Posted on 11/18/2009 00:53:07
We actually do have post cards printed you can see one on the main website. If you want some contact
Dr. Frank Tims, he will be glad to send you some that you can use.
Jerry
Posted on 11/16/2009 13:52:15
From the US Report
American Hero Lewis Millett, Medal of Honor recipient passes. Leaving 93 living recipients.
http://www.theusreport.com/the-us-report/medal-of-honor-recipient-lewis-millett-hero-of-battle-of-bay.html
Medal of Honor recipient Lewis Millett, hero of Battle of Bayonet Hill, passes
DateMonday, November 16, 2009 at 08:38AM
by Chris Carter
Capt. Louis L. Millett, 88, Medal of Honor recipient, passed away Nov. 14 in Loma Linda, Calif.[Photo from Crushing Chris}
In
1940, Lewis L. "Red" Millett, a 17 year old native of Mechanic Falls,
Maine, dropped out of high school and joined the Army Air Corps in
order to fight the increasing fascist threat in Europe. But when
President Roosevelt stated that the U.S. would not be entering the war,
Millett decided to become a deserter and head to Canada - not to avoid
combat, but to seek it out as part of the Canadian army. He was sent to
London where he served as an anti-aircraft gunner during the Nazi's
"Blitz" bombing campaign.
"I deeply believe that if you're a
free man, then you should stand up and support freedom wherever it is,"
Millett said during an interview on the 2003 PBS documentary American
Valor.
When the U.S. joined the war in 1942, Millet was able to
transfer back to the American Army. Joining the 1st Armored Division,
Millett earned the Silver Star - the nation's third-highest award for
valor - for his actions in North Africa. He also fought at Salerno and
Anzio, but the paperwork of his desertion caught up to Millett, who was
court-martialed, demoted to private, and fined $52.
However following his punishment, Millett received a battlefield promotion to second lieutenant and a Bronze Star.
Then
on Feb. 7, 1951 during the Korean War, Millett - who had been promoted
to Captain - was leading an under-strength company of 27th Infantry
Regiment "Wolfhounds" against a strongly held enemy position on Hill
180, which is now part of Osan Air Base in South Korea.
"The
Chinese had put out the word that we were afraid of bayonets," Millett
told Stars and Stripes in a 1975 interview. "'Americans afraid of
bayonets' is just ridiculous, I thought, so I intended to prove a
point."
During the attack, one of Millett's platoons became
pinned down by small-arms, automatic, and "buffalo gun" anti-tank fire.
Millett ordered another platoon forward, telling his men to "Fix
bayonets and follow me!"
Despite being wounded by a grenade
blast, Millett charged forward - firing his rifle, throwing grenades,
and striking enemies with his rifle and bayonet. When Millett reached a
three-man buffalo gun emplacement, he killed all three with his
bayonet. Once at the top of the hill, Millett waved his rifle over his
head, encouraging his men by shouting "Grenades and cold steel!" -
while still fighting the enemy.
Millett's charge was so
effective that the remaining Communist forces fled, but not before 47
North Korean and Chinese soldiers lay dead, 18 of which had been killed
by bayonets.
Capt. Millett was awarded the Medal of Honor - the
nation's highest decoration for valor - for his actions on Hill 180,
which came to be known as the Battle of Bayonet Hill.
"I was
surprised, I never expected it," Millett told Stars and Stripes. "Of
course, a lot of real fine people had to die so that a few might get
decorated. There's an awful lot of men who lie buried over here, and
the only recognition they received was the purple heart."
Lewis
L. Millett, 88, passed away Saturday morning in Loma Linda, Calif. His
passing means that only 93 living recipients of America's Medal of
Honor remain.
In Sept. 2010, the Medal of Honor Society will
hold its national convention in Charleston, S.C., giving Americans the
opportunity to honor those like Lewis Millett who have given so much
for this country.
We mourn the passing of a great American Hero who fought in WWII, Korea and Vietnam.
Among his awards are:
Medal of Honor
Distinguished Service Cross
Silver Star
Legion of Merit (3)
Bronze Star
Purple Heart (4)
Croix de Guerre (France)
Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry
Posted on 11/12/2009 21:24:29
I agree it has been moved off the main page, but the way I am looking at; still active, and the list shown
is in reverse chronological order of closing dates.
Not sure if it means anything or not, and questions to P&R, Legislative Affairs and Public Affairs go unanswered. Surprise!
Posted on 11/11/2009 04:31:19
Well I am getting better from my surgery, still a little sore. There were actually 4 places she fixed, I thought it was only 2. My meds are starting to work a bit and am fighting my way out of the depression.
Sun will shine again as I walk away from that dark hole.
Jerry
Posted on 11/11/2009 04:27:38
First Jon let me say Thank You for what you did. Getting the word out like that brings it to the attention of a lot of
people.
I stopped reading the posts on there, way too many negative posts on any subject. I agree with you that it is a shame that so many vets do not care about each other.
Jerry
Posted on 11/08/2009 00:20:37
I sent a thank you to Congressman Wilson the same day that I noticed the bill.
I did attempt another contact today asking that he cosponsor the House bill, and consider offering an amendment that would bring the bill more in line with other medals issued in the past and to include Reserve/Guard duty.
Since he was a 31 year member of the SC Reserve/Guard it might strike a note with him.
And once again I invite you all to contact your Representatives and ask them to do the same.
We were by no means attempting to cut anyone off at the knees, or ignore your service. We all wore the uniform,
we all deserve the recognition.
Jerry
Posted on 11/07/2009 12:19:19
WE are getting press on this. AP picked it up and USA Today, press releases from Sen. Webb, Sen. Lincoln, Sen. Landrieu all in their local papers.
So lets all send copies of the press release to your local papers, tv, radio stations.
Jerry
Posted on 11/07/2009 04:04:20
Well gang, it was a hard battle to get it done this way. A lot of resistance in the other camps. I tried for 18 months and that was a no-go. Sorry did what I could but it seemed like this or nothing. Emails and phone calls back and
forth.
We knew that a lot would be disappointed, I will take my thirty lashes.
Maybe someone else can convince their senator to make an amendment to change it. Give it a shot, all they can do is say no.
Posted on 11/06/2009 22:20:40
As Sean said, it was a battle and there was give and take on both sides. Working with Senator Snowe's staff
was a pleasure and the best we could do was the 24 months or the overseas.
Joe Sixeas worked with the cosponsors staff members to bring about the least amount of opposition from
those concerned.
I know it will be hard for some members to accept this. We take the best, and there is always hope that in the
future the time line can be changed and made retroactive .
I did my best and to some my best just wasn't good enough; but we will still keep trying to make it more equitable to everyone.
Jerry
Posted on 11/05/2009 16:42:23
I just had a phone call from the Washington office of Maine Senator Snowe who today introduced the bill today. I do not have the
bill nu;mber yet but here is the press release
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
CONTACT: Julia Wanzco (Snowe)
November 5,
2009
202.224.1304
Kimberly Hunter (Webb)
202.228.5258
Leah Vest DiPietro (Lincoln)
202.224.4843
Rob Sawicki (Landrieu)
202.224.0084
Snowe, Webb, Lincoln, Landrieu Announce Bill to Honor
Cold War Veterans
WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S.
Senators Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), Jim Webb (D-Va.), Blanche Lincoln
(D-Ark.), and Mary Landrieu (D-La.) today introduced the Cold War Service
Medals Act of 2009, bipartisan legislation to authorize the secretaries of
the military departments to award Cold War Service Medals to American
veterans. To date, no medal exists to honor the men and women who served
and defended the United States during the Cold War.
“From the end of World War II to
dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Cold War veterans were in the
vanguard of the Nation’s defenses,” said Senator Snowe. “Although
long overdue, this legislation will honor and recognize the American patriots
who for nearly half-a-century defended the Nation against the advance of
communist ideology in the form of the Cold War Service Medal. The commitment,
motivation, and fortitude of these brave service members was second to none and
their actions should be recognized in a long-standing military custom befitting
their patriotism and service.”
“The millions of Americans who served in uniform in the
armed forces during the Cold War, spanning more than four decades, were the
living embodiment of our nation’s strategy of deterrence,” said Senator Webb.
“In their efforts to preserve peace, hundreds died during isolated armed
confrontations when the Cold War flashed hot at remote locations around the
world. This legislation will appropriately honor those who served in an effort
that resulted in the largest single expansion in the number of democratically
elected governments in world history.”
“America’s
Cold War veterans deserve every honor we can bestow upon them for their hard
work and dedication to keeping our nation safe,” Senator Lincoln said.
“The Cold War Service Medal would allow military service
members, veterans, and their families to receive the recognition and honor they
rightfully deserve. I
will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure our veterans receive the
support and care they and their families need. It’s the least we can do
as a grateful nation.”
“For 46 years, we were engaged in
a worldwide battle against communism,” said Senator Landrieu.
“During that time, there were countless heroes, who served in our nation’s
Armed Forces and played a critical role in America’s triumph. These men
and women, who sacrificed so much for so many, deserve to be awarded the Cold
War Service Medal in recognized of their faithful service to their country and
tireless defense of freedom around the world.”
Specifically, the Cold War Service Medal Act of 2009
would allow the Defense Department to issue a Cold War Service Medal to any
honorably discharged veteran who served on active duty for not less than two
years or was deployed for thirty days or more during the period from September
2, 1945, to December 26, 1991. In the case of those veterans who are now
deceased, the medal could be issued to their family or representative, as
determined by the Defense Department. The bill would also express the
sense of Congress that the Secretary of
Defense should expedite the design of the medal and expedite the establishment
and implementation mechanisms to facilitate the issuance of the Cold War
Service Medal. The award of the Cold War Service Medal is supported by the
American Cold War Veterans, the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars,
and other veterans’ services organizations.
As soon as I get the bill number I will post it here.
Jerry
Posted on 11/05/2009 02:17:56
A longtime supporter and friend of Cold War Veterans, Congressman Joe Wilson has introduced a bill recognizing all Cold War Veterans on the anniversary of the Fall of The Berlin Wall
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. CON. RES. 207
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the victory of the United States in The Cold War and the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 3, 2009
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Congress regarding the victory of the United States in The Cold War and the Fall of the Berlin Wall.
Whereas The Cold War was an enduring struggle between
totalitarian communism and democratic capitalism throughout the second
half of the 20th century;
Whereas an estimated 24,000,000 members of the United States Armed Forces served during The Cold War;
Whereas 400,000,000 people were freed from the bondage of
communism during The Cold War in the countries then known as the Soviet
Union, East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, and
Bulgaria;
Whereas 139,000,000 people were freed from the bondage of
communism during The Cold War in the former Soviet Republics, in
countries now known as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia,
Kazakhstan, Krygyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan;
Whereas the events surrounding the Fall of the Berlin Wall and
the end of The Cold War ignited the political transition to democracy
in Yugoslavia, Albania, Mongolia, Thailand, Cambodia, Mozambique,
Benin, Ethiopia, Angola, and the Congo;
Whereas the victory of the United States in The Cold War
signifies freedom and security and opportunity for the formerly
oppressed, and will continue to do so for decades to come;
Whereas the Fall of the Berlin Wall, one of the most
significant events of the 20th century, symbolized the triumph of
democratic capitalism over totalitarian communism; and
Whereas, November 9, 2009, will mark the 20th anniversary of this historic event: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That it is the sense of the Congress that the Nation should celebrate
the victory of the United States in The Cold War and the 20th
anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall by--
(1) promoting education about The Cold War and its historical significance;
(2) celebrating peace, freedom, and the principles of democratic government;
(3) honoring and reflecting upon the role of the United
States in the international struggle for individual human rights and
the evolution of the free enterprise system; and
(4) recognizing the veterans who served during The Cold War.
Now if we could convince his to issue a Cold War Medal in the House it might be a big help.
Posted on 11/03/2009 15:09:29
November 3, 2009 A
new report from the inspector general in the Department of Veterans
Affairs finds that the VA Medical Center in Marion, Ill., continues to
be plagued by quality management and patient care problems some two
years after a suspicious spike in the number of post-surgical patient
deaths there.
A 2008 investigation found that at least nine
patients died because of surgical mistakes and poor post-surgical care
at the VA hospital in Marion, which is in southern Illinois. That
report made recommendations to improve conditions at the facility.
The
new report finds poor quality management oversight, inconsistencies in
the way patient deaths are reported and continuing problems with
ensuring patient safety — including the discovery that surgeons were
performing procedures they were not authorized to handle.
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) calls the findings "appalling."
"It
is inexcusable that after more than two years of adjustments and
reviews, Marion VA is still failing our veterans in quality of care,"
he says in a press release. "This cannot and must not continue."
Durbin
and other members of the state's congressional delegation, including
Sen. Roland Burris (D-IL), and Reps. John Shimkus (R-IL) and Jerry
Costello (D-IL), sent a sharply worded letter to Veterans Affairs
Secretary Eric Shinseki in which they demanded that VA management be
held accountable for the problems at the Marion facility.
A
suspicious spike in post-surgical patient deaths between October 2006
and August 2007 led the VA to abruptly suspend surgical operations at
the Marion VA Medical Center. NPR reported
the story of a Kentucky woman whose husband died suddenly after what
was considered to be relatively minor surgery for gallstones.
In
January 2008, the VA's inspector general found that the surgical unit
in the VA Medical Center in Marion was in complete disarray, with
doctors performing surgeries they weren't qualified to perform.
Hospital administrators were found to respond slowly, if at all, to
complaints or problems when they surfaced.
Serious quality
management and care problems were found in the surgical unit's
preoperative care, intraoperative care and postoperative care. The
inspector general's report found that the deaths of at least nine
patients were "directly attributable" to surgical mistakes and
substandard care at the Marion VA hospital. More than a dozen
additional patients suffered serious harm because of such mistakes,
according to the inspector general's report, and as many as 10
additional patients may have died because of poor care at Marion.
One
surgeon in particular, Dr. Jose Veizaga-Mendez, was found to be prone
to committing surgical errors and failing to correct his mistakes. He
had been hired by the VA despite surrendering his license in
Massachusetts while under investigation for malpractice there.
Shinseki
has agreed to meet with members of the Illinois delegation on Wednesday
to discuss the ongoing problems at the Marion VA Medical Center.
Jerry
Posted on 11/03/2009 14:53:35
VA to lay out plan to end veterans’ homelessness in 3 day summit
Recieved from VA–
Today, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki will lay out
his plan to end homelessness among Veterans within five years at the
National Summit on Ending Veteran Homelessness. The first of its kind
summit is drawing more than 1,200 homeless Veteran service providers
and advocates from federal and state agencies, faith-based and
community service providers and the business community. Media advisory
attached and below.
This summit, from Nov. 3-5, will be an unprecedented gathering of
government, business and community service providers. Secretary
Shinseki will address the group at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at the
Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C. This is an opportunity to
build support for combating homelessness and to increase community
partnerships.
In his address, Secretary Shinseki will be outlining his framework for the plan to get Veterans off the streets, including preventing
Veterans from becoming homeless in the first place. Preventative
measures include discharge planning for incarcerated Veterans
re-entering society and a national referral center to link Veterans to
local service providers. The Post-9/11 GI Bill will help steer folks
into classrooms and off the streets. Secretary Shinseki will also be
speaking about VA’s partnership with the Department of Housing and
Urban Development, the HUD-VASH program. Through this program, HUD
provided 10,150 HUD-VASH housing vouchers for homeless Veterans in
2008, and the program is expanding to get more Veterans off the streets
in 2010. Of course, VA will continue expanded efforts to provide
education, jobs, health care and housing.
Posted on 11/03/2009 11:29:39
A very good article
From the Clark County Conservative
http://lewwaters.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/unsung-heroes-that-won-the-cold-war/Unsung Heroes That Won The Cold War
By lewwaters
Once
again we prepare to honor those who have served in all of our wars,
paying special homage to those who did not return from our wars. Nearly
all of us who served in combat zones over our history view those whose
names are etched in stone on the many Veterans Memorials as the true
heroes of our conflicts.
Viet Nam is labeled as “America’s
Longest War” due to our involvement in that country from 1950 to the
fall of Saigon in 1975. That 25 years pales when considering that after
World War Two, we began engagement in a much longer war, but a more
quiet war, a war where our Troops did not fire weapons at the enemy but
stood at the ready nonetheless, training for a battle that never
materialized.
The “Cold War” was fought with political conflict,
military tension, and economic competition with the increasingly
threatening build up of the most brutal weapons known to mankind that
never were used.
That war lasted 46 years, 1945 to 1991 and was
manned by many millions of heroes who often fought boredom in lonely
outposts in the Arctic, walked along a fenced border in Europe or flew
many hours circling in pre-staging areas armed with nuclear weapons
awaiting the order to return any attack against our nation from the
very formidable enemy we fought against, the Soviet Union and the
oppressive stranglehold that ideology had on so many European countries
as they attempted to spread their influence on peaceful nations.
East German Fence
While
the world sat on the brink of nuclear annihilation and moved as close
as it ever has during the early 1960’s, it never saw the feared nuclear
confrontation between the two superpowers, in spite of our engagements
in both the Korean and Viet Nam wars.
On November 9, 1989 the
world witnessed the beginning of the end of the Soviet Empire as a wall
built to divide the city of Berlin Germany came crumbling down, opened
by citizens of the divided city who longed to be free and to freely
visit relatives who lived on the free side of the city.
President
Ronald Reagan’s infamous speech where he uttered the ominous words,
“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall” two years earlier, saw their
fulfillment. The wall dividing Berlin and the fence dividing the
country opened up and freedom returned to that half of the country.
By December 1991, the world watched as the Soviet Union itself collapsed
Much
credit was given to President Reagan for winning the Cold War, with
some preferring to grant credit to President Jimmy Carter for starting
the collapse in the late 1970’s.
Truth be known, all presidents
who came along during the time of the Cold War continued policies set
in motion by President Harry S. Truman shortly after World War Two. It
was he who initiated the Berlin Airlift in 1948 to break the blockade
of Berlin initiated by the Soviets to force allied powers out.
While
we tend to give accolades to presidents and generals for victories, it
is the hard work and extraordinary efforts of the common soldiers and
officers who flew those planes, loaded and unloaded them and who
directed aircraft safely in and out of Berlin that broke the blockade.
Likewise,
as we feared invasions from communist nations close and far away or
nuclear annihilation from ICBM attacks, it was the common soldiers who
again manned sub-freezing temperatures across the northern hemisphere
in lonely radar stations in what was called the DEW Line that kept
vigil should a Soviet launch begin.
It was common men and women
who sat in offices in front of monitors and screens watching 24 hours a
day 7 days a week in undisclosed locations watching for any warning
sign of a pending attack.
It was ordinary people who joined a
peace-time Air Force and who manned bombers armed with nuclear weapons
circling the edges of our nation 24 hours a day 7 days a week, leaving
their posts only when a relief flight came up top take over.
It
was people from all over the country, all races, all colors,
descendants of all nationalities who enlisted out of high school or
answered the call of the nation in the draft and who served their two
years along the borders of Europe, the DMZ of South Korea, Japan, the
Philippine Islands and lonely posts spread across the globe and
prepared to fight off any enemy that would be foolish enough to try to
conquer our nation from outside.
Some of these same people
joined in the silent service of our Naval Forces, above and below the
surface of the world’s oceans who, like the Air Force’s Strategic Air
Command kept constant vigil far away from their homes to keep America
and her inhabitants safe from oppression.
Many protected those
of my generation who fought in Viet Nam and those who served elsewhere
as we grew into adults and learned from their sense of duty to stand up
to the oppression of communism and carry forth their vigilance.
As
we approach this 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, it is
to those Cold War Warriors who never had to face the enemy head-on, who
didn’t have the chance to earn medals of valor, who may have never
collected hazardous duty pay, but stood at the ready should they have
been called that I dedicate this Veterans Day to this year.
It is to their service and sacrifice that supplied the deterrent we all took for granted that I recognize this year.
Whenever
we may feel their contribution to our greatness as a nation was not
worth as much as ours, remember the famous photo from 1961 of the East
German Soldier leaping across the wire in Berlin to the free west as
the city was being divided by the communists.
East German Soldier Leaping
To
all my brothers and sisters who served throughout the Cold War,
standing watch on cold and miserable nights around the world, well
done. Your steadfastness and readiness is what won the Cold War. Your
combat may have been boredom, but you stood watch, keeping America
safe, always at the ready.
“A veteran – whether active duty,
retired, national guard, or reserve – is someone who, at one point in
his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to The ‘United States
of America’, for an amount of ‘up to and including my life.’” (Author
unknown)
Thank you too all who served.
Posted by:
Jerald Terwilliger
National Chairman
American Cold War Veterans, Inc.
"We Remember"
Posted on 10/30/2009 10:00:40
Putin Recalls Fall of Berlin Wall in New Documentary
By Nikolaus von Twickel
The St. Petersburg Times
|
First Person
Vladimir Putin in 1985
|
MOSCOW
— Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin has publicly recalled how he personally contributed to
this turn in history as a Soviet spy in East Germany.
Putin
told veteran NTV reporter Vladimir Kondratyev in a half-hour interview
how he managed to calm down an angry crowd of East German protesters
outside the KGB headquarters in Dresden in late 1989.
Putin
rose from obscurity to the country’s most popular politician in 1999,
serving as president from 2000 to 2008 and subsequently becoming prime
minister.
Kondratyev
said Wednesday that Putin had gladly recalled fond memories from his
days in Cold War Germany and acknowledged the inevitability of the
German Democratic Republic’s demise.
“He
was very relaxed and smiled a lot, yet he expressed a very clear
opinion about the fall of the wall — that what happened was bound to
happen,” Kondratyev told The Moscow Times.
Kondratyev
would not reveal how many minutes of his upcoming documentary film
“Stena” (“The Wall”) would be devoted to Putin, but he denied that the
prime minister was its main theme. “It is about the fall of the wall.
Putin is just one of many characters who will appear,” he said.
He said, however, that he would travel to Dresden later this week to shoot the introduction.
Putin’s
interview will be aired as part of the 50-minute film at 7:25 p.m on
NTV on Sunday, Nov. 8 — one day before the 20th anniversary of the fall
of the wall.
Putin
served as a KGB officer in Dresden, which was then a provincial outpost
so remote that locals could not receive West German television, from
1985 to 1990. His only brush with history there occurred on Dec. 5,
1989, almost a month after the wall fell.
After
storming the nearby local headquarters of the East German Secret
Police, or Stasi, protesters gathered outside his office building.
Public
information about Putin’s service in East Germany is scarce, and the
only reliable account is in “First Person,” a series of
autobiographical interviews published in 2000. Here, Putin recalled
how he met the crowd personally and told them in German that this was a
Soviet military organization. When people replied suspiciously that he
spoke German too well, “I told them I was a translator,” he said.
Kondratyev
said Putin gave no new account of those events, but the prime minister
made it clear that he understood at the time that the Soviet-inspired
division of Germany had no future.
“He said that the wall was all unnatural and that he thought that its fall meant the end of the GDR,” Kondratyev said.
In
“First Person,” Putin expressed his deep frustration about Moscow’s
waning power when he called Soviet military headquarters for help
against the protesters. “I was told that nothing could be done without
orders from Moscow. And Moscow is silent,” he said.
Eventually,
he said, military personnel did come and the crowd dispersed, but the
words “Moscow is silent” remained with him. Putin said he got the
feeling then that the Soviet Union had disappeared.
German
media have reported that one Soviet official threatened to shoot at
protesters, saying he was “a soldier until death,” and the quote was
later ascribed to Putin, although Putin never mentioned it and it was
never verified.
In
the NTV interview, Kondratyev said Putin suggested that the protesters
understood that the Stasi and not the Soviet Union should be the prime
target of their anger.
“He
spoke very positively about these events and stressed that
German-Russian relations subsequently achieved a new quality and
included a feeling of gratitude,” he said.
Under
Putin’s eight years as president, relations with Berlin flourished,
with Germany becoming both a key foreign investor and foreign policy
ally. That privileged partnership, as dubbed by the Kremlin, was
conceived under the close personal friendship between President Putin
and German Chancellor Gerhard Schr?der, and continues under their
successors, Dmitry Medvedev and Angela Merkel.
However, Putin’s record as a democratic leader has been debated in Dresden just as much as anywhere else in the West.
Wolfgang
Sch?like, head of the city’s German-Russian Culture Institute, said
Putin’s KGB background makes relations with him more complicated for
East Germans than for West Germans.
Since
the democratic upheaval of 1989, any record of employment or
cooperation with Communist security services is seen as an utter
disgrace, Sch?like said by telephone from Dresden. “The Stasi here is
the ultimate whipping boy,” he said.
He
noted that in today’s Germany it is unthinkable for people who once
worked for the secret police to take public office like Putin has done
in Russia. “Even kindergarten workers lost their jobs after it was
revealed that they had links to the Stasi,” he said.
Sch?like
said he credited Stanislav Tillich, prime minister of the local state
of Saxony, for striving to improve local relations with Moscow.
But
there was considerable outrage in local and national media when Tillich
handed a medal of honor to Putin in Dresden in January, at the height
of the gas war with Ukraine.
“And next year the medal will go to Colonel Gaddafi,” Antje Hermenau, a local leader of the Green party, said at the time.
n?Nearly
a quarter of Russians believe that there is a personality cult of Putin
in the country, according to a new poll by the independent Levada
Center. A total of 23 percent of respondents said they saw evidence for
this, an increase from 22 percent last year.
In
a sign that such tendencies can spill over as far as the United States’
West Coast, a media report said the Russian Bodybuilding Federation was
planning to present a bust of Putin to Californian Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger.
Alexander
Chernoshchyokov, a St. Petersburg-based sculptor, told Agence-France
Press that the bust was being created as a gift for the former
Hollywood bodybuilder and would be delivered in March. “Putin is such a
complex personality. He’s left no one indifferent,” Chernoshchyokov
told AFP.
Posted on 10/28/2009 22:33:09
It is with great sadness and regret that I report on the passing of Norman Treadway. An American Hero.
Norman
enlisted in New Jersey and was assigned to several Military Police (MP)
units during his tour in Korea. He faced danger many times and served
with honor and distinction.
It was through his tireless and never flagging fight that on 3 Feb 2004 the Secretary of Defense
approved implementing instructions and criteria for the Korea Defense Service Medal (KDSM) for
members of the Armed Services who have served in the Defense of Korea.
Authorization was retroactive from 28 July 1954 to a date to be
determined. Bringing about recognition for the "Forgotten War", and all
who served in defense of our friends in the Republic of Korea (ROK).
He was still fighting to have the US recognize a medal that the ROK had
designed and manufactured to honor their American friends and helpers.
The Republic of Korea Service Medal. Due to some arcane law, a medal
from another country can only be awarded to US military if the same
award is made available to that country's military. This medal was made
solely for Americans and was not offered to South Koreans.
I never met Norm, but I feel he is a brother in arms, a fellow veteran; and a man among men.
My deepest sympathy and personal condolences, as well as all those of
the American Cold WAr Veterans, to his family and many friends. He will
not be forgotten.
Jerald Terwilliger
National Chairman
American Cold War Veterans, Inc.
"We Remember"
Posted on 10/28/2009 10:52:28
I am very proud of the articles I read everyday concerning Honor Flight. Cities, counties and the nation are raising
funds to send WW II veterans to Washington to visit the WW II Memorial and then on to other monuments around
the DC area.
These fine, brave veterans many of whom are in wheelchairs and using crutches and canes only must pay their
own way to the airport for this free flight. For many of them, this could be their last chance to view the beautiful
memorial erected in their honor. One day there will be no more survivors of the great war.
We hope that one day very soon their will be a Cold War Veterans Memorial built before it is too late for us to see it.
Our numbers grow smaller everyday. The push for our medal, day or recognition and a memorial must continue and
it will come to fruition we will have our just due rewards.
Don't give up and never forget what you did.
Jerry
Posted on 10/28/2009 10:39:46
I am sitting here today with two new inserts in my insides. Lots of nice mesh to cover the hernias.
My primary care told me I had one, the surgeon at my first visit said there were two lingual one on each side.
The surgeon did a laproscopy fixed both sides at once. Rather sore today not moving real fast, but will be fine
in a day or two.
Onward and upward.
Jerry
Posted on 10/28/2009 10:23:43
My thoughts and prayers and deep condolences go to the family and friends of Norm Tredway. And to our good friends at KDVA
Jerry
