Blind Veterans
National Chapter #1
"IF I CANNOT SPEAK GOOD OF MY COMRADE,
I WILL NOT SPEAK ILL OF HIM OR HER."
OFFICERS OF
THE BLIND CHAPTER
Commander
Dennis OConnell
Phone 516 328-3438
Email: bvnc1@verizon.net
Senior Vice
Commander Richard Bugbee
1st Junior Vice Commander Joe Wallace
2nd Junior Vice Commander Ralph Barrett
Judge Advocate Dave May
Chaplain Tony Martino
Phone 847 736 2111
email: Deaconmart@wi.rr.com
Phone 904
291-0576
email: pkjax@kaminsky.com
Immediate
Past Commander Eddie Humphrey
If you know
of any member who is sick or deceased please inform one of the officers whose
contact information is listed above.
MESSAGE
FROM THE COMMANDER
Happy 85th
Anniversary to the Blind Veterans National Chapter #1 of the Disabled American
Veterans!
Also, last
December 21 our Past Commander, Eddie Humphrey and his wife Marie, celebrated
their 52nd Wedding Anniversary.
A new year
is starting with our National Convention just a little over 6 months away.
Wouldnt it be nice to increase the number of delegates to the Convention in
Atlanta? To do so we have to increase our membership and that would be up to
all of us to do just that. Just check with other blind veterans you know and
find out if they are SC for anything. If so, tell them about this chapter and
give them an application which can be down loaded from our web site or just ask
Paul Kaminsky to send you some.
January 8th
I will be at the Manhattan VAMC to get a Cochlear Implant in my right ear. It
takes about 4 weeks for the healing process before I get the central Processor
and the long time period of mapping starts. So if you see me and say hello on
my right side Im not ignoring you. It should be a good test at the Mid Winter
meetings with just 4 mapping sessions to see if Im hearing better at meetings.
WELCOME
AVOARD!
William
(Bill) Burgess
186 Beechwood Lane, Palm Coast, FL
32137
Harlan dillon
809 Floyd Avenue, Rome, NY 13440
Joseph
McVeigh
106 Terrace Avenue, Elmont NY 11003
William
(Bill) Stedman
23 Mill Road, Hyde Park NY 12538-2065
Rest in
Peace:
David D.
Bottigoi
Hilltop
Village APT 408, 25900 Euclid Ave, Euclid OH 44132
DAV VAN FOR
TUCSON
Our
application to donate a DAV van to the Tucson Blind Rehabilitation Center was received by the Columbia Trust for that
van was received by them. Now we wait for approval. If the trust approves our
application we should save a considerable amount of money which means there
will be a good chance that during our meetings at the Convention another van
will be donated by us to another blind center.
HUMAN WARE
HAS IT
And now it
has to be approved by the VA.
Intel
launched the Intel Reader, a gadget designed to capture and then read
electronic text aloud for the user.
Designed
for customers with either vision problems or who have problems reading, the
Intel Reader is a portable device that will be priced at $1,499 from a network
of partners. A Portable Capture Station, essentially a mounting stand for the
Reader to facilitate the capture of text, will cost $399.
The Reader
was designed for the 55 million or so Americans that are unable or have
difficulty reading, whether that be from dyslexia, vision problems, or some
other cause.
Intel said
that the idea behind the Reader came from Ben Foss, an Intel researcher who was
identified in elementary school as someone with dyslexia. Foss himself filed
many of the patents that formed the foundation of the Reader, he said.
"When I was growing up, my 'reading technology' was my mom and my
'accommodation specialist' was my dad," Foss said in a blog post. "I,
like most students, was tested on my ability to learn to read, and I failed
miserably.
"It is
important to remember that a central experience of a disability, and especially
a learning disability, is loneliness. It was a lonely feeling to have to leave
class in third grade, and head to a special room to sound out words while the
other kids had reading groups," Foss added. "And adults feel lonely
as they worry that people might find out they do not have any books at home and
that they cannot read the text off a power point slide in a meeting."
The Reader
weighs 1.38 pounds, and measures 6.5 inches by 5.35 inches by 1.3 inches.
Inside is an Intel Atom microprocessor, a 5-Mpixel camera, and a 4-Gbyte
solid-state drive, although only 2-Gbytes is allocated for user data. Although
the Reader ships with a 6-cell battery, the included battery can only capture
and process 85 pages of text; an AC power adapter is also included.
"The
Intel Digital Health Group's expertise is in finding innovative technology
solutions to improve quality of life," said Louis Burns, vice president
and general manager of Intel's Digital Health Group, in a statement. "We
are proud to offer the Intel Reader as a tool for people who have trouble
reading standard print so they can more easily access the information many of
us take for granted every day, such as reading a job offer letter or even the
menu at a restaurant."
The Reader
is another step for Intel into the digital health space; in 2008, the company
launched the Health Guide, a tabletop gadget that Intel marketed to healthcare
organizations as a way for patients to take charge of chronic illnesses, and
reduce the need for in-person care and appointments.
Intel's
partners for the Reader include CTL Corp., Don Johnston, and Howard Technology
Solutions.
VA Blue Water Claims Update 09:
The VA is
currently building their list of Blue Water Navy ships (which include Coast
Guard vessels) that performed duties on inland waterways. The Washington office
at VA Headquarters is spearheading this effort and they have notified all the
Regional Offices that whenever they get information regarding Blue Water Navy
ships that sailed on inland waters and/or BWN ships that docked in Vietnamese
ports or harbors, they are to submit that information to the DC offices for
verification. Information from Deck Logs and other sources will be investigated
for credibility. In filing a claim based on presumptive exposure to herbicides
if your ship was in port or on inland waters, the best thing you can do is
present the Regional Office (RO) along with your claim submission certified
copies of the information you are using to prove this situation. In many cases,
information from a Cruise Book is ideal. Information from your ship's history
from Internet sites is also good. Send a copy of that portion of the Cruise
book, ship's history and/or photos that show river service or docking, along
with a request for the Regional VA Office to obtain the deck logs for that time
period to substantiate your claim. Statements attesting to the fact that what
you are submitting is true to the best of your knowledge should also be sent.
You should have a VSO or the RO itself certify that the copies being submitted
are true copies of the original documents which you need to show, but retain in
your possession. The ROs will submit the certified copies of this information
to the Comp & Pen Division in Washington, and the database of these inland
water services will be created after verification of this information. The
ultimate goal of this will be a database searchable by the Regional Offices
that will validate your claims for presumptive exposure if the ship, for your
specified timeframe, is in the database already from someone else's claim.
Otherwise, your submission will create the first entry into the database. You
will not have to bear the cost of obtaining the Deck Logs under this scenario.
That will be the responsibility of the VA. Include a copy of the 19 OCT 09
letter from Secretary Shinseki to Senator Akaka which mentions the development
of this searchable database of BWN ships serving in Vietnam. To download a copy
of that letter refer to www.bluewaternavy.org/10-19-09-VA-Shinseki-response.pdf . [Source: www.bluewaternavy.org/newspage2.htm Dec 09 ++]
VA Outside Medical Claims:
Occasionally
veterans go to or are transported to non-VA civilian health care facilities for
"emergent" treatment of their particular medical condition. To obtain VA payment for this care certain
procedures must be followed to file a claim for payment for these services. Beginning with dates of service on and after
1 MAR 09 you must submit claims for VA payment consideration for emergency care
not previously authorized to: Department of Veterans Affairs, Financial
Services Center (FSC), Non-VA Emergency Claims, P.O. Box 149364, Austin, TX
78714-9364. All claims with dates of
service before 1 MAR 09 must be mailed to your local VA Medical Center. To
expedite claims processing, be sure that each claim is complete and filed
within 90 days following the episode of care.
Incomplete claims will be returned. Do not forget to include documentation
of any communication with the VA regarding patient treatment or
disposition. A call center at FSC is
available to assist you with payment and claims processing inquiries. You may contact the customer call center at
1(866) 372-1144, M-F 08-1630 (CST) excluding Federal holidays. A claim file is
complete if it has the following documentation:
a. Complete UB-04 or CMS-1500 claim form to
include the National Provider Identification (NPI) number
b. Supporting medical documentation for the
following services is needed for claims adjudication:
Inpatient: Admission sheet,
discharge summary, operation reports, daily progress notes, and doctor orders.
Outpatient: Emergency room
treatment notes (including chief complaint, and examination/evaluation
results), applicable observation notes, any consultation reports, and
diagnostic findings.
Emergency Transportation: Transportation notes indicating location the
episode of emergency care took place and facility and address the patient was
transported to. The transportation
notes should include the chief complaint, examination/evaluation results,
applicable observation notes, and any diagnostic findings
[Source:
California VFW VSO msg. 18 Dec 09 ++]
Military History Anniversaries:
Jan 01 1945 WWII: In Operation
Bodenplatte, German planes attack American forward air bases in Europe. This is
the last major offensive of the Luftwaffe.
Jan 02 1942 - WWII: In the
Philippines, the city of Manila and the U.S. Naval base at Cavite fall to
Japanese forces.
Jan 02 1966 - American forces move
into the Mekong Delta for the first time (Vietnam War)
Jan 03 1920 - WWI: The last of the
U.S. troops depart France.
Jan 04 1951 - Korea: Chinese
communist forces recapture Seoul from United Nations troops
Jan 05 1942 - WWII: U.S. and
Filipino troops complete their withdrawal to a new defensive line along the
base of the Bataan peninsula.
Jan 06 1967 - Vietnam: Operation
Cedar. Over 16,000 U.S. and 14,000 Vietnamese troops start their biggest attack
on the Iron Triangle, northwest of Saigon.
Jan 07 1944 - WWII: The U.S. Air
Force announces the production of the first jet-fighter, Bell P-59 Airacomet.
Jan 07 1975 - Vietnam: Vietnamese
troops take Phuoc Binh in new full-scale offensive.
Jan 08 1815 - War of 1812: Battle
of New Orleans - A rag-tag army under Andrew Jackson defeats the British on the
fields of Chalmette in the Battle of New Orleans.
Jan 08 1863 - Civil War: Second
Battle of Springfield ends with a Confederate withdrawal.
Jan 08 1877 - Crazy Horse and his
warriors fight their last battle with the United States Cavalry at Wolf
Mountain (Montana Territory).
Jan 09 1861 Civil War: The
"Star of the West" incident occurs near Charleston, South Carolina.
It is considered by some historians to be the "First Shots of the
War".
Jan 09 1945 - WWII: U.S. troops
land on Luzon, in the Philippines, 107 miles from Manila.
Jan 10 1847 - Mexican War: General
Stephen Kearny and Commodore Robert Stockton retake Los Angeles in the last
California battle of the war.
Jan 10 1923 - WWI: The United
States withdraws its last troops from Germany.
Jan 11 1863 - Civil War: The Battle
of Fort Hindman Arkansas ends with a Union victory.
Jan 11 1940 - Benjamin O. Davis,
Sr., becomes the U.S. Armys first black general, his son would later become a
general as well.
Jan 11 1967 Vietnam: Operation
Deckhouse Five", a combined USMC and ARVN troop effort in the Mekong River
delta ends in failure.
Jan 12 1991 - Persian Gulf War: The
U.S. Congress gives the green light to military action against Iraq in the Gulf
Crisis.
Jan 12 1846 - Mexican War:
President James Polk dispatches General Zachary Taylor and 4,000 troops to the
Texas Border as war with Mexico looms.
Jan 13 1968 - Vietnam: U.S. reports
shifting most air targets from North Vietnam to Laos.
Jan 14 1911 - The USS Arkansas, the
largest U.S. battleship, is launched from the yards of the New York
Shipbuilding Company.