  |
"The first Navy Veterans' Organization
created on, and for, the World Wide Web."
Founder
Edward C. Reese,
NCCS, USN, Retired
USA
|
 |
The Shipmate
Navy Veterans of the United States of America
Weekly Magazine
by: YNCS Don Harribine, USN (Ret), Ship's
Writer
&
Barry A. Cruikshank, Ship's Writer Striker
24 September 1999
Don,
Well done! Somebody is going to have a tough act to follow. I
know the
effort it must have taken you. I put out my Lions Club newsletter,
3 sometimes 4
pages, once a month and that is struggle at times and a real
chore all the other
times.
Every month it seems I'm confronted with a complete lack of
cooperation from
the members.
Good luck and good health to you and family.
Thanks
Marty Strauss.
____________________________
Thanks for all you support and efforts, Good luck C.S.Solis
SMCM (SW)
USN
Ret.
______________________________
On behalf of myself, and I'm sure many of the recipients of
your/our
Newsletter. THANK YOU, AND BZ.
Your efforts were greatly appreciated.
Capt. David S. Oppenheim
_________________________________
The honor has indeed been ours... good luck to you in all your
endeavors..."
Fair Winds and Following Seas"
Mike Corriveau
MMCM(SW) USN ret >>
*****************************************************************************
This week's issues:
Special Compensation for Severely Disabled Retirees: Are
You Eligible?
COLA Projection Update
House Passes Authorization Bill
Last Chance on Flag Amendment for 1999
Since reporting the authorization conferees' approval of the
new special compensation for certain severely disabled
retirees, we've received many calls from subscribers who
want to know whether they would qualify for the extra $100
to $300 per month.
The eligibility rules are very tight, and many won't qualify.
To be eligible, a member must have:
1) Completed at least 20 years of uniformed service "that
are creditable for purposes of computing the amount of
retired pay" (see comments below);
2) Retired for reasons other than disability; and
3) Received a disability rating of at least 70% from the
Department of Veterans Affairs within 4 years after
leaving uniformed service.
The two main issues arising in light of these requirements
concern their effect on Reserve retirees and military
disability retirees.
First, Department of Defense sources indicate it is not yet
certain whether Reserve and Guard retirees will be eligible.
TROA's assessment is that they should be, since the
terminology used is "uniformed service" rather than "active
duty uniformed service." But Department of Defense lawyers
are reviewing whether the word "computing" in the phrase
"creditable for purposes of computing the amount of retired
pay" requires 20 years of full_time duty. If they render
the latter interpretation, TROA will be asking Congress to
review the matter.
The second problem is that members who received military
disability retirements from their uniformed service are not
eligible, regardless of any subsequent disability award from
the VA. There have been two possible rationales offered for
this exclusion:
1) The primary argument for relief from the current law has
been that military retired pay and VA disability compensation
are paid for different reasons: the retired pay is for
length of service and the VA disability compensation is for
disability. This is clearly true for nondisability retirees,
but more nebulous for disability retirees, since part of
their retired pay is for disability, too. There was some
concern that these members might be seen as receiving
multiple forms of disability compensation for the same
disability.
2) Many disability retirees already receive greater retired
pay than members with equal grade and service who received
nondisability service retirements. For example, a member
receiving a nondisability retirement after 20 years receives
50% of basic pay, whereas a military disability retiree with
equal grade and service who has a disability rating of 80%
or greater receives 75% of basic pay. Thus, the proposal was
aimed mainly at helping those severely disabled retirees
currently receiving relatively smaller compensation.
But it's clear there are lots of cases that these arguments
don't fit, and that another look at the language is needed
to ensure equity among various categories of retirees. TROA
will be working with Congress in an effort to address this
matter for military disability retirees.
COLA Projection Update
The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Wednesday announced the
Consumer Price Index (CPI) number for August. This is
important because the CPI is the basis for the upcoming
(effective December 1) COLA for Social Security, military
retired pay, SBP, VA disability compensation, etc.
The news is that the CPI went up about three_tenths of a
percentage point in August. What this means that's really
important to our members is:
The December COLA now looks like it's going to be either
2.3% or 2.4%. We won't know for sure until the final
September CPI figures come out in the middle of October.
As a refresher, the Dec 1999 COLA is calculated by taking
the average of the CPI numbers for July, August and September
of 1999 and dividing that figure by the average CPI for the
same three months in 1998.
If the September CPI growth exactly matches the August
increase, the COLA will be 2.4% (rounded up from 2.375). If
inflation slows down a little in September, the COLA could
be 2.3%. If inflation takes a bigger jump in September, it
might get up to 2.5%.
House Passes Authorization Bill
On Wednesday, the House passed the final version of the
FY2000 Defense Authorization Act by an overwhelming vote of
375 to 45. The latest word from the Senate is that the Act
won't come up for a vote in that chamber before Tuesday
evening at the earliest.
Assuming the Senate passes it as expected, it will take a
couple of days for administrative clearance to the White
House. Then the President will have 10 days from arrival to
sign or veto it, or it will become law in the absence of any
presidential action.
Last Chance on Flag Amendment for 1999
In last week's update we highlighted the Flag anti_desecration
amendment as one of the significant pieces of unfinished
congressional business, and noted the seeming slide toward
Senate inaction despite the amendment's passage in the House
by a wide margin.
Several members have asked what they could do to try to
stimulate the Senate to a vote on this important measure.
The key thing is to contact your senators and urge them to
cosponsor and pass the amendment
*****************************************************************************
"HALL, BARBARA (X35727)" wrote:
> I am trying to find a replica of the Iwo Jima Memorial Monument.
Can you
> tell me where I might find one?
If anyone can help, reply to BHALL@hklaw.com or barryc@alumni.Princeton.EDU
*****************************************************************************
Welcome:Aboard Jack Chantemerle
chante@hto.com
http://www.navetsusa.com/members/jchantemerle.html
*****************************************************************************
Welcome Aboard Bob Day!
Daybob@earthlink.net
http://www.navetsusa.com/members/rday.html
*****************************************************************************
Submitted:
Barry A. Cruikshank
Ship's Writer Striker
******************************************************************************
In This Issue ... Cold
War Certificates-help your fellow veterans in your local area
Members Only
Promote your NAVetsUSA Web Page
In order to promote your site, you may want to order
your own business cards.
They are professionally printed in raised "navy" blue ink
on white stock.
All Hands: Be sure to try our new internal search engine
at:
http://www.navetsusa.com/port.html.
When you get there, click on any "search" button.
With 100's of pages at NAVetsUSA this is a great way to find
a ship or shipmate!
-
Several Members' dues are still outstanding. Please
post ASAP. Make check payable to "Printing by Reese" and mail to: P.O.
Box 259, Brockport, NY 14420.
-
Going through the Members' Home Page Index, We
noticed some Bios and Photos haven't been sent in yet. If you don't want
to put your info online, that's OK, but if you're just procrastinating,
well...
Please wish a hearty "Welcome Aboard" to the following new
shipmates
and visit their respective web sites as listed:
ABH3 Joseph H. Dutton, USN
e-mail: ltn1063@militaryinfo.com
http://www.navetsusa.com/members/jdutton.html
SM3 William O. Wiles, USN
e-mail: bwlw@stargate.net
http://www.navetsusa.com/members/wwiles.html
MMCM(SS) Levi J. Salazar, USN(Ret)
e-mail: levi@rmi.net
http://www.navetsusa.com/members/lsalazar.html
UTA3 Walter M. "Pete" Reckinger, USN e-mail:
petereckinger@usa.net
http://www.navetsusa.com/members/wreckinger.html
SMCM Charles A. Solis, USN(Ret)
e-mail:
charles_solis@hotmail.com
http://www.navetsusa.com/members/csolis.html
MS1 Dennis R. Bacon, USNR(Ret)
e-mail: denbacon@aol.com
http://www.navetsusa.com/members/dbacon.html
Marty Strauss, USN (no rate given)
e-mail: vipmarty@aol.com
http://www.navetsusa.com/members/mstrauss.html
SN William E. Miller, USN
e-mail: wemusswasp@aol.com
http://www.navetsusa.com/members/wmiller.html
W. B. "Red" Harper, USN (no rate given) e-mail: redharper@webtv.net
http://www.navetsusa.com/members/wharper.html
SK2 George K. Booth, USN
e-mail:
gkbooth@blackrockcapital.com
http://www.navetsusa.com/members/gbooth.html
MM2 Edward Torres, USN
e-mail: gonzgram@aol.com
http://www.navetsusa.com/members/etorres.html
Neil J. Williams, USN (no rate given)
e-mail: ow1016@aol.com
http://www.navetsusa.com/members/nwilliams.html
SM3 Don Williams, USN
e-mail: DWillT1328@aol.com
http://www.navetsusa.com/members/dwilliams.html
SN Edward "Ted" R. Castle, USNR
e-mail: castle6@redshift.com
http://www.navetsusa.com/members/ecastle.html
BM2 Theodore M. Stratton, USN
e-mail: catarnd@gateway.net
http://www.navetsusa.com/members/tstratton.html
ABU3 William "Wally" L. Garber, USN e-mail:
leefran38@yahoo.com
http://www.navetsusa.com/members/wgarber.html
BM1 Ralph Garcia, USN(Ret)
e-mail: garcia15@juno.com
http://www.navetsusa.com/members/rgarcia.html
===================================== |
|
|
|
|
You Promote Your Home Page...
We Promote Your Naval History Site!
OK. You've joined NAVetsUSA and you have your
own personal Home Page online. Now what? Once you have a Web Address, if
no one knows it ís there, it doesn't do a lot of good. There are
several things you can do online to promote your page.
The first thing you need to do is get your
name and web address out to the many search engines online. We use add
me because they submit your information to 34 at one time. Go to http://www.addme.com
and follow their directions. As you go through the list, note that sometimes
a site doesn't take your application. Just use your Back button and continue
with the rest of them. Be careful filling out the form, make sure all the
information is correct or you'll have 34 search engines sending people
to the wrong place. Also watch capitalizing everything. Its considered
bad taste on the net to do that (ALL CAPITAL LETTERS is the same as shouting).
After you finish submitting the information, there will be several companies
that will email you requesting return links for their trouble. Forward
that information to us at navetsusa@earthlink.net and well put the return
links on your page.
Secondly, you can join LinkExchange. Check
them out at http://www.linkexchange.com. If you wish to belong to them,
you'll have to notify us first so we can create your banner. There are
certain restrictions on size we have to follow. Once your banner is uploaded,
well send you the address and you can submit your application at that time
to Link Exchange. When you get to their Home Page, click on the "LE Banner
Network" link to join. When you've finished, they will email you the code
you need to put on your page. Forward that to us by email. While choosing
your categories at Link Exchange, you'll be given two choices (they are
three levels deep). We would like you to choose one as Society & Issues:
Military/Armed Forces: Navy. You can choose the other one anywhere you
wish. Also, they want you to choose the audience you want your banner displayed
to, and the type of banners you want displayed on your page. Please choose
ì2î, we donut want Adult Sites and Obscenities flashing on
ANY NAVetsUSA pages.
Lastly, you can put your own personal guestbook
on your page. Go to http://www.Lpage.com and apply for one. You can use
the same banner we create for Link Exchange. The categories (they have
two levels) is Government: Military (they have other ones if you prefer,
but that one matches NAVetsUSA closest, we believe). They too will send
you code that needs inserted on your page, you need to forward that to
us also. If you follow the above three suggestions, you'll be well on your
way to a strong Web Presence. If you have any questions, or need additional
help, email us. That's what we're here for. (Some Bios and Photos have
been slow in coming. If you drop a photo or photos (they don't have to
be military shots, you can even include your family) in the return envelope
provided, you can email us with a list of your accomplishments, family
info, Tours of Duty, whatever. Well write it up for you, you can proof
it, and you're DONE! Let us know if there's anything else we can do to
help.)
You thought you just received one page on the
NAVetsUSA site? No, you can have as many sites as you want to submit. In
our History Section that is. If you haven't checked that section out yet,
go to http://home.earthlink.net/~navetsusa/history.html to see the pages.
These sites are donated by NAVetsUSA members. Once online, we promote them
very heavily so the page, address and description gets out to other web
surfers. Once on the site, you'll notice each page is a member of LinkExchange.
We create a banner to submit to LinkExchangee, which we also use in our
Log Book.Then we submit the site to NavShips History Ring, Starting Point,
USA Online, Apollo, and AddMe. AddMe submits the page for us to 34 Search
engines.
By completing the form in the Benefits section,
you become the contact person for that site. All the promotional material
will be forwarded to you by either us, or the individual promotional companies.
Your name, photo and email address is also on that page, in case former
shipmates come across it and want to contact you directly.
By providing this service we are fulfilling
our NAVetsUSA Objectives, by donating information to this site, you are
doing the same.
You'll notice that as each site goes online,
and the guestbook is registered, we sign the log first as NAVetsUSA, then
as You with your name, homepage address, and email address. We also code
the information to show the banners in the guestbook. We will email you
the code once your site is online, and you can sign other guestbooks with
the code, which will display the banner, and provide a direct link back
to that page.
If you wish to sign other guestbooks with our
NAVetsUSA banner, type the following in the comments sections (be sure
to get everything in code correct, or it won't work!):
-
<P><CENTER><A HREF=http://www.navetsusa.com/index.html>
-
<IMG SRC=http://www.navetsusa.com/members/banner.gif
-
BORDER=0" HEIGHT=40" WIDTH=400"></A></CENTER
></P>
-
<P><CENTER><B>Proud to be a NAVetsUSA
Member</B></CENTER></P>
O.K. Shipmates. Let's Get Busy!
There's a lot of people out there that care about our Navy. They need to
find you, and us, on the net. Think "Promotion! Promotion! Promotion!"
and they WILL find us. Guaranteed.
It is my pleasure to announce
that , Shipmate Don Harribine, our
shipswriter, from Peabody,
Massachusetts, has received the prestigious,
"NAVetsUSA Shipmate of
the Year" award for 1998. With this award he
will receive
a plaque with the NAVetsUSA emblem and next year's dues
paid by NAVetsUSA.
Congratulations Don, and well done!
Bravo Zulu from the ship and crew!
All hands please visit;
http://www.navetsusa.com/events.html
for more information
The Brockport Post
Seafaring club celebrates seventh year
By Matt Ried
Seven years ago, the Navy Club of Lake Ontario
was just a glimmer
in Ed Reese's eye.
During an old Navy day celebration at the VFW
post in Holley, NY,
the navy veteran began soliciting names of
people who would be
interested in forming a club.
Reese collected and submitted 50 names to the
Navy Club of the USA
He only needed 25 to be considered for membership,
but the
application still had some rough water ahead.
"The national organization gives out charter
numbers sequentially,
so our number probably should have been in
the 250s," he said.
But Reese wanted his club to have the charter
number 1812, for
several reasons.
One was to help honor the ship on which Reese
first served, the
Constitution. The other reason was to commemorate
the War of 1812,
in which many naval battles were fought on
the Great Lakes. In the
end, Reese got his charter.
"They figured out some way for the computer
to accept 1812," he
told the STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER.
The Navy Club is open to former members of
the Navy, Marine Corps,
and Coast Guard. Honorary memberships are
also given out to people
"who have made a substantial contributions
to the club". Reese is also the founder of NAVetsUSA.
NCCS Edward C. Reese, USN, ret.
At the Navy Club, Museum
Who
We Are How to
Join Members
Page HomePage
Index Navy
News
Naval
History Ship
Locator LinksFeedbackCreditsNAVetsUSA
Events
Send comments to navetsusa@earthlink.net
Sign
Our Ship's Log
View
Our Ship's Log
Last updated 18 March 1999
Founded by Edward C. Reese,
NCCS, USN Retired
S. M. Weidensall, National
Secretary and Webmaster