Season's Greetings.  It seems odd that we are entering into a period of time in which we celebrate Thanksgiving, Hannukah, Christmas, and the New Year, while our nation is teetering toward war with a nation whose leader is considered to be a madman who will stop at nothing to preserve his regime.  At the same time, we are engaged in a struggle to contain and eliminate terrorism by those who have vowed a "Jihad," a holy war that is bent on destroying us by ruining our economy, collapsing our buildings and killing our people.

     Our prayers and our thoughts are with the members of our armed forces as they strive to combat these forces of evil. We cannot delude ourselves that this will be an easy and fast task.  The enemy are numerous, dedicated to the cause, and have a belief that their lives in the hereafter will be rewarding if they can eliminate infidels. They will strike at random when we can least expect it.

     Those of you who missed our November 15 social meeting overlooked an evening of inspiring entertainment.  The "Sounds of Joy," a musical group under the animated direction of Jean Kennedy, featured about 30 vocalists and their accompanisits who performed for us for about an hour with a musical medley.  See a related article elsewhere in this newsletter.

     War, strife, pestilence, drought, plague -- you name it, it is not new. The world has undergone many of these, many times.  We will survive and prosper.  And at times like this we look back at an event that took place over two thousand years ago:  the birth of a man in whose name most of us worship.  A man whose preachings emphasized "Peace on Earth,  Good Will Toward Men."  With this in mind, I wish for all the best wishes for a Joyous Season and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

     As this is written, the Congress, while initially giving only lip service to the issue of concurrent receipt of retired pay and disability compensation, at the last minute included in the Defense Authorization Act a first-ever provision that substantially eliminates the disability offset of retired pay for certain retirees who have at least 20 years of active service and have been awarded qualifying VA disability ratings for combat or certain other operations-related disabilities. TROA believes the President will sign it into law.

     TROA has in the past, and will continue it's efforts to correct the inequities of concurrent pay and the survivor benefit plan.  We are working for your interests.

                                                                                                         Let's roll,

                                                                                                          Jesse

     For those of you with computers and a desire to contact incoming chapter officers and committee members electronically,  following are some pertinent e-mail addresses:
 

Other e-mail addresses will be published when appropriate. Member e-mail addresses, when known, will be included in the protected Member Directory on the Web Site, as well as in the published issue of the Chapter Directory.

     Those of you who passed by the November 15 Social Dinner Meeting overlooked a most enjoyable experience! Following dinner, we were held spellbound for about an hour by the "Sounds of Joy."  This musical group, under the lively direction of Jean Kennedy, featured about 30 vocalists (male and female) who, with their accompanists, performed a musical medley of "classic pop," Broadway songs, patriotic, Americana, folk, and inspirational music, old and new. Their stellar performance drew vigorous applause at the conclusion of each number, and, at the end, our members and guests rose en masse for a standing ovation in recognition of their appreciation for the talented performers and director. Bravo, Sounds of Joy! 
 
 

     The Social for December will be in support of the annual "Toys for Tots" campaign conducted by the USMCR. The affair will be held at the NAS Oceana Officers Club on Tuesday, 10 December. There will be cocktails at 6:30 p.m. followed by a seated dinner at 7:00.

     You are encouraged to donate an unwrapped toy suitable for boys and girls of all ages for collection and later distribution by attending USMC representatives. We look forward to having a great turnout.

     A reminder that this is also the night for the installation of our new slate of officers and directors for the coming 2 years.  Marc Marique will provide keyboard entertainment.  Let's try to make this a Christmas to remember for all the boys and girls in this area who would not receive a gift for the Holiday Season without the help of the United States Marines.  We have nearly 1000 members in the Hampton Roads area, and we want to make this a banner year for the Toys for Tots program.

 You computer owners, please take a few minutes to visit our new website.  It is a great site with lots of information and numerous links to other interesting sites.  You may access our site at: www.hrcmoaa.org.  If you have any comments regarding the site please contact the webmaster, Clif Furedy, at:  thrcmoaa@cox.net.  If you have any comments concerning your chapter business please contact John Vermillion at: hrmoaa@cox.net. (a link is also provided at the site.) The Members Access section of the site is accessed using the password that was provided by separate correspondence in October with the November Social Meeting notice.

NOTE:  There was a printing error in the October notice sent to you about the November Social Meeting and the chapter website.  The e-mail address for chapter business was in error.  The correct e-mail address is: hrmoaa@cox.net.
 

     Two of our chapter ladies, one auxiliary member and one spouse of a chapter member,  have offered to co-chair as legislative representatives to the Virginia Council of Chapters. They are:

     Please address your legislative concerns to either representative.  We shall await their reports of State legislative matters that may concern our members.

     Thank you, ladies, for your interest in providing this valued service, which will be reported in future issues of this newsletter.

     Some years ago, the Department of Motor Vehicles approved the issue of vehicle license plates containing the TROA logo.  A few were purchased by chapter members.

     The DMV later "shelved" further manufacture of the plates owing to low demand, so that they can no longer be ordered. 

     With so many new chapter members since the plates were first authorized, is there now sufficient interest that the DMV might be persuaded to again issue the plates?  (As an included question, would such interest include the need to re-design the logo in view of the change from TROA to MOAA?)

     If you are interested, please contact COL Floyd Gilbert at 467-6435. It may be possible to reopen the matter if there is sufficient demand for purchase of such plates. 

                                                Charles C. Narducci

     The target date for publication of a new chapter directory is May 2003.  Updated information is essential to its accuracy.  If your dues expire on 31 December 2002 (Check your mailing label for the year your dues expire on 31 December), please fill out completely the renewal application on the back cover of the TROA BULLETIN. 

Click here for Membership Form that you can print and mail.

 Be sure to include especially those items that appear in your directory entry!  For example, if you leave the "Spouse" entry blank, shall I assume that means: (a) No spouse, (b) No change, or (c) Unlisted?  The same concern arises with your membership number in National TROA/MOAA. If you are a member in good standing, your number is in the upper left of the mailing label on The Retired Officer magazine. Auxiliary Members should have their own National membership number, since member numbers are canceled upon death 

 Please help take out any guesswork by providing complete, current information.