patriot bulletin - Military Order of the Purple Heart - Texas Capital ...

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PATRIOT BULLETIN
NEW MEMBERS
We have a new member that has been added to the rolls of Chapter 1919 since publication of
last month’s PATRIOT BULLETIN. Welcome and Congratulations to:
CW4 WILLIAM L. (CHUCK) REVELS is an Army Iraq veteran. Chief Revels was
wounded twice while serving in the 101st Aviation Regiment. The first time was in Mosul on
Dec 31, 2004. The second time was just outside Camp Spicher at Tikrit on May 23, 2005,
following which he was medically evacuated from the hospital at Balad to Landstuhl and then
to Walter Reed Army Hospital where he was treated (mostly for related conditions) for another
eight months before being released. Chuck is still proudly serving and does not anticipate
retirement from active duty for several more years.
At “press-time” we had two additional applications in processing at National Headquarters.
KENNETH W. GILBERT, Army, Vietnam
DOUG SCHELLING, Marine Corps, Iraq
...See www.collegefortexans.com for information on Texas’…
HAZLEWOOD ACT
...Providing Education Benefits to Texas Veterans...
Currently, nearly half of our chapter’s newly joining
members are Iraq veterans, and our website attracts
more queries every month. What those two groups
have in common is that both frequently ask the same
thing. What are my education benefits? A big part
of our answer is: If you are a Texas resident, with
no GI/Montgomery benefits remaining, your biggest
potential benefit would be Texas’ Hazlewood Act, a
state program that provides education benefits to
honorably discharged or separated Texas veterans
(not just Purple Heart recipients). In the last school
year for which data is available, 8,885 Texas veteran
students were using benefits of the Hazlewood Act.
The Act provides exemption from “all dues, fees,
and charges, including fees for correspondence
courses but excluding property deposit fees, student
service fees, and any fees or charges for lodging,
board, or clothing…..at Texas public colleges or
universities” (the list of Texas Public Institutions is
available from a link in the above listed website).
To apply, veterans must: be citizens of the U.S. at
the time of entry; be Texas residents and Texas
residents at the time they entered service; have served
at least 181 days of active duty; have exhausted all
federal education benefits available; and several other
stipulations apply but those are the biggest hurdles.
How to apply: Provide registrar of your college with
proof of your service (DD214), and proof of
eligibility for GI/Montgomery benefits by requesting
a letter from the VA office in Muskogee, Oklahoma
(call 888-442-4551). Complete the application (see
links in “Program Purpose” in the website above) and
submit it to your college’s financial aid office.