General Walton H. Walker Chapter 215

THE BULLDOG BUGLE

IN MEMORY OF HONORED CHAPTER MEMBER, COLONEL JAMES L STONE, MEDAL OF HONOR, DECD. PRESIDENT’S VIEW MAY 2014 It was nice to see so many members and guests this month. Even though we lost our speaker due to his moving to Shreveport, we covered some new things like membership with Jack Cooper at the Fort Worth Clinic last Wednesday. Some new information from Ivy Bell about the KWVA youth corps who is looking for our grandchildren, nieces and nephews to join and ultimately interview KWVA Current National members for the virtual museum created by Dr. Han. If you think you have a family President Larry Kinard member who would like to participate, please have them contact Ivy Bell at 817219-8363 or email her at [email protected]. She would be more than happy to Current Chapter 215 President answer any questions, and give them more information. Also, they can visit the Jim Wetmore website at http://www.kwvdm.org/ to learn more. Past Presidents: May is Memorial month and at our next May 17th chapter meeting we will Dick Predmore have a memorial for ALL deceased members of KWVA 215. This ceremony will be Marvin Dunn Mike Doyle in lieu of a speaker so I am personally inviting ALL widows to attend this meeting if Larry Kinard you are able. Members – if you are still in touch with some of our widows, please Wm. E. Hoyle give them a call and invite them. Al D’Agostino Coming Events – we will participate in the Grand Prairie Parks Department Memorial Day celebration Monday, May 26th, at the memorial just south of the Veterans Center at 10:00 AM. This year's event will include: Bagpiper, 21-gun salute, flyover, photo display, musical entertainment, free All-American hot dog lunch, free trees, and military memorabilia for sale. Our Honor Guard will be stationed at each monument and will raise the flag. For chapter recruiting purposes Jack Cooper and Joe & LaVerne Roberts will be manning the table and we will have my Willy’s Jeep on display. The next major event will be the Arlington July 4th parade. Sam Bass, who graciously used his pickup and trailer which is modified to carry our flags and members is no longer able to drive. Rho Bass has indicated that we can use the trailer (it will need some repairs) and their son, Kenny, could use a pickup to pull the trailer, if he’s available. My pickup would also be available should Sam’s not be. My jeep and trailer will be in the parade. We must make preparations very soon to enter the parade as we have before. If you are free to help set up the day before (July 3rd) and want to participate in the parade on the 4th, please contact Ken Dillard who is the committee chair -- he can be reached at 817-468-8714. Home Chapter of KWVA Nat’l President Emeritus: Bill Mac Swain

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At our September 20th meeting we are planning a special luncheon to honor ALL charter members and past presidents. I would like to have this meeting catered if we can. These men earned the honor by establishing KWVA Chapter 215 on September 13, 2000. I will invite all charter members and past presidents. I have spoken to one charter member, Roy Aldridge, who now lives in El Paso, Texas, and he said he would attend – it’s only 600 miles. “What a guy!” If you have any original items of the charter organization, please let me know so we can include them on our display at our meeting. Louis Holmes has a lot of pictures and memorabilia available that he said we can use. I am looking for a speaker or MC for this event so if you can suggest someone, please let me know. I’m thinking of Sam Johnson or Dr. Brown if they will do it. We have quite an agenda coming up soon and I do want to thank you all in advance for your continued support and participation. I hope to see everyone in May. Your President, Jim Wetmore SICK CALL by Judy Richards: Sam Bass, Richard Beard, Vernell Cooper, Al D’Agostino, Lavonia Dake, Marvin & Joann Dunn, Carolyn Fisher, Delbert Goss, Bobby Guiles, Judy Richards, Billy Smith’s wife Peggy, Beverly Steck, Nate & Betty Stovall, Betty Vaughn, Neva Wetmore.

Member of the Month Burt Cazden I was born on Feb 4, 1934 in New York City. We lived in a 10 story apartment house in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. In early 1942 when the radio reported a ship being torpedoed in lower New York bay I went to the roof and looked south to see the billowing black smoke of a burning tanker on the horizon. Growing up in the big city I became a baseball fanatic so naturally I went to the only high school that didn't have a baseball team. In compensation for this gross error it had 3 bands and 5 full orchestras where I played the clarinet. The music that still brings tears to my eyes is Beethoven's ninth. I was only 17 when I graduated so I went to Cornell University and took pre-engineering, and managed to end the year on probation. Our family moved to California where I continued to grope with life. In a short while Uncle Sam caught up with me and offered a position in a Korean fox hole. I politely declined and enlisted in the Navy where I was promised Electronics Training School. I was sent to Great Lakes (Illinois). We studied communications, radar, sonar and a smattering of synchros and servos. After graduation I received orders to report to the USS Eugene A. Greene, DDR 711 in Norfolk, VA. On the base with my duffle bags in tow I was deposited at the Destroyer piers and found the DDR 711. My ship looked smaller than I expected, but the three 5” gun turrets and two 3” AA guns aft were quite impressive. The ship displaced 3,300 tons and was 390.5 feet long by 40.5 feet wide and rated at 60,000 shaft horsepower. On my first trip aboard we experienced rough seas. While in the 3” gun turret (30 feet above sea level) I was looking up in awe at a wave! I learned that we took ocean spray in our stacks that were 70 feet above sea level! To this day I have the highest respect for the power of water. I also experienced my first refueling at sea. Very interesting! Three days out of our first destination, Brest France, it was my turn to be mess-cook. Basically this involved serving the food and clean up afterward. We experienced a little excitement when the collision alarm went off during the evening meal. It was a false alarm and when we returned from battle stations, to our delight, we had to clean up the mess hall that was decorated with the evening meal, spaghetti & meatballs, smeared everywhere. Our next port was Glasgow, Scotland, home of some of my relatives. As we entered the Firth of Clyde, I was intrigued by the famous shipyards and especially the shipyard at Greenock where my uncle Bill did his apprenticeship Volume 14 Issue 5

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as a machinist. Further up the river was Browns shipyard where the Queen Mary was built. We tied up at the docks of Glasgow and I attempted to see my uncle’s brother Walter, but as luck would have it he was not at home. I left a note and as we were steaming down the Clyde, Walter was steaming up the Clyde returning home from his holiday. He got my note and called the Admiral and received a very pleasant reply. We were now headed to Guantanamo Bay on the eastern tip of Cuba. About one day out from Gitmo we formed two lines abreast and out from Gitmo came a WWII fleet submarine which traveled between the two lines. The Sub dove and surfaced repeatedly as she traversed the length of the lines and headed back to base. We took turns setting off practice depth charges, creating a beautiful site. We then steamed up the Atlantic coast back to Virginia. We made another trip to Gitmo for what was called “under way training”. This was to test all of our systems, procedures and of course gunnery. For many days I would stare at the radar scope while we were in a triangle roughly formed by Cuba to the north, Jamaica to the southwest, and Haiti to the east. This was the same waters of the Spanish Main and the sea was at its most beautiful. We practiced gunnery where a sea tug would tow a sled about 1000 yards astern. Another ship would be abeam of the target and about 1000 yards further away. The second ship would have the observers on board to see how close the 5 inch shells were landing to the sled. Our ship shot poorly. Then the two ships would rotate positions and our ship was the observer. The firing commenced and the first salvo landed directly ahead of us about 500 yards off target. Our Captain, with a smile on his face, radioed to cease-fire. Mr. Normandy, a shipmate was appointed Electronics Officer, he was a graduate of Annapolis, but did not have any particular knowledge of electronics. The ship was short-handed and there were only two of us ET’s of a normal staff of twelve. I was responsible for all of the Radar equipment. We did not stand watch however we were on 24 hour call. One night at 2 in the morning, I was called to the bridge because the Radar was out. When I arrived on the bridge I found that the Officer of the Deck (OD) was Ensign Normandy! I stared at the blank screen of the repeater through sleepy eyes when all of a sudden the screen flashed one sweep and then went dark again. This was one of the newest and best repeaters and had many features. I noticed on one of the many knobs the label “Sector Sweep”. This dial was calibrated in 2 degree increments up to 360 degrees. I slowly turned the knob toward the higher degrees and low-and-behold the screen returned to normal. I acknowledged Mr. Normandy’s thanks and returned to my bunk. Obviously this was a case of a bored officer fiddling with the knobs without knowing what he was doing. When I got out in 1957 I was very motivated and under the G.I. Bill made up the probation in a junior college and was accepted to the University of California which resembled the Ivy League school I went to in 1951. In 1960 I entered the medical school in San Francisco and left after 1 year. I felt that my dyslexia was too much for all the new Latin names I was required to learn so I switched to the Optometry school back in Berkeley where the list of Latin names was shorter. I was even able to join the baseball team for 2 years. During the second year I managed to rupture a disc in my back just when I was really getting to pitch well. So my baseball career stopped and my Optometry career started. We managed to have 3 children and 4 grandchildren along the way. After my divorce in 1974 I picked up the pieces and learned to fly single engine planes. I married Jan in 1978 and we moved to Arlington the beginning of 2013. I'm currently singing in the choir at St. Christopher's and they are even going to let me play the clarinet. Popcorn News by Alves (A.J.) Key: The following popcorn volunteers have faithfully kept the program going month after month. Don and Bea Oberholzer, Bob and Mary Couch, Ken Dillard, James Lucas, Richard Vaughn, Burt Cazden, and Larry Kinard. Ron Lange and two new members Delbert Tallman and James Sharp have indicated they would like to help and will receive volunteer signup packets this week. Popcorn is a favorite at the Fort Worth clinic and our volunteers have a great time visiting with the veterans receiving treatment at the clinic. Volume 14 Issue 5

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MAY BIRTHDAYS Barbara Mac Swain 1 Marvin Dunn 4 Jo Ann Dunn 6 Wallace Downey 8 Leonard Gigliotta 10

STAYING IN TOUCH MEMORY Jack Cooper 20 Bea Oberholzer 22 Mike Doyle 27 Kenneth King 28 Connie Singleton 30

ANNIVERSARY

GENERAL WALTON H WALKER CHAPTER 215, INC APRIL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES The Gen. Walton H. Walker Chapter #215 Membership Meeting was held on April 19, 2014 at the Veterans Park Event Center in Grand Prairie, Texas. The Chapter meeting was called to order by President Jim Wetmore with 41 members and 9 guests present. The Invocation was given by Member Jack Cooper followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag conducted by Bill Hoyle. Bill Mac Swain read the Chapter Creed followed by a moment of silence. President Wetmore welcomed all our Guests present and also some of our members who were present after being on sick call for a number of meetings. President Wetmore asked for motions to approve the March Meeting Minutes and the March Financial Report, both presented in the April Bulldog Bugle. A motion was made by Bill Hoyle to approve the March Minutes. Burton Cazden seconded and the motion carried. Joe Arnosky made a motion to approve the March Financial Report and Dottie Harris seconded and the motion carried. President Wetmore called upon Member Don Oberholzer to bless the food and asked that the Guests, Ladies and those who needed help to go to the head of the line. President Wetmore called the meeting back to order and introduced Bill Hoyle who reported that our guest Speaker had moved out of town and therefore we will not have a speaker for today and he received this information so late that there was not time to make a substitution nor one to make a Certificate of Appreciation for a new speaker. COMMITTEE REPORTS: President Wetmore reported on the members that are still having health problems and asked the membership to pray for their well being. He also reported that Carolyn Fisher had fallen and broke her pelvis. She would appreciate cards and calls. President Wetmore asked Ivy Bell to say a few things about the Grandchildren’s coming meeting in Washington, D.C. and she also reported that she was now the Regional Director of doing video interviewing of Korean War Veterans in this area. Quartermaster Jim Lucas presented a Chapter shirt with a Chapter patch, and flag and hat to new member James Sharp. President Wetmore announced the coming Arlington 4th of July Parade and Thanked Sam Bass for his use of the trailer and truck and Rho had informed him that the trailer could be borrowed and Jim could pull it with his truck since Sam no longer was allowed to drive. OLD BUSINESS: President Wetmore reported that there is a Military Symposium to be held in Dallas and veterans are invited to sign up for a number of events. If any of the Chapters are interested in attending they should see him after the meeting. He also reported that a Remembrance Ceremony for all our deceased members would be held at our May meeting. He asked all to attend so once again we could remember them and all they did for our Chapter.

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President Wetmore also mentioned that a Membership Table had been set up at the Fort Worth VA Clinic and he asked Jack Cooper to report on this. Jack stated that the table would be set up every other month on the third Wednesday. He has a sign, pamphlets to give out and Applications to hand out for any Korean Veterans who might inquire about our Chapter. Pamphlets will also be left with the crews at the popcorn area in case anyone might be interested. Richard Vaughn reported that he has turned in thirteen Honor Flight applications and has another one he will turn in when it has been finished with all the information necessary filled in. He also said he can file others at any time so asked him for more Application Forms. NEW BUSINESS: President Wetmore reminded the group that our next meeting will be on May 17, 2014. He also introduced the Chapters Nomination Committee Chairman Joe Arnosky and asked him to report on our coming election for three Directors for two year terms. Joe Arnosky then stated that his committee was made up of Ted Malcolm and Joe Roberts and six members have filed to run for the three positions thus far. If anyone else wants to run they need to let his committee members know by May 17 so they can be included on the ballot. The ballot will be included in the June newsletter and must be mailed back early enough that it is received by the Secretary on June 20, 2014 or before or it may be brought to the June 21, 2014 Membership Meeting. Bill Hoyle reported that the Honor Guard will participate in the Memorial Day Ceremony at the Grand Prairie Memorial next to our Membership Meeting area on May 26, 2014. President Wetmore reminded the membership that Forest Park had also invited the Chapter members to their Memorial Day Ceremony on May 26, 2014 and the National Cemetery has a program that morning also. Hours of the Ceremonies are unknown at this time. Please contact any of the four Officers for times for specific Memorial ceremonies. Member Al Farr won the first 25/50 drawing of $30 and the Chapter received $59 for its 50/50 amount. Calvin Langford won the drawing for the first Gift Card drawing. Member Bill Mac Swain won the second 25/50 drawing of $30 and donated it to the Chapter for Office Supplies. Janet Baker won the second drawing for the Gift Card. There being no further business Burt Cazden made a motion to adjourn with a closing prayer. Ted Malcolm seconded and the motion carried. Member Jack Cooper gave the closing prayer. Submitted by, Bill Mac Swain, Secretary Tricare Prime Update Later this month, many military retirees and family members who lost access to TRICARE Prime when Prime Service Areas changed last October will be eligible to re-enroll in Prime. On April 28th, TRICARE will begin sending out letters to all affected beneficiaries who live within 100 miles of a Military Treatment Facility (MTF) with instructions on how to get back into Prime. Retirees will have until the end of June to decide whether to make the switch, and those who wish to remain on Standard will not have to take any action. This re-enrollment window was made possible by a VFW-supported provision in the 2014 NDAA. Approximately 76,000 beneficiaries will receive the letters explaining their new benefit options. Ref: VFW April 17, 2017 issue https://mail.verizon.com/webmail/driver? nimlet=showmessages&view=emails#mail_Emails_INBOX

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CHEERS: To Mason, a junior at Martin High School and employee of Whataburger, South Arlington who on March 30 observed me choking. He applied the Heimlich maneuver until the object was dislodged and expelled and I could breathe again. He saved my life! Al D'Agostino

MAY 2014 BULLDOG BUGLE Website: http://kwva-dfw.com/

Letters to the Editor Desk See 4/05/2014 Star-Telegram http://www.star-telegram.com /2014/04/04/5710840/cheers-jeers.html

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GENERAL WALTON H WALKER CHAPTER 215, INC KOREAN AR VETERANS ASSOCIATION, INC APRIL 2014 FINANCIAL REPORT

ASSETS: Bank Balance Brought Forward Monthly Income Number Interest from March Chapter Membership Dues 3 National Membership Dues 1 Associate Member Dues 1 50/50 Drawing 25/50 Donation for Office Supplies Chapter Donation Good Neighbor Fund Raiser Two Collar Brass & One Chapter Patch Popcorn Funds 3/27 - $188.80, 4/2 - $100, 4/4 – $222.32 Popcorn Funds 4/9 - $99, $115.07, $72, 4/22 - $98, $118 Popcorn Funds 4/28 - $123.35, $77, 4/29 - $102 Total Monthly Income TOTAL WORKING CAPITAL LIABILITIES: Operating Expenses April Newsletter Printing Inv #1223, CK #1177 April Newsletter Miscellaneous CK #1177 May Newsletter Mailing CK #1178 Membership Postage Expense #1178 National Membership Payment CK #1179 New Member Shirt & Patches & Hat CK #1180 Chapter Application Forms 50 x 4 pages CK #1181 Total Monthly Expenses BANK BALANCE FORWARD ROY HILL PROJECT (+$33) TELL AMERICA PROGRAM MEMORIALS ON FILE POPCORN FUNDS IN BANK DONATION FOR OFFICE SUPPLIES (+$30)

Total

28 12 1

$

.10 45.00 25.00 12.00 59.00 30.00 100.00 50.06 16.00 511.12 502.35 302.35 $1,652.70 $13,026.66

29.00 75.00 13.72 5.88 25.00 14.99 43.00 $ 206.59 $12,820.07

$337.00 $33.02 $1,845.00 $9,234.44 $130.00

$11,579.63

ACTUAL WORKING CAPITAL LIFE MEMBERSHIP CD VALUE

$11,373.96

$1,240.44 $6,457.68

Joke of the month: One Sunday morning, the priest noticed Little Johnny was staring up at the large plaque that hung in the foyer of the church. It was covered with names, and small American flags were mounted on either side of it. The seven-year old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the priest walked up, stood beside the boy, and said quietly, "Good morning, Little Johnny." "Good morning, Father," replied the young man, still focused on the plaque. "Father Scott, what is this?" Little Johnny asked. "Well, son, it's a memorial to all the young men and women who died in the service." Soberly, they stood together, staring at the large plaque. Little Johnny's voice was barely audible when he asked, "Which service, the 9:45 or the 11:15?" Volume 14 Issue 5

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CHAPTER PICTURES FROM THE APRIL MEETING New member, James Sharp receiving his cap and shirt from Jim Lucas

Jack Cooper - Membership

Jean & Ron Lange

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Sam & Rho Bass

Past President Marvin Dunn

Ivy Bell & Janet Baker

Joe Roberts & Calvin Langford

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GENERAL WALTON H. WALKER CHAPTER 215 KOREAN WAR VETERANS ASSOCIATION, INC. P.O. BOX 122084 FORT WORTH, TEXAS 76121-2084

Chapter 215 monument donated to the National Cemetery Calendar of Events: May 12, 2014 10:00 AM Executive Board Meeting – Hugh Smith Recreation Center, 1815 New York Avenue, Arlington, TX May 17, 2014 11:15 AM Chapter Meeting at Veteran’s Park Event Center; 925 Conover Drive, Grand Prairie, TX 75051

CREED: All the members of the General Walton H Walker Chapter of the Korean War Veterans Association are the living representatives of all Americans who gave their lives in Korea. As members we are dedicated to also represent the known American prisoners of war that were never returned after the war, and the American service personnel still missing in action in the Korean War. OUR PURPOSE IS: To motivate patriotism amongst the American people and to raise their awareness of the Korean War and those who served in it. To render help and support to all the wounded and disabled American Veterans of the Korean War.

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