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Newsletter of MOAA Houston Area, July 2008, p. 1
HOUSTON AREA PO BOX 1082 HOUSTON TX 77251-1082 www.moaahoustonarea.com
Newsletter to Members
Vol. XLVI No.5 July 2008
NEXT MEETING JULY 26, 2008 RIVERBEND COUNTRY CLUB
President’s Message
Our major effort is to make this Newsletter informative, timely
and accurate. We want you to have this Newsletter in your hands
in time for the ladies to receive adequate and accurate
notification about the third Thursday Wives’ Club luncheons.
Carol Wilson did a great job composing the last Newsletter on
time, but we ran into delays switching publishers and post
offices. If you get this Newsletter on time we will have solved
those problems. If not, don’t give up on us, because we’re still
working on the problem. Please notify Carol Wilson at 281-642-
4050 with suggestions, problems, and errors. She will funnel the
information to the proper source for action.
Jeannette Evans is President of the Wives’ Club and makes
luncheon arrangements for both MOAA,HA and the Wives’
Club. When my wife comes home from the Wives’ Club
luncheon and tells me what she had to eat, I think she’s getting a
better deal. Sure enough, she is. When I asked Jeannette about it,
she told me that MOAA,HA has a $25 cap and the women can
spend a little extra. I asked at the June luncheon and received
approval for the men to have a top price of $30. This will allow
Jeannette to select a better mix of restaurants with better entrees
and better desserts. I realize attendees should be able to make
entree and desert selections ahead of time and bring checks
already made out for the proper amount. With the improvements
in the Newsletter, this should be a matter of course. It would be a
lot easier to make arrangements if we used only one restaurant,
but since our membership is scattered over such a wide area, we
try to pick up a greater variety of attendance by having meetings
closer.
The Telephone Directory was not published this year for several
reasons. The primary reason is the cost. Clarence Hester, now
deceased, hustled around and found enough advertisers to cover
the cost. Our membership dues are on a calendar year basis. It is
felt that we should list only active members in the Directory and
not bear the expense of adding names of members whose
membership has expired. It is always a struggle to get the
Officers
President
1st Vice President ProgramWayne Ritter Lt. Col. USAF 713.947.2087
SecretaryVal G. Henneberg Maj. USA713.729.8217
Treasurer Martin I. Harris Maj. USMC713.436.0429
2nd Vice President ArrangementsJeannette Evans, widow281.495.2202
Legislative RepresentativeROTC Scholarship William Taylor Capt. USAR28.482.7315
Assistant Legislative Representative George McDowell Col. USAF-713.723.5166
LiaisonEugene Tulich Cdr. USCG-281.376.0061
ROTCEdward Hale Col. USAR713.644.3796
Editor
Carol Ann Wilson 8902 Sunnywood DriveHouston TX77088-3729281. 847.9754; 281.642.4050 [email protected]
Newsletter of MOAA Houston Area, July 2008, p. 2
President’s Message
(cont’d)
members to renew on time,
so we delay publishing the
directory to March or April
to be sure we get as many
names as possible. In the
meantime, Pete Meyer
resigned, and our efforts
were diverted to cover the
loss of leadership.
Our club is still without the
leadership of a President.
Three of us Past-Presidents
have agreed to rotate the
responsibilities until we can
find someone who will hear
the call and respond with
“Here am I, send me.”
Volunteers will get ample
assistance and suggestions to
help them.
We are establishing a
permanent ROTC
scholarship fund with the
University of Houston. The
fund will require a minimum
value of $10,000 to become
permanent, and we are not
there yet. We are adding a
form to every issue of our
Newsletter to encourage you
to contribute to the fund.
Often a scholarship is the
difference between a high
school and a college
education. The U of H Air
Force ROTC is sponsoring a
golf tournament on August
19 to assist the effort. Callth
713-743-4932 for
information.
Andrew Parsons, Past
President, Colonel, USAR
One of the best ways to keep
peace is to be prepared for
war.
General George Washington
MOAA Houston Area
Board Meeting
Tues. July 22, 11:30
Rudi Lechner’s
2503 S. Gessner Future mtgs:
8/26, 9/23, 10/21, 11/25
MOAA Houston AreaMonthly Meeting and
Luncheon
Sat. July 26 11:30
Riverbend
Country Club
1214 Dulles Avenue
Sugar Land
Menu
House Salad
Pecan Crusted Chicken Breast
or
8-ounce Pork Chop
Seasonal Vegetables
Assorted Desserts
Coffee, Tea, Rolls
Reservations to Jeannette Evans,
281.495.2202, by Wed. before.
SpeakerJohn W Hankins
“Project Uboat
Fourth Reich”
John Hankins is a retired Hospital
Executive who has traveled the world
extensively, through service in the
U.S. Merchant Marine and the U.S.
Army and Air Force Medical Services
until retirement as a Major. While
rising through the ranks to
commissioned status John attended
several colleges and universities as he
completed his BA and MHA degrees.
After his career as a civilian Hospital
Administrator and Consultant, he
decided to build a new career as a
writer, studying journalism, creative
writing, poetry, and other subjects.
While writing a novel, he was called
to Hawaii for a hospital consulting
job, and he later he ran for
Governor of Hawaii, but had
to withdraw due to a five year
CURRENT residency
requirement. With the
promising campaign over,
John started writing again and
to augment his skills, he
enrolled in screenwriting and
film making courses
conducted by Terry Bourke, a
well known Australian film
maker and journalist who was
visiting Hawaii for that
purpose. The making of a
pilot, which included acting
and technical assistance roles
by students, proved to be a
worthy experience.
During his varied career John
has had a number of
professional and other articles
published in trade and other
journals, one of which, Jet
Age Evacuation of Vietnam
Casualties, gained him
Presidential acclaim.
John was raised on the Island
of Oahu, Hawaii, and even
attended school as a military
dependent, before the war, on
Ford Island, located in the
middle of Pearl Harbor.
Among his many
accomplishments, John is a
SCUBA diver and a licensed
twin engine rated pilot. He is
presently working on other
projects, including a feature
film based on his novel
Cayman Gold. John also
serves as an Adjunct
Professor teaching Health
Care Administration to
graduate students enrolled in
Houston Baptist University’s
Health Science Department.
Future meetings:
8/30 Houston Racquet Club
9/27
10/25
11/20 Men join women at
Petroleum Club
12/6 Christmas Dance
7-10 p.m., Briar Club
Newsletter of MOAA Houston Area, July 2008, p. 3
Military Officers
Wives Association
No Meetings
in July or
August
Next Meeting
September 18
Details to follow
Happy Summer!
Stay cool.
Z Treasurer’s
Report
Income Expense
May 0 $ 173.46
Balance: $5,882.10
June $1,124 $1,687
Balance: $5,319.10
Martin Harris, Treasurer
Commander Gene Tulich, U.S. Coast
Guard (Retired), was our speaker in
June. He was appointed as a
Commissioner of the Texas Military
Preparedness Commission in January
2006, and he serves as Chairman of
the Houston Military Affairs
Committee, helping to support and
facilitate military and veterans’ events
in the Houston area. He is also the
Deputy Director of the Ellington Field
Task Force.
He spoke to us on the current state of
events of interest to our members.
Commdr. Tulich has spent untold
hours and amounts of his personal
funds to save Ellington Field, which
was to have been zeroed out five years
ago, before he and some other
stalwarts traveled to Washington, D.C.
to fight the successful fight. It was
kept at 1500 active reserve and guard
and will increase in August. The
biggest disappointment was losing the
147th Fighter Wing and its fabulous
F-16s protecting our harbor area.
Commdr. Tulich provided a wealth of
information about the unmanned
reconnaissance predator program at
Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base.
Predators currently flying over Iraq
will be controlled from an Operations
Center at Ellington. This includes
monitoring enemy movements and
firing missiles at enemy targets.
Realistic hopes for a
commissary at Ellington are
for 2011. It takes time to build
things. The recent case lot
sale was a success, and as
personnel numbers increase at
Ellington, we will get more
attention. August 10 will see
the 75th Division (Battle
Command Training Division)
personnel move from O.S.T.
to Ellington Field Joint
Reserve Base, which will
bring the number to 6000.
Base tickers are available for
cars, so the next time you’re
at Ellington, get yours.
An interesting factoid from
Commander Tulich’s
presentation: NASA has more
of its jets at Ellington Field
than the Fighter Wing had!
Also present at our June
meeting was Margo
Standiford, in the beautiful
suit she made!
“Lead me, follow me, or
get out of my way.”
General George Patton
Are Your
Dues Paid?
See form on
back page for
renewal.
June Meeting Winner Dr. Francis Greytok (l), with Martin Harris (r)
Margo Standiford
Newsletter of MOAA Houston Area, July 2008, p. 4
Special Message
from
Past President
William H. Taylor,
CPT USA Ret.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are all leaders, and we
are in an organization where
leaders take charge. We now
find MOAA,HA, in dire
straits. Why is this? This is
my opinion.
In 2005 our president
resigned almost immediately,
because of personal reasons.
The 2005 term was ably
completed by Col Hester. In
2006 our president resigned
for “health reasons” midway
through the year. His term
was completed by Lt. Cdr.
Pete Meyer.
In 2007 Lt. Cdr. Pete Meyer
was reelected for the 2008
office. Early in 2008 Lt. Cdr
Meyer resigned for health
reasons. The balance of 2008
will be handled by past
presidents on an interim
basis. Why is this? Our
membership continues to
decline. The leaders of the
past have passed the torch
and rightfully so. They have
served their time from our
founder Col. George
McDowell. Through the
years they have done their
best. Now we have a
mission; our mission is to,
number one, fill the
leadership void; two, fund
and exceed our goal of the
University of Houston, Corps
of Cadets Endowment Fund;
and three, find the individual
who will step up and take
charge. Remember: every
strong man has a stronger
woman behind him. Ladies,
step forward.
ROTCEndowment Fund
The MOAA, HA, and the University
of Houston have entered into an
Endowment Agreement to support the
ROTC cadets who drill at the U of H.
Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine
ROTC cadets at all Houston
universities (e.g., Houston Baptist,
Rice, Texas Southern, Saint Thomas)
drill at UH. All funds donated through
the Endowment Fund for the Houston
Corps of Cadets are fully tax
deductible, as MOAA, HA, is a
501(c)(3) charitable organization
recognized by the IRS. We hope that
you will be interested enough to
pledge your support to this worthy
undertaking.
This endowment will provide funds
for outstanding cadets, selected by the
professors of Military Science and
Tactics, who want to join the ranks of
the United States Armed Forces but
find it difficult financially to stay in
school.
A form you may use for your tax-
deductible contribution or pledge is on
page 6.
Bill Taylor reported at the June
meeting that matching funds are
available, when paid, but not when
pledged. The Fund is approaching
$8,000, so keep up the good work.
The Air Force Association is
sponsoring a golf tournament to help
raise money for the Fund, and a
registration form is included on page 7
of this newsletter. If you can’t enter,
perhaps you can give the information
to a golfing friend.
p
Social Security?
SSA TRUST FUND: There
actually is a Social Security
Trust Fund–of sorts. It lays
nestled in the bottom drawer of
an unremarkable filing cabinet
in a government office building
in West Virginia. It’s kept in a
pair of loose-leaf notebooks
holding plastic page covers, and
each page resents a bond worth
billions, according to a 2005
story from The Associated Press
(AP). Today, the total “assets”
in the Social Security Trust
Fund are worth more than $2.2
trillion. The paper is
“symbolic,” a spokesman for the
U.S. Bureau of Public Debt
says. According to AP, in 1994
Congress anticipated the current
debate about Social Security's
solvency and whether the Trust
Funds held anything more than
IOUs. Congress passed
legislation requiring the
Treasury to create a physical
document “rather than an
accounting entry.” Andy Jacobs,
the former Indiana
Congressman responsible for
the law, said he wanted to rebut
the “disingenuous assertions”
that there was no trust fund,
even though there was, in fact,
no vault stuffed with cash to pay
benefits. In 2008 it was
projected that the Social
Security Trust Fund cash
surplus excluding interest will
be $79 billion, reflecting a
growing downward trend as
baby boomers enter the
programs. This does not take
into consideration costs
associated with Congress’s
recent attempts to add illegal
immigrants to the program.
(From RAO Bulletin Update
June 1, 2008.)
p
Newsletter of MOAA Houston Area, July 2008, p. 5
Newsletter of MOAA Houston Area, July 2008, p. 6
MILITARY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, HOUSTON AREA
Houston Corps of Cadets ROTC Endowment Fund–The University of Houston
(Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force)
Please Print Donor name:______________________________________________________
Mailing Address______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
Phone: Day_______________Evening_____________e-mail__________________________
My pledge of $_________should be designed to support MOAA,HA Houston Corps of Cadets
My gift will be made with installments of $______to be paid monthly___quarterly___annually___.
Beginning date:_______The Office of Stewardship will send reminders.)
___Enclosed is a check (made payable to University of Houston) for the first pledge payable.
Please charge my credit card for the amount of my gift, as scheduled above:
___Visa ___Mastercard ___American Express ___Discover
Account Number_________________________________ Expiration date:_______________
Name as it appears on card:_____________________Signature: _____________________________
______I would like to be contacted about fulfilling my pledge with a gift of appreciated securities.
My pledge payment will be matched by: __________________________________________
(Please specify company for our records)
Donor signature:___________________________________date_______________________
Donor Signature:___________________________________date_______________________
Thank you for your support of the MILITARY OFFICERS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, HOUSTON
AREA, HOUSTON CORPS OF CADETS ROTC ENDOWMENT FUND, THE UNIVERSITY OF
HOUSTON
____________________________________________________________________________
University of Houston; Advancement Services; P.O. Box 867; Houston TX 77001-0867
Attn: Nancy V. Clark E-mail: uh.edu/giving
Carol Ann Wilson has agreed to serve as editor for our newsletter. She’s not
military, but her heart is. She has worked almost 30 years for Joe H. Reynolds,
a Houston lawyer who is a former Captain in the United States Marine Corps.
Mr. Reynolds is a veteran of both Iwo Jima in WW2 and the Chosin Reservoir
in Korea. “See you on the beach” and “Semper Fi” are engraved in her psyche.
All her contact information is listed on the front page of each issue, and she
says we may feel free to call or e-mail her at any time about our newsletter.
She plays tournament bridge, but she will always have time for us.
Norman Schwarzkopf:
“The truth of the matter is that you always know the right thing to do. The hard part is doing it.”
Carol Ann Wilson
Newsletter of MOAA Houston Area, July 2008, p. 7
HOUSTON CORPS OF CADETSGOLF TOURNAMENT
SUPPORTING SCHOLARSHIPS FOR ALL ROTC CADETS
TUESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2008 SIENNA PLANTATION GOLF CLUB
0900 SHOTGUN START, SCRAMBLE FORMAT0800 REGISTRATION, PRACTICE RANGE AND PUTTING
CORPORATE SPONSOR $500HOLE SPONSOR $100INDIVIDUAL ENTRY FEE $100
Each Entry Fee includes Buffet Lunch (following the tournament), Gift Package, Practice Range,
Refreshments on the Course, Contests, and Door Prizes
Directions: From Beltway 8 south, take the Fort Bend Parkway (Toll) south to Highway 6. Turn right on
Highway 6 approximately 1 mile and turn left on Sienna Plantation Parkway. Follow the Golf Course
signs approximately 3 miles to the course. Address: One Waters Lake Blvd. Missouri City, Texas 77459.
Houston Corps of Cadets Endowment is a 501 (c) 3 organization. You will be provided a Fair
Market Value Receipt after the Tournament.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Make Checks Payable to: “University of Houston”. Please add “Corps of CadetsEndowment” on the “For” line and mail payment with entry form to: Corps of Cadets GolfTournament 414 Sheldrake Court, Sugar Land, Texas 77478
NAME AS YOU WISH TO APPEAR AS A SPONSOR________________________
Name ________________________________________Handicap/Avg. Score________Address ________________________________________________________________Telephone ________________________Email_________________________________ Group or Individuals you wish to play with___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
NAME:
__________________________________________________________________________________
Last First Initial Grade Service Branch
NAME OF SPOUSE:
__________________________________________________________________________
ADDRESS:_________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
E-mail: _____________________________________________
Dues: Regular Membership: $10 first year; annual renewal $20
Auxiliary (spouse of deceased officer) $10
Make check payable to MOAA,HA, and send to MOAA,HA PO Box 1082 Houston TX 77251-1082
For more information, call Maj. Va. G. Henneberg 713.729.8217
TO:
Military Officers Association of America, Houston AreaMembership is available to Officers who have held a Federal Warrant or Commission in any of the seven
uniformed services of the United States or to the surviving spouse of such a person. Please use this form for
application for membership, renewal, or changes to the current directory of members.
Military Officers Association of America, Houston AreaPO Box 1082Houston TX 77251-1082
Nonprofit Org.
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
Houston TX
Permit # 2102
