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Departments - News Notes

Korean War Not Forgotten 

While the American public regards the Korean War as the “forgotten war,” the U.S. Postal Service is doing its part to preserve the conflict in our national memory by creating a new first-class postage stamp highlighting the Korean War Veterans Memorial.

The stamp, featuring a dramatic photograph of the Korean War Veterans Memorial after a snowstorm, was unveiled during an emotional ceremony in conjunction with the Department of Defense’s commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice. 

“It seems like a natural. This is a wonderful opportunity for [the U.S. Postal Service] to introduce the stamp to [thousands] of Korean War veterans whose bravery and patriotism must be recognized and never forgotten,” says Don Smeraldi, spokesperson for the U.S. Postal Service.

To order the stamp, call (800) STAMP-24 (782-6724) or go online, www.usps.com/shop.

NOAA, Cussler Team Up

To further encourage the use of personal locator beacons (PLBs), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has employed best-selling author Clive Cussler to serve as its spokesperson for a new public service campaign. 

“As someone who writes about and has experienced the dangers of the great outdoors, I appreciate the value of the life-saving service that personal locator beacons can provide.”
— Clive Cussler, author

When PLBs are activated during an emergency, they emit a signal that can be tracked by a worldwide search-and-rescue system monitored by satellites that are operated by NOAA. PLBs became operational July 1 within the continental United States.

Cussler is best known for his action-adventure novels featuring hero Dirk Pitt and his exploits with the fictional National Underwater & Marine Agency. He has sold more than 130 million books in 40 different languages.

The public service announcements, which will air this fall, can be viewed online at NOAA’s Web site, www.noaa.gov.

World War II Veterans Reunited

Come one World War II veteran, come all! The World War II Veterans Committee, a project of the American Studies Center in Washington, D.C., is hosting its sixth national conference Nov. 6–8 in Alexandria, Va.

Veterans from all services are invited to participate in a variety of activities, such as memorial wreath layings at the Navy Memorial, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and Mount Vernon; an evensong service honoring veterans at The Church of the Epiphany; and a banquet with live big-band music. Speakers at the conference include Adm. Thomas Moorer, USN-Ret, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; John Dolibois, former U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg and interrogator of Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg; and Edgar Whitcomb, former governor of Indiana and author of Escape from Corregidor (Henry Regnery Co., 1958).

For more information, call (202) 408-0624 or visit www.wwiivets.com.

Join Us in Portland 

MOAA’s annual meeting will be held at the Portland Marriott Downtown in Portland, Ore., Nov. 8, 2003. It will include seminars on benefits information, legislative planning, financial planning, and more. See the ad on page 25 for more information. We hope you’ll join us!

Building Vietnam’s Future

The wounds from the Vietnam War have been healing for more than two decades. To encourage the healing process and rebuild Vietnam’s culture and society, the Vietnam Children’s Fund (VCF) aims to build enough schools to teach 58,000 children—the same number of names that appear on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.

The project is based on the dream of 1st Lt. Lewis B. Puller Jr., USMC—son of Lt. Gen. Lewis “Chesty” Puller, USMC. After being seriously wounded in the Vietnam War, Puller Jr. returned to Vietnam seeking ideas for a living memorial to honor the Vietnamese people. He decided it would be most appropriate to help the country’s future—its children. After Puller Jr.’s suicide in 1992, his friends formed the VCF to realize his dream. 

So far, 20 elementary schoolhouses have been built, serving approximately 5,000 children, and 19 more are in the planning stages. For more information about the VCF, visit its Web site, www.vietnamchildren.org.

Dual Eligibility Made Easy

Although not common, some severely disabled servicemembers (particularly those under age 65) face having to process health care claims with both TRICARE and Medicare. To reduce the hassle, TRICARE recently awarded the Dual-Eligible Fiscal Intermediary Contract (TDEFIC) to Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corp. (WPS), of Madison, Wis. 

The contract is a single, separate vehicle for claims processing, customer service, and administrative services and will replace the practice of having managed care support contractors providing these services. TDEFIC will be phased in by region with the support contracts beginning April 1, 2004. 

TDEFIC will affect the approximately 1.7 million beneficiaries who are eligible for both TRICARE and Medicare. The intent is that beneficiaries who currently must submit paper claims will have their claims handled electronically when the contract begins next year. WPS will provide more information when services begin.

HEALTH BEAT: Medical Checklists
Do you and your family feel inundated with information about prevention and medical screening tests? From mammograms and prostate cancer screenings to cholesterol and blood pressure tests, it can be difficult to figure out which tests are needed when. Two new pamphlets from the Department of Health and Human Services and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), “Women: Stay Healthy at Any Age: Checklist for Your Next Checkup” and “Men: Stay Healthy at Any Age: Checklist for Your Next Checkup,” outline what you need to know about the most important screening tests. The pamphlets also include information about how to stay healthy by recording which screening tests you’ve received, when you received them, and when you should be tested again.

The women’s checklist can be viewed and downloaded at www.ahrq.gov/ppip/healthy wom.htm in English and at www.ahrq.gov/ppip/healthywomsp.htm in Spanish.

The men’s checklist can be viewed and downloaded at www.ahrq.gov/ppip/healthy men.htm in English and at www.ahrq.gov/ppip/healthymensp.htm in Spanish.

To request printed copies be mailed to you, call the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse at (800) 358-9295 or send an e-mail to ahrqpubs@ahrq.gov.