MIKE DIMONDA - JIM SWEET - BILL CANNAVAN - AT - LARGE BOARD MEMBERS - SUE COOK - AVVA ASSOCIATE CHAPTER LIAISON - BRUCE NILES - MIKE DIMONDA - JIM DAWSON - DELEGATES TO VERMONT STATE COUNCIL

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This month I want to talk about net working in our community. As a small chapter we have a limited income and we need to work with other groups in order to help veterans. Last month I told you we had help a veteran what I didn’t tell you was how. Last month a person who know what we do stopped at my house on a Friday night and told me that a homeless veteran was in one of our shopping center. I went down and talked with the veteran and he had a dd-214 with him. Next I called one of the three motels that we have used that give us a good rate, got the price and then called the service officer of the local post of the American Legion Post 13 and asked if they would share the cost of the weekend, they said yes. Took veteran to the motel and told him on Monday morning to contact our service officer and see what we could do. As it worked out he wanted to go back to Fl. So we contacted the VFW 1332 about a bus ticket and they said yes. Next I called one of our members Jim Dawson and asked him to drive this guy fifty miles one way to get on the bus for FL. Which Jim did and we thanked him. Right after we got done with him, I received a phone call from the Interfaith church group who said they would help him. But I told them we had taken care of it this time and would use them when we were confronted with another veteran. Which was not long after that. As you can see this kind of net working is very important for us and for any chapter that has a very limited income. We can do a lot with all of the different groups in our community.

On another note, received word that chapter member Dean Dixon has had a three way by-pass and is home doing well, Also Bruce Niles has been under going test and has had a pace-maker put in and he is home and well. Tom Keyes has been having trouble also is home doing well. And finally Roy Beardsley also has been under the weather and has had to retire from work. If you know of any one that is ill please let us know. Get well all of you.

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Last month I talked about a new chapter membership development plan and after getting the final updated one, I think that we have a great booklet for future chapters to use. I will be voting on it at the next conference of state council meeting in Oct.

We have no new members to report on but at the Pownal Fair and also at the Bennington Car show we passed out a lot of information on our chapter. We will see. We also have had five members send in their dues for another year and they are Robert Wilson, Roy Beardsley, Burton Harwood, James Richardson, and Robert Millington. Once again thank you all for your continuing support of what this chapter does in the community, state and nation.

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POW/MIA REPORT

This year as in past year we stood on the four corner of Bennington for our hour and I want to thank Bruce Niles, Sue Cook, Jim Dawson for standing their with me for that time. I am still amazed at how many people ask what we are doing. We even had cars stop and ask us. Again the Vermont Veterans Home flew fifty 3 x 5 POW/MIA flags for one week plus. I truly believe it is the only place in the US to do that for POW/MIA Recognition Day. At the end of this we will have a picture of the four corners and of the Veterans Home Flags.

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from World War II, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors. He is 2nd Lt. Harold E. Hoskin, U.S. Army Air Forces, of Houlton, Maine. He will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.

Representatives from the Army met with Hoskin’s next-of-kin to explain the recovery and identification process, and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the Secretary of the Army.

On Dec. 21, 1943, Hoskin was one of five crewmen on board a B-24D that departed Ladd Field in Fairbanks, Alaska, on a cold-weather test mission. The aircraft never returned to base and it was not located in subsequent search attempts. The following March, one of the crewmen, 1st Lt. Leon Crane, arrived at Ladd Field after spending more than two months in the Alaska

wilderness. He said that the plane had crashed after it lost an engine, and Crane and another crewmember, Master Sgt. Richard L. Pompeo, parachuted from the aircraft before it crashed. Crane did not know what happened to Pompeo after they bailed out. In October 1944, Crane assisted a recovery team in locating the crash. They recovered the remains of two of the crewmen, 1st Lt. James B. Sibert and Staff Sgt. Ralph S. Wenz. Hoskin’s remains were not found and it was concluded that he probably parachuted out of the aircraft before it crashed.

In 2004, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) received information from a National Park Service Historian regarding a possible WWII crash site in the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, Alaska. The historian turned over ashes believed to be the cremated remains of the crew, however, it was determined they contained no human remains. In 2006, a JPAC team excavated the site and recovered human remains and other non-biological material,

Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Company I (Ranger), 75th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division

Place and date: Tinh Phuoc Thanh Province, Republic of Vietnam, 22 February 1969

Entered service at: Dallas, Texas

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Law distinguished himself while serving with Company I. While on a long-range reconnaissance patrol in Tinh Phuoc Thanh Province, Sp4c. Law and 5 comrades made contact with a small enemy patrol. As the opposing elements exchanged intense fire, he maneuvered to a perilously exposed position flanking his comrades and began placing suppressive fire on the hostile troops. Although his team was hindered by a low supply of ammunition and suffered from an unidentified irritating gas in the air, Sp4c. Law's spirited defense and challenging counter assault rallied his fellow soldiers against the well-equipped hostile troops. When an enemy grenade landed in his team's position, Sp4c. Law, instead of diving into the safety of a stream behind him, threw himself on the grenade to save the lives of his comrades. Sp4c. Law's extraordinary courage and profound concern for his fellow soldiers were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.

This year car show took a lot of work and I want to Thank first Bruce Niles once again for the use of his trailer. On Wednesday before the car show Bruce and I travel to Salem NY and picked up 1000 pounds of potatoes from Sheldon’s Farm. Then on Thursday after morning coffee with the boys. Phil Young and I loaded his truck with all of the stuff for the booth inside of the building we were doing and took all that down and unloaded it.

Then on Friday morning I went early and set up the booth and then got the french fryers up and running at 10:30 AM we could start selling them. David Therrien ran the booth for us on Friday with help from Robert Wilson. Phil Young and Jim Dawson and myself ran the french fryers. On Sat Jim Sweet, Robert Wilson, Bruce Niles, worked both booths and Sunday saw Linda Armstrong, Bill Bradley, Sue Cook Bruce Niles and David Therrien all work on both areas.

We set the record this year in selling out of potatoes by 2:30 PM on Sunday after noon. We cleaned up the fryers and packed up the booth and got out of there by 4:00 PM. Once again thank you all for another great year at the car show.

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AGENT ORANGE AWARENESS MONTH

Just a brief note to remind everyone that Oct is Agent Orange Month and I will be contacting the Governor to get him do announce it again this year. Sue and I will be doing a brief wealth laying on Oct 1^st at the Town Office where last year we put a memorial in. Pictured below.

25^th ANNIVERSARY OF THE VERMONT VIETNAM MEMORIAL

With only a few weeks to go, things are coming together for the great event. All of our guest speakers will be there and we have a group to sing our National Anthem. Remember it is Oct 27^th at 1:00 PM . I am working on a program for the event and as soon as I get it put together I will send it out to everyone.

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This is Bennington year to host this state parade and Don Tetreault is the chairman of the event. The line up will begin at 9 AM over by the Rec Center We need people to once again carry our banners that we have. Plus Mike will have his truck and Carl and his Dad will have there jeeps. As more information comes out I will get it to you all.

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Even thou we are have a state parade, we will still have our own parade on Veterans Day. Once again we need people to come out and carry our banners for this one. Also we will lay a wealth at our memorial after the main event at the Medal of Honor site. Any questions please contact me.

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Have you marked you calendars yet. Come on people let not forget this one. Last year we had our biggest turn out and this year we want to have a even bigger one. I am still working on the menu as We need to get close to get prices on the prime rib. Look in the next issue of our newsletter for the form to sign up .

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By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2007 - The United States military will "neither forget our duty to bring home all POWs and MIAs, nor relent in our efforts to do so," Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today.

The secretary, along with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace, spoke at the POW/MIA Day ceremony at the Pentagon today.
Roughly 30,000 Americans alive today were once held as prisoners of war, Pace said. Millions of Americans have taken the oath to become service members, he said, but few "have been called to sacrifice the way our prisoners of war have been called to sacrifice and to be tested in the belief in that oath."

The general spoke of the incredible way that former prisoners of war fulfilled their oaths, and he said they hand a legacy of service to service members today.

"We hope and pray that if we were to be in the same state that they were in, that we might discharge our duties as well as they have discharged theirs," Pace said. "That legacy spurs us on to serve this nation out of respect for their honor and their service."

Gates gave a special welcome to former POWs in the audience and to the families of Americans still listed as missing in action.

"Missing-in-action status is marked by ambiguity and uncertainty, a severe test of spirit and resolve for anyone seeking closure," he said. "Your attendance today proves once again that the bond of love transcends the passage of time, that while our nation's heroes may remain missing in body, they are always present in spirit."

The POW/MIA commemoration is a time to remember and recommit, the secretary said. The day will be linked to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks by coincidence of the calendar, but when the day was chosen it was picked because it was unconnected to any specific war or cause, Gates said.

But, he added, it is also fitting that POW/MIA Day be linked to Sept. 11.

"Throughout our nation's history, it has always fallen to the men and women of the armed forces to respond to aggressors and adversaries; to endure arduous and Spartan conditions; to risk life and limb on the battlefield; to make the sacrifices that are, in the final analysis, both our nation's tragedy and our glory," he said.

Servicemembers have again answered the call to duty and are fighting a conflict that is global in scope and generational in duration, Gates said. "And, as in the past, the honor, courage and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform will be our nation's glory," he said. "As in the past, losing them on the battlefield is ever our tragedy."

Gates paid special tribute to four soldiers missing in action during Operation Iraqi Freedom: Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin, captured April 9, 2004; Spc. Ahmed Altaei, captured Oct. 23, 2006; and Spc. Alex Jimenez and Pvt. Byron Fouty, both captured May 12, 2007. "They may not be well known to the public, but within the brotherhood of arms, they will never be forgotten or left behind," Gates pledged.

"These men are the latest additions to the ranks of tens of thousands who remain missing from previous conflicts," the secretary said. "And they are the latest additions to the ranks of those we remember today."

Pace spoke about the families of those missing in action. "Our families, although they never stood in a formation or raised their right hand, ... especially the families of our missing in action, serve our nation as well as anyone who has ever worn the uniform," he said.

The families of the missing "are sacrificing in ways that only those sacrificing with them can possibly understand," he continued. "I don't know how any of us can ease that pain, but I hope in some small way, formations like this today and personal prayers might bring peace and comfort to the families of those missing in action and those members of the armed force who are MIA."

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I know you are wondering about our format of this newsletter, I am sadden to say Joyce has retired from the job. I am hoping it is only for this one. But words can never say enough about the job she did for us the last 12 years . I will try to carry on the newsletter but it won’t be the same as her’s. Please bare with me as I am learning how to do what she did. I don’t know about the art work but I will get the news out to you all.