The FReeper Foxhole Profiles The VVA (Vietnam Veterans of America) - Feb. 8th, 2003

http://www.vva.org/ ^

[SAMWolf]

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VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA

WHO ARE THE VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA?

Founded in 1978, Vietnam Veterans of America, Inc. is the only national Vietnam veterans organization congressionally chartered and exclusively dedicated to Vietnam-era veterans and their families. VVA is organized as a not-for-profit corporation and is tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(19)of the Internal Revenue Service Code.



VVA'S FOUNDING PRINCIPLE

"Never again shall one generation of veterans abandon another."

GOALS

VVA's goals are to promote and support the full range of issues important to Vietnam veterans, to create a new identity for this generation of veterans, and to change public perception of Vietnam veterans.

OUR FIRST PRINCIPLE

VVA holds as its first principle that the organization is measured by deeds and openness as evidence of the core values of justice, integrity, and meaningful achievement.

ORGANIZATION

• Over 50,000 individual members.
• 43 state councils.
• 525 local chapters.
• national board of directors

SPECIAL PROGRAMS

• Government Relations Advocacy on the range of veterans issues.
• National Task Force for Homeless Veterans.
• Health care for veterans, including disabled veterans.
• Issues pertaining to women and minority veterans.
• National scholarship fund.
• Program providing assistance to veterans seeking benefits/services from the government.

FUNDING

Vietnam Veterans of America relies totally on private contributions for its revenue. VVA does not receive any funding from federal, state, or local governments.



ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Vietnam Veterans of America, the nation's largest and most successful Vietnam veterans organization, and the only Vietnam veterans organization chartered by Congress, is proud of what it has accomplished over the last twenty years. Those accomplishments are many and varied.
They include:

• Rebuilding the camaraderie of Vietnam-era veterans and providing a sense of self-worth and pride in service.
• Holding biennial National Leadership Conferences and National Conventions, which provide a forum for veterans and their families to interact with community leaders and their counterparts from across the country.
• Creating and maintaining our Vietnam Veterans Assistance Fund (VVAF), a philanthropic effort that provides financial assistance to VVA, its state councils, and its chapters.
• Taking the lead in working with homeless veterans, including sponsorships of national and local symposiums and stand-downs. Among many other milestones in this area, VVA worked with congressman Lane Evans to hold the first-ever hearing on homeless veterans in the House of Veterans Affairs committee in September of 1986.
• Developing a unique program as a national advocate for Vietnam veterans who were subsequently incarcerated, helping them gain access to VA benefits and services to which they are entitled.
• Leading the fight for full accounting of POW/MIAs for twenty years. We hold as a profound trust and obligation the responsibility to account for those American service members who remain unrepatriated, missing, or otherwise unaccounted for as a result of their service to our country during the Vietnam War.
• Initiating the successful Veterans Initiative program, a veteran-to-veteran effort that, since 1991, has promoted the direct exchange of information on unaccounted-for American servicemen and Vietnamese war casualties between American and Vietnamese veterans. The Veterans Initiative has produced measurable results towards full accounting on both sides.
• Taking the lead on women veterans' issues, including ensuring recognition of service access to benefits and appropriate medical treatment of women veterans in VA facilities.
• With "never again will one generation of veterans abandon another" as its founding principle, VVA has reached out to veterans of other conflicts, including providing office space and significant tangible support to the National Gulf War Resource Center.
• Single-handedly leading the fight for judicial review of disabled veterans' claims for benefits. The result: In 1988, Congress passed a law creating the U.S. Court of Veterans appeals. This allowed veterans to appeal VA benefits denials to a court and required VA to obey the rule of law.
• Spearheading a long and successful lobbying effort to establish and maintain the Vet Center program.
• Providing unwavering advocacy for congressional passage of laws supporting increased job training and job-placement assistance for unemployed and underemployed Vietnam-era veterans.
• Taking the lead on minority veterans' issues, including early and staunch support for the creation of the Center of Minority Veterans and the Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans Affairs.
• VVA has been the major force on the issue of Agent Orange for the past two decades. Our Nehmer v. Veterans Administration lawsuit, filed in 1986, forced the VA to begin compensating veterans with diseases linked to Agent Orange. VVA convinced Congress to pass the Agent Orange Act of 1991, which required the National Academy of Sciences to report on what diseases were related to Agent Orange. As a result, VA now pays compensation for nine such diseases.
• Being responsible for a 1996 law that, for the first time in our nation's history, provides medical care and compensation to the children of veterans whose parents suffer genetic damage from their military service-in this case Vietnam veterans' children with the birth defect spina bifida, which has been linked to their parents' exposure to Agent Orange.
• Running the Veterans Benefits Program, which provides education to veterans about government benefits to which they are entitled and trains individuals to represent veterans in their claims to secure benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Appeals.
• Consistently winning a higher percentage of cases at the VA's Board of Veteran's Appeals than any other veterans organization. VVA also has increased the number of cases they handle at the BVA, to an all-time high in FY 1998.

Click on the Logo to visit the VVA Site

[SAMWolf]

A SHORT HISTORY OF VVA



Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is the only national Vietnam veterans organization congressionally chartered and exclusively dedicated to Vietnam-era veterans and their families.

By the late 1970s, it was clear the established veterans groups had failed to make a priority of the issues of concern to Vietnam veterans. As a result, a vacuum existed within the nation's legislative and public agenda. In January 1978, a small group of Vietnam veteran activists came to Washington, D.C., searching for allies to support the creation of an advocacy organization devoted exclusively to the needs of Vietnam veterans. VVA, initially known as the Council of Vietnam Veterans, began its work. At the end of its first year of operation in 1979, the total assets were $46,506.

Council members believed that if the nation's attention was focused on the specific needs of Vietnam veterans, a grateful nation would quickly take remedial steps. However, despite persuasive arguments before Congress, which were amplified by highly supportive editorials printed in many leading American newspapers, they failed to win even a single legislative victory to bring new and needed programs into creation to help Vietnam veterans and their families.

It soon became apparent that arguments couched simply in terms of morality, equity, and justice were not enough. The U.S. Congress would respond to the legitimate needs of Vietnam veterans only if the organization professing to represent them had political strength. In this case, strength translated into numbers which meant membership. By the summer of 1979, the Council of Vietnam Veterans had transformed into Vietnam Veterans of America, a veterans service organization made up of, and devoted to, Vietnam veterans.

Hindered by the lack of substantial funding for development, the growth of membership was at first slow. The big breakthrough came when the American hostages were returned from Iran in January 1981. It was as if America went through an emotional catharsis that put the issues of the Vietnam era on the table for public discussion. The question was asked why parades for the hostages but not for Vietnam veterans? Many veterans complained about the lack of recognition and appreciation for past national service. Vietnam-era veterans wanted action in the form of programs that would place the latest generation of veterans on the same footing as veterans from previous wars.

Membership grew steadily, and for the first time, VVA secured significant contributions. The combination of the public's willingness to talk about the Vietnam War and the basic issues that it raised, as well as the veterans themselves coming forward, was augmented by the nation's dedication of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in November 1982. The week-long activities rekindled a sense of brotherhood among the veterans and a feeling that they shared an experience that was too significant to ignore.

In 1983, VVA took a significant step by founding Vietnam Veterans of America Legal Services (VVALS) to provide assistance to veterans seeking benefits and services from the government. By working under the theory that a veteran representative should be an advocate for the veteran rather than simply a facilitator, VVALS quickly established itself as the most competent and aggressive legal-assistance program available to veterans. VVALS published the most comprehensive manual ever developed for veteran service representatives, and in 1985, VVALS wrote the widely acclaimed Viet Vet Survival Guide -- over 150,000 copies of which are now in print.

The next several years saw VVA grow in size, stature, and prestige. VVA's professional membership services, veterans service, and advocacy work gained the respect of Congress and the veterans community. In 1986, VVA's exemplary work was formally acknowledged by the granting of a congressional charter.

Today, Vietnam Veterans of America has a national membership of approximately 50,000, with 525 chapters throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. VVA state councils coordinate the activities of local chapters. VVA places great emphasis on coordinating its national activities and programs with the work of its local chapters and state councils and is organized to ensure that victories gained at the national level are implemented locally.

VVA strives for individual and group empowerment and locally originated action to assist veterans and other needy members of their communities. These volunteer programs offer unique and innovative services to an ever-widening population. They include: support for homeless shelters; substance-abuse education projects and crime-prevention campaigns; sponsorship of youth sports, Boy Scouts/Girl Scouts, Big Brothers/Big Sisters; and relief to other communities affected by natural disasters and chronic poverty.

VVA is governed by a national board of directors and by national officers -- 24 women and men democratically elected by VVA delegates, are sent by their respective chapters to biennial conventions. VVA's essential purpose is to promote the educational, economic, health, cultural, and emotional readjustment of the Vietnam-era veteran to civilian life. This is done by promoting legislation and public-awareness programs to eliminate discrimination suffered by Vietnam veterans.

VVA's government-relations efforts combine the three ingredients essential to success in the legislative arena -- lobbying, mobilizing constituents, and working with the media -- to achieve its ambitious agenda. Legislative victories have included the establishment and extension of the Vet Center system, passage of laws providing for increased job-training and job-placement assistance for unemployed and underemployed Vietnam-era veterans, the first laws assisting veterans suffering from Agent Orange exposure, and landmark legislation (i.e., Judicial Review of veterans claims) permitting veterans to challenge adverse VA decisions in court. All were enacted largely as a result of VVA's legislative efforts. The Vietnam-era Veterans in Congress (VVIC), formed in 1978, in part through the efforts of VVA, now boasts a membership of nearly 100 members of Congress.

VVA helps to provide greater public awareness of the outstanding issues surrounding Vietnam-era veterans by disseminating written information on a continual basis. The VVA Veteran ®, VVA's award-winning newspaper, is mailed to all VVA members and friends of the organization. In addition, self-help guides on issues such as Agent Orange, to Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, to discharge upgrading are published and made available to anyone interested.

[SAMWolf]

The purpose of Vietnam Veterans of America's national organization, the state councils, and chapters is:

• To help foster, encourage, and promote the improvement of the condition of the Vietnam veteran.
• To promote physical and cultural improvement, growth and development, self-respect, self-confidence, and usefulness of Vietnam-era veterans and others.
• To eliminate discrimination suffered by Vietnam veterans and to develop channels of communications which will assist Vietnam veterans to maximize self-realization and enrichment of their lives and enhance life-fulfillment.
• To study, on a non-partisan basis, proposed legislation, rules, or regulations introduced in any federal, state, or local legislative or administrative body which may affect the social, economic, educational, or physical welfare of the Vietnam-era veteran or others; and to develop public-policy proposals designed to improve the quality of life of the Vietnam-era veteran and others especially in the areas of employment, education, training, and health.
• To conduct and publish research, on a non-partisan basis, pertaining to the relationship between Vietnam-era veterans and the American society, the Vietnam War experience, the role of the United States in securing peaceful co-existence for the world community, and other matters which affect the social, economic, educational, or physical welfare of the Vietnam-era veteran or others.
• To assist disabled and needy war veterans including, but not limited to, Vietnam veterans and their dependents, and the widows and orphans of deceased veterans.

VVA GUIDES

Agent Orange | VA Claims and Appeals
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder | VVA's Guide To Veterans Preference

[SAMWolf]

As a leader in providing educators and students with resources to teach the history of the Vietnam War, Vietnam Veterans of America announces a new educational program. The “Interview a Vietnam Veteran On-Line Program” was initiated today on VVA’s website, www.vva.org, to meet the needs of students and educators.

Over the past few years, the demand for interviews with Vietnam veterans by students, as part of their classroom assignments, has increased dramatically. As the only congressionally chartered Vietnam veterans service organization, students and educators come to us for the answers. Our Education Subcommittee developed a program to meet students’ needs.

At no cost, VVA will match students and schools with local Vietnam veterans so that the student feels a personal relationship with the veteran. For many students this is their first contact with a Vietnam veteran, and we want to make this a positive experience that provides personal and honest answers. What better way to learn about the history of the Vietnam War than from those who lived it?

-- “INTERVIEW A VIETNAM VETERAN ON-LINE”
VVA EDUCATION PROGAM

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On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on February 08:
412 St Proclus patriarch of Constantinople
1291 Afonso IV King of Portugal (1325-57)
1552 Théodore-Agrippa d'Aubigné French/Swiss historian/poet (Tragiques)
1577 Robert Burton writer, Anglican clergyman (Anatomy of Melancholy)
1586 Jacob Praetorius composer
1612 Samuel Butler England, poet/satirist (Hudibras) (baptized)
1708 Vaclav Jan Kopriva composer
1712 L Joseph de Montcalm de Saint-Véran French General in America
1741 Andre-Ernest-Modeste Gretry composer
1764 Joseph Leopold von Eybler Austrian composer
1789 Ludwig Wilhelm Maurer composer
1795 Friedlieb F Runge German chemist (Chinoline)
1795 Moritz G [Moses] Saphir Hungarian journalist/serial writer
1807 Franciscus J van Vree Dutch Catholic foreman
1810 Norbert Burgmuller composer
1811 Edwin Denison Morgan Secretary of War (Confederacy), dies in 1883
1813 Jacob G Agarah Swedish algologist
1817 Richard Stoddert Ewell Lieutenant General (Confederate Army), dies in 1872
1818 Austin Blair Governor/MC (Union), died in 1894
1819 John Ruskin writer/critic/artist/Gothic Revivalist (Prerafaelite)
1820 William Tecumseh Sherman Major General (Union Army), dies in 1891 (War is hell)
1822 Maxime Du Camp France, writer/traveler (Les Buveurs de Cendres)
1824 Barnard Elliot Bee Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1861
1828 Jules Verne France, pioneered sci-fi (From the Earth to the Moon)
1828 Antonio Cagnoni composer
1828 Antonio Cánovas del Castillo premier of Spain
1851 Kate O'Flaherty Chopin novelist
1852 Nikolai Garin [Michailovski] Russian author (Tjoma Kartashov)
1859 John H Been town's archivist of Brielle (Baasje & Witkop)
1876 Paula Modersohn-Becker German "entartet" painter
1878 Martin Buber German/Israeli philosopher/theologist (Ich und Du)
1880 Franz Marc German painter (Blaue Reiter)
1882 George Siegmann actor (Birth of Nation, Queen of Sheba, Oliver Twist)
1883 Joseph A Schumpeter Austria/US economist/minister of finance
1885 Dame Edith Evans London England, actress (Tom Jones, David Copperfield)
1886 Charlie Ruggles Los Angeles CA, actor (The Ruggles, Aesop-Bullwinkle Show)
1888 Matthijs Vermeulen Dutch composer/music critic
1890 Claro Mayo Recto Filipino nationalist/opponent of US colonialism
1891 Edgar Palm Curaçao, pianist/composer
1892 Fritz Todt German Reichs minister (Organization Todt)
1894 Ludwig Marcuse German philosopher
1895 King Vidor director (War & Peace, Stella Dallas)
1896 Orville Caldwell California, actor (Patsy, French Doll, Last Warning)
19-- Alice Kramden fictional character of the Honeymooners
19-- Louis Giambalvo Brooklyn NY, actor (Fade To Black, Robert-Oh Madeline)
1900 Guy Douglas Hamilton Warrack composer
1900 John Cameron judge
1901 Janina Spychajowa-Kurkowska Poland, women's world champion archer
1902 Lyle Talbot [Lysle Hollywood], Pittsburgh PA, actor (Glen or Glenda)
1903 Abdulrahman minister of Internal affairs/premier of Malaysia
1904 Igor' Fyodorovich Belza composer
1905 Truman Bradley Missouri, TV host (Science Fiction Theater)
1906 Chester F Carlson inventor (xerography)
1906 Artur Balsam Polish/US pianist (Begeleidde Menuhin, Milstein)
1906 Henry Roth Austria-Hungary/US writer (Call it Sleep)
1908 Grigor Eghiazaryan composer
1908 Leslie Kenneth O'Brien Lord O'Brien of Lothbury, missionary
1908 Myron McCormick Albany, actor (Hustler, Jolson Sings Again)
1909 Henry Roth writer
1911 Anne Aitken [nee Hopkins], Chicago IL, co-founder-Diamond Sangha
1911 Elizabeth Bishop US poet (North & South)/Pulitzer Prize (1956)
1911 Henri Knap Dutch resistance fighter/journalist/writer
1912 Simon Jurovsky composer
1913 Betty Field Boston MA, actress (Kings Row, Bus Stop)
1913 John Grandy British Royal Air Force-marshal
1914 Bert Haas baseball player
1914 Jules van Ackere Flemish musicologist (Eternal Music)
1915 Lambros Georges Guetary Worloou singer
1918 John Intoxication resistance fighter
1918 Lord Max Rayne English broker/multi-millionaire
1919 Buddy Morrow orchestra leader (Jimmie Rodgers Show)
1920 Lana Turner Wallace ID, actress (Survivors, Falcon Crest)
1920 Buddy Blattner baseball player
1921 Hoot Evers baseball player
1922 Joeri Averbach Russian chess grandmaster
1923 Andrew MacElhone bar owner
1924 Audrey Meadows Wu Chang China, actress (Alice-Honeymooners)
1924 Joe Black baseball player
1925 Jack Lemmon Boston MA, actor (Days of Wine & Roses, Missing)
1925 Raimondo d'Inzeo It, equestrian (Olympics-gold/2 silver/3 bronze-1948-76)
1925 Alvin Brehm composer
1927 John T Myers (Representative-R-IN, 1967- )
1927 Stanley Baker Ferndale Wales, actor (Concrete Jungle, Zorro, Zulu)
1927 Zdenek Zouhar composer
1928 Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher lawyer
1930 Alejandro Rey Buenos Aires, actor (Carlos-Flying Nun)
1930 Arlan Stangeland (Representative-R-MN, 1977- )
1930 Catherine Hardy Carollton GA, 4x100 meter runner (Olympics-gold-1952)
1930 Manuel Castillo composer
1931 James Dean Marion IN, stage/film actor (Giant, Rebel Without a Cause)
1932 Jan H Christiaanse president Dutch political party (CDA)
1932 John Towner Williams Flushing NY, composer/conductor (Boston Pops)
1933 Jack Larson Los Angeles CA, actor (Jimmy Olsen-Superman)
1933 Elly Ameling Rotterdam Holland, soprano (Ilya-Idomeneo)
1934 Elly Ameling Rotterdam Holland, soprano (Ilya-Idomeneo)
1934 Galina Bystrova USSR, pentathlete (1957, 58)
1935 Vincent Weir 3rd baron Inverforth Scottish shipping magnate
1936 Cletis Boyer 3rd baseman (New York Yankees)
1936 Larry Verne singer (Custer)
1936 Manohar Hardikar cricketer (batted in 2 Tests India vs West Indies 1958-59)
1937 Joe Raposa composer/songwriter (Sesame Street)
1937 Manfred Krug Duisburg Germany, actor (Boxer)
1938 Ray Sharpe singer
1939 Gerrit Lakmaaker sculptor/painter (Leidsepleingroep)
1940 Nick Nolte Omaha NB, actor (Under Fire, Lorenzo's Oil, Teachers, 48 Hours, North Dallas 40)
1940 Susan Clark Ontario, actress (Katherine-Webster)
1940 Ted Koppel Lancashire England, newscaster (ABC Nightline)
1940 Averil Cameron British historian
1940 Talib Rasul Hakim composer
1941 Tom Rush New Hampshire, rock guitarist/vocalist (Circle Game, Urge For Going)
1942 Robert Klein Bronx, comedian/actor (Hooper, Deadly Rivals)
1942 Fritz Peterson baseball pitcher (New York Yankees)
1942 Terry Melcher Rip Chords, Doris Day's son
1943 Bob Oliver baseball player
1943 Creed Bratton California, rock guitarist (Grass Roots-Sooner or Later)
1943 Jose de Almeida Prado composer
1944 Bunky Henry golfer
1944 Jim Capaldi rocker (Traffic)
1946 Paul Wheatbread rocker (Gary Puckett & Union Gap-Young Girl)
1946 "Fito" Adolpho De La Parra Los Angeles CA, rocker (Canned Heat-Hot Money)
1947 Sam Gannon cricketer (Australia lefty quick, 3 Tests vs India 1977-78)
1948 Dan Seals McCamey TX, vocalist (England Dan & John Ford Coley-I'd Really Love to See You Tonight, Nights Are Forever Without You, Meet Me in Montana)
1949 Brooke Adams New York NY, actress (Cynthia-OK Crackerby, Body Snatchers)
1949 Scott Allen USA, skater (Olympics-bronze-1964)
1949 Julia Barr Fort Wayne IN, actress (Brooke-All My Children)
1950 Jose Armando Lopez-Falcon Cuba, cosmonaut
1950 Michael Goodroe rock bassist (Motels-Only the Lonely)
1950 Ted Turner rocker (Wishbone Ash)
1951 Camille LaPierre NHLer
1952 Nancy Lord Libertarian Vice-President candidate (1992)
1952 Hans Van de Lubbe Dutch bassist/singer (Dike)
1953 Mary Steenburgen Newport AR, actress (Parenthood, Time After Time)
1954 "Sensational" Sherri Martel [Russell], New Orleans LA, wrestler (WWF/AWA)
1955 Ethan Phillips actor (Neelix-Star Trek Voyager)
1955 Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart wrestler (WWF/WCW/NJPW/CWFI/Calgary)
1955 John Grisham writer (Client, Firm, Pelican Brief)
1958 Barry Miller New York NY, actor (Joe & Sons, Szysznyk)
1959 Irina Kalinina USSR, springboard diver (Olympics-gold-1980)
1959 Pamela Jean Bryant Indianapolis IN, playmate (April, 1978)
1959 Heinz Gunthardt Switzerland, tennis star
1960 Dino Ciccarelli Ontario, NHL right wing (Minnesota North Stars, Washington Capitals)
1960 Alex Scott British horse trainer
1960 Linda Fratianne Los Angeles CA, figure skater (Olympics-silver-1980)
1961 Sammy Llanas rocker (Bodeans)
1961 Vince Neil [Wharton] California, rock vocalist (Mötley Crüe-Girls Girls Girls)
1963 Mohammad Azharuddin cricketer (elegant Indian batsman 1984-)
1963 Raleigh McKenzie NFL center/guard (Philadelphia Eagles, San Diego Chargers)
1964 Dennis Gibson NFL inside linebacker (San Diego Chargers)
1965 Carmen Savy Brisbane Queensland, golfer (1990 Brisbane & District)
1965 Jim Thornton NFL tight end (Houston Oilers)
1965 Lee Knight CFL full back (Hamilton Tiger Cats)
1965 Mathilda May Paris France, actress (Lifeforce)
1965 Rod Bernstine NFL running back (Denver Broncos)
1965 Terry McDaniel NFL cornerback (Oakland Raiders, Los Angeles Raiders)
1966 Gary Coleman Zion IL, actor (Arnold-Diff'rent Strokes)
1966 Kirk Muller Kingston, NHL center (Toronto Maple Leafs)
1967 Yvon Corriveau Ontario, NHL left wing (Washington Capitals)
1968 Joy Fawcett Inglewood CA, soccer defender (Olympics-96)
1968 Ron Goetz CFL linebacker (Saskatchewan Roughriders)
1969 Herb Hohenberger hockey defenseman (Team Austria 1998)
1969 Mary McCormack actress, (Murder One, Private Parts)
1970 Alonzo Mourning NBA center (Miami Heat, Charlotte Hornets)
1970 Cameron Cuffy cricketer (St Vincent & West Indies fast bowler 1994-)
1971 Heidi Mark Columbus OH, playmate (July 1995)
1972 Adrian Rollins cricketer (Derbyshire batsman, brother of Robert of Essex)
1972 Marcus Pollard NFL tight end (Indianapolis Colts)
1973 Andreas Gliatis soccer player (NEC)
1973 Dave Dopek Bolingbrook IL, 200 meter runner
1973 Eric Kresser quarterback (Cincinnati Bengals)
1973 Michelle Brogan Australian basketball forward (Olympics-bronze-96)
1973 Tom King Australian 470 class yachtsman (Olympics-96)
1975 Damon Denson guard (New England Patriots)
1975 Joshua Morrow Juneau AK, actor (Nicholas Newman-Young & Restless)
1976 Holly Manthei Edina MN, soccer midfielder/forward (Olympics-96)
1976 Jim Parque Norwalk CA, baseball pitcher (Olympics-bronze-96)
1978 Christa Williams Houston TX, softball pitcher (Olympics-gold-96)
1979 Tara Tucker Miss Alabama Teen-USA (1997)
1981 Tommy Michaels Staten Island NY, actor (Timmy Hutton-All My Children)

---

Deaths which occurred on February 08:
1124 Stefanus of Thiers/Muret founder of order of Grammond/saint, dies
1245 Johannes de Rupella/de la Rochelle French theologist, dies
1303 Nanshu Zen teacher (Rinzai line)/founder (Zounan temple), dies
1513 Alonso de Ojeda Spanish explorer (Curaçao & Bonaire), dies
1587 Mary Stuart Queen of Scots (1560-87), beheaded at 44
1611 Jan H Van Linschoten traveller/writer (Reys-Gheschrift), dies
1650 John Adriaensz hydraulic engineer (Haarlemmermeer), dies at about 74
1676 Aleksei M Romanov Czar of Russia, dies at 46
1686 François Tak Dutch diplomat on Java, murdered
1691 Carlo di Girolamo Rainaldi Italian architect/composer, dies at 79
1709 Giuseppi Torelli Italian composer, dies at 50
1725 Peter the Great Tsar of Russia dies
1725 Peter I "the Great" Romanov czar of Russia (1682-1725), dies at 52
1740 Clement XII [Lorenzo Corsini], blind Pope (1730-40), dies at 87
1749 Jan van Huysum Dutch still life painter, dies at 66
1771 Augusta von Saxen-Gotha German prince Frederick Louis of Wales, dies
1797 Johann Friedrich Doles composer, dies at 81
1801 Johann Chrysostomus Drexel composer, dies at 43
1821 Paul Anton Wineberger composer, dies at 62
1824 Rhijnvis Feith Dutch mayor/writer (Zwolle, Julia), dies at 71
1849 France Preseren Slovenian poet (Sonetni Venec), dies at 48
1849 François-Antoine Habeneck composer, dies at 68
1874 David F Strauss German theologist, dies at 66
1878 Elias M Fries Swedish botanist (mycologicum), dies at 83
1884 Arnold Henry Guyot Swiss/US geologist/meteorologist, dies at 76
1897 Antonio Cánovas del Castillo premier of Spain, murdered at 69
1907 Hendrik W Bakhuis Roozeboom chemist (fasenleer), dies at 52
1909 Edouard Silas composer, dies at 80
1909 Mieczyslaw Karlowicz composer, dies at 32
1911 Gustaf Fröding Swedish poet (Grabstänk), dies at 50
1920 Richard Dehmel writer, dies at 56
1921 Peter Kropotkin Russian Prince/geologist/revolutionary anarchist, dies at 78
1924 Gee John US mobster (1st executed in gas chamber-Nevada), dies
1932 Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll mobster, killed by Dutch Schultz gang
1935 Max Liebermann German impressionist painter/graphic artist, dies at 87
1937 Scato Gocko de Vries Dutch paleographer/librarian, dies at 75
1942 Fritz Todt German Reichs minister (Organization Todt), dies at 50
1944 Clem Wilson cricketer (brother of Rockley, 2 Tests for England 1896), dies
1946 Miles Mander actor/director (Murder, 3 Musketeers), dies at 57
1947 Ernest Samuel Williams composer, dies at 65
1949 Franco Leoni composer, dies at 81
1949 Leonid Alexeyevich Polovinkin composer, dies at 54
1953 Cliff Clark actor (Golden Hoofs, Kid Glove Killer), dies at 63
1954 Mabel Paige actress (Lucky Jordan), dies at 73
1956 Connie Mack baseball manager (Philadelphia A's, 1901-50), dies at 93
1957 John Von Neumann astronomer, dies at 53
1959 William J "Wild Bill" Donovan Office Strategic Services, dies at 76
1961 William Duncan actor (Hopalong Rides Again), dies at 81
1963 Abdul Karim Kassem PM of Iraq (58-63), assassinated in Baghdad at 48
1963 George Dolenz Italian actor (Count of Monte Cristo), dies at 55
1964 Tom Terriss English director (His Buddy's Wife, Sumuru), dies at 91
1968 J Borremans Belgian politician (Communist), dies at 56
1973 Herbie Taylor cricketer (2936 runs in 42 Tests for South Africa), dies
1974 Fern Andra dies at 80
1974 Fritz Zwicky Swiss/US astronomer (supernova), dies at 75
1975 Martyn Green actor (Gilbert & Sullivan, Mikado), dies at 75
1979 Nikolay Semyonovich Tikhonov Russian poet, dies at 82
1982 John Hay Whitney US newspaper magnate, dies at 76
1985 Marvin Miller actor (Michael Anthony of "The Millionaire") dies at 71
1985 Tom Greenway actor (Miami Story), dies of a heart attack at 75
1987 Harriet MacGibbon actress (Mrs Drysdale-Beverly Hillbillies), dies
1987 Bronislawa Wajs [Papuscha] writer, dies
1987 Hendrik Koekoek founder (Dutch Boer party), dies at 74
1988 Allan Cuthbertson actor (Running Man, 7th Dawn), dies at 67
1989 Maurits Kok Dutch writer/poet (Railroad Strike), dies at 81
1990 Del Shannon Coopersville MI, rock vocalist (Runaway), shoots self at 55
1991 Miran Bux cricketer (2 Tests for Pakistan 1954-55), dies at 47
1992 Baruch Lumet actor (Killer Shrews), dies at 93
1993 Casper van den Berg Dutch poet (Fashionable inconvenience), dies
1993 Douglas Heyes director/writer (Kitten with a Whip), dies at 73
1993 Eliot Janeway financial columnist (Eliot Doomsday), dies at 80
1993 Franz Schnyder Swiss director (10th of May), dies at 82
1993 Paul Brickhill Dutch/US WWII pilot/physician, dies
1994 Jacob Firet Dutch theologist (Agogic Moment), dies at 70
1994 Ken Hall Australian director/producer (Kokoda front line), dies at 92
1994 Raymond Scott composer (Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm), dies at 85
1995 B G Hooghoudt radio-telescope builder (Dwingeloo/Westerbork), dies at 70
1995 Wilhelm J Soukop Austrian/British sculptor, dies at 88
1996 John Hartford Worlock Roman Catholic Bishop (Liverpool), dies at 76
1996 Mercer Kennedy Ellington trumpeter bandleader/composer, dies at 76
1997 Roy George Elroy Josephs jazz dance teacher, dies at 57
1998 William Lambert Pulitzer prize-winning reporter, dies at 78

---

On this day...
0421 Flavius Constantine becomes emperor Constantine III of West Roman empire
1526 Heavy storm strikes Dutch coast, many die
1575 University of Leiden Netherlands opens
1587 Mary, Queen of Scots beheaded
1600 Vatican convicts scholar Giordano Bruno to death
1601 Earl Robert Devereux of Essex armies draws into London
1622 King James I disbands the English parliament
1672 Isaac Newton reads 1st optics paper before Royal Society in London
1690 French & Indian troops set Schenectady settlement New York on fire
1690 Lord Halifax resigns as Lord Privy Seal
1693 William & Mary college is 2nd college chartered in US
1735 1st opera in US, "Flora", opens in Charleston SC
1743 Comet C/1743 C1 approaches within 0.0390 astronomical units (AUs) of Earth
1744 French/Spanish fleet leaves Toulon
1750 Minor earthquake in London
1775 Leidse University 400th anniversary dinner
1776 Wolfgang von Goethes' "Stella" premieres in Hamburg
1802 Simon Willard patents banjo clock
1807 Napoleon defeats Russians in battle of Eylau
1809 Franz I of Austria declares war on France
1837 1st Vice President chosen by the Senate, Richard Johnson (Van Buren administration)
1861 Confederate States of America organizes in Montgomery AL
1862 Dion Boucicault's opera "The Lily of Killarney" is produced (London)
1862 Battle of Roanoke Island NC, Federals gain control of Pamlico Sound
1865 1st black major in US army, Martin Robinson Delany
1883 Louis Waterman begins experiments to invent the fountain pen
1887 Dawes Act passed (Indians living apart from tribe granted citizenship)
1887 Aurora Ski Club of Red Wing MN became the 1st US ski club
1889 Flood ravages Dutch coast
1894 Enforcement Act repealed, making it easier to disenfranchise blacks
1895 Tchaikovsky/Petipa's "Swan Lake" premieres in Petersburg
1896 Georges Feydeaus' "Le Dindon" premieres in Paris
1896 Western Conference forms of Midwestern U, later renamed Big 10 Conference
1898 John Ames Sherman patents 1st envelope folding & gumming machine (Massachusetts)
1904 Outbreak of hostilities in Russo-Japanese war
1905 Cyclone hit Tahiti & adjacent islands, killing some 10,000 people
1908 Wilhelmina '08 soccer team forms in Weert Netherlands
1909 France & Germany sign treaty about Morocco
1910 Boy Scouts of America incorporated & chartered (William D Boyce-Chicago)
1911 US helps overthrow President Miguel Dávila of Honduras
1911 Victor Herbert's opera "Natoma" premieres in New York NY
1912 1st eastbound US transcontinental flight lands in Jacksonville FL
1914 General Zamon becomes President of Haiti
1915 "Birth of a Nation" opens at Clune's Auditorium in Los Angeles CA
1916 French cruiser "Admiral Charner" torpedoed off Syrian coast, kills 374
1916 NL votes down Charlie Ebbets proposal to limit 25¢ seats
1918 "Stars & Stripes", weekly US armed forces newspaper, 1st published
1920 Swiss men vote against women's suffrage
1922 Radio arrives in the White House
1923 Coal mine explosion at Dawson NM kills 120
1923 German NSDAP Volkischer Beobachter newspaper becomes a daily
1924 1st coast-to-coast radio hookup General John Joseph Carty speech in Chicago
1925 Marcus Garvey enters federal prison in Atlanta GA
1925 Kaufman & Berlin's "Coconuts" premieres in New York NY
1926 Sean O'Casey's "The Plough & the Stars" opens at Abbey Theatre Dublin
1926 Walt Disney Studios is formed
1926 German Reichstag decides to apply for League of Nations membership
1927 Belgian-Swiss treaty signed
1928 1st transatlantic TV image received, Hartsdale NY
1928 Scottish inventor J Blaird demonstrates color-TV
1929 KOY-AM in Phoenix AZ begins radio transmissions
1930 "Happy Days Are Here Again" by Benny Mereoff hits #1
1931 Gas explosion Fire in Fushun-coal mine, Manchuria kills 3,000
1933 -23ºF (-31ºC), Seminole TX (state record)
1933 1st flight of all-metal Boeing 247
1934 Export-Import Bank organizes in Washington DC
1934 Gaston Doumergue forms new French government
1935 1st NFL draft; Jay Berwanger of University of Chicago is 1st pick (by Eagles); He never plays in the NFL
1936 1st ski jumping tournament, Red Wing MN
1936 1st successful Toronto Maple Leaf penalty shot, Conacher vs Rangers
1936 Pandit Jawaharlal follows Gandhi as chairman of India Congress Party
1937 Maxwell Anderson's "Masque of Kings" premieres in New York NY
1940 Lewis & Hamilton's musical "Two for the Show" premieres in New York NY
1940 Lodtz, 1st large ghetto established by Nazis in Poland
1941 Japanese armored barges cross Strait of Johore to attack Singapore
1941 NSB'er Max Blokzijl begins Nazi propaganda on Dutch radio
1942 Congress advises FDR that, Americans of Japanese descent should be locked up en masse so they wouldn't oppose the US war effort
1942 Stravinsky's "Danses Concertantes" premieres in Los Angeles
1943 Red Army recaptures Kursk
1944 1st black reporter accredited to the White House, Harry McAlpin
1944 U-762 sunk off Ireland
1945 Allied air attack on Goch/Kleef/Kalkar/Reichswald
1946 Béla Bartòks 3rd Concert for piano/orchestra premieres in Philadelphia PA
1946 Premier Salazar of Portugal forbids opposition parties
1947 Jan van der Hoorn wins 8th Dutch 11-cities skating race (10:51)
1947 KSD (now KSDK) TV channel 5 in St Louis MO (NBC) begins broadcasting
1948 5th Winter Olympics games close at St Moritz, Switzerland
1949 Hungarian Cardinal Mindszenty sentenced to life in prison
1952 "RCA Victor Show Starring Dennis Day" debuts on NBC TV
1953 Betty Jameson wins LPGA Serbin Golf Open
1953 WLVA (now WSET) TV channel 13 in Lynchburg-Roanoke VA (ABC) begins
1955 Malenkov resigns as USSR premier, Bulganin replaces him
1956 Mine disaster in Quaregnon Belgium, 8 die
1957 San Francisco Public Library's bookmobile initiated in front of City Hall
1958 Edgar Whitehead succeeds Garfield Todd as premier of South Rhodesia
1958 French planes bomb Sakiet Tunisia, 75 die
1958 KIRO TV channel 7 in Seattle WA (CBS) begins broadcasting
1960 Boston Celtic Bill Russell becomes 1st NBAer with 50 rebounds (51)
1960 Congress opens hearings looking into payola
1962 KACB TV channel 3 in San Angelo TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
1962 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1963 1st transmission of Clandestine Voice of Iraqi People (Communist)
1963 AFL's Dallas Texans become Kansas City Chiefs
1963 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1964 Peter Shaffer's "Royal Hunt of the Sun" premieres in London
1964 Representative Martha Griffiths address gets civil rights protection for women being added to the 1964 Civil Rights Act
1965 Eastern DC-7B crashes into Atlantic off Jones Beach NJ, kills 84
1965 Supremes release "Stop In the Name of Love"
1967 French Diadème D-1C satellite launches into Earth orbit
1967 Longest losing streak in Toronto Maple Leaf history (10 games)
1967 Pirate Radio UKGM (England) closes down
1967 Peter (Asher) & Gordon (Waller) discontinue their singing partnership
1967 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1968 Officers kill 3 students demonstrating in South Carolina State (Orangeburg)
1969 Meteorite weighing over 1 ton falls in Chihuahua, México
1969 Last edition of Saturday Evening Post
1971 Pedro Morales beats Ivan Koloff in New York, to become WWF wrestling champion
1971 South Vietnamese troops invade Laos
1972 Josh Gibson & Buck Leonard selected to Hall of Fame
1973 Jean Kerrs "Finishing Touches" premieres in New York NY
1973 Mushtaq & Asif Iqbal make 350 stand for 4th wicket vs New Zealand
1973 Senate names 7 members to investigate Watergate scandal
1974 Ringo Starr releases "You're 16"
1974 Skylab 4's astronauts land
1974 Soap opera "The Secret Storm" ends a 20 year run
1974 "Good Times" debuts on CBS TV
1975 1800 Unification church couples' wed in Korea
1975 Capitals only got one shot in a period against the Islanders
1976 Largest crowd at Cleveland Coliseum (Cavaliers vs Washington-21,130)
1976 Hua Guofeng becomes premier of China PR
1976 Jan Stephens wins LPGA Sarah Coventry Naples Golf Classic
1977 Earthquake in San Francisco CA, at 5.0, strongest since 1966
1977 Hustler publisher Larry Flynt sentenced
1978 Crown Prince Sad Abdallah al-Salim Al Sabah becomes PM of Kuwait
1979 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1981 "5 O'Clock Girl" closes at Helen Hayes Theater NYC after 12 performances
1981 "Brigadoon" closes at Majestic Theater NYC after 133 performances
1981 Sally Little wins LPGA Elizabeth Arden Golf Classic
1981 US female Figure Skating championship won by Elaine Zayak
1981 US male Figure Skating championship won by Scott Hamilton
1982 Dodgers trade Davey Lopes to A's breaking up the longest-playing infield (Cey-Russell-Lopes-Garvey)
1983 Champion thoroughbred Shergar kidnapped in Ireland; never found Lloyds of London pays $10.6 million insurance
1983 Eric Peters sets transatlantic sailboat record (E-W)-46 days
1983 Wayne Gretsky sets NHL all star record of 4 goals in 1 period
1983 35th NHL All-Star Game Campbell beat Wales 9-3 at New York Islander
1983 Baseball orders Mickey Mantle to sever ties with Claridge Casino
1983 Tina Howe's "Painting Churches" premieres in New York NY
1984 14th Winter Olympics games opens in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
1984 Soyuz T-10 launches with crew of 3 to Salyut 7
1984 1st time 8 people in space
1984 A's take Yankees pitcher Tim Belcher as Type A free agent compensation
1985 Bruce Morris, Marshall University, makes a 92' 5¼" basketball shot
1985 1st-class cricket debut of Jimmy Adams (age 17), Jamaica vs Barbados
1985 Michael Gross swims world record 800 meter freestyle (7:38.75)
1985 Opposition leader Kim Dae Jung returns to South-Korea
1986 5' 7" Spud Webb of Atlanta Hawks wins NBA Slam Dunk Competition
1986 US male Figure Skating championship won by Brian Boitano
1987 37th NBA All-Star Game West beats East 154-149 (OT) at Seattle
1987 Nancy Lopez wins LPGA Sarasota Golf Classic
1988 NASA launches DOD-2
1989 5 cm of snow falls in outskirts of Los Angeles
1989 Jockey Chris Antley begins record of 64 consecutive winning days
1989 US Boeing 707 crashes into Santa Maria mountain, 145 die
1990 "60 Minutes" commentator Andy Rooney suspended by CBS for racial remarks attributed to him by a gay magazine
1990 David Hares "Racing Demon" premieres in London
1991 Roger Clemens signs record $5,380,250 per year Red Sox contract
1992 Ulysses spacecraft passes Jupiter
1992 "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred peaks at #1
1992 16th Winter Olympics games open in Albertville, France
1993 GM sues NBC, alleging that "Dateline NBC" program had rigged 2 car-truck crashes to show that 1973-87 GM pickups were prone to fires
1993 Suchoi-24 crashes into Tupolev passenger flight, 134 die
1994 Jack Nicholson uses a golf club to attack a car
1994 Kapil Dev sets world record for Test Cricket wickets with 432
1994 Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee charge with possession of loaded firearm
1995 6.4 earthquake at Trujillo, Colombia (46+ killed)
1996 NFL & Cleveland allows Art Modell to move his NFL franchise to Baltimore but he had to leave the Browns' name behind
1998 1st female ice hockey game in Olympics history Finland beats Sweden 6-0
1998 48th NBA All-Star Game East beats West 135-114 at NYC
1998 NHL stops season until Feb 24th to accommodate the Olympics

---

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Iraq : Ramadan Revolution
Norway : Narvik Sun Pageant Day
World : Boy Scouts Day (1910) - - - - - ( Sunday )
China : Chinese New Year-The Year of the Ox (1997/4695)

---

Religious Observances
Christian : Feast of Bl Jacoba (Bl Jacqueline)
Methodist : Race Relations Sunday (2nd Sunday in February)
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St John of Matha, confessor/ransomer of captives
Roman Catholic : Memorial of St Jerome Emiliani (opt)

---

Religious History
1693 The College of William and Mary was founded in Williamsburg, Virginia for the purpose of educating Anglican clergyman. After Harvard, it is the second oldest institution of higher learning in America.
1744 Colonial missionary to the American Indians, David Brainerd wrote in his journal: 'I find that both mind and body are quickly tired with intenseness and fervor in the things of God. Oh that I could be as incessant as angels in devotion and spiritual fervor.'
1851 Death of Alexander Haldane, 83. In 1797 he founded the Society for Propagating the Gospel at Home, after discovering that the Church of Scotland was as little interested in home missions as it was in foreign missions.
1865 Birth of Lewis E. Jones, American YMCA director. Jones was also a writer of hymns, and his most enduring contribution (which he both wrote and composed) was "Power in the Blood."
1950 American missionary and martyr Jim Elliot wrote in his journal: 'Sin in a Christian makes God seem distant, deaf. In the body, sin saps animation, as cancer. In the soul, sin stifles the affections; as corrosion in the spirit, sin solidifies the attitudes, as a callous.'

---

Thought for the day :
"What we anticipate seldom occurs; what we least expected generally happens."

[GailA]

Good Morning ALL, Today's graphic

[HiJinx]

VVA has latched on to the truth that America is by and large an affluent nation with tons of serviceable goods sitting in our homes collecting dust. This is one way the VVA raises funds to support their programs.

Once a month, it's Yellow Bag Day, as the HJ household donates clothing, shoes, etc. to the VVA. Click the pic to find out how you, too, can make a difference.

[manna]

Present!

[Nam Vet]

Thanks for the ping. I've given all my donations to VVA since I first saw them, but never joined. Maybe I will this year. I just recently got around to signing up with V.F.W. Hello to all.

Nam Vet

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

I'd never heard of this online website before, but they were selling this yard sign: http://www.grassfire.net/troops.asp

I bought one, as I am among the many Americans, proud to display support for our US military!

[SAMWolf]

Morning Bentfeather

[SAMWolf]

"What we anticipate seldom occurs; what we least expected generally happens."The story of my life reduced to one sentence.

[SAMWolf]

BLUSH!!

The last thing I expected to see on the thread this morning.

I'm speechless. Thanks so much Cote, but I didn't do anything special.

[SAMWolf]

Cute graphic today, GailA

[SAMWolf]

We have them come by every other month. Nothing could be easier.

Tell them you want a pick up, they give you the date and all you do is leave the stuff in front of your door in the morning when you leave for work.

[SAMWolf]

You can sign their petition by clicking on the link in Post # 4.

[PsyOp]

"Never again must this country ask a young man to fight and die unless it is for something we believe in so much that we tell him at the same time we're going to turn our full energies behind you to get it over with and to win it." - Governor Ronald Reagan, Students, April 26, 1973.

"Our reason for being here today is to dedicate a memorial to the 6,000 Californians who gave their lives in the defense of freedom in South-east Asia.
    "There are those who say that Vietnam was a war without heroes, because the conflict became a controversy that divided our people for so long. I do not accept that. They were all heroes, expecially those we are honoring here today." - Governor Ronald Reagan, Speech, Feb. 11, 1974.

"There is a lesson in the Vietnam war for all of us. If military power must be exerted to preserve our freedom or that of our allies, the purpose must be clearly spelled out for the people... Before the first troops go ashore." - Governor Ronald Reagan, Speech, Sept. 9, 1974.

"Their patriotism is quiet but deep. Their values sustain our national life." - Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address, January 20, 1981.

"Those who fought in Vietnam are part of us, part of our history. They reflected the best in us. No number of wreaths, no amount of music and memorializing will ever do them justice but it is good for us that we honor them and their sacrifice. And it's good that we do it in the reflected glow of the enduring symbols of our Republic." - President Ronald Reagand, Remarks at Dedication Ceremonies for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Statue, November 11, 1984.

"The men of Vietnam answered the call of their country. Some of them died in the arms of many of you here today, asking you to look after a newly born child or care for a loved one. They died uncomplaining. The tears staining their mud-caked faces were not for self-pity but for the sorrow they knew the news of their death would cause their families and friends.
    "As you knelt alongside his litter and held him one last time, you heard his silent message -- he asked you not to forget." - President Ronald Reagand, Remarks at Dedication Ceremonies for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Statue, November 11, 1984.

"I do not know if perfect healing ever occurs, but I know that sometimes when a bone is broken, if it's knit together well, it will in the end be stronger than if it had not been broken. I believe that in the decade since Vietnam the healing has begun, and I hope that before my days as Commander in Chief are over the process will be completed." - President Ronald Reagand, Remarks at Dedication Ceremonies for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Statue, November 11, 1984.

"There were great moral and philosophical disagreements about the rightness of the war, and we cannot forget them because there is no wisdom to be gained in forgetting." - President Ronald Reagand, Remarks at Dedication Ceremonies for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Statue, November 11, 1984.

"And let me say to the Vietnam veterans gathered here today: When you returned home, you brought solace to the loved ones of those who fell, but little solace was given to you. Some of your countrymen were unable to distinguish between our native distaste for war and the stainless patriotism of those who suffered its scars." - President Ronald Reagand, Remarks at Dedication Ceremonies for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Statue, November 11, 1984.

Click Here For More Reagan Quotes

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for the great Reagan quotes, PsyOp.

[PsyOp]

You're welcome. I added a few to this post that were not in the larger collection. My hat's off to your service in Vietnam.

[Soaring Feather]

Ode to Sam Wolf
I'm very honored to call you friend
you gave to our country your all
sucked up your young gut
with thousands of others
went where duty called

Thanks be you came home
older and scared
confused, I don't know Sam...
I would never had the chance to
meet you had it not been for some
unusual circumstances...
beyond our control

It matters not Sam the whys
and wherefores...
What matters is now...

Thanks for spoiling me
being here now
doing all you can
once again
way beyond your call
it's the kind of guy you are Sam

feather

[SAMWolf]

BLUSH!!

This isn't supposed to be a make me blush thread.

Thanks, Feather, I'm honored and flattered that you'd take the time to write this ode, but I'm no one special. There are so many more who did so much more.

[Soaring Feather]

Sam

Be like Trikebuilder
accept the thanks
it's okay, ya know!!

:-)
:-)
:-)
;-)

hehehe

[Aura Of The Blade]

Hey SAM. I remember the feature on you and it was a good one. A salute to you

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Aura. The Canteen did a good job with it's Freeper Fridays, I was just one of the many Vets it profiled.

[larryjohnson]

I have a 3'X5' VVA flag and a desk size crossed with American Flag. I buy all my flags from a friend in CA.

http://www.anyflag.com/military/

[SAMWolf]

I did my job and managed to return to civilian life. A lot of guys before me and after me didn't get that chance. they're the ones who deserve the credit.

[SAMWolf]

Nice selection of flags at that site.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Good post, Sam.

[SAMWolf]

Nice graphic of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Thanks Sam.

Cya in a bit.

[SAMWolf]

Some of your plans for the weekend kicking in?

[aomagrat]

Today's classic warship, USS Wheeling (PG-14)

Wheeling class gunboat
Displacement. 990 t.
Lenght. 189'7"
Beam. 34'0"
Draft. 12'10"
Speed. 12.88 k.
Complement. 140
Armament. 6 4", 4 6-pdr. rf., 2 1-pdr. rf., 1 Colt mg.

The USS Wheeling (Gunboat No. 14) was laid down on 11 April 1896 at San Francisco, Calif., by the Union Iron Works; launched on 18 March 1897; sponsored by Miss Lucie S. Brown; and commissioned on 10 August 1897, Comdr. Uriel Sebree in command.

Following a cruise to the Hawaiian Islands in the fall of 1897, Wheeling reported for duty in the northern Pacific and spent the entire period of the Spanish-American War patrolling the Alaskan coast and the Aleutian Islands.

In the spring of 1899, the gunboat was ordered to the Far East to reinforce the American fleet supporting operations to suppress the Philippine Insurrection. Until the spring of 1900, the gunboat parolled the islands, enforced the blockade, convoyed troop transports, and helped the Army maintain communications between its units operating on various islands of the archipelago. When the Boxer Rebellion broke out in March 1900, Wheeling departed the Philippines to patrol the northern coast of China. From 23 March to 9 May, she cruised the Chinese coast observing conditions in that strife-torn nation as she attempted to persuade Chinese officials to respect and protect foreigners resident in China. She and ships of European navies with similar missions spent most of their time at Taku, essentially the port city for Tientsin and Peking.

On 9 May, she departed Taku and headed home, via Yokohama, Japan. The gunboat laid over at Yokohama from the 13th to the 22d and then headed back across the Pacific to North America. From early June to late August, she operated in the Aleutian Islands out of Dutch Harbor, On 25 August, she departed Dutch Harbor for a leisurely cruise south. Along the way, she visited a number of Alaskan ports and did not reach Bremerton, Wash., until 11 December. By 19 December, Wheeling was at Mare Island, Calif., conducting oceanographic surveys in that vicinity.

The gunboat operated at Mare Island until the beginning of 1902, at which time she received orders to American Samoa for duty as station ship. After a cruise to Hawaii and the Philippines, Wheeling arrived in Samoa late in May. From that time until midyear 1904, the gunboat cruised the Samoan group-- erecting signal installations, performing survey work, and transporting passengers between the islands. On one occasion in January 1903, she transported Dr. Wilhelm Solf--then governor of German Samoa and later foreign minister of Germany in Prince Max von Baden's interim government at the end of World War I -- and his staff from Pago Pago to Apia. The warship continued her duties in the Samoan islands until 15 June 1904 at which time she set course for the United States. On 1 July, she was decommisioned at Bremerton, Wash., and was berthed at the Puget Sound Navy Yard.

After almost six years of inactivity, Wheeling was recommissioned at Puget Sound on 3 May 1910, Comdr. Edward W. Eberle in command. In June, she made a brief cruise in Alaskan waters before starting on a voyage to Portsmouth, N.H., in company with USS Petrel. During that voyage, she nearly circumnavigated the globe. Departing the west coast on 17 June, Wheeling sailed via Yokohama, Japan, and Singapore to the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. After transiting the canal, she steamed westward across the Mediterranean Sea, stopping at Genoa, Italy, and at the British colony at Gibraltar. On her way across the Atlantic, Wheeling made one stop--at Hamilton, Bermuda--before arriving in Portsmouth, N.H., on 22 November.

Following voyage repairs, the gunboat embarked upon almost six years of duty patrolling the troubled waters of the West Indies and the Gulf of Mexico. By mid-January 1911, she was operating along the Central American coast. During 1911 and 1912, she made numerous port visits in the Caribbean Sea while engaging in training operations.

On 15 July 1913, the gunboat anchored in the vicinity of Vera Cruz and Tampico, Mexico, to investigate reports of violence against Americans living there and remained to protect American property. From 15 February to 7 March 1914, she plied waters off the Republic of Haiti to protect American citizens against guerrilla terrorists fighting the government, and from 7 to 13 March she was at Puerto Plata, Santo Domingo, with the President of Santo Domingo on board. When the threat of violence against Americans loomed at Vera Cruz once again in mid-1914, Wheeling sailed to that port and landed a force to protect Americans during the period 25 April to 30 June. Upon being detached from duty in Mexico, Wheeling proceeded to Portsmouth, N.H., for repairs.

She returned to the West Indies in mid-October 1914 and took station off the Republic of Haiti. During the year 1915, Wheeling cruised between Haiti, Cuba, and Mexico showing the American flag for the benefit of various political groups in each country which were attempting to terrorize resident Americans. She patrolled the Mexican coast near Vera Cruz from 23 March to 16 June 1916 to aid Americans in case of any disturbances, and put in at Puerto Mexico, Mexico, on 17 June to embark American refugees driven from their homes by bandits. Wheeling remained in port six days and then sailed to Carmen, Mexico, where she anchored from 25 to 29 June and took on board more displaced Americans.

The gunboat joined United States Army transport Sumner at Vera Cruz on 29 June 1916 and transferred her passengers to that ship. Between 9 October and 16 December 1916, Wheeling returned to the waters off Vera Cruz to provide naval gunfire support to Army units operating ashore against Mexican bandits.

The beginning of 1917 found the warship still cruising the Mexican coast. When the United States entered World War I on 6 April, she rode at anchor at Vera Cruz. Later that month, she moved to Tampico, continuing her service with the Mexican patrol force until early in July. On the 10th, she headed for New Orleans, La., where she arrived on the 13th. After two weeks of extensive preparations for overseas service, the gunboat stood out of New Orleans on 31 July. After a stop at Key West, Fla., on 2 August, she continued her voyage to Hampton Roads, Va., where she arrived on the 6th. Wheeling cleared Hampton Roads on the 8th and shaped a course for Ponta Delgada in the Azores. Two days out to sea, she suffered a severe battering while trying to ride out a hurricane. The damage forced her return to the United States for repairs, and she entered the New York Navy Yard on 11 August.

Following 18 days of repairs, she put to sea again, bound for Lewes, Delaware. Wheeling rendezvoused with destroyers Truxtun (Destroyer No. 14) and Whipple (Destroyer No. 15) there, and together, the three warships headed east on the 31st. The little group of ships stopped at Bermuda from 3 to 8 September then continued their voyage to Ponta Delgada where they arrived on the 16th. For the next seven months, the gunboat operated out of Ponta Delgada with the Patrol Force Azores Detachment. For the most part, she conducted uneventful patrols and convoyed Allied shipping between the Azore Islands and the Madeira Islands. On 15 April 1918, she stood out of Ponta Delgada bound for Gibraltar. After a brief stop in the Canary Islands on the l9th, Wheeling arrived at the great British naval base on 22 April.

For the remainder of the war, she operated out of Gibraltar escorting convoys between that place, Bizerte in North Africa, and Genoa in Italy. On 11 May, the convoy she was escorting lost one ship, SS Susette Fraisinette, to a torpedo fired by UB-52, which, in turn, was later sunk by the British submarine H-4 while attempting to return to her base at Cattaro. Six days later on 17 May, another of her convoys ships was lost to the combined efforts of U-39 and UB-50. The first hint of trouble came at about 1848 that evening when SS Sculptor exploded, the victim of a torpedo from U-39. Wheeling went to general quarters immediately and rang up full speed. Initially, she concentrated on collecting the ships of the convoy, all of which had scattered in panic. At about 1915, a lookout reported a submarine off the starboard bow, and Wheeling charged to the attack. She circled to the spot at which the supposed U-boat had last been seen and marked the location with a calcium light. From there, she circled outward dropping a total of six depth charges--two of which failed to detonate.

While Wheeling had been engaged in hunting U-39 and in collecting the scattered convoy, UB-50 joined the fracas. At about 2016, the American warship witnessed a flash, then heard a report, to her port side, as UB-50s torpedo slammed into SS Mavisbrook. The gunboat stopped her engines and began rescue operations. Over the side went two Franklin life buoys, two balsam rafts, and a dozen life belts. Just as she prepared to lower one of her boats to continue rescue duty, Surveyor appeared on the scene, assumed rescue duty, and released Wheeling to resume protection and collection of the convoy. For the remainder of the night, Wheeling listened to shots being fired sporadically but did not leave station. Unknown to the gunboat, UB-50 also scored a hit on 55 Elswick Grange, but the English steamer succeeded in making port under her own power. The convoy continued its voyage to Bizerte unmolested and reached port on 21 May.

Upon arrival, Wheeling learned that severe damage had forced one of the two submarines which had attacked the convoy, U-39, to intern herself at Cartagena, Spain. Originally, the gunboat claimed that her depth charges had caused the damage, but that conclusion seems unlikely. German reports of the action make no mention of a depth charge attack and attribute all the damage to an attack by two British planes which occurred the following day.

Wheeling spent the month of June at Gibraltar undergoing repairs. On Independence Day 1918, she stood out of the harbor in the escort of a Bizerte-bound convoy which arrived safely on the 9th. She arrived back at Gibraltar with a return convoy on 14 July. Six days later, the gunboat started out on another escort mission which she completed uneventfully at Bizerte on the 24th. On the return voyage, her convoy once more ran afoul of UB-50 when the U-boat sank SS Magellan early in the evening of the 25th.

Compared to the events of May and July, the remainder of her wartime service proved tame and routine. On 5 August, she left Gibraltar with 21 merchantmen and three other escorts for Genoa. Six days later, the group arrived in port; and, on 12 August, she put to sea with 12 steamers bound for Gibraltar. She made three voyages to Genoa during August, September, and October, followed by a final voyage to Bizerte before the war ended. Wheeling was in Gibraltar on 11 November when the armistice was signed; and, 19 days later, she left that port and headed for Lisbon, Portugal, where she anchored on 2 December.

Leaving Lisbon the following day, Wheeling returned to Gibraltar on 5 December and, two days later, sailed for the United States. She stopped at Ponta Delgada, Azores, between 12 and 17 December and spent the night of 27 and 28 December coaling at St. George in the British West Indies. Operating once again in the Caribbean Sea, Wheeling received orders in mid-1919 to proceed to New Orleans, La., where she was decommissioned on 18 October 1919. On 31 December of the same year, she was assigned to the 8th Naval District for the training of naval reservists. Wheeling received the designation PG-14 on 17 July 1920; and, on the 17th, she was commissioned in the reserve fleet. Her classification was changed on 1 July 1921 to IX-28; and, on 21 January 1923, she received orders to the 3d Naval District to be used as the training vessel for the 6th Naval Reserve Battalion. Wheeling reached her new home port, New York, on 14 July 1923 and remained there until after World War II.

The warship was assigned to the Secretary of the Navy on 17 February 1941 for disposition, and the Navy solicited bids on her scrapping. However, on 28 December 1942, the order allowing her disposition was temporarily suspended, and the ship was ordered to be used as a berthing barge for motor torpedo boat crews manning newly built PT's in the New York area. On 13 February 1946, Wheeling was placed out of service; and on 8 March, she was declared ready for sale. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 28 March 1946; and, on 5 October 1946, she was sold for scrap.

[facedown]

Hi guys! I've been meaning to put up something for the thread for about three hours but I got completely lost at the VVA site in the history section. It is absolutely amazing - hundreds of links. I could spend days there.

About The War

[Valin]

Eagan [MN] man makes 'Liberate Iraq' signs to counter antiwar ones
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/838611/posts

I hope this sort of grassroots activism takes off.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

That is the first grassfire petition I have seen...and signed.

I am passing this along to the owner of the petition below (I signed yours...will you sign mine? LOL!)in my tag. I'm hoping it will help us light it up!

:)

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Valin. Great story!

[SAMWolf]

That's quite a career the Wheeling had. 1897 to 1946!

[PhilDragoo]

AID AND COMFORT: Jane Fonda in North Vietnam, Henry Mark Holzer and Erika Holzer, McFarland, 2002.

During the Vietnam War, Jane Fonda journeyed to Hanoi. She met with senior Communist civilian and military officials, held press conferences, toured sites of alleged bombing, "interviewed" American prisoners of war and, most important, made a series of propaganda broadcasts (tapes of which were incessantly played to our POWs).

By examining Fonda's childhood motivations, her radicalization, her POW "audience," her activities in North Vietnam, and through a detailed analysis of the American law of treason, "Aid and Comfort" makes the case that more than sufficient evidence existed to indict and convict Jane Fonda for the crime of treason.

~~~

I was happy to help the Holzers with prepublication work, and am offering multipacks of duct tape to expedite sending human shields to Baghdad.

It is rapidly becoming apparent that the proper use of the UN complex is as a VA hospital.

To that end, sending Kofi Annan and the Anti-U.S. 'R' Us crowd to inspect an ice floe is a good first step.

God Bless Our Troops, Our Veterans, and their Families.

SADDAM-free in '03

[SAMWolf]

It is rapidly becoming apparent that the proper use of the UN complex is as a VA hospital.

Now there's a thought!!

Evening PhilDragoo.