-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! ARTICLE 11 Anthrax: Buck Fined, Avoids Jail, Can Stay In Service Ed.: „Anthrax ueber alles!" It looks like the Air Force tried to enforce its military authority while still avoiding the real Anthrax issues. The Doc ought to have the option to resign for the good of the service and until considered safe without a doubt, the Anthrax vaccinations should be administered on a voluntary basis, the way it is handled in Britain. And still NO defining word from any of our political leaders! Source: Biloxi Sun Herald, 05/23/01. By Reni Winter KEESLER AFB -Air Force physician John Buck will be allowed to remain in the military and will not serve prison time for disobeying a direct order to take an anthrax vaccine before being deployed overseas. After 90 minutes of deliberation Tuesday, an 11-member panel of Keesler Air Force Base officers sentenced Capt. Buck to 60 days of base restriction and fined him $1,500 a month - almost half his salary - for 14 months. A written reprimand will also be placed in his personnel file. Monday, the panel convicted Buck of willfully disobeying an order from a superior officer. He had faced the possibility of five years in prison and dismissal from the Air Force. "We are very satisfied with how it went," said Capt. Jim Winner, an Air Force spokesman. "They issued an appropriate sentence we cannot quibble with." Lead defense attorney Frank Spinner did not claim victory, however. He plans to appeal Lt. Col. Mark Allred's decision last week that the order to take the anthrax vaccine is lawful. Allred, who acted as judge in the case, did not allow the panel to consider the lawfulness of the order. "The sentence is relatively light compared to a prison sentence or dismissal," Spinner said. "That is a stiff financial penalty." During Tuesday's sentencing phase of the court-martial, Buck read eight pages of unsworn testimony to the panel, explaining his decision to disobey the order. "I was at the crossroads between the oath of an officer and the oath of a physician," Buck said. "The only way I could have peace about the apparent conflict was to do what I knew to be right as a physician and to stare down the barrel of the gun with the courage of an officer. ... I knew that enlisted personnel had been court-martialed before me and all had been found guilty. I could have walked away and protected my self-interest, but I feel I would have turned my back on my troops." Prosecutors had asked that Buck be dismissed. For an officer, that is the equivalent of a dishonorable discharge. Buck's mother, Anne Works, testified on her son's behalf. She described his achievements in school and his pride in being accepted into the Air Force. When she finished testifying, she asked the panel for mercy for Buck. Works was one of four character witnesses who testified on Buck's behalf Tuesday. Maj. Bruce Bishop, chief of the emergency room at Keesler Medical Center, described Buck's loyalty to the Air Force when he said, "I think Dr. Buck bleeds bluer than any of the other ER physicians. ...Once he learned enough about the anthrax vaccine to believe it was dangerous, well, he is the type of person who would take on a cause he believed in. I have no doubt that he is doing this because it's the right thing to do." Buck's attorneys attempted to submit documents, including statements from Department of Defense personnel and excerpts from congressional hearings, that they said support his belief that the anthrax vaccine is an experimental drug and is neither safe, effective nor legal in the manner it is being used by the military. Spinner challenged Allred's refusal to accept the documents and asked the judge whether he was influenced by outside authorities. "We are concerned that there have been other influences with respect to the ruling not to allow these documents," Spinner said to Allred, who didn't answer. After sentencing, Spinner said the case raises questions about the independence of the military judicial system in which judges must answer to their superiors. The official military position is that the vaccine is safe and the best weapon against biological attacks. Pressure mounted to immunize soldiers to biological agents in the wake of the Persian Gulf War. Buck was issued the order to take the vaccine when he was scheduled to be part of an emergency medical team deployed to Oman or Bahrain less than a week after the bombing of the USS Cole. He said he refused the order because he had treated patients at Keesler Medical Center who had adverse reactions to the vaccine. Once he faced criminal charges, he said he researched the vaccine further and became more convinced that it is potentially harmful to troops and is not effective. Monday, Buck's commander rejected his request that he be allowed to resign under a general discharge, which is granted to those with only minor infractions on their service record. It is a step below an honorable discharge, which is given to those with an exemplary record. Anthrax is a disease that typically afflicts animals, especially sheep and cattle. Dry anthrax spores, which can be put into weapons, can cause death in humans if inhaled. Buck has become a key figure in the resistance to the mandatory anthrax program. He and a former Air Force major filed suit May 2 against the Food and Drug Administration and the Defense Department in U.S. District Court in Washington seeking to end the program. ARTICLE 12 Camouflaged Couch Potatoes, and Other Short Stories E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Website: http://medical.militarybenefits.org By Pete Peterson, SFTT Contributing Editor "What happened?" some ask me. Why didn’t they fix TRICARE last year when the pressure was on them? What good was the solution if it didn’t help everybody? Weren’t we strong enough? These are some of the questions still being asked six months after the FY01 Defense Authorization was signed into law. I’ll try to answer. First, the emphasis last year was on the notion that military retirees should get at least the same level of benefits as all other federal employees. Freshman Congressman Ronnie Shows (since re-elected) agreed with his Mississippi retirees and wrote a bill called "The Keep Our Promises to America’s Military Retirees Act." Co-authoring the Bill was Charlie Norwood from Georgia. Shows is a "blue dog" Democrat and Norwood is a Republican. (Ed. They reintroduced HR 179 in the 107th Congress). Someone on the Hill found a magic date of 6 June 1956 inviting. That’s the day the law changed regarding military retiree benefits. From then on, the issue of retirees’ ages at enlistment became a big deal. This made some politicians happier, ‘cause it might not cut as deep into their Pork and other social agendas. It might be "cheaper" and cost less of "their" money. The Senate passed something called the Warner-Hutchinson Amendment (which was never intended to pass) after a first attempt at appeasement bombed completely. Then, the House wouldn’t even hear the Shows’ Bill, even though over 300 of 435 of them co-sponsored it! Republicans, to a person, voted against Shows getting a vote on his Bill. The Senate version of the FY01 Defense Authorization Act finally went to conference with the House and more months passed. It was so overloaded with social engineering goodies and stuff that didn’t have anything to do with the military. Everybody knew someone else’s hog (as in Pork) would have to be slaughtered. Slaughter they did and now it’s history, albeit not yet fully funded or implemented. Folks have been told to save their receipts. Government will have to owe us on another promise. Now to the second question. Why didn’t they try to fix TRICARE? That’s easy. The active duty folks weren’t screaming about it (duh). Most of the angry mail into Congress came from older retirees. So, they greased the squeakiest wheel, throwing more money at the older age group instead of fixing the totally screwed up system everybody is now under … TRICARE. In the process, they "divided and conquered" the grassroots. The grassroots are now divided by age groups – or classes: The over-65s and the under-65s. Many "over-65s" walked away from the fight, having gotten something. The rest, the "under-65s," were left swinging, fighting for what the majority of retirees (and actives) still need. Congress passed a politically expedient solution to a political problem. It continued waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars. It got them re-elected. It saved face for military associations who’re still selling insurance supplements. It kept congressional friends in high profit health insurance companies happy and guaranteed campaign donations would keep coming in. Their most profitable accounts (government) were safe. It’s worth Billions to them. Personal fortunes were made on health care we’ve never received. The TRICARE bureaucracy will continue to soak up 60% of the money going into military health care for admin and overhead, thereby avoiding really expensive stuff (treatment) for the troops and their families, active and retired. Some field grade and general/flag officers, whose post-active duty career plans depend on how high they got in military health care, and how well they played the game, were also happy. Finally, weren’t we strong enough? No, we weren’t. Sure, some retirees filled out "Dear Congressman" coupons provided by their associations and sent them in, but the real work fell on the grassroots to create the pressure for change. But, my best guesstimate is that never more than 1% of our retirees got off their biscuit-butts in this battle. The rest were camouflaged couch potatoes. I can’t count the emails for help we got from folks. Most didn’t do anything to help ALL of us get our EARNED benefits back. "What’s in it for me?" and "When can I get it?" seemed to be the most frequently asked questions. They were probably first at the trough for the new benefits. I’ve lost faith in many retired brothers and sisters during this combat tour. We didn’t "cover" each other very well. If I’ve missed offending anybody, let me know. If you’re not a rock-hugger, or one of those that’s "walked" already, I’d like to have some covering fire for the missions ahead in 2001 and beyond. Congress / DOD: FIX TRICARE NOW! ARTICLE 13 GI HUMOR – Never in Line Again! Ed.: This young soldier had his priorities in order. Rated NPC – Not Politically Correct "Well," snarled the tough old Sergeant to the bewildered Private. "I suppose after you get discharged, you'll just be waiting for me to die so you can come and piss on my grave." "Not me, Sergeant!" the Private replied. "Once I get out, I'm never going to stand in line again!" ARTICLE 14 MEDAL OF HONOR STANLEY T. ADAMS - U.S. Army Korea Ed.: Fix Bayonets! Infantry action in Korea, 1951. STANLEY T. ADAMS United States Army ADAMS, STANLEY T. Rank and organization: Master Sergeant (then SFC.), U.S. Army, Company A, 19th Infantry Regiment. Place and date: Near Sesim-ni, Korea, 4 February 1951. Entered service at: Olathe, Kans. Born: 9 May 1922, DeSoto, Kansas. G.O. No.: 66, 2 August 1951. Citation: M/Sgt. Adams, Company A, distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty in action against an enemy. At approximately 0100 hours, M/Sgt. Adams' platoon, holding an outpost some 200 yards ahead of his company, came under a determined attack by an estimated 250 enemy troops. Intense small-arms, machine gun, and mortar fire from 3 sides pressed the platoon back against the main line of resistance. Observing approximately 150 hostile troops silhouetted against the skyline advancing against his platoon, M/Sgt. Adams leaped to his feet, urged his men to fix bayonets, and he, with 13 members of his platoon, charged this hostile force with indomitable courage. Within 50 yards of the enemy M/Sgt. Adams was knocked to the ground when pierced in the leg by an enemy bullet. He jumped to his feet and, ignoring his wound, continued on to close with the enemy when he was knocked down 4 times from the concussion of grenades which had bounced off his body. Shouting orders he charged the enemy positions and engaged them in hand-to-hand combat where man after man fell before his terrific onslaught with bayonet and rifle butt. After nearly an hour of vicious action M/Sgt. Adams and his comrades routed the fanatical foe, killing over 50 and forcing the remainder to withdraw. Upon receiving orders that his battalion was moving back he provided cover fire while his men withdrew. M/Sgt. Adams' superb leadership, incredible courage, and consummate devotion to duty so inspired his comrades that the enemy attack was completely thwarted, saving his battalion from possible disaster. His sustained personal bravery and indomitable fighting spirit against overwhelming odds reflect the utmost glory upon himself and uphold the finest traditions of the infantry and the military service. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- The Medal of Honor is the highest award for valor in action against an enemy force which can be bestowed upon an individual serving in the Armed Services of the United States. Generally presented to its recipient by the President of the United States of America in the name of Congress, it is often called the Congressional Medal of Honor. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- If you know of any MOH recipient who is hospitalized or has passed recently, please write James H. Also, if you would like more info on MOH recipients and their stories, please email James H at [EMAIL PROTECTED] EDITOR'S NOTE: For Article Submissions: 1. Try to keep articles to 700 words or less. SUBMIT IN WORD FORMAT, if possible! 2. Submit your piece to one of our subject matter experts who can assist you in pre-editing prior to final publication decision, unless you feel strongly that your issue is so hot that Zimm needs to see it personally and immediately. SFTT is not trying to duplicate a rigid chain of command with titles and perks. Ralf W. 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