Greetings. The Major conflict in Iraq seems to be over and some of our troops are coming home; this is good news. Unfortunately, as in all conflicts, some have given their lives for our freedoms, the ultimate sacrifice. We will keep them and their families in our prayers. We still have much work to do in bringing peace and stability to Iraq and its people. May God speed.

     On Friday, 11 July, our Legislative Co-Chair, Beverly Smeltzer, and I journeyed to Fort Lee, near Petersburg, to attend the Virginia Council of Chapters quarterly meeting. It was well attended with representatives present from all of the Virginia Chapters. The agenda included reports from all chapters on their activities during the past quarter. The Council passed a motion to add a 3rd and 4th Veterans Care Center to the Legislative Priorities List at some time in the future. The Council President spoke on the Biennial Expanded Meeting to be held on Friday, 10 Oct. 2003 at the Defense Supply Center in Richmond. The election of VCOC Officers for the next two years will be held at this meeting. The Storming of the Hill in Richmond is scheduled to take place on 26 January 2004.

      National MOAA has announced the debut of its 75th anniversary campaign, details of which are given in a separate article in this BULLETIN.

     The National Personnel Records Center is working to make it easier for veterans and their next of kin with computers and Internet access to obtain copies of documents from their military files. The NPRC has established a new online military personnel records system to request documents. Other individuals with a need for documents must still complete the Standard Form 180 which can be downloaded from the online website. The site may be accessed at: 

     The Department of Veterans Affairs has revised its application form to make requesting a VA grave marker easier. The new form, Application for Standard Government Headstone or Marker (VA Form 40-1330), includes updated information about changes that establish eligibility for a government marker. The new form and instruction sheets also permit better communication between VA and veterans' families. The VA website is at:   http://www.cem.va.gov. 
Questions may be answered by calling 1-800-697-6947.

     Approximately 60 members and guests attended the July 12th picnic at Fort Story. Everyone had a wonderful time with good food and company. For those of you who were unable to attend, you were missed, and we look forward to seeing you at the next function to be scheduled in September.

     Again, we would like to encourage any member, who is interested in becoming actively involved in MOAA operations, to attend our Board meetings, normally held on the first Saturday of each month at the Little Creek Amphibious Base Golf Course clubhouse, starting at 0830 hours. We want to establish some new committees and new members are needed to fill the vacancies. There will be no Board meeting or Chapter Social in August.

     MOAA will observe its 75th anniversary starting in January 2004, and to honor the event the Scholarship Fund has kicked off its 75th anniversary campaign. The goal is to raise $7.5 million by collecting $75 from each chapter member. The money will be used to create 250 more college scholarships to aid members' children.

     Chapter members can donate to the campaign by making a check payable to: 
               75th Anniversary Campaign
               MOAA Scholarship Fund
               Dept. 889
               Alexandria, VA 22334-0889

     For more information on the campaign and national MOAA's Scholarship Fund, 
contact Cindy Amos at (800) 234-6622, ext 169, or e-mail  moaasf@moaa.org.

     Chapters with the highest percentage of members contributing  $75 or more to national MOAA's Scholarship Fund will be recognized at the association's 2004 Annual Meeting, on MOAA's Web Base (www.moaa.org), in The Affiliate, and in Military Officer magazine. Every member who donates to the campaign also will receive a 75th anniversary pin in recognition of his or her support.

     There are some widows of deceased military living away from military bases in some form of retirement community who have not renewed their military ID cards. Because they stopped using services such as commissaries and exchanges on military bases, owing to inconvenience or physical inability to get there, it is possible their ID card has expired, which means they may be missing out on TRICARE FOR LIFE benefits. Only if they have a current ID and are registered with DEERS will they be eligible for TRICARE FOR LIFE. If you know of such a surviving military spouse, please help her obtain a current ID card and register with DEERS at any military base.