Congress must fund our military properly  

Source: September 19, 2024

Dear American Legion Family members and friends, 

The shenanigans we're seeing play out on Capitol Hill are more than typical political bickering. They are endangering our national security, military readiness, and other core issues for veterans, servicemembers and their families.

In short: We're less than two weeks away from a government shutdown as Congress is unable to pass spending legislation before a new fiscal year begins Oct. 1. Our elected representatives are looking at yet another stopgap measure, a continuing resolution (CR) which is akin to placing a bandage on a wounded body part that requires major surgery.

There are numerous reasons why passage of a CR would gravely impact America. Among them:

Military readiness and operations: A CR would be disruptive in several ways, compromising military response operations to worldwide threats, reducing readiness training and putting the brakes on maintenance fixes, while simultaneously empowering known enemies.

Delayed pay for troops: Active-duty personnel and reservists could experience delays in receiving hard-earned pay raises, negatively impacting morale and financial stability, especially in the current economic climate. Imagine being a young servicemember and having to talk with a spouse or partner about which bills to pay, just because Congress is mired in a political standoff.

Border security: Already stretched thin, border protection agencies could face staffing shortages and resource limitations, increasing their vulnerability to illegal activities and security threats.

Recruitment challenges: The armed forces are already faced with challenges when it comes to recruiting the best and the brightest. As the standoff takes its toll, potential recruits' enlistment bonuses could be halted, risking that they forego military service due to financial uncertainty. Additionally, current servicemembers could choose to not re-enlist, creating talent shortages in areas critical to national security.

Those are among the scenarios we will be facing with a CR, instead of a fully funded fiscal year. But there is still time for Congress to do the right thing.

Our members of Congress must push aside their political posturing, focus on completing the mandated task at hand and doing what is right for America, its military members and their families. I am calling on Congress to pass an actual spending bill on time to ensure our military is properly funded throughout this fiscal year.

National Commander  

James LaCoursiere Jr.

Next article: North Korea says newest short-range missile can carry ‘super-large warhead'

North Korea says newest short-range missile can carry ‘super-large warhead'

Source: September 19, 2024

North Korea's most recent show of force was the successful testing of "highly upgraded" short-range ballistic and strategic cruise missiles, the communist regime announced Thursday.

Wednesday's launches were overseen by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who "expressed great satisfaction" with the Hwasongpho-11-Da ballistic missile capable of carrying a 4.5-ton warhead, according to a state-run Korean Central News Agency report the next day.

The weapon can strike targets up to 200 miles away and boasts the explosive power of a "super-large warhead," the report said. Kim also oversaw the test of a "highly upgraded" cruise missile, KCNA reported without providing further details.

Wednesday's missiles were launched at 6:50 a.m. from South Pyongan province and flew northeast approximately 250 miles, the South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a text message to reporters that morning.

The missiles were assessed to have landed near North Korea's eastern coast and did not fall within Tokyo's maritime exclusive economic zone, Japan's Ministry of Defense said in a news release. Images released by KCNA on Thursday show a missile in flight and an explosion on land, rather than splashing into the sea.

North Korea unveiled the initial Hwasongpho-11 missile at a military parade in 2018. It has since undergone design changes, including a nearly 5-foot length extension and a warhead weight of an additional 2 tons, according to Yang Uk, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul. There do not appear to be significant changes to the weapon's design since a previous launch on July 1, he told Stars and Stripes by phone Thursday.

North Korea fired two missiles that day, including a Hwasongpho-11 that flew roughly 370 miles northeast from Hwanghae province, about 65 miles southwest of Pyongyang, according to the South's military.

The other missile flew eastward approximately 75 miles before the South's military lost track of the projectile, due to its abnormal flight pattern. KCNA reported Wednesday's test was successful in "verifying the accuracy" of the Hwasongpho-11 and that it could strike targets 200 miles away.

Kim reportedly said the test "and steady improvement" of similar weapons "are directly related to the grave threat" posed by the situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula.

Photos released Thursday by KCNA showed a missile flying toward a white cross on the ground, apparently marking its target at an undisclosed location.

Yang said the accuracy North Korea touts for the Hwasongpho-11 may not reflect its actual capabilities.

"I don't believe they can achieve that level of accuracy," Yang said. "Because it's a test, they can easily set up some other system that cannot be used in a real-time situation."

Assessing the missile based on photos alone is difficult and Washington and Seoul are continuing to analyze the weapon, South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Lee Sung-jun said at a news conference Thursday. There is the "possibility of deception" in North Korea's reporting of the missile's capabilities, he added.

The North has fired more than 40 ballistic missiles in 10 separate days of testing so far this year. Several short-range ballistic missiles launched Sept. 12 fell into the Sea of Japan also known as the East Sea, according to the South's Ministry of National Defense.

The recent spate of launches came two weeks after the United States and South Korea concluded a pair of large-scale military exercises throughout the South. Pyongyang, which describes the drills as a rehearsal of an invasion, warned that the allies' activities prompted the North to increase production of nuclear weapons, KCNA reported Sept. 9.

"The hostile forces can never evade the heavy responsibility for escalating tension and will have to pay a dear price," the report said.

Next article: Riders make bucket list item come true for woman battling cancer

Riders make bucket list item come true for woman battling cancer

Source: September 19, 2024

In early September, a member of American Legion Riders Chapter 298 in Marion, Iowa, received a unique request. An elderly woman stricken with stomach cancer and about to be admitted to the hospital wanted to cross an item off her bucket list: riding on the back of a three-wheel motorcycle.

It's something she'd wanted to do since she was a youth growing up, someone she knew had a three-wheel motorcycle equipped with a Volkswagen engine. She always wanted to ride on the motorcycle but was told no by her sister.

Incoming Chapter 298 Road Captain Michael Cleveland, a member of both Post 298 and its Sons of The American Legion squadron, was forwarded the request. And in three days, he and other Riders made the request come to fruition.

"I was like, ‘absolutely,'" Cleveland said. "If we can do something to help someone check something off their bucket list, it'll be awesome. It would be an honor.

"I sent out an email to all the Riders in our chapter, and we even invited people to ride in their car if they wanted to do that, too."

A total of 19 motorcycles took part in the ride, which covered approximately 15-20 miles. "I knew they'd jump behind it," Cleveland said of his fellow Riders. "A lot of times it's a scheduling issue for everybody. Most rides we take are less than (19). We had an awesome turnout."

Cleveland said the woman's reaction after the ride finished said it all. "She didn't have to say anything," he said. "She was grinning ear to ear. She loved it. She was so happy."

Four days after the ride, the woman checked herself into the hospital. She is now under hospice care. Making her wish come true was special for Cleveland.

"I've never had to do anything like this, especially a request like that from somebody going through what she's going through," he said. "When we got done with the ride we took a big group picture. Jason Achenbach, our chapter director, presented her with a challenge coin.

"We all just stood there like family and hung out until she had to leave. It was special."

 

 

 

 

Next article: Volunteers honor veterans through tree care

Volunteers honor veterans through tree care

Source: September 19, 2024

Clear blue skies graced 80 volunteer arborists, tree climbers and other landscape professionals who spent all day Wednesday mulching and pruning trees at the Indiana War Memorial and American Legion Mall, site of National Headquarters, in Indianapolis. The volunteers were part of the 10th annual Saluting Branches: Arborists United for Remembrance, a day of service to clean up veteran-dedicated sites for beautification and safety as a way to honor American servicemembers.

"There's not many times as a volunteer where you get to use the skillset that you have professionally to provide services to sites like this that sorely need that work done," said Carrie Tauscher, volunteer team leader onsite at the Indiana War Memorial and the arboretum director at Crown Hill Foundation in Indianapolis. "There is a little something extra about coming out to do tree work here and to also be able to tell your friends, your family, your customers, that you were part of something to serve our veterans and give back a little bit in the best way you know how."

The Indiana War Memorial and American Legion Mall were part of 110 veteran sites across the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico, where more than 4,000 volunteers donated a day of tree and lawn services at no cost as part of Saluting Branches. It is the largest single-day volunteer event in the tree care industry where volunteers plant, prune, remove and treat trees and shrubs in effort to enhance safety and beauty.

Saluting Branches, a Minnesota-based nonprofit, was founded in 2015 by Rainbow Treecare to honor America's servicemembers by caring for veteran sites that include cemeteries, nursing homes, medical centers, hospitals, monuments and more. For the past 10 years on the third Wednesday of September, more than 3,500 tree care companies, volunteers and sponsors have provided nearly $5 million in safety and beautification services.

This was the first time Eric Reiser, owner of Premier Tree Care in Indianapolis, has volunteered for Saluting Branches. "A veteran family friend of mine sent me the (volunteer) link and said, ‘You should look at getting into this.' It seemed like a great cause, so I came down for the day," he said. "It's been good; we've got a lot done which has been nice."

Chandra Seybert is an accountant by day but came out to volunteer alongside her husband who is a board master certified arborists with AES Indiana. "My whole family is military. My grandpa, my dad, my brothers and my nephew is currently in the Navy. So it's always just a good cause, and I know enough about trees from my husband," said Seybert, who was helping lay mulch. "Today is a good cause, and it's great. I love to give back when I can."

Last year for the day of service, 12 trees were planted by the Indiana War Memorial to provide shade for visitors. On Wednesday, mulch was laid around more than 50 trees and volunteers deadwood locust trees "to keep the trees we have onsite alive and healthy and safe as long as possible," Tauscher said. Volunteers for Saluting Branches were also at the Indiana Veterans' Home in West Lafayette, Ind., where they have gone for the past seven to eight years. The tree services provided has amounted to about $400,000 worth of free work on the 280-plus acre site, Tauscher said.

It's at the Indiana Veterans' Home where American Legion Auxiliary members feed the volunteers, a service appreciated by Tauscher. "Finding lunch and food is the hardest thing possible (for the volunteers). We never have never had that problem there. (The Auxiliary members) call me mid-summer and ask, ‘How many volunteers do you have? What do you need?' They grill for us, we eat, it's amazing."

 

 

 

 

 

Next article: Delivering a proper goodbye a ‘passion' for South Carolina post

A 2,700-mile walk to save lives

Source: September 18, 2024

Ron Zaleski left Key West, Fla., on Sept. 11 for a 2,700-mile mission: to walk across the country in support of ending veteran suicide and advocating for life-saving programs. Zaleski, a Marine veteran and member of American Legion Post 159 in Venice, Fla., is walking to San Diego, Calif., and making stops to Legion posts, churches and other veteran supportive organizations along the way to share his mission.

"It's going to take all of us to fix this," said Zaleski, who will walk for 10 months while wearing a sign that displays a list of different names daily of veterans lost to suicide, "so their lives may never be forgotten, and we honor their legacy by believing in a brighter future for the brave veterans of the United States."

This is not Zaleski's first walk in support of veteran suicide awareness. In 2010 he walked barefoot to Washington, D.C. During the walk he met a mother of a veteran who died by suicide. "The hardest thing that I've done on my walk is to hold the mother who lost a child, and she held me like I'm her son, and say, ‘It's my fault.' There are no words to that," he said. "There is no loss that I know of that's greater than that."

That experience led Zaleski to form the nonprofit The Long Walk Home where he has helped veterans with suicide intervention, relationship healing, and the skills needed to live meaningful lives.

"I know our program causes a transformative shift in the trajectory of their lives," he said. "I have seen first-hand by supporting these veterans and their families we have been able to turn their anger into mindfulness, heal damaged relationships for themselves and their loved ones, and create a new mission. We were warriors (in the military). But now is the time to be leaders in our community and in our family. Our program helps them shift that perception."

The Long Walk Home has two programs – ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) by LivingWorks that's a two-day program teaching family members suicidal signs to look for and how to intervene, and a 10 Challenge course for veterans that's a list of guided questions.

Zaleski said the first set of challenge questions are: What are you grateful for when you wake up? What are you grateful you accomplished at the end of the day? And how do you show gratitude?  

"Part of these challenge questions is to go out and have a conversation with your loved ones or a stranger," Zaleski said. "I had an 80-year-old take this who thought he had no problems. His wife made me a batch of cookies and thanked me for the transformation of her husband."

Zaleski is taking the 10 Challenge course to incarcerated veterans as well. After his visit with about 15 veterans, he learned that they took the knowledge learned and administered the program to the entire prison.

"I would rather prevent suicide than wait till you're on the ledge where you've got nothing left to lose." he said.

As Zaleski walks 12 hours a day over the next 10 months, he will share the resources available through The Long Walk Home and the Legion's Be the One suicide prevention mission to save a life through available resources and training.

"I want to direct veterans the best way I can to get the help they need. My hope is by creating a movement rather than just my own passion and advocacy, together we can help eradicate veteran suicide."

Follow Zaleski on his journey at thelongwalkhome.org/ or on Facebook.

 

Next article: Lost and found

Lost and found

Source: September 18, 2024

Shoshana Johnson moves freely around the small, open kitchen in her El Paso, Texas, home. It's Blue Monday – the first Monday of the month – which means it's her day to serve her American Legion post by preparing a delicious meal that will fill bellies, hearts and the post's coffers.

"It provides me a way to give back and interact with my veteran community while still going back to that basic love of cooking and sharing that love with people," says Johnson, a Panamanian-born Army veteran and member of Col. Louis A. Carter Post 832 in El Paso. "I like to cook and share what I have created. Hopefully they enjoy it."

For her, the meal is a labor of love. For two days, Johnson has been preparing ingredients for her gumbo dish, which has become a favorite among Post 832 members and their families. And it's not always easy to please this crowd.

"Some old-timers, they're giving me a hard time about trying something new," she says with a smile as she cooks. "But I'm going to push the boundaries here and there. I keep on telling them, ‘One day I'm going to make beef bourguignon and coq au vin,' and they're like, ‘Cocoa what? Can't we just get some smothered pork chops?' They're so set in their ways."

Post members appreciate Johnson's culinary expertise, a skill she developed in her Army days. It's a rewarding trade-off for Johnson, who is grateful for the support of her Legion post.

That support has been critical for Johnson, who in 2003 spent 22 days in enemy captivity in Iraq. She was the first Black female prisoner of war in U.S. history.

"My family. My community, from El Paso to The American Legion," she says, ticking off her reasons for staying in El Paso. "There was a time when I thought I needed to leave, but I wouldn't have the support system, and that has made all the difference in the world."

‘I still struggle' While her physical wounds have healed, Johnson still deals with post-traumatic stress from her captivity. Often, friends check in on her when they sense she's having an off day.

"My community in general helps me through it," she says. "I'm very blessed to have that kind of support. Not everybody does. I always wonder how other veterans are even getting by. I have this family, I have this community that supports me, and I still struggle."

Theresa Rowland met Johnson about 30 years ago when they worked together at the Exchange at Fort Bliss. "From that day forward, we've been best friends," she says.

The bond between Rowland and Johnson, who she calls "Shana," is tight.

"Shana will give you the shirt off her back," Rowland says. "That's the type of person she is. She's been there for me in my darkest times and in my happiest times. She is my ride or die. If I need Shana, she is there for me. I can tell her things that don't go past her. And she can tell me things that don't go past me. She is not only a friend to me (but) she is a friend to my son, my family. She is 100% there for us."

‘Oh my God, what's going to happen?' Johnson deployed in February 2003 as a food service specialist with the 507th Maintenance Company, which provided maintenance support for a Patriot missile unit out of Fort Bliss in the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

On March 23, Johnson was riding at the rear of a 600-vehicle convoy when her vehicle took a wrong turn in Nasiriyah.

"I remember having an uneasy feeling," she says. "I remember seeing some people on the street. I remember there was a guard who just waved at us."

An urgent message came through: The city's unsecure. Leave now.

"As we turn around to get out of the city, we started hearing gunfire," she says. "Our truck was disabled. I was shot. Then I'm being dragged from underneath my vehicle, where I had taken cover, and beaten by the Iraqis."

Johnson was injured when she dove under the truck. In the firefight, a bullet ripped through one leg and into the other, breaking a bone in her left and severing her right Achilles tendon.

Eleven U.S. soldiers were killed in the attack. Six, including Johnson, were taken prisoner.

Two hours went by before the shock started to wear off. Her legs were torn up. Her mind wouldn't stop racing.

"Oh my God, what's going to happen?" she remembers thinking. "I didn't feel anything. I think when I really started to feel pain again was the next day, sitting in a cell and realizing you're a prisoner and not knowing what's going to happen from day to day."

Bars covered the windows of the 8-foot-by-12-foot cell. Instead of beds, the captives slept on a small mat. For eating and drinking, they had a pitcher for water, a cup, a bowl and a spoon.

That same day, Rowland's landline phone started ringing off the hook. Her sister in California called and asked if Johnson was among those captured. "I turned on CNN and saw the picture, and started crying out, ‘No. No. No.' To see her in the condition she was in was very difficult for me."

After visiting Johnson's parents, Rowland went to work, where the Fort Bliss community was ready to comfort her. They hugged her, offered prayers and told her that Johnson would be OK. "I really held on to that. That was rough. But it was very assuring."

New normal Johnson and the other POWs were routinely moved to other cells and eventually to Iraqis' homes. While her surroundings changed, Johnson's faith never wavered.

"You talk to God a lot, discuss all the wrong you've ever done, the pranks you pulled on your sisters," she says. "I thought of my daughter, and how I wanted to see her grow up and accomplish certain things in life. I remember thinking of what my life would be after I came home. Those things got me through."

She also routinely sang "Amazing Grace."

"Those poor guys," she says of her fellow prisoners. "My singing is horrible, horrible, horrible. Their ears were probably bleeding."

Always special to Johnson, the old hymn became a touchstone for her during and after her time in captivity.

"You think about the words, ‘I was lost, but now I'm found,'" she says. "There are lots of times in life, in the last 21 years, where I am lost. I don't know how to go forward. It's very difficult when you had an idea of what you had planned for yourself, and then it goes completely wrong, and then you're trying to find your way again. You're trying to find your new normal.

"So there are times when I think of the song and think about how lost I am, but I know I can find my way. I just have to really take a step back sometimes, calm down ... and God will show me the path."

‘Like a movie' Johnson's rescue came April 13, 22 days after her capture.

"Our guard had just given us breakfast," she says. "Then you hear this bang, the door being kicked down, and you hear clear English: ‘Get down, get down.' Oh my gosh, I'm going home. It's hard to explain that feeling. It was just like a movie. Those young Marines kicking down the door, rescuing you and getting you to safety."

Still, Johnson did not feel entirely safe until she arrived in Kuwait. There, she was finally able to reconnect with family and friends, starting with a phone call to her daughter.

"It was wonderful," she says. "I remember her saying, ‘Mommy, you got an owie.' She had seen some of the stuff on TV. She was an innocent baby, didn't grasp all of what went on."

When news broke of the rescue, Rowland immediately returned to the Johnsons' home.

"Once again, I was crying and screaming, but this time for joy," she says. "I was talking with my BFF again." When she and Johnson were reunited in person, they embraced. No words needed to be spoken. Still, Rowland told her, "I'm so happy. You have no idea. I love you."

Still fighting Richard "Breeze" Britton, a retired Army veteran and chairman of the American Legion Department of Texas Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation Commission, has known Johnson for years. They met at the El Paso VA, and he persuaded her to join Post 832.

Initially, Johnson was very shy, he says. "Over the years, she has grown to where she is speaking confidently all over the country. She has come a long way. She's a dedicated veteran (and) gives back as much as she can."

Britton praises Johnson for all she does for the post, from Blue Monday meals to serving as post adjutant.

"Our members respect her not just for being a Purple Heart recipient but also a former prisoner of war," he says. "Knowing what she went through, she has gained a lot of respect at the post and all over the country."

One difference Rowland sees in her friend is how Johnson handles people who don't understand or respect her experience as a POW. "They tell her to just get over it. But it's not just something you can get over." Johnson tunes out the haters, focusing instead on the positive and doing all she can to support other veterans.

"It was hard seeing her" in the weeks and months following Johnson's return, Rowland says. "In one part I would see the same Shana. In another part, it would be a different Shana." During a Fourth of July celebration at Fort Bliss, for instance, Johnson tensed and held tightly to a nearby table.

"I looked over, grabbed her hand and just held it," Rowland says. "After a few minutes, I asked if she was OK. ‘Flashbacks.' She still remembers a lot of stuff. And a lot of times she questions, ‘Why me? Why am I here when others died?' I tell her that God was watching her that day.

"She still has survivor's guilt, and that is something she is going to carry with her the rest of her life."

More than a day The third Friday of every September is National POW/MIA Recognition Day. For Johnson and other former POWs, the experience is something they think about not just one day a year, but all 365.

"It's a big weight, and it's difficult to deal with, but there is also insight on what you have," she says. "Joseph Hudson, my fellow prisoner of war, says, ‘Every day that I wake up and the lock is on the other side of the door is a good day.' It can be very irritating when people don't understand how blessed they are, something as simple as getting up and going to the bathroom. In the cell, we had to bang on the door to go to the bathroom."

During her captivity, Johnson wondered if she'd die of a heart attack or in a bombing. She recognizes how captivity changed her, as she wrote about in her 2011 book "I'm Still Standing: From Captive U.S. Soldier to Free Citizen."

"I survived it," she reflects. "I did it. Here I am, 20 years later ... struggling at times, but I'm still making it. I'm stronger than I thought I was. If I get knocked down, I may take a minute or two to get up, but I will keep going and still fighting. Hell, tomorrow I might get knocked down again, but I'm going to get back up. I'm going to keep on getting back up."

Next article: Training Tuesday resumes Sept. 24

Training Tuesday resumes Sept. 24

Source: September 18, 2024

The Internal Affairs and Membership Division is resuming its virtual Training Tuesday sessions for all American Legion members to attend. The next session is Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. ET on how to format a resolution. Join the training by registering here.

The discussion will address best practices to crafting a clear and correctly formatted resolution. A Legionnaire, or a group of Legionnaires, can impact the priorities and positions of The American Legion at all levels of the organization by resolution – position-driven initiatives written by members and put to a vote. Resolutions can be passed at a post meeting on a local matter, or at a National Executive Committee meeting on a topic that could shape an overall Legion policy. Although departments can originate their own resolutions, even post-level resolutions can lead to permanent policies and programs. 

If you can't make the training, it will be recorded and available on the Training Tuesday webpage for listening. 

Next article: Planning with a serious illness

Planning with a serious illness

Source: September 18, 2024

LEARN HOW YOUR PLANNED GIFT CAN HELP THE AMERICAN LEGION

If at some point in life you have a serious illness, there are a number of planning options that should be considered. Illness brings emotional, physical and mental challenges. The illness may be primarily physical, but a person will eventually start to suffer discouragement and even depression. Their mental capabilities may also start to fail due to deterioration of the body.

Given these issues, it is important to consider the care of the person, care of their property, financial decisions, potential actions, and securing assistance from advisers and family.

Care of the Person There are several areas that are important in thinking through care of the person. You should check to make sure you have a current durable power of attorney for health care or advance directive. This document needs to be shared with the person designated as your health-care proxy. A serious illness could lead to your hospitalization and a need for the proxy to make important medical decisions.

There are also potential physical changes for a home or a vehicle. If you have an illness but can operate a motorized wheelchair, it may be appropriate to modify or remodel your home to make it handicap-accessible. Similarly, you may suffer from a major illness but still be capable of driving. However, it may be necessary to obtain or modify a vehicle to do so.

A primary concern for the ill person is, "Who will be my caregiver?" Initially, they may stay at home and a family member be caregiver. However, they should have a plan in place in case it becomes necessary to move to assisted living, a nursing home or even a hospital.

Care of Your Property If you have a serious illness, it will be important to have either a person who has a power of attorney to manage your property, or a revocable living trust. With a revocable living trust, your property is transferred by deed or another document to the trustee. While you may be the initial trustee, your trust also lists a successor trustee to take over if you are no longer able to manage property. With a serious illness, you may wish to resign and have the successor trustee take over while you still have the ability to offer advice and counsel.

If you have a home with valuable art or other valuable collections, it will be important to prepare for management of your property. At any time in the future, you may need to move to nursing care or the hospital. Valuable property will need to be protected and preserved for your estate beneficiaries.

With a serious illness, it is a good time to review your will and all trusts. If you have a trust, you should make certain the title and ownership of property is correct. The trust is effective only if property is legally transferred to the trustee. Similarly, some individuals hold property as joint tenants with right of survivorship with other family members. If this is the case and you pass away, the surviving family member will own the property outright. If that is your intention, this method is fine. However, you should check all titles to make sure they are correct for the plan you have created.

Financial Accounts You may have bank accounts, securities accounts and other business accounts. Check to be certain all accounts are listed on your financial records. If you have online access to the accounts, a trusted adviser should know all the passwords; if you are in the hospital or nursing home, your adviser will need access.

Potential Actions You may have a current pattern of gifts to family or charity. If you wish to have your successor trustee or the person holding your power of attorney continue that gifting pattern, there will need to be a specific direction in your living trust or power of attorney to enable that individual to continue making charitable gifts.

In some states, there could be very significant income and estate taxes. Even though you have a serious illness, it may be worth considering changing your domicile to a state with a lower tax structure. This will require that you establish a new residence, change your driver's license and auto registration, file your income taxes, and show you are a permanent resident of the new state.

Advisers and Family Particularly if you have a substantial estate and are quite ill, it is important to make sure you have reliable and trustworthy advisers. Far too many elders who have substantial assets become weak and victims of elder abuse. A group of trusted advisers and family members will protect you and your property.

Your advisers will discuss your vehicle use. There are several cases where seniors felt able to drive vehicles but were progressively less capable. One individual in her 80s drove regularly to visit her daughter just one mile away. However, one day she made a wrong turn and became disoriented. A day and a half later, the highway patrol discovered the car idling at the side of the road several hundred miles away. Fortunately, she did not become lost during the winter, or she could have frozen to death before being discovered.

Advisers and family members will need to discuss with the seriously ill person the arrangements for transportation and the possibility of higher levels of care. This could mean moving from home into an assisted living facility or nursing home. These discussions are best undertaken while the person is still able to think clearly and make good decisions.

Planning with a serious illness is a challenging process. Yet it is much better for the protection of both the person and their estate that the process is entered into openly and willingly by the person, advisers and family.

The American Legion's Planned Giving program is a way of establishing your legacy of support for the organization while providing for your current financial needs. Learn more about the process, and the variety of charitable programs you can benefit, at legion.org/plannedgiving. Clicking on "Learn more" will bring up an "E-newsletter" button, where you can sign up for regular information from Planned Giving.

Next article: ‘Jacques Cousteau with a shotgun'

‘Jacques Cousteau with a shotgun'

Source: September 17, 2024

David Brown recalls being laughed at every step of the way as the 5-foot-3, 110-pound, Navy recruit signed up, started BUDS and became a Navy SEAL.

"You're way too small, these are all big guys. You don't stand a chance," he was told. "If there was someone telling me I couldn't do it, then this is the job for me. I was going to be Jacques Cousteau with a shotgun."

Brown shares his inspiring story about becoming a SEAL, career in the federal service and more as this week's special guest on The American Legion Tango Alpha Lima podcast.

"For me, it was not an ‘ah-ha' moment like it is for so many guys who join the Navy," he says. "It was a backup plan when my parents told me they weren't going to be able to pay for college."

He reflects back on his childhood experience that helped him overcome the doubters and challenges with SEAL training.

"You need to go through things before you get there that bring out your personality traits that will allow you do to things that you will be asked to do."

In Brown's book, "And Goliath," he describes becoming "The Littlest" Navy SEAL and advancing his career as a Special Agent in Charge and Senior Executive. "I examine whether my successful rise to the top of the federal government ladder and then near-complete collapse and recovery was due to nature or nurture."

After serving with distinction with Underwater Demolition Team 21 in Little Creek, Va., and SEAL Team 4 until 1985, he transferred to Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla., where he taught Naval Aviation Water Survival while attending night school at Troy State University, where he received a bachelor's degree in criminal justice.

After leaving the Navy, Brown became a Special Agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and continued at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Criminal Investigation Division in St. Louis.

"At the EPA, we did the craziest undercover stuff … how do you do crazy undercover stuff with the EPA?"

You'll have to listen to or watch the episode to find out.

Also, co-hosts Adam Marr and Joe Worley discuss:

• The 20-year "hurt-a-versary." On Sept 17, 2004 — 11 days after losing much of his second squad to a suicide bomber — Worley was injured while running to assist a vehicle that had been hit by an IED.

• The election with a focus on the next vice president will have military experience and what it means.

• Rocky, a once-stray rescue dog, is now a service dog throwing his paws into the 2024 race to the White House.

Check out this week's episode, which is among more than 260 Tango Alpha Lima podcasts available in both audio and video formats here. You can also download episodes on Apple Podcasts, Google Play or other major podcast-hosting sites. The video version is available at the Legion's YouTube channel.

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