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Meetings are held the second Wednesday of the month starting at 7:00 pm.
Not sure if you are eligible for the Veterans of Foreign Wars?
Contact or stop in to find out if you are.

Commander:  Sarkis Aghababian

Senior Vice Commander: Ken Leach

Junior Vice Commander: Carl Schauer

Quartermaster:   William “Butch” Ogden

Adjutant:  William Ogden

Post Service Officer: Robert McCallum

Chaplain:

Service Officer: Trustees

The Hamburg VFW Post 1224 holds a fish fry
Every Friday night from 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm and is open to the public.
We offer a full affordable menu (including kids menu),
a cash bar and live entertainment.
For large parties please call or visit the post at (810) 231-1224 to reserve tables or for more information.

The Hamburg VFW Post 1224 offers bingo
Every Thursday (except holidays) and is open to the public.
Doors open at 3:00 pm with sales starting at 4:00 pm.
Games start promptly at 6:30 with the sessions concluding at 10:00 pm.
Does playing bingo work up your appetite?
Don’t worry our kitchen staff is waiting to serve up a weekly special for you,
if that doesn’t satisfy the taste buds, we off many menu items.

Players must be 18 years old or older to play and must be able to show proof of age.
For more information call or visit the post at (810) 231-1224.

Having a party?
The Hamburg VFW Post 1224 does hall rentals.
We offer catering and bar services.
For more rental information call or visit the post at (810) 231-1224.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs,
there are currently 25 million living individuals who have served in the United States' armed forces.

The VA General Counsel has notified us that an organization called "Veterans
Affairs Services" appears to be holding itself out as a recognized service
organization; it is not a recognized service organization. This
organization may be assisting veterans and others to file claims and, in the
process, obtain personal information. The GC has asked us to ask you to
report any contact you may have had with "Veterans Affairs Service".

If you have any examples of "Veterans Affairs Service" helping veterans or
other claimants file claims with VA please call Fred Burns, Assistant
Director, at (202) 608-8367. Please be prepared to provide at least the
name and telephone number of the veteran when you call Mr. Burns.

VAS may be gaining access to military personnel through their close
resemblance to the VA name and seal. Our Legal Counsel has requested that
we coordinate with DoD to inform military installations, particularly
mobilization sites, of this group and their lack of affiliation or
endorsement by VA to provide any services.

In addition, GC requests that if you have any examples of VAS acts that
violate chapter 59 of Title 38 United States Code, such as VAS employees
assisting veterans in the preparation and presentation of claims for
benefits, please pass any additional information to...

Jerry Manar
Deputy Director
National Veterans Service

WE ARE THE FEWER, THE PROUDER...THE WOMEN MARINES! SEMPER FIDELIS!

The National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) has provided the following website for veterans to gain access to their DD-214s online: http://vetrecs.archives.gov/ This may be particularly helpful when a veteran needs a copy of his DD-214 for employment purposes. NPRC is working to make it easier for veterans with computers and Internet access to obtain copies of documents from their military files. Military veterans and the next of kin of deceased former military members may now use a new online military personnel records system to request documents. Other individuals with a need for documents must still complete the Standard Form 180, which can be downloaded from the online web site. Because the requester will be asked to supply all information essential for NPRC to process the request, delays than normally occur when NPRC has to ask veterans for additional information will be minimized. The new web-based application was designed to provide better service on these requests by eliminating the records center's mailroom processing time.

Legal Help For Vets

Have you experienced negligence, malpractice or failure to make
a proper diagnosis by a veteran's or military hospital?
click here: http://www.vet4vet.net/

Military.com is committed to telling the history of our men and women in uniform by preserving their own stories and photos. Your service to our country made history -- share it with current and future generations. Send your letters, stories and images using our handy online submission tool....
http://www.military.com/Content_Input/1,14686,,00.html?ESRC=army.nl

VA's Online RX Refill Service the Right Prescription for Vets Secretary Nicholson: Service is "Fast, Easy and Secure" WASHINGTON (Nov. 23, 2005) - Tens of thousands of veterans are now receiving their prescription drug refills from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with greater convenience, speed and security, thanks to a new service available to veterans over the Internet.

More than 70,000 prescriptions have been refilled using the latest service added to VA's "MyHealtheVet," the personal online health record system designed for veterans in the VA health care system. The prescription refill service began on Aug. 31.

By last month, more than 100,000 veterans had signed up to use MyHealtheVet, which is located on VA's Web site at www.myhealth.va.gov <http://www.myhealth.va.gov/> .

In This Issue:
1. House Budget Committee Actions
2. Military Funeral Legislation Introduced
3. Veterans’ Champion Evans to Retire
4. Hearing Held on Cemetery Funding

1. House Budget Committee Actions
The House Budget Committee rejected the administration’s plan to charge Category 7 and 8 veterans a $250 enrollment fee and to raise prescription co-payments from $8 to $15, but the committee left alive a proposal to increase healthcare premiums for some military retirees under age 65.

On a 22-15 party-line vote, the committee rejected an amendment by Rep. Chet Edwards, D-TX, which would have blocked Pentagon plans to double and triple Tricare premiums for working-age military retirees. There is still time to join the VFW’s fight against the Tricare increases by sending a message to your Congressional representative today.

The bill now moves to the floor of the House. The budget resolution is just a blueprint for spending in the fiscal year. The Appropriations Committees have the final say of how the money is actually spent.

2. Military Funeral Legislation Introduced
VFW-supported Legislation that would severely restrict protests during
Military funerals at national cemeteries was introduced last week by Representative Mike Rogers (R-MI).

HR 5037, The Respect for America’s Fallen Heroes Act would ban all
demonstrations one hour before, during, and after a military funeral at a national cemetery. It would impose a 500-foot separation restriction, and would allow for fines and/or jail time for violations. It also encourages the states to enact similar bans for public and private cemeteries, as well for funeral home services.

We ask all VFW members and veterans’ advocates to contact their legislators and urge them to sign on as a co-sponsor of HR 5037 and to fully support its enactment into law.

3. Veterans’ Champion Evans to Retire
Senior Democrat on the House Veterans Affairs’ Committee, Lane Evans (D-IL) announced his retirement last week due to health reasons. Evans suffers from Parkinson’s disease but plans to finish out the rest of his current term in the 109th Congress.

VFW Commander-in-Chief James R. Mueller lauded the Congressman for his many tireless years as a strong advocate for veterans. “For 24 years in Washington, Congressman Evans never failed to put the best interests of veterans and those who continue to serve ahead of partisan politics,” said Mueller.

Evans is also credited with being at the forefront of Agent Orange compensation, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Gulf War syndrome research, and the nation’s commitment to account for the 88,000 Americans who remain missing in action.

4. Hearing Held on Cemetery Funding
House Veterans Affairs’ Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs held a hearing on operational issues and FY 2007 funding for Arlington National Cemetery and the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC).

Arlington National Cemetery is operated by the Department of the Army and ABMC is an independent agency of the executive branch that operates and maintains American military cemeteries overseas, as well as numerous federal monuments, memorials, and markers. The Veterans’ Affairs Committee has oversight responsibility for both.

The hearing was the second part of the subcommittees’ oversight on Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration and State Cemetery programs.

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. Navy seaman missing in action from the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor have been identified and will soon be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

He is Seaman 2nd Class Warren P. Hickok of Kalamazoo, Mich. The family has not set a date for his burial.

Hickok was assigned to the Light Mine Layer the USS Sicard when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Many crewmembers from the USS Sicard, including Hickok, were dispatched to assist the crew of the USS Cummings, a destroyer docked nearby. The Cummings succeeded in getting underway and clearing Pearl Harbor with no casualties reported. However, an investigation into those still unaccounted-for after the attack surmised that Hickok may have been a casualty aboard the battleship, the USS Pennsylvania, since some crewmen from the USS Sicard had been dispatched to the USS Pennsylvania during the attack. But records indicate that Hickok was not lost aboard that ship.

In the days following the attack, burial details interred many of the unknown dead in Nuuanu Cemetery on Oahu. Among those buried were an unknown sailor identified only as X-2. Following the war, the Army Graves Registration Service oversaw the disinterment of unknown remains, including the X-2 remains. They could not be identified and were reburied in Section E, Grave 73 at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, on June 9, 1949.

In 2004, an avocational historian contacted the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) in Hawaii and suggested that the remains in Grave 731 may be those of Hickok. Based on available records, JPAC exhumed the grave in June 2005. Forensic anthropologists at JPAC were able to match those remains, including dental remains, with detailed information found in Hickok's World War II medical and dental records.

Of the 88,000 unaccounted-for Americans from all conflicts, 78,000 are from World War II. For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.

TRICARE Fee Increase
Tom Philpott | December 08, 2005

Defense Department officials have drafted plans to raise TRICARE enrollment fees and deductibles sharply over the next three years for military retirees under age 65 and their families, about three million beneficiaries.

If the changes touted by senior Defense officials are adopted, annual enrollment fees for TRICARE Prime, the military’s managed care option, would triple by October 2008 for working-age retired officers and double for enlisted retirees.

Yearly deductibles for retirees using TRICARE Standard, the fee-for-service health insurance option, would double for officers and rise by a third for enlisted. Also, for the first time retirees who use TRICARE Standard would pay an enrollment fee in addition to their deductible.

Pharmacy co-payments also would be raised but for all retirees and their families, regardless of age, if they use the retail drug network or the TRICARE mail order program to buy brand name drugs on the military formulary.

The aim of these initiatives is to slow the projected rise in military healthcare costs by as much as $12 billion over five years and $32 billion through fiscal 2015. This would occur, proponents argue, by having working-age retirees pay a greater share of TRICARE costs and by encouraging others to switch to their employer-provided health insurance.

One assumption being used to estimate cost savings is that for every 10 percent increase in out-of-pocket costs, the number of beneficiaries using TRICARE Prime or Standard will fall by one percent. If accurate, 600,000 beneficiaries would drop out of TRICARE plans by 2015.

Defense officials have expressed alarm over a recent migration of retirees into TRICARE and away from employer-provided health insurance. Dr. William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, has said that some civilian employers are offering their retired military workers cash incentives to use TRICARE instead of company insurance.

Bryan Whitman, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Public Affairs, said defense healthcare spending, if left unchecked, could reach $64 billion by 2015, or 12 percent of total defense spending, endangering a prized benefit. In fiscal 1995, he said, healthcare was only five percent of the defense budget.

TRICARE Prime enrollment fees of $230 a year for individual coverage and $460 for family coverage, and the TRICARE Standard deductible of $150 (single) and $300 (family) haven’t been raised since they were set more than a decade ago. Whitman said this contributes to growth in department costs.

Budget documents contend the TRICARE fee structure in only one-third as costly to users as equivalent civilian plans. Defense officials not only want fees and deductibles raised for retirees and their families, in three hefty annual increments, but also want fees after that indexed to inflation so they climb in lockstep each year with growth in medical costs nationwide.

Some of the planned TRICARE increases won’t require a change in law, only in regulation, although department plans for fees are sure to be the subject of congressional hearings in 2006. Lawmakers could step in to block or amend the plan if the planned increases seem unreasonable.

Draft budget papers predict a “pushback” from retiree organizations. The first shot was fired Dec. 8 when the Military Coalition, a consortium of 36 service associations and veterans’ groups, sent a letter to members of the House and Senate armed service committees urging that they oppose department plans to shift a larger share of medical costs to retirees.

Congress gave military retirees better health benefits as an “offset to the unique demands and sacrifices inherent in a military career,” the coalition said. Requiring them to pay more for health care, the letter argues, “is not a prudent course of action, especially when the nation is at war.”

The “benefit adjustment” scenario being discussed, both in the fiscal 2007 budget formulation process and resource-sharing debate for the Quadrennial Defense Review, calls for all under-65 retirees to pay more to use TRICARE Prime, Standard and Extra, the preferred provider network option, but retired officers also would pay more than enlisted retirees.

Prime enrollment fees (now $230/$460) would be raised for retired officers to $400/$800 (individual/family) next October, to $600/$1200 a year later and to $750/$1500 by October 2008, the start of fiscal 2009. Enlisted retirees under 65 would see Prime enrollment fees climb to $300/$600 next October, to $375/$750 a year later and to $450/$900 in October 2008.

First-ever enrollment fees for TRICARE Standard would start for officers at $150/$300 (individual/family) and rise to $225/$450 by October 2007 and to $300/$600 in 2008. Enlisted retirees would pay $100/$200 next October, rising to $150/$300 the next year and to $200/$400 in 2008.

Annual deductibles under TRICARE Standard and Extra, now $150/$300, would climb for retired officers to $200/$400 next fall, to $250/$500 in October 2007 and to $300/$600 in 2008. Enlisted retirees would see their Standard deductible rise to $175/$350 next October, remain there for two years and rise to $200/400 in October 2008.

Co-payments under the TRICARE pharmacy program would be reshaped to discourage purchase of maintenance medicines in the more expensive retail network. The $3 co-payment for generic drugs will rise to $5 in the retail network but would be free if order by mail. The current $9 co-pay for brand drugs would rise to $15 in retail network and $10 by mail.

For a detailed chart showing the proposed TRICARE Fee changes visit www.military.com/TRICARE_Chart.

To comment, write Military Update, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA, 20120-1111, e-mail milupdate@aol.com or visit www.militaryupdate.com

DoD Announces Implementation of Traumatic Injury Protection

The Department of Defense announced today the implementation of traumatic injury protection insurance under the Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) program as enacted by section 1032 of Public Law 109-13.

The program, which will be known as TSGLI, is designed to provide financial assistance to service members during their recovery period from a serious traumatic injury.

On Dec. 1, all members eligible for SGLI will become insured for traumatic injury protection of up to $100,000 unless they decline SGLI coverage. A flat monthly premium of $1. 00 will be added to the monthly SGLI deduction, regardless of the amount of SGLI coverage that the member has elected effective Dec. 1.

TSGLI is not disability compensation and has no effect on entitlement for compensation and pension benefits provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs or disability benefits provided by the Department of Defense. It is an insurance product similar to commercial dismemberment policies.

TSGLI provides money for a loss due to a specific traumatic event while disability compensation is intended to provide ongoing financial support to make up for the loss in income-earning potential due to service-connected injuries.

The retroactive provision of PL 109-13 provides that any service member, who suffers a qualifying loss between Oct. 7, 2001, and Dec. 1, 2005, will receive a benefit under the TSGLI program if the loss was a direct result of injuries incurred in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Department of Defense developed this program in close coordination with the Department of Veteran's Affairs. The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness will closely monitor implementation with the services and make necessary adjustments if required.

For more information, service members should contact their individual service. Points of contact for service members are: Jeanette Mendy at (800) 237-1336 for Army; Thomas Perry at (210) 565-3310 or 2410 for Air Force; MCPO Ralph Gallaugher at (800) 368-3202 or ralph. gallaugher@navy. mil for Navy; Lt. Col. Will Goldschmidt at (703) 432-9277 for Marine Corps; Lt. Terrence Walsh at (202) 267-1648 for Coast Guard; and Lt. Cdr. Tiffany Edmonds at (301) 594-2963 for the U. S. Public Health Service.

The budget for veterans’ health care for fiscal year 2006 has not yet been resolved. Currently several bills have been introduced in Congress that either would call for one-, two-, or five-percent reductions in all federal agency budgets, to pay the costs of the restoration of the Gulf Coast from recent hurricanes. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), a two percent cut would be more than a $600 million reduction in VA health care funding and an estimated 97,257 veterans would be denied VA health care. A five-percent reduction would mean 243,143 veterans would need to leave VA health care.

We ask that you please consider sending the attached prepared e-mail to your Members of Congress, urging them to oppose any effort to reduce the VA health care budget, whether paying for hurricane damage or for any other reason. You can click here to be directed to the Action Alert:

Subject: Disabled Veterans (in six states) May Get More Pay

Disabled veterans in six states could get larger payments from the federal government, and back compensation as well, under a provision that Congress approved recently. The provision would benefit veterans in Michigan , Illinois , Indiana , Connecticut , Ohio , and New Jersey who, for decades, have received less in disability payments. Under the measure the federal Veterans Affairs Department must notify veterans in the six states that they may resubmit their disability claims and perhaps receive retroactive payments. More than 4 million veterans are slated to receive letters from the VA alerting them about this provision. The letters are considered to be significant since those receiving them will nearly double the 2.5 million disabled veterans nationwide who currently receive disability. The VA letters will explain how veterans in those states can appeal rejected claims or submit new ones. The provision was included in a military spending bill that passed on November 18 and is headed to the President for his expected signature. The average disability payment in those six states affected is less than $7,300 a year while, nationwide, the average payment last year was $8,378 per veteran.

The National Personnel Records Center is working to make it easier for veterans with computers and Internet access to obtain copies of documents from their military files. Military veterans and the next of kin of deceased former military members may now use a new online military personnel records system to request documents. Other individuals with a need for documents must still complete the Standard Form 180 which can be downloaded from the online we site. The new web-based application was designed to provide better service on these requests by eliminating the records center's mailroom processing time. Also, because the requester will be asked to supply all information essential for NPRC to process the request, delays that normally occur when NPRC has to ask veterans for additional information will be minimized.Veterans and next of kin may access this application at

VA, ABC Radio Networks Partner on Outreach to Veterans

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON , Sept. 30, 2005 – The Department of Veterans Affairs and ABC Radio Networks have partnered on a program to enhance VA's outreach to America 's nearly 25 million veterans, officials announced Sept. 29.

The program will include a public-service campaign, a special global broadcast saluting veterans, and participation in key VA events.

ABC Radio Networks and "American Country Countdown with Bob Kingsley" will air a series of public-service announcements detailing benefits available to veterans.

Also, on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, "Bob Kingsley Salutes America's Veterans" will be broadcast on the ABC Radio Networks. The program will feature interviews with and historical pieces narrated by some of country music's biggest names, including Faith Hill, Toby Keith, Trace Adkins, Brooks and Dunn, and Trisha Yearwood, among many others. It also includes information on veterans benefits, and interview segments with Secretary of Veterans Affairs R. James Nicholson.

"As part of VA's 75th anniversary, we are taking our message to the airwaves," Nicholson said. "Radio plays a key role in our outreach to veterans, and I'm delighted that ABC Radio Networks and Bob Kingsley, our honorary chairmen for this campaign, have joined forces with VA in our efforts to better inform veterans of their entitlements. "

Nicholson also announced that Kingsley will play a key role in the Department's Veterans Day observance.

"ABC Radio Networks is proud to support the Department of Veterans Affairs in its ongoing effort to support the men and women of our armed forces," John McConnell, senior vice president of programming for ABC Radio Networks, said. "We are committed to serving America 's veterans through this program with VA. "

"Having served as a broadcaster in the U. S. Air Force with American Forces Radio, it is my privilege to be working with VA and ABC Radio Networks as part of this program," Kingsley said. "Country music is one of the most effective ways to reach our veterans and servicemen and women. I am honored to be a part of VA's efforts to get the word out to veterans. "

The agreement announced by Nicholson and ABC Radio representatives enables VA to work with private industry, in addition to its other outreach activities, to inform veterans of their entitlements.

(From a Department of Veterans Affairs news release. )

Veterans Doubting Fonda Credibility

Kansas City, MO, Aug. 11, 2005--Shortly after anti-war activist Jane Fonda announced she would begin a spring 2006 anti-war bus tour, VFW members and online guests were asked in an online poll if they believed her comment about veterans encouraging her to break her silence about the war in Iraq.

According to vfw.org's 10-day online poll, not many respondents believed her; out of more than 10,000 voters, her credibility did not climb above 6.6%. And when it came to naming the bus, survey respondents were even more critical with names for her bus tour ranging from Camelcade, Traitor's Trolley, Traitor Janes' Ride of Sham and Hanoi Jane's Rickshaw Roadkill to Hanoi Jane Part II, Tour of Flashbacks and Delusions and Fonda's Baghdad Express.

The results are as follows: The vote tally is 10,400 with 9,714 respondents voting no, they did not believe Fonda when she said numerous veterans were encouraging her to speak out against the war in Iraq . There were 686 votes agreeing with the Fonda statement.

Among VFW members who responded, 7,886 said they didn't believe her while 534 VFW members thought her statement that veterans were encouraging her was true.

This is a personal web site that is not sponsored and/or does not claim to be the official pages of the organizations listed on this site. This is a free site for information purposes only and is to list contacts and events.


WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING

Warning from the DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS For your info. Gordon W Morgan Subject: Service Officer Alert - "Veterans Affairs Services" The VA General Counsel has notified us that an organization called "Veterans Affairs Services" appears to be holding itself out as a recognized service organization; it is not a recognized service organization. This organization may be assisting veterans and others to file claims and, in the process, obtain personal information. The GC has asked us to ask you to report any contact you may have had with "Veterans Affairs Service". If you have any examples of "Veterans Affairs Service" helping veterans or other claimants file claims with VA please call Fred Burns, Assistant Director, at (202) 608-8367. Please be prepared to provide at least the name and telephone number of the veteran when you call Mr. Burns. The General Counsel message is shown below: "An organization called Veterans Affairs Services (VAS) is providing benefit and general information on VA and gathering personal information on veterans. This organization is not affiliated with VA in any way. http://www.vaservices.org/us/index.html