that can be afforded to an American citizen,” Banta said.

“I had it better than most. I wish it had been

different, but I would do it again if they asked me to.”

When the war ended in April 1975 with the fall of Saigon to the North Vietnamese, Banta was a student at Howard Payne University.

“I wept at the loss of life,” Banta said. “It broke my heart at the price we had paid. I felt sorrow for the Vietnamese people who had bet their life on liberty.”

With his story finished, Banta looked down at the map one more time and traced the lines.

“This was my world; this was my world for 13 months. This was my entire world, and it will always be.”

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BANTA: Memories of war still haunt him

hooks on the walls so veterans don’t have to kneel and crouch next to bicycles. On a red workbench are boxes filled with seats, sprockets, brakes and cables, reflectors and handle-

•

four veterans participating in the bicycle repair program, knelt next to a Schwinn 24-speed bicycle recently and patiently cleaned the filthy rear derailleur. Surrounded by touring bikes, mountain bikes and even a child’s two-wheeler, Masalewicz said he’d never worked on bicycles before volunteering.

“We’re starting from the ground floor, getting the shop organized,” said Masalewicz, a Marine who served in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968.

Since starting several weeks ago, Kiger and Russell have procured 27 bicycles through donations, Craigslist and trash heaps.

The tiny bicycle repair shop is at one end of a garage on the VA grounds that houses two salt trucks. Overhead lights will be installed soon as well as

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beat-up bicycles and donated tools for four veterans in their Wednesday support group.

Any veteran in their group who wants to learn repair skills and work on a bicycle can keep it.

As the bicycle repair project develops, Kiger and Russell hope to get more veterans at the VA involved “so they can have ownership in the program, something to be proud of,” Kiger said.

None knows anything about bicycle repair. They’re learning by doing and by watching YouTube videos —recently they planned to watch a video on repairing gears. They also toured the repair shop at Allis Bike in West Allis and got some advice from owner Jim Morateck, who offered to donate a bike stand.

Jan Masalewicz, one of the

Sunday, November 10, 2013

ILWAUKEE — They come from donors, Dumpsters and Craigslist, and they’re helping veterans get back on their feet.

For veterans undergoing drug and alcohol rehabilitation who have lost their driver’s licenses, bicycles can be much more than a mode of transportation.

They can be a lifeline.

Rick Cherone, a Vietnam veteran from New Berlin, Wisc., began picking up bicycles he saw in garbage bins, repairing them and dropping them off at Milwaukee’s VA hospital. Then two peer counselors at the VA opened a small bicycle repair shop where four veterans are learning bike repair skills.

Cherone, 67, a combat medic who earned two Purple Hearts, was treated for post-traumatic stress at the VA. He met other veterans there going through programs and “they’d try to get them jobs, but guys would say, ‘I don’t have a license.’”

“I made a promise to the Lord, in a foxhole, that if I survived Vietnam, I’d help veterans,” Cherone told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in a recent interview in his garage where numerous bikes in various states of repair littered the floor.

He’s repaired around two dozen bicycles in the last year, all donated to the Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Milwaukee, where they’re given to veterans.

Douglas Kiger and Rich Russell, Iraq veterans and peer support apprentices at the VA, recently began collecting old,

bar grips.

On their wish list: specialized bicycle repair tools and a bike stand.

“I’m used to working with a couple of wrenches and a pliers, but these are really specialized,” said Masalewicz, 66, of Waukesha, Wisc., holding up a chain remover. “Who knows? It might turn into a full-time hobby or a part-time job for me.”

Cherone operates his ad hoc bicycle repair shop out of his garage, where he sometimes cannibalizes parts from really busted-up bikes to use on ones not so far gone. He uses his own crescent wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, hammers and socket wrenches.

He picked up a large box of donated water bottles and is trying to get bicycle helmet donations so veterans who get a fixed-up donated bike won’t have to purchase a helmet.

“Every veteran is happy to get one. It’s designed to help guys get around and get to jobs,” Cherone said. “It’s therapy for me, too.”

•

Vietnam veteran Jan Masalewicz works on repairing a bike in a maintenance garage last month at the VA Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisc.

Masalewicz, who served in the Marines from 1966 to 1970, is part of a group of veterans who are in group therapy and are learning how to repair bikes.

Salute to Veterans

Fixer-uppers: Vets repair bikes for other vets

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13

Salute to Veterans • Sunday, November 10, 2013 theeagle.com • The Eagle

14

Dentist gives veterans a reason to smile

By Sarah Zhang The Seattle Times

S

EATTLE — Where to begin talking about what Rory Dunn has been through since his head was blown open that day in Fallujah? His best friend, who bled out next to him? His traumatic brain injury that has altered his personality? His forehead held together by a plastic prosthetic?

It’s hard to know where to begin, so Theresa Cheng concerns herself with what she knows best as a dentist: his teeth.

In the nine years since his unarmored Humvee in Iraq was hit by explosives on his 22nd birthday, Dunn has been making a long, hard recovery.

His mother, Cynthia Lefever, has been by his side the whole time — sleeping next to her then-comatose son at Walter Reed Army National Military Medical Center and later traveling the country to advocate for veteran care.

Inspired by a profile of mother and son in The Seattle Times in 2008, Cheng, whose practice is in Issaquah, Wash., began providing free dental care for veterans in need and has signed on dozens of other professionals to do the same.

Cheng has three sons, now in their early 20s, and she remembers thinking what it must have been like for Dunn’s mother to get that phone call and to drop everything to go to her son in a hospital thousands of miles away.

“I was thinking how when something like this happens in your life, you just put everything else on hold,” Cheng said.

In the upheaval, dental care was sure to fall by the wayside — and she could do something about that.

Cheng originally planned to offer care to the wives of returning soldiers, thinking the vets got dental care through their veterans’ benefits. But she learned that the rules were more complicated, and for the most part, only vets who are considered completely disabled qualify for the dental program.

Cheng speaks in a calmly forceful voice with a slight accent hinting at her childhood in Malaysia. Colleagues gush about how nice she is — Cheng

McClatchy photo Rory Dunn was injured when his unarmored Humvee was hit by explosives in Iraq. His story inspired Theresa Cheng, a periodontist practicing in Issaquah, Wash., to provide free dental care for veterans in need. gets things done because she’s so hard to say no to.

Her periodontics practice had long ago set aside the day before Thanksgiving for community service, volunteering for organizations like Habitat for Humanity and Eastside Baby Corner. After reading about Dunn and getting in touch with the family, Cheng decided to provide free care for vets.

It was early November 2008, and she had a month to organize it all. She had no experience dealing with the military bureaucracy, so it was a steep learning curve figuring out how to find and verify vets.

“My staff thought I was kind of crazy at first, but I pumped them up about it,” she said.

From Lefever, she also learned to be sensitive to posttraumatic stress disorder. The dental chair is hardly comfortable for anyone, but sitting in the chair with his back to the door was especially difficult for Dunn.

“For Rory and a lot of vets, when they go into a restaurant, they have to have their back to the wall and face the door. They’re hypervigilant,” said Lefever. “It was very difficult for Rory to go to that first dental appointment.”

Cheng trained her staff to speak in calm, soothing voices and warn patients before anything sudden, like a turning

on a loud drill or lowering the chair.

A former board member of the Seattle-King County Dental Foundation, Cheng has leveraged her contacts from more than 20 years. She’s signed up 35 to 40 other dentists, to whom she sends vets with more advanced needs like dentures or crowns. All do the work for free.

“I hold her in such high regard,” said Warren Libman, who is Cheng’s own dentist and outfitted a vet with dentures.

Surprisingly, it’s been difficult to find veterans.

The first year, Cheng put up fliers at the VA hospital. The second year, she was told not to, because hers wasn’t a formally endorsed program.

“After the second year, my staff was ready to give up,” Cheng said. But she redoubled her efforts, working with social workers at the VA who connected her with patients. She also reached out to other veterans groups in Washington and online.

Cheng sold her practice last year and now works two days a week. The rest of her time is filled with organizing the free care: contacting dentists, reaching out to veterans’ support groups, corresponding with past patients.

Now in its sixth year, her

program has helped hundreds.

Cheng has found that veter-

ans taking PTSD medication, which can cause dry mouth, struggle more with cavities.

Her patients have ranged from 20-something men who served in Iraq to an 87-year-old World War II vet, who took the bus to Issaquah from Seattle.

Her staff was dispatched to pick him up at the bus stop.

(He returned on his own sometime later, bearing a plant to say thanks.) Local businesses donate food and goodies for the veterans to take home.

It’s more than just a teeth cleaning.

“They were joking and laughing — you felt comfortable in there. You didn’t feel like, ‘We’re doing this for you.’

It’s like one big happy family,” said Ian Martin, a Vietnam veteran who went to the dental day last year.

For Martin, the experience was a marked contrast to how vets, especially from his era, often were treated.

“Coming back from Vietnam, we weren’t greeted real See DENTIST, Page 15

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Continued from 14

Cheng, for her part, doesn’t have much taste for bureaucracy and paperwork either. Although people have told her she should create a 501(c) nonprofit, she prefers not to deal with the hassles of running an organization.

A special Thank Thank You to the Veterans who call us home

Waldenbrooke

Estates

Honoring All Veterans

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Thee 24-note melancholy bugle call known as “taps” is thought to be a revision of a French bugle Th signal, called “tattoo,” that notified notified soldiers to cease an evening’s drinking and return to their garrisons. It was sounded an hour before the fifinal nal bugle call to end the day by extinguishing fifires res Thee last fifive Thee word “taps” is an alteration of and lights. Th ve measures of the tattoo resemble taps. Th the obsolete word “taptoo,” derived from the Dutch “taptoe.” Taptoe was the command — “Tap toe!” — to shut (“toe to”) the “tap” of a keg. The revision that gave us present-day taps was made during America’s Civil War by Union Gen. Daniel Adams Butterfield, heading a brigade camped at Harrison Landing, Va., near Richmond. Up to that time, the U.S. Army’s infantry call to end the day was the French final call, “L’Extinction des feux.” Gen. Butterfield decided the “lights out” music was too formal to signal the day’s end. One day in July 1862 he recalled the tattoo music and hummed a version of it to an aide, who wrote it down in music. Butterfield then asked the brigade bugler, Oliver W. Norton, to play the notes and, after listening, lengthened and shortened them while keeping his original melody. He ordered Norton to play this new call at the end of each day thereafter, instead of the regulation call. The music was heard and appreciated by other brigades, who asked for copies and adopted this bugle call. It was even adopted by Confederate buglers. This music was made the official Army bugle call after the war, but not given the name “taps” until 1874. The first time taps was played at a military funeral may also have been in Virginia soon after Butterfield composed it. Union Capt. John Tidball, head of an artillery battery, ordered it played for the burial of a cannoneer killed in action. Not wanting to reveal the battery’s position in the woods to the enemy nearby, Tidball substituted taps for the traditional three rifle volleys fired over the grave. Taps was played at the funeral of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson 10 months after it was composed. Army infantry regulations by 1891 required taps to be played at military funeral ceremonies. Taps now is played by the military at burial and memorial services, to accompany the lowering of the flag and to signal the “lights out” command at day’s end.

- U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs

•

Bobbie Middleton Wayne Morgan Henry Odom Henry O’Neal Ralph Rice Rae Ruff Don Scherr James Sexton Roy Simmons Adolph Slovacek Horrace VanCleave John Velazquez John Vittrup Jerry Waggoner Don Witzel Son Vick - Passed Away October 29, 2013

The History of Taps The Eagle

Everett Abbott Clifton Clift on Frosch Dale Ackerman Gary Gray Cornelius Berghout Don Hall Whitie Birdwell Ed Harper Bill Blair Leroy Hering Richard Bowman Claude Higbee Jack Briggs Jimmie Holder Frank Buell Lee Howard Bob Collins Carl Huss John Copeland Bill Joachim Katy Cowan Roy Julian Don Craig Bill Keepers Deborah Crumbaker Wayne Kidd Francis Donohue Ray Knox Leon Dube Marvin Kocurek Oran Evans Don Lewis Ralph Fink Lillian Lewis

“I’m big on keeping overhead down,” she said. “This can be something that is just community helping community.”

And that’s where she sees the power of the Internet.

Last year, Garth Dalson, an Iraq War

Sunday, November 10, 2013

McClatchy photo Theresa Cheng, a periodontist, is about to perform surgery in Issaquah,Wash. Cheng volunteers her time and services to provide dental care for veterans in need and has recruited dozens of other professionals to do the same.

•

well. To the point where most of my friends, and myself included, we threw away our uniforms, threw away our medals and just tried to blend in.”

Cheng also listens to her patients.

One Vietnam vet showed her his diary, confiding to her that he has a recurring nightmare about the first person he killed.

For most of the younger vets, talking is harder. “You can tell it’s too raw and too new,” she said.

What Rory Dunn remembers about walking into Cheng’s office for the first time was how small it was. And the cookies in the waiting room, which seemed strange in a dentist’s office.

Her office felt inviting compared to the Byzantine bureaucracy of the VA hospital, where Dunn grew frustrated with the long waits and the strict rules.

“Initially that first year, every visit to the VA was just a dramatic meltdown,” said his mother.

He’s better now. He can drive to appointments at the VA by himself; his eyesight and hearing have been restored by a corneal transplant and hearing aids.

Although Dunn qualifies for dental care with the VA, he prefers to come to Cheng for his checkups. Her office has “adopted” him as a regular patient.

veteran from Michigan, read about her work online and inquired about free dental care. She happened to notice a speaker from his hometown at a dental conference last year and decided to just ask.

Betsy Bakeman agreed to take on the new patient, putting new crowns on eight of Dalson’s front teeth. That normally would have cost $1,700 per tooth; Dalson only had to pay a discounted $250 materials fee per tooth.

Cheng still hasn’t met Dalson, but they’ve exchanged many emails where he’s thanked her profusely. Once too embarrassed to smile in his photos, now he beams. “My teeth look better than someone’s in the movies now,” Dalson said in an email.

Cheng thinks there must be some way to expand her program online. It doesn’t have to be about her personal connections in Washington anymore.

An app, perhaps, like the dating one her niece was showing her, that could match vets with dentists willing to meet their specific needs.

Meanwhile, she’s happy to get the word out about the vet in Michigan, but not for her own gain.

“Maybe I can use that to put pressure on the Michigan Dental Association so that they can do more,” she joked.

“Some Washington person had to come in and kick your butt.”

Salute to Veterans

DENTIST: Has recruited many other dental professionals to participate

2410 Memorial Drive l Bryan, TX 77802

Arrange A Private Tour By Calling Michelle Wagner-Yeatts at

979-774-1298

15

Salute to Veterans • Sunday, November 10, 2013

On Veterans Day We recognize the many sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform both today and throughout our nation’s history. We honor their courage and dedication, and we thank them for their contribution to our country.

Thank You, Veterans.

ATKINSON TOYOTA

The Eagle

•

theeagle.com

“Helping Folks in the Brazos Valley Go Places”

www.atkinsontoyota.com

MADISONVILLE • 204 I-45 SOUTH • 936-349-0909 • 1-877-349-0909 BRYAN • 728 N. EARL RUDDER FWY • 979-776-0404 • 1-877-824-0404 16

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