Arlington National Cemetery Filling Up & New Medicare Cards

By John J. Guglielmi

Arlington Cemetery Running Out of Space to Bury Iraq, Afghan Veterans

If you are planning on being buried at Arlington Cemetery, you better act soon.

Section 60 of our National Cemetery, where Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are laid to rest, will soon have to close to new burials unless eligibility rules are restricted or the grounds are expanded, Army officials said Thursday. "We are filling up every single day" at the 154-year-old historic site across the Potomac from Washington, D.C., said Karen Durham-Aguilera, executive director of Army National Military Cemeteries.

 "Within the next few years, Section 60, known for the recent wars, will be closed. This is on our mind every day," Durham-Aguilera told a hearing of the House Armed Services subcommittee on military personnel.

Section 60 would be the first to close to new burials. Projections are that the entire cemetery will have to close to above and below ground interments in the 2040s, said Katharine Kelley, the cemetery's superintendent.

Each week about 150 burials take place at Arlington. Last year, there were more than 7,100. The possibilities for expanding the cemetery's grounds are severely limited. Currently, most honorably discharged veterans may request Arlington as their final resting place, but the eligibility rules are lengthy. The rules can be found on these websites: www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/Portals/0/Docs/Eligibilty-FactSheet-20170701.pdf   or www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/FuneralInformation/EstablishServices.aspx.

Veterans groups are generally opposed to eligibility restrictions to extend the active life of Arlington that would limit burials to those killed in the line of duty; recipients of the Medal of Honor and other high awards; and prisoners of war.

Forrest Allen, associate director of government relations at the Military Officers Association of America, said current eligibility rules should be maintained while options for expanding the grounds are explored.

Arlington National Cemetery

 "It is important to respect end-of-life plans for currently eligible veterans and take reasonable steps to extend the cemetery for future service members," Allen said.

 More than 400,000 veterans have been interred at Arlington since the Civil War, but "unfortunately, the cemetery is rapidly running out of space. If nothing is done, in a matter of 23 short years, the cemetery will be closed for new burials.

Shiny new Medicare Cards on their way, but not until June.

 Indiana veterans and seniors who are Medicare Recipients will receive new cards after June 2018. The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services are removing Social Security Numbers from Medicare cards in order to prevent fraud and identify theft. New cards will be mailed out in phases based on geographic location, with Indiana residents getting their cards sometime after June 2018. There will be no charge for the new cards and the new card will not change your benefits. If your address is up-to-date, you do not need to do anything to receive your card. If you need to update your mailing address, you can call 800-772-1213 or visithttps://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/. You can also update your address in person at your local Social Security office. You can find the address at http://indianapop.org/.

Memorial Day - When Did It Start

When I was thinking about Memorial Day and what it means to the nation, I went to a source that is directly involved with veterans, The Department of Veterans Affairs. There is a wealth of information on their web pages including a library of historical information. The following story is gleaned for their collection from the VA's Office of Public Affairs.

THE ORIGINS of MEMORIAL DAY

Three years after the Civil War ended, the head of the organization of Union veterans - the Grand Army of the Republic - established Decoration Day on May 5, 1868. Set aside to place flowers on the graves of war dead. It was changed to May 30 by a Gen. Logan because he believed more flowers would be in bloom then.

The first observance was at Arlington Cemetery that year with Gen. Ulysses S. Grant presided over the ceremonies. Flowers were then strewn on both Union and Confederate graves.

Springtime tributes to Civil War dead had been held in various places after the conflict.  April of 1866 women visited a cemetery in Columbus, Mississippi to put flowers on Confederate graves. Union graves were neglected because they were the enemy. The women were upset by the site so they place flowers on their graves too.

A number of cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. Boalsburg, Pa., Carbondale, Ill, Macon and Columbus, Ga. as well as Richmond, Va. In 1966, Congress and President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, N.Y. the "birthplace of Memorial Day.  This community wide event took place on May 5, 1866.

By the end of the 19th century, Memorial Day ceremonies were being held across the nation. It wasn't until after World War I that the day was expanded to honor those who died in all the wars. Memorial was declared a national holiday by an act of Congress in 1971.

Many southern states have their own days for honoring the Confederate dead. Mississippi has Confederate Memorial Day, Texas calls theirs Confederate Heroes Day and Louisiana and Tennessee celebrates Confederate Decoration Day.

In December 2000, the U.S. Congress passed and the president signed into law "The National Moment of Remembrance Act." The act encourages all Americans to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence to remember and honor those who died in service to the nation.

If you are interested in military traditions and American history you can go to www.va.gov/opa/publications/celebrate_americas_freedoms.asp. This is the U.S. Department of Veterans  (VA) web site.

Veterans ID Cards - You Will Have To Wait

New veterans ID cards won't be available until 2017

By Leo Shane III, Military Times– January 26, 2016

   Congress passed legislation for a new veterans ID card last summer, but it will likely be another year before any are issued.

   The Department of Veterans Affairs has begun drafting regulations for production and issuing of the ID cards, designed to give veterans easy proof of their military service for non-federal activities.

   Legislation authorizing the cards, sponsored by Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., passed through Congress without objection last July. He argued that veterans needed the option for a veterans ID to help individuals who have to carry around copies of their discharge paperwork to get discounts or services at a host of private businesses.

   Veterans requesting the IDs would have to pay a small, yet-to-be-determined fee, to cover production costs.

This is just a sample of what the ID Cards might look like.

   But Veterans Affairs officials said it will likely still be months before anyone gets the new cards. The rule-making process is expected to take at least another year, with production and issuing times still to be decided.

  “This is a lengthy process that requires time for a public comment period as well as approval from the Office of Management and Budget,” officials said in a statement this week. “VA currently estimates the program will be implemented in 2017.”

   That’s a disappointment for veterans who had hoped to ditch their DD-214s for the next trip to the hardware store or for local restaurant deals. Advocates have complained that practice is both inconvenient and unsafe, given the personal information included on official military documents.

   No veterans will be required to get the IDs, and the cards will not replace medical IDs or official defense retiree cards.

   Supporters called it a simple way to honor veterans’ service.

Congress Again Buys Abrams Tanks the Army Doesn't Want

The new defense spending bill includes $120 million for tanks that the Army has repeatedly said it doesn't want.

For three years, the Army in numerous Congressional hearings has pushed a plan that essentially would have suspended tank building and upgrades in the U.S. for the first time since World War II. The Army suggested that production lines could be kept open through foreign sales.

Each time, Congress has pushed back. Last week, Congress won again in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2015.

In a statement, Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, said that Congress "recognizes the necessity of the Abrams tank to our national security and authorizes an additional $120 million for Abrams tank upgrades. This provision keeps the production lines open in Lima, Ohio, and ensures that our skilled, technical workers are protected."

Turner chairs the Tactical Air and Land Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee and will retain that position in the next Congress. The General Dynamics Land Systems plant in Lima, the only U.S. manufacturer of tanks, is in the district of Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

Turner's office did not respond to several requests for comment on why Congress went against the recommendation of Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army chief of staff, to suspend tank production.

Army Chief of Staff  Gen. Ray Odiermo

Todd Harrison, a Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments analyst, said it was open to question whether the Army and the Marine Corps needed more tanks on top of the estimated 9,000 already in their inventories. However, he noted that it was not unusual for Congress to go against the military's recommendations on the budget.

"It's just one example and it's not unique to this year," Harrison said. "In some cases, Congress is using its appropriate role of oversight. In some cases, Congress can act out of purely parochial interests."

The tank debate between the Army and Congress goes back to 2012 when Odierno testified that "we don't need the tanks. Our tank fleet is two and a half years old on average now. We're in good shape and these are additional tanks that we don't need."

Odierno lost then too. Congress voted for another $183 million for tanks despite Odierno's argument that the Army was seeking to become a lighter force. He told the Associated Press at the time that "if we had our choice, we would use that money in a different way" than spending it on 70-ton Abrams tanks.

The current Abrams upgrade program approved by Congress in the NDAA calls for improving gas mileage by decreasing idle times and also calls for improvements to the tank's sights and sensors.