Research - Rehabilitation - Re-Employment

Sgt. Shaft 04/11/2005

Dear Sgt. Shaft,
A recent TV show referred to the remains of the late Ted Williams still being stored upside down and headless at a cryogenic storage facility in Arizona. His son, John Henry, who brought about this ghoulish scenario, is now himself dead.

As a baseball legend and a Marine fighter pilot who fought in both World War II and Korea, losing 41/2 years of his major league playing career, Williams deserves to be rescued from this degrading situation and given a dignified burial with honors. Can't major league baseball, the people of Boston, and the Marine Corps pool their influence and insure his dignified burial or is this American icon destined to remain forgotten?

John Kujawski,
US Army Vietnam Veteran

Dear Jack,
It is unconscionable that this American hero and baseball superstar is left hanging upside down and headless like a piece of cowhide in a dark deep freezer. I urge the powers that be in major league baseball and the United States Marine Corps to use their muscle to insure that the remains of Ted Williams be buried with dignity and honor in the sacred grounds of Arlington National Cemetery.

Shaft Notes
The Sarge is looking forward to joining other members of the National Press Club (NPC), and their guests at a NPC luncheon featuring Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson.

As the President said when he announced Ambassador Nicholson’s nomination to be the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.

“Jim Nicholson is a patriot, a man of deep conviction who has answered his country's call many times. As a young man from Iowa, raised in modest circumstances, he became a cadet at West Point in the late 1950s and went on to become an Army Ranger and paratrooper. As a Ranger, he fought in Vietnam, where he won multiple decorations for bravery in combat, including the Bronze Star and the Combat Infantry Badge. After 8 years on active duty, he joined the Army Reserves, where he served for 22 more years before retiring as a full colonel.

Throughout his career, Jim has shown the same honor, integrity, and commitment to service that defined his life as a military officer. He and his wife, Suzanne, have given back generously to their community and have been leaders in numerous volunteer causes in their home State of Colorado. He was a respected chairman of the Republican National Committee. And for the past 3 years, he has served as the United States Ambassador to the Vatican. Jim has worked with the Vatican to advance many vital foreign policy goals, including fighting poverty, hunger, AIDS, expanding religious liberty around the world, and ending the brutal practice of human trafficking.

I'm grateful to Jim for his superb work as our Ambassador, and I now have asked him to accept a new assignment, to serve his country and his fellow veterans.

As Secretary of Veterans Affairs, he leads a department of more than 230,000 employees responsible for ensuring that our Nation's our Nation's veterans receive the health care and other benefits our country has promised them. Twenty-five million Americans are military veterans who stepped forward to serve when the Nation needed them. The Nation owes them in return a VA that is dedicated to effective, prompt attention to their needs.

This luncheon will take place on April 20, at noon. For additional information, contact Pat Nelson at (202) 662-7500.

The Sarge salutes the United States Postal Service for agreeing to

Paying the employee’s share (in addition to the USPS share) of health insurance premiums for up to 24 months' for career USPS employees who are called to active military duty. The change was made in response to a request from the American Postal Workers Union AFL-CIO." The new policy took effect March 17, 2005, and is retroactive to December 28, 2002. It applies to qualified career employees of the United States Postal Service activated for military service under Executive Order 12302 or 13223 in Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Noble Eagle, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Postal Service will assume the full cost of employee's premiums for the time that they perform qualifying military service only.

The Sarge also salutes AMVETS for their new initiative with the National Guard.

As the Guard faces increasing deployments, AMVETS has recently partnered with the National Guard Bureau (NGB) to help maximize support for the families affected by these deployments.

This historic agreement, formalized by a Memorandum of Understanding signed by AMVETS National Commander William A. Boettcher and National Guard Bureau Chief Lt. Gen. H Steven Blum, marks the first time the NGB has partnered with a national veterans service organization to expand the Guard's Family Programs volunteer network.

"As veterans, we fully appreciate what it means to have support on the home front for our men and women in uniform," said Boettcher, adding, "It's particularly important for those who serve in the National Guard, where their families often do not live in close proximity to the services normally available to active duty personnel."

The AMVETS leader pointed out that National Guard families are dispersed among 4,000 communities across the country, often away from traditional military installations.

Under the new arrangement, the AMVETS Family Support Network of local posts will work closely with state National Guard Family Program (NGFP) directors and coordinators to ensure that no Guard family "falls between the cracks."

Boettcher said, "As a national veterans service organization, AMVETS is in a unique position with 41 departments and close to 1,300 posts to make a profound difference in this area."

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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