1 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

January 2011 Edition 2011-1

Mitch Daniels - GovernorTom Applegate - Director

The Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs Newsletter

In This Issue:

Indiana Guard Troops Return to Heartland..2

Whitley County Office has landmarkhome..............................................................3

Job openings at St.Vincent....... ....................4

VA Launches Personalized Handbooks........4

Veterans Affairs Services (VAS) is NOT theVA.................................................................5

American Legion Service OfficeRelocating.....................................................5

Disability Evaluation Streamlined................5

Other State’s Veterans’ Benefits...................6

VA Tests Quicker Access to Medicalrecords...........................................................6

New Location for Indy Vet Center...............7

Other Grants and Scholarships.....................7

Free Retreat for Female Veterans.................8

House Postpones Debate of“Women Veterans Bill of Rights”................8

Hoosier Women Veterans’Conference....................................................8

State Approving Agency News.....................9

Improvements to New GI Bill Could MeanEnd of Old One.............................................9

Federal Government Holds Forum on Home-less Veterans...............................................10

Change of Address for Application Subm-sion to the Army Board for Correction ofMilitary Records (ABCMR) and the ArmyDischarge Review Board (ADRB)..............11

Cold War Certificates still available...........11

IDVA UpdateGoes Totally

DigitalWith this issue of the IDVA

Update the Indiana Department ofVeterans Affairs unveils the firstedition of its totally digital news-letter.

Due to budget constraints wewill no longer be offering hardcopy issues of our periodic news-letter. The newsletters will be e-mailed to all County Veterans’Service Officers, veterans’ serviceorganizations, legislators and oth-er subscribers.

As an additional service wewill have an online version of thenewsletter which can be down-loaded by visitors to our web site.

One of the benefits of thisnew digital offering, in addition tothe cost-saving feature, is that wewill now be able to offer a fullcolor newsletter and, as you cansee to the right, we have also add-ed a table of contents for readers’convenience. The three-columnformat also makes it easier to readas it is more restful to the eye.

All of the links are interactiveand will automatically take you tothe linked location. Note: some ofthe military links will tell youthere is a problem with the web

Continued on next page

site’s security and require you toclick the statement:

“Continue to this website (notrecommended.)” but you shouldhave no problem with those websites.

We hope everyone enjoys thisnew digital version of the IDVAUpdate. Comments and sugges-tions are always welcome. See ourmailing and contact informationon the last page.

Happy NewYear fromthe staffat IDVA

andSAA!

2 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

In This Issue (continued)

IDVA Annual Report..................................12

Recent Indiana Casualties...........................13

The Last Six Seconds in the Lives of TwoHeroic Marines...........................................13

AMVETS Honor Flights.............................16

Brave Lady..................................................16

VA Launches Veterans Relationship Man-agement (VRM)..........................................16

Improving Lives One Coat At a Time........17

Students “Adopt” Historical Marker...........19

Director’s Comments..................................20

Indiana GuardTroops Return to

HeartlandStory by Staff Sgt. Tommi

Meyer, Indiana National GuardPublic Affairs

INDIANAPOLIS - Recordlow temperatures greeted mem-bers of Indiana's Regional CorpsTraining Team - 2 Sunday whenthe unit landed at the IndianapolisInternational Airport after a 10-month deployment to Afghanistanand a multi-day trip across theocean to home.

Finally a quick bus ridebrought the 18-member unit to awarm welcome by family andfriends.

Commander Col. Ken Ring,Pendleton, Ind., joined his wife,Beth, and two daughters as herecounted his experience of serv-ing with seasoned Soldiers.

"We handpicked the folksthat went on this tour; they wereall very motivated, very experi-enced and very dedicated. And ofcourse," he added, "when the fam-ilies are behind the Soldiers youcan do just about anything."

Soldiers with the RCTT-2were tasked with a wide set ofresponsibilities in their partneringmission with Afghan national se-curity forces.

"We are a special team de-signed to work and live with theAfghan security force, primarilythe Army," said Ring. "Our job

was to mentor, train and operatewith the Afghan forces."

That close relationship waskey in the unit's success accordingto Command Sgt. Maj. JimBrown, the senior enlisted Soldierwith the RCTT-2.

"We are a corps partneringteam," said Brown, Indianapolis."Working with them (Afghans) onhow to grow their Army, train it,fight it."

"It takes time and patience,"he said.

According to two engineeringsoldiers in the unit, that patienceand training helped the team ac-complish the mission.

"It was rewarding to finallysee them get it; to have a projectgo from concept through designand the construction process; tohave an idea when we got thereand when we leave it's actually abuilding and an Afghan capabili-ty," said Maj. John Pitt, Val-paraiso, Ind., engineer officerspeaking about the Afghan non-

Continued on Page 10

Indiana Army National Guard Command Sgt. Maj.Jim Brown talks with Indiana's Adjutant GeneralMaj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger, and his wife, Row-ana, at the Regional Corps Training Team - 2'swelcome home celebration in Indianapolis, Sunday,Dec. 5, 2010. Brown, Indianapolis, was the team'ssenior enlisted Soldier during a 10-month deploy-ment to Afghanistan. Indiana National Guard photoby Staff Sgt. Tommi Meyer

2010 WreathsAcross America

Indiana Veterans’ MemorialCemetery Superintendent, AlanBurnham, successfully conductedthis year’s Wreaths Across Amer-ica Ceremony at Indiana’s onlyState veterans’ cemetery.

IDVA was represented byDeputy Director, John Newsom,at the well-attended event whichwas conducted on Saturday, De-cember 11 at Madison, Indiana.

3 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

Whitley CountyVeterans’ ServiceOffice now has alandmark home in

the communityBy Jennifer Zartman Romano

Whitley County veterans canfeel proud in knowing a landmarklocation has been designated fortheir use.

(Talk of the Town photos copyrightJennifer Zartman Romano) Above, the land-mark turret on the Van Buren side of theWhitley County Government Center is nowthe home of the Whitley County VeteransService Office.

Recently, the Whitley CountyCommissioners, led by presidentMike Schrader, designated the tur-ret office on the second floor ofthe Whitley County GovernmentCenter Building for the WhitleyCounty Veterans Service Officeafter learning that a larger, moreaccessible site was needed for agrowing population of veterans.

The new location is spacious,beautiful and, best of all, accord-ing to Veterans Service OfficerPastor Gene Rohrer, it is handicapaccessible.

Often, accessibility is key.Rohrer meets with as many as

eight veterans each week to helpthem enroll in the services of theVA Hospital, apply for compensa-tion for their service-related dis-abilities and occasionally applyfor pensions.

"It's a continual process," hesaid of the work he does with vet-erans.

For several years, Rohrer hadbeen welcoming the county's vet-erans to an office on the secondfloor of his home near Tri Lakes.Unfortunately, the setup wasn'tideal as many of the veteransRohrer works with are disabled.Rohrer also said he's seeing moreand more veterans all the time, soa central, accessible location iswhat's best for veterans.

He said he occasionally madehouse calls to veteran’s homes orset up meetings at the WhitleyCounty Council on Aging's TheWoodlands Senior Center. But,this wasn't ideal. The veterans ofWhitley County needed and well-deserved a home.

"It keeps increasing," Rohrersaid of the numbers of veterans henow sees in his office overlookingdowntown Columbia City. "I'mseeing more Vietnam era veteransnow than anything, but we're start-ing to see veterans from Iraq andAfghanistan too." Rohrer said hecontinues to work with World WarII and Korean War veterans aswell.

"Everybody thinks it's great,"Rohrer said of veterans' commentson the new office. "They feel likethey're entitled to this."

Veterans Service Officer Gene Rohrer,and the county's veterans, are proud of thenew space designated for their use.

The new office, located at 220West Van Buren, Suite 201, fea-tures a desk for office volunteerTerry Almon as well as a largetable for Rohrer to conduct meet-ings with veterans.

"This really wasn't necessarywhen we had one or two people aweek, but it sure is nice now,"Rohrer said.

Veterans Service Office volunteer Terry Al-mon assists Rohrer in aiding the county's vet-erans and linking them with services theyneed.

To schedule an appointmentwith the Whitley County VeteransService Office, call 248-3189 or(260) 341-9470. You can also send anemail to whitleyvso@kcaccess.com

From the Whitley County “Talk of the Town”, Whit-ley County’s Online News Source, November 11, 2010

4 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

St. Vincent Health is one ofthe largest employers in the stateof Indiana with more than 13,000associates, meaning whateveryour specialization and whateveryour professional goals the sky isthe limit.

St. Vincent Health has beenserving the health care needs ofIndiana residents for more than126 years. Our health ministryconsists of 20 facilities, with adirect presence in 46 Indianacounties. The system is comprisedof one quaternary facility, threetertiary hospitals, six critical ac-cess hospitals, six specialty hospi-tals, several joint venture partnersand clinical affiliates.

A philosophy of strong part-nerships with businesses, commu-nities, physicians, associates andothers is regarded by St. VincentHealth as essential to improvingthe health status of Hoosiers.

As advocates for a healthiersociety, we have developed strongpartnerships with communitiesand individuals who share com-patible values.   We believe thathealth care should be kept local,which is why we have extendedour reach beyond urban areas suchas Indianapolis, Kokomo, and An-

Positions Openat St. Vincent

Health

derson, and into rural communi-ties where health services are oftenscarce.

Please visit our web site tosearch and apply for opportunitiesof interest atwww.stvincent.org/jobs. St. Vin-cent Health is an Equal Opportuni-ty Employer.

VA LaunchingNew

PersonalizedVeterans Health

Benefits HandbookWASHINGTON (Nov. 18,

2010) - The Department of Veter-ans Affairs (VA) is piloting new,personalized Veterans Health Ben-efits Handbooks. The handbooksare tailored to provide enrolledVeterans with the most relevanthealth benefits information basedon their own specific eligibility.In essence, each handbook will bewritten for the individual Veteran.

"These handbooks will giveVeterans everything they need toknow and leave out everythingthat doesn't apply to them," saidSecretary of Veterans Affairs EricK. Shinseki. "Our Veterans willnow have a comprehensive, easyto understand roadmap to the med-ical benefits they earned with theirservice."

In addition to highlightingeach Veteran's specific health ben-efits, the handbook also provides

contact information for the Veter-an's preferred local facility, waysto schedule personal appoint-ments, guidelines for communi-cating treatment needs and anexplanation of the Veteran's re-sponsibilities, such as copaymentswhen applicable.

"Enhancing access isn't justabout expanding the kinds of ser-vices VA provides. It also in-cludes making sure we doeverything we can to ensure Vet-erans have a clear understandingof the benefits available to them sothey can make full use of the ser-vices they have earned," Shinsekisaid.

The new handbooks will ini-tially be available only to certainVeterans in Cleveland and Wash-ington, D.C., areas. Following thepilot phase, full implementation isscheduled to begin in the fall of2011 for across the county.

For additional information,go towww.va.gov/healtheligibility orcall VA's toll-free number at 1-877-222-VETS (8387).

5 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

(022G2)

Forwarded by Kevin Secor, VSOLiaison, Office of the Secretaryof the Department of VeteransAffairs.

Be Aware ofVeterans AffairsServices (VAS)

It’s NOT the VAAn organization called Vet-

erans Affairs Services (VAS) isproviding benefit and general in-formation on VA and gatheringpersonal information on veterans.

This organization is not af-filiated with VA in any way. See:http://www.facebook.com/l/e7d9fyoi4bcewPpqRoW2mFEouow;www.vaservices.org/us/index.html

VAS may be gaining accessto military personnel throughtheir close resemblance to the VAname and seal. Our Legal Counselhas requested that we coordinatewith DoD to inform military in-stallations, particularly mobiliza-tion sites, of this group and theirlack of affiliation or endorsementby VA to provide any services.

In addition, GC requests thatif you have any examples of VASacts that violate chapter 59 of Ti-tle 38 United States Code, such asVAS employees assisting veter-ans in the preparation and presen-tation of claims for benefits,please pass any additional infor-mation to Mr.Daugherty at theaddress below.Michael G. DaughertyStaff AttorneyDepartment of Veterans AffairsOffice of General Counsel

DisabilityEvaluation

StreamlinedA pilot program that eases

medical separation and speedsbenefit payments for servicemem-bers too wounded, sick or injuredto stay in the military will expandto all military medical sites acrossthe services by October 2011. Thenew program brings together VAand military medical separationprocesses while servicemembersare still on active duty.

Under the new system,wounded, ill or injured service-members receive medical evalua-tions by VA-certified doctorsusing VA guidelines, while DoDofficials use these exams to deter-mine if a servicemember is able tocontinue in uniform. For service-members, the process is faster --with only one set of examinationsto complete. The pilot programhas been operating in 27 sites.

From Military.com - 11/30/2010

American LegionVeterans Service

Office isRelocating

The American Legion ServiceOffice made this announcement inthe latest Service and LegislativeUpdate dated 11-30-10: Since thedates mentioned have passed, I’vemodified it somewhat.

For the past several months,VA has been remodeling all it’sIndianapolis offices at the 575North Pennsylvania StreetMinton-Capehart Federal Build-ing.

The second stage of VAs ma-jor remodeling effort includesmoving the service organizationsto the core of the building for ap-proximately 8 months while re-modeling the outer office areas.Our move was scheduled to takeplace the week of December 13,2010.

Our ability to accept phonecalls or schedule interviews duringthat week [was] unlikely. If youcall[ed] our office between De-cember 13 and December 17 andwere unsuccessful, we apologize.Please try again.

While we are in the temporaryoffice space, our mailing addresswill remain the same:

The American Legion VeteransService Office

575 North Pennsylvania St, Rm 325Indianapolis, IN 46204-1519

6 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

State Veterans’Benefits fromother states

Most states offer their ownveterans benefits. These benefitsmay include educational grantsand scholarships, special exemp-tions or discounts on fees and tax-es, home loans, veteran's homes,free hunting and fishing privileg-es, and more.

Each state manages its ownbenefit programs and County Vet-erans’ Service Officers frequentlyget questions from local veteransabout the benefits offered by otherstates.

Military.com offers a quicklink to the veterans’ benefits inother states. Go to:

http://www.military.com/benefits/veteran-benefits/state-veterans-benefits-directory

VA TestingQuicker Access toMedical Records

WASHINGTON (Nov. 29,2010) - The Department of Veter-ans Affairs (VA) is working tosignificantly reduce the averagetime needed to obtain health-carerecords from private physicianswith the help of a private contrac-tor and the Internet to speed claimsdecisions.

"Innovations that will speed,simplify or improve our servicesto Veterans are receiving rigoroustests at VA," said Secretary ofVeterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki."We are committed to harnessingthe best technology and the bright-est minds in the government andprivate sector to ensure Veteransreceive the benefits they haveearned."

One innovation is using a pri-vate contractor to assist VA incollecting health-care records.When private medical recordssupport a Veteran's application forbenefits, a contractor will quicklyretrieve the records from thehealth-care provider, scan theminto a digital format and send thematerial to VA through a securetransmission.

This pilot project hopes tovalidate initial estimates that aspecialized contract can yield re-cords required to process Veter-ans' disability compensationclaims in seven to 10 days insteadof VA's average 40 days. In addi-tion, the additional contract freesVA staff to focus on core duties toprocess claims more quickly.

Exploring economical con-tract support for time savings isone of more than three dozen ini-tiatives supporting VA's claimstransformation plan, which aimsto ensure that by 2015, Veterans'claims are decided within 125days.

VA officials emphasize thatin all cases Veterans must signdocuments approving the release

of their medical records to the de-partment from private health-careproviders.

The test is expected to involveabout 60,000 records requestsamong regional benefits offices inPhoenix; New York City; St. Lou-is; Portland, Ore.; Chicago; An-chorage, Alaska; Indianapolis, andJackson, Miss. At the conclusionof the test, VA officials will decidewhether to cancel, modify or ex-pand any changes in proceduresnationwide.

American LegionJoins Fight Over

Medals LawThe Associated PressPosted : Wednesday Dec 15,2010 11:24:29 EST

DENVER — The American Le-gion has joined federal prosecutors inarguing that a federal court in Denvershould uphold a law making it illegal tolie about being a military hero.

The veterans group filed a friend-of-the-court brief this week with the10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Prosecutors are asking the appealscourt to overturn a lower court rulingthat the Stolen Valor Act violates freespeech.

The law makes it a crime punish-able by up to a year in jail to falselyclaim to have received a medal fromthe U.S. military.

A federal appeals court in Califor-nia has also ruled the law is unconstitu-tional. Prosecutors there have asked thecourt to reconsider.

Neither the Colorado nor Califor-nia appeals court has said when itmight rule.

7 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

IDVA Direc-tor, Tom Ap-plegate, wasprivileged toaddress the

recruiters and their spouses of the3rd Medical Recruiting Battalion(Spartan Strong!) on Saturday,November 6th at the HiltonDowntown, Indianapolis. Topic?State veterans’ benefits, of course.

Shown below, receiving aplaque naming him an honorarySpartan is Applegate with LTCRonald Walker (left) and CSMDonald Thelen.

The State StudentAssistance Com-

mission of Indiana(SSACI) offers

other grants andscholarships

The Remission of Fees pro-gram for the children of disabledveterans and for recipients of thePurple Heart medal are not theonly state-funded programs forhelping students with their collegeaspirations.

The State Student AssistanceCommission of Indiana offersmany other educational incentivesfor college-bound students. Par-ents and students who call CountyVeterans’ Service Officers andwho don’t initially appear to beeligible for the veteran-related ed-ucational benefits should be re-ferred to the SSACI site. Thestudent just might be eligible forone or more of the other offeredgrants or scholarships.

Go to:

http://www.in.gov/ssaci/2359.htm

New Location forthe Indianapolis

Vet CenterThe Indianapolis Vet Center

has moved. The new address andphone number is: 8330 NaabRoad, Suite 103, Indianapolis, In-diana 46268; phone, 317-988-1660, Fax, 317-988-1617. Theirnormal working hours are 8:00a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday throughFriday.

In an effort to better serveveterans and family members, up-on request, Vet Centers will pro-vide services after normal workhours and/or on weekends. Allmilitary veterans are eligible toreceive services, treatment andcare at Vet Centers.

The Indianapolis Vet Centeris staffed with 80% veterans, in-cluding women veterans on mostteams, and treats over 4,000 veter-ans annually. The Vet Center pro-vides free services that are privateand confidential. They provideindividual, group, and family ther-apy, as well as assistance withbereavement, claims, readjust-ment/ PTSD assessments, and em-ployment services.

They also provide sensitiveand specialized therapy for Mili-tary Sexual Trauma (MST) survi-vors. It is believed that 8-20% offemale veterans have experiencedMST and that many service mem-bers are discharged withoutawareness of eligibility for treat-

ment at VA Medical Centers orVet Centers. The Vet Center has atherapist who is specially trainedto assess and provide therapy forMST.

More information about VetCenters or the location of a VetCenters can be obtained by calling317-988-1600. For more informa-tion about MST, contact LauraMalone at 317-988-3469.

From the American LegionService and Legislative Update,11-30-10

Applegate Addresses3rd Medical

Recruiting Battalion

8 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

February 10 throughFebruary 13, 2011

Oceanside, California

During this four-day retreatwe will focus on healing, connect-ing, & finding our strengths.

· Connect with otherwomen veterans by sharingstories, experiences, andcommunity· Learn stress manage-ment techniques· Exercise your creativeside· Enjoy a beautiful set-ting

Who is eligible? All womenwho have been deployed to Iraq orAfghanistan since September11th, 2001 - without regard forrace, religion, politics or sexualpreference.

What does the retreat cost?Lodging and meals for the entireweekend is FREE. We strive tomake our retreats as free as possi-ble, but can no longer providetransportation for our participants.Upon acceptance, you are respon-sible for your own transportation.We offer a travel stipend on a permile basis, up to $150.

Preference is given to thoseapplicants within 300 miles ofthe retreat site in Oceanside,

CA.

Want to apply?http://www.cominghomeproject.net/node/7399

Everyone is welcome as theyare and all are treated with respect.There is no particular political orreligious belief or affiliation that isrepresented or required. The inten-tion of the Coming Home Projectis to serve our military and con-tribute to their well-being andhealing.

From the Coming Home Projectweb site at:http://www.cominghomeproject.net/event/retreat_female_veterans_and_service_members .

Free Retreat forFemale

Veterans andService Members

House PostponesDebate On

"Women VeteransBill Of Rights."

CQ (11/30, Symes) reports,"House leaders postponed adebate scheduled for Monday on ameasure that would requireDepartment of Veterans Affairsfacilities to display a so-called

'Women Veterans Bill of Rights'amid...concerns over abortion andthe addition of language oninjured and amputee veterans."

The legislation, HR 5953,"would direct the secretary ofVeterans Affairs...to ensure" thatthe list of rights include the "'rightto request and get treatment byclinicians with specific trainingand experience in women's healthissues.' ...Opponents have warnedthat by identifying such rights, thebill could establish a legal basisfor mandating abortion coverageand require the VA to hireabortion providers."

Hoosier WomenVeterans’

ConferenceThe Hoosier Women Veter-

ans’ Conference which was origi-nally schedule for September oflast year (2010) will be resched-uled for the Spring of 2011.

We anticipate a date in eitherApril or May and will be coordi-nating with AMVETS Post 99, thesame site as the canceled confer-ence.

We truly regretted the deci-sion to cancel the conference butbecause of a staff shortage at ID-VA we had no other choice. TheSpring conference should be oneof the best we’ve ever put togeth-er, so we encourage those whoregularly participate to do so againthis year and encourage their vet-eran friends to also attend.

9 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

State ApprovingAgency (SAA)

NewsMany people

are still unaware ofwhat the State Ap-proving Agency(SAA) is and whatour responsibilitiesinclude. We decid-ed to revisit thissubject and shed ad-ditional light on

what many refer to us as being the face ofthe GI Bill & Post 9/11 Education Bene-fits. Each state has a State ApprovingAgency which approves VA EducationalBenefits (GI Bill) so that Veterans andother eligible persons may use their enti-tled educational benefits. An eligiblemember cannot receive their benefits un-less the SAA has approved those pro-grams. We are primarily responsible toreview, evaluate, approve and overseeschools and training facilities to ensurequality programs of education and train-ing under state and federal criteria.

The State Approving Agency ap-proves educational programs under con-tract for the Department of VeteransAffairs. The types of approved trainingestablishments include the following:

· Universities and Colleges· Vocational Schools· Business Schools· Professional Schools· Vocational Flight Schools· High Schools· Apprenticeships· On-the-Job Training Pro-

grams

· Licensing and Certifica-tion Tests

The following is a list of entitle-ment programs for which the IndianaState Approving Agency has approvaland supervisory responsibilities:

· Montgomery GI Bill - Ac-tive Duty (Chapter 30)

· Veterans Educational As-sistance Program (Chapter32)

· Post 9/11 GI Bill – ActiveDuty (Chapter 33)

· Survivors and DependentsEducational AssistanceProgram (Chapter 35)

· Montgomery GI Bill - Se-lected Reserve (Chapter1606)

· Montgomery GI Bill - Se-lected Reserve (Chapter1607)

Indiana has over 370 educationalinstitutions, as well as 407 apprentice-ships and on-the-job training sites ap-proved to offer educational programmingand training to Indiana active duty ser-vice personnel, guard, reservists, veter-ans and eligible dependents.

What happens if an eligible mem-ber encounters an institution or trainingprogram they desire to participate in thathas not yet been approved by our agency?Simply call one of our program directorsand we will make an initial assessment.We can be found athttp://www.in.gov/dva/2331.htm or call1-800-400-4520. Our needs are few; apoint of contact and general description

of program to include length and endgoal.

To learn how the GI Bill &Post 9/11 Education Benefits canpay for On-The-Job Training, Ap-prenticeships, Flight Schools, Li-censure & Testing, & bothCollege and Non-College DegreePrograms contact the IndianaState Approving Agency or seethe Federal VA web site athttp://www.gibill.va.gov/.

Improvements ToNew GI Bill

Could Mean EndOf Old One

The current issue of the ArmyTimes (12/6/2010, Maze,) reports,"The price of improving" the one-year-old Post-9/11 GI Bill "may bethe death of the 24-year-oldMontgomery GI Bill.

The tradeoff is part of apackage of changes to the new GIBill program that advocates aretrying to ensure does not increasethe government's overall costs."

The Times says that whilemost veterans "wouldn't miss theMontgomery GI Bill and its flat-rate monthly benefit because theycan get more money under" thePost-9/11 GI Bill, "some studentsare better off...under the oldprogram, such as those attendingschools in low-cost areas wheretuition is discounted or free for

10 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

Guard Returns (cont. from Page2)

commissioned officer academybuilt during the deployment.

According to Pitt and Sgt. 1stClass Kirk Brownson, there werechallenges to the process, but thespecialized training they receivedat Camp Atterbury Joint Maneu-ver Training Center and Musca-tatuck Urban Training Center inIndiana helped with communica-tion and relational challenges.

"Being partnered at the corpslevel the best training we receivedwas key leader engagement train-ing," said Pitt of the specializedtraining the unit requested. "Wetook Dari (language) courses, ne-gotiation courses and key leadercourses."

"By the end of the tour I wasstarting to realize that the best wayto do things was to just plant seeds... then leave. I would come back,and it would be implemented,"said Brownson, Valparaiso, Ind."It's very much a pride thing andwanting it to be their idea."

This helped when trying toencourage the Afghan forces towork toward a more successfulmodel according to Pitt.

"American NCO's are profes-sional enough to get the job done.Afghan NCO's aren't there yet, butwe are helping them get there,"said Pitt.

According to the commander,it all comes back to people.

"We just had a really goodgroup," said Ring. "Both this side

(home) of the war and the otherside."

Brown, who shares six chil-dren, their spouses, and eightgrandchildren with wife, Cheryl,echoes the commander's sentimenton strong bonds at home and whatit takes to make any Soldier a suc-cess.

"The Soldier is a family unit;one piece just goes forward intothe war.

"We," he said motioning tohis wife, "are one Soldier, righthere."

Indiana Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class IanSmith, Columbus, Ind., a member of RegionalCorps Training Team - 2, receives a hug from hisdaughter, Katie, during the unit's welcome homecelebration in Indianapolis, Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010.Smith and the rest of the team returned from a10-month deployment to Afghanistan. Indiana Na-tional Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Tommi Meyer

FederalGovernment Holds

Forum onHomeless VeteransGoal of Eliminating Home-

lessness among Veterans

WASHINGTON - More than400 participants from across the

country are expected to take partin a two-day national forum onending homelessness among Vet-erans by strengthening preventa-tive measures and collaborationamong government and private-sector organizations.

"For twenty years, we haveprovided a wide array of servicesto homeless Veterans," said Secre-tary of Veterans Affairs Eric K.Shinseki. "Today, we are interven-ing earlier in the problems that canlead to homelessness, such asmental illness, substance abuse,unemployment and financialproblems."

The forum, held Dec. 7-8 inArlington, Va., will include healthcare providers, outreach coordina-tors, homeless specialists and ser-vice providers from variousfederal agencies, plus representa-tives from the private sector andVeterans service organizations.

Participants will work togeth-er in planning how to increaseaccess to stable and affordablehousing; expand economic securi-ty; improve health care; andchange the nation's system fordealing with homelessness.

VA and the U.S. InteragencyCouncil on Homelessness, work-ing in partnership with other fed-eral agencies, are steadilydecreasing homelessness amongVeterans. Last year, the Depart-ment spent nearly

$535 million on homelessprograms, not counting health careassociated with homelessness.

"With our partners at the De-partment of Labor and the Depart-

11 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

ment of Housing and UrbanDevelopment, we have marshaledconsiderable expertise and re-sources to help our Veterans leavethe road to homelessness,"Shinseki added.

Among many programs, VAhas also created a national hotlinefor homeless Veterans - 1-877-424-3838 -which is staffed aroundthe clock, seven days a week.Responders can help callers findfood, shelter, clothing and otherassistance for homeless Veterans.

Change of Addressfor Application

Submission to theArmy Board for

Correction ofMilitary Records

(ABCMR) and theArmy DischargeReview Board

(ADRB)The Army Review Boards

Agency (ARBA) office at St. Lou-is has been closed in conjunctionwith Base Realignment and Clo-sure (BRAC). Applications to theArmy Board for Correction ofMilitary Records (ABCMR), DDForm 149; and the Army Dis-charge Review Board (ADRB),DD Form 293, must now bemailed to:

1901 South Bell StreetArlington, VA 22202-4508

The current editions of theseapplications also provide thismailing address. The current ap-plications can be printed from theARBA website

http://arba.army.pentagon.milThe forms are in a fillable formatso that applicants can word pro-cess on the forms and print them.

The ARBA website also pro-vides an online process for appli-cation to the ABCMR and theADRB that can be used instead ofcompleting and mailing the hardcopy applications. We encourageuse of the online application pro-cess. Veterans Service Officersmay do the computer work forapplicants but for all applications,the applicant or legal representa-tive must sign the application.

When mailing a hard copyapplication or the signature pagefor the online application, appli-cants should provide copies of allrecords and documents they havein their possession related to theirapplication.

It should not be assumed thatall the documents they wish theBoard to consider are in theirmilitary record.

You and the veterans youserve will find the ARBA websitevery useful.

It provides the information,forms, online application, applica-tion guides, answers to commonquestions, and links to many otherhelpful sites. If you have ques-

tions, you may contact us throughthe ARBA website "Contact Us"link at the bottom of the websitehome page.

Thank you for all you do forVeterans, Soldiers, and their fami-lies.

Adair PettyOperations OfficerArmy Review Boards Agencyhttp://arba.army.pentagon.mil

Cold WarCertificates AreStill AvailableIn accordance with section

1084 of the Fiscal Year 1998 Na-tional Defense Authorization Act,the Secretary of Defense approvedawarding Cold War RecognitionCertificates to all members of thearmed forces and qualified federalgovernment civilian personnelwho faithfully and honorablyserved the United States anytimeduring the Cold War era, which isdefined as Sept. 2, 1945 to Dec.26, 1991.

This is the only official site onwhich to request Cold War Recog-nition Certificates. This site is op-erated by the United States Army,the executive agency for the ColdWar Recognition Program. ColdWar Recognition Certificates areavailable to qualified individualsat no cost. Any other site offeringthese certificates or replicas forsale or purchase are not official

12 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

sites and are not approved or en-dorsed by the US Army.

Due to the remarkable suc-cess of this program, turn-aroundtime for mailing certificates willbe a minimum of 2 months. TheCWRS Operations Team is work-ing as fast as possible to clear thebacklog. Please do not requestfeedback prior to 2 months fromthe request date. Thank you foryour patience and interest in theCold War Recognition program.

All members of the armedforces and federal government ci-vilian personnel who faithfullyserved the United States duringthe Cold War era, Sept. 2, 1945 toDec. 26, 1991. Individuals re-questing a certificate will certifythat their character of service washonorable. Acceptable supportingdocument for proof of service isany official government or mili-tary document with recipient'sname, Social Security Number orMilitary Service Number or For-eign Service Number, and date ofservice.

· Apply for theCertificate

· FrequentlyAsked Questions

· Preview Certifi-cate

Phone Line: (703) 325-5864Fax: 1-800-723-9262Email the CWRS Team at:cwrs1@conus.army.mil

Address:

· U.S. Army Human Re-sources CommandCold War Recognition OfficeBldg II Attn: AHRC-CWRS-RM211600 Spearhead Division Av-enueFort Knox, KY 40122

IDVA AnnualReport

It’s been a busy year for theIndiana Department of VeteransAffairs and the State ApprovingAgency (SAA).

Starting with the SAA, Direc-tor, Ron Rousch has submitted abid to host the National SAA As-sociation Conference in 2013. Inaddition, Indianapolis will also bethe site for the National TrainingInstitute Conference this year(2011).

Ron and his crew of ProgramDirectors has put the State of Indi-ana on the national SAA map in abig way and we are very proud ofthe fine work they’ve done. Whilewe don’t yet have the figures for2010, in 2009 our SAA was in-strumental in bringing in over $56million dollars in educational ben-efits to eligible veterans, theirspouses and dependents in theform of G.I. Bill benefits.

On the IDVA side, CVSOscontinued to assist Hoosier veter-ans with their claims. Due in partto their efforts, veterans broughtover $718 millions dollars in com-pensation and pension benefits in-to the Indiana economy.

The federal VA invested over$6 million in new construction inthe state, and the VA medical sys-tem spent over $788 million dol-lars for medical care for almost117,000 veteran patients. Thatmeans that over one fifth ofIndiana’s 500,806 veterans are en-rolled in the VA health care sys-tem.

Perhaps best of all, Indiana’spercentage of veterans who arereceiving VA compensation orpension rose to over 12%, achiev-ing a goal set by the Administra-tion in 2005.

We have a long way to go, butwe’ve also come a long way. Al-though we have always had a cer-tain amount of complaints in ouroffice, we consistently hear fromveterans who tell us that Indianahas the best package of benefitsfor veterans, spouses and depen-dents. Following is a list of theapplications for state veterans’benefits we processed in 2010.

Remission of Fees................4,279Tax Deductions....................4,457Disabled Hoosier Plates..........878Purple Heart Plates....................81Hunting/Fishing License.........725High School Diplomas..............37Governor Memorial Cert’s...3,500Military Family Relief Fund.....53 (Amounts to $145,227.08 ingrants)

13 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

The IndianaOperation Enduring

Freedom/Operation Iraqi

Freedom/OperationNew Dawn

Memorial WallIndiana has sustained the

followingcasualties since the last

IDVA Update

nar province, Afghanistan, ofwounds suffered when insurgentsattacked his unit using small armsfire.

Assigned to the 1st Battalion,75th Ranger Regiment, HunterArmy Airfield, Ga., he joined theArmy in 2005.

United StatesArmy SergeantFirst Class BarryE. Jarvis, 36, ofTell City, Indiana.

Died Novem-ber 29, 2010 in

Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan,in support of Operation EnduringFreedom. According to initial re-ports, Sergeant First Class Jarvisdied of injuries sustained fromsmall arms fire.

He was assigned to B Troop,1st Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regi-ment, 101st Airborne Division,Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

United StatesArmy SpecialistShane HasanAhmed, 31, Ches-terfield, Michigan,and formerly ofBedford, Indiana.

Killed 14 November 2010when his unit was fired upon byinsurgents while conducting oper-ationsin Konar province, Afghani-stan.

He joined the Army in 2007and was assigned to the 1st Battal-ion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1stBrigade Combat Team, 101st Air-borne Division (Air Assault), FortCampbell, Ky.

United StatesArmy Staff Ser-geant Kevin Mat-thew Pape, 30, ofFort Wayne, Indi-ana.

Died Novem-ber 16, 2010 in Ko-

The Last SixSeconds in the

Lives of TwoHeroic MarinesOn Nov 13, 2010 Lt General

John Kelly, USMC gave a speechto the Semper Fi Society of St.Louis, MO. This was 4 days afterhis son, Lt Robert Kelly, USMCwas killed by an IED while on his3rd Combat tour.

During his speech, GeneralKelly spoke about the dedicationand valor of the young men andwomen who step forward eachand every day to protect us. Dur-ing the speech, he never men-tioned the loss of his own son. Heclosed the speech with the movingaccount of the last 6 seconds in thelives of 2 young Marines who diedwith rifles blazing to protect theirbrother Marines...

"I will leave you with a storyabout the kind of people they are,about the quality of the steel intheir backs, about the kind of ded-ication they bring to our countrywhile they serve in uniform. Andforever after as veterans.

“Two years ago when I wasthe Commander of all U.S. andIraqi forces, in fact, the 22nd ofApril 2008, two Marine infantrybattalions, 1/9 "The WalkingDead," and 2/8 were switching outin Ramadi. One battalion in theclosing days of their deploymentgoing home very soon, the otherjust starting its seven-month com-bat tour. Two Marines, CorporalJonathan Yale and Lance CorporalJordan Haerter, 22 and 20 yearsold respectively, one from eachbattalion, were assuming thewatch together at the entrance gateof an outpost that contained amakeshift barracks housing 50Marines. The same broken downramshackle building was alsohome to 100 Iraqi police, also mymen and our allies in the fightagainst the terrorists in Ramadi, acity until recently the most dan-gerous city on earth and owned by

14 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

Al Qaeda. Yale was a dirt poormixed-race kid from Virginia witha wife and daughter, and a motherand sister who lived with him andhe supported as well. He did thison a yearly salary of less than$23,000. Haerter, on the otherhand, was a middle class white kidfrom Long Island. They were fromtwo completely different worlds.Had they not joined the Marinesthey would never have met eachother, or understood that multipleAmerica's exist simultaneouslydepending on one's race, educa-tion level, economic status, andwhere you might have been born.But they were Marines, combatMarines, forged in the same cruci-ble of Marine training, and be-cause of this bond they werebrothers as close, or closer, than ifthey were born of the same wom-an.

‘The mission orders they re-ceived from the sergeant squadleader I am sure went somethinglike: "Okay you two clowns, standthis post and let no unauthorizedpersonnel or vehicles pass." "Youclear?" I am also sure Yale andHaerter then rolled their eyes andsaid in unison something like:"Yes Sergeant," with just enoughattitude that made the point with-out saying the words, "No kiddingsweetheart, we know what we'redoing." They then relieved twoother Marines on watch and tookup their post at the entry controlpoint of Joint Security StationNasser, in the Sophia section ofRamadi, Al Anbar, Iraq.

A few minutes later a largeblue truck turned down the alleyway - perhaps 60-70 yards inlength - and sped its way throughthe serpentine of concrete jerseywalls. The truck stopped just shortof where the two were posted anddetonated, killing them both cata-strophically. Twenty-four brickmasonry houses were damaged ordestroyed. A mosque 100 yardsaway collapsed. The truck's enginecame to rest two hundred yardsaway knocking most of a housedown before it stopped. Our explo-sive experts reckoned the blast wasmade of 2,000 pounds of explo-sives. Two died, and because thesetwo young infantrymen didn't haveit in their DNA to run from danger,they saved 150 of their Iraqi andAmerican brothers-in-arms.

“When I read the situationreport about the incident a fewhours after it happened I called theregimental commander for detailsas something about this struck meas different. Marines dying or be-ing seriously wounded is com-monplace in combat. We expectMarines regardless of rank orMOS to stand their ground and dotheir duty, and even die in the pro-cess, if that is what the missiontakes. But this just seemed differ-ent. The regimental commanderhad just returned from the site andhe agreed, but reported that therewere no American witnesses tothe event-just Iraqi police. I fig-ured if there was any chance offinding out what actually hap-pened and then to decorate the twoMarines to acknowledge their

bravery, I'd have to do it as a com-bat award that requires two eye-witnesses and we figured the bu-reaucrats back in Washingtonwould never buy Iraqi statements.If it had any chance at all, it had tocome under the signature of a gen-eral officer.

I traveled to Ramadi the nextday and spoke individually to ahalf-dozen Iraqi police all ofwhom told the same story. Theblue truck turned down into thealley and immediately sped up asit made its way through the ser-pentine. They all said, "We knewimmediately what was going on assoon as the two Marines beganfiring." The Iraqi police then relat-ed that some of them also fired,and then to a man, ran for safetyjust prior to the explosion. Allsurvived. Many were injured,some seriously. One of the Iraqiselaborated and with tears wellingup said, "They'd run like any nor-mal man would to save his life."

"What he didn't know untilthen, he said, and what he learnedthat very instant, was that Marinesare not normal. Choking past theemotion he said, "Sir, in the nameof God no sane man would havestood there and done what theydid. No sane man. They saved usall."

“What we didn't know at thetime, and only learned a couple ofdays later after I wrote a summaryand submitted both Yale andHaerter for posthumous NavyCrosses, was that one of our secu-rity cameras, damaged initially inthe blast, recorded some of the

15 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

suicide attack. It happened exact-ly as the Iraqis had described it. Ittook exactly six seconds fromwhen the truck entered the alleyuntil it detonated.

“You can watch the last sixseconds of their young lives. Put-ting myself in their heads I sup-posed it took about a second forthe two Marines to separatelycome to the same conclusionabout what was going on once thetruck came into their view at thefar end of the alley. Exactly notime to talk it over, or call thesergeant to ask what they shoulddo. Only enough time to take halfan instant and think about what thesergeant told them to do only afew minutes before: "let no unau-thorized personnel or vehiclespass." The two Marines had aboutfive seconds left to live.

It took maybe another twoseconds for them to present theirweapons, take aim, and open up.By this time the truck was half-way through the barriers and gain-ing speed the whole time. Here,the recording shows a number ofIraqi police, some of whom hadfired their AKs, now scatteringlike the normal and rational menthey were - some running rightpast the Marines. They had threeseconds left to live.

“For about two seconds more,the recording shows the Marines'weapons firing non-stop. thetruck's windshield exploding intoshards of glass as their roundstake it apart and tore in to the bodyof the son-of-a-bitch who is tryingto get past them to kill their broth-

ers - American and Iraqi - beddeddown in the barracks totally un-aware of the fact that their lives atthat moment depended entirely ontwo Marines standing theirground. If they had been aware,they would have known they weresafe because two Marines stoodbetween them and a crazed suicidebomber. The recording shows thetruck careening to a stop immedi-ately in front of the two Marines.In all of the instantaneous vio-lence Yale and Haerter never hes-itated. By all reports and by therecording, they never steppedback. They never even started tostep aside. They never even shift-ed their weight. With their feetspread shoulder width apart, theyleaned into the danger, firing asfast as they could work theirweapons. They had only one sec-ond left to live.

“The truck explodes. Thecamera goes blank. Two youngmen go to their God. Six seconds.Not enough time to think abouttheir families, their country, theirflag, or about their lives or theirdeaths, but more than enough timefor two very brave young men todo their duty.

“Into eternity. That is the kindof people who are on watch allover the world tonight - for you.

“We Marines believe thatGod gave America the greatestgift he could bestow to man whilehe lived on this earth - freedom.We also believe he gave us anoth-

er gift nearly as precious - oursoldiers, sailors, airmen, CoastGuardsmen, and Marines - to safe-guard that gift and guarantee noforce on this earth can ever steal itaway.

“It has been my distinct honorto have been with you here today.

“Rest assured our America,this experiment in democracystarted over two centuries ago,will forever remain the "land ofthe free and home of the brave" solong as we never run out of toughyoung Americans who are willingto look beyond their own self-in-terest and comfortable lives, andgo into the darkest and most dan-gerous places on earth to huntdown, and kill, those who woulddo us harm.

“God Bless America, and...SEMPER FIDELIS!"

16 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

AMVETS Post 99 in India-napolis has been sending WWIIveterans, their spouses and othersupporters to Washington D.C. forthree years now to experience theWorld War II Memorial, the Kore-an War Memorial, Vietnam Me-morial Wall and the Iwo JimaMemorial. The trip also includes atrip to the Tomb of the Unknowns.

IDVA personnel have beenlucky enough to get on some ofthose flights and were able toshare in the excitement of thesemen and women. Director TomApplegate, Deputy Director JohnNewsom and former State ServiceOfficer, Kris Bertrand have partic-ipated, and State Service OfficerAshley Roberts is on the list for anupcoming flight.

On this latest trip, shownabove, Indiana Republican Con-gressman Mike Pence took sometime to meet with the WWII veter-ans, their loved ones, Indiana Ad-jutant General R. MartinUmbarger, and Department of In-diana AMVETS at the NationalWWII Memorial.

AMVETSHonorFlights

Brave LadyDaughter of a Navy Pilot, died

December 7, 2010

"Resilience is accepting yournew reality, even if it's less goodthan the one you had before. Youcan fight it, you can do nothingbut scream about what you'velost, or you can accept that andtry to put together somethingthat's good."Elizabeth Edwards, July 3, 1949- December 7, 2010

VA is launching a multi-yearinitiative called Veterans Rela-tionship Management (VRM) toimprove Veterans’ access tohealth care and benefits informa-

tion. By the end of this year, VRMwill deliver improved telephoneservices to enable Veterans toreach a call center agent faster.Recording and review of calls willensure the quality of services pro-vided to Veterans.

VRM enhancements will berolled out in six-month incre-ments. An important componentof VRM is the Internet site, whichputs the Veteran in the driver’sseat for information.

VA collaborated with the De-partment of Defense to provide asingle sign-on capability for bothService members and Veterans.Single sign-on will quickly estab-lish an individual’s identity andallow that person to completetransactions without having to re-enter information.

Self-service access throughthe Internet site(www.ebenefits.va.gov) is alreadyavailable in some benefit areas,including military personnel re-cords, VA home loan eligibilitycertificates, and status informationon compensation and pensionclaims.

Once fully realized, VRMpromises veterans a “better experi-ence” when they contact VA forassistance.

VA LaunchesVeterans

RelationshipManagement

(VRM)

17 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

Improving LivesOne CoatAt a Time

Story by Sgt. William E. Henry,Indiana National Guard PublicAffairs

INDIANAPOLIS - A blast ofbitterly cold weather rushedthrough Indianapolis, Dec. 6, aslocal children headed to StoutField Elementary School in singledigit temperatures, some with littleor no protection from the frigidconditions according to school of-ficials.Relief was in sight later in theschool day when April Bentley, ahuman resources employee at theIndiana National Guard's JointForces Headquarters at StoutField, arrived with approximately100 coats to ease the circumstanc-es of underprivileged students whoattend.

April Bentley, a human resources employee at Indiana NationalGuard's Joint Forces Headquarters, and Indiana's adjutant general,Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger pose with students, Brandon Albright,Joshua Shepard, and Zackery Albright, at Stout Field ElementarySchool, Monday, Dec. 6, 2010. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. William E.Henry, Indiana National Guard Public Affairs)

Bentley said she enjoyedhelping provide students the

warmth and protection they need,and she also sympathized withtheir situations.

"Words cannot express thefeeling you get seeing a child get anew coat. You can see it in theireyes that they genuinely appreci-ate it. No kids should be left in thecold, and it warms my heart tohelp," said Bentley. "I grew up likethese kids are growing up now, soI can relate. I may not make a lotof money now, but all my child'sneeds and my personal needs aremet, and it humbles me to helpthose who are in need. These kidsare our future; it's a great invest-ment."

Each year Indiana NationalGuard employees working onStout Field raise money to donatecold weather items to Stout FieldElementary students for the"Warm Hands, Warm Hearts" pro-gram.

The school principal, Ms. Ju-dy Stegemann, said she and herstaff keep an eye out for studentswho come to school without ade-quate coats every day for this pro-gram.

"Teachers refer kids they havein class without a coat. Adults atbus duty or car rider duty referkids without coats," said Stege-mann. "Our parent liaison, CaseyFoust, gets all the referrals andworks with children, families toget coats."

"These coats are given to kidswho come in without coats, havecoats that don't fit properly, ordon't zip or button," said Stege-

mann. "The coats donated preventkids from being cold and in thelong run probably prevents illnessthat may cause the students tomiss school."

Indiana's Adjutant General,Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger,visited with three selected stu-dents to personally greet them,present them with new coats andhis personal challenge coin.

Indiana's Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger places acoat on 6th grade student Brandon Albright, while visiting StoutField Elementary School, to present a select few students with newcoats and his challenge coin as part of the "Warm Hands, WarmHearts" program, Monday, Dec. 6, 2010. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt.William E. Henry, Indiana National Guard Public Affairs)

"Every year when I comedown to this, all you have to do isjust look in their eyes when youhand them a brand new jacket.Some of them have never had abrand new jacket. Some of themdon't even have a jacket," saidUmbarger.

"There's not a better feeling toknow you've helped a young childso they don't have to go out in thecold uncovered. Today, probably

18 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

the coldest day of the year, it wasonly fitting that we were there."

Indiana's Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger explainsthe symbols on his personal challenge coin to students, BrandonAlbright, Joshua Shepard, and Zackery Albright, at Stout FieldElementary School, Monday, Dec. 6, 2010. (U.S. Army photo bySgt. William E. Henry, Indiana National Guard Public Affairs)

Brandon Albright, 6th grade,Zackery Albright, 5th grade, andJoshua Shepard, 5th grade, werethose chosen to visit with the gen-eral. After Zackery was given hiscoat and a coin he told Umbarger,"I plan on being a Soldier when Igrow up."

School officials and studentswere pleased and appreciated theprogram.

"We are grateful for the sup-port of the Stout Field NationalGuard. Their donations are mak-ing a direct impact on our chil-dren," said Stegemann. "Weprovide our students a great edu-cation, two warm meals a day, andwith the Guard's help a warm coatfor winter! We are truly thankfulfor their generosity."

Umbarger praised the workof those involved with the pro-gram. He said it would not happennor thrive if those who coordinat-ed it did not have such givingpersonalities.

"They're always giving theirtime and their talent. They're al-ways looking for ways to raisemoney. They spend their time andeffort to raise the money, and theygo out and buy the jackets," saidUmbarger. "They have me presentthem, and they don't want to takeany credit for it. Now that is a truegiver. That is a person who has awonderful open heart. True philan-thropy is when you give and don'twant any credit for it, so I justthink all the credit should go tothem. I'm very proud of them."

Indiana's Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger places acoat on 5th grade student, Joshua Shepard, while visiting Stout FieldElementary School, to present a select few students with new coatsand his challenge coin as part of the "Warm Hands, Warm Hearts"program, Monday, Dec. 6, 2010. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. WilliamE. Henry, Indiana National Guard Public Affairs)

Bentley said she handles onlya portion of responsibilities amongseven team members who makethis program work. She said theteam works together to host annualevents and collect donations tosupport the program.

"With the money we earn welook out for deals on coats andpurchase them. We often checkwith the school as to what theirneeds are so that we can fill thosespecific needs. Then I arrange forthe drop off," said Bentley. "Thekids love to see the general, itmakes the moment when they re-ceive their coats that much morespecial."

"I can't say enough about theimportance of this program," ex-plained Stegemann. "These coatsnot only keep these kids warm, butthey also prevent illness, which inturn helps attendance. They alsomake the kids happy. The kids areallowed to choose a coat they like.Our kids don't get many newthings. Picking out a new coat is abig deal. It's like getting a newpair of shoes and feeling like youcan run faster and jump higher.They just love these coats."

Bentley said if anyone wouldlike to participate in the programthey can contact her directly atabentley@ago.in.gov

Indiana's Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger speakswith elementary students Zackery Albright, Brandon Albright, andJoshua Shepard, while visiting Stout Field Elementary School, topresent the select few with new coats and his challenge coin as partof the "Warm Hands, Warm Hearts" program, Monday, Dec. 6,2010. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. William E. Henry, Indiana Nation-al Guard Public Affairs)

19 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

Students “Adopt”Indiana Historical

Marker,Re-dedication at

IndianaState House

Earlier this year, teacherChris Hammock, Park TudorSchool, and seven students,Draven Cooper, AbigailO’Connell, Nathan Lee, KalystaLee, Sydney Allen, Riley Allen,and Madison Allen “adopted” afaded and worn state historicalmarker about the Civil War. Theycleaned and repainted the marker,returning it to the original darkblue with gold letters. A publicre-dedication ceremony for thismarker and another marker aboutthe state capitol, was conducted onThursday, December 16, 2010.The ceremony took place in theNorth Atrium of the State Houseon Capitol Avenue, in Indianapo-lis.

On December 20, 1946, theIndiana Historical Bureau dedicat-ed the first state historical markerin our current format; this “StateCapitol” marker initiated the newprogram to permanently mark 300to 350 of the most historic sites inIndiana; the historical marker pro-gram continues today. The text ofthis marker is: “State capital wasmoved to Indianapolis, 1825, fromCorydon. The capitol built on this

site in 1835 was razed in 1878 tomake way for this State House,completed in 1888.”

In 1964, the Indiana CivilWar Centennial Commission in-stalled the “Civil War Arsenal,1861-1864” marker on the StateHouse grounds. The text of thismarker is: “Governor Oliver P.Morton established a state arsenalto supply Indiana’s troops withammunition. First located adjacentto the state capitol, the arsenal waslater moved to the present site ofArsenal Technical High School.”

State historical markers com-memorate significant individuals,organizations, places, and events

in Indiana history. These markershelp communities throughout thestate promote, preserve, and pres-ent their history for the educationand enjoyment of residents andtourists of all ages. For more than95 years the Indiana

Historical Bureau, an agencyof the State of Indiana, has beenmarking Indiana history. Since1946, the marker format has beenthe large roadside marker, whichhas the familiar dark blue back-ground with gold lettering and theoutline of the state of Indiana atthe top. There are approximately500 of these markers across thestate.

Volunteers throughout thestate—like the Park Tudorstudents—are helping the Histori-cal Bureau to survey, paint, andrepair state historical markers.Any person or group interested involunteering to help with therepair and maintenance program isencouraged to contact the Histori-cal Bureau.

For more information aboutthis marker, the Indiana HistoricalMarker Program, and other re-sources about Indiana, please visitthe Indiana Historical Bureau’swebsite at www.IN.gov/history orcall 317-232-6276.

Teacher, Chris Hammock and students.

20 January 2011www.in.gov/dva

We hopeyou’ve enjoyedthe first exclu-sively digital/online versionof the IndianaDepartment ofVeterans Af-fairs Update.

We feel it’s important that wemaintain the same quality newslet-ter which you’ve grown to expect.

We will be e-mailing the Up-date to many addresses which inthe past have not always been in-cluded. In this new mailing will bethose Hoosier Women Veteranswho have been kind enough tocomplete an HWV registrationform and indicate they would liketo receive the newsletter. Also in-cluded are each of the State legis-lators in the House and Senate andmany staffers in the Administra-tion. Whereas before we sent hardcopies of the newsletter to the vet-erans’ service organizations(VSOs) for distribution to theirPosts and Chapters, they will nowonly get the digital version. Iwould ask the representatives fromthe VSOs to forward the newslet-ter to their respective Posts andChapters for printing and postingon bulletin boards. In that mannerveterans from every Post or Chap-ter in the State of Indiana will haveaccess to the Update.

Director’sComments

We ask that those of you whodo not wish to receive the Updatelet us know as soon as possible toavoid the sending of the next edi-tion. Hopefully we don’t get anye-mails from persons asking us toremove them from the distributionlist.

********************

On another subject - the nextIDVA Spring Conference (6-9June 2011) will again be held atthe Marriott Inn - East in India-napolis, but we will go back to theMonday through Thursday con-cept we have traditionally used,with the annual Jon Brinkley Me-morial Golf Outing remaining asthe only event scheduled for Mon-day, 6 June..

Tuesday the 7th will remaindirected at updates from the IDVAand SAA staff and from variousorganizations which have tradi-tionally had information to share.That day will conclude with theannual Indiana Veterans’ ServiceOfficers’ Association (INVSOA)meeting.

I envision Wednesday, 8June, morning instruction fromthe VSOs from the VFW, DAVand AMVETS organizations. Partof Wednesday afternoon (if not allof it) will be covered by instruc-tors from within the Federal VAitself and will include updatesfrom the VA Director and his staff.

A big change in the confer-ence will be the addition of peerinstructors. For most of theThursday, 9 June, morning blocksof instruction I’ve asked your IN-VSOA President, Bruce Stanton,to help me select instructors fromwithin the County Veterans’ Ser-vice Officer (CVSO) ranks, whowill be speaking to you on sub-jects about which they feel theyare proficient. This utilizes a here-tofore untapped pool of expertswho may have a lot of informationother CVSOs can use to their ad-vantage.

We will administer the CVSOTest at around 11 a.m. and dismissat noon on Thursday so everyonecan make the drive back to theirrespective counties.

********************

The Fall Conference at theIndiana Veterans’ Home (Home)was a success and, because of con-tinuing budget restrictions, we en-vision using the Home every yearfor our fall conference. The onlychange we will make is that onlynew CVSOs will be required totake the tour. We will also useCVSO peer instructors as the pri-mary instructors but will also in-vite the federal VA to share anychanges which have occurred inthe interval between the springand fall conference. The 2011 FallConference will be on October14, 2011 at the Indiana Veterans’Home.