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Miscellaneous Information & Notes

At http://www.usocares.org you can send a care package to a service member:
With your $25 donation, the USO will deliver a care package of requested items, including a 100-minute prepaid calling card, toiletries, sunscreen, handy wipes and other requested items.  In addition, you can include a personal message of thanks for their service and let them know they have not been forgotten this holiday season." 

Regards, Jesse
Capt. J. Marsano

Vietnam Wall Visitor Center Approved

Underground Facility Will Be Located Near Existing Memorial


By Petula Dvorak
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, August 4, 2006; Page A01


The federal commission with final say over monuments and memorials in the
nation's capital gave the green light yesterday for the newest addition to
America's front yard: a sprawling underground Vietnam Veterans Memorial
visitor center that will be constructed between the Lincoln Memorial and the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall.
The center will be the first new memorial project on the coveted Mall since
the National World War II Memorial was built. Preservationists, who have
wanted to conserve the Lincoln Memorial's grounds, fought the center. But
the project was championed by some veterans groups that have long been
troubled by the understated nature of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall and
want to provide more history and context for its list of more than 58,000
Americans killed or missing in the war.

With memorial space at a premium in Washington -- where some groups have
quietly fought for years to get patches of land inside traffic circles for
memorial statues or slivers of pocket parks for monuments -- the Vietnam
veterans won one of the biggest prizes of all yesterday.
"It's a good day. This was a long time in coming," Jan C. Scruggs, president
and founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, said after the National
Capital Planning Commission approved the project yesterday.

The project has drawn criticism because of its potential to convey
conclusions about a conflict that tore the country apart. But Scruggs said
the 25,000-square-foot center will be a neutral, fact-based presentation
that will pay tribute to U.S. soldiers. It may include a movie theater, a
three-dimensional battle scene, mementos left at the memorial, and a wall
where pictures of slain soldiers will be projected on their birthdays,
creating a dynamic tribute that changes daily.
Because it will be the only sizable visitor center dedicated to a single
conflict's veterans, some planners worry that it will create an opening for
others to lobby for similar additions to memorial rotundas, fountains or
statues in Washington.

"Each memorial will ask for their own visitor center," warned Elizabeth
Merritt, deputy general counsel for the National Trust for Historic
Preservation, who testified against the project at the commission meeting
yesterday.

Not all veterans like the project. Vietnam War veteran Ray Saikus flew in
from Cleveland yesterday to tell the planning commission that an underground
"bunker or tunnel" is insensitive to veterans who fought enemies
underground. "It will be more a tribute to the Viet Cong," Saikus said.
He also said his fellow veterans in the Midwest believe that an underground
center is "being placed out of sight, hidden as if in shame."

Planners do want it out of sight -- but for aesthetic reasons.
According to 14 design guidelines established by the planning commission
yesterday and the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts last week that must be
followed as a condition of approval, no portion of the center can be visible
from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Constitution Avenue or surrounding
streets.
The center must be built below the existing grade on the land surrounding
the Lincoln Memorial. Any skylights, monitors, light wells or sunken areas
cannot be seen from surrounding sidewalks, according to the commissions'
guidelines.

Among the other requirements: The center must have a single entrance for
both visitors and service personnel, and the lighting must be subtle. The
footprint of the center must be within the root areas of the existing elms,
and no new parking can be constructed to accommodate the visitors.
The center will cost $100 million, of which the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Fund has raised $25 million. The sponsors expect to have a design selected
by the end of this year and plan to get final approval for construction
early next year.

Some preservationists worried that the requirements will be circumvented
because of political pressure.
"This project is embroiled in politics," said Judy Scott Feldman, chairman
of the National Coalition to Save Our Mall. She said there is a danger that
the guidelines "are meaningless and unenforceable."
The campaign for the visitor center was fueled by the same kind of passion
that Scruggs brought to win creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a
subtle tribute dedicated in 1982 that consists of simple granite panels
containing the names of the dead and missing. Some Americans had trouble
conceptualizing a nontraditional memorial without trappings such as statues
and fountains. But it is now the most popular site on the Mall, with 3.8
million visitors last year.

This time, Scruggs had congressional help. Legislation was passed in 2003
that made the center an exception to the 2001 creation of the Mall's
"reserve" area, where new construction is banned.
The legislation did not specify a site, however, and Scruggs knew he wanted
it front and center. The rigorous site selection process that sent him to
several federal agencies dictated that his group study other sites on less
prominent pieces of land.

Scruggs was so determined to get the site he wanted that he hired an urban
anthropologist from Howard University to generate an 11-page analysis of the
phrase "at or near" to make his point that the legislation said the center
should be "at or near the Wall."

When that wasn't enough to eliminate the other study sites, he took his case
to Congress. A representative introduced a bill to the House in March that
pinpointed the site he wanted. It passed by a vote of 404 to 4 and is
lingering before the Senate.

Senate approval would mean little, now that the planning commission has
approved the site. As part of its review, the commission examined an
environmental assessment report that determined that the center would have a
minimal impact on the area.

To Kill an American

    You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.
    So an Australian dentist wrote an editorial the following day to let everyone know what an American is . So they would know when they found one. (Good one, mate!!!!)

    "An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani or Afghan.

     An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as Native Americans.

An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim.

    In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan . The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.

    An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

    An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.

    An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return.

    When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country!

    As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan . Americans welcome the best of  everything...the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services. But they also welcome the least.

    The national symbol of America , The Statue of Liberty , welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America .

    Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.

    So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.

Dave Rabbit Bio of RFT-1.doc (61 Kb) attached

----- Original Message -----
From: 'Robert Donnan' <redchief@adelphia.net>
To: 'Robert Donnan' <redchief@adelphia.net>
Sent: Sat, 18 Feb 2006 10:23
Subject: Fwd: Wild story from Vietnam days

Mr. Bradley,

I thought in 95 7/8 FA left Hawaii and went to Alaska.  Am I wrong or
did they move back?

Thanks,
Patrick McAnnany
ptmcannany@aol.com

Ann Margret



Viet Nam 1966

Richard, (my husband), never really talked a lot about his time in Viet Nam
other than he had been shot by a sniper. However, he had a rather grainy, 8 x
10 black and white photo he had taken at a USO show of Ann Margret with Bob
Hope in the background that was one of his treasures.

A few years ago, Ann Margret was doing a book signing at a local bookstore.
Richard wanted to see if he could get her to sign the treasured photo so he
arrived at the bookstore at 12 o'clock for the 7:30 signing.

When I got there after work, the line went all the way around the bookstore,
circled the parking lot and disappeared behind a parking garage.  Before her
appearance, bookstore employees announced that she would sign only her book
and no memorabilia would be permitted.

Richard was disappointed, but wanted to show her the photo and let her know
how much those shows meant to lonely GI's so far from home.  Ann Margret came
out looking as beautiful as ever and, as second in line, it was soon Richard's
turn.

He presented the book for her signature and then took out the photo.  When he
did, there were many shouts from the employees that she would not sign it.
Richard said, "I understand.  I just wanted her to see it."

She took one look at the photo, tears welled up in her eyes and she said,
"This is one of my gentlemen from Viet Nam and I most certainly will sign his
photo.  I know what these men did for their country and I always have time for
'my gentlemen.'"

With that, she pulled Richard across the table and planted a big kiss on him.
 She then made quite a to-do about the bravery of the young men she met over
the years, how much she admired them, and how much she appreciated them  There
weren't too many dry eyes among those close enough to hear.  She then posed
for pictures and acted as if he were the only one there.

Later at dinner, Richard was very quiet.  When I asked if he'd like to talk
about it, my big strong husband broke down in tears.  "That's the first time
anyone ever thanked me for my time in the Army," he said.

That night was a turning point for him.  He walked a little straighter and,
for the first time in years, was proud to have been a Vet.  I'll never forget
Ann Margret for her graciousness and how much that small act of kindness meant
to my husband.

I now make it a point to say "Thank you" to every person I come across who
served in our Armed Forces.  Freedom does not come cheap and I am grateful for
all those who have served their country.

If you'd like to pass on this story, feel free to do so. Perhaps it will help
others to become aware of how important it is to acknowledge the contribution
our service people make.


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