World War II Memorial on National Mall Dedicated

On May 29, 117,000 ticket-holding veterans and their families gathered on the Mall in Washington, D.C., to witness the dedication of the National World War II Memorial. The memorial pays tribute to the 16 million Americans who served their nation during the war, with a large paved plaza, granite pillars, arches of stone, and bronze wreaths, as well as 4,000 gold stars, each representing 100 military deaths.

Former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Clinton took the stage surrounded by World War II Medal of Honor recipients. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) explained the conception of the memorial, which stemmed back to the mid-1980s when one of her constituents, Roger Durbin, a rural letter carrier and World War II veteran, asked her why there wasn’t a World War II memorial in Washington. Monument Chairman Gen. P.X. Kelly, USMC, led the ceremony, which included news anchor Tom Brokaw, National Memorial Spokesman Tom Hanks, and former Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.). President George W. Bush accepted the monument on behalf of the American people, and opera singer Denise Graves sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America.” The Air Force provided a four-plane flyby.

During the weekend, veterans and other members of the public also participated in the National World War II Reunion, which featured the Library of Congress Veterans’ History Project, a motor pool staffed with reenactors outfitted in authentic dress, and a reunion tent where veterans could post messages to each other.

— By Sarah A. Sherman

Lawsuit Seeks Reform of USFSPA

New efforts are under way to seek reform of the Uniformed Services Former Spouse Protection Act (USFSPA). The USFSPA Litigation Support Group (http://usfspa-lawsuit.info) recently filed a federal lawsuit alleging the USFSPA is unconstitutional and asking the court to prohibit its enforcement.

The legal action came after legislative efforts to reform the act stalled in Congress because of recent comments made by the Pentagon. Rep. Cass Ballenger’s (R-N.C.) USFSPA bill (H.R. 1111) would limit former spouse payments to the length of time the marriage overlapped with military service—e.g., 10 years of payments for a 10-year marriage—for marriages that lasted less than 20 years. The rationale is that if a servicemember isn’t entitled to lifetime retired pay without serving 20 years, a former spouse shouldn’t be either.

But an April 8 Pentagon letter to Congress opposed such time-limited payments, asserting that military retirement shouldn’t be treated differently than other retirement benefits. The letter did support certain other provisions of the bill, such as basing award amounts on the member’s grade and years of service at the time of divorce (versus the retirement date) and barring courts from requiring members to begin payments to a former spouse before retirement.

New Hire

Col. Jesús “Jess” Ramirez, ARNG-Ret., has joined the MOAA headquarters staff as the deputy director
for National Guard and Reserve Affairs.

In this position, Ramirez will develop long- and short-term programs to promote increased membership of Guard and Reserve officers. His goal is to increase awareness of MOAA, its accomplishments, and the benefits that MOAA membership offers reserve members.

Ramirez comes to MOAA with 21 years of combined service in the Army and the California Army National Guard. His assignments ranged from platoon leader to chief of Systems Branch, Aviation and Safety Division, National Guard Bureau, and culminated as the commander of the 1106th Aviation Classification and Repair Activity Depot, Fresno, Calif.

If you have any good ideas or feedback on how MOAA can better serve our National Guard and Reserve officers or what benefits, products, or services MOAA should be working on, please contact Ramirez at (800) 234-6622, ext. 177, or via e-mail, jessr@moaa.org.