Bulletin Board Bulletin Board Wanted: Photographs and stories from the 1945-1972
period. 12/08/2019 Thanks Roy and any help would be
great. SP5 Carlos E.
Chacon 05H20, Co. B
Anything that you would like to share that may be of interest to
others.
Email for this web site should be sent to
or asachitose@gmail.com
Chitose Fire
1970
Thanks Roy. The incident occurred on July 8, 1970,
while my wife, two kids, and I lived in apartment 904b, in the 900 area.
Our housing, was in a complex of four Quonsets, configured in a H pattern.
The units were joined by a common utility corridor. I was getting ready to
go to work when I saw flames coming out of a window from unit 904a. I
evacuated my family and the families in the remaining units. One unit was
occupied by SP4 Danny Walker's family. I had to kick open an exterior door
to get Linda Walker and baby Danny out of their unit. SP4 walker was on
duty. The unit where the fire started was occupied by a recent arrival who
I met. His wife was on post in labor, so I expected that he was with her.
Unfortunately, he had returned that night. The morning of July 9th, I
returned to search for salvageable baby items. I was called over to a pile of
burned material by a Japanese fireman that was very anguished. He pulled
back a burned mattress and underneath it was the burned body of my
neighbor. I cannot remember his name. I seem to recall that he was not ASA
and possibly wore a 9th Inf patch. I need to know who he was or any
information that might reveal his identity. I have been greatly bothered by this
incident. This a very short account and there are a lot of details that I can
provide you over a telcon. Like my search for ASA records about the
incident that cannot be located.
chaconcarlos1947@gmail.com
If you know of this incident
please contact Carlos.
November 03, 2014
Phil,
Years ago I emailed you and told you about a
Jeep I had bought from Roger Williams. It had come from the base in Japan where
you and he were stationed. You sent some pictures to me of some of the vehicles
including one of the Jeeps. I am mostly done with the restoration I will finish
with stenciling the base numbers on the bumpers as they were in the picture. 12
ASA FS20. It has been quite a project for me and I like knowing the history of
it and I have shared it with others keeping yours and others service to this
country alive. I attached a picture from today since I just started it for the
first time in years. It is ready for a test drive.
I hope this message finds you well and in good
health.
Sincerely,
Kyle Vanderhoef
1952 M38 Jeep
August 13, 2013
Hi Phil:
I just wanted to bring attention to the members of ASA
Chitose the U.S. Army Museum "Brick Program".. I am a founding sponsor of the
museum and on my 80th birthday last month, my wife dedicated a "brick" to the
museum in my name, along with the sentiment "You will be my hero forever,
Cookie". Also, my wife dedicated a "brick" to her late uncle who was with the
342 Engineers in the Battle of the Bulge in WWII. I thought this might be of
interest to our group. My name is
Ronald Dakin and I served in Company A of the 315th ASA Battalion from early
1957 to February 1958. On this New Years Eve I would like to remember 2 of my
friends, SFC Roger Boehm and Sgt. William Leigh. The 3 of us had recently
returned from overseas assignments. I had been in Chitose, Japan for 48 months,
from January 1953 until December 1956. I am not sure where Roger and Bill had
been previously, but we all ended up back at Ft. Devens for additional training.
We became good friends and when we ended up at Ft. Huachuca and we were
inseparable. Bill and Roger have since passed away. The last New Year Eve I
spent with these great guys was December 31. 1957. There is no greater comrades
than those in the military. I just wanted to honor their memories on this New
Years Eve in 2012. Thank you guys for your great friendship and wherever you
are, when I get there, I will buy you the first round. Ron
Dakin SFC U.S.
Army 1952 -
1958 HAPPY NEW
YEAR Gordon Holmes Honored for Helping Homeless
Vets
Ron Dakin
For more information on the museum and brick
program https://armyhistory.org/
January 1 2013
November 19, 2012
The Veterans Committee of the
Oklahoma Democratic Party has announced that Gordon E. Holmes has been selected
as the 2012 Oklahoma Veteran of the Year. The committee is one of the state
Democratic Party’s four federations and has representation on the central
governing body of the party.
Holmes lives in Tulsa, where he has been
active in technology consulting since 1976. Over the past three years, he has
been volunteering his time through the Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless,
helping to set up donated computers and train homeless people how to use them to
search for jobs, create resumes and reconnect with family members. Many of the
homeless people he helps are also veterans, and so he shows them how to apply
for and track government assistance programs and disability benefits. Holmes
also assists those at the Day Center who have physical challenges.
“By helping homeless veterans and others
understand how to use the internet for these basic tasks, Gordon is giving them
some of the resources they need to help themselves regain a place in modern
society,” said Isaac M. O’Bannon, president of the Oklahoma Democratic Party
Veterans Committee. “He is a great example of someone who wanted to reach out,
so he looked at what he was good at, technology, and found a way to help others
with his skills. It is my honor to present Gordon the award for 2012 Oklahoma
Veteran of the Year.”
Holmes says he was inspired to action by
words from the President. “When President Obama was first elected, he challenged
Americans to do something to help in our own communities. The next day, I
reported for duty by volunteering at the Tulsa Day Center for the
Homeless.”
Holmes is a veteran of the U.S. Army,
serving as an intelligence specialist with the Army’s Security Agency from
1959-1963. He was primarily stationed in Chitose, on the Japanese island of
Hokkaido, where he was involved analyzing Cold War
communications.
A native of Stigler, Oklahoma, Holmes is a
graduate of the Oklahoma Military Academy. Following his service in the Army, he
received a degree in Accounting from the University of South Dakota, and he and
his wife Cathy returned to Oklahoma to raise their children Gordon II and
Chris.
The Oklahoma Democratic Party Veterans Committee is a federation of Oklahomans who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States. Its mission is to actively promote and help elect Democratic candidates who are dedicated to supporting our nation’s veterans and active duty military personnel by promoting their well-being and ensuring healthcare, training, education and other benefits are proteced.
Burial Services for Veterans in
Rural Areas
WASHINGTON - The Department of Veterans
Affairs announced today that it is moving forward with a plan to provide burial
services for Veterans in rural areas where there are no available VA national
cemeteries, state Veterans cemeteries or tribal Veterans cemeteries.
“VA is committed to improving service to
Veterans in rural areas,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.
“Through an innovative partnership with existing cemeteries, we will be able to
ensure burial for Veterans in more locations that meet the high standards of
national shrines.”
Under the Rural Initiative plan, VA will
build small National Veterans Burial Grounds within existing public or private
cemeteries in rural areas where the unserved Veteran population is 25,000 or
less within a 75-mile radius.
VA plans to open eight National Veterans
Burial Grounds that will serve Veterans in the areas of Fargo, N.D.;
Rhinelander, Wis.; Cheyenne, Wyo.; Laurel, Mont.; Idaho Falls, Idaho; Cedar
City, Utah; Calais, Maine; and Elko, Nev.
VA officials will announce further details
about the eight new burial grounds as information becomes available. This new
initiative will make VA burial options available to more than 136,000 Veterans
and their eligible dependents.
A National Veterans Burial Ground will be a
small, VA-managed section of three to five acres within an existing public or
private cemetery. VA will provide a full range of burial options and control the
operation and maintenance of these lots. These sections will be held to the same
“national shrine” standards as VA-run national
cemeteries.
VA is still evaluating suitable sites for
its Rural Initiative. In Laurel, Mont., VA is exploring with local officials the
feasibility of acquiring a portion of the Yellowstone County Veterans Cemetery
to establish as a National Veterans Burial
Ground.
VA operates 131 national cemeteries in 39
states and Puerto Rico and 33 soldiers' lots and monument sites. Nearly four
million Americans, including Veterans of every war and conflict -- from the
Revolutionary War to the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan -- are buried
in VA’s national cemeteries on more than 19,000 acres.
Veterans with a
discharge issued under conditions other than dishonorable, their spouses and eligible dependent children can be buried in a VA
national cemetery. Other burial benefits available for all
eligible Veterans, regardless of whether they are buried in a national cemetery
or a private cemetery, include a burial flag, a Presidential
Memorial Certificate and a government headstone, grave marker or
medallion.
Tom Philpott | April 01, 2010 / MILITARY.com
New Agent Orange Rule to Allow Retro Claims by
86,000
About 86,000 Vietnam War veterans, their surviving spouses or
estates will be eligible for retroactive disability compensation from the
Department of Veterans Affairs -- an average of 11.4 years for veterans and 9.6
years for survivors -- under a draft VA rule to expand by three the number of
diseases presumed caused by herbicide exposure in the war.
The 86,000 are
beneficiaries who can reopen previously denied claims for these conditions:
ischemic heart disease, Parkinson's disease and chronic B-cell blood cancers
including hairy cell leukemia. But another 29,000 claims are expected to be
approved this year for Vietnam veterans suffering from these diseases but
applying for benefits for the first time.
The projected cost of this
dramatic expansion of claims linked to Agent Orange and other defoliants
deployed four decades ago is $13.6 billion this fiscal year and $42.2 billion
over 10 years. VA plans to hire 1772 new claims processors, starting this
October, to be able to handle these claims "without significantly degrading the
processing of the non-presumptive workload."
In the proposed rule
published March 25 in the Federal Register, VA officials explained that
Secretary Eric Shinseki has cut the usual 60-day public comment period by half
"to promote rapid action" on these claims.
Subject: Army Site Invite from Lieutenant Colonel
Kevin Ingalls
Dear Lieutenant Colonel
Chip Vaughan,
Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Ingalls invites you to
join
Army.TogetherWeServed.com (ATWS) - a
one of a kind, feature rich website specially created to provide US Army
Soldiers of all eras the
opportunity to not only locate Brothers from
the past, but also to provide a unique venue to enjoy the camaraderie of others
who served
through the sharing of memories and photographs.
ATWS is
administered entirely by retired Soldiers and already has a large growing
membership of current and former serving Army Members
which has allowed many
Members to reconnect with others with whom they served.
ATWS has no public
access and only those who served in the United States Army, United States
Army Reserve and Army National Guard are eligible to
come aboard.
Joining is completely free and enables you to create your own personal
Army Service profile page including the voluntary posting
of your Training
Schools, the Units you were assigned to, the Combat Missions you participated in
and even the Medals, Insignia and Skill Badges you were awarded in a very
attractive and accurate format.
To complete your Membership, follow the
link below. You are under no obligation to remain a Member of
Army.TogetherWeServed.com and you may
cancel at any time.
http://army.togetherweserved.com/army/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=Activate&ID=163123
Yours
truly
The Administrator
http://Army.TogetherWeServed.com
Makubetsu
The Wakkanai City Historical Society has become interested in the Makubetsu Site and is initiating plans to restore the delapadated buildings there for the purpose of opening a museum. This is the same site that housed the 254th USASA Detachment which was deactivated in 1959. Many of our Chitose Association members either served there or performed TDY chores there in the late 50's.
VA Nationwide Gravesite Locator: http://www.cem.va.gov
National Personnel Records Center
Military
Personnel Records
9700 Page Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63132-5100
or: make the
request online at:
http://vetrecs.archives.gov/
When you submit
your request online, a signature form downloadable from the site can be sent to
you for
completion and submission. The National Personnel Records Center
will then send you an e-mail
acknowledging your request.
Email for this web site should be sent to asachitose@gmail.com
