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Mayor Linda Gorton first came to Kentucky to attend the UK College of Nursing, graduating in 1971. She grew up in the heart of farm country in central Ohio, where her father sold Ford tractors and later managed a grain eleva-tor. Her mother worked in a physician’s of-fice. They raised Linda, her two brothers and one sister.
She married MG (Ret.) Charles Gorton, a native Lexingtonian and fellow UK graduate. The newlyweds moved to Germany where he was stationed with the U.S. Army and she worked as a registered nurse. After three years in Ger-many, the two moved to Columbus, GA, next to South Korea and then back to the U.S. where they decided to come home to Lexington. Over the years, Linda has enjoyed volunteer-
ing with numerous groups in Lexington. She was a Girl Scout leader for many years, a LYSA youth soccer coach and volunteered with school activities, from Glendover Elementary School P.T.A. President to Lafayette Band Parents’ Association President. She is an ordained Elder and Deacon at Second Presbyterian Church. Linda has served on many community
boards and is a graduate of the Citi-zen Police Academy, the Citizen Fire Academy, Leadership Lexington 2000 and Leadership Kentucky 2001. Linda served 16 years on the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Coun-cil: four terms representing the 4th District, one term as a Council Mem-ber At-Large and one term as Vice Mayor. In addition to her community ser-
vice, she was a staff nurse for a local physician and was a volunteer Family Support instructor for the U.S. Army Reserve Battalion and Brigade Pre-Command Course. Linda and Charles have been married almost 47 years and have two children and four grandchildren. Both children are
in military families. Daughter Abby is married to a US Air Force F-16 fighter pilot who is a native Lexingtonian. Son Clay is a US Army Blackhawk helicopter pilot married to a native of Henderson, KY. Charles is a retired public health administrator and retired US Army Major General. (See family photo, p. 5.)
MOAA
WHAT: May meeting featuring Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton (Joint meeting with McMillan Chapter, AUSA) WHEN: 5:30 p.m., Thurs., May 23 (note day/time change) WHERE: Equestrian Woods Country Club, 107 Clubhouse Dr., Nicholasville HOW MUCH: Buffet with usual fixin’s, $17, gratuity included RSVP: Pat Jones (contact info, p. 2), NLT Fri. May 17
Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton
MOAA's largest and most visible grassroots advocacy event, Storming the Hill, took take place April 10. MOAA's board of directors select-ed three issues from a list of MOAA's current advocacy goals and objectives as the focus of this year's event (see p. 7 for more detail on these): • Supporting a full military pay of 3.1 percent, • Eliminating the “widows tax,” and • Stabilizing TRICARE fees and copayments. MOAA urges all members to contact their elected representatives and senators to sound off about these critical issues. Links to MOAA-
suggested messages can be found on its Web-
site’s Legislative Action Center at http://takeaction.moaa.org/?0
President Col. (Ret.) Tom Peters
(859) 329-7320 [email protected]
First Vice President COL (Ret.) Tom Little
(859) 338-3301 [email protected]
Second Vice President Vacant
Secretary Vacant
Treasurer Mrs. Pat Jones
(859) 271-2606 [email protected]
Sergeant-at-Arms COL (Ret.) Chris Dolt
(859) 494-3452 [email protected]
Webmaster/ Newsletter Editor
COL (Ret.) John Shotwell (859) 420-2105
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MOAABluegrassChapter
Web: http://bluegrassmoaa.org
MOAA, including the Kentucky Council and the Bluegrass Chap-ter, is an independent, nonprofit, politically nonpartisan organization. dedicated to maintaining a strong national defense and ensuring our nation keeps its commitments to currently serving, retired and former members of the unformed services and their families and survivors. Membership is open to those who hold or have ever held a warrant or commission in any com-ponent of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, Public Health Service or NOAA and their surviving spouses.
NEVER STOP SERVING The MOAA Bluegrass Chapter is
a Sect. 501(c )(19) tax-exempt veterans organization
Jan and I were again privileged to “Storm the Hill” with MOAA national. We visited all eight offices for the Commonwealth and had excellent visits with staff to communicate the MOAA mes-sage. We clocked more than 13,000 steps on Wednesday as we traversed Capitol Hill! To be truthful I am very disappointed in the continued battle we wage to garner support for basic quality of life issues. Young enlisted families on food stamps (the General Accounting Office has documented over $21 million in food assis-tance support claimed at base commissaries in 2016), military family housing unfit to live in, and vocational certifications for spouses as they move from state to state to name a few. These young enlisted families are the real ground zero for many of the military’s quality-of-life issues On another front, the DOD is in the process of dismantling the entire military health system in an attempt to divert medical manpower spaces to areas deemed more important. (See related article, p. 6.) This anticipated 18,000 personnel cut will do irreparable damage to the training pipeline for medical personnel and further complicate life on base for active duty families. Moreover, how these cuts will ultimately impact recruiting goals for the all-volunteer force is not being addressed. We can only depend on private sector resources when there are such resources to rely upon. Re-mote stateside locations and overseas bases have no such resources. Clearly the message is that the DOD wants to get out of the health care process entirely and even MOAA staff are echoing the DOD position that medical care for life was never a promise. Finally, the “widows’ tax” is the other social issue that has languished for decades. Two separate appro-priations, Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity and the VA’s Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), yet the congress has mandated that one must offset the other. As one widow said as she spoke to this issue, “if you don’t want to deal with this, stop creating more widows”. For the Bluegrass Chapter, things are moving along as we enter the summer months. First, on May 23, that’s a Thursday evening, at 5:30 p.m., we will meet again in a joint session with the AUSA chapter. The program hosts the newly elect-
ed mayor of Lexington and I am certain that you will find the evening in-teresting and enjoyable. Her biography is featured on our front page. The meeting is at our usual location, Equestrian Woods, but at dinner-time. Please make a note and bring friends. Our September meet-ing is being planned for the Aviation Museum of Kentucky located at the Blue Grass Airport. In addition to our luncheon business meeting, we will have ample opportunity to explore the muse-um. That will be at noon, Sept. 27, so watch your mailbox for more information as the date gets closer. This June will mark the 75th anniversary of the greatest amphibious assault in history: Operation Overlord, Operation Neptune, D-Day. The allied invasion targeted five beaches, Juno, Gold, Sword, Utah and Omaha. There are commemora-tions around the Commonwealth, with the major one being held in Louisville. However you and your family commemorate the event, please take time to reflect on the courage, sacrifice and hero-ism of the armed forces; a few of these heroes are still among us. We are so privileged to live in this great country, a gift they have given to us. Have a safe summer.
Thomas Peters Col., USAF (Ret.)
President, Bluegrass Chapter
KENTUCKY STORMING — Chapter Pres. Col. (Ret.) Tom Peters (left) and his wife Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jan Peters briefed Kentucky U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-2nd District) on the ‘Widows Tax’ issue during MOAA’s annual Storming the Hill event.
Chapter member LTC George ("Buddy") Wilson has been contact-ed by the Independent Insurance Agents of Kentucky for help in re-cruiting retirees and veterans to apply for training and licensing as agents. Click on the logo below to link to the IIAK Website. Kentucky requires 40 hours of education and before an applicant can take the licensing exam. IIAK will offer scholarships to veterans in Kentucky and will pay for:
• 40 hours of classes
• exam fees
• cost of license
• background check For more information, contact the IIAK office in Louisville at 866-426-4425 or Cassie Young at [email protected].
Veterans resource group meets May 16
Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins, USAF (Ret.)
MOAA President/CEO
May 27, 2 p.m. Memorial Day Observance Kentucky National Guard Memorial, entrance to Boone National Guard Center, 100 Minuteman Parkway, Frankfort. Hosted by the
Kentucky National Guard. The keynote speaker for the event will be Vi-
etnam veteran COL (Ret.) Jerry Cecil, a civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army for Kentucky.
Parking for the event will be near the ceremony site and those attend-
ing are asked to arrive a few minutes early to allow for potentially con-
gested traffic flow and time to accommodate parking.
For more information contact the Kentucky National Guard Memorial
Fund at [email protected] or CW5 (Ret.) Dean E. Stoops at
[email protected] or (502) 682-8453.
The Veterans Resources United of Central/ Southeastern Kentucky (VRUCK) will meet at the Eastside Library, 3000 Blake James Drive, Lexington, on May 16 at 3 p.m. The meeting is open to anyone interested in attending. Veteran Service Organizations, individ-ual veterans, and friends are welcomed to attend. VRUCK’s purpose is to bridge the gap between veterans and the many different programs and resources that support them to ensure veterans and their families know what services are availa-ble to them! For more information, contact Phyllis Abbott at 859-806-4297 or via email at [email protected]. Phyllis Abbott
IIAK reaching out to vets for new blood
Acting Defense Secretary Patrick
Shanahan was grilled by lawmakers May 1 on the lengthy and costly effort to develop compatible elec-
tronic records systems between the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Shanahan told the disgruntled Congress members, "First of all, I
apologize for any lack of perfor-
mance or the inability of the people that testified before you to characterize the work of the de-
partment in this very vital area." The "rollout and implementa-tion" of the fix to the electronic
health records has shown promise at [several military installations
where pilot programs have been
tested], Shanahan said, and the next step is to put the program in place at California installations this
fall. "I can give you the commit-ment that these corrective actions
and the lessons learned will be carried forward," he said.
"There's a degree of inopera-
bility" between the VA and DoD systems that has defied solution over the years, Shanahan said. "The
real issue has been [the] passing on of the actual records. I can't explain to you the technical com-
plexity of that.”
Digital record systems compatibility still eludes DoD, DVA
Acting SECDEF Shanahan
May 27, 10 a.m., Annual Memorial Day Service Kentucky Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Coffee Tree RD, off Hwy. 678
East-West Connector, Frankfort. Hosted by Vietnam Veterans of America,
Chapter 454 from Louisville.
The event honoring “All Those Who Gave Their All” will feature a
presentation of the Colors, speakers, placing of memorial wreaths and
more. The event is open to all veterans, their families, and the general public.
Keynote Speaker will be BG (Retired) Benjamin F. Adams, III, Commis-
sioner, Kentucky Dept, of Veterans Affairs.
For more information, contact Greg Bethards at vvachap-
[email protected] or call 502-718-9278.
May 23 race track veterans event to benefit Gold Star memorial park
Heroes and Horses is an event at Churchill Downs in which veterans can spend an evening at the races and help raise funds for the Veter-ans Memorial Park of Kentucky. Proceeds from this fundraiser will benefit the construction of a Gold Star Memorial in the Park. Invited guests include former Miss America Heather French Henry and Medal of Honor recipient Hershel “Woody” Williams. Gates open at 4:00 PM. Please check in at The Turf Club. Proper attire is required (Business Casual no denim please) and please note that all tickets must be purchased in advance. General admission is $95 (military $85) and
includes Turf Club seating, buf-fet dinner, live horse racing, and a silent auction. Tickets are availa-ble by calling 502-243-9998. For more information, contact Mr. Scott Quinlan at 502-303-6727 or via email at [email protected].
Some vets can qualify for asbestos damage benefits Countless veterans are currently suffering from life-threatening illnesses that are a result of expo-sure to asbestos, a material that was commonly used in hundreds of military applications, prod-ucts, and ships because of its resistance to fire. Veterans who have been diagnosed with meso-thelioma even qualify for special benefits from the U.S. Dept. of Veteran Affairs. Go to Asbes-tos.com to learn more about asbestos-related illnesses and how the VA can help. To learn more about receiving financial com-pensation from at-fault companies, go to meso-theliomafund.com. If you’re accessing this newsletter online, click on the logos below.
Chapter mourns loss of long-time member, Col. John Marsh
Col. John Orie Marsh USMC (RET), 87, Cyn-
thiana, died Apr. 12 at Cedar Ridge Health
Campus.
He was a member of the Salem Church of
Christ, Farmhouse Fraternity, a past President
of the MOAA Bluegrass Chapter, USMC Mus-
tang Association, Inc., Korean War Veteran's
Association of Lexington, Elks USA, The Ameri-
can Legion, Frankfort
VFW, 3rd Marine Division
Association, and the
Marine Corps League.
He was an alumni of the last graduating
class of Oddville High School in 1950, U.K.
and American University in Washington D.C.
He served 37 years in the U.S. Marine
Corps, serving in both Korea and Vietnam.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Wil-
ma Gaye Clifford Marsh . Then-Capt. Marsh
May guest speaker Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton is shown with husband MG (Ret.) Charles Gorton and their family.
...that there is an organization that has focused research on assisted living and other care options specifically targeted toward aging veterans. The Assisted Living Research Institute has published a Web page: https://www.assistedliving.org/assisted-living-benefits-for-veterans/ that pro-vides comprehensive information on topics like, available care options, financial support, and free resources that are available from each state. If you have electronic access, click on the image below for a direct link.
HONOR FLIGHT SALUTE A member of Chapter 5, Kentucky Rolling Thunder, a veterans
support group, saluted returning veterans at the most recent home-coming of a Honor
Flight Kentucky, spon-sored by Marathon Petroleum, on April
27, 2019.
March meeting focused on suicide prevention
Our March guest presenter was Hannah Boettcher, PhD, a post-doctoral psychologist at the Lex-ington VA Medical Center, where
she coordinates medication-assisted therapy and suicide pre-
vention outreach services. She earned her PhD at Boston U.
Welcome aboard to our newest mem-ber! Col. Allen Kidd, recently retired from the USAF, joined at the March
meeting. He has volunteered to assist in the chapter's ROTC recognition programs. Col. Kidd is a native of Mercer Co. and his wife Suzy hails
from Lexington
EKU ROTC SCHOLARSHIPS—Chapter members MAJ (Ret.) Bob Bellman (left) and LTC (Ret.) Jack Whitney (right), pre-
sented $150 scholarship awards to (l-r)) Cadets Christopher Blake, Caleb Winebrenner, and Bianca Hargis.
CHAPTER MEMBER RECOGNIZED — EKU Army ROTC Profes-sor of Military Science LTC Jerimiah Corbin presented LTC (Ret.) Jack Whitney at the spring ceremonies with a plaque recognizing him as a Distinguished Military Alum.
First and foremost, military med-icine is a national treasure, and its importance to our country cannot be overstated. The progress made on the battlefield during the past 18 years of war represent a transfor-mation of extraordinary medical achievement for the United States and the world. However, now there is tangible movement to dismantle this na-tional treasure and potentially damage it beyond repair - and this takedown has been insidious. Thus, it is a fair question to ask, is the true intention to outsource mili-tary medicine? TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress not to dismantle military medicine. The Defense Department’s fiscal 2020 budget calls for the elimina-tion of about 18,000 military med-ical positions. This is roughly 20% of the military’s medical force. This reduction in medical capacity seems to have been developed ab-sent a medical readiness require-ment analysis in support of combat-ant operational plans. Instead, they appear to be based on a market or network analysis in the vicinity of installations. A 20% force reduc-tion constitutes a qualitative change to the military health sys-tem, which will cause unintended consequences and may affect all of American medical care. These conse-quences will be felt in the areas of combat casualty care capabilities; recruitment and retention; and in the already taxed civilian health care sector. These changes will not only dra-matically affect currently serving troops. Retirees could see, and many are already experiencing, reductions in care, including phar-macy services. Many TRICARE Prime enrollees are already being a pushed into the civilian network for all of their care. This may be just the beginning. MOAA is looking for answers to the following key questions and more:
1. Surge capacity – can military medical
departments still support operational plans, medical requirements, combat operations, humanitarian aid and disas-ter relief missions? Simultaneously?
2. How will the reductions affect recruit-ment and retention of military medi-cal professionals to include the reserve component?
3. Will there be adverse effects on re-cruitment or retention of the parent services? (The military health benefit is the top benefit when it comes to reten-tion and re-enlistments).
4. What is the stateside-to-overseas dwell ratios for deployments? Are they ac-ceptable and predictable levels, or will the reductions result in more frequent deployments?
5. What will be the effect on the Graduate Medical Education programs (the pipeline of physicians)? Not to mention the quality…
6. What will be the effect on civilian medical communi-ties associated with closure or downsizing capabilities of military treatment facilities?
Proceeding without full analyses and trans-parency could leave the military community insufficiently sized or with inexperienced medical personnel stateside to support over-seas deployments, combat operations, and humanitarian missions. MOAA asks that you alert Congress to this issue by asking them to include provisions in the upcoming 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) directing the DoD to: • Develop metrics to measure long-term
impacts on military readiness, family member readiness, graduate medical education and combat casualty care ca-pabilities.
• Delay medical force restructuring im-plementation until approved metrics are implemented and can be monitored.
• Develop a phased implemen-tation plan with milestones for each phase to be met if and before advancing phases. • Provide Congress with a full assessment prior to any proposed large-scale billed reprogramming initiative. You can find a MOAA-suggested message to members of Congress
at http://takeaction.moaa.org/moaa/app/write-a-letter?
by: CAPT Kathryn M. Beasley, USN (Ret) MOAA Director of Government
Relations, Health Affairs
MOAA Hill Storm brought focus to three major issues
Pillar #1 Protect pay & benefits
Servicemembers are in line for their largest raise in 10 years, but as with all budget items, there are no guarantees. Pres. Donald Trump's budget proposal calls for a 3.1 percent increase in military basic pay. The
figure matches the Employment Cost Index (ECI) from October 2018, the established benchmark lawmakers should use to set the raise servicemembers receive on Jan. 1, 2020. Click on the logo above to link to a MOAA position paper on this issue. MOAA has long made the protection of mili-tary pay and benefits a top priority. Here are some of the reasons why: CBO concerns: Pay caps -- holding the basic military pay raise below the ECI -- aren't off the budget radar. December's Congressional Budget Office report on ways to reduce the federal deficit includes a suggestion to “cap basic pay raises for military service members at 0.5 percentage points below the increase in the ECI for five years starting in 2020 and then return them to the ECI benchmark in 2025.” Lawmakers looking to free up funds, or DoD officials seeking to shuffle their budgets, could see the CBO report as cover for a move that could prove costly to servicemembers and their families. Health of the force: Fair compensation is an element of readiness -- underpaying service-members will lead to the loss of well-qualified, well-trained men and women, and that means a less-secure nation. As services struggle with recruiting goals, and as retention experts try to figure out what the new Blended Retirement System will mean to retaining the best talent, the last thing the military can afford is a de-crease in overall benefits for its members. Beyond basic pay: Even if the 3.1 percent raise goes into effect, servicemembers still could see reductions in other benefits, including their retirement contributions and housing allowanc-es, and their purchasing power at commissaries and military exchanges. For these reasons and others, MOAA is not content simply to hope that good economic indicators and preliminary budget proposals will combine to protect military compensation. Too much is at stake to remain on the sidelines; MOAA will continue to work with the White House, the DoD, and with lawmakers to solidify a 3.1 percent pay raise in FY 2020 and protect other benefits from becoming budget targets.
Pillar #2 End the Widows Tax’
Under current law, survivors of deceased military members must forfeit part or all of their purchased Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) annuity when they are awarded the VA's Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC). The loss of any portion of the SBP annuity is known as the widows tax. For approximately 66,000 military survivors, the widows tax makes SBP the only insurance product in the country that you pay into but are legally prohibit-ed from collecting. This week, three more sena-tors signed on as cosponsors of a bill to eliminate the “widows tax,” giving the bill enough support to surpass a critical legislative hurdle. S. 622, the Military Widow’s Tax Elimination Act, introduced by Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.), now has the backing of an addi-tional 60 senators – enough to end debate on the bill and move to a vote. “This is a fantastic development, and we thank Sen. Jones for his steadfast support of military families,” said MOAA President and CEO Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins, USAF (Ret). DIC is a VA-paid monetary benefit for eligible survivors whose sponsors died of a service-connected injury or disease. These separate
benefits are paid for separate reasons and should not be construed as duplicative com-pensation. “Ending the military widow’s tax is long overdue,” Jones said in a prepared statement. “These families have sacrificed more for our nation than most
people can ever fully appreciate, and they deserve to get the full survivor bene-fits to which they are entitled and have paid for.” Before the bill can go to the floor for a vote, it must first advance out of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), chairman of the committee, is a cosponsor of Jones’s bill. “We are encouraged by the level of support we’ve seen and urge Sen. Inhofe to allow this bill to go to the Senate floor for a vote,” said Atkins. ‘
Pillar #3 Protect Tricare
Sen. Jones
Sen. Inhofe
Congress has fairly consistently supported the principle that military retirees - by virtue of their service - should be recognized with some level of health care premium support. However, that level of support has always been vague, leaving it ripe for erosion. Further, as a result of several years of TRICARE fee increases, today's working-age TRICARE retir-ee cost shares are closely aligned with the aver-age civilian's cost shares and in proportion to civilian employers' cost of coverage. We must resist the urge to compare military retiree health care cost shares with civilians'. The cost disparities between civilians and veterans cannot truly be compared; those who served have already paid their share of their health care premiums through decades of service and sacri-fice - the true costs of which are significant. In the civilian economy, approximately three of four full-time employees participate in employer-sponsored group health plans.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation Employer survey, the typical employee paid about 29 percent of the company's total premi-um cost for family coverage in 2018; the em-ployer paid the remaining 71 percent. Premiums for employer-sponsored health plans vary mostly by the type of coverage, individual or family. It also is important to note retirees age 65 and over continue paying some of the highest costs of all. Military health care costs have decreased and leveled off since 2010. The Defense Health Agency (DHA) has even reprogrammed funds from end-of-year health care savings back into DoD to be used for readiness. In 2018 alone, the DHA reallocated $870 million, which was then spent on night-vision goggles and put back into the DoD working capital fund. It was not invested back into the health care program nor provided to beneficiaries to lower their costs. [Excerpted from article by: CAPT Kathryn M. Beasley, USN (Ret), MOAA Director of Govern-ment Relations, Health Affairs. To read the entire article and access relevant links go to https://www.moaa.org/content/publications-and-media/news-articles/2019-news-articles/advocacy/The-Slow-Erosion-of-Your-TRICARE-Benefit/
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
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Bluegrass Chapter, Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) New Membership/Membership Renewal/Donations
Please complete this form and your dues check ($25) payable to: BGMOAA. Mail the form and check to our return address.
Membership (new/renewal)=$25; widow(er)s free
