Research - Rehabilitation - Re-Employment

Sgt. Shaft 01/20/2003

Dear Sgt. Shaft,
I am a retired career Army NCO, 100% service connected disabled veteran. Wheel chair bound left leg amputee below the knee (service connected), partial amputation right foot (service connected), lung cancer with surgical excision of the upper lobe right lung (service connected), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asbestosis (service connected) instability right knee (service connected). I can transfer from wheel chair to toilet and back to my wheel chair IF the toilet is properly designed/laid out with raised toilet seat, grab bars in position and access from both sides of toilet allowing me to come on from one side and off the other with sufficient room to maneuver my wheel chair, I am a large man 6 ft 260 pounds in an oversized 22 inch wide wheel chair.

I have discussed this problem with the Admin Officer at VA Clinic of Monterey, the patients Representative at VA Palo Alto Health Care System and have been told the toilets in the VA Clinic of Monterey meet the minimum requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

I believe VA has an obligation to go beyond the MINIMUM requirements of the ADA and ensure that an accessible toilet facility is available for all of us with disabilities. ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL.

VA Clinic of San Jose, Ca which is in a leased facility does provide fully accessible toilet facilities as does the newly completed main hospital building at VA Palo Alto Medical Center. No excuse for VA not doing whatever is necessary to provide this essential service to ALL disabled veterans.

Thank you,
Denis H
Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army, Retired

Dear Dennis,
I contacted Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Dr.Leo MCCay regarding your potty problem. As you know by now, he took immediate action to flush away your serious concern. Unfortunately many VA Medical facilities are in need of renovations; however, adequate funding for remodeling projects has not been appropriated. The medical care system cries out for new funding approaches such as mandatory appropriations and reimbursement from Medicare. This would ensure the completion of many needed VA construction projects.

Dear Sgt. Shaft,
In your column on December 30th you noted the heroism of Lee Marvin and Bob Keeshan during the Second World War, as a result of which both received the Navy Cross. I admire both men a great deal, and alas, I wish the story were true.

I have spent quite a few years compiling a roster of recipients of the Navy Cross, and unfortunately neither Lee Marvin nor Captain Kangaroo (Bob Keeshan) appear on that list—a copy of which I have enclosed for your examination. Please note this list is compiled from several sources: official records of the United ‘States Navy and Marine Corps; semi-official sources (such as All Hands and Marine Corps Gazette), and authoritative histories of naval and Marine actions. However, pleas do not take my word for it: I urge you to contact the Marine Corps to get their side of the story so this widely circulated tale can be put to rest. With my best wishes for the New Year, I am

Respectfully yours,
Charles M.
Reva, Virginia

Dear Charles,
You and many other readers have caught the Sarge in his “first” column miscue. According to the Arlington National Cemetery website,

Actor Lee Marvin was born on February 19, 1924, he served with the Marine Corps during World War II in the Pacific and was awarded a Purple Heart for a wound that he received there. On his return, he became a movie actor and starred in a number of motion pictures until his death in Arizona on August 29, 1987. He is buried in Section 7-A of Arlington National Cemetery, not far from the Memorial Amphitheater and the Tomb of the Unknowns. We can't say for sure whether actor Lee Marvin ever related something like the story described above to Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show (Marvin was a guest on the show seven times during Carson's tenure as host), but the details of the anecdote are undeniably false. Lee Marvin did enlist in the U.S. Marines, saw action as Private First Class in the Pacific during World War II, and was wounded (in the buttocks) by fire which severed his sciatic nerve. However, this injury occurred during the battle for Saipan in June 1944, not the battle for Iwo Jima, which took place several months later, in February 1945. (Marvin also did receive a Purple Heart, and he is indeed buried at Arlington National Cemetery.) 

Bob Keeshan, later famous as television's "Captain Kangaroo," also enlisted in the U.S. Marines, but too late to see any action during World War II. Keeshan was born on 27 June 1927 and enlisted two weeks before his 18th birthday, months too late to have taken part in the fighting at Iwo Jima. A 1997 interview with Keeshan noted that he "later enlisted in the U.S. Marines but saw no combat" because, as Keeshan said, he signed up "just before we dropped the atom bomb. 

SHAFT KUDOS
The Sarge Sarge was honored to attend a luncheon and media briefing at the National Press Club on Wednesday January 15th, celebrating the life and achievements of the late General Joe Foss, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient and World War II Marine Ace. The Joe Foss Institute's new "Patriotism Through Education" program was unveiled at the ceremony. Information regarding this new initiative can be obtained by email to fossinstitute@SMAGlobal.com.

Send letters to Sgt. Shaft, c/o John Fales, P.O. Box 65900, Washington, D.C. 20035-5900; fax to 301-622-3330; call 202-462-4430 or email sgtshaft@bavf.org.

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