TANGLEWOOD VETERANS

The Tanglewood veterans held their meeting on the 6th of November, with approximately 50 members present. Among the items discussed is the cookout on the 7th of December on the patio of the clubhouse at 2:00PM. The wives of all members are requested to bring a covered dish. The veterans will supply meats, sodas, cups, paper plates, mustard, etc. We currently have over 100 paid up members and we hope you can all be there on the 7th.

On Memorial Day several veterans started off the day with the posting of the American Flags at the front and back entrances to the community, and the clubhouse area. Then a Memorial Day Flag raising ceremony was held at the flagpole by the clubhouse with an excellent turnout. That evening a Flag burning ceremony was held in the outback to burn all the soiled flags collected from the previous year, again an excellent turnout.

Our thanks to the community for their support and to the Veterans who continue to support our veterans group.

Think what it would be if everyone would on a legal holiday take one minute of their time to put a flag in front of their house.

Our next meeting of the Tanglewood Veterans will be on the 4th of December at 10:00AM after coffee on the patio of the clubhouse.

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A COMMENTARY

Although another Veterans day has come and gone our memories will remain forever.
Another year has passed and I want you to know you are not forgotten - you who gave of yourself, dutifully and honorably, in the service of our country, our United States of America, land of the free and home of the brave.

How true these words are. And how we take for granted this freedom we enjoy, all because of you, each and every one of you, stood up for a cause - the cause of protecting and defending the freedom your families and loved ones, your fellow Americans could enjoy.

We salute the bravery and courage you displayed through all the battles, conflicts, insurrections and wars in all parts of the world, in far away places, in years past and still to this very day are memories charred in your minds. Know that you have left an indelible mark on the hearts of many and we pay tribute to you this day, your day, a day to be proud that we citizens of a nation made great by the sacrifices and dedication of all our military personnel. We salute your commitment to our nation and we thank you.

Some of you walk among us - heroes - in our workplaces, as family members, others chance meetings, some whole in body, but ravaged and war-torn with anguish and haunted by memories, and tormented in mind and spirit, yet others of you living your lives lying in beds in VA medical centers, some sentenced to lives in wheelchairs, some openly bearing your battle-scarred bodies, and missing limbs of your once whole bodies, still striving to go on for the sake of your families. We applaud your steadfast courage and we thank you.

Some of you lie at eternal rest and peace in national cemeteries, which will be decorated in your honor with flags and wreathes of red, white, and blue. Monuments of stone lay tribute to you veterans, you courageous men and women, so we can be reminded visually of your sacrifices. Some of you lie buried in some unknown site in a distant land, missing for years, not having been brought back to your native homeland where you earned respect could be paid you and acknowledged. We regret with heavy hearts the feeling of helpless and we thank you.

Today’s innocent youth, our children and grandchildren, live with the threat of terrorism, a fear which eluded our own childhoods, an evil trying to consume the freedom we all cherished so openly and for which you fought, and still fight, and gave and continue to give so much of yourselves to preserve, some giving the ultimate sacrifice. We offer our prayers, our tears, and our thanks to you.

Your unwavering faith in your beliefs, your perseverance, your dedication to duty, honor, and patriotism to your country and your concern for your fellow comrades-in-arms, departures and deployments, long separations from families, hostile and unsavory living conditions, tears, sorrow, unending prayers, hope filled hearts, all longing for the joyful homecoming.

Day is done, dear Veteran. The bugle sounds, “Taps” play. We will never forget you.

Commentary by Carolyn Lyon

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PRESIDENT BUSH'S VETERANS DAY SPEECH

11/11/2006. “TAPS” rang out clearly as the United States paused to remember America’s veterans today. President Bush gave the principal address at the ceremony (at Arlington National Cemetery). “On this day, in this month, at this hour, our nation remembers the moment when the guns of World War I went silent - and we recognize the service and the sacrifice of our nation’s veterans,” the President said. “From Valley Forge to Vietnam, from Kuwait to Kandahar, from Berlin to Baghdad, our veterans have borne the costs of America’s wars - and they have stood watch over America’s peace. The American people are grateful to the veterans and all who have fought for our freedom.”

And the troops in the field were never far from anyone’s thoughts. “On this Veterans Day, we honor a new generation of men and women who are defending our freedom,” Bush said. “Since Sept. 11, 2001, our armed forces have engaged the enemy, the terrorists, on many fronts. At this moment, more than 1.4 million Americans are on active duty, serving the cause of freedom and peace around the world.

“They are our nation’s finest citizens,” he continued. “They confront grave danger to defend the safety of the American people. They’ve brought down tyrants, they’ve liberated two nations, and they have helped bring American freedom to more than 50 million people. Through their sacrifice, they’re making this nation safer and more secure.

Bush said veterans have handed America a precious gift. “As we raise our flag and as the bugle sounds taps, we remember that the men and women of America’s armed forces serve a great cause,” he said. “They follow a great tradition, handed down to them by America’s veterans. And in public ceremonies and private prayer, we give thanks for the freedom we enjoy because of their willingness to serve.”

A verse from the poem “To the Fallen” by English poet Laurence Binyon, written in 1814--- “They shall grow old not, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them.”

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461st TEST FLIGHT SQUADRON REACTIVATED

The 461st Flight Test Squadron was reactivated on Oct 27, 2006 at Edwards AFB California. The squadron will be responsible for testing the conventional take-off and landing of the F-35 Lighting II, and will also play a role in testing other variants of the aircraft. The 461 FLTS is trying to contact former members of the squadron from its days in West Germany and Luke AFB Arizona in the hopes of recovering the history of the squadron and the significant historical squadron artifacts. Also, since the 361st Fighter Squadron and the 461st Fighter Squadron were consolidated in 1985, the 461st FLTS is hoping to make contact with members from the 361st FS during World War II. If you are a previous member of the squadron and would like to share your bit of squadron history, please call 661-277-5942 or send e-mail to 461FLTS@jfs.mil

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CONSTRUCTION BILL PASSED BY THE SENATE

A Bipartisan bill which authorizes more than $2 billion in funding for numerous major facilities for veterans in 22 states, and which will also enable the spouses of seriously wounded service members to obtain educational benefits sooner passed the Senate by unanimous consent.

$636 million for new construction of VA medical center in New Orleans, Louisiana.
$406 million for new construction of a VA medical center in Las Vegas, Nevada
$377 million for new construction of a VA medical center in Orlando, Florida
$310 million for the restoration of the VA medical center in Biloxi, Mississippi.
$189.205 million for consolidation of VA facilities in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
$107.845 million for seismic corrections at the VA medical center in Long Beach, California.
$102.3 million for the consolidation of VA functions in Cleveland and Brecksville, Ohio
$98 million for the replacement of the VA medical center in Denver, Colorado.
$85.2 million for renovation of the VA medical facilities in Gainesville, Florida
$$79.9 million for seismic corrections at the VA medical center in Las Angeles, California.
$75.27 million for the construction of the VA medical center in Anchorage, Alaska.
$69.053 million for medical facility improvements and cemetery expansion VA medical center in St. Louis, Mo
$65.1 million for an ambulatory surgery and diagnostic center in Lee County, Florida.
$56.163 million to construct new addition at the VA medical center in Fayetteville, Arkansas
$56. million to construct new addition at the VA medical center in Temple, Texas
$53.9 million for construction of a spinal cord injury center at the VA medical in Syracuse, New York.
$49 million for upgrades at the VA medical center in Tampa, Florida
$38.2 million for seismic corrections at the VA medical center in American Lake, Washington.
$32.5 million for spinal cord injury center ate VA medical center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
$27.4 million for modernization at the VA medical center in Indianapolis, Indiana.
$25.83 million to replace operating suite at VA medical center in Columbia, Missouri.
$25 million for the constru8ction of VA extended care building in Des Moines, Iowa.
$19.1 million for upgrades and expansion of the VA medical center in San Antonio, Texas.
$15 million for seismic corrections at the VA medical center in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
$10.908 million for a lease on a outpatient clinic in Baltimore, Maryland
$9.1 million for renovation of VA patient wards in Durham, North Carolina.
$8.989 million for a lease of an outpatient clinic in Evansville, Illinois.
$8.518 million for four outpatient clinics in Las Vegas, Nevada.
$7.1 million for expansion of the spinal cord injury center at the VA medical center in Tampa, Florida,
$6.163 million for a lease on a outpatient and specialty care clinic in Austin, Texas
$5.093 million for a lease on an outpatient clinic in Smith County, Texas.
$5,032 million for a lease on an outpatient clinic in Parma, Ohio.
$4.409 million for a lease on an outpatient clinic in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
$2.52 million for a lease on an outpatient clinic in Lowell, Massachusetts.

A committee of Senators and members of the U.S. House of Representatives must now hammer out a compromise bill - which itself must pass both Houses of Congress.

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