Topic :   Vets recall Cold War

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Vets recall Cold War

Pictured
are men from the Army 41st Tank Battalion reunion. The (front row l-r),
Jim Thompson, Cates Rowlf, Bob “Frenchy” Fontaine and Adrian J.
Morchinek; (second row l-r), Jesse Ledbetter, James Eads, Mel Earnest,
Ed Biza, Charles W. Scheetz, Robert Yablonsky; (back row l-r), Denton
Schultz, Bob Johnston, Bill Zimblich, Lee Herl.
BDN photo by Donna Clevenger

By Donna Clevenger
BDN Staff Writer
dclevenger@bransondailynews.com

The men who served during the Cold War may not have seen the drama from
World War II, but they still have valid stories to tell.

A
tight-knit group of soldiers of the Army’s 41st Tank Battalion who
served in Germany from 1956-1958 have been coming to Branson since 2001
for an annual reunion.

There was a lot of tension between the Soviets and the U.S. according to the men from the 41st.

Operation
Gyroscope was a plan to encourage draftees to re-enlist. However, most
of the men who attended the reunion this year only served their
18-month-long tour. As young 18-21 year olds, they were stationed in
Germany just 11 years after the end of World War II.

“It was
frightening,” Ed Biza, Company A cook, said. “I had celebrated my 21st
birthday. During the Hungarian Revolt, we were just a few minutes away
from the Russian military — everything was in a high state of alert.
When we thought about it — it was quite frightening.”

Biza said the Russians were formidable.

“Here we were, a bunch of kids, just fresh out of high school,” he said.

While
the men did not see active combat, they were in an area where both
sides remained on high alert and were fully armed at all times.

Others
in the group wanted to also talk about the good times. They admitted to
going out to check out the German girls. So what do they do each year?

“We talk about the good times,” Bob “Frenchy” Fontaine said.

Drinking
German beer for the first time was quite different. Most all of the
beer was brewed in a small brewery where there wasn’t much quality
control. The men laughed together recalling the shots they had to take
after most of them drank contaminated beer and suffered the
consequences. After laughter and camaraderie, they turned to more
serious talk as they spoke of a visit to Dachau, the first Nazi German
concentration camp opened.

“It had been 11 years, but you could still smell it,” Denton Schultz said.

Most agreed that the German people were tense and somewhat resentful of their presence.

“They wanted peace too,” Schultz said.

“They wanted what we could give them too,” Robert Yablonsky said.

Topic :   GOVERNOR PATERSON of New York Vetoes Cold War Medal for State Veterans

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Yesterday, July 8,  Governor David A. Paterson announced that he had signed 137 bills into law and vetoed  16 pieces of legislation.  

From the Office of the Governor of the State of New York,

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 8, 2008

Governor Signs 137 Bills into Law, Vetos  16

GOVERNOR PATERSON SIGNS 137 BILLS INTO LAW INCLUDING MAJOR REDEVELOPMENT IN CATSKILLS AND ENHANCED ID THEFT PROTECTION

Enacted Laws Include Increase in Penalties for Price Gouging, Anti-Traffic Congestion Measures, and Enhanced Government OpennessSeveral Bills Will Directly Help New York Military Members Both Abroad and Upon Their Return Home

Governor Also Vetoes Sixteen Pieces of Legislation

Cold War Medal (A. 5156)- Seeks to authorize a medal for veterans of the Cold War.

Reason: Would have a cost of possibly $18 million. Also, this issue was raised in the US Congress in 1998 and was not authorized.

Re :   Attention Members

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I agree we have to keep up the pressure. As I have stated many times, email, fax, phone your senators
ask them to cosponsor S.1097 and then contact your senators and representatives ask them to introduce
an amendment to the NDAA 2009.

I get them at least once a week. I also get all members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, asking them
to pass the bill out of committee and onto the senate floor.

Jerry

Topic :   The George 1 Recovery Project Lou Sapienza of the George 1 Antarctic Recovery Project Executi

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The George 1 Recovery Project

Lou
Sapienza of the George 1 Antarctic Recovery Project Executive Director
sent this info to me today ACWV supports this project whole heartedly
please check out their website and support The George 1 Recovery
Project.



The George 1 Recovery Project is
committed to the recovery of the remains of three U.S. Navy aviators
who died when their flying boat — a Martin PBM-5 Mariner codenamed
"George 1" — crashed in Antarctica on December 30, 1946. The George 1
was participating in Admiral Richard Byrd's "Operation Highjump"
expedition.

The three Navy aviators — the first American servicemen to die in Antarctica — were buried under one of George 1's engines:

* Ensign Max Lopez, 20, of Newport, Rhode Island

* Petty Officer Bud Hendersin, 25, of Sparta, Wisconsin

* Petty Officer Fred Williams, 26, of Huntingdon, Tennessee

The plane and the men's remains are now about 150 feet below the surface of the ice on Antarctica's infamous Phantom Coast.

An
experienced polar recovery team is preparing to retrieve the George 1 —
and to carefully and respectfully return the remains of Max Lopez, Bud
Hendersin, and Fred Williams to their families.

Topic :   Attention Members

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I have just started a Cosponsor Campaign

I am blitzing the Senate with faxes and I need you guys to start calling emailing to push home message.

Senate contact info here: Congressional Directory


http://www.congress.org/congressorg/directory/congdir.tt

Topic :   VA Watchdog picked up Sean's article

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http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfaug08c/nf082808-1.htm


Good press guys! Add your comments to this thread!

Keep up the pressure!

Scott L'Ecuyer

Topic :   Another Article on NBC Newsvine

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  You can read and comment on it here
http://jerterw.newsvine.com/_news/2008/08/27/1793273-are-some-veterans-more-deserving

This is national stuff so if you post a reply it will be seen.

I will also post it here for you to view.

Are Some Veterans More Deserving?

Why does it seem that "Combat Veterans, or "Foreign Service", "wartime" veterans are treated differently than non-combat vets?

Some of the Veterans Service Organizations view most of the Cold War Veterans with disdain. If you were not actually shot at, or fired your weapon you are not
considered a veteran. You are more or less a second class citizen of the world of veterans.

This has left millions of â??Cold Warriorsâ? out in the cold. Many of the VA benefits and assistance are predicated on war time or combat conditions. Which means most of those who served during the Cold War and not eligible, and can not receive the care that was promised when we signed our lives over to the government.

Yes, Korea and Vietnam were hot spots, as were the Congo, Haiti, the Berlin Airlift, Cuba, and many other places. The Fulda Gap where our forces faced overwhelming odds, other spots around the world, and those stationed stateside in support activities all helped in maintaining peace and freedom.

Each and everyone who served in the military at any time face the uncertainty of what might happen next. The Cold War Veteran was no different, or maybe we were.

The stress of sitting on a nuclear missile silo, or flying a SAC plane, or in a submarine off the coast of Russia was a real and frightening feeling. All the drills and practice, loading missiles and getting up to the point of pushing the final button, never sure if it was just a drill or was it real.

Senator McCain in his recent speech before the VWF Convention talked at length about the members of the VFW being war veterans, he also mentioned his own war experience. He also mentioned â??eligibleâ? veterans, which at this point in time
Mean combat or war time veterans.

Does he mean to include the Cold War Veterans in this? His proposal for a new updated, and enlarged VA with faster service for veterans, along with his Veterans Care Access Card sounds like a good idea. Will it be extended to all of our countryâ??s past veterans? Will it include the Cold War Vets?

He made no mention of the Cold War during this speech, although he has used it in the past. The American Cold War Veterans have asked if he would support the bill now in the Senate Armed Services Committee, S.1097 The Cold War Medal Act 2007. We have also asked if the good Senator would consider a presidential executive order to provide a Cold War Victory Medal to all who served honorably during the Cold War.

As of this date there has been no response to our questions. Does Senator McCain also consider the Cold War Veteran as something from the past he would rather not think about? Does he also look at Cold War Veterans as some group of wannabes?

Did our service to our country mean nothing? Are we to be pushed in the dark and forgotten corner of history?

Ask your children, or even some of your friends what was the Cold War, what was it about. They do no know, it is not something taught in school. You might get an answer like â??oh it was a war fought in the cold weatherâ?. Or you might just get a blank stare and shrug of the shoulders.

We as a nation can not and must not forget the Cold War and how close all out Nuclear War actually was.

As a group we The American

Re :   NDAA for Fiscal Year 2009

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Reply to Guest from 8/27:

My first guess is that you are not from New York State. If that is true, you received a canned response that the very lowest of staff had to handle or an auto response.

My next gut check says she won't be thinking about much in the way of legislation, even her own, until the elections are over. Insiders think she'll try to make health care her very own and quietly stay away from other legislation. Sounds about right.

Lastly, did you take to heart the message and try to contact your own Senators?

Re :   NDAA for Fiscal Year 2009

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  I contacted Senator Clinton about the Cold War Medal and her reply was to contact my states    Senator,    I    got a feeling she wasn't concerned, maybe she is upset at not being nominated for President. 
  In any case it doesn't seem as she  is very interested in helping us.
 

Re :   Russia to freeze cooperation with NATO

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Well it looks like the US blinked, they diverted the CG Cutter from Poti to a port down the coast because of  Russkies in the area.

A little research shows about 85,000 US military in all of Europe, hardly enough to even defend Georgia. When I think of the amount of personnel in the field in the late fifties I just shake my head. We cannot afford a cold war just like Russia in 1991. All we have today is nuclear weapons to face Russia. We are financially broke, no one wants to pay taxes, just charge it on a credit card. Unfortunately our credit has just about topped out. Russia now has oil and money in their pocket. Their military is large and rested and NATO is just about useless...

 

Sleep well...

Jon

Topic :   Cold War veterans earned honor

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Cold War veterans earned honor

By Bruce Coulter
Tue Aug 26, 2008, 04:26 PM EDT


Burlington -



Hours
after Russian troops responded to Georgia’s attempt to repatriate – by
force – the breakaway republic of South Ossetia, political observers
pondered the possibility of a second Cold War.

In fact, even
after a truce – brokered by France – was signed, Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev has shown little interest in pulling back troops beyond
a snail’s pace.

Adding fuel to the Cold War fires was Poland’s
agreement allowing the United States to stage a missile interceptor
base to protect U.S. allies from rogue states. The agreement prompted a
warning from Russian Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, who said Poland was
opening itself to attack.

If Russia’s actions and words sound familiar, they should – at least to anyone over the age of 40.

The
first Cold War began Sept. 2, 1945, almost as soon as the final curtain
closed on World War II. For the next 46 years, the former Soviet Union
and the United States eyed each other cautiously, all the while playing
a game of cat and mouse. The Cold War era officially ended Dec. 26,
1991.

Sean Eagan, the recently elected chairman of the American
Cold War Veterans (ACWV), said in the four-plus decades of the Cold
War, approximately 382 American service members lost their lives in
hostile actions.

He believes that number is much higher. It does
not, he said, include the 31 Americans killed during the Berlin
Airlift, or the losses aboard the USS Liberty, when 34 servicemen were
killed and 173 wounded during an attack by Israeli forces, as well as
numerous other incidents that took place during Cold War.

“We
had a lot of people serve in a lot of dangerous places other than Korea
and Vietnam,” he said. “There were 40 aircraft shot down and 116
soldiers missing in action from the Cold War.”

The ACWV was
organized a year ago this month and membership, Eagan said, is
increasing as more veterans become aware of the group.

“We’re new and we’re growing,” he said.

Despite being in its infancy, ACWV wasted little time approaching members of Congress to act on its behalf.

The
group is urging Congress to honor the men and women who served during
the Cold War with the issuance of a Cold War Service Medal.

Last
year, U. S. Sen. Hillary Clinton introduced Senate Bill S. 1097, the
Cold War Medal Act of 2007, which, if passed, would be awarded to
servicemen and women who served between Sept. 2, 1945 and Dec. 26,
1991, and received an honorable discharge from the military.

Sens.
Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. and Mary Landrieu, D-La., Blanche Lincoln,
D-Ark., and Maine Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins have
signed on as cosponsors.

A previous bill was passed in the
Senate and House in 2001, but lawmakers left issuance of the medal up
to the Department of Defense, which has steadfastly refused to issue
such a medal. Rather, DOD opted to issue a Cold War Certificate, which
will no longer be issued at the end of the year.

U. S. Rep. Nick
Rahall of West Virginia last year introduced H.R. 1900 – a bill to
expand the retirement and disability pension benefits of people who
have received an expeditionary medal in operations that weren’t covered
in a VA-recognized wartime period. It’s a bill supported by ACWV.

“Too
often, when thes

Re :   VFW SUPPORT

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Jim Weller started this thread I'm guessing to solicit feedback and sentiment regarding the VFW and their support for the CWVM. You can really feel the tone changing reading the recent comments. No one is lying or exaggerating regarding qualifiers for membership but it seems like "sour grapes". The VFW is a wonderful organization with a unique charter. They alone have the right to determine their future. I have chosen not to join the VFW because I am overly committed to other Veteran endeavours and a bigger reason is I don't think being a sailor with a KDSM is what they had in mind when they opened up membership for the servicemen who earned a KDSM. I'm thinking something between Seoul and the 38th, the front line of deterrence if you will.

Anyway, to be perfectly clear, the majority of those polled a few years ago understand the value of the Cold Warriors and would like to include them as members. They also support a Cold War Foreign Service Medal. That seems a little disingenuous to me. They could easily support any Cold War medal but chose to support one that would be potentially beneficial to them regarding membership. Just as a WW II Victory Medal is not a qualifier, neither would a Cold War Victory Medal be a qualifier.

What ever path the VFW takes, it is of their own choosing as it should be. We can not afford to alienate any VSO for an ideological difference. Remember, their history and their leadership are entrenched in the past. Change will come slowly but it will happen. It might be financial reasoning that gets them off their current path. It won't be long  before the old war horses of WWII and Korea will be gone or in numbers too small to influence the future. The current crop of eligible Veterans from Gulf War I and the current sequel, Gulf War II (OIF and OEF) are starting careers and families and won't be ready to join until they are in their forties or later. That will leave a giant hole in the numbers, one easily filled by those of you that served overseas or at sea during the Cold War. Will it ever happen? Can't say but if we have members who are in the VFW, they need to keep our goals alive and in front of the VFW members so they don't forget.

Re :   VFW SUPPORT

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You could be stationed on Guantanomo Bay as a clerk;  non-combat zone, be awarded the GWTEM and be eligible to join the VFW.  You could be deployed in the Phillipines in special services by bartending in the officers club, be awarded the GWTEM for "support operations" and be eligible to join the VFW.  You could have been in Berlin in 1979 "peacetime Conditions" no Combat war going on, be a cook, receive the Occupation medal, and be able to join the VFW.  Or you could have been on a nuclear sub during the 1980's in the quartemaster section, be issued the SSNB award  under "peacetime" conditions" and be eligible to join the VFW.  One does not have to be in a designated combat zone to be able to join the VFW.  Even people who are computer specialists in Iraq, working in air conditioned tents in summer and heated tents in winter, exempted from all other duties; guard duty, KP, CQ, etc. who are out of harms way are eligible to join the VFW.  I am not indicating that people who are eligible to join the VFw under the above stated conditions should be denied continued membership in the VFW.  But I cannot help but take this on a personal level about guy's like myself who were deployed on the Iron Curtain with a Combat MOS in the Artillery-Anti-aircraft who had a job to shoot down hostile Warsaw pact aircraft who flew over the Iron Curtain in the Fulda Gap region.  Many of us did 12,18,24,30 month tours there straight without a single service ribbon to honor our deployment there.  The DoD states that there was "no significance" to award former drafted soldiers like myself any type of service medal whatsoever  for being deployed there from 1972-73.  If there was "no significance" for GI's to be there, then what would  be the DoD's "significance" for keeping all those ground combat troops there on alert, 24/7?    I have yet to get an answer from the DoD on this issue.  There had to be a reason as to why I would have had to be there.  No organization seems to know.    I feel that despite all our efforts to see a CWSM become reality, I do not feel that it will ever happen.  The DoD has an answer for every question you have regarding this medal.    I also feel that the American Legion and the VFW can only do so much to show support for this medal.  They only have so much power.  Maybe when there are only about a thousand of us cold war vet's still around, then the bands will play, speeches made, hand shakes, pats on the back, when the survivors are 90 years old or older, then you might see a CWSM.  Just my two cents.

Re :   VFW SUPPORT

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Responding to the "most of us have been in combat" argument, every siruation seems to be a little bit different.  Korea had a point system for rotation home during the war, and you could get home twice as fast if you were north of the KCOMZ line.  Later, during the korea Defense period, it was a flat 13 months without dependents.  I do recall one summer day, we were sitting on the patio at the 8th Army Golf Club, having our steaks and beer,  watching ROK Army troops do parachute jumps over the Han River floodplain, our colonel turned to me and said, "Today, I qualified for the AFEM."  That day, he also qualified for the VFW.

That yeoman on the supply ship may have gotten the Vietnam service medal for being a yeoman on a supply ship, and the VFW welcomes him.  Bullets flying over your head?  Hey, somebody has to be a REMF, or the troops run out of ammo and the planes run out of fuel.  How many of the crew on a typical aircraft carrier ever saw a combat zone?  But their pilots did.

Re :   Dozens remember facing the Cold War nuclear threat

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Is it possible, to see some photos inside the bunker.?


Xom

Topic :   Dozens remember facing the Cold War nuclear threat

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http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/s_584610.html


Scott L'Ecuyer

Topic :   Cold War museum Stevnsfort in Denmark

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http://www.stevnsfortet.dk/