Veteran 1 3 2014

12
VOL. 2/ISSUE 9 FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 2014 35 cents ‘My story is my scars, and the government doesn’t pay for scars’ Editor’s note: Veteran Voice will have additional stories about Silverio “Sal” Conti. The Depart- ment of Veterans Affairs is aware that this story is running and is researching information about its experiences with and policies regarding veterans who served at Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah, in the middle 1950s. Silverio “Sal” Conti was in his early 20s when he showed up at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, a facility where chemical and biological weapons testing was conducted in the 1950s. That was in March 1955. Conti wasn’t particularly idealistic, or cynical. He was just a New York City boy there to cook his way through an Army draft enlistment as he looked forward to heading back home. Today, at age 79, he sounds downright cynical and angry at the government. The more his story unfolds, the easier it is to understand why. Conti said that if he knew he’d walked off Dugway with the life he has, he’d have refused to step foot on the post. “I told John (Haddox), ‘Those sons of (expletive) should have told us,” he said. “They should have told us that these things coming out of our bodies were not natural.” Haddox was a county veterans service officer in Martin from 1999 to 2012. That’s how he met Conti and learned about his sto- ry. Haddox filed claims, appeals and more of both to the Depart- ment of Veterans Affairs for Con- ti. They all hit brick walls. Conti said he gets nothing from the VA. Nothing. Not medical care. Nothing. Especially, Con- ti said, he doesn’t get answers. Not from the VA or anyone else. Haddox left the service office to run for and serve on the Mar- tin County Commission, but he keeps up on Conti’s case. Had- dox is a steady man — not at all Patrick McCallister FOR VETERAN VOICE [email protected] Mitch Kloorfain/chief photographer U.S. Army veteran Sal Con of Hobe Sound was a cook in the Army while staoned at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. Since then Con has had a life-long host of medical condions that mimic the illnesses of animals that were found dead in the area of chemical tesng in the late 1960s. See CONTI page 8 7998 US intelligence says that Afghanistan will “slide back” without a security agreement. Do you agree? Send your thoughts to: [email protected]

description

‘My story is my scars, and the government doesn’t pay for scars’, Vietnam veterans shoot benefits many, Thunderbirds, Blue Angels 2014 show schedule packed, Martin vet played tennis with legends

Transcript of Veteran 1 3 2014

Page 1: Veteran 1 3 2014

VOL. 2/ISSUE 9 FRIDAY, JANUARY 3, 201435 cents

‘My story is my scars, and the government doesn’t pay for scars’

Editor’s note: Veteran Voice will have additional stories about Silverio “Sal” Conti. The Depart-ment of Veterans Affairs is aware that this story is running and is researching information about its experiences with and policies regarding veterans who served at Dugway Proving Grounds, Utah, in the middle 1950s. Silverio “Sal” Conti was in his

early 20s when he showed up at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah, a facility where chemical and biological weapons testing was conducted in the 1950s. That was in March 1955. Conti wasn’t particularly idealistic, or cynical. He was just a New York City boy there to cook his way through an Army draft enlistment as he looked forward to heading back home.Today, at age 79, he sounds

downright cynical and angry at the government. The more his story unfolds, the easier it is to understand why. Conti said that if he knew he’d walked off Dugway with the life he has, he’d have refused to step foot on the post. “I told John (Haddox), ‘Those

sons of (expletive) should have told us,” he said. “They should have told us that these things coming out of our bodies were not natural.”

Haddox was a county veterans service officer in Martin from 1999 to 2012. That’s how he met Conti and learned about his sto-ry. Haddox filed claims, appeals and more of both to the Depart-ment of Veterans Affairs for Con-

ti. They all hit brick walls. Conti said he gets nothing from

the VA. Nothing. Not medical care. Nothing. Especially, Con-ti said, he doesn’t get answers. Not from the VA or anyone else. Haddox left the service office to

run for and serve on the Mar-tin County Commission, but he keeps up on Conti’s case. Had-dox is a steady man — not at all

Patrick McCallisterFor Veteran Voice

[email protected]

Mitch Kloorfain/chief photographerU.S. Army veteran Sal Conti of Hobe Sound was a cook in the Army while stationed at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. Since then Conti has had a life-long host of medical conditions that mimic the illnesses of animals that were found dead in the area of chemical testing in the late 1960s.

See CONTI page 8

7998

US intelligence says that Afghanistan will “slide back” without a security agreement. Do you agree?Send your thoughts to:[email protected]

Page 2: Veteran 1 3 2014

2 • JANUARY 3, 2014 • VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE

County Veterans Service OfficersSt. Lucie County, Wayne TeegardinPhone: (772) 337-5670Fax: (772) [email protected] J. Conrad Building(formerly the Walton Road Annex Bldg.)1664 S.E. Walton Road, Suite 205Port St. Lucie, FL 34952By appointmentMon., Tues, Thurs, Fri * 8:30 am-4:30 pmWed * 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. St. Lucie County Community Services Bldg.(Corner of Avenue D and 7th Street)437 N. Seventh St., Fort Pierce, FL 34950Walk-insMon. and Fri. * 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Brevard Veteran’s Services Office2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way,Bldg. B, Suite 102, Viera, FL 32940Office: (321) 633-2012Fax: (321) 637-5432Mon., Tues. and Thurs., 8 a.m.-4 p.m.Wed. and Fri, 8 a.m.-noonManager: Glenn McGuffieIndian River CountyJoel HermanVero Beach 2525 St. Lucie Ave.,Vero Beach, FL 32960 Ph: (772) 226-1499 Fax: (772) 770-5038Sebastian Square 11602 U.S. 1, Sebastian, FL 32958 Ph: (772) 589-6597 Fax: (772) 581-4988

Martin CountyTony Reese, Veterans Service Office SupervisorNick Ciotti, Veterans Service Officer(772) 288-5448Veterans Services OfficeMartin County Community Services435 S.E. Flagler Ave., Stuart, FL 34994Office Hours: Mon-Fri, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.VA Life Insurance Ctr., Phil., PA - 1-800-669-8477 VA Regional Office - 1-800-827-1000 VA Medical Ctr, W. Palm Beach - 1-800-972-8262 Pharmacy, VA Medical Center - 1-800-317-8387 Military Retired Pay Activities, Cleveland, OH - (Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force ONLY) 1-800-321-1080 Military Retired Pay Activities, Topeka, KS - (Coast Guard ONLY)1-800-772-8724 Survivor Benefits (SBP),Denver, CO - 1-800-435-3396 Stuart VA Clinic - (772) 288-0304 Okeechobee CountyVeterans Services office (863) 763-6441, Ext 5.Fax: (863) 763-0118.Orlando VA Medical Cente5201 Raymond St., Orlando, FL 32803(407) 629-1599 or (800) 922-7521Telephone Care(407) 599-1404 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon. - Fri. (800) 645-6895 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Mon - Fri (321) 637-3625 Viera patients8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Mon. - Fri. (877) 741-3400 Weekends, holidays, evenings and nights

West Palm Beach Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center7305 North Military Trail, West Palm Beach, FL 33410(561) 422-8262 or (800) 972-8262 Telephone Care(561) 422-6838 (866) 383-9036 Open 24 hours - 7 daysViera VA Outpatient Clinic2900 Veterans Way, Viera, FL 32940Phone: (321) 637-3788 1 (877) 878-8387Mon. - Fri. - 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.St Lucie County PTSD Clinical Team (PCT) Outpatient Program126 S.W. Chamber Court,Port St Lucie, FL 34986Phone: (772) 878-7876Fort Pierce Community BasedOutpatient Clinic727 North U.S. 1, Fort Pierce, FL 34950Phone: (772) 595-5150Fax: (772) 595-6560St Lucie Community Based Outpatient Clinic128 S.W. Chamber Court,Port Saint Lucie, FL 34986Phone: (772) 344-9288Stuart Community BasedOutpatient Clinic 3501 S E Willoughby Boulevard,Stuart, FL 34997Phone: (772) 288-0304Fax: (772) 288-1371Vero Beach Community BasedOutpatient Clinic372 17th St., Vero Beach, FL 32960Phone: (772) 299-4623Fax: (772) 299-4632

Importantnumbers ...

Veteran Voice is a weekly publication designed to provide information to and about veterans to veterans and to the broader community. Veterans are an integral part of their Florida communities, which currently have individual organizations of their own, such as the Veter-ans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Vietnam Veterans of America and many other groups with a nar-row focus, but no convenient way to connect to a wider population of veterans and to the community in general within a limited geographic area, their community. The mission of Veteran Voice is to publish a weekly source of information that will provide, in one place, a listing of resources available to veterans, articles about changes in policies or organizations affecting veterans and events of interest to veterans as well as articles about veterans of interest to the general public. Veteran Voice LLC is organized as a partnership of experienced newspaper executives with an interest in veterans and in the communities of Florida veterans and friends. Veteran Voice is a start-up intended to ad-dress a perceived lack of information readily available to veterans on programs and policies affecting them and objective reporting of veteran affairs to the public.To our knowledge, and based on comments from lead-ers of local veterans organizations, there was no media or website currently meeting this need until the launch of Veteran Voice. We hope you agree, and will support this publica-tion with your subscription. Without subscriptions there will be a limited number of people we can help, without which this mission will not be realized. As part of our commitment to supporting local veteran communities, we will donate 10 percent of our profits each quarter to qualified veteran charities recommended by you, our readers and subscribers. Please let us know what you think by emailing [email protected] or mailing your comments to us at 1919 S.W. South Macedo Blvd., Port St. Lucie, FL 34984.

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VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE • JANUARY 3, 2014 • 3

Vietnam veterans shoot benefits many

Draw a bead on the third Viet-nam Veterans Sporting Clays Fun Shoot. It’ll be on March 1, at South Florida Shooting Club, 500 S.W. Long Drive, Palm City. Among other things, proceeds will help the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1041 give three Martin County High School Ju-nior ROTC students scholarships. Monies raised will also help local veterans with needs ranging from food to car repairs, along with helping some find jobs. “We raised, netted, $15, 000

for the shoot last year,” George Tidikis, chapter treasurer, said. “We also did a raffle of a helmet, a military diver’s helmet. One of our members was an Army diver. He donated the helmet. Raffling that off, we raised $2,500. We were able to give (Martin County Veterans Service Office super-visor) Tony Reese a check for $17,500.” Last year the Vietnam Veter-

ans of America’s Chapter 1041 had an idea. What if the Martin County Veterans Service Office supervisor, Reese, had a pot of money to help cash-strapped

veterans? Normally Reese fills his days helping veterans file claims and appeals to the Department of Veterans Affairs. But, a few times a month he gets veterans who need things the VA doesn’t offer. Used to be that Reese would

pull out his Rolodex and start calling veterans organizations for donations to those folks. The guys at VVA 1041 just didn’t like the thought of hungry veterans waiting for Reese to get a hold of people for help. So, they told him about their idea: a rapid-response fund that he could tap immedi-ately. Reese thought the upstart chap-

ter meant $500, $1,000. After all, it had maybe 70 some members, right? He said getting a $17,500 rapid-response account bowled him over. “It makes my job 10 times easi-

er,” he said. “I don’t have to think how to get (a veteran in need) help. I can focus on what help (he or she) needs.”In November, only one veteran

tapped the rapid-response fund. By the end of that month, the fund had $12,346.40. “In December, we (helped) six

guys,” Reese said. “It varied from rent and gas money to auto re-pairs.” Those six veterans got a com-

bined $1,900 from the rapid-re-sponse fund. The now 78-members chapter

gave three Junior ROTC students $1,000 each back in May. It aims to give scholarships to three more this school year. The chapter is

also helping veterans hunting for work with Veteran Connection, a job-seeking assistance program. Veteran Connection is a joint

Patrick McCallisterFor Veteran Voice

[email protected]

Staff photo by Patrick McCallisterEd Maxwell, vice president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1041, assess-es the scene at Veteran Connection. The chapter helped organize the veterans job fair at Indian River State College in October, last year, along with the United Way of Martin County. The job fair attracted almost 40 employers wanting to hire veterans with around 80 jobs to offer.

See 1041 page 9

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4 • JANUARY 3, 2014 • VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE

Theodore WilsonPublisher

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Thunderbirds, Blue Angels 2014 show schedule packed

The skies will resound to the roar of the Air Force Thunder-birds and Navy Blue Angels in a packed schedule for 2014, the Department of Defense has an-nounced.Once again, Florida will host

several of the shows, including appearances at Vero Beach and Melbourne.The two teams’ schedules in

2013 were curtailed after the gov-ernment shutdown following dis-sension over raising the national debt ceiling.For the Thunderbirds — official-

ly known as the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron — the first appearance in 2014, slated for New Year’s Day, will take place in Pasadena, Calif., at the opening of the Tournament of Roses Parade, according to a re-lease by the demonstration team. The Thunderbirds’ season will finish up Nov. 8 and 9 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. The Blue Angels won’t begin

their season until March 15, with a show at Naval Air Facility, El Centro, Calif., according to a team release. They, too, will con-clude their season in November, with appearances Nov. 7 and 8 at

the Naval Air Station, Pensacola. The following are upcoming

Florida shows:

Thunderbirds: Feb. 23: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach March 22 and 23: MacDill Air Force Base (Tampa) March 29 and 30: Punta Gorda Oct. 4 and 5: Melbourne Oct. 11 and 12: Daytona Beach

Blue Angels: April 5 and 6: Lakeland May 10 and 11: Vero Beach July 12: Pensacola Beach Oct. 25 and 26: Jacksonville Beach

The remainder of the Thunder-birds’ schedule is as follows:

March 9: Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas March 15 and 16: Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. April 5 and 6: Columbus Air Force Base, Miss. April 12 and 13: Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. April 26 and 27: Barksdale Air Force Base, La. May 3 and 4: Travis Air Force Base, Calif.

May 10 and 11: Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. May 17 and 18: Youngstown Air Reserve Base, Ohio May 24 and 25: Cannon Air Force Base, N.M. May 28: U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo. May 31 and June 1: Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash. June 7 and 8: Rockford, Ill. June 14 and 15: Ocean City, Md. June 21 and 22: Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. June 28 and 29: Hill Air Force Base, Utah July 5 and 6: Battle Creek,

Mich. July 12 and 13: Fair Oaks, In. July 15: Target Field, Minneapolis July 23: Cheyenne, Wyo. July 26 and 27: JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska Aug. 2 and 3: Oshkosh, Wis. Aug. 9 and 10: Ypsilanti, Mich. Aug. 13: Atlantic City, N.J. Aug. 16 and 17: Rochester, N.Y. Aug. 23 and 24: Waterloo, Iowa

Mary KemperFor Veteran Voice

Photos courtesy of U.S. Air ForceAir Force Thunderbird pilots conduct practice maneuvers before an air show in Up-land, Calif., in 2012.

See SHOWS page 6

Page 5: Veteran 1 3 2014

VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE • JANUARY 3, 2014 • 5

Martin vet played tennis with legends(Second of two parts)

In 1931, Joseph Verner Reed and his wife, Permelia Pryor Reed, founded the Jupiter Island Club. The tennis courts at the select club were a popular place for visiting celebrities to let off steam. One of their sons, Nathan-iel Reed, is still active in local and statewide environmental issues.Bill Oughterson was a young

man, still in high school, when he began playing there.“Joseph and dad became good

friends,” Oughterson said. “When people came down who were not real tennis players, they called us.”The younger Oughterson, who

played tennis at Stuart High School, would go on to captain the University of Florida ten-nis team in 1949 and become a professional tennis umpire. More about that later.Last week, I wrote about Bill

Oughterson’s professional and private accomplishments. For the second part of the series, he opened up about two legends whose paths he crossed in very different ways.Oughterson and his father, T.T.,

went to the Jupiter Island Club to play tennis with a pretty fair am-ateur player, Katharine Hepburn. He played her twice and one time, she brought her sister, Peg, for doubles.“Kate and Bill had 6 and Dad

and Sis had 4,” Oughterson re-called. “She and I beat my father and her sister.”Oughterson, still a teen, was a

little star-struck about being with Hepburn, and he left his auto-graph book behind. Soon after, he and the rest of the high school were at an assembly.“Somebody came to the door,

Oughterson said. “I was in the front row as a senior. They said, ‘Billy, a lady wants to see you.’” I opened the door. Everybody rec-ognized her. She handed me my book and I apologized profusely. She was just fun. I was very im-pressed. She was a friendly and normal lady.”The young man’s status in

school jumped quite a bit after that episode.Oughterson’s activities as an

umpire garnered him some na-tional notoriety. At a match in South Florida, he was umpiring

when Chris Evert was playing. He called a foot fault on her at an important point.“She pursed her lips,” Ough-

terson said. “Her parents were seated above and behind me and I knew them, although not well. They smiled.”It was Bud Collins, dean of the

tennis commentators, who had the last word.“I called a foot fault on Chris

Evert and Bud Collins looked up my name and said, ‘He’s from Florida. Doesn’t he know you don’t call a foot fault on Chris Evert in Florida?’”Oughterson said he got sever-

al calls from, people he knew aroused the country who heard the broadcast.”Oughterson also played with for-

mer heavy weight champion Gene Tunney and Lieutenant General Leslie Groves, who oversaw the Manhattan Project that developed the bomb during World War II.It was heady stuff, but Oughter-

son remains humble about his accomplishments and acquain-tances. Many who know him are unaware of them. He will talk about them when asked, but he is not trying to impress. He has no need for that.Today, when you call Bill Ough-

terson, his wife, Leila, is likely to tell you he’s out doing his exer-cises. He is living his life as he al-ways has, and it’s a life well-lived. It has been my privilege to get to know him, if only a little bit.

Shelley Koppel is a staff writer for Your Voice News & Views.

Shelley KoppelStaff writer

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Page 6: Veteran 1 3 2014

6 • JANUARY 3, 2014 • VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE

Photos courtesy of U.S. Air ForceAir Force Thunderbird pilots conduct practice maneuvers before an air show in Upland, Calif., in 2012.

Aug. 30 and 31: Kalispell, Mont. Sep. 13 and 14: Altus Air Force Base, Okla. Sep. 20 and 21: Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho Sep. 27 and 28: Salinas, Calif. Oct. 18 and 19: Rome, Ga. Oct. 25 and 26: Fort Worth, Texas Nov. 1 and 2: Santa Teresa, N.M.

The remainder of the Blue An-gels’ schedule is as follows:

March 15: Naval Air Facility El Centro, Calif.

March 22 and 23: March Air Reserve Base, Calif.

March 29 and 30: Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas

April 12 and 13: Fort Smith, Ark.

April 26 and 27: Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas

May 3 and 4: St Louis May 17 and 18: Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C.

May 21: Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md.

May 23: Naval Academy May 24 and 25: Jones Beach, N.Y.

May 31 and June 1: La Crosse, Wis.

SHOWS from page 4

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June 7 and 8: Pittsburgh June 14 and 15: Smyrna, Tenn.

June 21 and 22: Milwaukee June 28 and 29: Dayton, Ohio July 5 and 6: Traverse City, Mich.

July 19 and 20: Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.

July 26 and 27: St. George, Utah

Aug. 2 and 3: Seattle Aug. 16 and 17: Chicago Aug. 23 and 24: Duluth, Minn. Aug. 30 and 31: Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich.

Sept. 6 and 7: Cleveland Sept. 13 and 14: Baltimore Sept. 20 and 21: Naval Air Station Oceana, Va.

Sept. 27 and 28: Marine Corps Base Hawaii

Oct. 4 and 5: Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif.

Oct. 11 and 12: San Francisco Oct. 18 and 19: Millington, Tenn.

Nov. 1 and 2: Houston

For more information, visit af-thunderbirds.com and www.blueangels.navy.mil

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy Navy Blue Angels pilots conduct precision maneuvers.

SHOWS from page 6

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8 • JANUARY 3, 2014 • VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE

prone to hyperbole or emotional outbursts. “Worst case ever I’ve worked on,”

he said. “The saddest one. It’s total (expletive) for the veteran.” That’s today. Let’s go back to

the start of Conti’s tale. Dugway. When he walked into Haddox’s office, Conti told him that’s where he’d served until 1956. Haddox had 20 years in the Navy and a decade as a service officer. There weren’t many new base names for him to hear. “I told him I’d never heard of

the place,” Haddox said. “I asked him, ‘What is Dugway?”Put simply, Dugway is the kind

of place that crops up in spy nov-els and movies about man-made apocalypses. The base is still around. Even has a website. “They were doing all kinds of

tests,” Conti said. “They never told us what they were testing.”As his stateside deployment

rolled on, Conti got a growing unease about where he was. The cook was up early in the morn-ings and saw things. He saw worrisome things. “I’d go to throw out food in the

morning, and I’d see dead ani-mals with lumps,” he said. “Hors-es, big horses, dead with lumps.” Then, he started getting those

same lumps. “I said, ‘What are all these lumps

on my body?’” Conti said. “They said don’t worry about it.’ They said, ‘Don’t worry about it; we’ll take care of it.’”Military doctors removed those

lumps, but took Conti off cooking duty. He became a clerk until his deployment ended. Those lumps kept growing while Conti was at Dugway, and after he left. “I’ve had 50, 60 surgeries to

remove all these lumps on my body,” he said. Then in the late ‘60s, early ‘70s,

Conti had a tumor tree growing at the base of his spine. Sur-geons removed it. The largest part weighed in at 5 pounds. Later he developed mouth cancer. “I’ve been trying to get some

recognition of something that happened to me out there,” Conti said. “I told John (Haddox), I’ve never smoked a cigarette in my life, so it seems not right that I have cancer in my palate.” Lumps. Tumors. Cancer. All of it

starting at Dugway, Conti said. “It started when he was in the

service,” Haddox said. “(A claim) should have been a slam dunk.”But, it’s wasn’t. There are a cou-

ple reasons for that, Haddox and Conti said. One is the secrecy that surrounds Dugway. “(The VA) wanted him to tell

them what chemicals he was exposed to,” Haddox said. “He doesn’t know that. This stuff was secret.” The other problem is the 1973

fire at the National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis. The fire famously destroyed millions of service records — including

Conti’s Army medical records that he says would show his lumps started at Dugway. “I said, ‘Where is my record of

that?’” he said. “No one can give me a record of that. They say all my records burned in the St.

Mitch Kloorfain/chief photographerU.S. Army veteran Sal Conti of Hobe Sound uses a dinner roll to give perspective of the size of a tumor removed from the base of his spine over 40 years ago. Conti is seeking answers regarding his medical conditions since serving at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. Conti’s time served corresponds with the Dugway Sheep Kill incident where sev-eral thousand sheep were killed by a nerve agent in 1968.

CONTI from page 1

See CONTI page 9

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VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE • JANUARY 3, 2014 • 9

Louis fire.” Without records, the Hobe

Sound man doesn’t have much left for making claims, or seeking

answers. “My story is my scars, and

the government doesn’t pay for scars,” Conti said. “That’s what someone told me: ‘Mr. Conti, the VA does not pay for scars.’”

CONTI from page 8

project with the United Way of Martin County.Veteran Connection included

a series of employment-hunting and career-development classes that culminated in an October job fair at Indian River State College’s Chastain Campus, Stuart. “We had 38 employers with 80

job openings,” Tidikis said. “Un-fortunately, we had 40 veterans show up. We went back to the drawing board: ‘OK, where did we go wrong promoting it.’” There’ll be another Veteran Con-

nection job fair at the campus in April. All the chapter’s activity gets a

bunch of attention around Flori-da. Ben Humphries — state pres-ident, VVA Florida State Council — said all of the state’s 27 chap-ters are wonderful, but there’s something about the Martin boys. “They are a brand-new chapter,

but they hit the ground run-ning,” he said. “They’ve been very involved in the community and

always looking for a way to help veterans in need.” According to the Florida De-

partment of Veterans Affairs, there are about 500,000 Vietnam veterans in the Sunshine State. They make up almost a third of the state’s veterans population. Martin County has about 14,700 veterans. It likely has almost 5,000 Vietnam-era veterans. George Mittler, 1041’s presi-

dent, said that with fundraising success proving outreach tactics, VVA 1041 is turning more of its attention to getting those veter-ans signed up. “We try to dig them up out of the

woodwork,” he said.Membership is open to all veter-

ans who served in Vietnam from February 1961 to May 1975, and all veterans who served from Au-gust 1964 to May 1975. Meetings are on the first Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. They’re held at Sewall’s Point Town Hall, 1 S. Sewall’s Point Road. To find out more about the fund-

raising shoot and chapter, visit vva1041.

1041 from page 3

TRA DITION

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18

Page 10: Veteran 1 3 2014

10 • JANUARY 3, 2014 • VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE

CLUES ACROSS 1. Type of health plan 4. Atmospheric haze 7. A period of time 10. Auricle 11. Copycat 12. Manpower 13. Delicate fern genus 15. Diego, Francisco or

Anselmo 16. Zanzibar copal 19. Jackie’s 2nd husband 22. Calcified tooth tissue 23. Conjoined twins 24. Mythological birds 25. This (Spanish) 26. Lowest hereditary title 29. Pre-transplant plot 33. Fiddler crab genus 34. Professional legal

organization 35. Most thick 40. Sleeve indicator of

mourning 44. Far East housemaid 45. Hmong 46. With three uneven

sides 49. Tempts 53. Jewelry finding 55. Showed intense anger 56. Black tropical American

cuckoo 57. Sculpture with a head 58. A single entity 59. What part of (abbr.) 60. Before 61. Confined condition

(abbr.) 62. Hurrah

63. Transport faster than sound

CLUES DOWN 1. Sorli’s Tale hero 2. A musical master 3. Speech 4. Swiftest 5. Opaque gem 6. Origins 7. Proceed from a source 8. Rechristened 9. Liquorice flavored seed 13. Small amount 14. Mineral aggregate 17. Prefix for wrong 18. Point midway between

E and SE 20. A single instance 21. French river 26. Undeveloped blossom 27. One pip domino

28. Fled on foot 30. Sheep bleat 31. One point N of due E 32. Father 36. A projecting part 37. Improved by editing 38. Made melodious

sounds 39. Treatment 40. Agreeableness 41. Bell sound 42. Tennis contests 43. Furnace vessels 46. Sirius Satellite Radio

(abbr.) 47. Licensed accountant 48. Crude potassium

bitartrate 50. Insert mark 51. Election Stock Market

(abbr.) 52. A health resort 54. So. Am. Indian people

Crossword

7911

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The

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Page 11: Veteran 1 3 2014

VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE • JANUARY 3, 2014 • 11

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8046

Page 12: Veteran 1 3 2014

12 • JANUARY 3, 2014 • VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE

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