2013 Winter
Get the Latest News From the Largest Veteran Organizations at
S
www.veteransview.com
E
G
A
P
E
Join the Veteran’s View E-Mail List!
L
P
M
A
S
Sign up for our free Veteran’s View monthly newsletter by
clicking on the link at www.VeteransView.com. You will
receive the latest Veteran’s news updates, special Veteran’s
travel deals, and up-to-date information on great local and
national Veteran’s benefits.
You will be the first to know about discounts on hotels,
restaurants, and real estate for Veterans nationwide.
News from these Military & Veteran’s groups
as seen on www.veteransview.com (partial list)
Read the latest headline news from these
organizations on
www.veteransview.com
Auto Dealers Deal Out Donations to Assist Local Vets
Canada Wants U.S. Veterans for Pipeline Work
VFW and Partners Receive Google Global Impact Award to
Expand Student Veteran Support
Homeless Vets Roundtable Set for Convention
Health Care
Legion Alumnus Wins Gold at Olympics
Every Day is Veteran’s Day
VA to Expand Health Care Service by Opening
13 New Community-Based Outpatient Clinics
VA Expanding Burial Options in Rural Areas
VA Exceeds 2012 Goal to Improve Online Access
to Benefits Information
Air Force
American G.I. Forum
American Legion
AMVETS
Blinded Veterans Association
Catholic War Veterans
Cold War Veterans Association
Disabled American Veterans
Healing Heroes Network
Hope For Veterans
Iraq War Veterans Organization
Jewish War Veterans of the USA
Korean War Veterans Association
Marine Corps League
Military Officers Association of America
Military Order of Foreign Wars
Military Order of the Purple Heart
The Mission Continues
National Association for Black Veterans
National Coalition for Homeless Vets
National Veteran-Owned Business Assc.
Naval Enlisted Reserve Association
Navy Musicians Association
Paralyzed Veterans of America
Pearl Harbor Survivors Association
The Society of Hispanic Veterans
Student Veterans of America
United Service Organizations
Veterans of Foreign Wars
Vietnam Veterans of America
Women in Military Service for America
Memorial Foundation, Inc.
Wounded Warrior Project
Inside This Issue
School Guide
page 5
Real Estate
page 23
Funeral & Burial Guide
page 11
Rentals/Commercial Prop
page 30
Help Wanted
page 13
Museums
page 31
Hunting &
Fishing
page 16
Travel
page 35
Golf
Guide
Guide
page 10
Page 2
Winter 2013
Vet seeks to honor father with
memorial service
By SARA YOUNG-KNOX
Union Leader Correspondent
BERLIN — On Aug. 3, 2013, veteran Chris Conlin of Berlin would like to
have a military graveside memorial service for his father, who is buried at
Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, N.Y., but Chris is still waiting for
the Department of Veterans Affairs to get in touch with the trustees of St.
Patrick’s Cathedral to approve the services.
Richard R. Conlin, lieutenant/master USMS, graduated from the U.S.
Merchant Marine Academy in April of 1944. He served in the Merchant
Marines as a midshipman and second mate in the Battle of the Atlantic,
and he also served during the invasion of Normandy and Operation
Torch in Africa.
Although merchant mariners are usually not considered members of the
U.S. armed services, during World War II, they risked their lives bringing
much-needed supplies, arms and equipment to the Allies. Those ships
were in constant danger from the German U-boats, and thousands of
Merchant Marine ships were lost to those submarines, taking with them
the men who served on those ships.
In 1988, the merchant mariners who served in World War II were
recognized as veterans, too late for Richard Conlin to be afforded a
funeral with military honors.
Richard Conlin is officially recognized as a veteran of World War II, having
served from Jan. 16, 1942, to Aug. 15, 1945. He was honorably discharged,
with the reason of the discharge listed on his certificate of release as “end
of hostilities.”
He died on Aug. 3, 1968, when his son was 10 years old. Chris remembers
going to the Manhattan Veterans Administration’s regional offices with
his mother as she applied for her husband’s World War II benefits and
burial benefits. According to the younger Conlin, he and his mother
were thrown out of those offices in 1968, 1969 and 1971.
“I’ve tried and tried and nothing got done, and I’m deeply upset about
it,” Chris said.
He’s worked over the years to have his father’s service honored. Among
Look for more stories like this on
WWW.VETERANSVIEW.COM
VETERAN’S VIEW
the awards and medals Richard
received were the Atlantic War
Zone Bar, the MediterraneanMiddle East War Zone Bar, the
Combat Bar with stars, the
Merchant Marine Emblem, the
Honorable Service Button, the
Presidential Testimonial Letter
and the Victory Medal.
Chris appealed to the Russian
government to further honor his
father’s service and meet with
embassy officials in Washington.
In 1993, his father was awarded
the 40th Anniversary of the
Victory in the Great Patriotic
War Medal. In subsequent
communications,
embassy
official
Sergey
Kuznetsov,
second secretary, wrote to Chris,
“The Government and people of
This photo of Richard R. Conlin was taken
the Russian Federation highly during his time at the U.S. Merchant Marine
admire your Father’s deed in Academy. (COURTESY)
those difficult times when our
countries stood together united by the common goal of defeating the
Nazis. This ‘brotherhood in arms’ will always stay a remarkable page in
the history of Russia-U.S. relations.”
Chris said he also received a very nice letter from Russian President
Vladimir Putin, and that officials from the embassy called him personally.
It’s been difficult for Chris, who also served his country, with a six-year
stint in the Navy. He first went to sea as a merchant mariner when he
was 17, and by the time he was 20, he had been around the world twice.
“It’s been 44 years fighting with them,” he said of VA. He’s got a stack
of correspondence and documentation, and he and his mother, who
died several years ago, were turned down for other benefits. Now he
wants to properly honor his father and is waiting for VA to get services
approved.
He said it’s not only about his father; it’s about providing a proper burial
and memorial for all military veterans.
“It means a lot to me because as a 10-year-old, I never had that closure,”
he said, hoping that on Aug. 3, 2013, he will finally get that closure.
Faster airport screening expands
for troops
The hassle of air travel will soon ease significantly for service members
under a new agreement between the Defense Department and the
Transportation Security Administration.
Beginning Dec. 20, TSA will expand expedited screening procedures for
service members on both official and leisure travel at all 100 domestic
airports that now have such procedures in place. Currently, troops can
use the expedited screening lanes at only 10 domestic airports, using
their Common Access Card.
The expedited screening will be available to all members of the armed
forces, including the Coast Guard and members of the National Guard
and Reserves.
Expedited screening excuses service members from having to take off
their footwear or light outerwear or remove laptop computers from
their cases. They also will not have to unpack “3-1-1- compliant” carryon bags, which permits liquids in bottles of 3.4 ounces (100 ml) or less,
as long as they are stored in a clear plastic, quart-sized zip-lock bag
inside the carry-on bag.
Continued on page 3
Page 4
VETERAN’S VIEW
Winter 2013
A Central News Publication
www.veteransview.com
EDITOR
Laurie Freeman
DESIGN
Laurie Freeman
Nenad Nikolic
WEBMASTER
Nenad Nikolic
Your Advertisement here!
Call 630-416-4191
ADVERTISING MANAGERS
Michael Haddad
Doug Haddad
NAPERVILLE, IL OFFICE
40 Shuman Blvd., Ste 105
Naperville IL 60564
Phone: 630-416-4191
Fax: 630-416-4241
CHICAGO, IL OFFICE
166 W. Washington St., Ste 700
Chicago, IL 60603
Phone: 312-263-5388
Fax: 312-263-6095
Page 16
Winter 2013
ALASKA
VETERAN’S VIEW
VETERAN’S VIEW
Winter 2013
Advertise in our Next Issue
Page 23
Call 630-416-4191
VETERAN’S VIEW
Winter 2013
MUSEUMs
Page 31
VETERAN’S VIEW
Page 35
Winter 2013
ALABAMA
ALASKA
ARIZONA
See our website
WWW.VETERANSVIEW.COM
for more
TRAVEL DESTINATIONS
Best for Vets: Colleges 2014
We placed a new emphasis on academic rigor
By George Altman
Staff writer
How well do veteran students fare academically at schools around
the country?
Answering that question is much harder than you might think.
The Education Department keeps stats in dozens of categories, from
breakdowns of a school’s recent hires by race and gender to data on how
many students accepted to a school actually enroll.
But if you want to know how vets or military students are doing, you’re
out of luck. What’s worse, one common statistic used to track academic
success, the graduation rate, is calculated in a way that completely
excludes most current and former troops.
But in recent years, schools have begun putting more effort into tracking
how well their student veterans are doing. So this year, for the first time,
in addition to evaluating schools’ veteran-focused operations, we also
considered more than a dozen different measures of academic success,
quality and rigor, as reported by schools themselves and the Education
Department, to develop the rankings.
Ben Randle, director of the Veterans Affairs Office at Buffalo’s D’Youville
College, our top-finishing four-year school, said the quality of service in
the veterans office and stats such as graduation and retention rates are
closely linked.
Student veterans at Mount Wachusett Community College, Mass. (Courtesy photo)
Randle said his office not only functions as a one-stop shop to help
students navigate different university departments and bureaucracies, it
also works with state and federal veterans affairs departments on behalf
of students to help them with issues unrelated to school.
“That ... takes a lot of the stress off of the students,” he said. “That literally
lets them concentrate on what we consider to be the most important
thing, and that’s ... academics.”
ECPI University in Virginia Beach, Va., topped our rankings of online and
nontraditional schools, while Nebraska’s Central Community College led
the way among two-year schools.
Representatives of about 600 schools responded to our Best for Vets:
Colleges 2014 survey comprising 150 questions that delved into school
operations in unprecedented detail. The results show that many more
schools are tracking the academic success of their military and veteran
students — but the majority still do not.
Last year, fewer than 11 percent of school representatives responding to
our survey said they track completion rates for current and former service
members. This year, more than a third said they track similar academic
success measures for such students.
They are also learning more about the students using veteran and
military benefits. Nearly seven in 10 schools told us this year that they
track whether Post-9/11 GI Bill users are veterans themselves or are using
the benefit as family members.
On average, responding schools reported a 2012 graduation rate of just
under 52 percent. Because that figure includes both four- and two-year
Continued on page 75