A Summary of
the Mississippi Gulf Coast
MILITARY RETIREE PICKET
held in
Biloxi, MS,
on 10 July 1999,
by Floyd Sears

The Mississippi Gulf Coast MILITARY RETIREE PICKET was held as schedule on 10 July 1999, from 0900 to 1100 hrs, in Biloxi Mississippi, at the intersection of Beach Blvd (US-90) and Main Street, on the South East corner of the intersection. Those present included military retirees from the Mississippi Gulf Coast , surrounding areas, and other states. This military retiree picket was held to keep the military retiree medical care broken promise issue alive.

The Mississippi Gulf Coast MILITARY RETIREE PICKET was a success, 18 people signed in. I suspect that a few more were there but didn't sign the book. Another picket participant put the head count at 25.

We got rained-on about 45 minutes into the picket. Those that bought umbrellas stayed at their post and toughed it out. The picket continued. The rain stopped and all hands returned. Everybody took turns displaying the placards, with enthusiasm. We got lots of attention from folks driving by, and many honked their horns. No one gave us the one finger salute.

We became concerned because WLOX TV had not shown up, but by making a phone call we discovered that their car broke down, and we were assured that they were on their way. They did show up and our activities was taped. The picket was aired on the 5:30 and 10:00 PM WLOX TV news.

I was very please with the picket, and I sincerely thank everybody that showed up. This is a list of those that did show. Note: I may have missed some names.

Jack DeLoach
Farris Chessher
Russell Volkert (TX)
James Doyle
William Morgan (SC)
Eugene Spencer
Edward Tomaszewski
Fillyan Harold
Maynard Howard
Scott MacFarland
Gerard Shuster
JL Craft
John Johnson
Ben Bruhnke
Edward Krecker
Dick Hartney
Richard Tinsley
Floyd Sears

EXAMPLES OF PLACARDS USED DURING THE PICKET:

An e-mail sent to WLOX TV

Subject: Mississippi Gulf Coast MILITARY RETIREE PICKET
Date: Sat, 10 Jul 1999 21:10:27 -0700
From: Floyd Sears - fsears@bellsouth.net
Organization: The Retired Military Advocate
To: DWalker@wlox.com

Dear Doug Walker:

The military retiree community extends our very sincere thanks to you, WLOX TV, and all of your staff members for a job well done in your coverage of the the Mississippi Gulf Coast MILITARY RETIREE PICKET held Saturday, 10 July 1999, in Biloxi MS. In our opinion the picket was a huge success, made possible by WLOX TV.

The job you (WLOX TV) did was very professional. I taped the coverage you provided on 9 and 10 July 1999 and I have replayed it several times. Every word that was said (by the WLOX TV staff) was technically correct, and in good taste. It could be said that you hit the nail right on the head.

I hope that you realize that what we, the military retirees, are trying to accomplish goes far beyond putting dollars into or taking dollars out of our pockets. It's not about money, it's about that which is RIGHT and WRONG. We believe that history will record that which is happening to the military retirees and the military veterans, at this time, as the darkest days in modern military history.

We believe that even in retirement we still have a duty to perform. You can take the man/woman out of the military but you can never take the military out of the man/woman.

Please convey our very sincere thanks to all of the WLOX TV staff members that worked the Mississippi Gulf Coast MILITARY RETIREE PICKET.

This e-mail is being sent to an e-mail list of military retirees.

This is a letter published in the Sun Herald on 11 July 1999.

Military retirees picket for health care

By BILL BROCATO
--------------------------------
THE SUN HERALD

BILOXI ---- Military retirees walked a picket line Saturday at Beach Boulevard and Main Street had more to be steamed about than the blistering heat.

These vets braved the high temperatures and humidity to show Coast residents just how angry they've become with the Veterans Administration refusal to honor a promise to provide free medical care.

• NOTE: The Sun Herald published a correction to the above paragraph on 13 July 1999. "A story on A-5 Sunday incorrectly identified the Veterans Administartion as the subject of some military retirees' anger. The retirees were angry at the Department of Defense."

The group's ad hoc leader, Floyd Sears a former master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, said he hoped the picket line would draw national and local attention to the problem over health care for military retirees. He said there are at least 1.5 million military retirees --- and about 27,000 who live in Mississippi.

Sears said retirees and their dependents were promised free health care for life at military facilities as part of their contract to serve when they entered the armed forces. But the federal government has reduced those benefits, he said.

Some military retirees have filed lawsuits to get their benefits, but apparently those efforts have been unsuccessful.

The problem worsened after a 1998 congressional study failed to discover sufficient evidence to back up retiree's claims that government or military recruiters made promises to provide lifetime benefits.

In fact, the congressional report pointed out that at least two recent court cases have rejected claims from retirees seeking free care at military facilities. The courts held that the current medical benefits benefit structure made up of military health care facilities, Tricare and Medicare provide sufficient health care to military members, retirees and their dependents.

Sears said military retirees don't agree with the judicial conclusions.

"We know that the medical care promise was made," he said. "We know the truth, and we need to focus on the truth. We also need to take a close look at the word 'promise'."

Millions of Americans were promised lifetime medical care if the would re-enlist and serve for at least 20 years, Sears said.

"The promise was made to me initially in November of 1951 by a military recruiter," he said. But, during the next four years the medical care promise was made to me by my supervisors and others. The promise was made openly, officially, and continuously... ."

He said the medical promise was fulfilled for the first 24 years after he retired from the Air Force in 1971. But when turned 65 years old, he was expected to file under Medicare, which pays only 80 percent of most medical costs.

"At first glance people might say 'what's the big problem, this happens to everybody that reaches age 65?' " Sears said. "The big problem is my medical care was guaranteed to be at no cost at a military treatment facility."

Coast residents and former military members who would like to know more about the Mississippi Gulf Coast retirees can e-mail Sears at: fsears@bellsouth.net or go to the Web Site http://mrgrg-ms.org/ .
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Brocato can be reached at (228) 896-2358 or at billb@sunherald.com .

An e-mail sent to The Sun Herald

Subject: Your article - Military retirees picket for health care
Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1999 13:47:09 -0700
From: Floyd Sears -fsears@bellsouth.net
Organization: The Retired Military Advocate
To: billb@sunherald.com

Dear Bill Brocato:

On behalf of the military retirees along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, thank you for writing the "Military retirees picket for health care" article published 11 July 1999. We are very grateful.

I hope that you realize that what we, the military retirees, are trying to accomplish goes far beyond putting dollars into or taking dollars out of our pockets. It's not about money, it's about that which is RIGHT and WRONG. We believe that history will record that which is happening to the military retirees and the military veterans, at this time, as the darkest days in modern military history.

In your article in the second paragraph in part "just how angry they've become with the Veterans Adminstration refusal to honor a promise to provide free medical care." That should be "just how angry they've become with the DEPARTMENT of DEFENSE refusal to honor a promise to provide free medical care." Interchanging the "Veterans Adminstration" and the "Department of Defense" when talking about military retirees is a very common mistake. It's a mistake routinely made by about 90% of the Congress.

A military retiree does not fall under the care of the Veterans Adminstration unless he has a service connected disability. The military retiree can go to a VA Hospital but the care is not always free unless he/she has a disability. The military retiree is paid by the Department of Defense and we are suppose to be receiving our medical care under the Department of Defense. The disabled military retiree get what is sometimes called dual compensation when he has a VA approved disability. Example, if a military retiree has a 30% disability then 30% of his retirement pay comes from the VA and 70% comes from the Department of Defense. This doesn't mean that the military retiree with a 30% disability get an additional 30% of pay, it simply means that he get two checks that total the amount of his retirement.

The biggest problem the military retirees have is a problem of identity. The Congress (those that don't know better) want to lump together the "military retirees" and the "military veterans" and call all of us "vets". Please note that I have made a distinction between "military retirees" and "military veterans". A "military retiree" is a person that spent at least 20 years in the military and retired. A "military veteran" is a person that spent at least 90 days in the military but less than 20 years and did not retire.

You can say (and this is where the confusion starts) all military retirees are veterans but not all military veterans are retirees.

As a side note, there are about 26.5 million "military veterans". Included in that group there are about 1.5 million "military retirees". When Congress gets out their calculator and they calculate how much it will cost to keep the military retiree medical care promise and they mistakenly use the 26.5 million number instead of the 1.5 million number guess what happens. We lose. I know that you think this example is silly but it happens. It has happened in conversations that I have had with members of Congress.

The bottom line is... Congress is mixing "apples" and "oranges" and it is literally killing the military retirees by denying them the medical care that was promised by the "Department of Defense".

Once again, I am very grateful for the article you wrote and I look forward to other articles you may write about the MILITARY RETIREES and the DEPARTMENT of DEFENSE.

• NOTE: The Sun Herald did publish a correction concerning the misunderstanding about the Veterans Adminstration - vs - the Department of Defense.