JWV POST 126 NEWSLETTER

FEBRUARY 2007

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP NOTICE – February, 2007

Post 126 General Membership Meeting:

Monday, February 5, 2007 - 7:30PM

Guest speaker is Mrs. Doris Levin who will be speaking on "Jewish Contributions to American Wars, World War II through the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT)." Mrs. Levin is in the process of documenting, by video, still photography, and paper, the heroic acts of Jews while they were in the U.S. military.  She has exciting enlarged photos of Jews in the military that will be shown during her presentation. Mrs. Levin is also seeking to video Post members while they tell their military experiences. Mrs. Levin is working with the JWV Museum.

COMMANDER’S CORNER:

Post 126 had another busy and exciting month of supporting the U.S. warriors deployed in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) and the veterans from previous wars. Please come to our February 5th general membership meeting at Temple Beth Shalom starting at 7:30 PM for details about what the Post has done and our future activities.

An important part of any Post is the Ladies Auxiliary. Our Post disbanded our Auxiliary several years ago because of a lack of participation. I would like to activate the Post 126 Ladies Auxiliary now, but need volunteer Auxiliary leadership. On behalf of your Post executive board I request women volunteers to be President, and Vice President (2). Other Auxiliary officers will be appointed later. The Ladies Auxiliary President and Vice Presidents will have seats on the Post Executive Board, but most important we will work together to support veterans including all of our Post members.

Please contact me to discuss volunteering for the Auxiliary at 856-278-3041 or NMellitz@cs.com.

I encourage you to look at the video, on the link below, for a message from Jewish troops, in Iraq, who are attending a Hanukkah Party during December 2006. When our Jewish warriors in the video mention Hanukkah cards from school children back home, they are talking about our Post 126 South Jersey Jewish Religious school cards that we requested, collected, and sent to twelve different locations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XHPwFjXGo8

Also, see the great write-up Post 126 has in the Voice, February 1 edition about our holiday cards and other veteran’s support efforts.

Also, the Department of New Jersey has an updated website at http://www.jwv-nj.org

I have asked Past Department Commander Arthur Seltzer to lead a selection committee for planning next year’s (starting June 2007) Post Officers and committee heads. To continue the successes of our Post we need new volunteers to be officers, committee heads and committee members. Please contact PDC Seltzer directly to volunteer.

Finally, the future of the Jewish War Veterans and our Post is dependent on recruiting younger Jewish members. With the GWOT now being called the "Long War" there will be many potential new members. I encourage you speak to any younger person that you meet from your synagogue or any Jewish group about the benefits of being a member of the JWV Post 126. Refer them to your Post website or ask them to call me for additional information.

Also, I am available and would like to speak other Jewish groups that you belong to about how the Jewish War Veterans and Post 126 work to benefit the Jewish community. I have recently received additional photos of our U.S. military Jewish Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan that the Jewish and non-Jewish community may want to see so I’ll use them as part of my presentation.

It’s a pleasure being your commander; feel free to contact me at 856-667-5791 if you would like to discuss the Post or any Jewish War Veteran services.

Respectfully,

Nelson

POST 126 LAUNCHES OUR OWN WEBSITE:

The website address is WWW.JWV-POST126.ORG and it contains information about the Post Events and Meetings, Post Officers & Contacts, Post History & Photos, the Beverly Pilgrimage Program, printable Membership Application Form, and very important Scholarship information.

Thank you to Post Quartermaster Perry Levine, and Past Post Commander Ray Rubel for the many hours of work on the site. If you have suggestions, about improving the site send an e-mail to the webmaster Perry Levine

Card Game at Mark 70, instead of Jay Jaspan’s:

Monday, February 19th.

POST 126 SCHOLARSHIP:

Please see the enclosure for important information if you have a child or grandchild attending college next year or if you know of a descendant of a JWV member (living or deceased) who could benefit. All materials must be received by March 30, 2007.

SPECIAL MILITARY EARNINGS CREDIT FOR SOCIAL SECURITY:
If you served in the active duty military before January 2001 you can get up to $1200 a year earnings credit for the years you served. When you apply for Social Security bring your DD-214 to your local Social Security Office. You only get this benefit if you ask for it. To read more, go to the Social Security Website at: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/retire2/military.htm.
You do not need to be a retiree to qualify for this benefit, so please tell you friends, neighbors etc.
Under certain circumstances, special extra earnings for your military service from 1940 through 2001 can be credited to your record for Social Security purposes. These extra earnings may help you qualify for Social Security or increase the amount of your Social Security benefit. Special extra earnings are granted for periods of active duty or active duty for training. Special extra earnings are not granted for inactive duty training.
Note: Social Security cannot add these extra earnings to your record until you file for Social Security benefits.
How You Get Credit For Special Extra Earnings
The information that follows applies only to active duty military service earnings from 1940 through 2001. Here's how the special extra earnings are credited:

Service In 1978 through 2001
For every $300 in active duty basic pay, you are credited with an additional $100 in earnings up to a maximum of $1,200 a year. If you enlisted after September 7, 1980, and didn't complete at least 24 months of active duty or your full tour, you may not be able to receive the additional earnings. Check with Social Security for details.

Service In 1957 Through 1977
You are credited with $300 in additional earnings for each calendar quarter in which you received active duty basic pay.

Service In 1940 Through 1956
If you were in the military during this period, including attendance at a service academy, you did not pay Social Security taxes. However, your Social Security record may be credited with $160 a month in earnings for military service from September 16, 1940, through December 31, 1956, under the following circumstances:
You were honorably discharged after 90 or more days of service, or you were released because of a disability or injury received in the line of duty; or you are still on active duty; or you are applying for survivors benefits and the veteran died while on active duty. You cannot receive credit for these special extra earnings if you are already receiving a federal benefit based on the same years of service. There is one exception: If you were on active duty after 1956, you can still get the special earnings for 1951 through 1956, even if you're receiving a military retirement based on service during that period.

VA IMPROVES SERVICES FOR BLINDED AND LOW-VISION VETERANS:

WASHINGTON (January 25, 2007) - More than a million visually impaired veterans will receive enhanced health care services from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) under a reorganization of VA's vision rehabilitation services, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson announced today.
"These veterans, many of whom had their vision damaged by their military service, have earned the best health care America can provide," Nicholson said. "Under this new plan, we can provide all eligible visually impaired veterans with world-class health care closer to their homes."
VA will make approximately $40 million available during the next three years to establish a comprehensive nationwide rehabilitation system for veterans and active duty personnel with visual impairments. The system will enhance inpatient services and expand outpatient services throughout the 1,400 locations where VA provides health care.
Under the reorganization plan, each of VA's 21 regional networks -- called Veterans Integrated Service Networks, or VISNs -- will implement a plan to provide eye care to veterans with visual impairments ranging from 20/70 to total blindness. Basic low-vision services will be available at all VA eye clinics, and every network will offer intermediate and advanced low-vision services, including a full spectrum of optical devices and electronic visual aids.
VA's 10 existing inpatient blind rehabilitation centers will continue to provide the Department's most intensive eye care programs, but each VISN now will also provide outpatient-based blind rehabilitation care.
"We intend to ensure that our visually impaired patients receive appropriate care and the latest technological devices at the right time and in the best setting to meet their needs," said Dr. Michael J. Kussman, VA's Acting Under Secretary for Health. "Our goal will be early intervention, so that we can maximize the independence of these veterans and substantially reduce their dependence on their families and communities."
VA estimates there are more than 1 million visually impaired veterans over the age of 45 in the United States. Within this group, approximately 157,000 are legally blind, and 1,026,000 have low vision. About 80 percent of all visually impaired veterans have a progressive disability caused by age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, or diabetic retinopathy.___

.COMMUNICATIONS:

If you have an email address, but have not received email messages from the Post, please send your name and email address to Hwaitsman@comcast.net for inclusion in our post email list.

Respectfully submitted,

David Singer

Post 126 Adjutant