In this Issue:
1. Final
Agent Orange
Presumptive Regulations
Available
2. Tricare Retired
Reserve Update
3.
WWII MIA Identified
4.
Korean War MIA
Identified
1. Final Agent
Orange Presumptive
Regulations Available:
The VA last week
published final regulations
for three new illnesses to
be added to the list of
presumptions caused by
exposure to Agent Orange ---
hairy cell leukemia,
Parkinson's disease
and
ischemic heart disease.
VA
Secretary Eric Shinseki
added the illnesses after an
Institutes of Medicine
independent study linked the
illnesses to exposure to
Agent Orange and other
herbicide defoliants used
during the
Vietnam War. New VFW
Commander-in-Chief Richard
Eubank called the decision
very significant for
Vietnam veterans.
"Scientific research is
validating what the
veterans' community has been
saying for decades --- that
Agent Orange exposure
made people sick. By
accepting those findings,
the VA is telling veterans
that 'We believe you,' which
is exactly the level of
trust that we want," he
said. Congress now has 60
days to review the
regulations.
Read the VFW press release
at
http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=news.newsDtl&did=5577.
The
Federal Register
posting is at
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-21556.htm.
2. Tricare Retired
Reserve Update:
Enrollment for Tricare
Retired Reserve (TRR) began
Sept. 1 for eligible grey
area retirees to purchase
Tricare healthcare coverage
for themselves and their
family members. Grey areas
retirees are those under 60
who have earned military
retirement in the Reserve
component. Coverage begins
the first day following the
month of enrollment (i.e.,
enroll on Sept. 15 and
coverage begins Oct. 1, etc.
Visit the Tricare website
for more information or to
enroll at
http://www.tricare.mil/tricaresmart/product.aspx?id=790&CID=88&RID=3.
3. WWII MIA
Identified:
The Defense
POW/Missing
Personnel Office
announced the identification
of remains belonging to
U.S. Army Air Forces
1st Lt. Ray F. Fletcher, of
Westborough, Mass. On May
10, 1944, Fletcher and four
others aboard a B-25C
Mitchell bomber took off
from Corsica on a routine
courier mission. They failed
to reach their destination
and were officially reported
missing on May 13, 1944. Two
days later, French police
reported finding aircraft
wreckage on the island's
Mount Cagna. The Army's
Graves Registration Command
visited the crash site in
1944 and reported remains
were not recoverable. Read
the full DOD press release
at
http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13803.
4. Korean War MIA
Identified: DPMO
also announced that the
identification of the
remains of Army Sgt. Charles
P. Whitler, of Cloverport,
Ky. Whitler was assigned to
3rd Battalion,
8th Cavalry Regiment,
occupying a defensive
position near the town of
Unsan by the Kuryong River
known as the "Camel's Head."
In early November 1950,
enemy attacks collapsed
their perimeter and forced a
fighting withdrawal. Almost
400 men were reported
missing or killed in action
following the battle.
Whitler was one of several
soldiers who were captured
and taken into a field and
shot. Read the full DOD
press release at
http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=13850