yourviews
Health Care Reform In response to the article, “TRICARE Reform” [Washington Scene, February 2016]: Beware “reform.” When the clowns of Congress and the perpetrators in the Pentagon “reform” military pay and/or benefits, “reform” almost always produces reductions or losses. … Change is, of course, inevitable. But
promised and have earned … are disgraceful violations of trust.
away benefits that people in uniform have … been
“
‘Reforms’ that take
—Capt. Roger A. Hatfield, USAF (Ret) ”
not every change constitutes progress. “Reforms” that take away benefits that people in uniform have, in many cases, been promised and have earned are not “reforms.” They are disgraceful viola- tions of trust. — Capt. Roger A. Hatfield, USAF (Ret) Life Member, Del Rio-Fort Clark (Texas) Chapter via email
[February 2016 was] another monthly [issue] full of articles about the continued broken promises and the erosion of our benefits. Sometimes I ask myself, do I real- ly want to sit down and read it? It just gets my blood pressure and frustration up. I do recognize there are many good-
news stories, too, but the erosion of our benefits and the continued increase in fees really gets me down. Maybe you could change the format of the magazine and put all the bad news stories together, then I could just skip that section. Congress should be ashamed. [I’m] sick of [them] balancing the budget on our backs when the fraud, waste, and abuse is so rampant in the government. … — Maj. Andrew W. Reese, USA (Ret) Life Member via email
Getting the Mail Through In the very informative article, “The Mail Must Go Through,” February 2016, about the 6888th Central Postal Battalion in Europe during World War II, the seated
14 MILITARY OFFICER APRIL 2016
WAC soldier prominently pictured on page 67 (and standing on page 68) was not identified. Of possible interest to readers, she was Alyce Dixon, the nation’s oldest female veteran until her recent death at age 108 Jan. 27, 2016, in Washington, D.C. … The [Washington] Post also noted that the battalion commander, Charity Adams, was “one of the first black female commis- sioned officers of the war.” — Col. Thomas V. Mukai, USA (Ret) Alexandria, Va.
I never realized, while reading my letters from home, huddled in a tent, soaking from 30 days of nonstop cold rain on Oki- nawa, who it was that was making it pos- sible for those letters to get through to me. How kind and compassionate of you to write and to publish this fine article for us. I don’t remember any of us guys ever stopping to think how those letters and packages got to us. On the contrary, we usually were too quick to [complain] about how long it took or how much they were beat up from the trip. It is heartening to now realize who those ladies were, what they were doing for us — and the sad fact that we never knew — until today. I, for one, take off all my hats to them,
poring over one letter after another, hour by hour, seven days a week, month after month, trying their best to get them to the right person, wherever they were, Europe or Japan. What a huge job! I still have all those letters. And now I
can’t help but wonder if the fingerprints of some of those ladies are still on them. Thank you for your article, and thanks to all those ladies who are still alive, to be so recognized for their efforts. — former Army 1st Lt. Robert Rock Life Member, Shasta Country (Calif.) Chapter via email
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