Update December14, 2016

1/83rd Unit News and General News	We want to wish everyone in the 1/83rd family a very happy Holiday Season and a Happy and Healthy New Year. 1. VA National Cemeteries Now Offering Pre-Need Eligibility Determinations - Click here for details. I received a reminder from Rich Magin (66-67) on this notice. On a similar note, many, if not all, of the 50 states have Veteran Cemeteries where you, your spouse and eligible children can be buried. In New Jersey, we did the pre-certification process several years ago and were approved rather quickly. This may be something that you want to look into in your home community. 2. Other VA Health Notices - A while back I signed up to receive notices from the VA on topics like the one above. I have found many of them to be interesting and pertinent. You may find it worthwhile to also sign up to receive these notices. Go to this page to sign up for the emails. When you get there you can select which topics that you would like to receive email updates for. 3. New Regulation Decreases Cost of Outpatient Medication Co-pay for Most Veterans - Click here for details. 4. Registry of the American Soldier - Neal Schwartz (68-69) sent this link. 5. Vietnam Veterans Memorial 2017 Reading of the Names - As part of the 35th Anniversary Commemoration of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial all of the more than 58,000 names will be read from Tuesday, November 7, 2017 through Friday, November 10, 2017. A few of us volunteered in 2012 to read the names when it was the 30th Commemoration and it is a wonderful experience to be part of. If anyone will be in DC at that time and is interested in volunteering, more info can be found at this link. 6. VVMF Accepting Applications for 2017 In Memory Program that honors Vietnam veterans who sacrificed after the war ended. Click here for details. 7. Support - Please let me know if anyone of you or your family have health situations so we can let everyone know of the need for our support. 8. News - If you have any good news you would like shared with the group, let me know. 9. Please remember that all contact info that we have for our group can be found on the Full Roster. This is the best spot to start if you need to contact one of the group. 10. Reunion News - Mike Reetz (66-67) has agreed to plan and organize our next Reunion. When and where to be determined. Mike's contact info can be found on the Full Roster if you have any questions.
Photo of the Week	Wreath Presentation at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (October 15, 2016) Photo Courtesy of Johnnie Pearson (68-69)
Interesting Links and More	1. Picture History of Ho Chi Minh Trail today - Dennis Blalock (67-68) sent this. 2. World War II Holiday Flashback - A good holiday view.
Did you Know	ZIP codes, or Zone Improvement Plan codes, were introduced to the U.S. mail system in 1943 and were expanded to the ZIP+4 system in 1983. (Courtesy of How-To Geek Newsletter)
Website Updates	1. If you come across anything that you think may be a good addition to our website let me know. Also, if you have any questions or suggestions regarding the website, let me know. 2. Check out all the latest updates by looking at the website Table of Contents.
Vietnam Veterans of America Update	1. VVA website
1/83rd Roster	Check your entry on the Full Roster to make sure all your information is up to date. Notify me if any changes are necessary. If your email stops working, I cannot reach you if you have incomplete contact details on the roster.
Missing members of the 1/83rd	Help us find those former 83rd members who haven't found us yet!! I am sure that each of us has someone they would really like to reconnect with. If we all pitch in, we may find many more of our old buddies. Here are some ways to do that: 1. If you are in contact or have contact info for any 1/83rd guys please contact them and tell them about our group or at least tell me and I will contact them. 2. Look through the roster on the website and if you know of others who are not listed, let me know who they are. Also, if you see any incorrect or missing info (including your own entry) let me know. 3. If you have copies of old orders tucked away someplace, send me a copy so I can make sure those names are on the roster. 4. Sometimes all it takes is a name and location and we can find someone but the more details we know the better our chances.
Rules & Regs	If anyone would like a current copy of the "Rules & Regs" document which has helpful information about using the website, let me know. Go to Contact Us and submit your request or email me directly.
Advisory	If you get an email from and it has a website link included anywhere within the email, most times you should be able to just click on the link and you will be taken to the website. Sometimes however, the link will not work because, in sending you the email, the link is deactivated although it is still usable. If this should happen, another way to use the link is to copy and paste it into the address line on your browser. Please be sure to let me know if you have any questions on this. Please make sure that your email system allows emails to be received from both of my email addresses, bill_t_08012@yahoo.com and artillery_83rd@yahoo.com Please note that there are no blank spaces in email addresses. What you see in mine between words/characters is the underscore (_) character.