2013 August/September The Hoosier Legionnaire

The Hoosier Legionnaire www.indianalegion.org

For God and Country

August/September 2013

Convention, p. 12-13 H 60th Anniversary the Korean War, p. 3 H Past Commander’s Pass, p. 22 H Legion Baseball, p. 16

T

o encourage Veterans to file Fully Developed Claims (FDCs), Veterans who file their very first (original) disability compensation claim as an FDC from Aug. 6, 2013 through Aug. 5, 2015 may be authorized up to a year of retroactive benefits if eligibility for compensation is established. The retroactive benefits are a result of a comprehensive legislative package passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama. Filing an FDC is typically the fastest way for Veterans to receive a decision on their claims.

Because veterans filing FDCs receive legally mandated notice through the application process and certify that they have submitted all the evidence they have, VA is able to skip a number of steps in the claims process and go straight to ordering any necessary medical examinations and federal records. This allows VA to issue a decision in half the time of a traditional claim, without sacrificing quality.

Veterans must file FDCs online through eBenefits or on a paper VA Form 21-526 EZ (March 2013).

FDCs will help eliminate VA’s disability claims backContinued on page 11

Indiana names new Department Commander

By Bruce Drake Department Communications Director

E

dward J. Trice, a Vietnam veteran from Fairmount was elected Commander of the 89,000-member American Legion Department of Indiana during the closing session of the 95th annual state convention in Indianapolis July 13, 2013. His election was unanimous and by acclamation.

As Department Commander, Trice will serve as the organization’s chief executive officer until July 2014.

During that time, he will be responsible for the programs, legislative priorities and public statements of the organization.

Cmdr. Trice was nominated for the office of Department Commander by Past Department Commander Roger Baker, who commanded the Department of Indiana from 2003 to 2004.

In accepting the high office, Trice said he was extremely humbled at the nomination for the office and wished to thank many people in his Legion career who have helped him achieve the high office. “They were the ones who helped me determine the right path and as just as important to let me know when I strayed from that path toward the goal of helping our fellow veterans.”

Trice also discussed the progress that the American Legion has made in the last year with the recent legislative efforts to honor our veterans and to ensure they could gain meaningful employment opportunities after their term of service to the nation was completed.

With the progress started with Past Department Commander Dick Jewell over the last year, Trice also stated that the time was right to move forward with additional plans to bring the Indiana Department of The American Legion to the forefront of our fellows Hoosier’s minds.

“I intend to pursue an aggressive advertising campaign to introduce the American Legion to our newest generation of veterans,” he said. “ For too long, we have done our good work in the dark. Not unappreciated but too often unnoticed. “ Trice commented to the assembled veterans at the convention.

“As it says in the Holy Scriptures. Deeds done in the Continued on page 18

Indianapolis Ed Trice, of Fairmount IN is elected as the Indiana Department Commander of The American Legion at the state’s 95th annual convention held 12-14 July at the Marriot Center East Convention Center. (Photo courtesy of Kim Mezger, University Legion Post 360)

In this issue

One Year Retroactive Disability Compensation for Original Fully Developed Claims:

Commander’s Column........................... Page 2 Adjutant’s Report.................................. Page 2 Korea – Special Report......................... Page 3 Membership Column............................. Page 7 Veteran’s Affairs.................................. Page 10 95th Annual Convention...................... Page 12 Citizenship.......................................... Page 14 American Legion Baseball................... Page 16

Officer Reports

We must tell our story

I

t has been true of The American Legion since the day it was founded: We do our good works quietly and without fanfare. We have avoided the din of publicity and the light of public acclaim not because we are ashamed of what we do, but because our rewards have nothing to do with fame or attention.

That’s not enough anymore.

For the Department of Indiana, the time has come to beat the drums and let our fellow Hoosiers know what The American Legion stands for, and how we put those principles into action.

It is long past time to shine a bright light on our work on behalf of children and youth.

It is long past time to let our

Ed Trice DEPARTMENT COMMANDER

COMMANDER’S MESSAGE non-member comrades know the effort we put in to win and retain for them educational, employment and compensation benefits. It is long past time to let every community in the state know that when disaster strikes, no matter how large or how small, we will be there to help.

That’s where my Commander’s Project for this year comes

in. I have decided to devote my project, and the related fundraising effort, to advertising and marketing. With the approval of the Department Executive Committee, we will soon enter into agreements with both the Indianapolis Colts and WTHRChannel 13 to take advantage of the opportunities both present for face-to- face contact with potential members, dissemination of our message through social media and online communications, and TV and Radio communications designed to drive new members to our doorstep.

These initiatives are complicated and expensive. Employed in combination with the other strategies unveiled by Membership Chairman Michael Brady

and me in the new Membership Awards Guide, I am confident this will be a turn-around year for the Department’s membership program. But it won’t succeed without your support and backing.

As with all other commander’s projects, mine does not depend on Department money. I have committed to raising the funds necessary from voluntary donations, and I have already received major commitments from posts, districts and The American Legion Riders. I will need the support of every member of The American Legion Family. And I am convinced that every member will benefit from our success.

Not everyone agrees with me. I already have heard from

some who have expressed the tired and short-sighted complaint that advertising spent in a portion of the state benefits only a portion of the state. That is simply no longer true.

With the advent of online communications, our message goes not only statewide, but worldwide. Members of the armed forces can pick up our message on WTHR’s website wherever in the world they may be. Our commercial messages will be streamed and put online by the National Organization, in addition to being picked up by satellite and cable systems. NFL football games are broadcast and repeated worldwide and available throughout the state Continued on page 21

Convention The Hallmark of Relevance

T

he 95th annual convention of The American Legion, Department of Indiana is now in the books.

Elsewhere in this issue, Hoosier Legionnaires can read about the election of officers, the presentation of Distinguished Service Awards, and honors bestowed on teachers, military personnel and public servants.

All in-all, it was what Legionnaires have come to expect from a Department Convention, but there was much, much more this time around. The mayor of Indianapolis welcomed delegates to the Capitol City, eight members of the Indiana General Assembly were honored with Public Service Awards, both United States Senators

Hugh Dagley Department Adjutant

Adjutant’s Desk addressed the delegates, one member of Congress took to the stage and three others submitted video messages congratulating the delegates on another year of service to veterans, their communities and the state.

The convention was a reminder of the status and influence that veterans in this state enjoy, and which was once the

2 | august/september 2013 | hoosier legionnaire

hallmark of The American Legion. Political action, not political partisanship, was synonymous with the Legion, not only in issues of direct concern to veterans, but also in areas of concern to our state’s youth, the quality of the life in our communities, and the role of our citizens’ in the nation’s defense. It was once unthinkable to imagine a time when as the table was set, no place would be reserved for The American Legion.

That must never be permitted. The cost will be too great.

Fortunately, despite waning membership and countless challenges from our society, The American Legion still has the will to fight for a seat at the table, the vision to define a better fu-

ture, and capable leaders willing to do the hard work of research, testimony and communication.

What they currently need, more than anything, is the support and encouragement of every man and woman in The American Legion Family.

That takes many forms. Some of our members will contribute their time to stuffing envelopes and making phone calls. Others can be counted on to knock on doors or call on politicians. And still others have little time to give, but are generous with their financial support. Our leaders need all these Legionnaires.

What they don’t need are people who have nothing to give but their opinions.

The Department Adjutant

is uniquely positioned to be privy to most of these opinions.

He is also in position to see the effect that negative and critical commentary has on those who have accepted the responsibility of leadership and who risk their reputation by breaking new ground. There will never be enough time for all districts and all posts to get the full attention they believe they deserve. There will never be enough money to feature every district and every post in a revitalization program.

And there will never be enough motivation and energy for our leaders to battle narrow focus and short sightedness.

The Department of Indiana Continued on page 11

Special Report

Korea – America’s Forgotten War

By Edward Hymoff Original printing July 1963 American Legion Magazine

J

ust 10 (60 – editor) years ago this month, on a hot July morning in Korea, the third (and in some ways the second) biggest foreign war (until the current War on Terror which started in 2001 -ed) we’ve fought so far came to an end. It ended after three years and 32 days of fighting what one weary GI described as “the war we can’t Dedicated on July 27, 1995 and truly one of the most touching sights in Washwin, we can’t lose, we can’t quit.” ington D.C., the Korean War Veterans Memorial serves as a reminder of those For those who “can’t remember,” brave men and women of the United States military forces who crossed the vast ocean to defend the people of a country that was unfamiliar to nearly each and this is a reminder that tribute every one of them. should be paid to the millions of men and their families who “can’t forget” the heartbreak, the sufferings and the dead of The Korean War ended in a a tiny village called Panmunthe Korean War. cease-fire on 27 July 1953, near jom: In a brief confrontation between the top negotiators of each side, held in an unpainted, ramshackle building, erected by the enemy and dubbed the HL★ www.indianalegion.org “Peace Pagoda” by American The HOOSIER LEGIONNAIRE is published four times military police on duty in the a year in February, April, August and October by the Indiana demilitarized zone, both sides Headquarters of The American Legion, 777 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, IN 46204. Phone (317) 630-1300. signed an armistice agreement.

The documents were signed by Periodicals Postage Paid at Indianapolis, IN Lt. Gen. William K. Harrison and at additional mailing offices.

Jr., an American officer rep USPS 010-445 ISSN 0018-4772 resenting the United Nations POSTMASTER: Send address changes to HOOSIER LEGIONNAIRE, Command, and by Gen. Nam 777 N. Meridian St., Indianapolis, Indiana 46204.

Il, a North Korean leader and Ed Trice....................................................... Department Commander Soviet citizen, who represented Hugh Dagley..........................................................................Publisher his army and the military forces Bruce Drake................................................................................ Editor of Red China. At exactly 10 a.m., Official publication of and owned and conducted exclusively each general began signing nine

by The American Legion, Department of Indiana. of the 18 documents. Each side had previously exchanged docMember: National American Legion Press Association and Hoosier uments signed earlier by their American Legion Press Association.

Advertising Sales Representative: The Herald-Times, Bloomington respective generals to speed (800) 422-0070. up the actual procedure. When Subscription Rates: $0.85 of each member’s dues goes for publication they had completed their task, of the Hoosier Legionnaire. they departed quickly, without Volume AG, Number 4 August/September 2013 a word to each other, without Circulation 100,000 even a passing nod of recogniPrinted by the Herald-Times, Bloomington, IN tion. The cease-fire took effect

The Hoosier Legionnaire

12 hours later, and after two way diminishes the valor of the years and 17 days of haggling American GIs who fought in the in which 18,000,000 words were “Land of the Morning Calm.”

It was a strange war. In the spoken at 575 separate meetair, the latest model jet fighter ings.

On this note of silence end- aircraft ushered in a new era of ing the fighting that at first was aerial warfare. On the ground, called a police action, was later American troops fought with referred to as a conflict, and, five WWII vintage weapons, occayears after the cease-fire, was fi- sionally used WWII tactics, and nally and officially declared the in the final two years of the conflict fought from trenches, as Korean War by the U.S. Army.

Let’s never forget that the their fathers and grandfathers had in WWI. men who On occafought in sion, it was Korea won a tanker’s their vicwar, and artory. This is tilleryman’s o b s c u re d , w a r, a n d almost to a i r m a n ’s the point of war and forgetfuleven a genness, by the eral’s war. fact that a Tanks were much biglimited by ger victory the craggy might have mountains been possiSign erected by 1st Cavalry Division and steep ble, but was at 38th Parallel showing where the valleys bypassed Korean conflict began. Photo: US of Korea, by a politiArmy but there cal decision. were times Let history when both record, then that the Korean War began when sides used them to advantage North Korean reds attempted as armored spearheads. It was to seize South Korea that we an artilleryman’s war in that and the United Nations took up massed guns – emplaced every arms to stop them from seizing 10 feet in some sectors of the South Korea, and that at the 150-mile-long front—were used end of hostilities they had been relentlessly against a deeply driven out of South Korea. The entrenched enemy. The footmen who gave their lives in Ko- sloggers - our GIs and Marines rea and the men, who fought – often fought a deadly game o there and survived, achieved on “King of the Mountain” in bitter the field of battle exactly what combat to hold or take strategic their original mission had been. high ground. In the skies, the In June 1950, the communists U.S. Air Force blazed a trail of tried to take South Korea and glory over that north-west corthey have not taken it yet. The ner of enemy real estate called lost opportunity to drive the Continued on page 4 reds from North Korea in no hoosier legionnaire | august/september 2013 | 3

Special Report

Korea Continued from page 3 “MiG Alley,” as Sabrejets and Russian-built Migs ushered in jet-vs-jet combat.

It was also a general’s war.

Communism’s grand marshal, Josef Stalin, personally supervised the plans for the invasion of South Korea by his North Korean satellite army. Conquest of Korea would have threatened Japan, all of free Asia, and accelerated plans for red conquest of the Orient. This was a daring strategy at a time when the world was recuperating from the devastation of six tragic years of war. The U.S.S.R. had gobbled up all of Eastern Europe after WWII and the Chinese reds had won mainland China. Communist conquests had to stop somewhere. The line was drawn in Korea and one of America’s greatest military strategists – Gen. Douglas MacArthur – was pitted against the Soviet Union’s sinister leader.

Serious students of military history and tactics who have known other battlefields and other wars are unanimously agreed that Korea was the setting for what military historian and commentator Gen. S.L.A. Marshall describes as “the century’s nastiest little war.” It was a war that took the lives of 33,629 Americans, of whom 23,300 were killed in combat. An additional 105,785 received Purple Hearts for battlefield wounds. A total of 3,746 Americans survived the horrors of death marches, prison camps, a new method of political indoctrination called “brainwashing,” and more than two years of conference table bargaining – for their lives and freedom. In all 1,319,000 American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines served in the Korean

Black and white soldiers man a machine gun position during the Korean War.

theater of operations.

American fighting men exacted a tremendous toll in killed and wounded enemy troops – an estimated 1,520,000 reds were sacrificed by their leaders.

In what was a remarkable test of physical endurance, Americans fought in near-tropic heat and arctic cold, through three winters and nearly four summers.

A decade after the shooting ended, the general impression is that the fighting in Korea wasn’t a real war because this nation did not wholeheartedly back its fighting men. Moreover, this forgotten war was an unpopular conflict. Tired of death and destruction from WWII, which had ended only five short years earlier, and enjoying peace and prosperity for the first time in years, the majority of Americans seemingly couldn’t have cared less about the shooting war going on in a lost corner of Asia.

While large numbers of troops were committed to battle, the rest of the nation was uncommitted to what obviously was an all-out war demanding sacrifices on the homefront. It was a war in which business as usual prevailed , the draft never

4 | august/september 2013 | hoosier legionnaire

dropped below the 21-yearolds, and reservists – veterans of WWII – were thrown back into their second great war. It was a war in which many young Americans were never asked, “Why aren’t you in uniform?” It was a war in which consumer goods were never rationed, and a request for an item did not elicit a snappy retort of a few years back, “Don’t you know there is a war on!” (not unlike the recent wars as well –ed) Except for the men in Korea and their families, few Americans followed the tide of war in Asia. Those who opposed sending Americans to fight in Korea, called it “Truman’s War.” The former artillery captain who was the President, called it a “police action.” Americans in Korea were less polite in their description of the conflict. This was no great crusade on a world front, nor was there an incident like Pearl Harbor to rally vengeance-seeking Americans against an enemy they could understand.

It was an abstract war. The United States was not directly threatened. The need to fight in Korea was the need to deter communist aggression, rather than defend our shores against a direct assault (unlike our attack on 9/11 -ed). That need could be just as important, but understandably, such a war seemed necessary only to those aware of the communist threat. Korea lacked emotional appeal.

In the first months of fighting, the performance of illtrained and ill-equipped GIs seemed a poor showing to a nation which only remembered the monumental WWII victories that easily overshadowed the early WWII defeats. Once again, in Korea, early defeats were to be stepping stones to a remarkable victory that began at a place called Inch’on.

On a quiet Sunday, June 25, 1950, less than 50 miles north of Seoul – capital city of the infant Republic of South Korea – an entire communist army of 135,000 North Koreans launched an attack across the 38th Parallel dividing the peninsula that was half slave and half free. Screened by pre-dawn ground fog and a thick drizzle, the invaders from the north – commanded by Soviet Army generals of Korean descent – marched toward Seoul.

It was also a quiet Sunday in Washington. Duty officers in the Pentagon lounged comfortably with their Sunday newspapers.

President Truman was visiting his family in Independence, Mo. The first bulletins caught most Americans amid plans to attend June weddings and graduations, mow lawns, picnic in the country or at the beaches or take in double-headers. There were no newspaper extras on the streets as there were when Nazi Panzer divisions invaded Poland nearly 11 years before. Americans just yawnws at the news and people remarked offhandedly: “Korea?

Where’s that?”

Americans were confused by the early news reports and the first war bulletins that came from the “Land of the Morning Calm.” The lightly armed ROK army and police force fell apart in front of the juggernaut from the north, spearheaded by more than 200 30-ton T-34 Stalin tanks. These monsters proved impervious to WWII-era bazookas and 75mm artillery shells.

Trucks filled with communist soldiers rumbled along behind the tanks and long columns of marching men followed the trucks. President Truman flew back to Washington at once. The United States requested an immediate meeting of the United Nations Security Council. The U.N. authorized the United States to take whatever steps

were necessary to halt the communist invasion. Three days later Harry S. Truman, President and commander in chief, ordered American aircraft to attack the invaders.

Air power failed. Seoul fell to the invaders. Five days later President Truman ordered General MacArthur, U.S. occupation commander in Japan and Supreme Commander of all Allied Forces in the Far East, to send American GIs to Korea. It was a momentous decision. It was not a wholly popular one.

General MacArthur was appointed United Nations Commander when, for the first time in history, a world organization of sovereign states authorized an international police force to take up arms against aggression.

On June 30, 1950, General MacArthur ordered an immediate airlift of troops to Korea.

A hastily assembled force of 530 Americans, the majority of them barely out of their teens, landed in Korea on the sixth day following the invasion. They had not really been trained to fight, nor prepared for it mentally. Soft occupation duty in Japan was all they had ever anticipated. They were the sons and kid brothers of Americans who had won WWII. All that their commander, combat veteran Lt. Col. Charles “Brad” Smith, CO of the First Bat, 21st Inf Reg, 24th Div, was able to put together were two reinforced rifle companies.

Even if his entire battalion had been ready, there weren’t enough air transports to fly his full command to the combat zone. As Smith hecked details with his junior officers, he couldn’t help thinking back to another era and another place called Pearl Harbor, where, as Continued on page 5

Special Report

Korea Continued from page 4 a young lieutenant, he hastily pulled together a rifle company and double-timed to the beach to fight off a possible invasion.

But this time there actually was an invasion, and his orders from General MacArthur were short and explicit: Slow down the enemy! What else could 530 GIs do against 135,000 communist troops? A five-gun battery of 105mm howitzers accompanied America’s first contribution to the U.N.’s international police force. Dubbed “Task Force” Smith by staff officers who were now part of the new U.N. Command headquarters, the first GIs to tangle with the reds fought their first battle July 6. Just before the shooting started one young platoon officer muttered, “We’re what’s known as a calculated risk.” He never spoke truer words.

They were a cocky bunch of youngsters who expected the “gooks” to run as soon as the GIs opened fire. But instead it was the other way around – almost. Task Force Smith tangled with well-trained, well-led and determined soldiers.

“My guys aren’t going to run!” vowed young Lt. Allen MacCauley of Detroit before the shooting began.

“We had to run. There wasn’t anything else to do,” he explained later. “There were more of them than us.”

The Fourth North Korean Div, 10,000-strong, attacked behind 33 tanks running interference.

The reds easily blasted their way through American positions north of Osan. The unbloodied Americans who survived the first onslaught suddenly became veterans. They ran but they retreated as they were taught to do in some faintly

The Korean War Veteran’s Memorial in Washington D.C. The memorial was dedicated in 1995. Photo by US National Park Service

remembered basic training.

They regrouped as they were trained to do. For four days and nights they fought, retreated, regrouped and fought again in a running battle that cost the lives of 174 enlisted men and 10 officers. The enemy lost 12 tanks and an estimated 700 men. But the enemy lost even more; he lost the campaign.

Those four days and nights stalled the invaders and bought the valuable time General MacArthur required to fly in a second Battalion, supplies and additional fighting men to makeup a regiment. Then two regiments, until the entire 24th Div was in the line to slow the reds even more – and buy additional time.

Soon other divisions followed.

The U.N. retreat slowed to a crawl and the North Koreans had to fight bitterly for every mile.

The enemy pushed the defenders of free Korea into a corner of the peninsula called the Pusan Perimeter. The U.N. Command slugged it out with its back to the sea. During this period of certain defeat, when the

fighting was barely eight weeks old, an incredible pronouncement was made by General MacArthur: “The enemy has lost his chance. We have forced him to deploy prematurely. Soon we shall destroy him!”

Task Force Smith’s brave youngsters contributed much to the fulfillment of their top commander’s prediction. This fighting unit also provided the first casualty list of the Korean War. It was a typically American list of names: There was a Tomlinson, a Kiezanowski, a Morrissey, a Rolek, a Brown and a Selig. They came from all over the country – Westfield, Mass.; Oakland Calif.; Warren Ark.; Kalamazoo, Mich.; Clearwater, Fla.; and Baltimore, Md. That first list also included the name of 19-year-old Pvt. Kenneth Shadrick of Skin Fork, W. Va. – The first GI killed in action in Korea, hit when he fearlessly popped out of his foxhole and aimed an ineffectual 2.35 bazooka at an oncoming Stalin tank. A burst of machinegun fire caught him in the chest and killed him instantly.

All told, there were 15 names

on that first casualty list – four officers and 11 enlisted men.

There were also young GIs and officers captured by the reds.

Fanatic North Korean officers ordered American prisoners shot. Those were not immediately shot participated in a “death march” that equaled the torture experienced by American prisoners of the Japanese after Bataan fell in early 1942.

Those who survived the North Korean atrocities underwent a strange experience in the annals of modern warfare. Their captors tried political indoctrination in an effort to win defectors to communism. Of the 3,767 American prisoners of war who survived captivity, 3,746 were ultimately exchanged for 72,000 North Korean and Chinese prisoners captured by U.N. forces.

Twenty-one GI misfits chose to remain behind to serve their communist masters For the first time in the history of warfare, prisoners of war were given the opportunity to return home or be resettled elsewhere. More than 60,000 North Korean and Chinese communist soldiers elected then not to return behind the Bamboo Curtain.

But issues such as repatriation for prisoners of war were unheard of during those gloomy early weeks of the “police action.” Headlines reported retreat after retreat, and columnists, writing from the safety of their cloistered Washington D.C. ivory towers, forecast total defeat of the U.S. and U.N. forces.

ROK units were resupplied and re-equipped and shoved into the line that was the Pusan Perimeter. British warships joined the U.S. Navy in laying down supporting fire for troops dug in on the flanks stretching to the sea. Canada, Britain, France, Belgium and the Philippines all promised troops. But this was to take time. Meanwhile,

the blue and white U.N. flag became a permanent fixture in the first war fought under an international banner, a war that was to see 21 nations ultimately arrayed against the common enemy.

Men wearing general’s stars commanded their divisions, corps and army from “up front.”

They shared more dangers with their men than any group of military leaders in ground warfare before them. Time and again, General MacArthur flew on personal inspection tours from Japan to Korea and landed within the sound of gunfire, at a time when enemy airstrikes were frequent. The 24th Inf. Div commander, scrappy Maj. Gen. William F. Dean, displayed sheer guts after Taejon was cut off by the reds. His units were slowly pounded to pieces by the enemy, and after five days of around-the-clock attacks, Dean finally committed his last manpower reserve to the battle for Taejon – himself. He led a bazooka team against a Stalin tank rumbling through the streets. The tank was knocked out and so was Dean; he was taken prisoner and spent three years in captivity. The day after his capture, another American division landed in Korea. The 24th Division commander had personally paid for the time he bought.

Fifth Air Force Cmdr Lt. Gen. Glenn O. Barcus piloted a Sabrejet on 12 dangerous missions to MiG Alley until his superiors in the Pentagon learned of his action and ordered him grounded from further combat flights. And in the early days, Lt. Gen. Walton Walker, Eighth Army Cmdr, later killed in a highway accident in Korea, and Air Force Cmdr, Maj. Gen. Earle Partridge were both read the riot act by Pentagon brass. This twosome with ParContinued on page 6

hoosier legionnaire | august/september 2013 | 5

Special Report

Korea Continued from page 5 tridge at the controls, constantly flew over the fluid front lines in a two-seater light plane to reconnoiter enemy movements personally.

Korea was also a tactician’s war. MacArthur’s grand strategy, worked out when the chips were down and the battle situation appeared desperate, paid off in what historians are calling a military classic. When every last fighting man was needed on the Pusan Perimeter, the U.N. Commander pulled out the U.S. Marine provisional brigade, placed the gyrenes aboard ship, and, with reinforcements from the States, staged a classic end-run amphibious invasion behind the enemy lines at the port of Inch’on, 38 miles from Seoul.

Marine tanks rumbled ashore and spearheaded a lightning thrust that retook Seoul and severed North Korean communication lines. The reds were cut off from all supplies from the north. U.S. troops cracked the tightening communist ring around Pusan and broke out in an attack that crushed the reds from two directions. Marines and supporting troops attacked south while the Pusan Perimeter’s defenders attacked north.

The communists were caught in between. The entire North Korean Army was destroyed within two weeks with 135,000 prisoners taken, the equivalent of the whole original red juggernaut.

This sudden change in the fortunes of war – from near certain defeat to complete victory – took the U.N. Command deep into North Korea.

Near the end of October 1950, GIs planted the American flag on the frigid wastes overlooking the Yalu river dividing North Korea from Red China. The victory

Korean laborers unloading empty shell casings at the 2nd Infantry Division Ordnance Salvage Dump.

Photo: US Army

refrain in November 1950 was “Home By Christmas.”

But within 24 hours the scent of victory was fouled by the odor of another impending defeat.

In the hills of North Korea, bugles shrieked on the night of Nov. 24 – exactly six months after the conflict began – and hordes of Red Chinese soldiers swarmed out of the hills. An entirely “new war” had begun against a new enemy.

The key to survival of the Eighth Army and the 10th Corps rested on a single snow-capped hill north of the Chongchon River. The Red Chinese forces slammed into the U.N. forces with devastating effect. The U.S. Marines began their classic retreat from the arctic heights surrounding the Chosin Reservoir through subzero temperatures and driving blizzards, carrying their dead out with them, to the North Korean port of Hamhung.

An evacuation fleet waited. The entire withdrawal was made possible by s lowly company commander, Capt. Reginald Desiderio.

Captain Desiderio, commanding officer of Easy Co., 2nd Bat, 27th Inf Reg, had instantly evaluated the situation. If the enemy reached the hill first, the retreat route would be blocked and the U.N. army would be destroyed trying to run a fiery gauntlet of death. There was no time to send a runner to his bat-

6 | august/september 2013 | hoosier legionnaire

talion command post or even notify the “Wolfhound” CP. He raced Easy Co up the slippery slopes and ordered his company to dig in. Desiderio was an old China hand from WWII and he knew what to expect. He bluntly warned his men to prepare for an all-night attack.

Shortly after midnight, 5,000 enemy troops stormed the hill behind a massive artillery and mortar barrage. Well-emplaced machineguns and grenades, lobbed down the slopes, chewed into the mass of screaming of Chinese swarming up the hill, mowing them down by the hundreds. Beneath the cold light of occasional flares, GIs sickened at the carnage. Blood and gore turned the snow and ice-blanketed slopes a slushy scarlet and then a dark muddy red, making the slogging climb even more arduous for the enemy assault forces. Scrambling from foxhole to foxhole, Captain Desiderio implored the Easy Co men to hang on. “Just hold until first light.” His voice confidently out. “We’ll be all right if we hold. Remember, first light… first light.”

A bullet slammed into his shoulder, but he continued his rounds, peptalking the men at each machinegun position and the lonelier men huddled in single foxholes on the perimeter. Bullets winged him in each thigh. He then crawled from one position to another. He cauht mortar shell fragments in his back and another bullet clipped his left knee shortly before dawn.

He dragged himself slowy to his men bolstering their determination to hang on. “remember, first light,” he groaned. He rallied the 72 survivors of what originally was a 200-man rifle company until a mortar shell whooshed in, snuffing the life of Easy Co’s “Old Man.” Dawn broke and a sudden quiet blanketd the hill.

Easy Co’s Exec, a young West

Point er fighting in his first war, crawled to his captain’s side.

But he was too late. He cradled Desiderio’s body in his arms.

“Captain,” the surviving officer sobbed, “it’s first light and we’re still holding.” They’re gone, just like you said.”

Desiderio was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, one of the 131 Americans to win this country’s highest decoration in Korea. In one of the war’s strangest coincidences, another hero followed in the footsteps of Easy Co’s late captain. His name was Lewis Millett, an artilleryman turned infantry officer. He took over Easy Co in early 1951 after the Red Chinese offensive carried the communist flag back into Seoul and beyond to the south. The” Wolfhounds” were in reserve and Captain Millett beefed up his company with raw replacements. He was also partial to cold steel and managed to scrounge hard-to-come-by bayonets for every man in the outfit.

Then he taught them how to use the blade at the end of an M-1 (rifle), his favorite weapon.

On Feb. 7, 1951, while personally leading Easy Co in an attack against a strongly-held enemy position, he spotted his First Platoon pinned down by heavy fire. He ordered his reserve Third Platoon into action with the grating words: “Fix Bayonets!” He jerked his knife from the scabbard at his hip and clamped it onto the barrel of his M-1. The Third Platoon Gis did likewise. He hand-signalled the platoon to fan out, raised his rifle above his head and shouted a third word: “Charge!”

Zig-zagging across the open terrain, with rifles held at high port, the Third Platoon dodged a barrage of mortar and artillery fire. As they closed in with the pinned-down First Platoon, the dogged GIs hugging the ground up ahead took heart at the sight of their charging buddies. They

too, fixed bayonets and, as the Third Platoon passed through their positions on the run, the First Platoon GIs leaped to their feet. With piercing, bloodthirsty whoops, the two platoons continued the charge up the steep slope. They made it to the top.

It was probably the bloodiest hand-to-hand encounter in the Korean War. In the fierce charge, Millett bayonetted two enemy soldiers and boldly slashed his way across the crest, hurling grenades and clubbing the reds with bone-shattering butt strokes. The enemy had no stomach for this kind of fighting.

Those who survived – and 87 of them died horribly – turned tail and ran in what Millett’s official Medal of Honor citation calls “wild disorder.” His bayonet charge has been described by Brig. Gen. S.L.A. Marshall, the military historian, as the only true bayonet charge by American soldiers since the Battle of Cold Harbor during the Civil War. The U.N. forces fought their way back north during the spring of 1951. The Red Chinese counterattacked at one point and another strange hero evolved from this battle on the heights overlooking the banks of the Imjin (river). Cpl. Hiroshi Miyamura, a boyish-looking Japanese-American squad leader, covered the withdrawal of his platoon by electing to stay behind and man a machinegun.

He killed more than 50 enemy soldiers as he slowly withdrew during a night-long running battle. But he stayed behind too long. His platoon escaped but he was captured. For the first time in U.S. military history, a Medal of Honor citation was written up, stamped Top Secret and filed away. It was felt that Miyamura’s life might be endangered if his captors learned Continued on page 9

MEMBERSHIP

Membership Notes

N

ew “Just Ask” Training available- For those members who have never had any “sales” training or experience, the National Organization has developed a training Module to help folks learn how to be an effective recruiter.

You can access it at Colts Games Touchdown Town and Kiosk Volunteers Needed – Please contact myself or Bruce Drake at Department Headquarters about volunteering for either the “Touchdown Town” Tailgate event at Colt’s Home Games or the Kiosk information Booth we have inside Lucas Oil Stadium during the Colt’s Games. We do have some tickets available for those who volunteer and the Post & District will be credited for hosting an

Mike Brady

Department Membership Chairman

Chairman’s Notes Off-Site Membership drive on the Points Calculation Sheet.

Off Site Membership Drives As of this writing, there have been 12 off-site Membership Drives planned and executed within the Department. These Posts and their Districts will be receiving points toward their standing in the Department.

“Ask Again” Pin A lot of people have been

asking me what my “Ask Again” Pin means. It is simple. We have previously recruited hundreds of members who for one reason or another, failed to pay their dues. My pin means that we need to contact these former members and “ASK” them to join us “AGAIN.” Part of this will be to find out why they stopped paying their dues and correct the problem if possible. Maybe it was just an oversight.

Fourteen Legionnaires achieve 3 Star Recruiter Status - so far Allen White, Dave Ritenour, Commander Ed Trice, H. Effron, James May, Joe Curts, John R. Harding, Larry French, Michael Brady, Roger Bradford, Ron Byrley, Ron Kizer, Roy Gartleman, S.W. Epperson.

Great Job! There are dozens of 1 & 2 Star Recruiters who only need to recruit or reinstate a couple more to obtain their 3 Stars. This program is also open to SAL and Auxiliary members.

Post Visits To date, I have attended 5 District Meetings, 12 Post Meetings and visited more than 40 Posts in the Department. This has been both humbling and exciting. I will continue my visits and look forward to seeing you all. Thanks to all for the Hospitality.

Stolen Valor When you hear the term “Stolen Valor,” most of us think about those folks who pretend to have earned Medals or other honors associated with Combat heroism. As the Membership Chair-

man this year, it is, of course, my job to increase the Membership in the Department of Indiana.

That being said, I believe that “Stolen Valor” can also be a person who seeks membership in the American Legion who is not eligible. With this in mind, I ask that Post & District Officers do everything possible to prevent ineligible people from obtaining a Membership. Membership in the American Legion is an honor in itself and a person who joins and is not eligible detracts from the organization, the eligible veterans and our honor.

On the same note, The National Organization has put out an advisory on the subject. Please take a look. http://www.legion. org/membership/216768/newirs-rules-legion-posts HL★

Your financial aid options don’t end with GI Bill

By Steven Maieli

W

hat do you know about financial aid?

Having military education benefits such as the Post-9/11 GI Bill doesn’t make you ineligible for other federal, state and local financial aid to help pay for college. Let’s take a look at your options.

Free Application for Federal Student Aid Filling out a FAFSA will set you up to possibly receive federal financial aid. This aid, which can come in the form of grants, work-study programs and awards, can help pay for supplies, room and board, and, of course, tuition. Overlooking this form can cost you money that you can collect while also

using your military education benefits.

To apply, fill out a FAFSA at www.fafsa.ed.gov .

Federal and state grants Unlike a loan, a grant does not have to be repaid. The same goes for an award, and both can be granted by the federal or state government. For example, the Pell Grant, for which you can apply through FAFSA, is granted by the federal government to eligible undergraduate students. And, for example, the New York State Veterans Tuition Award is a state award granted to New York combat veterans or veterans who earned an Expeditionary Medal. Be sure to check with your State Grant Agency to learn more about what education grants and

awards your state may offer.

Visit wdcrobcolp01.ed.gov/ Programs/EROD and click on “Organizations by Type,” then “State Grant Agency” to find a list of contact information.

Scholarships Scholarships can be granted by just about any organization.

However, they have eligibility requirements and deadlines for applying, so take that into consideration. Start by searching the Internet and asking your school.

Work-study A work-study program is what it sounds like; you’ll be working while studying for a degree. However, the work you do, whether on or off campus, will be paid for by the federal government, helping you put

the money toward tuition.

Check with your financial aid office on campus to inquire about work-study opportunities.

In the military, you were taught to complete a task and ask questions later. In the civilian world, you will learn to ask questions first — otherwise, you could be missing out on information about benefits that can help you.

Not only can a veteran with an honorable discharge be eligible for these types of financial aid, but so can a veteran with a general or medical discharge.

Military children also can be eligible.

As an employment counselor, I have seen veterans of all eras go back to school. De-

pending on what college and program you choose, you could find out that your military education benefits won’t fully cover your tuition. But with help from the government and private sector, you may find your tuition will be covered thanks to financial aid that you may have overlooked because you didn’t believe you were eligible.

Steven Maieli is the founder of http://transitioningveteran. com/, which highlights links to federal, state, for-profit and nonprofit veterans benefits and other resources. He also writes a blog on transitioning veterans’ issues at http://transitioningveteran.com/wordpress/.

Send questions and comments to tacticalveteran@militarytimes.com. HL★

hoosier legionnaire | august/september 2013 | 7

Legion Family Reports

SAL to assist in saving the Ernie Pyle Museum

N

ewly elected Detachment Commander Kirk Rewerts would like to extend greetings to all Detachment Squadrons. I’m looking forward to working with the Slate of Detachment Officers along with the District Commanders to make the 2013-2014 year a successful one.

First of all, I would like to give a huge “shout” of congratulations to the Past Detachment commander Greg Spaulding and his team of officers for a successful productive year. I would like to extend my thanks to Past Department Commander Richard Jewell and Department President Nancy Gunning for their year of dedication and diligent work. This year, my Commander’s Project will be the preservation of the Ernie

Kirk Rewerts SAL Detachment Commander

SAL News Pyle Museum. This state historic site is home to famous Pulitzer Prize WWII war correspondent.

The museum was state-funded until the Department of Natural Resources was forced to make budget cuts.

During WWII, Ernie Pyle was a household name with columns and dispatches appearing in more than 400 daily newspapers and 300 weekly papers. To the millions on the American

Gaming Proceeds to Commander’s Project OK’d

P

roceeds from posts’ See Commander’s charitable gaming activMessage – Page 2 ities can legally be contributed to the Department Commander’s project. This, according to officials of the Charity Gaming Division of the Indiana Gaming Commission.

“We have always allowed the ‘posts’ to donate to the parent organization from the charity gaming account for charitable endeavors. Due to the fact that this benefits the ‘purpose of your organization,’ we feel that the donations are allowable,” officials wrote in an email addressed to Department Finance Officer Tony Riley earlier this month.

Commander Trice is encouraging the widest possible support for his project to promote the Legion and educate the public about its programs and activities. Contributions can be sent to the Commander at Department headquarters, or presented to him in person at the Fall and Spring conferences and the Department Convention. HL★

8 | august/september 2013 | hoosier legionnaire

homefront during WWII, the war correspondent’s column offered a foxhole view of the struggles as he reported on the life, and sometimes death, of the average soldier. The Hoosier reporter’s column not only described soldier’s hardships, but also spoke out on his behalf. In a column from Italy in 1944, Pyle proposed that combat soldiers be given “fight pay,” similar to an airman’s flight pay. In May of that year, Congress acted on Pyle’s suggestions, giving soldiers 50 percent extra pay for combat service, legislation nicknamed “The Ernie Pyle Bill.”

Through Pyle’s war correspondence, it helped to instill patriotism in all Americans during World War II. It is my sincerest desire to help sustain our state’s legacy for

present and future generations.

It would be sad to see a notable WWII Hoosier Veteran fade into forgotten history. I would like to propose a challenge to all squadrons and districts in the detachment to help raise $11,000 for this project. My theme for this year is “Sowing Seeds for Membership.” My membership chairman is Joseph Schultis. At the Close of the Books for the 2012-13 year, the Detachment of Indiana reached an all-time high of 37,756 members. I think with great team effort, a membership goal of 38,000 would not be hard to make.

I’m looking forward to working with Department Commander Ed Trice and Auxiliary Department President Carol La Gard. I’m looking forward to a successful year with all the pro-

grams and committees that the Detachment of Indiana S.A.L. works on every year. I would like to report on Americanism on the end of the fiscal year 2012-13 more than $142,000 was raised and donated to needy charities and 40,000 hours of labor was performed by S.A.L. members to help veterans and the communites they live in.

Also, I look forward to serving as your Detachment Commander and hope to see many of you as I travel across this great state of ours while promoting programs, building memberships and having fun along the way. Remember those in uniform, whether serving in harm’s way or here at home. Please feel free to contact me at 765-918-1675 or email me at kirk.rewerts@yahoo.com.

HL★

Auxiliary Angels to aid IVH

T

he new Auxiliary has begun. Everyone is busy working on membership and projects.

My theme is “Angels Caring for Our Veterans.” Angels are spiritual beings who were created to fulfill God’s Desires.

They are messengers, overseers and deliverers of God’s sentences; whether rewards or punishments. When angels interact with human beings they can be invisible, audible and/ or take on the human form in order to accomplish whatever task God has commanded of them. The Auxiliary ladies are “Angels.”

One project is furnishing the IVH motel rooms. These rooms will help family/visitors spend

Carol LaGard Auxiliary President

Auxiliary News more time with our veterans.

My other project is naming/ theme decorating a patient room at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital. The plaque will read, “Legion Family.” Depending on the amount raised, we could be purchasing equipment for the communications center. Our children are our tomorrow.

To those that are ill- a speedy recovery. To those that have lost a loved one- my deepest sympathy. God bless our military, veterans and the USA. HL★

Special Report

Korea Continued from page 6 he won the nation’s highest military decoration for killing at least 50 Chinese. Hiroshi Miyamura became the nation’s first secret war hero. He was finally awarded his Medal after he was repatriated.

But repatriation was just a word in the dictionary in May 1951. That’s when the Soviet delegate to the United Nations suggested that an armistice might be worked out if both sides agreed to discuss the matter. The war was almost a year old and Red China’s army was virtually on the ropes. It was expected that the talks would last two or three weeks and an armistice would be signed. But the request had another purpose.

The enemy needed time to dig in. By stalling the armistice negotiations, he’d get his needed time. This was the enemy strategy that couldn’t be fathomed at the time. At the request of the North Koreans, truce talks began in the town of Kaesong, just across the 38th Parallel in North Korea. The reds put out a story that the “Imperialists” would meet in Kaesong because the communist victors wished it, and that the Americans asked for the cease-fire. When this communist propaganda trick became apparent to American officers assigned to negotiate a cease-fire, they refused to meet again at Kaesong. The talks were reopened in the village of Panmunjom.

From July 10, 1951, until the cease-fire took effect more than two years later, the enemy used this time to build a virtually impregnable line across the peninsula. The last two years of the fighting have been called “the talking war”; trench war-

fare took over. There were fierce isolated battles at Bunker Hill, Heartbreak Ridge, Pork Chop Hill, White Horse Mountain and Sniper Ridge. Despite these sudden flareups, where a hilltop or a few yards of slope changed hands, the talking continued at Panmunjom.

The armistice talks were bogged down by the issue of how many prisoners would be returned. Red guerillas took their toll in the mountains of South Korea. All this was part of an incredible master plan that was supposed to culminate in a mass breakout from the prisoner of war compounds on Koje Island off the port of Pusan. Escaped communist prisoners of war were to join the guerillas in the mountains and open a second front. It was an audacious plan and almost succeeded.

The prisoners of war kidnapped the camp commander, American brig. Gen. Francis T. Dodd, and held him hostage for nearly four days, until mildlooking Brig. Gen. Hayden L. Boatner, paradoxically nicknamed “The Bull” broke up the prison camp conspiracy and rescued Gen. Dodd. Gen. Boatner, a Chinese-speaking authority on Asia, cagily bought time and played the North Koreans against the Chinese in his successful effort to avert mass escape. Eighty thousand red prisoners had planned to break out, overwhelm their U.S. Army and South Korean guards, and escape to the nearby mainland to renew the fighting as guerillas. But the plan was thwarted

by Boatner and his reinforcements maintained control of Koje Island.

In the skies, rampaging American pilots flyingthe workhorse F-86 Sabrejets tangled with the enemy in hundreds of dogfights. The reds were flying faster and more maneuverable

built-in-Russia MiG fighters, but better plane performance was no match for the expert training given American pilots.

Uncle Sam’s aces accounted for 839 Migs destroyed, 154 probable kills and 1,020 propellerdriven planes blasted out of the sky. This represented a whopping total of about 2,000 enemy pilots killed. The battle of the jets produced two American triple aces and 16 and 15 shot down respectively, and a third runner-up with 14 ½ kills (credit is halved with two pilots participate in the same kill.)

Pantherjets and WWII-vintage Corsairs proved their worth time and again in close-support missions required by the fighting men on the ground. The B-29s that had battered Japan to her knees during the closing days of WWII were taken out of storage to fly missions against targets in North Korea. But the plane versus plane battles drew the headlines as American fighter pilots in the Fifth Air Force racked up an impressive 13 to 1 ratio of enemy planes destroyed. The U.S. Air Force lost 94 planes in aerial combat between jet aircraft.

If the Korean War has been forgotten by some, underrated by others, dismissed by still others, the fact remains that it was our first attempt to stop the reds by force of arms, and it stopped them. The fact also remains that it ranks among our greatest three foreign wars in history, and that the men who fought it waged as bitter and tough war as any American fighting men have fought. The United States, caught unready as usual, fielded a hard-hitting, heavy shooting and victorious army in Korea, even if it did have to put more than a million WWII vets under arms in their second war; even if, when their sons and kid brothers relieved them,

Indiana HQ travels to Illinois HQ to discuss future combined operations

IN Dept. Adjutant Hugh Dagley (L in red shirt) discusses the finer points of burger cooking with IL Dept Adjutant Terry Woodburn (R in hat) during the IN/IL Dept Luncheon held on 7 Aug 2013 in Bloomington IL

IN Dept Commander Ed Trice challenges IL Dept. Commander Bernie Stegmueller to a friendly wager regarding membership numbers. The wagers are an Indiana Ham versus Chicago-style pizzas with the winner being determined at next year’s Lincoln Pilgrimage.

they had to fight their war with obsolete weapons and equipment of an another era. The veterans of Korea can be proud, too that their strange war has taught this nation that it doesn’t pay to demobilize and stack arms as soon as the shooting stops.

The Korean War also pointed out the need for a mobile striking force. Thanks to the gallant men who fought a strange war in a lost corner of Asia, the United States has discovered what it takes to survive – a fighting force

always ready for combat.

(Editor’s remarks. – 60 years after the conclusion of the Korean War, the validity of the United States and its UN partners going to war in defense of South Korea against the communist aggression is vindicated with the existence of a democratic government and a vibrant economy that serves as a beacon of hope to the millions of trapped North Koreans imprisoned north of the 38th Parallel by the autocratic North Korean junta.) HL★

hoosier legionnaire | august/september 2013 | 9

Veteran’s Affairs

Recent war vets face hiring obstacle: PTSD bias

By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

M

ilitary leaders and veterans’ advocates worry about hidden hiring discrimination against Iraq and Afghanistan war vets by employers who see the veterans perhaps as emotionally damaged.Military leaders and veterans’ advocates worry about hidden hiring discrimination against Iraq and Afghanistan war vets by employers who see the veterans perhaps as emotionally damaged.

Military leaders and veterans’ advocates worry about hidden hiring discrimination against Iraq and Afghanistan war vets by employers who see the veterans perhaps as

emotionally damaged.

A key fear is how this could be contributing to stubbornly higher joblessness among the generation that volunteered to serve in the military after the 9/11 attacks. Because employers are barred by law from asking job applicants about mental health conditions, many assume that any veteran can be afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) although the vast majority returned from war without emotional problems, researchers and veterans advocates say.

“There is a need to be concerned about this issue and this stigma,” says Kevin Schmiegel, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and executive director of the U.S. Chamber of Com-

merce’s Hiring our Heroes program.

The Army is launching a “Hire a Veteran” campaign aimed partly at “debunking some of the myths around hiring disabled veterans,” says Nancy Adams, Army transition manager. “This should not be an issue.”

Leading corporate hiring managers have told researchers they fear these veterans might fly into a rage or “go postal.” As a consequence, veterans say they’ve seen blatant discrimination.

“They didn’t even hide it,” says Timothy “Rhino” Paige, a former Air Force pilot who developed PTSD in 2005 when he transported the remains of slain Americans on his C-130

in Iraq.

When Paige sought federal work in Colorado in 2010 under laws offering disabled veterans preferential hiring consideration, he says he didn’t even get an interview. Paige, 49, today

a civilian employee with the Navy, said that federal employers back in 2010 “were straight out, ‘We don’t want disabled veterans and the problems that Continued on page 11

2 planned programs could help vets train for jobs

By Rick Maze armytimes.com

T

he Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman has introduced a two-part bill aimed at creating pilot programs to help veterans find jobs.

The Veterans Equipped for Success Act of 2013, sponsored

by Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, includes one pilot apprenticeship program in which veterans would receive at least minimum wage while receiving job training from employers, which could include nonprofits and small businesses.

A second pilot program would provide a salary subsidy of up to $14,000 a year to em-

ployers who hire a veteran as part of a skill-learning program or work experience.

Both programs would be available to veterans who are either 18 to 34 years old or 55 to 64 years old and are not enrolled in a state or federal job training program, are considered by the Labor Department to be either unemployed or underemployed, and were discharged from the military under other than dishonorable conditions.

The program would be limited to 150,000 participants, and

10 | august/september 2013 | hoosier legionnaire

no more than 50,000 a year. As introduced May 9, the bill includes no provisions to pay for the salary subsidies, which could hold up passage of the measure — even though the chief sponsor is the veterans’ committee chairman.

The bill was scheduled for later vote in the Senate this fall after a June 5 hearing cleared the bill for the procedural review.

Sanders acknowledged that the job market for veterans has been improving, but said, “We continue to find high unem-

ployment rates among veterans, especially the youngest generation.”

One in five enlisted members leaving active duty has “a military-learned skill that is not easily transferable to a civilian occupation,” he said, noting that the bill is aimed at helping them find a civilian job that is different from their military job.

Some businesses interested in hiring veterans end up hiring someone else because the veteran lacks experience, Sanders said. The bill tries to get them the experience, with the Labor Department’s help.

A program that subsidizes salaries or pays only minimum wage, $7.25 an hour, could cause

problems if employers hire veterans while laying off existing better-paid workers — so the bill would prohibit employers from displacing a current employee in lieu of a veteran under the new program. It also would not allow a veteran on an apprenticeship or in skill training to do the work of anyone who has been laid off.

Businesses also would have to be in good standing with their local business bureau, could not be delinquent on employer tax contributions, and must not have been the subject of a Federal Trade Commission investigation or action in the previous 180 days. HL★

Veteran’s Affairs

PTSD bias Continued from page 10 come with them.’”

Research published last year suggests that misconceptions about PTSD and veterans are a factor in hiring decisions.

Researchers from the Center for New American Security, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, interviewed executives of 69 leading corporations, including Bank of America, Target, Wal-Mart, Procter and Gamble, and Raytheon. All said hiring veterans can be good for business, but more than half acknowledged harboring a negative image of veterans because of how popular media — from news coverage to films — portray PTSD. Margaret Harrell, a co-author of the June study, says she’s seen no evidence of changing attitudes.

Her findings mirror those of the Society for Human Resource Management, the nation’s largest association of personnel managers, which published survey results early last year showing that about one in three employers see PTSD as an impediment to hiring any veteran.

Government and private researchers estimate that PTSD is present in 5 percent-20 percent of the 1.6 million veterans who served since 9/11. The Department of Veterans Affairs, which has treated about 56 percent of those veterans, reports 117,000 diagnosed cases.

Even among those who have the disorder, their conditions are no better or worse than the estimated 7.7 million Americans suffering from the illness as the result of non-combat trauma, such as car accidents or sexual assault, Adams says.

In job settings, PTSD can

be easily accommodated by steps such as allowing time for therapy or avoiding confining work environments, according to the Labor Department.

Advocates worry this message is not getting through to employers.

While joblessness among post-9/11 veterans declined from 12.1 percent in 2011 to 9.9 percent last year, it remained well above a labor force rate of 7.8 percent or 7 percent among all veterans last year. About one in nine veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan were without work late last summer, government statistics show.

During the first quarter of this year, an estimated 220,000 Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans were without work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday. That is an increase from the first quarter of 2012, when an estimated 185,000 were jobless.

An initiative led by first lady Michelle Obama last year enlisted 2,000 American companies to promise they would hire or train 125,000 veterans or their spouses.

But advocates say that despite good corporate intentions, bias can lurk at lower company levels where hiring decisions are made.

“Middle manager ... is where the problem lies,” says Robert Turner, who recently cofounded veteran recruitment firm KCK with Carlton Kent, a former sergeant major of the Marine Corps. “You have to convince the middle of the company how to accept these folks and how to work with them and how to make them successful.”

Shannon Williams last year became program director of a recruitment effort at health care giant UPMC, one of Pennsylvania’s largest employers.

Part of her work is recruiting

disabled veterans. She says a key challenge was educating middle managers that veterans with PTSD can be easily accommodated and productive hires.

Williams says directors of nursing units or other medical offices openly expressed concern about the safety of patients if veterans with PTSD were hired. One worry, for example, was that the sound of a monitoring device when a patient flat-lines might trigger a worker with PTSD to shut down during the emergency, putting a patient’s life at risk, Williams says.

“With the managers, we just talk them through the situation,” she says, “explain to them differences between the reality of PTSD and what is fabricated (by popular culture) out there.”

Discriminatory attitudes left Paige, the Air Force pilot, dispirited. “I got angry and kind of lost faith in the whole system,” he says.

He and other veterans turn to non-profit organizations such as the Wounded Warrior Project, which continually shop their résumés to prospective employers until offers come through.

A few months ago, Paige, who has a master’s degree in logistics and 25 years as a pilot, took a job in acquisitions for the Naval Air Systems Command at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in southern Maryland.

Between assistance from Wounded Warrior Project and being embraced by his current employer, Paige says his world has turned around.

“The guy that helps you get a job is powerful,” he says of those who helped him find a path around discrimination against veterans with PTSD. HL★

N

POW/MIA

ational POW/MIA Recognition Day is observed on the third Friday in the month of September. This year, being Friday the 20th of September. It honors those who were Prisoners of War and those who are still Missing in Action from all wars and conflicts involving the United States.

This day is established by an Act of Congress, by the passage of section 1082 of the 1998 Defense Authorization Act. Let all District and Post POW/MIA Chairman remind our members of this important date. Sadly, there are too many people out there who do not know what the POW/ MIA Flag or Recognition Day is about.

In closing, to all of my Legion Family, thank you for your Prayers and condolences. Heaven gained another Angel.

For God and Country HL★

Disability Compensation Continued from page 1 log by increasing production while decreasing processing time.

Because they can be completed quickly by eliminating much of the development phase of claims processing, VA assigns FDCs a higher priority than many other claims.

VA is completing its oldest claims first, and through use of mandatory overtime and implementation of other people, process, and technology improvements, VA is on track to meet our overall goal of eliminating the claims backlog in 2015 by deciding all claims within 125 days with 98-percent accuracy.

(Source: reprint from Department of Veterans Affairs Fact Sheet dated August 1, 2013) HL★

Adjutant’s Desk Continued from page 2 faces serious challenges over the next few years -- serious challenges to its membership, its programs, and its very future. The convention just concluded demonstrates that our influence, our relevance, and our reputation remain intact. Every member, every post, and every district benefits from them, whether directly or indirectly. It is a simple matter of self-interest to support and encourage any effort that enhances them. All of us, like small boats in the harbor, rise and fall on the same tides.

HL★

hoosier legionnaire | august/september 2013 | 11

Convention Coverage

Photos from the 95th Annual Convention Hilary Lanman performs the National Anthem at the commencement of the 95th Annual Convention for the Indiana Department of the American Legion.

Senator Dan Coats (R-IN) gave a speech on Foreign Relations and US Security to assembled Legionnaires at the 95th Annual Convention on 13 July.

Department Chaplain Norris Kearn delivers the opening prayer at the 95th Annual Convention for the Indiana Department of the The American Legion.

Legionnaires enjoying the district hospitality suites throughout the weekend.

12 | august/september 2013 | hoosier legionnaire

IN Congresswoman Susan Brooks (5th District –R) addresses the 95th Indiana Department convention delegates on 12 July.

Alphonso Pulido,The American Legion’s National Sergeant-AtArms and Indiana’s 2012-13 9th District commander “Al” Ray Kerner Jr. discuss an agenda item during the Past commander’s luncheon on 13 July.

Indiana Department Commander Dick Jewell welcomes Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly (D) to the speakers podium on Friday 12 July.

Convention Coverage The Legion Colorguard from Bloomfield Memorial Post #196 participated in the Convention’s Drill and Ceremonies competition on 13 July..

Old Friends meet to enjoy some time together during the 95th annual convention.

Legionnaires stand for the morning Pledge of Allegiance on Saturday 13 July.

Our POW/ MIAs were honored throughout the Convention with their own reserved section on the floor of the Hall.

The Marriott Center East Convention Center ensured that everything went well to including the point of flying all the Service Flags during the Convention.

During the Convention, various breakaway committee meetings were held to address Post Resolutions and to help frame the guidelines for the Department through the upcoming year.

hoosier legionnaire | august/september 2013 | 13

Americanism

Citizenship: Legionnaire - Do you have the knowledge to pass a standard Citizenship Test?

And updated citizenship process for veterans who aren’t citizens yet.

C

an you answer the following questions?

1) Name some of the rights guaranteed to American citizens?

2) Who makes the laws of the United States?

3) Which eminent American said that this country’s government is “of the people, by the people and for the people.”

4) How many justices sit on the U.S. Supreme Court?

5) How many branches are in the government of the United States?

6) Which side won the American Civil War? 7) Who wrote the Constitution of the United States?

Who was the main author of The Declaration of the United States?

8) Name three of the original 13 states 9) When did the required number of states ratify the U.S. Constitution?

10) How many stars are in the U.S. Flag and what do they

Bruce Drake Department Communications Director

Communications stand for?

If you were applying for an American citizenship, you would have to give correct answers to most of the above.

These, or similar questions, are among those put to immigrants, who are required to demonstrate that they have reasonable knowledge of the history and government of the United States. All of the questions are asked in English.

The test however is not the only road to becoming a citizen. As Legionnaires, we have the responsibility to learn about our rights as a citizens as well as how to assist people in legally becoming Americans.

How do men and women earn the rights, privileges and

14 | august/september 2013 | hoosier legionnaire

freedoms of citizenship? People born in the United States are automatically citizens if at least one parent is already a citizen. Foreign-born residents must go through a naturalization process as set forth in the Immigration & Nationality Act of 1952, known as the McCarran-Walter Act. This law specifies that the applicant must: • Be at least 18 years old.

• Have entered the country legally or received amnesty under the 1986 Immigration and Reform Act. Applicants must in either case prove that they have lived in this countr y for at at least five years.

Non- citizens who serve honorably during times of war (including all Legion periods of eligibility since Grenada/Lebanon), no matter how briefly are exempt from the five-year requirement. New residency requirements for active-duty service members and veterans are detailed below.

The United States recognizes the important sacrifices made by non-U.S. citizen members of the United States armed forces and their families and is committed to processing their naturalization applications in a timely and efficient manner while providing exemplary customer service, maintaining the integrity of the immigration system, and the security of the process. Qualifying military service is generally in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and certain components of the National Guard and the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve.

Qualifications While a member of the U.S. armed forces must meet some of the general requirements and qualifications to become a citizen of the United States, such as good moral character, some of the requirements are either reduced or completely waived.

Specifically, qualifying service members and certain veterans are not required to pay an application fee or a biometrics fee to apply for naturalization, and are not required demonstrate residence or physical presence in the United States.

Additionally, service members who serve during specifically designated periods of hostilities may not need to be lawful permanent residents.

Additionally, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 extended all aspects of the naturalization process, including naturalization applications, interviews, oaths and ceremonies to members of the U.S.armed forces serving overseas. Before Oct. 1, 2004, military service members could only naturalize while physically within the United States.

Finally, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 added Sections 319(e) and 322(d) to the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), allowing certain eligible spouses and children of members of the U.S. armed forces to naturalize abroad without traveling to the United States for any part of the naturalization process.

Service in Peacetime Section 328 of the INA applies to all members of the U.S. armed forces or those already discharged from service. An individual may qualify for naturalization under this provision if he or she has: • Served honorably in the military for at least one year; • Obtained lawful permanent resident status; • Filed an application while still in the service or within six months of separation.

Service in Wartime Section 329 of the INA applies to members of the U.S.armed forces who serve during specifically designated periods of hostilities. This section is sometimes referred to as wartime naturalization. An individual may qualify for naturalization under this provision if he or she has: • Served honorably in active-duty status for any period of time; • Such active-duty service was during a specifically designated period of hostility; • Unlike all other provisions for naturalization, a qualifying service member is not required to be a lawful permanent resident to naturalize under this provision if the service member enlisted or was inducted within the United Statesor other qualifying geographical area.

The Expedited Naturalization Executive Order of 2002 provides for expedited naturalization under this provision to qualified aliens and Continued on page 15

Convention Coverage

Service Personnel honored at Convention

A

s an organization consisting entirely of former military personnel it is only natural that The American Legion Department of Indiana maintains a close rapport with members of the United States Armed Forces. One way that relationship is expressed is in the presentation of the annual Military Person of the Year Awards. Three such awards were presented by Commander Jewell during the 95th annual Department Convention.

Every year there can be multiple awards – in the active duty category…the National Guard category and the reserve component category. We also can have multiple winners in any one category. But this year, we have chosen one outstanding military person in each category,” said Commander Jewell.

The 2013 Military Persons of the Year are Army National Guard Lt. Col Eric Honaker, Naval Reserve Lt. Brian Everage and Army Staff Sgt. Brandon Cross.

Lt. Col Honaker started his military career in the Indiana National Guard as a Fire Direction Officer for Battery A, 163rd Field Artillery Battalion in Evansville, in 1993. He has since progressed forward in

his military career to include a deployment to Afghanistan in 2006 with the 10th Mountain Division and with 20 years of service to our Nation and State is currently commanding the 53rd Civil Support Team for the State of Indiana.

Lt. Everage enlisted in the US Navy in March 1990 where he was assigned for duty aboard the USS Fife then stationed in Yokosuka, Japan. He is a veteran of the first Gulf War and supported Operation Southern Watch which controlled Iraqi Airspace after the war. Everage was directly commissioned in the Navy Reserve as an Intelligence Officer and is currently assigned to the Office of Naval Intelligence at the Navy’s Air and Space Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

Staff Sgt. Brandon Cross is the Active-Duty awardee for this year. He has been in the U.S. Army for 12 years and is currently assigned as a Drill Sergeant at the U.S. Army’s Basic Training Post at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. Prior to his assignment training our nation’s newest soldiers, Cross deployed twice to Iraq in 2007 and 2010 where he spent 30 months in intense combat operations. HL★

Citizenship

Assistance to the Military Community Specially trained USCIS customer service specialists at the Nebraska Service Center staff the toll-free Military Help Line (1-877-CIS-4MIL ).

They assist service members, their families, attorneys and others representing them with military-specific naturalization

Continued from page 14 non-citizen nationals serving honorably in an active-duty status in the U.S.armed forces beginning on Sept. 11, 2001 to the present. This section also covers veterans of designated past wars and conflicts.

Indiana Department of The American Legion Commander Dick Jewell presents the National Guard Military Person of the Year to Lt. Col Eric Honaker of the Indiana National Guard’s 53rd Civil Support Team during the Department’s 95th Annual Convention on 12 July 2013.

Indiana Department of The American Legion Commander Dick Jewell presents the Reserve Military Person of the Year to Navy Lt. Brian Everage the Office of Naval Intelligence at the Navy’s Air and Space Intelligence Center at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base during the Department’s 95th Annual Convention on 12 July 2013.

Indiana Department of The American Legion Commander Dick Jewell presents the ActiveDuty Military Person of the Year to Staff Sgt Brandon Cross of Echo Company, 1st Battalion of the 48th Infantry Regiment from Fort Leonard Wood, MO during the Department’s 95th Annual Convention on 12 July 2013.

and immigration issues.

Specialists across USCIS have been selected to handle military naturalization packets, and each consider this responsibility a privilege and an honor, and do all that they can to ensure that applications are processed and completed as expeditiously as possible.

In addition, every military

installation has a designated point-of-contact to assist service members in preparing the naturalization application packet. This contact is generally in the military legal office or in the personnel division.

Service members should use this contact to help prepare and file a complete naturalization application packet.

Application Packet The service member’s naturalization packet will include: • Application for Naturalization, (USCIS Form N-400) • Request for Certification of Military or Naval Service, (USCIS Form N-426); Continued on page 19

hoosier legionnaire | august/september 2013 | 15

Legion Baseball

Nurturing the Talent

I

t’s the bottom of the third, two down, bases loaded. The batter steps into the box as outfield chatter builds: Hey-uh, batta, batta, batta swing! A fastball streaks down the pipeline; its met by the blur of a bat swung by a teenage boy. CRACK! ...Holy Cow! It’s a goner! The young slugger rounds third and heads for home, where he slaps “high fives” with his teammates. Even the opposing catcher extends a congratulatory hand as another young player steps up to try his luck at the plate.

Each summer, hundreds of young boys and teenagers hone their baseball skills and learn the value of fair play and team efforts in junior-level baseball programs sponsored by American Legion posts across Indiana.

“Currently, we have more than 50 teams hosted by Legion Posts across the state,” said Susan Long, the Indiana Department’s Americanism Programs administrator. “We have the teams divided into two age

Bruce Drake Department Communications Director

Communications levels to allow the proper development at each level.”

American Legion Baseball enjoys a reputation as one of the most successful and traditionrich amateur athletic leagues.

Across the nation, the program registers more than 5,400 teams in all 50 states, Canada and Puerto Rico. Almost 100,000 youths, ages 15 to 19, participate annually. Since its inception in 1926, the league has had 10 million players, and nearly 60 percent of current college players are program graduates.

Legion Baseball also has a reputation for serving the young people who play for it. In college scholarships, the league annu-

16 | august/september 2013 | hoosier legionnaire

The 2013 Department of Indiana American Legion Senior Division State Champions American Legion Post #25 from Princeton IN

ally awards a total of $25,000 $500 for a player selected from each department based upon leadership, character, scholarship and financial need. Recently, the National Headquarters passed a resolution allowing corporate sponsorship, in the

hope of creating more financial aid for college. Diamond Sports already funds $25,000 in scholarships for the Legion’s Baseball Player of the Year and the eight regional players of the year.

Eight players receive a $2,500 scholarship and the “Captain” of

the All Academic Team receives a $5,000 scholarship.

Within Indiana, the Legion Baseball program continues to develop potential future stars on the baseball field as well as their future roles as leaders within their communities. HL★

Citizens and Youth

Cedar Lake Teacher identified as AL Teacher of the Year

I

ndianapolis – Two educators from Ft. Wayne and Cedar Lake were honored by the Indiana Department of The American Legion during its 95th Annual State Convention Saturday, 13 July.

Each year, the Indiana Department of The American Legion honors educators who are recognized by their communities and their peers as exemplifying the qualities of a premier educator. The awards are broken into two different categories. Kindergarten through the 6th grade and 7-12.

The educators nominated for each category are: K-6: Brandie Muha, Principal – Lincoln Elementary, Cedar Lake, IN Kim Cunningham, 1st Grade

Teacher – Northwestern Elementary, Kokomo, IN Denise Crawford, Teacher Title 1/Literacy/RTI – Switzerland County Elementary School 7-12: Andrew M. Whirrett, 8th Grade English and History and Athletic Director – St. Paul’s Lutheran School, Ft. Wayne, IN Bonnie Pettay, of Kokomo, IN William VanHooks Jr., of Evansville, IN Leah Morgan, Art Education and High Ability Coordinator, Community Schools, Orleans IN The Department’s winners each received a $500 grant to their school from The American Legion in recognition of the winner’s long commitment to education and to the young

people of Indiana.

The overall winners for each category were Brandie Muha (K-6) and Andrew Whirrett (7-12). Brandie Muha, in her acceptance speech, said, “It is an honor to be recognized by you today and I must also thank you for everything you (as veterans) have done for our country as well. If I can instill in my young students the pride and passion that I see in you than I have done my job.”

Nick Nicholoff, Chairman of the Legion’s Children and Youth Commission added, “Young people, and those who steward their development and growth, are the keys to our future and I am very proud to part of an organization that so fully supports the interest of young people.”

Indianapolis -- Brandie Muha, Principal of Lincoln Elementary, Cedar Lake, IN is presented with the Indiana Department of the American Legion’s Teacher of the Year honors by Department Commander Dick Jewell on 13 July, 2013 at the Departments 95th Annual Convention at the Marriot Center East Complex.

HL★

Hoosier Eagle Scouts honored by American Legion

I

ndianapolis – A young Boy Scout from Hammond was honored by the Indiana Department of The American Legion as its American Legion Scout of the Year during its 95th Annual State Convention Saturday, 13 July.

Each year, the Indiana Department of The American Legion honors young men who are recognized by their communities and their peers as exemplifying the true qualities of a Boy Scout . The nominees from across the state were: Mason Tribbett, of Monticello Charles Waterhouse of Garrett Benjamin Gormley of Carmel Keith Hurst of Ferdinand

Logan Greene of Mitchell Casimir Kromkowski of Rochester Nicholas Anglin of Hammond The Department’s nominees each received a $200 scholarship from The American Legion in recognition of their long commitment to Scouting and the overall winner as Boy Scout of the Year received a $1000 scholarship and a plaque from the Department.

The overall winner was Nicholas Anglin of Hammond. The 17-year old young man said, award by the 2012-2013 Commander of the Indiana Department of the American Legion , Richard Jewell, “I am very thankful to have received this award and thank you very much.” HL★

The Boy Scouts Nominees from the State of Indiana for 2013 were Nicholas Anglin of Hammond; Mason Tribbett, of Monticello; Charles Waterhouse of Garrett; Benjamin Gormley of Carmel; Keith Hurst of Ferdinand; Logan Greene of Mitchell and Casimir Kromkowski of Rochester IN.

The Indiana Department of The American Legion’s Boy Scout of the Year ware Nicholas Anglin of Hammond, IN who was presented his plaque and scholarship by Department Commander Dick Jewell on 13 July, 2013 at the Department’s 95th Annual Convention in Indianapolis, IN.

hoosier legionnaire | august/september 2013 | 17

Officer Reports

Department Commander Continued from page 1 dark will be exposed in the light.” Trice intends to shine the light on the good work the Legion does in Indiana. “It is past time that it is done.”

We will move this Department into a new era of growth only if we are aggressive in reaching out to our newest generation of veterans. The Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are the future of our Legion and we need to engage with them to let them know of the benefits and honors of joining their fellow veterans here within The American Legion.” Trice added.

Trice is a four year veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a 48-year member of American Legion Post 313 in Fairmount Ind. During his Marine Corps service, he was a Small Arms Repairman with service in Vietnam and an instructor at the Marine Corps’ Weapons Training Battalion at Camp Pendleton, Calif. After military service, Trice was employed in the building & construction trades for 40 years before retiring in 2010 as the President of Trice Building and Supply Inc. In addition to his Legion activities, Trice was President of the Madison-Grant Multi School Building Corp. for 13 years. He also served on the board of directors for the Indiana American Red Cross for two years and State President of the National Frame Builders Association, Inc., also for two years.

Trice is also a Life Member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars; Disabled American Veterans; Harley Owners Group; and Masonic Blue Lodge. He also is a member of 40&8, the Sons of the American Legion, the Legion Riders and the Army, Navy & Air Force Veterans in Canada, United States Unit (ANAVICUS).

Trice has held every post-level office and is a past 5th District Commander. He also has served at the department level as Northern Vice-Commander, Membership Chairman, and as chairman of all four Commissions before assuming the title as Department Commander.

On the national level, Trice served as a consultant to the National Economic Commission from 20042005 and is currently a consultant to the Employment Committee since 2005.

The Commander’s special projects this year are to encourage Americans to purchase American-made products and to promote the benefits of becoming a Legion Member to veterans across the state. Trice’s overall goal during his year in command will be to increase enrollment of veterans into the Legion and to promote American-made products to assist with job creation within the state.

NEC Homecoming for Darrell Hansel Indiana welcomed home National Executive Committee member Darrell Hansel after six years of service at The American Legion’s National Level on 3 Aug, 2013 with a party for his friends and family at the Wayne Post #64 in Indianapolis, IN. His service to his nation and fellow Legionnaires was recognized and we were privileged to have had his service for our Legion communities.

HL★

18 | august/september 2013 | hoosier legionnaire

Officer Reports

Histories in Your Future?

A

great many people and organizations since the beginning of civilization have played a significant role during their existence. Yet, most of them have disappeared, with no trace after their life, leaving no mark in history. Why? No one bothered to write about their existence, no one thought it was important enough to leave information for future generations.

What about your post? Will future generations ever know you existed, or if they were knew that you did, did you accomplish anything of significance? Do you care if they will be disappointed not knowing much about your post other than your name and number.

Will you be member who really didn’t care if the post only became ‘dust in the wind,’ not leaving a legacy to those who follow? But if you don’t want this, what can you do about?

Now is the time for Legionnaires in the post to plan on leaving a permanent legacy of their accomplishments. Don’t delay in creating a history of

Citizenship Continued from page 15 • If applicable, a copy of the USCIS Form I‑551, Permanent Resident Card; and • Two passport-style photographs.

• Members of the military applying under sections 328 or 329 of the INA are not required to pay a fee for their naturalization application.

Fingerprint Requirements • Five fingerprinting methods are available to service

you, of your post, of the accomplishments that others will want to learn about, especially of what you think was important in the first part of the 21st century. If you don’t do it, who will? Don’t leave it to the local newspaper that may report an unflattering picture; establish the image that you want leave.

The post is a ‘living’ creation.

It has had a conception (its temporary charter), its birth (its permanent charter), and its on-going life. Unfortunately, a few posts die before they mature. But most develop, ‘grow,’ become ‘adults,’ participate in their ‘families’ and communities, enjoying their ‘citizenships’ in a world of other organizations.

It has been a well-established policy of The American Legion at the national level to encourage the preparation of post histories, especially the ‘one-year’ history. Such information on the post’s activities during the year will be of considerable value in the years to come. There are a number of reasons.

• The minutes of your meetings, newsletters of activities, financial reports, and listing of names are a wealth of information for future generations.

• A scrapbook will reveal, often in pictorial form, people and events, helping to answer questions and resolving disagreements.

• Genealogical researchers and school projects will benefit from the biographical and other historical data.

• A collection of one-year histories that demonstrates a post’s activities can be a promotional tool for the enlisting of new members and the retaining of current ones.

• Histories often can be easily modified for placement onto

the post’s website.

Posts (indeed, the Department of Indiana itself ) have not been very active in compiling histories. Yes, many posts publish newsletters and issues of the Department’s Hoosier Legionnaire recount some of the activities of the immediate past. But much more happens at a local level that goes unreported. Hence the need for a historian to note current activities so that they become valuable documents as time goes on for future generations.

As Department Historian, I hope that I can be of assistance to those Legionnaires who take up pen (or keyboard) and record the living history of their posts. For the 2013-2014 Legion year, posts are encouraged to submit a yearbook (also known as a scrapbook) or a narrative history so that these can then be judged at the end of the year at the Department Convention in July. The post history judged to be the ‘best’ also will be submitted to National Headquarters for judging in the National Historian’s History Contest in

October 2014.

The rules for the national contest can be found in the 2013 edition of the Post Officer’s Guide and Manual of Ceremonies, pages 143 to 152.

That publication can also be found online at www.legion. org/publicatons. Start now to create a remembrance of your post. Continue to collect data and photographs during the year. Enlist other members to help as ‘reporters’; ask that SAL member with the fancy new camera to be a photographer; an Auxiliary member may be especially good with design.

But don’t neglect starting sooner, rather than later.

In future columns, I hope to provide suggestions and background information about the contest. If you have a specific question or comment, I can be reached by email (jhovish@ indlegion.org) or by phone (317 294-2682).

Don’t let what happens in your post be lost to future generations. HL★

members: • Have their fingerprints taken at any domestic USCIS Application Support Center (ASC) without an appointment even if their application is not yet pending with USCIS. • Have their fingerprints taken at select military installations in the United States by USCIS personnel using mobile fingerprinting equipment.

• If USCIS fingerprinted the service member in the past for immigration purposes and USCIS is able to use these fingerprints, USCIS will re-submit

these fingerprints to the FBI. • Authorize USCIS to acquire and use the fingerprints taken at the time of enlistment by completing and submitting the Fingerprint Authorization.

• Have their fingerprints taken at U.S.military installations overseas or at U.S. Embassies and Consulates using the FD-258 fingerprint card.

Posthumous Benefits Section 329A of the Immigration and Nationality Act provides for posthumous citizenship to certain members of the U.S. armed forces. A mem-

ber of the U.S. armed forces who served honorably during a designated period of hostilities and dies as a result of injury or disease incurred in, or aggravated by that service (including death in combat) may receive posthumous citizenship.

• The service member’s next of kin, the Secretary of Defense, or the Secretary’s designee in USCIS must submit the application for posthumous citizenship within two years of the service member’s death by filing an Application for Posthumous Citizenship, (USCIS

Form N-644).

• Posthumous citizenship establishes that the deceased veteran is considered a citizen of the United Statesas of the date of his or her death.

• A surviving spouse (even if he or she remarries), child, or parent of a member of the U.S. citizen member of the armed forces, (including a service member granted posthumous citizenship), is eligible to apply for naturalization benefits under section 319(d) of the

Joe Hovish Department Historian

Continued on page 20

hoosier legionnaire | august/september 2013 | 19

Legion News

Citizenship Continued from page 19 INA if the family member meets naturalization requirements other than residence and physical presence.

• For other immigration purposes, a surviving spouse (unless he or she remarries), child, or parent of a member of the U.S. armed forces who served honorably on active duty and died as a result of combat, and was a citizen at the time of death (including a posthumous grant of citizenship) is considered an immediate relative for two years after the service members dies and may file a petition for classification as an immediate relative during such period. A surviving parent may file a petition even if the deceased service member had not reached age 21.

For military veterans, the packet need to be initiated while they are serving for them to qualify for the expedited process with the USCIS. Once they are out of the military, they may still apply through the standard citizenship process.

Now, hoe did you do on the test? Check your answers below: 1) The Bill of Rights – The first 10 Amendments to the Constitution include the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to keep and bear arms, protection against search and seizure and speedy trial by a jury.

2) Congress 3) Abraham Lincon 4) There are nine seats on the U.S. Supreme Court. There may be vacancies when justices die or retire.

5) Three: Executive – Judicial – Legislative 6) The North or Union forces.

7) Gouvernour Morris, a member of the Committee on Style, is generally credited with writing the Constitution. Delegates from 12 of the original 13 states accepted his version. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. (New York was the only state not to vote in affirmative on the Constitution only due to the delegates being called Continued on page 21 20 | august/september 2013 | hoosier legionnaire

LEGION NEWS

Citizenship

The Indiana American Legion presents annual grand prize

Continued from page 20 away from the convention. Their fill-in representative, Alexander Hamilton (future first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury) was not empowered to sign but voted his assent.

8) Connecticut; Delaware; Georgia; Maryland; Massachusetts; New Hampsire; New Jersey; New York; North Carolina; Pennsylvania; Rhode Island; South Carolina and Virginia.

HL★

9) New Hampshire, the ninth state to ratify the Constitution, approved it June 21, 1788. The Constitution took affect the following March 1789 by which time 12 of the original 13 states had ratified the document. Rhode Island, the last state to ratify the Constitution did so in May 1790.

References: Path to US. Citizenship http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem. eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=86bd6 811264a3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD&vgnextchan nel=86bd6811264a3210VgnVCM100000b92ca60aRCRD Naturalization Process for The Military http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af 9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=858921e54 dc3f110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD&vgnextchannel= 8a2f6d26d17df110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD HL★ Indianapolis – Lucinda “Cindy” McClellen, (center left) of Danville, IN and a Brownsburg Legion Post #331 member was presented a $3,000 check from Indiana Department of The American Legion’s Commander Ed Trice (center right) Monday, 19 August 2013 on the steps of the Danville Chamber of Commerce Building.

“I’ve never won anything like this in the past and I never would have expected to win something like this,” said McClellen as she was being presented the check. “When the word came that there was a raffle for Legion Members to enter, I knew that the raffle was going to be used for good things because that’s what Legionnaires do. That is to helping others in their community so I went out and purchased a ticket.”

enrollment as members the rate sheets for newspaper, spending enough to make the believe that those who come COMMANDER’S Their will lift the Department back radio and television advertis- impression, and being prepared after me will see these seeds, to levels not seen for 10 to 20 ing. A few thousand dollars will to service the parties who act on sown years before them, bear MESSAGE years, positively affect our leg- buy a page of advertising that the message. fruit one day.

Continued from page 2 – with only one small exception in a corner of the state.

Even if all this were not so, the numbers tell the story. We have identified a very wide market area that contains the vast majority of eligible veterans.

islative efforts, expose veterans to Legionnaires, and ultimately make your recruitment job easier, even where there are but a few eligibles.

More importantly, the suggestion that any funds donated to this statewide effort would be better spent on local advertising, I need only refer you to

in 24 hours will be on the bottom of a bird cage. It might buy a handful of radio ads, when research has demonstrated no fewer than 14 airings are necessary to make an impression. It certainly won’t buy a TV ad. The effectiveness of advertising depends on identifying the media that serves the target audience,

That can only be accomplished by advertising and marketing on the scale I propose.

Do I think this is the answer to our membership problem?

No. I think it is part of the answer, and I think it is the beginning. Do I think I will see the benefits during my year in office? Not really. But I do

One thing is sure. If we do nothing, the light of The American Legion will gradually flicker and grow dim, until there is nothing left to illuminate. I don’t want to be in the generation that finally shutters the windows and locks the doors.

Do you? ★ HL

hoosier legionnaire | august/september 2013 | 21

Legion Knowledge

The American Legion Preamble

F

“

or God and Country, we associate ourselves together for the following purposes: To uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America; to maintain law and order; to foster and perpetuate a 100percent Americanism; to preserve the memories and incidents of our associations in the great wars; to inculcate a sense of individual obligation to the community, state and nation; to combat the autocracy of both the classes and the masses; to make right the master of might; to promote peace and good will on earth; to safeguard and transmit to posterity the principles of justice, freedom and democracy; to consecrate and sanctify our comradeship by our devotion to mutual helpfulness.”

Each of the 10 clauses of the Preamble, though brief, has a world of meaning.

FOR GOD AND COUNTRY, WE ASSOCIATE OURSELVES TOGETHER...This is the introduction. It declares that The American Legion recognizes the influence of Almighty God in all worthwhile endeavorsand declares the allegiance of Legionnaires to both God and Nation. First things have been put first. All that follows is in conformity.

TO UPHOLD AND DEFEND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA...The Constitution of the United States is the written bulwark of our free way of life and representative government.

It is our guarantee of liberty, freedom, justice and democ-

racy. Members of The American Legion bore arms-went to wars-to defend and uphold this document of freedom.

TO MAINTAIN LAW AND ORDER...Without law and order, liberty would become license. Law and order protect our pursuit of happiness, one of our God-given rights. Members of The American Legion served in wars to uphold law and order among nations. It is just as important to maintain the due processes of law in our domestic affairs. It binds Legionnaires to obey the laws of the land and to support the constituted authorities in enforcing those laws. It means the citizen must never take the law into his own hands!

TO FOSTER AND PERPETUATE A 100 PERCENT AMERICANISM...Americanism is the gist of the American ideals of freedom, justice, individual rights and unfenced-in opportunities. It embraces all the freedoms we cherish and all the rights that are guaranteed to us.

It is the very opposite of hatred, bigotry and intolerance. Americanism is the creed that has blazed the worldwide trail for justice, fair play, decency, belief in God, private enterprise, universal education, and progress in all human endeavors. It puts a premium on the virtues of loyalty, patriotism, hard work and thrift.

TO PRESERVE THE MEMORIES AND INCIDENTS OF OUR ASSOCIATIONS IN THE GREAT WARS...Service in defense of America is the greatest experience in the lifetimes of all veterans. Recalling the high-

22 | august/september 2013 | hoosier legionnaire

Past Indiana Department Commander (`72-`73) Robert “Bill” Sweet passed away 25 July 2013 at his daughter’s home in Texas. Sweet was a longtime member of Shelburn IN Legion Post #197. His theme during his year in command was “Growth Through Action.” He was interred at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in Texas The family is asking that in lieu of flowers that donations be made to the Fisher Houses of Fort Sam Houston or the Warrior Family Support Center of Fort Sam Houston.

The family feels that these places do a great job of taking care of the families of service members undergoing treatment at Brooke Army Medical Center.

lights of that service means more than flashbacks to tense moments of excitement and danger in battle, the grime of muddy trenches, the perils of sub-infested oceans, the combats in the wild blue yonder.

It means also the un-erasable recollection of the comradeship, the bravery of pals, the teamwork, the sacrifices, the miseries and hardships of military campaigns shared in common. It means the bond that binds all ex-servicemen and

Past Indiana Department Commander (`05-`06) Ronald “Ronnie” Dale Martin passed away at his home on 9 July, 2013. Martin was a longtime member of Demotte IN Legion Post #440. He was interred with military honors at the Oakland Cemetery on 14 July in Oakland IN. The family has requested that any memorials be provided to either the American Legion Post #146 Pavilion Project or the Jasper County Hospital Home Health Care and Hospice.

women together in mutual affection, respect and gratitude.

It also means keeping green forever the memories of the supreme sacrifices of gallant American patriots, sacrifices necessary to the winnings of wars. It means faithful annual observance of Memorial Day and Veterans Day. TO INCULCATE A SENSE OF INDIVIDUAL OBLIGATION TO THE COMMUNITY, STATE AND NATION...Always interested in building a better

nation, the founders of The American Legion believed that such building must start first with the individual in his own community. So they made it one of the cardinal principles of The American Legion to inculcate that sense of personal obligation to the community, state and nation into the individual citizen. That means educating the citizen-young, old and future-in his and her Continued on page 23

Legion Knowledge

PREAMBLE Continued from page 22 responsibility to be active in making the hometown a better place in which to live, in discharging the duty of voting in elections, in paying taxes promptly, in contributing to community chest funds and to blood banks. The word “inculcate” means “to impress by frequent admonitions” and “to enforce by frequent repetitions.” Like the duties themselves, the reminders that they remain to be carried forward, are never finished.

TO COMBAT THE AUTOCRACY OF CLASSES AND MASSES...This clause places the Legionnaire on the side of right in opposing autocracy by either class or mass when this threatens. In a democracy such as ours, composed as it is of all nationalities, races, creeds and economic groups, there are bound to both classes and masses. Indeed, the masses are composed of classes-but all groups within the mass must feel assured that in this nation, reason and fairness will prevail in all human activities and relations. There must be no hyphenated Americans-just Americans all.

TO MAKE RIGHT THE MASTER OF MIGHT...All wars from the veterans of which The American Legion draws its membership were started by dictators who wanted their might to be the right. If human freedom is not to perish from the earth, right must always be master of might. The rights of small nations must be protected against the tyranny that powerful neighbors may seek to impose on them-just as the rights of minorities in our society must be protected and respected. Our belief in en-

throning right over might is the main essence of our ideological conflict with Communism today. Legionnaires are pledged by this clause always to stand with the right, protect the weak and preserve the liberties of the individual. This concept is the basis of The American Legion’s continued advocacy of a strong national preparedness so as to achieve the ideal situation that right will be backed by adequate might.

TO PROMOTE PEACE AND GOOD WILL ON EARTH...Until all the world becomes a good neighborhood, Legionnaires must continue the effort to promote peace and good will on earth. It is in pursuance of this founding ideal that The American Legion has supported from the beginning and seek to strengthen the United Nations organization. Obliquely, The American Legion also contributes to this ideal by firmly supporting a strong national defense to discourage breaking of the peace by aggressor.

TO S A F E GUA R D A N D TRANSMIT TO POSTERITY THE PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE, FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY...On this ideal of safeguarding and transmitting to posterity the principles of justice, freedom and democracy, all of the youth-training programs of The American Legion are built.

All Americans can be proud that in our international relations we have tried to live by the golden rule, the mark of justice.

We have granted to others, as we prize it ourselves, the great boon of freedom. Through the Monroe Doctrine, we call a halt to foreign imperialism in the Western Hemisphere. We gave freedom to the Philippines.

These principles are part of the American heritage. Legionnaires are pledged to protect and preserve that heritage.

TO CONSECRATE AND SANCTIFY OUR COMRADESHIP BY OUR DEVOTION TO MUTUAL HELPFULNESS...

The last or 10th clause of our Preamble is the most important ideal expressed in our Preamble.

It marked a new concept in America-a concept that made The American Legion the greatest force for social betterment in all the history of the United States. Let us be factual and examine this.

At the close of World War I, America was just emerging from its lusty era of rugged individualism. It was an era when the individual hammered out his own destiny and progress with little or no help from the government. An honest facing of the facts brings out that American society was then a cold society insofar as any organized public hands of helpfulness were concerned. The individual who fell upon evil times was left to private charity which meant mostly the churches and the Salvation Army. There were no public resources or services to help the unfortunates.

When the veterans of World War I came marching home, they found the nation utterly unprepared to care for the combat casualties of the war. The wounded, the shell-shocked and the sick were lodged in poor houses, jails, asylums or what-have-you.

Veterans of World War I were much more closely knit than those of World War II. They trained in the same camps, fought on the one great front.

Those who came home unscarred were appalled by the plight of their less fortunate comrades. They felt a concern for them and their dependents which was a new and dramatic

action aspect to what the country had known as friendship.

This concern formed the bond among the charter members of The American Legion and gave them a great and noble cause to fight for-the adequate care and protection of their disabled comrades and dependents, the war widows and orphans.

They faced a monumental task. Laws had to be drafted and enacted by the Congress to provide compensation for the war-handicapped, to build hospitals and to get protection for the widows and orphans upon whom the war had laid its heaviest and cruelest hand.

The American Legion wrote such laws, had them introduced in the Congress, went out over the land to arouse the conscience of the people of America and mobilize support for its legislative aims. It did both with a sacrificial fervor that overcame all obstacles.

The Congress enacted the laws, it provided the administrative machinery, it appropriated the funds, it built hospitals. Then to bring about a single responsibility for the carrying out of all veteran laws and to achieve a unification of these government services, The American Legion put through Congress the legislation to create the Veterans Bureau which has become the Veterans Affairs of today. Over the years, a great network of government hospitals was built and a great structure of veteran legislation enacted which made the American veterans the best cared for on earth. The rehabilitation program of The American Legion for the World War I veteran brought about in its successful development a great awakening of social responsibility in America.

When the New Deal Program

was being developed, the government planners took a look at what The American Legion, through its vast rehabilitation program, had done for the veteran of World War I and they decided to do the same thing for all American people.

So out of the rehabilitation brain child of The American Legion, there came the Social Security System with its retirement benefits and old age assistance programs for all the people. The planners took a look at The American Legion program of temporary emergency aid to needy children of veterans and there was bornwith the support of Legionnaires-the state and federal program of aid to dependent children-all children.

This is how we can hail The American Legion today as an unparalleled force in these United States for social betterment. American Legion concepts and its ideal of devotion to mutual helpfulness warmed up the whole social climate of America. Today, America is extending its helpful hands all over the world through our assistance programs of foreign aid.

It all came about because the veterans of World War I came home enriched with wonderful ties of friendship and gave those ties a meaning by consecrating them to the ideal of mutual helpfulness.

The American Legion Preamble has been the beacon light of The American Legion for more than 90 years. It has been amended only once in all that time. That amendment consisted of adding the letter “S” to the word “war.” It makes the Preamble read today “Great Wars,” so as to embrace all wars. HL★

hoosier legionnaire | august/september 2013 | 23

The Hoosier Legionnaire • August/September 2013