Disabled
American Veterans
Blind
Veterans National Chapter #1
WEB SITE: http://www.davbvnc.com/
Editor: Dennis O’Connell
"IF I CANNOT SPEAK GOOD OF MY
COMRADE,
I WILL NOT SPEAK ILL OF HIM OR
HER."
OFFICERS
OF THE BLIND CHAPTER
Commander
Richard Bugbee
Phone 480 986-0304
Email:
dadbug37@gmail.com
Senior
Vice Commander Joe Wallace
1st Junior Vice Commander Stephen Moffitt
2nd
Junior Vice Commander William Burgess
3rd Vice Commander James Hogan
4th
Junior Vice Commander Junior Farley
Judge
Advocate Dennis O’Connell
Chaplain Rev. Tony Martino
Phone 847 736 2111
email: Deaconmart@wi.rr.com
Phone
904 291-0576
email: pkjax@kaminsky.com
Immediate
Past Commander Dennis O’Connell
If you
know of any member who is sick or deceased please inform one of the officers
whose contact information is listed above.
R I
P
Tom
Goshea, Jr., Brooklyn NY, Alfred Therrien St. Petersberg FL,
REMINDER
Our
chapter is just sending out the newsletter via email or large print. If you
want to recieve it faster via email then notify the
editor through email: bvnc1@verizon.net
If
you want it by large print contact our Adjutant at email: pkjax@kaminsky.com
Which
ever way you want to receive the newsletter PLEASE keep your contact
information current with us. Too many times our members move and don’t notify
the DAV nor us of their change of email or snail mail address.
A
LOOK BACK ON A BVNC1 MEMBER
Wilbert Vandenbos
from Rock Valley, Iowa won the Maas Award back in 2002 from the BVA. Bbelow is the bio that was in the Awards Banquet program at
the convention that year (it was in San Antonio).
ABOUT
THE MAAS AWARD WINNER
Wilbert
Vandenbos is a retired professional mental health
counselor and devoted community servant.
Most
recently, Wilbert helped initiate the Sioux County Mental Health Clinic in Rock
Valley, Iowa, a program that provided mental health services at three area
satellite clinics. He was a co-owner of the clinics, which soon gained
excellent reputations.
Born
and raised in Platte, South Dakota, Wilbert enlisted in the Army in 1952 and
was wounded in combat exactly eight months later with a gunshot wound to the
head. The injury caused surgical enucleation of the
left eye and total blindness in the right eye.
Following
his discharge in December of 1953, Wilbert completed the Hines VA Blind
Rehabilitation Program the following year. He was then instrumental in the
establishment of the South Dakota Industries for the Blind.
Wilbert
pursued a college degree in the late 1960s, receiving a B.A. in 1970 with
combined majors in psychology and sociology. One year later he received an M.A.
in vocational rehabilitation counseling from Mankato State College in
Minnesota. He and his wife, Betty, have been married 46 years. They have three
daughters and seven grandchildren.
Arthur
H. Wilson, National Adjutant
The
year 2011 has encompassed significant changes in the future of disabled
veterans and their families. We have seen ups and downs in the political arena
that point to more struggles with Congress over the next year to keep veterans'
benefits and rights at the top of the nation's list of priorities.
December
2011 also marked the official end of the Iraq War, though for the families and
friends of the 4,484 U.S. casualties and the 32,226 U.S. troops who returned
home wounded, post-war life will never be the same. As President Obama
officially marked the end of the conflict at a ceremony at Andrews Air Force
Base in mid-December, he rightfully thanked some
of
the last returning veterans of that war, noting their courage and patriotism.
However,
even as the President spoke these words, soldiers just returning from Iraq were
receiving orders to Afghanistan in six month's time in order to beef up
coalition forces ahead of the planned 2014 troop withdrawal. Military families
were hardly able to celebrate
their loved ones' long-awaited homecoming before learning of the next
deployment - a cycle all too familiar in recent years.
Our
nation has demanded an incredible amount of stamina and resilience from her
armed forces in the past decade and throughout history. As such the DAV must
stand ready to demand the country repay her service men and women equitably for
their sacrifices. Less than
one
percent of the total U.S. population has served in an active duty status in the
post-9/11 world. This gap between the American public and those who have served
puts our disabled veterans at risk of becoming an afterthought in the political
process as other special interest items flood the agenda in Washington, D.C.
This is to be expected even more so in 2012 as a
result of the congressional "super committee" failing to reach an
agreement on budget cuts prior to their Thanksgiving deadline. The New Year
will mean thousands of lobbyists will be hard at work in the capital to protect
their particular programs in the face of the default cuts
mandated for 2013.
Our
returning veterans and their families deserve to feel secure in knowing they
have an advocate when they return home from this war, and at all other times of
peace and conflict. That advocate is the DAV, and through our continued
vigilance and dedication in the 2012 legislative process we will continue to
stand up together and fight for each other.. .for all
of
America's
disabled veterans.
Funding
Secured for Gulf War Illness Research
Congress approved the
dedication of $10 million to research Gulf War illness. President Obama signed
the spending bill, which commits funding to research on those illness and
ailments specifically suffered by veterans of the Gulf War. They include
chronic headaches and pain, memory and concentration problems, as well as
fatigue and gastrointestinal maladies that
plague many veterans of the conflict. The research will not
be carried out by the Departments of Defense or Veterans Affairs.
Social Security Number
Here
are some interesting things about the Social Security Number:
Since
1936, more than 420 million different Social Security numbers have been issued.
More than 5.5 million new numbers are assigned
every year.
The first three digits of a Social Security
number are known as the area number. Area numbers assigned before 1972 reflect
the state where you applied for your number. Otherwise, they are based upon the
Social Security card application mailing address ZIP Code.
Some people believe the next two digits,
called the group number, helps identify a person‘s race. It doesn‘t.
The two-digit group number was actually created as way to organize Social
Security Administration filing cabinets into subgroups to make them more
manageable.
The last four digits on a Social Security card
are serial numbers that are issued consecutively within a group from 0001 to
9999.
Area numbers are assigned geographically with
the lowest numbers in the northeast and the highest in the northwest. That
practice no longer applies, however,
after a new randomized assignment methodology was announced in July 2007.
Based upon the original assignment criterion, one would naturally expect a
Maine resident to have the lowest Social Security number ever issued. However,
New Hampshire was ultimately given the 001 area number designator so that Social
Security number 001-01-0001 could be assigned to Social Security Board
Chairman John G. Winant, who was a three-time
governor of the state. Winant eventually declined the honor of
having the lowest Social Security number. As a result, it eventually found its
way to Grace D. Owen of Concord, NH.
Officially,
the first Social Security number issued was 055-09-0001, and it was assigned to
John David Sweeney. Sweeney died of a heart attack in 1974 at the age of 61.
Ironically, he never received a single penny of Social Security benefits.
In many cases, invalid Social Security numbers
can be easily spotted. That‘s because prior to June 25, 2011, no cards were
issued with the first three digits off 000, 666, or higher than 772. Valid
cards are also never issued with the middle two digits or the final four digits
all zeros.
In
1938, a sample Social Security card with the number 078-05-1120 was inserted
into new wallets manufactured by the E.H. Ferree company in Lockport, NY. Unfortunately, that number belonged
to Hilda Schrader Whitcher, the secretary of an E.H. Ferree vice president who decided to use her official
number on the sample cards. Not surprisingly, more than 40,000 people have
since claimed Mrs. Whitcher‘s Social Security number
as their own at one time or another. She was eventually issued a new number,
but not before being questioned by the FBI. They wanted to know why so many
people had her number.
If you object to certain digits in your Social
Security number you can appeal for a new one, but only if you can prove your
concerns are firmly rooted in your religious beliefs or cultural traditions.
Social Security numbers are not reused after
the cardholder dies.
Even though numbers aren‘t reused, the Social
Security Administration says the current numbering system is capable of
providing enough new numbers for several generations into the future. That
means Social Security numbers will still be available well past 2030. Even if the benefit money won‘t.
If you do not know your number the only way to
get it from SSA is to submit a new Form 5, and where they ask for the SSN in
Item 11, annotate "Forgotten."
If
you want to try via e-mail, it requires providing the date and place of birth,
name at birth and the parents' names, just like on the Form 5.
EBRC
REUNION 2012
On June 20,
2012 alumni of the EBRC will meet once again from Wednesday evening until
Friday for their reunion. This might be the last one to be held until 2014,
because the consensus was to have an alumni reunion every two years. We will
discuss that plus other things at the meeting Wednesday evening.
We will be
staying at the La Quinta Inn & Suites New Haven
400 Sargent Drive, New Haven, CT 06511 for Wednesday & Thursday evenings. Hotel contact information are Phone 1-203-562-1111 and Fax 1-203-865-7440. A block of rooms has been
reserved for the reunion at a rate of $105.00 + tax for the rooms blocked
together. Rooms may be reserved on an individual bases as a veteran at a cost
of $80.00 plus tax with no guarantee of which floor or where the room is.
After
dinner on Wednesday we will have an alumni meeting. On Thursday our bus will
bring us to the VAMC at West Haven where we have a lunch BBQ. After that we
will be brought back to our hotel to freshen Up for
our schooner ride around Long Island from 4 to 6 PM. Friday morning a trip to
the Veterans Museum in West Haven is being planned.
Cost to
alumni and guests is their transportation from and to home, hotel and meals
(except the BBQ).
The
schooner is limited to 40 people, so first 40 people who reserve will be on
board when we cast off, while the rest will be on a waiting list. Contact one
of the following officers to reserve yourself and a guest.
President Kevin
Whalen
6 Maple Crest Circle Apt D, Holyoke, MA 01040
phone:
413 532 8276. email:
kevintwhalen@verizon.net
Secretary Dennis O'Connell
303
Carnation Avenue, Floral Park, NY 11001.
phone: 516 328-3438. email: navy1vet@verizon.net
Treasurer
Tom Bove
40 Colonial Drive, Farmingdale, NY 11735
phone:
516 293 0695. email: tbovesr@verizon.net
DAV
2012 NATIONAL CONVENTION
August 3 - 7, 2012
Bally’s Las Vegas Hotel and Casino
3645 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Telephone: 1.800.634.3434
$112 Single/Double + tax
Blind Chapter Meeting Schedule
August 3rd 9:00 am & 4:00 pm
August 4th 8:30 am Convention's Opening Session
August 4 - 7 Convention Schedule and BVNC breakfast TBA
GOD BLESS AMERICA!