European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 13, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes Friday february 13,1987 letters 2 retirees take Issue with Benefit axes after Reading the Lutes plan to further erode my actual and implied benefits earned through Many years of faithful and Honora service. I saw red. My first thought was of a phrase thai was popular on pos ters a few years Back suppose they gave a War and nobody came served i endured i suffered etc., etc., and my country promised me Many benefits As Reward for my service. Most have Long disappeared but the lowest blow is that i now Sec that i May have to pay for outpatient medical care for my wife and my self since i am a Retiree and not an Active duty sol Dier. 1 live Oversea so once my wife and 1 reach the age of 65 we will lose our Cham pts benefits,.and due 10 a quirk in the rules we will no qualify for medicare since we live overseas. As people get older their need for medical care increases but their income decreases at least if you Are a retired military person. What we do not need is another Bill to pay for the medical care we thought would be free i have always accepted the space available provision o he care 1 seek in the military health care facilities but 1 just do not think that it is fair to Start charging retirees and dependents for outpatient medical care. If Money is the reason for this new plan then Why not crack Down on those medical care provider who feet that they Are justified in providing gratuitous medical care to persons who Are not authorized Cost free medical care in military medical care facilities i am talking about Dod civilians who Are personal friends or associates of military health care providers. The provision of no Cost medical care and advice As Well As prescription medications o civilians no authorized such Here in Europe probably rep resents a significant monetary loss to the govern ment and if proper payment for services was enforced maybe the retirees and dependents would not have to foot the Bill or at least not As much of it anyway. I frequently wish that some of the Benefit axes would first Stop and find out Why a Benefit was set up in the first place. Many of the benefits were instituted because of the Low lower than in the civilian sector pay afforded military personnel when comparing military pay Wilh civilian pay the Lav ish benefits of the military Are always included into the calculations. If these benefits disappear one by one then i he pay Scales should be increased proportionately. Fred Macl cod Nuernberg an open letter to All members of Congress 1 believe that most of my Peers would agree with the following statement of my opinion but i offer it in somewhat of a collective role expressively for the purpose of clarity. Until now we military retirees never knew just How lilt a we meant to the staffs of the office of management and budget and the department of defense in general and to the de Dales of All political administrations who misrepresent us in particular. The erosion of military Retiree benefits Over the past few years is not Only frightening but de grading to our form of democracy As Well. Men and women now entering the services recognize that changing times and social standards Dic Tate a revision to some previous standards. We time honoured veterans and our family of current Active duty personnel with longstanding years Haw Ever Are your servicemen and women of both the past and present who Are fully entitled to the future thai we were promised. Having served our country for Many Long and hard years a majority of us Are losing too Many of the lawful benefits that we were guaranteed. We survived Wii. Korea Vietnam and Many other around the world hot spots. Whether we were initially drafted or volunteered whether we served during Only one War or All of hem is contractually placed our lives on the line for every one of our so called benefits so Hal the of our society even though they continue to bite our hands As we feed them could pursue lucrative government professions of their choices and at the same Lime Cut our throats in order to balance office budgets while they climb to lofty Heights on of ladders. I am but one of Many disabled War veterans. We served you Welt. I enlisted and kept re enlisting for25 years and was the Only special forces Green Beret to survive the entire siege of Khe Sanh. Until Reading this article my military career has always been a very private aspect of my retired life. Now i find to speak out. I must Compromise my cherished privacy in order to establish a very personal platform of credibility worthy of fighting Back against the loss of still More of our vested rights. In other words. I say to you merry makers of unclean deals i have had enough of the likes of you nol Only do Many of you members of Congress shame yourselves you also question our integrity As Well. As a result of past actions by the , and both houses of Congress some of you have made it poignantly Clear that you have no in Tention of living up to the constitutional rights your predecessors assured us in Exchange for our services to defend All americans Way of life. Now the bomb wants you logo even further and make us pay for our most precious Benefit ". medical care and hospitalization for serv ices we earned the right to perpetual medical care Medicine and Hostila Bizalion Wilh absolutely no restrictions and at no Cost to us whatsoever. But the bomb and Dod simply cannot accept the Law of the land. Our service contracts did not read uncles Uwi needs you to go to Battle and maybe gel killed or spend the rest of your life As a cripple in defense of heartless administrators who la forget you As soon As this crisis is quite the contrary. We Are retired. Except for voting out regime which ignore their constitutional commitments and discriminate against us our voices arc quiet and will always be just. But we arc Many. We possess the very same red. White and Blue blood which All Federal employees claim to prefer and Are sorely vexed with the anti Veteran attitudes of too Many budget balancers in High positions who Givel through Guise albeit they Lake la away it the same Lime our paychecks grow dimmer especially when we can least afford it because in senior years our health must falter. I offer our very Best wishes to All of you. May you continue to Prosper in Good Fortune and in health. But try remembering us sometimes. After All Iho United Stales could find herself in another War some Day. But who will you have left to fight when your service personnel have lost All Faith in you Harper c. Rollings Augsburg Germany children s dental health month continues this idler is to inform your readers that february i National children s dental health month. This month is designated by the american dental association to pram old dental health it children. A Good diet and proper Hygiene can prevent Den Ial disease and make visits to the dentist an enjoyable experience t would like to address several com Mon questions concerning children s dental health. The first visit to the dentist should occur around the age of one. It is usually Brief and the dentist May just count the Leech and get acquainted. This is Pri Marily a counselling session for the parents and is meant to intercept problems Early. Before the first visit parents should clean their children s Teeth daily since children Lack the manual dexterity to do it correctly Good habits can reformed by encouraging them to Brush their Teeth after you arc finished helping them. Continue this until Ibe child is Able to do a Good Job on his own. Never provide sugary fluids such As milk fruit military widow writes i am writing about your article about mrs. Gus gris som. The Asl Ronal ii widow. We Are All sad about the death of our astronauts but it makes me sick to see somebody can t get enough Money for Ihm. 1 think the astronauts Are astronauts of i hair own free will who know what could happen like every military Man who gets killed in a War. I know mrs. Grissom must get a pension from her military Man. If you want the glory you have to take the Heartbreak Loo. I am a German by birth but an american citizen since sept. 21. 1959, and am proud of it. Mrs. Freddie Kaplan a w Idem of a military Man he Ningon Germany juices or soda in bottles for Long periods of Lime especially at night. This will cause baby bottle Mouth where the upper front Leech decay rapidly and turn Brown. The sugary fluids promote bacterial growth plaque and the acid produced by the bacteria decays enamel. Fluoride in the diet can reduce tooth decay by 60 percent. It is absorbed by the enamel and dentin As to is formed and the tooth becomes stronger against acid attack from plaque bacteria. It is important to have fluoride in he diet from birth to ii years of age when primary and permanent Teeth Are formed. Fluoride can occur naturally or can be artificially added to the Community water Supply. If this water is not available fluoride drops or tablets can be prescribed. To further limit tooth decay plastic sealants can be applied to the biting surfaces of Teeth. This pre vents decay from occur ing in the Liny cracks Hal arc commonly present. Loss of Teeth from tooth decay can be painful andean create a fear of dentistry. It will also cause orthodontic problems Wilh the permanent Teeth. Prevention is the key to a lifetime of Good . Maj. Robert Thielman Augsburg Germany Accident victim thanks those who gave Aid on Jan. J5, i and my family were involved in a single car Accident our car hit a Patch of ice on the autobahn and we went off the Road flipping once be fore stopping. My wife spent Lime in the German Hospital in Wuerzburg and had to make a few visits to the army clinic in Schweinfurt before we could return to Augsburg. I m writing this letter to thank All of the people who helped us gel through our ordeal. I m asking you to print this Tetter because i can l possibly Contact them All since 1 have no names for some and no addresses for most of Ihm. First of All. To my family set. Anthony Gregory his wife Brenda and their son t.j., and the family of sergeants Arthur and Norma Pouncy thank you for your caring and support. To All the doctors and nurses at the Wurzburg unik Linik thank you. Tolic Schweinfurt clinic staff at the emergency room or. Wilkerson nurse Kelly spec. 4 Floyd and the Blond specialist whose name i Don t want to spell incorrectly the extra concern and caring which you showed my wife was just As important to us As the professionalism you showed in your treatment of her. Or. Thing thank you for your part in gelling us started Back Home. To All the maps who participated in co Oping us Back to Augsburg you were More than kind. A special thanks to sgt. Brookshire and spec. 4 Hester of the Erlanger my station who made repeated efforts to find a Way to return us to Augsburg after my unit told us they could not bring us in from or Langon and to the family of staff sol. Meldon l. Flugge who put us up for a night in their Home. Last but not least thanks to my office and staff sgt. Bailey for gelling us All the Way Back to Augsburg. While All of the people mentioned above Are pail of the army family i recognize that it was individual caring and not just professionalism which dictated their actions i want to stress thai people not the army helped my family and i thank them for being there. Remembering what they redone will encourage me to be there should the Opportunity Ever arise. Kenneth l. Washington Augsburg Germany
