N O W H E A R T H I S! S P O K A N E C H A P T E R M I L I T A R Y O F F I C E R S A S S O C I A T I O N O F A M E R I C A

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1 N O W H E A R T H I S! S P O K A N E C H A P T E R M I L I T A R Y O F F I C E R S A S S O C I A T I O N O F A M E R I C A President Rufus Hoefer, LTC, U.S. Army (Ret.) rands@comcast.net 1st Vice President Merl Gorton, COL, U.S. Army (Ret.) mdgorton@aol.com 2nd Vice President, Mbrship. Chair & Newsletter Coordinator Clif Collier, LtCol, USAF (Ret.) clifcoll@msn.com Secretary & Treasurer Eddylou Fred Donovan, LtCol, USAF (Ret.) fredonovan@sisna. Auxiliary Liaison, Widows & Wives Beth Ann Daigre bethanndaigre@comcast.net IPP & Social Chair Ralph Shrigley, LTC, U.S. Army (Ret.) rshrigley@earthlink.net Director, Chief Recruiter, Newsletter Editor Marilyn Hunt, CDR, USN (Ret.) cinc@frontier.com Director & Travel Point of Contact Richard H. Oates, LTC, USMC (Ret.) rhoates@roadrunner.com Director & Support the Troops Robert Imle, LtCol, USAF (Ret.) robertmargaretimle@gmail.com Director & Web Page Coordinator Alan Davis, LCDR, USN (Ret.) rota_al@yahoo.com Director, Chaplain, Program Comm. Betty Krafft, LCDR, USN (Ret.) bkrafft@spocom.com Volume XXIII Number 6 5 Star Chapter President s Message By Rufus Hoefer November 2013 Thanks to Ralph Shrigley and his wife Trudy and the Coeur d Alene Resort for the great social last month. If you missed it, our guest speaker was LTC Dave Bingham, Professor of Military Science at Gonzaga University. He did a super job and his lovely wife, Crystal, also graced us with her presence. In another if you missed it category, retirees will be receiving a 1.1% COLA. Don t spend it all at one time! I will be traveling to Colorado Springs for MOAA s 2013 Annual Meeting which will be held there from November. I am going primarily to personally receive our eighth consecutive 5 Star Chapter Award. This is a real honor because it means we ve achieved the highest levels of excellence in Legislative Affairs, ROTC/JROTC support and scholarships, Recruiting and Retention, Community Involvement, Support the Troops, Auxiliary/Wives and Widows Club, and local parade participation. Also, for the fifth consecutive year, our chapter website earned First Place in Legislative Coverage. MOAA national recently provided 254 names of national MOAA members (including Auxiliary) in our area who are not Spokane Chapter members. As a Board, we agreed to offer a special reduced price for any of them who elect to attend our Christmas social. We are hoping to attract a percentage of these folks, so at the 8 December social please introduce yourself and give a warm welcome to anyone who looks unfamiliar. Hopefully, they ll become chapter members. If we maintain our chapter membership at 90% of our 2013 numbers, MOAA will send us $500. So if your name is on page 3, please send a dues renewal check right away. We re the largest chapter in Washington and Idaho and we want to stay that way. Director, Program Committee Barbara Thornbrugh, AUX bjthornbrugh@comcast.net Personal Affairs Chairman Kay White kaywhite4@comcast.net Public Affairs Officer Charlie Rohr, MAJ, ANG (Ret.) Bring Something to the 8 DEC Social for SUPPORT THE TROOPS 2014 Chapter Social Dates 16 Mar Northern Quest Casino 27 Apr Mukogawa Ft. Wright 8 Jun TBD 21 Sep TBD 26 Oct Coeur d Alene Resort 7 Dec Mukogawa Ft. Wright 2014 Wives & Widows Club Meeting Dates 7 Jan Toro Sushi Bar & Grill 4 Feb Davenport Hotel Tower Safari Rm 4 Mar Twigs North 1 Apr Grill from Ipanema 6 May May Tea at the Silver Spoon 3 Jun Dockside Coeur d Alene Resort 1 Jul Ambrosia 5 Aug Beachouse Bar & Grill CdA 2 Sep Christ s Kitchen 7 Oct Luna s Restaurant 4 Nov P.F. Chang s China Bistro 2 Dec Anthony s Restaurant

2 Welcome New Members Now Hear This! Spokane Chapter, MOAA COL Ray Crownhart, USAFR (Ret.) and wife Rudy, Greenacres LCDR Gregg Leibert, USCG (Ret.), Chewelah CAPT Charles Peterson, USN (Ret.), Colbert LTC Gregory Peterson, U.S. Army (Ret.), Spokane Capt Marvelu Peterson, USAF, Colbert Member Recruiters Our Hat Is Off To: Merl Gorton 2 Chapter 2013 MOAA 2013 Marilyn Hunt 2 9 Rufus Hoefer 1 Bob Imle 10 Betty Krafft 3 Dick Oates 1 Ralph Shrigley 2 Candace Smallfoot 2 Barbara Thornbrugh 3 TOTALS CHAPTER SCOREBOARD 2013 JROTC Scholarship Funds on hand: $ Legislative Letters, Postcards & s: 1220 as of 10 Nov 2013 Raffle Donations: MAR $180 JROTC Scholarships. APR $175 Ladies & Gent. of the WA State Cemetery; SEP $146 MOAA Scholarship Fund; OCT $170 Spokane Veterans Home, DEC ROTC/JROTC Unit Support. Total 2013 donations: $671. Support the Troops (STT): FEB: 2 boxes 10M, 5W Djibouti (USMC); 4 boxes 170M, 40W Afghanistan (USMC);2 boxes 15M, 5W Afghanistan (Army), 2 boxes 20M, 6W Afghanistan (USN). MAY-all Afghanistan: 2 boxes 5M (Army); 3 boxes 30M, 5W (USAF); 2 boxes 10M, 5W (USMC); 6 boxes 75M (USMC), 2 boxes 24M (USMC) STT Total: 25 boxes, 242# to 359M, 66W in Djibouti & Afghan. Widows & Wives: $92 & 55 lbs. food to Spokane Food Bank. $121 for 16 pr. wheelchair gloves. Sewing supplies, hygiene/cosmetic items, socks, bird houses, board games, puzzles, Xmas decorations, painting supplies, towels, blankets, kitchen items, & writing/coloring materials to Spokane Veterans Home. $150 to Cowgirls & Women Warriors Group First Prize Winner Best Legislative Coverage for Website Fifth Consecutive Year! Website: 1st Runner UP WIDOWS & WIVES CLUB By Beth Ann Daigre Our Widows and Wives members are a cut above. Elaine Anderson is doing a wonderful job of finding out what folks need at the Spokane Veterans Home and then collecting and delivering those items.thank you, Elaine, for your faithful service! Our busy bee Pat Tolley, who collects items for the Homeless Veterans program, usually leaves our luncheons with a trunk and back seat full of items for the homeless, e.g., coffee mugs, clock radios, kitchen linens, bathroom items, step stools, sofa pillows, curtain rods, curtains, valances, bowls, glasses, plates, colanders, wooden spoons and tongs. Please bring any new or gently used items to the 8 December social. Homeless veterans also need thick white tube socks and thermal gloves. They may have a warm place to sleep at night, but they re out in the cold during the day. Thank you Pat for all you do for all of us! Jan Munson reminds all of you that orders for wreaths for the Washington State Veterans Cemetery at Medical Lake must be received by Wreaths Across America by November 15 th. You can print a form from our website If you order two wreaths using our form, they give us a third one for free. Our Widows &Wives club is buying at least 10 wreaths which will get us 15 altogether. Wreath laying ceremonies at the cemetery will be held at 12:00 noon on Saturday, 14 December. Please contact the Medical Lake staff at (509) if you would like to help place wreaths. The world s longest veterans parade begins on 4 December in Maine and extends to participating locations across America. On Monday 5 December, wreath laying ceremonies will be held at State Houses in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. December 3 rd we Widows and Wives will have lunch at Beverly s (in CdA) where the food is always very good. We put a High Tea on next year s list, so keep your eyes open for that one. Page 2/Nov 2013

3 Now Hear This! IF WE MAINTAIN OUR CHAPTER MEMBERSHIP AT 90% of OUR 2013 NUMBERS, MOAA WILL SEND US $500. This is part of the MOAA 2013 Chapter Membership program. If your name is listed below, we need you to renew your dues soon so we can qualify. You know, ASAP. Yesterday. Before the sun goes over the yardarm. ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL NOTICE Following are members whose chapter dues expire 31 December. We re publishing your names here to reduce the cost of mailing individual notices. You can help by renewing by 10 December. Chapter dues are separate from national. Only MOAA national has Life memberships. Please note there are separate lists below for Regular and Auxiliary members. Please HELP keep our chapter strong by sending your renewal check to: Spokane Chapter MOAA, Attn: Membership, PO Box 466, Veradale WA Regular members - dues $40 for 3 years, or $15 for 1 year: Adams, Wally Fliger, Manley Kavanaugh, John Moss, Stephen Schiemann, Heinz Aguirre, Vincent Fullington, Douglas Kelly, Richard Murphy Jr., Daniel Smallfoot, Candace/Landry Atkins,. Gary Gaynos, Nick Klise, James Neary, Thomas Souza, Mark/Kerry Bennett Charles Gilmore, Paul Kovacich, Vincent O'Leary, Michael Tate, Harlan Brennan, Philip Goldsworthy, Robert Kowzan, John Olson, Isaac Templin, Robert Bublitz, Robert Grangnelli, Joseph Krafft, Betty Olson, Oscar Thie, Dean Carmer, Kenneth Gresham, Cliff Kratt, Jacob Phill, Charles Van Wert, Marc Colliton, Jeffry Griswold, Edson Lacy, Thomas Pruitt, Bill VanDeLeest, Dean Comstock, Larry Haden, Donald Lee, John Purdy, Robert Walker, Robert Cothern, B. R. Hand, Charles Leisle, Jacob Reichert, Debbie/Wm Wallick, Marie Cresswell, Douglas Hargitt, Gerald Looker Jr., Edward Reish, Robert Warn, John Cunningham, Darcy Harris, Marmaduke Lund III, Charles Rekow, George Weinman, Arnold Cvancara, James Hausmann, Louanne Maehl, Michael Renz, Robert White, Frank Daly, Joseph Hedges, Eugene Malzahn, Thomas Reynaud, Albert Williams, Wilho Daniels, Alston Heehn, Richard Mangan, James Ringley, Howard Wilson, William Davis, Chester Hice, Larry McDevitt, James Romanick, Charles Wilson Jr., William Demars, Ted Hire, Claude McMonigle, Dennis Roth, Gregory Winskie, John Duble, Carl Hobbs, Fred Mielbrecht, Robert Sarat, Bart Wood, Orval Eller, Henry Humphreys, Kenneth Minkler, John Shaw, Dennis Zee, Jerry Eminger, Paul Jackson, Daniel Mogensen, Einar/Nan Skarka, Harry Zodrow, John Ferrez, Chris Jakubowski, Walter Morisette, William Sassman, Gregory Auxiliary members - dues $25 for 3 years, or $9 for 1 year: Anderson, Elaine Chandler, Mary Ann Holmberg, Anna Potter, June Trotter, Helen Archibald, Ann Cowley, Sue Joyal, Carla Schuppe, Lavonne Vose, Linda Beaman, Ann Dingle, Margaret King, Rosalie Selberg, Bernice Warden, Virginia Black, Helen Finnegan, Miriam Koch, Jean Starkey, Esther Watts, Jeanne Champion, Metra Hogue, Bettilu McBride, Rusty Thornbrugh, Barbara Williams, Irene NOW HEAR THIS! Is published at least 6 times per year by the Spokane Chapter, Military Officers Association of America, P O Box 466, Veradale WA Editor: Marilyn Hunt cinc@frontier.com Advertising limited to members/spouses only. No subject matter that would preclude non-profit mailing. Page 3/Nov 2013

4 Now Hear This!. Auxiliary Corner By Kathy Prout, MOAA Auxiliary Member Advisory Committee (AMAC) There s a lot to figure out before remarrying after the death of a military spouse. It starts with making wise decisions as to what the financial consequences would be as a result of the new marriage. If you receive the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity, remarrying before age 55 will result in the loss of SBP, TRICARE, your military ID card, military exchange and commissary benefits, and Morale, Welfare, and Readiness (MWR) benefits. If that subsequent marriage ends in divorce or death, you may apply to be reinstated for only exchange privileges. You lose TRICARE permanently. If you remarry after age 57, unless you marry another service member, you would retain SBP but lose your military ID card, exchange privileges, and TRICARE. If your spouse s death was service-connected and you receive SBP and Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), SBP is reduced by DIC. With remarriage after age 55 and before age 57, you would retain DIC but lose SBP, as well as your military ID card, exchange privileges, and TRICARE. If you remarry after age 57, you would retain SBP and receive DIC with no offset, but you would lose your military ID card, exchange privileges, and TRICARE. You would be eligible for health care under the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the VA. If your new spouse is a service member, you would become his or her dependent and receive a new ID card, TRICARE, exchange privileges, and MWR benefits. For former spouses, the benefits you receive are subject to what is in their divorce decree. However, they also must meet the government requirements. For a former spouse to receive SBP, he or she must have been married for 10 years or more and the service member must have accrued 10 years of service creditable toward military retirement. Military retired pay is considered property. The limit for a direct disbursement of military retirement pay is 50 percent of the gross military retirement amount. Under certain circumstances, called the 20/20/20, a former spouse may receive medical care, a military ID card, and exchange privileges. This is a lifelong benefit as long as the service member is living. Retired pay ceases the day the service member dies. If the service member dies and SBP has been provided by court order or voluntarily, the former spouse may receive SBP. However, with remarriage before age 55, SBP would be terminated. For more information, check out the publication Former Spouse Benefits, available for download at Legislative Contacts President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Washington DC Washington Senator Patty Murray 10 North Post St, Suite 600 Spokane WA Fax Senator Maria Cantwell 920 W. Riverside, Suite 697 Spokane WA Fax Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers United States House of Representatives 10 N. Post St, 6th floor Spokane WA Fax Idaho Senator Mike Crapo 610 W. Hubbard Suite 209 Coeur d Alene ID Fax Senator Jim Risch 610 W. Hubbard, Suite 213 Coeur d Alene ID Fax Representative Raul Labrador, United States House of Representatives 1250 Ironwood Dr. Suite 243 Coeur d Alene ID Fax Page 4/Nov 2013

5 Spokane Chapter, MOAA P.O. Box 466 Veradale WA Now Hear This! Sunday, 8 December 2013 Chapter Christmas Social Mukogawa Ft. Wright Institute Commons Building 12:30 Social, 1:00 Meeting, 1:15 Buffet begins You re invited to wear your Class A, Service Dress or Mess Dress uniform, or just wear your ribbons on your civilian clothing. Entertainment by Eastern Washington University Choral Group, directed by Dr. Randy Wagner Mail early so we receive it by Friday, 29 November. Please, no late reservations or walk-ins. If you need to cancel a reservation, contact Barbara Thornbrugh, (509) or Ralph Shrigley (208) NLT Friday, 29 November for a refund. MENU: Roast Turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans almandine, green salad, cranberry sauce, fruit medley, rolls & butter, cheese cake/cherry topping. Free beer & wine. Please reserve places for the Sunday 8 December 2013 luncheon at Mukogawa Fort Wright. Cost is $26.00 per person (includes 18% gratuity). My check in the amount of $ is enclosed ($26 X no. of reservations). Make check payable to Spokane Chapter MOAA and mail to chapter mailbox above. Name: member/guest (circle one) Name: member/guest (circle one) Name: member/guest (circle one) Name: member/guest (circle one) Directions: SUNDAY 8 December :30 p.m. Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute, 4000 West Randolph Rd, Spokane. From I-90, Maple St. exit North, turn left on 4 th Ave, then left on Sunset Blvd. Stay in the right-hand lane. After the bridge, turn right onto Government Way, and right onto Fort George Wright Drive, go only.1 mile, turn left onto Randolph Road and continue to the roundabout at the end. Wear your uniform if it hasn t shrunk! Questions? Call Barbara Thornbrugh (509) or Ralph Shrigley (360) We will sign legislative letters and have a raffle in support of our ROTC/JROTC Units. Please bring: 3 stamps and 6 address labels per person Something for the raffle Something for Support the Troops, or socks and gloves for homeless veterans. The troops especially like hand & foot warmers, small bottles of shampoo/ conditioner/ lotion, shaving cream, beef jerky, cookies, peanuts, crackers w/small cans of tuna & chicken. Cash donations help pay for additional items and postage. Membership Chair/Committee REQUEST, CHANGE OF ADDRESS or PHONE, or Spokane Chapter, MOAA TEMPORARILY AWAY: P.O. Box 466 Clip and complete this form and send it to the Veradale WA address on the left so we can update our database. Thank you. NOTE: We do not send junk or spam. Also, we do not give away, sell or trade your address. Member name: (Please print clearly) [ ] I would like to be added to the chapter list. I specifically request to (check all that apply): [ ] Receive the chapter newsletter by [ ] Receive important information in a timely manner. [ ] My address is (Please print clearly) [ ] My mailing address, address, and/or phone number has changed to: [ ] I will be temporarily away starting and returning. I do / do not (circle one) wish to receive the newsletter while I m away. If do please send it to: Signed: Page 5/Nov 2013

6 WE RE ON THE WEB! Spokane Chapter Military Officers Association of America P.O. BOX 466 Veradale WA Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage Paid Permit No Spokane WA Change Service Requested WASHINGTON Need a Ride to a Chapter Social? Call Anyone Listed Below IDAHO Clif Collier Richard Oates Floyd Geiger Ralph Shrigley These folks came in uniform to the 2012 Christmas social. All members are welcome to do it again this year on Sunday 8 December when we gather at the Mukogawa Ft. Wright Institute. If your uniform has shrunk, wear your ribbons on your civilian attire. Casualty Assistance Officer: Bernie Fritz is the casualty assistance officer for Fairchild AFB and surrounding area. He is in Bldg. 240 at 7 W. Arnold St., If you leave a message, he will call you back. Page 6/Nov 2013 FAFB Retiree Activities Office Bldg. 240, 7 W. Arnold St., The Retired Affairs Office needs volunteers. Serving at the RAO is a perfect excuse to travel out to the base and visit the exchange/commissary at the same time. Call them!