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WHO Dr Dan Y Han noted UK TBI research expert
WHAT Joint meeting with AUSA
WHEN 530 pm Weds May 30 (note change from usual time)
WHERE Equestrian Woods Country Club 107 Clubhouse Dr Nicholasville
HOW MUCH Buffet with meat entrees vegetables salad dessert and drinks for $17 gratuity included
RSVP Please let Pat Jones (contact info on p 2) know no later than Fri May 25 that you plan to attend and bring guests
The chapterrsquos May 30 meeting will be jointly hosted by the McMillan Chapter of the Association of the US Army It will feature not-ed neuropsycholo-gist Dr Dan Y Han Dr Han is the Chief of Uni-versity of Ken-tucky Neuropsy-chology Servicersquos clinical section the director of the UK Multidisciplinary Concussion Program and an Associate Professor of Neurology Neurosurgery and Physical Medicine amp Rehabilitation at the University of Kentucky College of Medi-cine Dr Han will discuss his research in the area of brain injuries in the context of the crisis facing military health care Hes also an expert in the area of concussions in youth sports
DR DAN Y HAN MAY GUEST SPEAKER See p 5 for his official bio For a brief video inter-view go to httpsukhealthcareukyeduphysiciansdong-dan-han
According to the Depart-ment of Veterans Affairs the conflicts in Iraq and Afghani-stan have resulted in increased numbers of veterans who have experienced traumatic brain injuries (TBI) The Department of Defense and the Veterans Brain Injury Center estimate that 22 of all combat casualties from these conflicts are brain inju-ries compared to 12 of Vi-etnam-related combat casual-ties An estimated 60 to 80 of soldiers who have other blast injuries may also have TBI The ldquoColonel Ron Ray Trau-matic Brain Injury Treatment Actrdquo will open up Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment (HBOT) to military veterans suffering from TBI through nonprofit clinics at no cost to taxpayers or patients HBOT is an FDA-
approved treatment for strokes which has shown to be effec-tive in treating TBI The bill pre-filed by Rep Stan Lee was approved during the 2018 General Assembly and signed into law by Gov Bevin on Apr 12 The act was initiated through efforts by Mrs Eunice Ray whose husband COL (Ret) Ron Ray was denied HBO treatment for wounds suffered in Vietnam COL Ray earned two Silver Star Medals during the war and later served Deputy Assistant Secre-tary of Defense under Pres Ronald Reagan ldquoIn Light of the current opi-oid crisis HBOT is an urgent cost-effective and safe alterna-tive to the narcotic cocktail currently prescribed to many veteransrdquo said bill co-sponsor Rep Tim Moore
NEW LAW NAMESAKE Kentucky Dept of Veteran Affairs Com-missioner BGEN Benjamin F Adams III (left) congratulates COL (Ret) Ron Ray on Apr 12 after Gov Matt Bevin signed HB 64 the veterans traumatic bill treatment act which is named in his honor COL Rayrsquos wife Eunice was instrumental in getting the proposed legislation before the Kentucky 2018 General Assem-bly For more about veteranrsquos-related bills passed by the state legislature see p 5
Presidentrsquos Corner chapter receives awards p 2 MOAA lsquoStorming the Hillrsquo issues p 3 Chapter recognizes ROTC cadets p 4 Governor signs vet-related bills p 5 Monument to Vietnam helo crews unveiled p 6 Marine in Congress urges vets to run p 6 Upcoming events THVC check presentation p 7
President Col (Ret) Tom Peters
(859) 329-7320 thomaspeters03gmailcom
First Vice President COL (Ret) Tom Little
(859) 338-3301 tlittlelexgmailcom
Second Vice President Vacant
SecretaryWebmaster Newsletter Editor
COL (Ret) John Shotwell (859) 420-2105
jmshot0gukyedu
Treasurer Mrs Pat Jones (859) 271-2606
ppatcatfanaolcom
Sergeant-at-Arms COL (Ret) Chris Dolt
(859) 494-3452 christopherdoltmorganstaleycom
Facebook httpswwwfacebookcomMOAABluegrassChapter
Web httpbluegrassmoaaorg
MOAA including the Kentucky Council and the Bluegrass Chap-ter is an independent nonprofit politically nonpartisan organization dedicated to maintaining a strong national defense and ensuring our nation keeps its commitments to currently serving retired and former members of the unformed services and their families and survivors Membership is open to those who hold or have ever held a warrant or commission in any component of the Army Marine Corps Navy Air Force Coast Guard Public Health Service or NOAA and their surviving spouses
The MOAA Bluegrass Chapter is a Sect 501(c )(19) tax-exempt veterans organization
Thank you for the opportunity to be your MOAA representa-tive to the annual Storming the Hill event in Washington DC My wife Jan and I teamed up with Ms Amanda Meyers of the MOAA staff to visit all eight of our congressional delegation in one day and we accomplished our tasking The presentation material consisted of four talking pa-pers covering the four top legislative priorities from MOAA Military pay Medical disability equity The ldquowidows taxrdquo and TRICARE Each topic has its unique issues but all of them combine to form an overriding goal of making our military stronger and our congressional leadership more responsive to the needs of mili-tary members and their families The process of insuring that military pay keeps pace with economic factors has been indexed as it were to a formula called the employment cost index (ECI) Their process considers eco-nomic factors in the US and generates a percentage change for military pay tables MOAA supports maintaining the military pay and benefits that are essential to recruiting and retaining the high-quality All Volunteer Force necessary to meet the nationrsquos security and warfighting requirements now and in the future This year the raise reflects the ECI calculation but it did not reach back to the past years when the actual pay increase fell short of the project-ed need Continuing to insist on keeping faith with the military by honoring its own process is a necessary step in meeting the
needs of an all-volunteer force Medical disability equity is concerned with a process where a medically disabled member is retired from active duty with less than 20 years of service and also given a level of disability from the Veterans Administra-tion In such a circumstance the military and the VA offset each other in a way that directly reduces the amount of compensation a member can receive The earned retirement of the individual is offset by the amount paid out by the VA for the disability In such a situation the members retirement formula is based on their service and the disability payment is based on the degree of disability suf-fered from injuries resulting from the members service Offset-ting one with the other directly and unfairly impacts the stand-ard of living for the member and their family A similar offset occurs when there is a surviving spouse and a survivorrsquos benefit plan annuity When a retired member selects to pay into the Survivors Benefit Program they are purchasing an annuity to pay a surviving spouse a lifetime income If there is also a VA spon-sored Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) award for eligible survivors whose sponsors died of a service-connected injury or disease again one offsets the other These separate benefits are paid for separate reasons and should not be construed as duplicative compensation nor should the surviving spousesrsquo standard of living be diminished by offsetting the payments The fourth area of concern carried to the hill deals with TRI-CARE cost increases being passed on to beneficiaries While managed cost increases indexed to COLA increases are to be expected copays that exceed the COLA growth are not ex-pected Moreover reclassifying mental health care as specialty care increases the copayment s from beneficiaries and begins to limit access to these services Moreover these cost increases occurred while the Department of Health Affairs received substantially more than they had asked for in the budget The DOD should not be passing on charges to families for health care in order to fund its readiness cost I urge everyone to read about these issues in detail at the MOAA website and pass on your concerns to our congressional members
Thomas Peters Col USAF (Ret)
President Bluegrass Chapter
CHAPTER RECOGNIZED mdash Chapter President Col (Ret) Tom Peters accepted a certificate recognizing the chapterrsquos Website from Kentucky Council President COL (Ret) Danny Young at the Apr 28 Council meeting in Frankfort Both the Website and the Bluegrass Bugle received five-star awards in MOAArsquos annual Col Marvin J Harris Communications Award competition It marks the first time a Kentucky chapter has received both awards in the same year
STORMY DAY mdash US Rep Hal Rogers (R-KY 5th Dist) was briefed by Chapter President Col (Ret) Tom Peters and his wife Lt Col (Ret) Jan Peters during MOAArsquos annual ldquoStorming the Hillrdquo on Apr 20 to lobby for its highest legislative priorities Tom and Jan also met with Kentuckyrsquos 6th Dist Rep Andy Barr 2nd Dist Rep Brett Guthrie and other members of Congress
About 150 MOAA members visited the offices of every
lawmaker in Congress in mid-April during the MOAA annual
Storming the Hill Members called on lawmakers to emphasize MOAArsquos
positions on key issues especially those noted on this page Events throughout
the week also included an awards ceremony for Wash-
ington leaders who advocate for the military
Compensation crucial to recruitment and retention
One of the top agenda dur-ing this yearrsquos ldquoStorming the Hillrdquo was the threat to service membersrsquo pay and benefits The president has requested DoD commence with the 13th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation (QRMC) to as-sess the adequacy of military compensation and essentially decide if a salary system would be more effective for recruiting and retention This study will result in a report to Congress focusing on the potential for a salary sys-tem The concern is whether or not it will be used to reduce military compensation in any way Our nationrsquos ability to field the most effective armed forc-es of the size and quality need-ed is in jeopardy and there are
two key aspects of this prob-lem First the supply is dwin-dling This is a national prob-lem which Congress cannot fix Second the compensation and benefits that help motivate people to join and stay are eroding This is a problem Con-gress can mdash and must mdash fix MOAA has prepared a talk-ing paper on the importance of compensation to recruiting and retention You can find it on the Bluegrass Chapter Home Page (httpbluegrassmoaaorg) To send a message to legis-lators via MOAA go to httptakeactionmoaaorgmoaaappwrite-a-letter0ampengagementId=458773 That page also lists key bills before Congress on military compensation issues
Stop reducing pay for medical retirees Chapter 61 retirees are ser-vicemembers who were unable to complete 20 years of service through no fault of their own and should have their retire-ment and disability pays com-puted equal to those who retire with 20 or more years of ser-vice In the military community a Chapter 61 retiree is anyone medical-ly retired from mili-tary service with a 30 or greater disability The term ldquoChapter 61rdquo comes from the corresponding chapter in Title 10 US Code There are approximately 210000 Chapter 61 retirees more than 90 percent of whom were enlisted MOAA is cam-paigning to support HR 333 to ensure servicemembers med-ically retired due to service connected disability receive
their full retired pay in addition to their disability pay A MOAA talking paper on this issue can be found on the chapter home page (httpbluegrassmoaaorg) If you believe Congress should end the deduction of service-earned retirement pay to offset VA disability compen-
sation for those ser-vicemembers whose service-connected non-combat related disability retirement under Chapter 61 10 USC precluded them from serving at least 20 years make
your position known by going to httptakeactionmoaaorgmoaaappwrite-a-letter0ampengagementId=458753 to send your message to legisla-tors You can also find a list of key bills relating to this issue on that page
A GATHERING STORM mdash On the front row MOAA PresidentCEO Lt Gen Dana Atkins USAF (Ret) left corner and MOAA Board Chairman Gen John J Sheehan USMC (Ret) right corner flank the troops before the attack on Capitol Hill
Noted Kentucky historian shares insight with packed house at Camp Nelson March meeting Celebrated Kentucky his-torian Nicky Hughes mes-merized March 23 meeting attendees with accounts and anecdotes recalling Ken-
tuckys vacillations as a neu-tral state in the Civil War Hughes delivered his re-marks in character apparel as a Union officer
The meeting was held at the Camp Nelson Civil War Her-itage site in a former Union barracks part of the complex that includes the Camp Nelson National Cem-etery Hughes shown at right in character for the many Civil War battle reenactments in which hersquos participated since 1981 is a former curator of the Kentucky Military Histo-ry Museum and curator of the Old State Capitol The
Kentucky National Guard presented Hughes a DOD Commanderrsquos Award for Public Service medal and he received the Kentucky His-torical Societyrsquos WR Buster Award for his work in Ken-tucky military history
Jacob Castle Rebecca Cramer
The Bluegrass Chapter presented Gold Bars to 60 graduating ROTC students at the four area university ROTC units prior to their com-missioning ceremonies this month Additional-ly some cadets were presented medals and scholarships while two detachments elected to receive morale fund donations in lieu of scholarships Chapter President Col (Ret) Tom Peters presented Gold Bar sets which include copies of the US Constitution to graduating seniors at the UK Army and Air Force Army ROTC detachments Additionally he presented $300 check donations to the UK Army ROTC Cadet Association and UK AFROTC Flying Wildcats Booster Club COL (Ret) Freddie Waggoner an MSU alum presented gold bar sets to graduates at that schoolrsquos ROTC detachment along with an individual scholarship for Cadet Grant Lawson Cadet Lawson was presented the MOAA medal in a previous ceremony Chapter Secretary Col (Ret) John Shotwell presented a MOAA medal to UK AFRTOC Cadet Joshua Whitfield Chapter member LTC Jack Whitney an EKU alum presented gold bar sets to EKU Army ROTC grads and a MOAA medal and scholarship to Cadet Arturo Vil-legas He also presented scholarships to EKU cadets Jacob Castle and Rebecca Cramer
Grant Lawson Joshua Whitfield Arturo Villegas
Dr Dan Han is the chief of the clinical section of the UK Neuropsychology Service the director of neurobehavioral studies at the UK Sports Medicine Research Institute and an associate professor of neurology neurosurgery and physical medicine and rehabilitation at the UK College of Medicine Dr Han received his clinical psychology and neuro-psychology training at the Adler School of Profes-sional Psychology the University of Chicago Medical Center Rush University Medical Center and Dreikurs Psychological Services Center in Chicago
He then completed a two-year fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at the Charles Matthews Neuro-psychology Laboratory at the University of Wiscon-sin in Madison Dr Han is the past presi-dent of the Lexington Board of Brain Injury Alliance current chair of the Medical amp Scientific Advisory Board of the Associa-tion of the US Army ndash McMillan Chapter and presi-dent of the International Society of Neurogastrono-my He has received the Honor the Fallen Soldier Patri-ot Medallion from the Association of the US Army ndash McMillan Chapter the Jack Runyon Service Award by the Kentucky Psychological Association and the Founderrsquos Award by the International Society of Neurogastronomy He is also a Blavatnik nominee in Life Sciences by The New York Academy of Sciences Dr Han has received funding from the National In-stitutes of Health the Department of Defense and other federal and state mechanisms foundational grants and clinical trials involving studies of brain-behavior relationships and curriculum development
The UK Neuropsychology Institute is part of UK Healthcare and is located at Kentucky Clinic on Limestone St
Chapter member COL (Ret) Larry Arnett in his capacity as past chair-man of the Joint Executive Council of Veterans Organizations of Kentucky (JECVO) has issued a final legislative report of the 2018 General Assembly session Highlights are provided below FOR THE COMPLETE DETAILED RE-PORT GO TO OUR WEBSITE at httpbluegrassmoaaorg ldquoThe primary legislative objective of JECVO during was assisting KDVA in protecting and improving the budget for the Kentucky Department of Vet-erans Affairs To this end KDVA was provided a budget that its leader-ship said could workhelliprdquo wrote COL Arnett in his report
Following are brief summaries of some of the bills impacting veterans that passed in this session HB 64 relates to traumatic brain injury It would permit eligible veter-ans to use hyperbaric oxygen treatment for TBI Signed by Gov Bevin on Mar 13 HB 277 changes the time peri-od waiver for driving skill tests for former military members from 90 days of separation to one year Signed by Gov Bevin on Apr 4 HB 319 eases licensing Ken-tucky requirements for military veterans and service members who currently hold valid equivalent licenses permits certificates or other
documents from others states terri-tories or DC Embedded within this bill was language from HB 175 that would exempt veteran-owned businesses from paying certain filing fees for four years after the initial business registration (This is the ldquoBoots to Businessrdquo bill long championed by Secretary of State Ali-son Grimes Signed by Gov Bevin on Apr 2 HB 606 clarifies the exemption from testing fees for military per-sonnel applying for a commercial driverrsquos license Signed by Gov Bevin on Apr 10 For a summary of veterans-related bills that failed to pass in the 2018 ses-sion see the detailed report
May guest speaker has been lauded for brain research
A new monument honoring the nearly 5000 helicopter pi-lots and crewmembers who lost their lives in Vietnam was re-cently unveiled at Arlington Na-tional Cemetery more than five decades after US troops began fighting there The 32-x-22-inch monument sits in Arlingtons Section 35 just south of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier It features an engraving of the iconic UH-1 Huey helicopter with an inscrip-tion honoring the memory of the helicopter pilots and crew-members who gave the full measure of devotion to their nation in the Vietnam War Its only fitting for the monu-ment to bear an image of the Huey said retired Army Maj Gen Carl McNair Jr who com-manded aviators in Vietnam said at the April 18 dedication ceremo-ny Vietnam was known as the ldquohelicopter warrdquo he added and the Huey was the one that saw the most action there Over 10000 [Hueys] were built for that warrdquo McNair said ldquoOver 7000 saw service in theater flying over 75 million flight hours - more combat time than any other aircraft in the his-tory of warfare Over 3000 of those
aircraft did not return The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Asso-ciation spearheaded the effort to have the monument placed at Arlington As its members grow older they wanted to see their fallen comrades honored in their lifetime - especially because Vietnam veterans werent always treated with respect As we prepare to pull pitch for the last time it is important that our lega-
cy is well established the associa-tions website states This is especial-ly true because of the controversial nature of our war the Vietnam War The biased news media and so called peace movement versions of the war are not the same as our reality or what really happened It is im-portant that each of us provide our piece of history to counter the incor-rect version of the Vietnam Warrdquo
STORY BY GINA HARKINS MOAA
Monument honoring US helicopter pilots and crewmembers killed in Vietnam unveiled in Arlington
Marine in Congress urges other vets to run A former infantry officer who led one of the first Marine platoons into Iraq in 2003 said veterans have what it takes to buck partisan gridlock in Washington and bring compromise back to govern-ment leadership ldquo[Veterans] should get involved in poli-tics you should get involved in our de-mocracyrdquo Rep Seth Moulton (D-Mass) told the audience at MOAArsquos annual council presidentsrsquo dinner following the all-day ldquoStorming the Hillrdquo event ldquoYou should have a stake in the future of our countryrdquo ldquoI firmly believe that if we had more veterans in Congresswe would be get-ting a lot more done for the American peoplerdquo he said to a roomful of applaud-ing MOAA chapter leaders Moulton cofounded the bipartisan
Warrior Caucus in Congress with Oklaho-ma Rep Steve Russell The caucus in-cludes 25 combat veterans serving in the House of Representatives from 18 differ-ent states The group has come together to support legislation on everything from Veterans Affairs care to the authorization of military force in Syria ldquoThats the kind of compromised prin-ciple of putting people over politics and principle over party you can get when you put veterans togetherrdquo Moulton said Despite Americans low approval rat-ings for members of Congress Moulton says many of them are smart and hard-working politicians Whats lacking in the Capitol building isnt intelligence he said but the willingness to speak truth to power and party
STORY BY GINA HARKINS MOAA Rep Moulton (MOAA photo by Mike Marone)
Kentucky Speedway provides more details about discounted races
The March Bugle announced that military veterans who
are NASCAR fans can take advantage of a 50 ticket discount
to all three NASCAR races taking place over the July 12-14
weekend
Eligible for the discount are active military and current fed-
eral employees veterans and military family members Therersquos
no limit on the number of tickets purchased but they may not
be resold
Here are the specific events and pricings (which reflect the
50 percent discount) Children 12 and under are admitted
free with every adult ticket purchased
NCWTS Buckle Up in Your Truck 225
July 12m 730 pm any seating $20
NXS Alsco 300
July 13 8 pm any seating $30
MENCS Quaker State 400
July 14 730 pm any seating $55
To order online
Go to KentuckySpeedwaycomMILITARY
Click ldquoPurchase with Coderdquo next to branch of ser-
vice Select Specific race(s)
Enter Coupon Code KYSVETERAN
There is also a July weekend military discount which covers
all three races for $105 per person
For questions contact Speedway account executive Taylor
Barhorst at 859-578-2311 or at
tbarhourstkentuckyspeedwaycom
Honor Flight planned for May 26 A gala homecoming event is scheduled for 9 pm May 26 for
the returning 284 veterans participating in the all-day Honor
Flight trip to military memorials in Washington DC in their
honor
Members are highly encouraged to attend the homecoming cele-
bration at Bluegrass Airport to welcome these returning he-
roes For more information contact George Campbell via email at
trains824gmailcom or visit their web page at
wwwhonorflightkyorg
Members are invited to golf scramble The Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame (KVHOF) plans to
hold the United We Stand Golf Scramble at Marriott Griffin Gate
Resort 1800 Newtown Pike Lexington Sept 6 at noon Proceeds
will benefit KVHOF a 502copy(3) organization Sponsorships are
available and donations are welcome
The price is $135 per golfer or $500 for a foursome and in-
clude s green fees cart and dinner after the event For registration
and sponsor forms and more information visit the KVHOF Web-
site at httpwwwkyveteransorg
Those of us who break out Old Glory for displays on national holidays typically antic-ipate Memorial Day and the 4th of July as the weather warms up But donrsquot forget about Armed Forces Day While not an offi-cial national holiday (and not often celebrat-ed with events in Central Kentucky) Armed Forces Day is an appropriate occasion for veterans to bring out the flag in recognition of our own Armed Forces Day (the third Saturday in May) serves as the culmination of Armed Forces Week (May 14-19 2018)
For American veterans and service members Armed Forces Week is an occasion to remem-ber past and present service for all branches of the service At one time there was a separate occasion for each branch of the military later consolidated into a single remembrance Armed Forces Day was ob-served for the first time on May 20 1950 to honor Americans serving in the five US military branches Armed Forces DayWeek was created in the wake of the consolidation of military services under the United States Department of Defense Armed Forces DayWeek officially replac-es separate Army Navy Air Force Marine Corps and Coast Guard Days but each branch of the service still honors its own day The earliest Armed Forces DayWeek
celebrations included parades open houses receptions and air shows So while there may be no parades in our area why not show our colors for the entire Armed Forces Week beginning May 14 (PS) And donrsquot forget Flag Day on June 14
THVC GIFT mdash Chapter member MAJ (Ret) Ben Sweger (center) Director of the Thompson-Hood Veterans Cen-ter was presented a $2000 check from the Bluegrass Chapter by Treasurer Pat Jones (l) on May 2 On hand for the ceremony was THVC Activities Director Michelle Ewing The gift from member donations will go toward upgrading the sound system in the facilitys Multi-Purpose Room (MPR) where the facility holds large gatherings church services and other events
Mrs Pat Jones 1660 Atoma Drive Lexington KY 40511 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Last first middle name Rank National MOAA member no
_______________________________________ _________________ _____________________________
Spouse name Email address
________ ______________________________ _______________________________________________________________
Date of birth (monthday) Street address ndash city state Zip code
_______________________________________ _______________________________________________________________
Monthyear entered service________________ Monthyear separated_____________________________________
Phone number ________________________ Cell number _____________________
Military status (circle all that apply) Active Duty Drilling National GuardReserve Retired
Separated honorably ROTC (1 year free) Widow(er) (no charge)
Branch of service (circle one) USA USMC USN USAF USCG NOAA USPHS
Want to make a donation General use $________ Vets $_______ ROTC scholarships $_______
Total enclosed $________________
Bluegrass Chapter Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) New MembershipMembership RenewalDonations
Please complete this form and your dues check ($25) payable to BGMOAA Mail the form and check to our return address
Membership (newrenewal)=$25 widow(er)s free
President Col (Ret) Tom Peters
(859) 329-7320 thomaspeters03gmailcom
First Vice President COL (Ret) Tom Little
(859) 338-3301 tlittlelexgmailcom
Second Vice President Vacant
SecretaryWebmaster Newsletter Editor
COL (Ret) John Shotwell (859) 420-2105
jmshot0gukyedu
Treasurer Mrs Pat Jones (859) 271-2606
ppatcatfanaolcom
Sergeant-at-Arms COL (Ret) Chris Dolt
(859) 494-3452 christopherdoltmorganstaleycom
Facebook httpswwwfacebookcomMOAABluegrassChapter
Web httpbluegrassmoaaorg
MOAA including the Kentucky Council and the Bluegrass Chap-ter is an independent nonprofit politically nonpartisan organization dedicated to maintaining a strong national defense and ensuring our nation keeps its commitments to currently serving retired and former members of the unformed services and their families and survivors Membership is open to those who hold or have ever held a warrant or commission in any component of the Army Marine Corps Navy Air Force Coast Guard Public Health Service or NOAA and their surviving spouses
The MOAA Bluegrass Chapter is a Sect 501(c )(19) tax-exempt veterans organization
Thank you for the opportunity to be your MOAA representa-tive to the annual Storming the Hill event in Washington DC My wife Jan and I teamed up with Ms Amanda Meyers of the MOAA staff to visit all eight of our congressional delegation in one day and we accomplished our tasking The presentation material consisted of four talking pa-pers covering the four top legislative priorities from MOAA Military pay Medical disability equity The ldquowidows taxrdquo and TRICARE Each topic has its unique issues but all of them combine to form an overriding goal of making our military stronger and our congressional leadership more responsive to the needs of mili-tary members and their families The process of insuring that military pay keeps pace with economic factors has been indexed as it were to a formula called the employment cost index (ECI) Their process considers eco-nomic factors in the US and generates a percentage change for military pay tables MOAA supports maintaining the military pay and benefits that are essential to recruiting and retaining the high-quality All Volunteer Force necessary to meet the nationrsquos security and warfighting requirements now and in the future This year the raise reflects the ECI calculation but it did not reach back to the past years when the actual pay increase fell short of the project-ed need Continuing to insist on keeping faith with the military by honoring its own process is a necessary step in meeting the
needs of an all-volunteer force Medical disability equity is concerned with a process where a medically disabled member is retired from active duty with less than 20 years of service and also given a level of disability from the Veterans Administra-tion In such a circumstance the military and the VA offset each other in a way that directly reduces the amount of compensation a member can receive The earned retirement of the individual is offset by the amount paid out by the VA for the disability In such a situation the members retirement formula is based on their service and the disability payment is based on the degree of disability suf-fered from injuries resulting from the members service Offset-ting one with the other directly and unfairly impacts the stand-ard of living for the member and their family A similar offset occurs when there is a surviving spouse and a survivorrsquos benefit plan annuity When a retired member selects to pay into the Survivors Benefit Program they are purchasing an annuity to pay a surviving spouse a lifetime income If there is also a VA spon-sored Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) award for eligible survivors whose sponsors died of a service-connected injury or disease again one offsets the other These separate benefits are paid for separate reasons and should not be construed as duplicative compensation nor should the surviving spousesrsquo standard of living be diminished by offsetting the payments The fourth area of concern carried to the hill deals with TRI-CARE cost increases being passed on to beneficiaries While managed cost increases indexed to COLA increases are to be expected copays that exceed the COLA growth are not ex-pected Moreover reclassifying mental health care as specialty care increases the copayment s from beneficiaries and begins to limit access to these services Moreover these cost increases occurred while the Department of Health Affairs received substantially more than they had asked for in the budget The DOD should not be passing on charges to families for health care in order to fund its readiness cost I urge everyone to read about these issues in detail at the MOAA website and pass on your concerns to our congressional members
Thomas Peters Col USAF (Ret)
President Bluegrass Chapter
CHAPTER RECOGNIZED mdash Chapter President Col (Ret) Tom Peters accepted a certificate recognizing the chapterrsquos Website from Kentucky Council President COL (Ret) Danny Young at the Apr 28 Council meeting in Frankfort Both the Website and the Bluegrass Bugle received five-star awards in MOAArsquos annual Col Marvin J Harris Communications Award competition It marks the first time a Kentucky chapter has received both awards in the same year
STORMY DAY mdash US Rep Hal Rogers (R-KY 5th Dist) was briefed by Chapter President Col (Ret) Tom Peters and his wife Lt Col (Ret) Jan Peters during MOAArsquos annual ldquoStorming the Hillrdquo on Apr 20 to lobby for its highest legislative priorities Tom and Jan also met with Kentuckyrsquos 6th Dist Rep Andy Barr 2nd Dist Rep Brett Guthrie and other members of Congress
About 150 MOAA members visited the offices of every
lawmaker in Congress in mid-April during the MOAA annual
Storming the Hill Members called on lawmakers to emphasize MOAArsquos
positions on key issues especially those noted on this page Events throughout
the week also included an awards ceremony for Wash-
ington leaders who advocate for the military
Compensation crucial to recruitment and retention
One of the top agenda dur-ing this yearrsquos ldquoStorming the Hillrdquo was the threat to service membersrsquo pay and benefits The president has requested DoD commence with the 13th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation (QRMC) to as-sess the adequacy of military compensation and essentially decide if a salary system would be more effective for recruiting and retention This study will result in a report to Congress focusing on the potential for a salary sys-tem The concern is whether or not it will be used to reduce military compensation in any way Our nationrsquos ability to field the most effective armed forc-es of the size and quality need-ed is in jeopardy and there are
two key aspects of this prob-lem First the supply is dwin-dling This is a national prob-lem which Congress cannot fix Second the compensation and benefits that help motivate people to join and stay are eroding This is a problem Con-gress can mdash and must mdash fix MOAA has prepared a talk-ing paper on the importance of compensation to recruiting and retention You can find it on the Bluegrass Chapter Home Page (httpbluegrassmoaaorg) To send a message to legis-lators via MOAA go to httptakeactionmoaaorgmoaaappwrite-a-letter0ampengagementId=458773 That page also lists key bills before Congress on military compensation issues
Stop reducing pay for medical retirees Chapter 61 retirees are ser-vicemembers who were unable to complete 20 years of service through no fault of their own and should have their retire-ment and disability pays com-puted equal to those who retire with 20 or more years of ser-vice In the military community a Chapter 61 retiree is anyone medical-ly retired from mili-tary service with a 30 or greater disability The term ldquoChapter 61rdquo comes from the corresponding chapter in Title 10 US Code There are approximately 210000 Chapter 61 retirees more than 90 percent of whom were enlisted MOAA is cam-paigning to support HR 333 to ensure servicemembers med-ically retired due to service connected disability receive
their full retired pay in addition to their disability pay A MOAA talking paper on this issue can be found on the chapter home page (httpbluegrassmoaaorg) If you believe Congress should end the deduction of service-earned retirement pay to offset VA disability compen-
sation for those ser-vicemembers whose service-connected non-combat related disability retirement under Chapter 61 10 USC precluded them from serving at least 20 years make
your position known by going to httptakeactionmoaaorgmoaaappwrite-a-letter0ampengagementId=458753 to send your message to legisla-tors You can also find a list of key bills relating to this issue on that page
A GATHERING STORM mdash On the front row MOAA PresidentCEO Lt Gen Dana Atkins USAF (Ret) left corner and MOAA Board Chairman Gen John J Sheehan USMC (Ret) right corner flank the troops before the attack on Capitol Hill
Noted Kentucky historian shares insight with packed house at Camp Nelson March meeting Celebrated Kentucky his-torian Nicky Hughes mes-merized March 23 meeting attendees with accounts and anecdotes recalling Ken-
tuckys vacillations as a neu-tral state in the Civil War Hughes delivered his re-marks in character apparel as a Union officer
The meeting was held at the Camp Nelson Civil War Her-itage site in a former Union barracks part of the complex that includes the Camp Nelson National Cem-etery Hughes shown at right in character for the many Civil War battle reenactments in which hersquos participated since 1981 is a former curator of the Kentucky Military Histo-ry Museum and curator of the Old State Capitol The
Kentucky National Guard presented Hughes a DOD Commanderrsquos Award for Public Service medal and he received the Kentucky His-torical Societyrsquos WR Buster Award for his work in Ken-tucky military history
Jacob Castle Rebecca Cramer
The Bluegrass Chapter presented Gold Bars to 60 graduating ROTC students at the four area university ROTC units prior to their com-missioning ceremonies this month Additional-ly some cadets were presented medals and scholarships while two detachments elected to receive morale fund donations in lieu of scholarships Chapter President Col (Ret) Tom Peters presented Gold Bar sets which include copies of the US Constitution to graduating seniors at the UK Army and Air Force Army ROTC detachments Additionally he presented $300 check donations to the UK Army ROTC Cadet Association and UK AFROTC Flying Wildcats Booster Club COL (Ret) Freddie Waggoner an MSU alum presented gold bar sets to graduates at that schoolrsquos ROTC detachment along with an individual scholarship for Cadet Grant Lawson Cadet Lawson was presented the MOAA medal in a previous ceremony Chapter Secretary Col (Ret) John Shotwell presented a MOAA medal to UK AFRTOC Cadet Joshua Whitfield Chapter member LTC Jack Whitney an EKU alum presented gold bar sets to EKU Army ROTC grads and a MOAA medal and scholarship to Cadet Arturo Vil-legas He also presented scholarships to EKU cadets Jacob Castle and Rebecca Cramer
Grant Lawson Joshua Whitfield Arturo Villegas
Dr Dan Han is the chief of the clinical section of the UK Neuropsychology Service the director of neurobehavioral studies at the UK Sports Medicine Research Institute and an associate professor of neurology neurosurgery and physical medicine and rehabilitation at the UK College of Medicine Dr Han received his clinical psychology and neuro-psychology training at the Adler School of Profes-sional Psychology the University of Chicago Medical Center Rush University Medical Center and Dreikurs Psychological Services Center in Chicago
He then completed a two-year fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at the Charles Matthews Neuro-psychology Laboratory at the University of Wiscon-sin in Madison Dr Han is the past presi-dent of the Lexington Board of Brain Injury Alliance current chair of the Medical amp Scientific Advisory Board of the Associa-tion of the US Army ndash McMillan Chapter and presi-dent of the International Society of Neurogastrono-my He has received the Honor the Fallen Soldier Patri-ot Medallion from the Association of the US Army ndash McMillan Chapter the Jack Runyon Service Award by the Kentucky Psychological Association and the Founderrsquos Award by the International Society of Neurogastronomy He is also a Blavatnik nominee in Life Sciences by The New York Academy of Sciences Dr Han has received funding from the National In-stitutes of Health the Department of Defense and other federal and state mechanisms foundational grants and clinical trials involving studies of brain-behavior relationships and curriculum development
The UK Neuropsychology Institute is part of UK Healthcare and is located at Kentucky Clinic on Limestone St
Chapter member COL (Ret) Larry Arnett in his capacity as past chair-man of the Joint Executive Council of Veterans Organizations of Kentucky (JECVO) has issued a final legislative report of the 2018 General Assembly session Highlights are provided below FOR THE COMPLETE DETAILED RE-PORT GO TO OUR WEBSITE at httpbluegrassmoaaorg ldquoThe primary legislative objective of JECVO during was assisting KDVA in protecting and improving the budget for the Kentucky Department of Vet-erans Affairs To this end KDVA was provided a budget that its leader-ship said could workhelliprdquo wrote COL Arnett in his report
Following are brief summaries of some of the bills impacting veterans that passed in this session HB 64 relates to traumatic brain injury It would permit eligible veter-ans to use hyperbaric oxygen treatment for TBI Signed by Gov Bevin on Mar 13 HB 277 changes the time peri-od waiver for driving skill tests for former military members from 90 days of separation to one year Signed by Gov Bevin on Apr 4 HB 319 eases licensing Ken-tucky requirements for military veterans and service members who currently hold valid equivalent licenses permits certificates or other
documents from others states terri-tories or DC Embedded within this bill was language from HB 175 that would exempt veteran-owned businesses from paying certain filing fees for four years after the initial business registration (This is the ldquoBoots to Businessrdquo bill long championed by Secretary of State Ali-son Grimes Signed by Gov Bevin on Apr 2 HB 606 clarifies the exemption from testing fees for military per-sonnel applying for a commercial driverrsquos license Signed by Gov Bevin on Apr 10 For a summary of veterans-related bills that failed to pass in the 2018 ses-sion see the detailed report
May guest speaker has been lauded for brain research
A new monument honoring the nearly 5000 helicopter pi-lots and crewmembers who lost their lives in Vietnam was re-cently unveiled at Arlington Na-tional Cemetery more than five decades after US troops began fighting there The 32-x-22-inch monument sits in Arlingtons Section 35 just south of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier It features an engraving of the iconic UH-1 Huey helicopter with an inscrip-tion honoring the memory of the helicopter pilots and crew-members who gave the full measure of devotion to their nation in the Vietnam War Its only fitting for the monu-ment to bear an image of the Huey said retired Army Maj Gen Carl McNair Jr who com-manded aviators in Vietnam said at the April 18 dedication ceremo-ny Vietnam was known as the ldquohelicopter warrdquo he added and the Huey was the one that saw the most action there Over 10000 [Hueys] were built for that warrdquo McNair said ldquoOver 7000 saw service in theater flying over 75 million flight hours - more combat time than any other aircraft in the his-tory of warfare Over 3000 of those
aircraft did not return The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Asso-ciation spearheaded the effort to have the monument placed at Arlington As its members grow older they wanted to see their fallen comrades honored in their lifetime - especially because Vietnam veterans werent always treated with respect As we prepare to pull pitch for the last time it is important that our lega-
cy is well established the associa-tions website states This is especial-ly true because of the controversial nature of our war the Vietnam War The biased news media and so called peace movement versions of the war are not the same as our reality or what really happened It is im-portant that each of us provide our piece of history to counter the incor-rect version of the Vietnam Warrdquo
STORY BY GINA HARKINS MOAA
Monument honoring US helicopter pilots and crewmembers killed in Vietnam unveiled in Arlington
Marine in Congress urges other vets to run A former infantry officer who led one of the first Marine platoons into Iraq in 2003 said veterans have what it takes to buck partisan gridlock in Washington and bring compromise back to govern-ment leadership ldquo[Veterans] should get involved in poli-tics you should get involved in our de-mocracyrdquo Rep Seth Moulton (D-Mass) told the audience at MOAArsquos annual council presidentsrsquo dinner following the all-day ldquoStorming the Hillrdquo event ldquoYou should have a stake in the future of our countryrdquo ldquoI firmly believe that if we had more veterans in Congresswe would be get-ting a lot more done for the American peoplerdquo he said to a roomful of applaud-ing MOAA chapter leaders Moulton cofounded the bipartisan
Warrior Caucus in Congress with Oklaho-ma Rep Steve Russell The caucus in-cludes 25 combat veterans serving in the House of Representatives from 18 differ-ent states The group has come together to support legislation on everything from Veterans Affairs care to the authorization of military force in Syria ldquoThats the kind of compromised prin-ciple of putting people over politics and principle over party you can get when you put veterans togetherrdquo Moulton said Despite Americans low approval rat-ings for members of Congress Moulton says many of them are smart and hard-working politicians Whats lacking in the Capitol building isnt intelligence he said but the willingness to speak truth to power and party
STORY BY GINA HARKINS MOAA Rep Moulton (MOAA photo by Mike Marone)
Kentucky Speedway provides more details about discounted races
The March Bugle announced that military veterans who
are NASCAR fans can take advantage of a 50 ticket discount
to all three NASCAR races taking place over the July 12-14
weekend
Eligible for the discount are active military and current fed-
eral employees veterans and military family members Therersquos
no limit on the number of tickets purchased but they may not
be resold
Here are the specific events and pricings (which reflect the
50 percent discount) Children 12 and under are admitted
free with every adult ticket purchased
NCWTS Buckle Up in Your Truck 225
July 12m 730 pm any seating $20
NXS Alsco 300
July 13 8 pm any seating $30
MENCS Quaker State 400
July 14 730 pm any seating $55
To order online
Go to KentuckySpeedwaycomMILITARY
Click ldquoPurchase with Coderdquo next to branch of ser-
vice Select Specific race(s)
Enter Coupon Code KYSVETERAN
There is also a July weekend military discount which covers
all three races for $105 per person
For questions contact Speedway account executive Taylor
Barhorst at 859-578-2311 or at
tbarhourstkentuckyspeedwaycom
Honor Flight planned for May 26 A gala homecoming event is scheduled for 9 pm May 26 for
the returning 284 veterans participating in the all-day Honor
Flight trip to military memorials in Washington DC in their
honor
Members are highly encouraged to attend the homecoming cele-
bration at Bluegrass Airport to welcome these returning he-
roes For more information contact George Campbell via email at
trains824gmailcom or visit their web page at
wwwhonorflightkyorg
Members are invited to golf scramble The Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame (KVHOF) plans to
hold the United We Stand Golf Scramble at Marriott Griffin Gate
Resort 1800 Newtown Pike Lexington Sept 6 at noon Proceeds
will benefit KVHOF a 502copy(3) organization Sponsorships are
available and donations are welcome
The price is $135 per golfer or $500 for a foursome and in-
clude s green fees cart and dinner after the event For registration
and sponsor forms and more information visit the KVHOF Web-
site at httpwwwkyveteransorg
Those of us who break out Old Glory for displays on national holidays typically antic-ipate Memorial Day and the 4th of July as the weather warms up But donrsquot forget about Armed Forces Day While not an offi-cial national holiday (and not often celebrat-ed with events in Central Kentucky) Armed Forces Day is an appropriate occasion for veterans to bring out the flag in recognition of our own Armed Forces Day (the third Saturday in May) serves as the culmination of Armed Forces Week (May 14-19 2018)
For American veterans and service members Armed Forces Week is an occasion to remem-ber past and present service for all branches of the service At one time there was a separate occasion for each branch of the military later consolidated into a single remembrance Armed Forces Day was ob-served for the first time on May 20 1950 to honor Americans serving in the five US military branches Armed Forces DayWeek was created in the wake of the consolidation of military services under the United States Department of Defense Armed Forces DayWeek officially replac-es separate Army Navy Air Force Marine Corps and Coast Guard Days but each branch of the service still honors its own day The earliest Armed Forces DayWeek
celebrations included parades open houses receptions and air shows So while there may be no parades in our area why not show our colors for the entire Armed Forces Week beginning May 14 (PS) And donrsquot forget Flag Day on June 14
THVC GIFT mdash Chapter member MAJ (Ret) Ben Sweger (center) Director of the Thompson-Hood Veterans Cen-ter was presented a $2000 check from the Bluegrass Chapter by Treasurer Pat Jones (l) on May 2 On hand for the ceremony was THVC Activities Director Michelle Ewing The gift from member donations will go toward upgrading the sound system in the facilitys Multi-Purpose Room (MPR) where the facility holds large gatherings church services and other events
Mrs Pat Jones 1660 Atoma Drive Lexington KY 40511 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Last first middle name Rank National MOAA member no
_______________________________________ _________________ _____________________________
Spouse name Email address
________ ______________________________ _______________________________________________________________
Date of birth (monthday) Street address ndash city state Zip code
_______________________________________ _______________________________________________________________
Monthyear entered service________________ Monthyear separated_____________________________________
Phone number ________________________ Cell number _____________________
Military status (circle all that apply) Active Duty Drilling National GuardReserve Retired
Separated honorably ROTC (1 year free) Widow(er) (no charge)
Branch of service (circle one) USA USMC USN USAF USCG NOAA USPHS
Want to make a donation General use $________ Vets $_______ ROTC scholarships $_______
Total enclosed $________________
Bluegrass Chapter Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) New MembershipMembership RenewalDonations
Please complete this form and your dues check ($25) payable to BGMOAA Mail the form and check to our return address
Membership (newrenewal)=$25 widow(er)s free
STORMY DAY mdash US Rep Hal Rogers (R-KY 5th Dist) was briefed by Chapter President Col (Ret) Tom Peters and his wife Lt Col (Ret) Jan Peters during MOAArsquos annual ldquoStorming the Hillrdquo on Apr 20 to lobby for its highest legislative priorities Tom and Jan also met with Kentuckyrsquos 6th Dist Rep Andy Barr 2nd Dist Rep Brett Guthrie and other members of Congress
About 150 MOAA members visited the offices of every
lawmaker in Congress in mid-April during the MOAA annual
Storming the Hill Members called on lawmakers to emphasize MOAArsquos
positions on key issues especially those noted on this page Events throughout
the week also included an awards ceremony for Wash-
ington leaders who advocate for the military
Compensation crucial to recruitment and retention
One of the top agenda dur-ing this yearrsquos ldquoStorming the Hillrdquo was the threat to service membersrsquo pay and benefits The president has requested DoD commence with the 13th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation (QRMC) to as-sess the adequacy of military compensation and essentially decide if a salary system would be more effective for recruiting and retention This study will result in a report to Congress focusing on the potential for a salary sys-tem The concern is whether or not it will be used to reduce military compensation in any way Our nationrsquos ability to field the most effective armed forc-es of the size and quality need-ed is in jeopardy and there are
two key aspects of this prob-lem First the supply is dwin-dling This is a national prob-lem which Congress cannot fix Second the compensation and benefits that help motivate people to join and stay are eroding This is a problem Con-gress can mdash and must mdash fix MOAA has prepared a talk-ing paper on the importance of compensation to recruiting and retention You can find it on the Bluegrass Chapter Home Page (httpbluegrassmoaaorg) To send a message to legis-lators via MOAA go to httptakeactionmoaaorgmoaaappwrite-a-letter0ampengagementId=458773 That page also lists key bills before Congress on military compensation issues
Stop reducing pay for medical retirees Chapter 61 retirees are ser-vicemembers who were unable to complete 20 years of service through no fault of their own and should have their retire-ment and disability pays com-puted equal to those who retire with 20 or more years of ser-vice In the military community a Chapter 61 retiree is anyone medical-ly retired from mili-tary service with a 30 or greater disability The term ldquoChapter 61rdquo comes from the corresponding chapter in Title 10 US Code There are approximately 210000 Chapter 61 retirees more than 90 percent of whom were enlisted MOAA is cam-paigning to support HR 333 to ensure servicemembers med-ically retired due to service connected disability receive
their full retired pay in addition to their disability pay A MOAA talking paper on this issue can be found on the chapter home page (httpbluegrassmoaaorg) If you believe Congress should end the deduction of service-earned retirement pay to offset VA disability compen-
sation for those ser-vicemembers whose service-connected non-combat related disability retirement under Chapter 61 10 USC precluded them from serving at least 20 years make
your position known by going to httptakeactionmoaaorgmoaaappwrite-a-letter0ampengagementId=458753 to send your message to legisla-tors You can also find a list of key bills relating to this issue on that page
A GATHERING STORM mdash On the front row MOAA PresidentCEO Lt Gen Dana Atkins USAF (Ret) left corner and MOAA Board Chairman Gen John J Sheehan USMC (Ret) right corner flank the troops before the attack on Capitol Hill
Noted Kentucky historian shares insight with packed house at Camp Nelson March meeting Celebrated Kentucky his-torian Nicky Hughes mes-merized March 23 meeting attendees with accounts and anecdotes recalling Ken-
tuckys vacillations as a neu-tral state in the Civil War Hughes delivered his re-marks in character apparel as a Union officer
The meeting was held at the Camp Nelson Civil War Her-itage site in a former Union barracks part of the complex that includes the Camp Nelson National Cem-etery Hughes shown at right in character for the many Civil War battle reenactments in which hersquos participated since 1981 is a former curator of the Kentucky Military Histo-ry Museum and curator of the Old State Capitol The
Kentucky National Guard presented Hughes a DOD Commanderrsquos Award for Public Service medal and he received the Kentucky His-torical Societyrsquos WR Buster Award for his work in Ken-tucky military history
Jacob Castle Rebecca Cramer
The Bluegrass Chapter presented Gold Bars to 60 graduating ROTC students at the four area university ROTC units prior to their com-missioning ceremonies this month Additional-ly some cadets were presented medals and scholarships while two detachments elected to receive morale fund donations in lieu of scholarships Chapter President Col (Ret) Tom Peters presented Gold Bar sets which include copies of the US Constitution to graduating seniors at the UK Army and Air Force Army ROTC detachments Additionally he presented $300 check donations to the UK Army ROTC Cadet Association and UK AFROTC Flying Wildcats Booster Club COL (Ret) Freddie Waggoner an MSU alum presented gold bar sets to graduates at that schoolrsquos ROTC detachment along with an individual scholarship for Cadet Grant Lawson Cadet Lawson was presented the MOAA medal in a previous ceremony Chapter Secretary Col (Ret) John Shotwell presented a MOAA medal to UK AFRTOC Cadet Joshua Whitfield Chapter member LTC Jack Whitney an EKU alum presented gold bar sets to EKU Army ROTC grads and a MOAA medal and scholarship to Cadet Arturo Vil-legas He also presented scholarships to EKU cadets Jacob Castle and Rebecca Cramer
Grant Lawson Joshua Whitfield Arturo Villegas
Dr Dan Han is the chief of the clinical section of the UK Neuropsychology Service the director of neurobehavioral studies at the UK Sports Medicine Research Institute and an associate professor of neurology neurosurgery and physical medicine and rehabilitation at the UK College of Medicine Dr Han received his clinical psychology and neuro-psychology training at the Adler School of Profes-sional Psychology the University of Chicago Medical Center Rush University Medical Center and Dreikurs Psychological Services Center in Chicago
He then completed a two-year fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at the Charles Matthews Neuro-psychology Laboratory at the University of Wiscon-sin in Madison Dr Han is the past presi-dent of the Lexington Board of Brain Injury Alliance current chair of the Medical amp Scientific Advisory Board of the Associa-tion of the US Army ndash McMillan Chapter and presi-dent of the International Society of Neurogastrono-my He has received the Honor the Fallen Soldier Patri-ot Medallion from the Association of the US Army ndash McMillan Chapter the Jack Runyon Service Award by the Kentucky Psychological Association and the Founderrsquos Award by the International Society of Neurogastronomy He is also a Blavatnik nominee in Life Sciences by The New York Academy of Sciences Dr Han has received funding from the National In-stitutes of Health the Department of Defense and other federal and state mechanisms foundational grants and clinical trials involving studies of brain-behavior relationships and curriculum development
The UK Neuropsychology Institute is part of UK Healthcare and is located at Kentucky Clinic on Limestone St
Chapter member COL (Ret) Larry Arnett in his capacity as past chair-man of the Joint Executive Council of Veterans Organizations of Kentucky (JECVO) has issued a final legislative report of the 2018 General Assembly session Highlights are provided below FOR THE COMPLETE DETAILED RE-PORT GO TO OUR WEBSITE at httpbluegrassmoaaorg ldquoThe primary legislative objective of JECVO during was assisting KDVA in protecting and improving the budget for the Kentucky Department of Vet-erans Affairs To this end KDVA was provided a budget that its leader-ship said could workhelliprdquo wrote COL Arnett in his report
Following are brief summaries of some of the bills impacting veterans that passed in this session HB 64 relates to traumatic brain injury It would permit eligible veter-ans to use hyperbaric oxygen treatment for TBI Signed by Gov Bevin on Mar 13 HB 277 changes the time peri-od waiver for driving skill tests for former military members from 90 days of separation to one year Signed by Gov Bevin on Apr 4 HB 319 eases licensing Ken-tucky requirements for military veterans and service members who currently hold valid equivalent licenses permits certificates or other
documents from others states terri-tories or DC Embedded within this bill was language from HB 175 that would exempt veteran-owned businesses from paying certain filing fees for four years after the initial business registration (This is the ldquoBoots to Businessrdquo bill long championed by Secretary of State Ali-son Grimes Signed by Gov Bevin on Apr 2 HB 606 clarifies the exemption from testing fees for military per-sonnel applying for a commercial driverrsquos license Signed by Gov Bevin on Apr 10 For a summary of veterans-related bills that failed to pass in the 2018 ses-sion see the detailed report
May guest speaker has been lauded for brain research
A new monument honoring the nearly 5000 helicopter pi-lots and crewmembers who lost their lives in Vietnam was re-cently unveiled at Arlington Na-tional Cemetery more than five decades after US troops began fighting there The 32-x-22-inch monument sits in Arlingtons Section 35 just south of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier It features an engraving of the iconic UH-1 Huey helicopter with an inscrip-tion honoring the memory of the helicopter pilots and crew-members who gave the full measure of devotion to their nation in the Vietnam War Its only fitting for the monu-ment to bear an image of the Huey said retired Army Maj Gen Carl McNair Jr who com-manded aviators in Vietnam said at the April 18 dedication ceremo-ny Vietnam was known as the ldquohelicopter warrdquo he added and the Huey was the one that saw the most action there Over 10000 [Hueys] were built for that warrdquo McNair said ldquoOver 7000 saw service in theater flying over 75 million flight hours - more combat time than any other aircraft in the his-tory of warfare Over 3000 of those
aircraft did not return The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Asso-ciation spearheaded the effort to have the monument placed at Arlington As its members grow older they wanted to see their fallen comrades honored in their lifetime - especially because Vietnam veterans werent always treated with respect As we prepare to pull pitch for the last time it is important that our lega-
cy is well established the associa-tions website states This is especial-ly true because of the controversial nature of our war the Vietnam War The biased news media and so called peace movement versions of the war are not the same as our reality or what really happened It is im-portant that each of us provide our piece of history to counter the incor-rect version of the Vietnam Warrdquo
STORY BY GINA HARKINS MOAA
Monument honoring US helicopter pilots and crewmembers killed in Vietnam unveiled in Arlington
Marine in Congress urges other vets to run A former infantry officer who led one of the first Marine platoons into Iraq in 2003 said veterans have what it takes to buck partisan gridlock in Washington and bring compromise back to govern-ment leadership ldquo[Veterans] should get involved in poli-tics you should get involved in our de-mocracyrdquo Rep Seth Moulton (D-Mass) told the audience at MOAArsquos annual council presidentsrsquo dinner following the all-day ldquoStorming the Hillrdquo event ldquoYou should have a stake in the future of our countryrdquo ldquoI firmly believe that if we had more veterans in Congresswe would be get-ting a lot more done for the American peoplerdquo he said to a roomful of applaud-ing MOAA chapter leaders Moulton cofounded the bipartisan
Warrior Caucus in Congress with Oklaho-ma Rep Steve Russell The caucus in-cludes 25 combat veterans serving in the House of Representatives from 18 differ-ent states The group has come together to support legislation on everything from Veterans Affairs care to the authorization of military force in Syria ldquoThats the kind of compromised prin-ciple of putting people over politics and principle over party you can get when you put veterans togetherrdquo Moulton said Despite Americans low approval rat-ings for members of Congress Moulton says many of them are smart and hard-working politicians Whats lacking in the Capitol building isnt intelligence he said but the willingness to speak truth to power and party
STORY BY GINA HARKINS MOAA Rep Moulton (MOAA photo by Mike Marone)
Kentucky Speedway provides more details about discounted races
The March Bugle announced that military veterans who
are NASCAR fans can take advantage of a 50 ticket discount
to all three NASCAR races taking place over the July 12-14
weekend
Eligible for the discount are active military and current fed-
eral employees veterans and military family members Therersquos
no limit on the number of tickets purchased but they may not
be resold
Here are the specific events and pricings (which reflect the
50 percent discount) Children 12 and under are admitted
free with every adult ticket purchased
NCWTS Buckle Up in Your Truck 225
July 12m 730 pm any seating $20
NXS Alsco 300
July 13 8 pm any seating $30
MENCS Quaker State 400
July 14 730 pm any seating $55
To order online
Go to KentuckySpeedwaycomMILITARY
Click ldquoPurchase with Coderdquo next to branch of ser-
vice Select Specific race(s)
Enter Coupon Code KYSVETERAN
There is also a July weekend military discount which covers
all three races for $105 per person
For questions contact Speedway account executive Taylor
Barhorst at 859-578-2311 or at
tbarhourstkentuckyspeedwaycom
Honor Flight planned for May 26 A gala homecoming event is scheduled for 9 pm May 26 for
the returning 284 veterans participating in the all-day Honor
Flight trip to military memorials in Washington DC in their
honor
Members are highly encouraged to attend the homecoming cele-
bration at Bluegrass Airport to welcome these returning he-
roes For more information contact George Campbell via email at
trains824gmailcom or visit their web page at
wwwhonorflightkyorg
Members are invited to golf scramble The Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame (KVHOF) plans to
hold the United We Stand Golf Scramble at Marriott Griffin Gate
Resort 1800 Newtown Pike Lexington Sept 6 at noon Proceeds
will benefit KVHOF a 502copy(3) organization Sponsorships are
available and donations are welcome
The price is $135 per golfer or $500 for a foursome and in-
clude s green fees cart and dinner after the event For registration
and sponsor forms and more information visit the KVHOF Web-
site at httpwwwkyveteransorg
Those of us who break out Old Glory for displays on national holidays typically antic-ipate Memorial Day and the 4th of July as the weather warms up But donrsquot forget about Armed Forces Day While not an offi-cial national holiday (and not often celebrat-ed with events in Central Kentucky) Armed Forces Day is an appropriate occasion for veterans to bring out the flag in recognition of our own Armed Forces Day (the third Saturday in May) serves as the culmination of Armed Forces Week (May 14-19 2018)
For American veterans and service members Armed Forces Week is an occasion to remem-ber past and present service for all branches of the service At one time there was a separate occasion for each branch of the military later consolidated into a single remembrance Armed Forces Day was ob-served for the first time on May 20 1950 to honor Americans serving in the five US military branches Armed Forces DayWeek was created in the wake of the consolidation of military services under the United States Department of Defense Armed Forces DayWeek officially replac-es separate Army Navy Air Force Marine Corps and Coast Guard Days but each branch of the service still honors its own day The earliest Armed Forces DayWeek
celebrations included parades open houses receptions and air shows So while there may be no parades in our area why not show our colors for the entire Armed Forces Week beginning May 14 (PS) And donrsquot forget Flag Day on June 14
THVC GIFT mdash Chapter member MAJ (Ret) Ben Sweger (center) Director of the Thompson-Hood Veterans Cen-ter was presented a $2000 check from the Bluegrass Chapter by Treasurer Pat Jones (l) on May 2 On hand for the ceremony was THVC Activities Director Michelle Ewing The gift from member donations will go toward upgrading the sound system in the facilitys Multi-Purpose Room (MPR) where the facility holds large gatherings church services and other events
Mrs Pat Jones 1660 Atoma Drive Lexington KY 40511 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Last first middle name Rank National MOAA member no
_______________________________________ _________________ _____________________________
Spouse name Email address
________ ______________________________ _______________________________________________________________
Date of birth (monthday) Street address ndash city state Zip code
_______________________________________ _______________________________________________________________
Monthyear entered service________________ Monthyear separated_____________________________________
Phone number ________________________ Cell number _____________________
Military status (circle all that apply) Active Duty Drilling National GuardReserve Retired
Separated honorably ROTC (1 year free) Widow(er) (no charge)
Branch of service (circle one) USA USMC USN USAF USCG NOAA USPHS
Want to make a donation General use $________ Vets $_______ ROTC scholarships $_______
Total enclosed $________________
Bluegrass Chapter Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) New MembershipMembership RenewalDonations
Please complete this form and your dues check ($25) payable to BGMOAA Mail the form and check to our return address
Membership (newrenewal)=$25 widow(er)s free
Noted Kentucky historian shares insight with packed house at Camp Nelson March meeting Celebrated Kentucky his-torian Nicky Hughes mes-merized March 23 meeting attendees with accounts and anecdotes recalling Ken-
tuckys vacillations as a neu-tral state in the Civil War Hughes delivered his re-marks in character apparel as a Union officer
The meeting was held at the Camp Nelson Civil War Her-itage site in a former Union barracks part of the complex that includes the Camp Nelson National Cem-etery Hughes shown at right in character for the many Civil War battle reenactments in which hersquos participated since 1981 is a former curator of the Kentucky Military Histo-ry Museum and curator of the Old State Capitol The
Kentucky National Guard presented Hughes a DOD Commanderrsquos Award for Public Service medal and he received the Kentucky His-torical Societyrsquos WR Buster Award for his work in Ken-tucky military history
Jacob Castle Rebecca Cramer
The Bluegrass Chapter presented Gold Bars to 60 graduating ROTC students at the four area university ROTC units prior to their com-missioning ceremonies this month Additional-ly some cadets were presented medals and scholarships while two detachments elected to receive morale fund donations in lieu of scholarships Chapter President Col (Ret) Tom Peters presented Gold Bar sets which include copies of the US Constitution to graduating seniors at the UK Army and Air Force Army ROTC detachments Additionally he presented $300 check donations to the UK Army ROTC Cadet Association and UK AFROTC Flying Wildcats Booster Club COL (Ret) Freddie Waggoner an MSU alum presented gold bar sets to graduates at that schoolrsquos ROTC detachment along with an individual scholarship for Cadet Grant Lawson Cadet Lawson was presented the MOAA medal in a previous ceremony Chapter Secretary Col (Ret) John Shotwell presented a MOAA medal to UK AFRTOC Cadet Joshua Whitfield Chapter member LTC Jack Whitney an EKU alum presented gold bar sets to EKU Army ROTC grads and a MOAA medal and scholarship to Cadet Arturo Vil-legas He also presented scholarships to EKU cadets Jacob Castle and Rebecca Cramer
Grant Lawson Joshua Whitfield Arturo Villegas
Dr Dan Han is the chief of the clinical section of the UK Neuropsychology Service the director of neurobehavioral studies at the UK Sports Medicine Research Institute and an associate professor of neurology neurosurgery and physical medicine and rehabilitation at the UK College of Medicine Dr Han received his clinical psychology and neuro-psychology training at the Adler School of Profes-sional Psychology the University of Chicago Medical Center Rush University Medical Center and Dreikurs Psychological Services Center in Chicago
He then completed a two-year fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at the Charles Matthews Neuro-psychology Laboratory at the University of Wiscon-sin in Madison Dr Han is the past presi-dent of the Lexington Board of Brain Injury Alliance current chair of the Medical amp Scientific Advisory Board of the Associa-tion of the US Army ndash McMillan Chapter and presi-dent of the International Society of Neurogastrono-my He has received the Honor the Fallen Soldier Patri-ot Medallion from the Association of the US Army ndash McMillan Chapter the Jack Runyon Service Award by the Kentucky Psychological Association and the Founderrsquos Award by the International Society of Neurogastronomy He is also a Blavatnik nominee in Life Sciences by The New York Academy of Sciences Dr Han has received funding from the National In-stitutes of Health the Department of Defense and other federal and state mechanisms foundational grants and clinical trials involving studies of brain-behavior relationships and curriculum development
The UK Neuropsychology Institute is part of UK Healthcare and is located at Kentucky Clinic on Limestone St
Chapter member COL (Ret) Larry Arnett in his capacity as past chair-man of the Joint Executive Council of Veterans Organizations of Kentucky (JECVO) has issued a final legislative report of the 2018 General Assembly session Highlights are provided below FOR THE COMPLETE DETAILED RE-PORT GO TO OUR WEBSITE at httpbluegrassmoaaorg ldquoThe primary legislative objective of JECVO during was assisting KDVA in protecting and improving the budget for the Kentucky Department of Vet-erans Affairs To this end KDVA was provided a budget that its leader-ship said could workhelliprdquo wrote COL Arnett in his report
Following are brief summaries of some of the bills impacting veterans that passed in this session HB 64 relates to traumatic brain injury It would permit eligible veter-ans to use hyperbaric oxygen treatment for TBI Signed by Gov Bevin on Mar 13 HB 277 changes the time peri-od waiver for driving skill tests for former military members from 90 days of separation to one year Signed by Gov Bevin on Apr 4 HB 319 eases licensing Ken-tucky requirements for military veterans and service members who currently hold valid equivalent licenses permits certificates or other
documents from others states terri-tories or DC Embedded within this bill was language from HB 175 that would exempt veteran-owned businesses from paying certain filing fees for four years after the initial business registration (This is the ldquoBoots to Businessrdquo bill long championed by Secretary of State Ali-son Grimes Signed by Gov Bevin on Apr 2 HB 606 clarifies the exemption from testing fees for military per-sonnel applying for a commercial driverrsquos license Signed by Gov Bevin on Apr 10 For a summary of veterans-related bills that failed to pass in the 2018 ses-sion see the detailed report
May guest speaker has been lauded for brain research
A new monument honoring the nearly 5000 helicopter pi-lots and crewmembers who lost their lives in Vietnam was re-cently unveiled at Arlington Na-tional Cemetery more than five decades after US troops began fighting there The 32-x-22-inch monument sits in Arlingtons Section 35 just south of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier It features an engraving of the iconic UH-1 Huey helicopter with an inscrip-tion honoring the memory of the helicopter pilots and crew-members who gave the full measure of devotion to their nation in the Vietnam War Its only fitting for the monu-ment to bear an image of the Huey said retired Army Maj Gen Carl McNair Jr who com-manded aviators in Vietnam said at the April 18 dedication ceremo-ny Vietnam was known as the ldquohelicopter warrdquo he added and the Huey was the one that saw the most action there Over 10000 [Hueys] were built for that warrdquo McNair said ldquoOver 7000 saw service in theater flying over 75 million flight hours - more combat time than any other aircraft in the his-tory of warfare Over 3000 of those
aircraft did not return The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Asso-ciation spearheaded the effort to have the monument placed at Arlington As its members grow older they wanted to see their fallen comrades honored in their lifetime - especially because Vietnam veterans werent always treated with respect As we prepare to pull pitch for the last time it is important that our lega-
cy is well established the associa-tions website states This is especial-ly true because of the controversial nature of our war the Vietnam War The biased news media and so called peace movement versions of the war are not the same as our reality or what really happened It is im-portant that each of us provide our piece of history to counter the incor-rect version of the Vietnam Warrdquo
STORY BY GINA HARKINS MOAA
Monument honoring US helicopter pilots and crewmembers killed in Vietnam unveiled in Arlington
Marine in Congress urges other vets to run A former infantry officer who led one of the first Marine platoons into Iraq in 2003 said veterans have what it takes to buck partisan gridlock in Washington and bring compromise back to govern-ment leadership ldquo[Veterans] should get involved in poli-tics you should get involved in our de-mocracyrdquo Rep Seth Moulton (D-Mass) told the audience at MOAArsquos annual council presidentsrsquo dinner following the all-day ldquoStorming the Hillrdquo event ldquoYou should have a stake in the future of our countryrdquo ldquoI firmly believe that if we had more veterans in Congresswe would be get-ting a lot more done for the American peoplerdquo he said to a roomful of applaud-ing MOAA chapter leaders Moulton cofounded the bipartisan
Warrior Caucus in Congress with Oklaho-ma Rep Steve Russell The caucus in-cludes 25 combat veterans serving in the House of Representatives from 18 differ-ent states The group has come together to support legislation on everything from Veterans Affairs care to the authorization of military force in Syria ldquoThats the kind of compromised prin-ciple of putting people over politics and principle over party you can get when you put veterans togetherrdquo Moulton said Despite Americans low approval rat-ings for members of Congress Moulton says many of them are smart and hard-working politicians Whats lacking in the Capitol building isnt intelligence he said but the willingness to speak truth to power and party
STORY BY GINA HARKINS MOAA Rep Moulton (MOAA photo by Mike Marone)
Kentucky Speedway provides more details about discounted races
The March Bugle announced that military veterans who
are NASCAR fans can take advantage of a 50 ticket discount
to all three NASCAR races taking place over the July 12-14
weekend
Eligible for the discount are active military and current fed-
eral employees veterans and military family members Therersquos
no limit on the number of tickets purchased but they may not
be resold
Here are the specific events and pricings (which reflect the
50 percent discount) Children 12 and under are admitted
free with every adult ticket purchased
NCWTS Buckle Up in Your Truck 225
July 12m 730 pm any seating $20
NXS Alsco 300
July 13 8 pm any seating $30
MENCS Quaker State 400
July 14 730 pm any seating $55
To order online
Go to KentuckySpeedwaycomMILITARY
Click ldquoPurchase with Coderdquo next to branch of ser-
vice Select Specific race(s)
Enter Coupon Code KYSVETERAN
There is also a July weekend military discount which covers
all three races for $105 per person
For questions contact Speedway account executive Taylor
Barhorst at 859-578-2311 or at
tbarhourstkentuckyspeedwaycom
Honor Flight planned for May 26 A gala homecoming event is scheduled for 9 pm May 26 for
the returning 284 veterans participating in the all-day Honor
Flight trip to military memorials in Washington DC in their
honor
Members are highly encouraged to attend the homecoming cele-
bration at Bluegrass Airport to welcome these returning he-
roes For more information contact George Campbell via email at
trains824gmailcom or visit their web page at
wwwhonorflightkyorg
Members are invited to golf scramble The Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame (KVHOF) plans to
hold the United We Stand Golf Scramble at Marriott Griffin Gate
Resort 1800 Newtown Pike Lexington Sept 6 at noon Proceeds
will benefit KVHOF a 502copy(3) organization Sponsorships are
available and donations are welcome
The price is $135 per golfer or $500 for a foursome and in-
clude s green fees cart and dinner after the event For registration
and sponsor forms and more information visit the KVHOF Web-
site at httpwwwkyveteransorg
Those of us who break out Old Glory for displays on national holidays typically antic-ipate Memorial Day and the 4th of July as the weather warms up But donrsquot forget about Armed Forces Day While not an offi-cial national holiday (and not often celebrat-ed with events in Central Kentucky) Armed Forces Day is an appropriate occasion for veterans to bring out the flag in recognition of our own Armed Forces Day (the third Saturday in May) serves as the culmination of Armed Forces Week (May 14-19 2018)
For American veterans and service members Armed Forces Week is an occasion to remem-ber past and present service for all branches of the service At one time there was a separate occasion for each branch of the military later consolidated into a single remembrance Armed Forces Day was ob-served for the first time on May 20 1950 to honor Americans serving in the five US military branches Armed Forces DayWeek was created in the wake of the consolidation of military services under the United States Department of Defense Armed Forces DayWeek officially replac-es separate Army Navy Air Force Marine Corps and Coast Guard Days but each branch of the service still honors its own day The earliest Armed Forces DayWeek
celebrations included parades open houses receptions and air shows So while there may be no parades in our area why not show our colors for the entire Armed Forces Week beginning May 14 (PS) And donrsquot forget Flag Day on June 14
THVC GIFT mdash Chapter member MAJ (Ret) Ben Sweger (center) Director of the Thompson-Hood Veterans Cen-ter was presented a $2000 check from the Bluegrass Chapter by Treasurer Pat Jones (l) on May 2 On hand for the ceremony was THVC Activities Director Michelle Ewing The gift from member donations will go toward upgrading the sound system in the facilitys Multi-Purpose Room (MPR) where the facility holds large gatherings church services and other events
Mrs Pat Jones 1660 Atoma Drive Lexington KY 40511 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Last first middle name Rank National MOAA member no
_______________________________________ _________________ _____________________________
Spouse name Email address
________ ______________________________ _______________________________________________________________
Date of birth (monthday) Street address ndash city state Zip code
_______________________________________ _______________________________________________________________
Monthyear entered service________________ Monthyear separated_____________________________________
Phone number ________________________ Cell number _____________________
Military status (circle all that apply) Active Duty Drilling National GuardReserve Retired
Separated honorably ROTC (1 year free) Widow(er) (no charge)
Branch of service (circle one) USA USMC USN USAF USCG NOAA USPHS
Want to make a donation General use $________ Vets $_______ ROTC scholarships $_______
Total enclosed $________________
Bluegrass Chapter Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) New MembershipMembership RenewalDonations
Please complete this form and your dues check ($25) payable to BGMOAA Mail the form and check to our return address
Membership (newrenewal)=$25 widow(er)s free
Dr Dan Han is the chief of the clinical section of the UK Neuropsychology Service the director of neurobehavioral studies at the UK Sports Medicine Research Institute and an associate professor of neurology neurosurgery and physical medicine and rehabilitation at the UK College of Medicine Dr Han received his clinical psychology and neuro-psychology training at the Adler School of Profes-sional Psychology the University of Chicago Medical Center Rush University Medical Center and Dreikurs Psychological Services Center in Chicago
He then completed a two-year fellowship in clinical neuropsychology at the Charles Matthews Neuro-psychology Laboratory at the University of Wiscon-sin in Madison Dr Han is the past presi-dent of the Lexington Board of Brain Injury Alliance current chair of the Medical amp Scientific Advisory Board of the Associa-tion of the US Army ndash McMillan Chapter and presi-dent of the International Society of Neurogastrono-my He has received the Honor the Fallen Soldier Patri-ot Medallion from the Association of the US Army ndash McMillan Chapter the Jack Runyon Service Award by the Kentucky Psychological Association and the Founderrsquos Award by the International Society of Neurogastronomy He is also a Blavatnik nominee in Life Sciences by The New York Academy of Sciences Dr Han has received funding from the National In-stitutes of Health the Department of Defense and other federal and state mechanisms foundational grants and clinical trials involving studies of brain-behavior relationships and curriculum development
The UK Neuropsychology Institute is part of UK Healthcare and is located at Kentucky Clinic on Limestone St
Chapter member COL (Ret) Larry Arnett in his capacity as past chair-man of the Joint Executive Council of Veterans Organizations of Kentucky (JECVO) has issued a final legislative report of the 2018 General Assembly session Highlights are provided below FOR THE COMPLETE DETAILED RE-PORT GO TO OUR WEBSITE at httpbluegrassmoaaorg ldquoThe primary legislative objective of JECVO during was assisting KDVA in protecting and improving the budget for the Kentucky Department of Vet-erans Affairs To this end KDVA was provided a budget that its leader-ship said could workhelliprdquo wrote COL Arnett in his report
Following are brief summaries of some of the bills impacting veterans that passed in this session HB 64 relates to traumatic brain injury It would permit eligible veter-ans to use hyperbaric oxygen treatment for TBI Signed by Gov Bevin on Mar 13 HB 277 changes the time peri-od waiver for driving skill tests for former military members from 90 days of separation to one year Signed by Gov Bevin on Apr 4 HB 319 eases licensing Ken-tucky requirements for military veterans and service members who currently hold valid equivalent licenses permits certificates or other
documents from others states terri-tories or DC Embedded within this bill was language from HB 175 that would exempt veteran-owned businesses from paying certain filing fees for four years after the initial business registration (This is the ldquoBoots to Businessrdquo bill long championed by Secretary of State Ali-son Grimes Signed by Gov Bevin on Apr 2 HB 606 clarifies the exemption from testing fees for military per-sonnel applying for a commercial driverrsquos license Signed by Gov Bevin on Apr 10 For a summary of veterans-related bills that failed to pass in the 2018 ses-sion see the detailed report
May guest speaker has been lauded for brain research
A new monument honoring the nearly 5000 helicopter pi-lots and crewmembers who lost their lives in Vietnam was re-cently unveiled at Arlington Na-tional Cemetery more than five decades after US troops began fighting there The 32-x-22-inch monument sits in Arlingtons Section 35 just south of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier It features an engraving of the iconic UH-1 Huey helicopter with an inscrip-tion honoring the memory of the helicopter pilots and crew-members who gave the full measure of devotion to their nation in the Vietnam War Its only fitting for the monu-ment to bear an image of the Huey said retired Army Maj Gen Carl McNair Jr who com-manded aviators in Vietnam said at the April 18 dedication ceremo-ny Vietnam was known as the ldquohelicopter warrdquo he added and the Huey was the one that saw the most action there Over 10000 [Hueys] were built for that warrdquo McNair said ldquoOver 7000 saw service in theater flying over 75 million flight hours - more combat time than any other aircraft in the his-tory of warfare Over 3000 of those
aircraft did not return The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Asso-ciation spearheaded the effort to have the monument placed at Arlington As its members grow older they wanted to see their fallen comrades honored in their lifetime - especially because Vietnam veterans werent always treated with respect As we prepare to pull pitch for the last time it is important that our lega-
cy is well established the associa-tions website states This is especial-ly true because of the controversial nature of our war the Vietnam War The biased news media and so called peace movement versions of the war are not the same as our reality or what really happened It is im-portant that each of us provide our piece of history to counter the incor-rect version of the Vietnam Warrdquo
STORY BY GINA HARKINS MOAA
Monument honoring US helicopter pilots and crewmembers killed in Vietnam unveiled in Arlington
Marine in Congress urges other vets to run A former infantry officer who led one of the first Marine platoons into Iraq in 2003 said veterans have what it takes to buck partisan gridlock in Washington and bring compromise back to govern-ment leadership ldquo[Veterans] should get involved in poli-tics you should get involved in our de-mocracyrdquo Rep Seth Moulton (D-Mass) told the audience at MOAArsquos annual council presidentsrsquo dinner following the all-day ldquoStorming the Hillrdquo event ldquoYou should have a stake in the future of our countryrdquo ldquoI firmly believe that if we had more veterans in Congresswe would be get-ting a lot more done for the American peoplerdquo he said to a roomful of applaud-ing MOAA chapter leaders Moulton cofounded the bipartisan
Warrior Caucus in Congress with Oklaho-ma Rep Steve Russell The caucus in-cludes 25 combat veterans serving in the House of Representatives from 18 differ-ent states The group has come together to support legislation on everything from Veterans Affairs care to the authorization of military force in Syria ldquoThats the kind of compromised prin-ciple of putting people over politics and principle over party you can get when you put veterans togetherrdquo Moulton said Despite Americans low approval rat-ings for members of Congress Moulton says many of them are smart and hard-working politicians Whats lacking in the Capitol building isnt intelligence he said but the willingness to speak truth to power and party
STORY BY GINA HARKINS MOAA Rep Moulton (MOAA photo by Mike Marone)
Kentucky Speedway provides more details about discounted races
The March Bugle announced that military veterans who
are NASCAR fans can take advantage of a 50 ticket discount
to all three NASCAR races taking place over the July 12-14
weekend
Eligible for the discount are active military and current fed-
eral employees veterans and military family members Therersquos
no limit on the number of tickets purchased but they may not
be resold
Here are the specific events and pricings (which reflect the
50 percent discount) Children 12 and under are admitted
free with every adult ticket purchased
NCWTS Buckle Up in Your Truck 225
July 12m 730 pm any seating $20
NXS Alsco 300
July 13 8 pm any seating $30
MENCS Quaker State 400
July 14 730 pm any seating $55
To order online
Go to KentuckySpeedwaycomMILITARY
Click ldquoPurchase with Coderdquo next to branch of ser-
vice Select Specific race(s)
Enter Coupon Code KYSVETERAN
There is also a July weekend military discount which covers
all three races for $105 per person
For questions contact Speedway account executive Taylor
Barhorst at 859-578-2311 or at
tbarhourstkentuckyspeedwaycom
Honor Flight planned for May 26 A gala homecoming event is scheduled for 9 pm May 26 for
the returning 284 veterans participating in the all-day Honor
Flight trip to military memorials in Washington DC in their
honor
Members are highly encouraged to attend the homecoming cele-
bration at Bluegrass Airport to welcome these returning he-
roes For more information contact George Campbell via email at
trains824gmailcom or visit their web page at
wwwhonorflightkyorg
Members are invited to golf scramble The Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame (KVHOF) plans to
hold the United We Stand Golf Scramble at Marriott Griffin Gate
Resort 1800 Newtown Pike Lexington Sept 6 at noon Proceeds
will benefit KVHOF a 502copy(3) organization Sponsorships are
available and donations are welcome
The price is $135 per golfer or $500 for a foursome and in-
clude s green fees cart and dinner after the event For registration
and sponsor forms and more information visit the KVHOF Web-
site at httpwwwkyveteransorg
Those of us who break out Old Glory for displays on national holidays typically antic-ipate Memorial Day and the 4th of July as the weather warms up But donrsquot forget about Armed Forces Day While not an offi-cial national holiday (and not often celebrat-ed with events in Central Kentucky) Armed Forces Day is an appropriate occasion for veterans to bring out the flag in recognition of our own Armed Forces Day (the third Saturday in May) serves as the culmination of Armed Forces Week (May 14-19 2018)
For American veterans and service members Armed Forces Week is an occasion to remem-ber past and present service for all branches of the service At one time there was a separate occasion for each branch of the military later consolidated into a single remembrance Armed Forces Day was ob-served for the first time on May 20 1950 to honor Americans serving in the five US military branches Armed Forces DayWeek was created in the wake of the consolidation of military services under the United States Department of Defense Armed Forces DayWeek officially replac-es separate Army Navy Air Force Marine Corps and Coast Guard Days but each branch of the service still honors its own day The earliest Armed Forces DayWeek
celebrations included parades open houses receptions and air shows So while there may be no parades in our area why not show our colors for the entire Armed Forces Week beginning May 14 (PS) And donrsquot forget Flag Day on June 14
THVC GIFT mdash Chapter member MAJ (Ret) Ben Sweger (center) Director of the Thompson-Hood Veterans Cen-ter was presented a $2000 check from the Bluegrass Chapter by Treasurer Pat Jones (l) on May 2 On hand for the ceremony was THVC Activities Director Michelle Ewing The gift from member donations will go toward upgrading the sound system in the facilitys Multi-Purpose Room (MPR) where the facility holds large gatherings church services and other events
Mrs Pat Jones 1660 Atoma Drive Lexington KY 40511 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Last first middle name Rank National MOAA member no
_______________________________________ _________________ _____________________________
Spouse name Email address
________ ______________________________ _______________________________________________________________
Date of birth (monthday) Street address ndash city state Zip code
_______________________________________ _______________________________________________________________
Monthyear entered service________________ Monthyear separated_____________________________________
Phone number ________________________ Cell number _____________________
Military status (circle all that apply) Active Duty Drilling National GuardReserve Retired
Separated honorably ROTC (1 year free) Widow(er) (no charge)
Branch of service (circle one) USA USMC USN USAF USCG NOAA USPHS
Want to make a donation General use $________ Vets $_______ ROTC scholarships $_______
Total enclosed $________________
Bluegrass Chapter Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) New MembershipMembership RenewalDonations
Please complete this form and your dues check ($25) payable to BGMOAA Mail the form and check to our return address
Membership (newrenewal)=$25 widow(er)s free
A new monument honoring the nearly 5000 helicopter pi-lots and crewmembers who lost their lives in Vietnam was re-cently unveiled at Arlington Na-tional Cemetery more than five decades after US troops began fighting there The 32-x-22-inch monument sits in Arlingtons Section 35 just south of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier It features an engraving of the iconic UH-1 Huey helicopter with an inscrip-tion honoring the memory of the helicopter pilots and crew-members who gave the full measure of devotion to their nation in the Vietnam War Its only fitting for the monu-ment to bear an image of the Huey said retired Army Maj Gen Carl McNair Jr who com-manded aviators in Vietnam said at the April 18 dedication ceremo-ny Vietnam was known as the ldquohelicopter warrdquo he added and the Huey was the one that saw the most action there Over 10000 [Hueys] were built for that warrdquo McNair said ldquoOver 7000 saw service in theater flying over 75 million flight hours - more combat time than any other aircraft in the his-tory of warfare Over 3000 of those
aircraft did not return The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Asso-ciation spearheaded the effort to have the monument placed at Arlington As its members grow older they wanted to see their fallen comrades honored in their lifetime - especially because Vietnam veterans werent always treated with respect As we prepare to pull pitch for the last time it is important that our lega-
cy is well established the associa-tions website states This is especial-ly true because of the controversial nature of our war the Vietnam War The biased news media and so called peace movement versions of the war are not the same as our reality or what really happened It is im-portant that each of us provide our piece of history to counter the incor-rect version of the Vietnam Warrdquo
STORY BY GINA HARKINS MOAA
Monument honoring US helicopter pilots and crewmembers killed in Vietnam unveiled in Arlington
Marine in Congress urges other vets to run A former infantry officer who led one of the first Marine platoons into Iraq in 2003 said veterans have what it takes to buck partisan gridlock in Washington and bring compromise back to govern-ment leadership ldquo[Veterans] should get involved in poli-tics you should get involved in our de-mocracyrdquo Rep Seth Moulton (D-Mass) told the audience at MOAArsquos annual council presidentsrsquo dinner following the all-day ldquoStorming the Hillrdquo event ldquoYou should have a stake in the future of our countryrdquo ldquoI firmly believe that if we had more veterans in Congresswe would be get-ting a lot more done for the American peoplerdquo he said to a roomful of applaud-ing MOAA chapter leaders Moulton cofounded the bipartisan
Warrior Caucus in Congress with Oklaho-ma Rep Steve Russell The caucus in-cludes 25 combat veterans serving in the House of Representatives from 18 differ-ent states The group has come together to support legislation on everything from Veterans Affairs care to the authorization of military force in Syria ldquoThats the kind of compromised prin-ciple of putting people over politics and principle over party you can get when you put veterans togetherrdquo Moulton said Despite Americans low approval rat-ings for members of Congress Moulton says many of them are smart and hard-working politicians Whats lacking in the Capitol building isnt intelligence he said but the willingness to speak truth to power and party
STORY BY GINA HARKINS MOAA Rep Moulton (MOAA photo by Mike Marone)
Kentucky Speedway provides more details about discounted races
The March Bugle announced that military veterans who
are NASCAR fans can take advantage of a 50 ticket discount
to all three NASCAR races taking place over the July 12-14
weekend
Eligible for the discount are active military and current fed-
eral employees veterans and military family members Therersquos
no limit on the number of tickets purchased but they may not
be resold
Here are the specific events and pricings (which reflect the
50 percent discount) Children 12 and under are admitted
free with every adult ticket purchased
NCWTS Buckle Up in Your Truck 225
July 12m 730 pm any seating $20
NXS Alsco 300
July 13 8 pm any seating $30
MENCS Quaker State 400
July 14 730 pm any seating $55
To order online
Go to KentuckySpeedwaycomMILITARY
Click ldquoPurchase with Coderdquo next to branch of ser-
vice Select Specific race(s)
Enter Coupon Code KYSVETERAN
There is also a July weekend military discount which covers
all three races for $105 per person
For questions contact Speedway account executive Taylor
Barhorst at 859-578-2311 or at
tbarhourstkentuckyspeedwaycom
Honor Flight planned for May 26 A gala homecoming event is scheduled for 9 pm May 26 for
the returning 284 veterans participating in the all-day Honor
Flight trip to military memorials in Washington DC in their
honor
Members are highly encouraged to attend the homecoming cele-
bration at Bluegrass Airport to welcome these returning he-
roes For more information contact George Campbell via email at
trains824gmailcom or visit their web page at
wwwhonorflightkyorg
Members are invited to golf scramble The Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame (KVHOF) plans to
hold the United We Stand Golf Scramble at Marriott Griffin Gate
Resort 1800 Newtown Pike Lexington Sept 6 at noon Proceeds
will benefit KVHOF a 502copy(3) organization Sponsorships are
available and donations are welcome
The price is $135 per golfer or $500 for a foursome and in-
clude s green fees cart and dinner after the event For registration
and sponsor forms and more information visit the KVHOF Web-
site at httpwwwkyveteransorg
Those of us who break out Old Glory for displays on national holidays typically antic-ipate Memorial Day and the 4th of July as the weather warms up But donrsquot forget about Armed Forces Day While not an offi-cial national holiday (and not often celebrat-ed with events in Central Kentucky) Armed Forces Day is an appropriate occasion for veterans to bring out the flag in recognition of our own Armed Forces Day (the third Saturday in May) serves as the culmination of Armed Forces Week (May 14-19 2018)
For American veterans and service members Armed Forces Week is an occasion to remem-ber past and present service for all branches of the service At one time there was a separate occasion for each branch of the military later consolidated into a single remembrance Armed Forces Day was ob-served for the first time on May 20 1950 to honor Americans serving in the five US military branches Armed Forces DayWeek was created in the wake of the consolidation of military services under the United States Department of Defense Armed Forces DayWeek officially replac-es separate Army Navy Air Force Marine Corps and Coast Guard Days but each branch of the service still honors its own day The earliest Armed Forces DayWeek
celebrations included parades open houses receptions and air shows So while there may be no parades in our area why not show our colors for the entire Armed Forces Week beginning May 14 (PS) And donrsquot forget Flag Day on June 14
THVC GIFT mdash Chapter member MAJ (Ret) Ben Sweger (center) Director of the Thompson-Hood Veterans Cen-ter was presented a $2000 check from the Bluegrass Chapter by Treasurer Pat Jones (l) on May 2 On hand for the ceremony was THVC Activities Director Michelle Ewing The gift from member donations will go toward upgrading the sound system in the facilitys Multi-Purpose Room (MPR) where the facility holds large gatherings church services and other events
Mrs Pat Jones 1660 Atoma Drive Lexington KY 40511 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Last first middle name Rank National MOAA member no
_______________________________________ _________________ _____________________________
Spouse name Email address
________ ______________________________ _______________________________________________________________
Date of birth (monthday) Street address ndash city state Zip code
_______________________________________ _______________________________________________________________
Monthyear entered service________________ Monthyear separated_____________________________________
Phone number ________________________ Cell number _____________________
Military status (circle all that apply) Active Duty Drilling National GuardReserve Retired
Separated honorably ROTC (1 year free) Widow(er) (no charge)
Branch of service (circle one) USA USMC USN USAF USCG NOAA USPHS
Want to make a donation General use $________ Vets $_______ ROTC scholarships $_______
Total enclosed $________________
Bluegrass Chapter Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) New MembershipMembership RenewalDonations
Please complete this form and your dues check ($25) payable to BGMOAA Mail the form and check to our return address
Membership (newrenewal)=$25 widow(er)s free
Kentucky Speedway provides more details about discounted races
The March Bugle announced that military veterans who
are NASCAR fans can take advantage of a 50 ticket discount
to all three NASCAR races taking place over the July 12-14
weekend
Eligible for the discount are active military and current fed-
eral employees veterans and military family members Therersquos
no limit on the number of tickets purchased but they may not
be resold
Here are the specific events and pricings (which reflect the
50 percent discount) Children 12 and under are admitted
free with every adult ticket purchased
NCWTS Buckle Up in Your Truck 225
July 12m 730 pm any seating $20
NXS Alsco 300
July 13 8 pm any seating $30
MENCS Quaker State 400
July 14 730 pm any seating $55
To order online
Go to KentuckySpeedwaycomMILITARY
Click ldquoPurchase with Coderdquo next to branch of ser-
vice Select Specific race(s)
Enter Coupon Code KYSVETERAN
There is also a July weekend military discount which covers
all three races for $105 per person
For questions contact Speedway account executive Taylor
Barhorst at 859-578-2311 or at
tbarhourstkentuckyspeedwaycom
Honor Flight planned for May 26 A gala homecoming event is scheduled for 9 pm May 26 for
the returning 284 veterans participating in the all-day Honor
Flight trip to military memorials in Washington DC in their
honor
Members are highly encouraged to attend the homecoming cele-
bration at Bluegrass Airport to welcome these returning he-
roes For more information contact George Campbell via email at
trains824gmailcom or visit their web page at
wwwhonorflightkyorg
Members are invited to golf scramble The Kentucky Veterans Hall of Fame (KVHOF) plans to
hold the United We Stand Golf Scramble at Marriott Griffin Gate
Resort 1800 Newtown Pike Lexington Sept 6 at noon Proceeds
will benefit KVHOF a 502copy(3) organization Sponsorships are
available and donations are welcome
The price is $135 per golfer or $500 for a foursome and in-
clude s green fees cart and dinner after the event For registration
and sponsor forms and more information visit the KVHOF Web-
site at httpwwwkyveteransorg
Those of us who break out Old Glory for displays on national holidays typically antic-ipate Memorial Day and the 4th of July as the weather warms up But donrsquot forget about Armed Forces Day While not an offi-cial national holiday (and not often celebrat-ed with events in Central Kentucky) Armed Forces Day is an appropriate occasion for veterans to bring out the flag in recognition of our own Armed Forces Day (the third Saturday in May) serves as the culmination of Armed Forces Week (May 14-19 2018)
For American veterans and service members Armed Forces Week is an occasion to remem-ber past and present service for all branches of the service At one time there was a separate occasion for each branch of the military later consolidated into a single remembrance Armed Forces Day was ob-served for the first time on May 20 1950 to honor Americans serving in the five US military branches Armed Forces DayWeek was created in the wake of the consolidation of military services under the United States Department of Defense Armed Forces DayWeek officially replac-es separate Army Navy Air Force Marine Corps and Coast Guard Days but each branch of the service still honors its own day The earliest Armed Forces DayWeek
celebrations included parades open houses receptions and air shows So while there may be no parades in our area why not show our colors for the entire Armed Forces Week beginning May 14 (PS) And donrsquot forget Flag Day on June 14
THVC GIFT mdash Chapter member MAJ (Ret) Ben Sweger (center) Director of the Thompson-Hood Veterans Cen-ter was presented a $2000 check from the Bluegrass Chapter by Treasurer Pat Jones (l) on May 2 On hand for the ceremony was THVC Activities Director Michelle Ewing The gift from member donations will go toward upgrading the sound system in the facilitys Multi-Purpose Room (MPR) where the facility holds large gatherings church services and other events
Mrs Pat Jones 1660 Atoma Drive Lexington KY 40511 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Last first middle name Rank National MOAA member no
_______________________________________ _________________ _____________________________
Spouse name Email address
________ ______________________________ _______________________________________________________________
Date of birth (monthday) Street address ndash city state Zip code
_______________________________________ _______________________________________________________________
Monthyear entered service________________ Monthyear separated_____________________________________
Phone number ________________________ Cell number _____________________
Military status (circle all that apply) Active Duty Drilling National GuardReserve Retired
Separated honorably ROTC (1 year free) Widow(er) (no charge)
Branch of service (circle one) USA USMC USN USAF USCG NOAA USPHS
Want to make a donation General use $________ Vets $_______ ROTC scholarships $_______
Total enclosed $________________
Bluegrass Chapter Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) New MembershipMembership RenewalDonations
Please complete this form and your dues check ($25) payable to BGMOAA Mail the form and check to our return address
Membership (newrenewal)=$25 widow(er)s free
Mrs Pat Jones 1660 Atoma Drive Lexington KY 40511 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Last first middle name Rank National MOAA member no
_______________________________________ _________________ _____________________________
Spouse name Email address
________ ______________________________ _______________________________________________________________
Date of birth (monthday) Street address ndash city state Zip code
_______________________________________ _______________________________________________________________
Monthyear entered service________________ Monthyear separated_____________________________________
Phone number ________________________ Cell number _____________________
Military status (circle all that apply) Active Duty Drilling National GuardReserve Retired
Separated honorably ROTC (1 year free) Widow(er) (no charge)
Branch of service (circle one) USA USMC USN USAF USCG NOAA USPHS
Want to make a donation General use $________ Vets $_______ ROTC scholarships $_______
Total enclosed $________________
Bluegrass Chapter Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) New MembershipMembership RenewalDonations
Please complete this form and your dues check ($25) payable to BGMOAA Mail the form and check to our return address
Membership (newrenewal)=$25 widow(er)s free
