Jan/Feb 2008 - KWVA - Korean War Veterans Association

Membership Report
At this time last year we had 17,145
• New members recruited since this time last year: = +1063
• Net loss of non-renewals & deaths of active members = - 971
• As of now, the KWVA has 17,237 members in 2008
This is a net increase of 92 members.
We have flyers and posters on our website www.kwva.org to help Chapters recruit.
Jeff Brodeur, KWVA Membership Chairman
Extract of Table of New Members
VETERAN GRAVE VANDALS
ATexas lawmaker has introduced a bill that would make vandalizing the
grave of a service member or veteran a federal crime, even if the grave
is on private property. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX), comes
after the grave of a Marine killed in Iraq was vandalized just two days after
his burial in Liberty, Texas. “The person responsible has since been arrested
and charged with a state felony, but no federal provision exists,” Poe
said. Federal laws making it a crime to damage or destroy a memorial,
headstone or gravesite apply only to public land, not to gravesites in private
cemeteries.
This is not the first time the federal government has had to stand by
when a veteran’s grave was damaged. Last year, American flags were
replaced with Nazi flags on Memorial Day weekend at the gravesites of
veterans in Orcas Island WA, but the federal government could do nothing
because the graves were in a private cemetery. Poe’s bill, HR 4973, was
referred to the House Judiciary Committee for consideration. If enacted
into law, it would apply the same penalty for the destruction of graves on
public lands — a fine of up to $10,000 and up to 10 years imprisonment —
to graves on private property. [Source: Marine Times Rick Maze article 25
Jan 08]
BUSINESS
U.S. names new
commander for
South Korea
On Friday, February 15, 2008, the
Pentagon named Army Gen. Walter
Sharp as the new commander of U.S. forces
in South Korea. There are currently 28,000
American troops supporting the Korean
army in defense of its country, a sharp reduction
from the 37,000 it had there earlier in
this decade.
Moreover, the U.S. is moving its remaining
forces away from the front lines along the
border with North Korea. South Korea ceded
wartime command of its military to U.S.-led
U.N. forces during the Korean War. The U.S.
and South Korea agreed last year that Seoul
would take wartime control of its forces by
2012.
Sharp has been appointed by Secretary of
Defense Robert Gates to replace B.B. Bell,
the top U.S. general in South Korea. The
move comes as part of a major restructuring
of a military alliance created during the
Korean War (1950—53). It is important to
note that South Korea and North Korea are
still technically at war, because the Korean
War ended in a truce, instead of a peace
treaty.
As of now, South Korea has 650,000
troops to face the approximately 1.1 million
North Korea troops. Significantly, North
Korea, which tested a nuclear weapon two
years ago, allocates the bulk of its
resources to its military despite a struggling
economy.
Website of Interest
The webmaster of www.Asbestos.com
warns Americans about the dangers of
asbestos exposure.
Many veterans were exposed to
asbestos during their service. In order to
help better educate our vets on these risks,
we’ve created a veteran-specific section
at www.asbestos.com/veterans. This covers
possible exposure points, symptoms
of asbestos-related diseases, and programs
designed to assist vets in preventing,
diagnosing, and treating these ailments.
We’d like to suggest our site as a
resource to your users. I think our site
would be a great addition to your “Links
to Websites of Interest” page.
23
The Graybeards January-February 2008