rapidfire In Review

Hessians: Mercenaries, Rebels, and the War for British North America. By Brady J. Crytzer. Westholme Publishing, 2015. $29.95. ISBN 978-1-59416-224-4.

During the American Revolution, 30,000 German soldiers, Hessians,

fought for the British and played a much larger role in the war than often is un- derstood. Award-winning history professor Brady Crytzer tells the fascinat- ing story of the Hessians from 1776 to 1781, when the European practice of selling (or renting) merce- nary armies to the highest bidder sent these soldiers into the grueling cam- paigns in North America. He tells why the British had to use mercenaries in the colonies and de- scribes the blood-money fi nancial arrangements with the six minor Ger- man principalities that provided the troops. Crytzer presents the

stories of a Hessian cap- tain commanding a jager (light infantry) company of skilled marksmen, the wife of a Hessian colonel who accompanied her husband to the Battle of Saratoga and was captured

there, and the chaplain of a Hessian regiment in the southern campaign.

A Life of Lies and Spies: Tales of a CIA Ops Poly- graph Interrogator. By Alan B. Trabue. Thomas Dunne Books, 2015. $26.99. ISBN 978-1-250-06504-9.

Retired CIA offi cer Alan Tra- bue reveals the com- plex, cere- bral, and

dangerous side to counter- intelligence work. A 40- year CIA veteran, Trabue is an expert polygraph inter- rogator of foreign nation- als overseas, penetrating foreign intelligence services and governments in the fl uid and risky business of determining truth, lies, and skillful deception.

His memoir discusses

how polygraph interroga- tors use science, psychol- ogy, intuition, and words to elicit confessions, reveal duplicity, and uncover the secrets of potential CIA for- eign assets. Trabue also describes in-

terrogation techniques and indicators of evasion and deceit. Suspenseful anec- dotes tell of his hazardous missions in foreign coun- tries, wearing silly disguises and always being fearful of exposure as a CIA spy. — William D. Bushnell

Benefits Brief

Q. WHAT’S THE LINK BETWEEN MEDICARE, TRICARE FOR LIFE (TFL), AND VA HEALTH BENEFITS for a 100-percent-disabled VA rating? Specifically, if I never intend to use Medicare, as I receive 100 percent of my care from the VA with TFL as my backup, can I disenroll from Medicare and still remain enrolled in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS)? A. The short answer is you can use the VA for your

entire health care and not enroll in Medicare Part B. However, this means your TRICARE For Life (TFL) entitlement is suspended until you enroll in Medicare. Additionally, should you ever elect to use your TFL benefit, it’s going to cost you in both time and money. First, you would need to enroll in Medicare during a general enrollment period from Jan. 1 through March 31 each year, with Medicare Part B coverage not beginning until July 1 of that year. Next, there is a 10-percent lifetime penalty for every 12 months you could have enrolled in Medicare but failed to do so. This is cumulative. You’ll want to look at your lifestyle and health options within the VA with regards to the location where you choose to live and the availability of care. Lastly, your DEERS eligibility and ID card privileges remain regardless of enrollment in Medi- care. However, your health care eligibility is predicated upon enrollment in Medicare parts A and B with a valid military ID card. — Cmdr. Katherine O’Neill Tracy, USN (Ret), is a deputy director in MOAA’s Transition Center

Social Security Hub

An online my Social Security account (www.ssa.gov/ myaccount) is the easiest way to access your Social Security information to plan for retirement. You can:  keep track of your earnings and verify them annually;  get an estimate of your future benefits while you’re still working;  get a letter with proof of your benefits (if you cur- rently receive them); and  manage benefit updates such as changing your ad- dress and getting a replacement Medicare card.

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