Montgomery County, MD Chapter Post Office Box 34127 West Bethesda, MD 20827 MOAA05@verizon.net OFFICERS President Col Harvey Kaplan USA Ret Past President LCDR Art Glover USN Ret 1 st VP LCDR Art Glover USN Ret 2 nd VP CAPT David H. Peterson NOAA (Ret.) Secretary Col G. R. Surman AUS Treasurer CAPT Tony Mitchell SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 4th Monday of Each Month -- Regularly scheduled meeting of the chapter executive group. The chapter meets for dinner at 1830 hours on the fourth Monday of the month. The business meeting starts at 1900. The meeting is generally at the Hollywood Diner (formerly the Broadway) at 895 Rockville Pike, and is open to any member who would like to participate in Chapter deliberations or just socialize. Contact a chapter officer prior to attending to confirm the date and location. Luncheons -- 2008 -- Recent luncheons have been joint affairs with a Manor Country Club Carrolton Road, federal retiree's Rockville, MD 20853 (301) 929-1700 group. The Dining Style: Casual Elegant luncheons are Cuisine: American held at the Website http://www.manorcc.org/ Manor Country Club off Norbeck Road (Rt. 28), just Luncheon Dates west of Georgia Avenue. They are regularly scheduled for the third Wednesday of the month. All luncheon meetings are held at noon, with a lunch buffet at 12:30 PM. Please put the date on your calendars. The price of the December 17th (Holiday Party) luncheon is $17. Please RSVP with name(s) and number of participants to: John Lass at 301-871-6734, or Jim Dittbrenner at 301-460-9611, or jditt@comcast.net. December Luncheon - A Holiday Party. The program will be Science and Technology for Community Resilience. 1
Our speaker is W. Michael Dunaway, Captain, USN Retired, Program Manager of the Societal and Community Resilience Program, Science and Technology Directorate, US Department of Homeland Security. Captain Dunaway s program sponsors research into systems and capabilities to support the preparedness, response, and recovery of communities impacted by catastrophic events, and to enhance the resilience of the U.S. Communities against those events. Chapter News Luncheon - 15 October 2008 Jerry Parr was with the Secret Service for 23 years, retiring in 1985. Jerry Parr s discussion of The Care and Feeding of Secret Service Agents was well received by the attendees. Jerry had only been in the Service two weeks when he saw President John F. Kennedy at Eleanor Roosevelt s funeral (October 1962), He was not, however, present in Dallas on November 22, 1963, when JFK was assassinated. Present or not, that event represented a great trauma for all agents of the U.S. Secret Service. He talked about his four years of experience with Hubert Humphrey from 1964-1968 and its highs and lows. Jerry Parr Jerry also spent time protecting Vice President Spiro Agnew, King Hussein (of Jordan), as well as the King of Spain. He was with VP Agnew when he resigned. He takes pride in the fact that he was the SAIC (Special Agent in Charge) of protecting both Walter Mondale and Jimmy Carter concurrently. Jerry focused much of his presentation on the assassination attempt on President Reagan on March 30, 1981, at the Washington Hilton Hotel following the President s speech to the Building Trades Union. It was the 110th time a President had used the VIP entrance of the hotel. He identified the District of Columbia as a haven for people who are nuts, citing attacks against Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, and Truman (who was not hurt). At 2:27 PM that March day, John Hinckley, Jr., fired 6 shots in less than two seconds. President Reagan was hit by a ricochet (the fifth bullet fired) in the armpit while he was getting into his car. Others were also wounded. Jerry Parr had difficulty finding the President s wound and initially directed the limousine back to The White House. Once it was clear that the President had been shot, they headed directly to George Washington Hospital, where the Secret Service set up a protective perimeter. The President was unconscious for about two minutes, lying on his back. When President Reagan opened his eyes, he said, Jerry, I hope they re all Republicans, 2
referring to the medical and protective people surrounding him. The President remained at the hospital for 14 days, then continued his recovery back at The White House. Mr. Parr concluded his discussion of the Reagan assassination attempt with two points of pride: (1) The President lived for 23 more years after being saved by the Secret Service on that date. (2) The incident had a positive effect on the President s family as it brought the family close together. Luncheon - 19 November 2008 - In November we saw some of the new members of the Montgomery County Chapter in attendance. We are delighted to have them joining the activities. Wounded Warriors - The Montgomery County Chapter of MOAA has corresponded with Casualty Affairs of the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC), and reserved a date on 8 January to host a dinner for Wounded Warriors and their family members. Volunteers who may wish to join the group should notify a Chapter officer. Chapter Awards - Past Chapter President Arthur Glover presented awards to Anthony Mitchell and George R. Surman for their service as Chapter treasurer and secretary respectively. MOAA Benefits Information MOAA Gives Your Chapter a Web Presence - The Chapter has developed a presence on the Web. The site URL is http://www.moaa.org/chapter/montgomerycounty The site will allow members and nonmembers alike to determine up-to-date basic information about the Chapter. Of Interest We Welcome New Chapter Members - Col L. Wagman USA, CAPT Dennis Freezer USCG, Marjorie Downey, CAPT Frank Nice USPHS, Maj Walter Jones ARNG, LCDR Amelia Frank USNR, 1st Lt James Young USAF, Maj Robert Ramseth USA, CAPT Arthur McIntyre USPHS, Cpt William Karppi USA, LTC Kenneth Steinbruckner AUS, CDR George Marsh USN, CDR Ronald Holderman USN, LTC Charles Chisley USA, CDR Peter Reyniese USNR, CDR Marie Goulet USPHS, Cpt James Hubbard USA, Marina Hall, RADM Joyce Johnson USPHS, LTC Gary T. Palmer, USAF Mortgage Options to Those in Financial Distress - Veterans with conventional home loans now have new options for refinancing to a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) guaranteed home loan. These new options are 3
available as a result of the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2008, which the President signed into law on October 10, 2008. These changes will allow VA to assist a substantial number of veterans with subprime mortgages refinance into a safer, more affordable, VA guaranteed loan. Veterans in financial distress due to high rate subprime mortgages are potentially the greatest beneficiaries. VA has never guaranteed subprime loans. However, as a result of the new law, VA can now help many more veterans who currently have subprime loans. The new law makes changes to VA s home loan refinancing program. Veterans who wish to refinance their subprime or conventional mortgage may now do so for up to 100 percent of the value of the property. These types of loans were previously limited to 90 percent of the value. Additionally, Congress raised VA s maximum loan amount for these types of refinancing loans. Previously, these refinancing loans were capped at $144,000. With the new legislation, such loans may be made up to $729,750 depending on where the property is located. For more information, or to obtain help from a VA Loan Specialist, veterans may call VA at 1-877-827-3702 or visit www.homeloans.va.gov. New Law Clarifies Veterans Salutes during National Anthem - Veterans and active-duty military not in uniform can now render the military-style hand salute during the playing of the national anthem, thanks to changes in federal law. The new provision improves upon a little known change in federal law last year that authorized veterans to render the military-style hand salute during the raising, lowering or passing of the flag, but it did not address salutes during the national anthem. Last year s provision also applied to members of the armed forces while not in uniform. Traditionally, members of the nation s veterans service organizations have rendered the hand-salute during the national anthem and at events involving the national flag while wearing their organization s official headgear. The most recent change, authorizing hand salutes during the national anthem by veterans and out-of-uniform military personnel, was sponsored by Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, an Army veteran. It was included in the Defense Authorization Act of 2009, which President Bush signed on October 14. VA Opening 31 New Outpatient Clinics - Veterans will have easier access to world-class health care under a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) plan to open 31 new outpatient clinics in 16 states. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Dr. James B. Peake, announced VA will establish new clinics in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, 4
Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. Maryland facilities will be operational at Ft Meade and in an unspecified Montgomery County location in 2010. With 153 hospitals and approximately 745 community-based clinics, VA operates the largest integrated health care system in the country. VA s medical care budget of more than $41 billion this year will provide health care to about 5.8 million people during nearly 600,000 hospitalizations and more than 62 million outpatient visits. Community-based medicine is better medicine, said Dr. Michael Kussman, VA s Under Secretary for Health. It makes preventative care easier for patients, helps health care professionals have closer relationships with their patients and permits easier follow-ups for patients with chronic health problems. The community-based outpatient clinics, or CBOCs, will become operational by late 2010, with some opening in 2009. Local VA officials will keep communities and their veterans informed of milestones in the creation of the new CBOCs. LINKS Gates Issues Guidance on Reserve Commission Issues - Early in his tenure, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates issued initial guidance to his department for Utilization of the Total Force. Reservists were told to expect to be activated once every five years under the operational reserve policy. In reality, post-9/11 reserve units have averaged 3.8 years between call-ups, approaching active duty deployment tempos. Despite this dramatic change in reserve force employment, the report of the Commission of the National Guard and Reserves ( http://tinyurl.com/5uz6s4 ) found that the current policies and procedures still rely largely on outmoded Cold War rules. INSIGHT A veteran whether on active duty, honorably discharged, retired, national guard, or reserve is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to the United States of America for an amount of up to and including my life. That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it. -Author Unknown- Military Humor The country is behind you 50 percent. Bob Hope to U.S. troops in Vietnam 5
Speaker for December will be CAPT Michael Dunaway, US Department of Homeland Security. He will address Science and Technology for Community Resilience 6