Gems of Information in a Military Dscharge.

Not a week goes by where someone doesn’t stop in my office asking where they can get military information about their father, uncle, aunt, grandfather, etc. You get the idea. The obvious thing to do, if they are alive, is to ask them. Many older veterans have never talked about their experiences and younger ones are trying to forget. This is very common if they were in combat situations.

If the veteran’s not available, talk with his widow, children or other relatives. The family might even have a box of newspaper clippings, photographs, letters home, discharge papers or medals tucked away in a closet or basement somewhere. Photos can reveal what unit a person was assigned to, what their job was and even where the photo was taken. If there are notes on the back of the photos, all the better.

The crown in this collection would be a discharge. Early discharges had a variety of numbers and letters associated with them. These numbers are on the lower left hand corner. The DD Form 214 has been issued by all military services since January 1, 1950. Before 1950, a variety of designations were used by the military services. If the designation is NG, then the veteran was in the National Guard.

What can a keen observer learn from a discharge? Many things you knew and surprising things you had no idea about. 

Obvious items on most discharges are name, birthdate, place of birth, and social security number. Many are surprised where a veteran was born. “Grandma said grandpa was from Kentucky. I didn’t know he was born in Missouri.” In rural community years ago, many babies were born at home. But a week or two might pass before the birth was recorded with the county. That is why there might be a disparity between actual and recorded birth dates.

The type of discharge a veteran was granted says a lot about their military service. Honorable is the word you want to see. It is often listed in a box titled Character of Service. Some other types of discharges are General, Under Honorable Conditions, Medical and Dishonorable. Some of these can be upgraded but it rarely happens. Depending on the branch, time period and issuing authority, the type of discharge could be anywhere on the form.

The date and place the veteran enlisted or was drafted and when and where they were discharged from the military are listed. What rank they were when discharge and when they obtained that rank. E-3, ADEJ-3, SP-4 are examples of rank. If you don’t understand rank, you can Google and there are sights that will explain ranks for all the services. Being an old Air Force vet, the US Navy ranks are the most mysterious to me. 

If they were assigned oversea, it should tell where they went, how long they were there and when they came back.  WW II discharges often have detailed information as to battles a vet was involved in: North Africa, uam, Philippines, Normandy, Battle of the Bulge, Sicily, etc.

The discharge also lists the schools and training they had. I went to Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss. for Electronic Intercept Training, as an example. I knew vacuum tubes inside and out, learned to read schematics and could wire a circuit board before the end of class.

A small important section of a discharge is the awards and decorations. Many times I have had people debate what medals their relatives were awarded. “I’m sure he received a purple heart. Or maybe it was a silver star. I know it was pretty fancy” In reality the vet was awarded a good conduct medal and a marksmanship medal. Never saw combat.

Some discharges will describe physical characteristics: height, weight, color of eyes and skin. You might be surprised grandpa Miller was only 5 foot 4 inches tall with blue eyes.

If you didn’t find a discharge in that musty pile of papers, there are a few place you can look. The Recorders office in your county is a good placed to start. The Department of Defense sent copies of WW I and WW II discharges to the county of residence. Many vets dropped off their discharges to be copied and recorded in those same offices. The Indiana Archives in Indianapolis has thousands of records. Phone 1 317 591-5222 and ask for military records. You can submit a request online at www.archives.com and follow the prompts. It usually take three to four weeks to get copies. Happy hunting.

FYI:

Veterans Now Able to Enroll for VA Healthcare by Telephone:  Effective immediately, VA has amended its enrollment regulations to allow veterans to complete enrollment applications for enrollment in VA health care by telephone without the need for a paper signature. By adding this telephone application option to VA’s regulations with this amendment, VA will now offer three ways to enroll for VA health care services. This option provides veterans a convenient third enrollment option in addition to the paper VA Form 10-10 EZ and the online health care application. To apply, call 1-877-222-VETS (8387), Mon-Fri between 8 am and 8 pm, EST.

Women and the Draft

Young ladies who celebrate their 18th birthday starting in 2018 might have another little chore to do after the party: register for the draft. Not the kind that blows through a room on a cold night but the military draft. The US Senate on June 14th passed a military policy bill that would, for the first time, require young women to register with the Selective Service for the draft. This provision was included as part of the massive 2017 National Defense Authorization Act that easily passed in the Senate with an 85-13 vote. Indiana's senators Donnelly and Coats both voted for the bill.

Why you ask? Well in December, Defense Secretary Ash Carter stated that the Pentagon would open all combat jobs to women. The military brass then suggested to Congress that women should also sign up for the draft. Women who fail to register would be subject to the same penalties that currently exist for men, including ineligibility for federal financial aid, including Pell grants.

Its a little early to think about what branch of the service you want to join or what color camouflage you might like because this bill still has to go to the House of Representatives. There the Senate and House bills will be reconciled in a conference committee where a heated debate is expected.

It is very unlikely that a draft will be instituted anytime soon. The last time the draft was used was over forty years ago in 1973 during the Vietnam War. Israel is currently the only country in the world with a mandatory service requirement for women. Mandatory conscription for single and married women without children began in 1948. Our present armed forces are all voluntary and women in uniform make up 19%  of the military.

A recent article in US News and World Report stated: "Yes, women are daughters, wives, sisters and mothers. But they are also soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and American citizens from every walk of life. Ultimately, facts, not emotions, must rule the day when it comes to deciding what is best for national defense."

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is approaching quickly and activity has been picking up in my office as American flags are picked up by service organizations and individuals. Henry County makes available the funds to purchase over 5,000 graveside flags. Every veteran grave in Henry County has a flag placed beside it before Memorial Day. This is just one way our veterans are honored.

Many schools invite veterans to attend Veterans Day programs. Restaurants give veterans discounts or free meals. Stores give discounts on purchases with proper ID.  A military Honor Guard is present at most veterans funerals.  These are just  a few ways that our veterans are remembered.

But what makes a veteran?  He is the teenager that crossed the ocean in the bowels of a transport ship to fight the Germans during WW II.  The young lady that cared for wounded soldiers at the battle front as they were brought into field hospitals. The young B-25 belly gunner who had his canopy shot from under him by German fighters planes and ended up hanging under the plane in his harness. The bomber continued to the target and returned to its airfield in England safely. The young lieutenant who led his platoon through the jungles and swamps of Vietnam looking for Viet Cong.

The young woman Marine who traveled across Iraq from village to village promoting good will and handing out soccer balls to children. The Air Force crew chief  who flew aboard bombers that dropped atomic bombs during Operation Teapot in the 50's. The teenage sailor who was aboard a warship that was sunk during a WW II sea battle in the Pacific.  Was rescued, assigned to another ship that was torpedoed. Survived still again, and yes, his last ship was sunk. All these veterans are Henry County residents and have done things a non veteran can't imagine. 

Not all of us were involved in combat but were an important element that supported the troops in harms way: supply, medical, training, intelligence, finance, chaplains, flight crews, electronics, mechanics, judicial, munitions, technicians, etc. The list goes on and on.

The young mother of two in the checkout line, or the elderly gentleman sharing coffee and conversation with friends at a local restaurant just might be veterans. Think about that this Memorial Day and everyday.
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A documentary about PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is coming to Indianapolis  on Tuesday May 24 at 7 p.m. for one night only. "Soledad O' Brian Presents: The War Comes Home - The New Battlefront." This film follows two veterans on the edge of suicide as they attend a life-changing boot camp. Healing, meditation and team-building exercises are part of the treatment over the course of five days, with the cameras recording their recovery.

The documentary will be shown at AMC Indianapolis 17 at 4325 South Meridian St., Indianapolis, IN. Call (317) 784-0989 for ticket information.

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.

VA Expands Patient-Centered Community Care

VA Expands Patient-Centered Community Care (PC3) Contracts to Provide Access to Primary Care

WASHINGTON -- The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today that primary care has been added to the services available to Veterans through VA’s Patient-Centered Community Care (PC3) contracts, a key and evolving part of the non-VA medical care program.  Eligible Veterans are already able to access inpatient specialty care, outpatient specialty care, mental health care, limited emergency care and limited newborn care for female Veterans following childbirth under PC3.

“With the addition of primary care services, VA Medical Centers can now use PC3 to provide additional types of care in order to reduce wait times,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert A. McDonald.  “This modification is another example of how we are working to ensure Veterans get the care they need, when they need it and where they want to be seen.”

This modification supports VA’s Accelerated Care Initiative, helping to move Veterans off of waitlists and into care. Additionally, reduced commuting standards will require that contracted providers schedule appointments closer to the Veterans’ homes.

The initial PC3 contracts were awarded in September 2013 to Tri-West and HealthNet and have been used as part of the non-VA medical care program to purchase care in the community.

“PC3 is part of the overall non-VA medical care program,” said Dr. Carolyn A. Clancy, VA’s Interim Under Secretary for Health.  “We look forward to expanding our ability to provide timely access to health care services to our Veterans.”

VA Medical Centers have the ability to purchase non-VA medical care for Veterans through contracted medical providers when they cannot readily provide the needed care due to geographic inaccessibility or limited capacity. This additional option is available to purchase non-VA medical care when required Veteran care services are unavailable within the VA medical facility, or when Veterans benefit from receiving the needed care nearer to their homes. In addition, VA is reviewing how PC3 may be used to help implement the newly enacted Veterans Choice, Access, and Accountability Act of 2014.

Through PC3, Veterans can expect to receive high-quality health care that is coordinated with their VA providers. For more information on PC3, visit http://www.nonvacare.va.gov/PC3/index.asp.

1. Veterans United Network
 
2. Veteran Life

6 Famous Musicians Who Served in the Military

by Jonathan Pharr Published: November 14, 2013 No Comments Yet

Music and the military have an undeniable link. From Reveille to Taps, music is in plenty of everyday experiences for service men and women.
With that in mind, it makes sense that the same respect for music sticks with service members after they leave the military. It’s no coincidence that the military has produced some of the most impressive musical minds in recent history.
Here’s a list of six famous musicians who served in the military.

John Coltrane

Also known as “Trane,” this jazz saxophonist opened the floodgates for modern jazz, and served as a huge influence to both mainstream and avant-garde musicians. In his decades-long career, he recorded 45 studio albums and 10 live albums, and his “Blue Train” and “A Love Supreme” records remain some of the best-selling and most revered albums in jazz history.

Coltrane was born in 1926, and his father sparked his interest in music, and, by high school, he excelled at the saxophone. In 1945, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserves, and performed with the U.S. Navy band in Hawaii.
Playing alto saxophone and clarinet with the “Melody Masters,” a big band composed of more than a dozen different musicians, he mastered the chops needed to become one of jazz’s all-time greats.

Johnny Cash

Before he was “the man in black,” Johnny Cash was a man in blue – U.S. Air Force blue, that is.

The son of an Arkansas sharecropper, Cash grew up in an extremely poor but musical family. He enlisted in the Air Force in 1950, where he was assigned as a Morse code operator in Landsberg, Germany, where he was the first American to receive the news of Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953.
In the Air Force, he taught himself to play guitar, which ultimately led to a decades-long career as a pioneering country musician, with more than 55 albums recorded before his death in 2003.

Elvis Presley

Often given credit as the godfather of rock ‘n’ roll as we know it, Elvis Presley took off his blue suede shoes to put on combat boots when he served in the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1960.

Early in his career, Presley’s performances were viewed as lewd and lascivious by many Americans. When Presley turned 21 in 1956, he was eligible to be drafted – and he was. Rather than negotiate an “easy” tour in the Army, Presley insisted to enlist as a regular soldier to win over older fans.
He was stationed with the 3rd Armored Division in Friedberg, Germany. In 1960, he would earn the rank of Sergeant, and, later that year, was discharged from active duty.

Kris Kristofferson

Well known for his country music – even singing with fellow veteran Johnny Cash in The Highwaymen – and on-screen experience, Kris Kristofferson also served a sucessful stint in the Army.

Kristofferson’s father, a U.S. Army Air Corps officer, encouraged him to join the military at an early age. After graduating from Pomona College in 1958, he earned a scholarship to Oxford, but at his family’s insistance, he turned it down to join the Army. He attained the rank of Captain, and was offered a teaching position at West Point, but decided to pursue music instead. He has received dozens of awards in his career, and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985.
He has also acted in movies such as “Blade” and “He’s Just Not That Into You.”

Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett, born Anthony Dominick Benedetto, is as New York City as they come, though he may have left his heart in San Francisco.

Hailing from Queens, this musician took the world by storm with 17 Grammy Awards, over 50 million records sold and recorded over 70 albums. Even more astounding than his musical career is his military career.
Bennett was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1944, where he was thrown into the final stages of World War II. Serving with the 63rd Infantry Division, he moved across France and into Germany in what was, as he referred to in his book “The Good Life,” “a front-row seat in hell.”
He studied voice with his GI Bill benefits and became the crooner we still love today.

MC Hammer

Before winning fame for his rap music in the 1990s, MC Hammer (born Stanley Burrell) used the U.S. Navy to launch a successful career.

Born to a poor family in Oakland, Calif., Burrell was a bat boy for the Oakland Athletics and dreamed of being a professional baseball player, but couldn’t make the cut. Instead, he joined the U.S. Navy and served as an Aviation Storekeeper 3rd Class while stationed in Mountain View, Calif. before his honorable discharge.

What other musicians do you know that served in the military? Leave us comment below.

Headstones and Markers for Deceased Veterans

   When a Veteran passes away, there are benefits that the VA, your state and service organizations offer. The funeral home should have the necessary forms to apply for burial benefits and markers: VA Form 40-1330, Application for Standard Government Headstone or Marker
  The county where the Veteran lived might also offer a stipend to help with burial expenses. As ask the funeral home or at your county offices. Below is information from the www.va.gov website about what they offer.

   

     The Department of Veterans Affairs will furnish upon request and at no charge to the applicant, a Government headstone or marker for the  unmarked grave of any deceased eligible Veteran in any cemetery around the world, regardless of their date of death.

    For eligible veterans that died on or after Nov. 1, 1990 and whose grave is marked with a privately purchased headstone, VA may also furnish a headstone or marker to supplement the graves or a Medallion to be affixed to a privately purchased headstone.

   Flat markers in granite, marble, and bronze and upright headstones in granite and marble are available. Bronze niche markers are also available to mark columbaria used for internment of cremated remains. The style chosen must be permitted by the officials in charge of the private cemetery where it will be placed.

    When burial or moralization is in a national cemetery, state Veterans' cemetery, or military post/base cemetery, a headstone or marker will be ordered by the cemetery officials based on inscription information provided by the next of kin or authorized representative.

   When burial or moralization is in a national cemetery, state Veterans' cemetery, or military post/base cemetery, a headstone or marker will be ordered by the cemetery officials based on inscription information provided by the next of kin or authorized representative.

   Spouses and dependents are not eligible for a Government-furnished headstone or marker unless they are buried in a national cemetery, state Veteran's cemetery, or military post/base cemetery.

   Note: There is no charge for the headstone or marker itself, however arrangements for placing it in a private cemetery are the applicant's responsibility and all setting fees are at private expense.