Remember                                                        In Memory of Bill Wolf                  

CAPITOL CITY
VETERAN

Newsletter for Sacramento Valley's Chapter 500 of the Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc.

           
President's Message

     December....a time when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.  Also, Jews give gifts and well being to all in celebration of Hanukkah.  African Americans also embrace family and mankind in loving recognition of Quanza.  Despite our different backgrounds, we all should be in joyous revelation over what we do have though small or large.  Smile for making it one more year, to see this season one more time, or having health and family.  Give cheer for a having a nice neighbor, the car running well, that your boss is not that bad or that you have a job at all.  We all have something to be glad about.  This good feeling can be shared like a large never ending cake and each time you are handed a piece of cake, don't eat it all; pass some on.  Do this by dropping change in a charitable pot, buy food for someone without.  Just give some time to people who can use your help...you will recognize them.  If nothing else, share a smile and pleasant greeting for all who cross your path.  May your guiding light shine on you and yours! 
                               Your President, Gregory C. McNeill

     Let's all take a holiday moment to remember our active military that are away from home this season and their families that support them............................
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              CURRENT NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

     The General Meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 16, at 7PM.  Directions to the Hall are on page 4.  This meeting will be a planning session for the Chapter.  Bring your suggestions for activities, events, and Helping Hand distributions.  It's important to get all members input so we can move Chapter 500's activities in the direction that members desire.  If you are unable to attend, e-mail, call or send your suggestions in.

CHRISTMAS PARTY

Chapter 500 enjoying the 2002 Christmas Party.

     Once again, Chapter 500 will join the United Veterans of Roseville in the annual Christmas Party.  It will be held at the Roseville Veterans Memorial Hall (directions on Page 4) on December 12.  The social hour begins at 4:30PM and dinner at 5:30PM.  Bring your family.  If you have children, bring a gift for Santa to hand out.  The event is free, just bring one of your favorite potluck dishes.  It's a great time to celebrate the season with Chapter friends and family.

TROPHY AWARDS

     The Veterans Affiliated Council will hold it's annual Christmas Party on December 3 at 7PM at the VFW #67 Post at 2784 Stockton Blvd.  The trophy winners from the Veterans Day Parade will be presented by Councilman Dave Jones.  Some children's groups were winners of trophies.  This will be a great time for Veterans to interact with the coming generation. 

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VETERAN BENEFIT UPDATES

     Jim Santianna, Chapter 500 member and EDD Veterans Representative has brought the following information to the Chapter at our General Meetings.  At the last meeting he provided us with a VA brochure explaining important benefits for Veterans with service connected disabilities.  Here are excerpts from the Vocational Rehabilitation Program:
     "Does an injury or illness from military service cause you problems in getting or keeping a job or in living independently?"  Generally to qualify,  your disability compensation rating must be at least 20 percent.  Once receiving this rating or if you already have it, VA counselors can work with you to see if you qualify for the program.  Once evaluated, you may be able to receive educational training, help in finding a suitable job which can include employer incentives.  The educational training can consist of certificates or possibly a two or four year college program.  The VA wants to work with you to find employment that fits your individual circumstances.
     For those with service-connected disabilities so severe they cannot work, the VA officers a program of services to improve their ability to live as independently as possible.  The services provided can lessen you need to rely on others by giving you the skills you need to live as independently as possible at home and in your community.
     If you think you may qualify for either of these programs, fill out VA Form 28-1900 or visit the website at www.vba.gov/pubs/forms1.htm. If you don't have internet access or have problems getting the forms you need off the site, give the office a call.

DISASTER PREPARATION

     Last month, we started our series on what you need to be prepared for disasters.
     The Basic Kit should contain:  Water, Food, Medications, and Special Items, Tools and Supplies, Sanitation, Clothing and Bedding, Emergency Car Kit, Important Family Documents, and a First Aid Kit. 
     Last month we discussed how much water to store.  This month we will go on to the #2 item, Food.
     Store at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food.  Select foods that require no refrigeration, preparation or cooking, and little or no water.  If you must heat food, pack a can of sterno.  Select food items that are compact and lightweight.  Include a selection of the following foods in your Disaster Supplies Kit:  Ready to eat canned meats, fruits, and vegetables.  Canned Juices.  Staples (salt, sugar, pepper,  spices, etc.  High energy foods. Vitamins. Food for infants. Comfort/stress foods. These recommendations are from the American Red Cross. 
Note:  You should keep in mind food for those on special diets. Also, it's a good idea to rotate your food supplies and periodically check them for damage or spoilage or deterioration.  Next month we will go on to Medications and Special items for your kit.

LEGISLATION and GOVERNMENT ISSUES

     Until California's budget problems are solved, it is unlikely that any bills concerning Veterans and the appropriation of any money will be forthcoming.  AB1179 was passed that has to do with who can receive Veteran documentation.  This bill will be discussed in depth next month as the code also has to do with fees charged for documentation.  But this month, we wanted to share with you an essay passed on to Chapter 500 by Jeff Pealer,  Vietnam Veteran and our Sacramento County Veterans Service Officer.  The author is:  Bud Bessey, HTC USN (Ret)

WHAT IS A VIETNAM VIETNAM

Vietnam veterans are men and women.  We are dead or alive, whole or maimed, sane or haunted.  We grew from our experiences or we were destroyed by them or we struggle to find some place in between.  We lived through hell or we had a pleasant, if scary, adventure.  We were Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Red Cross, and civilians of all sorts.  Some of us enlisted to fight for God and Country, and some were dragged.  Some were gung-ho, and some went kicking and screaming.
     Like veterans of all wars, we lived a tad bit--or a great bit--closer to death than most people like to think about.  If Vietnam vets differ from others, perhaps it is primarily in the fact that many of us never saw the enemy or recognized him or her.  We heard gunfire and mortar fire but rarely looked into enemy eyes.  Those who did, like folks who encounter close combat anywhere and any time, are often haunted for life by those eyes, those sounds, those electric fears that ran between ourselves, our enemies, and the likelihood of death for one of us.  Or we get hard, callused, tough.  All in a day's work.  Life's a bitch then you die.  But most of us remember and get twitchy, worried, sad.
     We are crazies dressed in cameo, wide-eyed, wary, homeless, and drunk.  We are Brooks Brothers suit wearers, doing deals downtown.  We are housewives, grandmothers, and church deacons.  We are college professors engaged in the rational pursuit of the truth about the history or politics or culture of the Vietnam experience.  And we are sleepless.  Often sleepless.  We pushed paper; we pushed shovels.  We drove jeeps, operated bulldozers, built bridges; we toted machine guns through dense brush, deep paddy, and thorn scrub.  We lived on buffalo milk, fish heads and rice.  Or C-rations.  Or steaks and Budweiser.  We did our time in high mountains drenched by endless monsoon rains or on the dry plains or on muddy rivers or at the most beautiful beaches in the world.
     We wore berets, bandanna's flop hats, and steel pots.  Flak jackets, canvas, rash and rot.  We ate cloroquine and got malaria anyway. We got shots constantly but have diseases nobody can diagnose.  We spent our nights on cots or shivering in foxholes filled with waist-high water or lying still on cold wet ground, our eyes imagining Charlie behind every bamboo blade.  Or we slept in hotel beds in Saigon or barracks in Thailand or in cramped ships' berths at sea.
                            Continued on Page Six.................

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1
Roseville Veterans Hall Board Meeting
10AM

2
VVA500 Board Meeting 7PM

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VAC Meeting Parade Trophy Awards and Christmas Party

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Army-Navy Game at Sudwerk See Page 3

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Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

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Christmas Party  Roseville Hall 4:30PM

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National Guard Birthday

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    VVA 500  General Meeting 7PM

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Hanukkah

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Christmas Day Peace to All

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New Years Eve

2004
Happy New Year!

 

***Dec. 13 Cleanup from Xmas Party 9AM - Roseville Hall Volunteers Needed

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