“By profession I am a soldier and take pride in that fact. But I am prouder — infinitely prouder — to be a father. A soldier destroys in order to build; the father only builds, never destroys.” - General Douglas MacArthur
Sacrifice
You won’t see any controversial subjects or email debunking in this post, just a note of appreciation to all fathers, both civilian and especially military. The sacrifice of being away from family members and newborns while deployed is something that most of us can hardly comprehend. While I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to be around for the beginning of my boys’ lives, and look forward in the coming days to the arrival of my first girl, I see and hear every day the pain felt by long deployments and family separation.
To the fathers at home and abroad, thank you for your sacrifices and your commitment to raising a new generation of leaders. A new wave of children born of the digital age and destined to see events as wondrous and monumental as we have and as our parents did before us.
Chandler the Brave
I would like to direct your attention to a touching story of family sacrifice and love through the eyes of a nine year old girl named Chandler Dix. With her father deployed to Afghanistan, she holds the type of courage that illustrates the American spirit. Available at the TheMOAAChannel on YouTube and produced by MOAA’s multimedia guru Haley Crum:
Help Everyone Out
Besides contributing to MOAA’s Educational Assistance program (members will need to sign in, guests are welcome to sign our guestbook), you can take some time and send your representatives in Congress a message asking them to support the Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Bill (H.R. 4899). See this pdf document for the letter that was sent by MOAA’s President VADM Norb Ryan (USN-Ret.), a proud father as well, to every member of Congress for details about why this is so important to get passed without delay, especially before the July 4th recess. Find your legislative representatives at MOAA’s Legislative Action Center here.
Discussion
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Here Rests in Honored Glory An American Soldier Known But to God – Gravestone Marking, Arlington National Cemetary
OFFICIAL MOAA STATEMENT ABOUT THE ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY SITUATION
From the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA)—June 11, 2010
MOAA is deeply disappointed about the findings of the Army investigation into the operation of Arlington National Cemetery. Arlington is hallowed ground, and the nation trusts that servicemembers and their families will be honored and cared for appropriately in their final resting places. Because their work is so important, we join Secretary of the Army John M. McHugh and all other Americans in demanding that the operation of Arlington National Cemetery be held to the highest standard. Anything less is unacceptable.
CONTACT: Col Marv Harris, USAF (Ret) 703-838-0546 or marvh@moaa.org
Battle of the Bilge Statement (not an official MOAA statement)
On June 10th, MOAA watched along with the rest of the nation as the term ‘unknown soldier’ at Arlington National Cemetery took on new meaning. The release of the final report regarding operations at ANC and the accompanying reprimands stir our hearts and anger our sense of reason and accountability.
In summary, the findings of the US Army’s Inspector General during its investigation of ANC are that operational management failed in a number of areas. Graves were marked improperly, maps were not accurate, grave sites were unmarked and a list of other offenses. In a location that is nothing short of hallowed ground, the treatment of the cemetery is a disgrace.
Mr. John Metzler, Jr., has served as Superintendent of Arlington National Cemetery for nearly two decades. He has been reprimanded and will retire from public service on July 2nd, 2010. Metzler has to his credit implemented many positive policies and actions at ANC, but he failed to reign in his deputy, Thurman Higginbotham, who appears to be at the center of this debacle (please take the time to go over the documents at the link at the bottom of this article to see the full details).
If there is any good that can come from these events, it is that the nation has been forced to focus their attention on the fallen. In the coming weeks a new team will start the restoration of the cemetery and the reconstruction of its management. We will watch with many others the progress that will have to be made. Tragically, the cemetery is growing at a fast rate. We owe it to everyone who now and will someday rest there to ensure that Arlington is never again neglected.
As there were questions raised by the previous post regarding an increase in taxes due to health care costs being required on the next W2 that we rated as false, we have been waiting for other outlets to discuss the email.
From PolitiFact, which rated the email ‘Pants on Fire’:
The chain e-mail is correct that employers will be required to start listing the cost of insurance. The requirement starts for the tax year 2011, so employees will see it on the W-2s they receive in 2012.
But that amount will not be taxed. Current law excludes health insurance from taxable income, and there’s nothing in the health care law that changes that.
Several experts on health care benefits and the workplace confirmed that. “It will not affect your taxable income under the new law,” said Dallas Salisbury of the Employee Benefit Research Institute in an e-mail interview.
Since the health care law actually continues the tax exemption on employer-sponsored insurance, why include a requirement that employers report the value of health insurance on the W-2? There are several reasons.
The new health insurance law will eventually penalize people who are not insured with a tax penalty. The W-2 reporting requirement will help the Internal Revenue Service verify that people have coverage, both for themselves and their dependents.
We’ll keep you up to date and add to this post as other fact check outlets examine the issue.
Discussion
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Articles and comments posted on this blog are the opinions solely of the authors and do not necessarily express the policy or the opinions of the Military Officers Association of America. Please review and adhere to MOAA's Community Standards when commenting.
