Research - Rehabilitation - Re-Employment

Sgt. Shaft 12/03/2007

Dear Sgt. Shaft:
I would have written you sooner but did not have your address as I was in North Carolina, where my husband died of cancer on Oct. 27.

One of his last wishes was to be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, but I have been unable to schedule a burial as I cannot find his DD Form 214. He served on active duty during the Korean War in the early 1950s and retired from the Army Reserve in 1989. He was drawing retiree pay. I have sent an e-mail request to the records people in St. Louis and they acknowledged the request but said it could take up to 26 weeks to get a response. Other military people have tried to help but to no avail. His name: Col. William R. Aus. Please let me know if you can help.

Thank you.

Elma

Dear Elma:
As you know by now, I referred your request for help to the powers that be at the Department of Veterans Affairs and Arlington National Cemetery. The Veterans Benefits Administration secured your husband's 214 and officials at Arlington have scheduled your husband's interment.

Shaft Notes
The Sarge echoes the remarks of the national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, who recently commented on Congress' nonchalant attitude toward President Bush's war funding request, which is not what he expected from a wartime Congress.

"Our nation is at war, yet congressional leaders would rather continue to debate the administration's policies than fulfill their obligation to support the troops with adequate and timely funding," said George Lisicki, a Vietnam combat veteran from Carteret, N.J.

"Our men and women in uniform are doing everything within their power to succeed in Afghanistan and Iraq," he said. "Their families are keeping the home front functioning so that their loved ones can stay mission focused. The administration has new military leadership with a new plan that is working. The only part of the team that isn't pulling its weight in this war is Congress."

The new funding request for $196.4 billion is in addition to the Defense Department's fiscal 2008 budget, which is among the 12 major spending bills the House and Senate have approved separately but have yet to consolidate for the president's signature. The federal government's new fiscal year began Oct. 1. It is operating on a temporary stopgap measure that expired Nov. 16.

The funds would purchase equipment and provide essential services to active-duty and wounded veterans.

I would remind Congress of these famous words of Rudyard Kipling's poem, "Tommy":

"I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,

The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."

The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,

I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:

O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";

But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play,

The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,

O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins," when the band begins to play.

I went into a theatre as sober as could be,

They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;

They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,

But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";

But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,

The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide

O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide. ...

You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:

We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.

Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face

The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.

For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"

But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;

An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;

An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool — you bet that Tommy sees!"

Send letters to Sgt. Shaft, c/o John Fales, P.O. Box 65900, Washington, D.C. 20035-5900; fax to 301-622-3330; call 202-257-5446 or email sgtshaft@bavf.org.

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