Another WDVA member resigns

Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs board member Marv Freedman resigned today.  In a letter to Gov. Scott Walker, Freedman said:

"When you signed AB 96 into law last summer, you relegated the board into irrelevance and ensured the politicalization of the position of Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs ... a position that could now change with the election of each new governor. ... Then you made your subsequent appointment of a Department Secretary ... despite compelling reasons to appoint someone else, including, but not limited to, the findings of the Legislative Audit Bureau ... which detailed substantive management failures of your appointee during his original tenure....I have decided that I cannot in good conscience continue to serve on the Board when my presence could well be construed as my tacit approval of your ill-advised decision(s)."

Closed Mondays

Wisconsin Veterans Museum galleries in Madison will close Mondays beginning Jan. 30 to allow employees to safely move and maintain exhibits, the state Department of Veterans Affairs announced today.

The press release says it's a common practice for museums to close Mondays. I have a call in to find out how much money is saved.

Two more Badger Honor flights scheduled

 Badger Honor Flights has schedule two trips for next spring, on April 21 and May 21, volunteer Steve Bartlett tells me. They have 200 World War II veterans on their waiting list, so at 100 per flight, the math is easy.

The urgency of the flights never stops being apparent.

The latest evidence: Ken Hur passed away this week after going on the Nov. 12 flight.
"Ken had Alzheimers and still thoroughly enjoyed the trip, even though he was in a wheel chair the entire time.  His daughter Janine flew back from Paris to escort him as a Guardian," Steve said.

For more information about the programs go to http://www.badgerhonorflight.org or call (608) 616-0243.

Guard gains a seat at Joint Chiefs' table

The National Guard now has a seat at the table as the Defense Department decides where and how to cut back spending.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (1/3/12) - Florida National Guardsman and chief of the National Guard Bureau Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley will officially join the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

President Barack Obama signed a bill into law on Dec. 31 that expands the membership of the senior military advisory body to include the chief of the National Guard Bureau.

Obama's move recognizes the crucial role played by the Guard in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, as civilian soldiers became part of a full-time fighting force to a greater degree than ever before. McKinley is in a better position now to push for better equipment and more resources, which Wisconsin leaders say are needed.

"This decision on the part of the president and Congress reflects the critical role the National Guard plays in national defense," said Wisconsin's adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Dunbar. "It is a direct result of the incredible performance of the National Guard in the last 10 years."

Is Badger Trips a bad guy?

Travel agency Badger Trips offered free trips to the Rose Bowl for Wisconsin vets, then withdrew the offer when it found that the seats were sold or selling out quickly.
Some of the folks commenting on the story seem to think this is a slap in the face for veterans.
I talked with one of the travel agency co-owners and he seemed very sorry about the turn of events. It was a pretty nice gesture to begin with, and the company is saying it will make it up to veterans at a later time. But many are reacting by saying the almighty dollar trumped allegiance to our fighting men and women.
Perhaps it's ironic that the for-profit economic system the military fights to preserve has in this case come back to bite a few veterans. With unemployment as high as it is, it shouldn't be a surprise that the free market system -- despite all its benefits -- can be a rough game.

The end in Iraq

Today's the day the U.S. officially ends its mission in Iraq, nearly nine years after the invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.

According to CNN: Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in Baghdad for the ceremony to personally thank the U.S. troops who have served there, as well as Iraqi security forces.

All U.S. troops must be out of Iraq by the end of the month after Washington and Baghdad failed to agree on terms under which they could remain. The cable network includes the voices of military personnel who served there.

The Guardian has stories saying the withdrawal is "an act on a stage," and that it portends terrible things for world stability. Take your pick.

Fox has a less extensive report that emphasizes, oddly I think, that no "stray" shots were fired today.

"Farm girl loses her Navy boy"

I spoke with Clem Felsheim a few days before he and his brother boarded a Badger Honor Flight to Washington DC. last month.
(There he is at left in a photo by the State Journal's John Hart.)
Most of you know about honor flights, the network of volunteers who are rushing to give World War II veterans a chance to see their memorial in Washington before old age does to them what war failed to do.
Mr. Felsheim was happy he was going. I'm afraid I didn't have a chance to talk to him after he returned, but I've talked to a lot of other veterans who took the flights, and even was able to join a group of them on one of the exhilarating, exhausting trips a few years ago. I suspect he had the time of his life.
And, with his trip to Washington, he beat the clock, but only by a few weeks.
The retired Navy man, who came home to work in the local Oscar Mayer plant, died peacefully on Dec. 8, according to his obituary.
The opening line of the obituary -- "Farm girl loses her Navy boy" -- speaks in a very touching way about his life, and how his family still saw him as a sailor nearly 70 years after he joined the Navy.
His service was like military service is for most men and women. It involves sacrifice, maybe even danger, but not necessarily a lot of heroics of the type that you see in the movies.
He enlisted as soon as he graduated from high school, but it was so late in the war that he always seemed to be the least senior seaman on his ship. So when they hit port, he was usually the one who stood watch while his buddies went to town.
One of the few times they gave him some shore leave was in Japan, after the fighting was over. The Wisconsin lad went straight to a bar and ordered a glass of milk.
He was from Arcadia in western Wisconsin. One of five brothers who served during two wars. All five came back home, safe and sound, to be the kind of ordinary heroes who work hard and raise families.
Three of them have died of natural causes over the years.
Clem Felsheim and his brother George were the last two living when I talked with them last month. Now there is one.

Clem's daughter sent me these photos taken in Washington. Clem is in the Navy cap and George is in the Merchant Marine cap.