The August 2017 edition of NATIONAL GUARD is available online
I know how much America depends on us A conversation with Gen. Joseph L. Lengyel, chief of the National Guard Bureau
USERRA’s Limits Laws designed to protect the civilian jobs of Guardsmen can lack the necessary ‘teeth’.
Aging Eyes A one-of-a-kind unit continues to overcome old aircraft to assist ground commanders from above.
Conference Update Travel tips and final plans for next month’s 139th General Conference & Exhibition.
NGAUS to Present Top Honor to U.S. Rep Tim Walz A retired Army National Guard command sergeant major who continued to take care of the troops after he was elected to Congress is set to receive the association’s highest honor.
The National Guard Association of the United States
One Massachusetts Avenue, NW | Washington, DC 20001 | www.ngaus.org
P: 202.789.0031 | F: 202.682.9358 | newsletter@ngaus.org
Jay Kenji Higa, 57, of Kaneohe, retired Hawaii Army National Guard Electronics Supervisor at Wheeler AAF and First Sergeant, Company C 1/207th Aviation Regiment in Hilo; passed away on June 27, 2017 at Hospice Hawaii Kailua Home.
Survived by wife, Eun Ja; daughters Lauren, Deborah, and Esther; mother Emily; brothers Glenn and Andrew; sisters Jessica Lee and Claire Tom.
Visitation on Monday, August 14 at 10:30 followed by services at 11:30, Hawaiian Memorial Park Mortuary, 45-425 Kamehameha Highway, Kaneohe.
Military Honors at 2:00, Hawai‘i State Veterans Cemetery, 45-349 Kamehameha Highway, Kaneohe. Casual Attire.
Retiree News extends heartfelt sympathy to his family and friends.
Thanks to Robert Inouye for submitting these photographs and these comments.
Old timers might remember the old 2-299th Infantry Battalion S-4 Shop in Keaukaha Military Reservation (KMR) in Hilo. After the construction of the Armed Forces Reserve Center (AFRC) in 2011, this building fell into disuse. This building and soon, others in that parcel on KMR, are being demolished to make room for the new Combined Support Maintenance Shop #2 which will replace the old CSMS#2 at KMR. The project cost of the new CSMS #2 is $31 million.
Since his retirement from the Hawaii Army National Guard, Bob continues to work as a state technician in the HIARNG Facilities Maintenance Office.
Related:
The contractors post about the new AFRC facility
Armed Forces Reserve Center Renamed
From the National Institute of Health website
Hair loss is often associated with men and aging, but it can happen to women and children, too. Many people have thinning hair or bald areas on their head.
You can lose hair slowly or quickly. Whether or not your hair will eventually grow back depends on the cause. A family history of baldness, medical conditions or their treatments, and many other things cause hair loss.
From the everyday Health website
The county you call home may have a lot to do with your chances of dying from heart disease or stroke, a new U.S. study reveals.
Although deaths from cardiovascular disease have been dropping overall for the past 35 years in the United States, there are still pockets across the country where these death rates are unusually high, the researchers said. Poverty and lack of access to quality care may doom many Americans to early deaths, the study authors suggested.
click on the photograph to enlarge
In the photograph (L-R) are John “Saigon” Lee, Kenneth Young, Wallace Asato, and George Oshiro. The photograph was taken after Colonel Lee presented his front office staff with Air Force Commendation Medals. Presentation of decoration were not part of the Guard culture at that time and this was a significant event.
Saigon served as the commander to the then 154th Tactical Fighter Group, later re-designated the 154th Composite Group. During his command, the Group’s excellence was recognized several times with the awarding of the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. Saigon retired from the Guard in the late 1980s. He worked for the State of Hawaii in the personnel area before retiring again.
Kenny was the NCO who ran the Group’s print shop. This was the era of offset printing of documents like orders. The mass use of electronic printers came a little later in time. He retired in the 1990s.
Wally was one of the support staff who could get anything done. He was married to Katherine (Castillo) Asato. Wally retired early because of medical challenges.
The Chief was the one who kept everything in order and on track of the colonel in the front office. He retired in the 1980s. (a point of interest: in the photograph, he is wearing the old style chevrons with only two upper stripes.)
From the MOAA website
VA Secretary David J. Shulkin will decide “on or before” Nov. 1 whether to add to the list of medical conditions the VA presumes are associated with Agent Orange or other herbicides sprayed during the Vietnam War, a department spokesman said Tuesday in response to Military Update’s enquiry.
Any ailments Shulkin might add to VA’s current list of 14 “presumptive diseases” linked to herbicide exposure would make many more thousands of Vietnam War veterans eligible for VA disability compensation and health care.
Ailments under review as possible adds to the presumptive diseases list include bladder cancer, hypothyroidism, and Parkinson-like symptoms without diagnosis of that particular disease. But hypertension (high blood pressure) and stroke also might be embraced, or ignored, as part of the current review.
From the Wired Magazine website
The United States Department of Veterans Affairs operates one of the country’s largest telemedicine programs, with some 700,000 veterans receiving medical care and advice via their computers and mobile devices last year alone. Now, the VA is announcing a drastic expansion of that program with the launch of a new tool called VA Video Connect, which it intends to expand to every VA hospital across the country.
The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after April 5, 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, which took the form of a heart made of purple cloth, the Purple Heart is the oldest military award still given to U.S. military members – the only earlier award being the obsolete Fidelity Medallion. The National Purple Heart Hall of Honor is located in New Windsor, New York.
Related:
Purple Heart Day, August 7
Military Order of the Purple Heart
The Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), in partnership with the Annual Wounded Warrior Canoe Regatta is sponsoring the 2017 Hawaii Warrior Job Fair. The job fair is set for Friday, August 18, 2017 at the Hale Koa Hotel, running from 8:00 am to 2:00 pm.
click on flyer to enlarge
From the Samantha Brown website
Grand Canyon – North Rim. Click photograph to enlarge
Six million people visit the Grand Canyon annually, making it one of the nation’s most popular National Parks. Want to make your trip special?
From the Kiplinger Magazine website
People who are newly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease typically experience a tsunami of emotions: disbelief, fear, anger, depression, sense of loss. But after the initial shock, a person can assert some control over the future by creating an action blueprint that will guide the patient and caregivers as the disease progresses.
People in the early stages of dementia will likely possess the cognitive capacity to draw up legal documents, assess caregiving and housing options, and develop a financial plan. They also should start connecting to community resources that they may need in the months or years ahead.
From the Time website
“The rich are different from you and me,” novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald once supposedly confided to Ernest Hemingway. To which Hemingway famously replied, “Yes. They’ve got more money.”
Well, a new UBS Wealth Management Americas survey of more than 2,000 wealthy investors (mostly people 50 or older with $1 million or more in investable assets) suggests the affluent may also know a thing or two about preparing for retirement.
Webmaster Comments: 17.08.10
A Celebration of Life for Johana “Jojo” Correa will be on Friday August 11, Holy Trinity Catholic Church. Jojo was the wife of Edward “Butch” Correa, the former Adjutant General.
Viewing 8:00 am, services 10:30, Mass 11:30 with the burial 2:00 Hawai‘i State Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe.
For the complete obituary, go the Honolulu Star Advertiser
Retiree News extends heartfelt sympathy to General Correa, his family and friends.
Reminder: the deadline for signing up for the HING Birthday Commemoration Bowling Tournament is August 11th. All proceeds go towards providing a memssorable night filled with food, music, and fun at this year’s Birthday Ball in December.
For more information go to this previous Retiree News post
Special Aloha to MSgt Mandy Mahuka and CW4 Kevin Aihara for spearheading this tournament.