President's Final Commentary
The time has come for me to say “Good Bye” as your President. This is
a bitter sweet moment for me. I have enjoyed the past 2 years as HRCMOAA
President and the preceding 7 years a Board member, 2nd VP and 1st VP.
I’m very proud of the officers and ladies that have been a part of our
Chapter’s leadership. It’s because of them that HRCMOAA has achieved
MOAA’s Five Star Level of Excellence Award for the last three years; this
is every year since MOAA established the award for chapters They have also
achieved awards for our web site and our Newsletter, The Tribute.
Their dedication and professionalism has made your chapter an outstanding
one. It has been a pleasure for me to serve with them and to be a
part of this great team! I know that you will support the next President
Jim
Dellaripa and his new slate of officers and board members as well you
did for me.
Don’t forget the Give Me Ten Program: Membership drive for MOAA and
HRCMOAA. The program is in effect until 31 December 2006. It’s
a simple recruiting program and we provided the details to each of you
in a recent USNI mailer. Remember our goal to keep us alive is “Every
member recruits a member for MOAA and our Chapter!” Membership is
the key to retaining “One Powerful Voice” Both nationally and locally.
It’s our life blood! With all the political movement today to cut our benefits,
this means more that ever. To remind you, membership dues during
this campaign are:
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Dues- $24 MOAA and $10 HRCMOAA for 2 years for regular members. Total
dues $34.
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Dues-$19 MOAA and $10 HRCMOAA for 2 years for auxiliary members.
Total dues $29.
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Our Chapter receives $10 for each new MOAA member recruited , both regular
and auxiliary. That is why we can offer 2 years for $10 because we
apply the MOAA $10 to offset our regular dues. This is a “win-win”
for MOAA and HRCMOAA.
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Don’t forger to put your name on the application as recruiter because it
will be entered in the MOAA recruiters’ sweepstake and you could win $1000.
Reminder: Don’t forget that our chapter is also involved locally too in
Virginia and Hampton Roads cities. We need to keep our membership
at a large level in order to maintain our Hampton Roads “One Powerful Voice”
and to be able to support the needs of each other and our community.
I owe you an apology for the mix-up with the USNI event this year.
Apparently, they changed their “modus operandi” and charged people to attend
and to pay for a sit down lunch. We did not realize this change,
until we signed up to register individually and it was to late to advise
you. I understand that this might change back to a free event next
June when USNI teams with AFCEA on the symposium.
Again, it has been a pleasure for me to serve as your President for
the past two years. I couldn’t have done it without the help and
dedication of my fellow officers, board members, and committee chairmen.
They deserve all the credit for our achieving MOAA’s Five Star Level of
Excellence Awards.
I’ll be seeing you at various Chapter functions in the future.
Smooth Sailing,
Ray Hart.
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HRCMOAA Directory
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Officers
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Directors
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Committees
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President: 430-8771
CAPT Raymond J. Hart, USN-Ret.
hrmoaa@cox.net
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1st Vice President: 640-0947
LtCol James M. Dellaripa Sr, USAF-Ret.
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2nd Vice President: 363-1094
MAJ Norman Crews, USA-Ret.
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Secretary: 362-0030
Mrs Patricia H. Doss,
Aux.
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Treasurer: 739-3904
LCDR Mary C. Liberatore, USN-Ret
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CDR John E. Vermillion, USN-Ret.
382-9843
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CDR John A. Rooney, USN-Ret.
427-2402
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Col Jack W. Hilgers, USMC-Ret.
490-8383
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Mrs. Mickie Jones,
AUX .
716-2644
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LtCol Mary L. Baeumel, USAFNC-Ret.
716-2497
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CAPT Jim Jones,
USN-Ret.
481-1919
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CAPT Bill Lehr,
USCG-Ret.
426-5392
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Program: 640-0947
LtCol James M. Dellaripa Sr, USAF-Ret.
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Arrangements: 362-0030
Patricia H. Doss, Aux
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VCOC Representative: 382-9843
CDR John E. Vermillion, USN-Ret.
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Legislative Affairs: 490-8383
Col Jack W. Hilgers, USMC-Ret.
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Personal Affairs: 363-1094
MAJ Norman Crews, USA-Ret.
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Membership: 425-5934
COL James A. Smith, USA-Ret
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Publicity: 363-1094
MAJ Norm Crews,
USA-Ret.
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Community Affairs: 836-1646
CAPT Bill Lehr, USCG-Ret.
CAPT Pat McFadden, USN-Ret.
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Information Systems: 481-0694
Col Richard A. Vogel, USAF-Ret.
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Webmaster 490-5792
Maj Clifton G. Furedy. USAF-Ret.
thrcmoaa@cox.net
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Editor: 382-9843
CDR John E. Vermillion, USN-Ret.
Vermillj@cox.net
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From the Editor
Charity Golf Tournament
The HRCMOAA is considering holding a Charity Golf Tournament (to help
the families of wounded service members) in the early spring of 2007.
To carry this off we would need, in addition to golfers, approximately
25 volunteers to check players in, handout goodies, and monitor each hole
and longest drive, etc. If we do not get the volunteers, then it
would not be possible to do this. Please contact:
CAPT Jim Jones USN Ret. at 777-5972 or jim.jones@longandfoster.com
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The cutoff date is 20 November 2006.
TRICARE For Life (TFL)
If you or a member of your family are 65 years of age or soon will be,
then you may be interested in attending an informational brief. The
department of Health Benefits Office invite you to attend an informative
presentation about your TFL benefits. These briefing are held
the second Thursday of each month at 1330 in the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth
Internal Medicine Clinic Conference Room. The Internal Medicine Clinic
is on the 2nd floor of Building 2 (the main hospital). The session usually
lasts about 1-1/2 to 2 hours, depending on the size of the group and the
number of questions. No registration is needed.
TFL Information: DEERS, 1-800-538-9552
Medicare and Social Security, 1-800-772-1213
TRICARE For Life, 1-866-773-0404
John
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| MOAA Legislative Update |
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| Tricare For Life Changes |
| MOAA recently became aware that effective
Oct. 1, 2006, TRICARE will no longer pay a TRICARE For Life (TFL) claim
from a beneficiary who has seen a provider that has opted-out of Medicare.
An opt-out Medicare provider is one who notifies Medicare that they are
no longer seeking Medicare payment for their patients and cannot submit
claims. Don't pay any more than you must - choose a provider that accepts
Medicare. |
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| Medicare and TRICARE Payment Cuts Planned |
| MOAA and the American Medical Association
held a press conference in Washington on Sept. 13 to urge Congress to reverse
the 5.1% cut in Medicare and TRICARE payments now scheduled for January,
2007. The cuts would cause more doctors to stop seeing Medicare and TRICARE
patients.
MOAA's Director of government relations,
Colonel Steve Strobridge (USAF-Ret), joined four American Medical Association
leaders in speaking at a Washington press conference on Sept. 13 to urge
Congress to act now to reverse the 5.1% cut in Medicare and TRICARE payments
to doctors scheduled to take effect in January.
House and Senate leaders continue to negotiate
over various options to relieve these looming problems, and had hoped to
get the issue resolved before going home in October. But it's now
looking more like they'll kick this very important legislative can until
after the election.
Visit MOAA’s website and enter your
Zip Code to send an email to your legislator. |
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| Retroactive Disability Payments Coming |
| According to Defense Department and Veterans'
Affairs (VA) sources, some disabled retirees due retroactive pay could
start to see their payments in mid-October if all goes as planned. A small
number may see payments before that; however, VA officials caution that,
if any unexpected glitches crop up, the payments will be delayed until
the second half of January.
Over 100,000 retirees now drawing either
Combat-Related Special Compensation (CRSC) or Concurrent Retirement and
Disability Pay (CRDP) ultimately will receive back payments -- and that
number is growing daily with new awards. Because of the complexity of calculating
who is due how much (individual circumstances vary widely, and many cases
require manual review), the majority of the payments will likely be phased
in from January through next summer.
Defense and Finance Accounting Service
sources say the affected retirees will receive specific details at the
time their retroactive payment is made. DFAS expects to publish a detailed
news release later this month. |
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| FY 2007 Defense Bill Passed |
| The bill provides the Pentagon $463 billion
for FY2007, plus another $70 billion in supplemental war funding.
There's good news in the bill, including provisions on:
TRICARE Fees: Bars the Defense Department
from increasing any TRICARE Prime or TRICARE Standard fees, pharmacy copays,
or TRICARE Reserve Select premiums for FY2007.
Military Manpower Levels: Increases
Army strength by 30,000, the Army National Guard by 17,000 and the Marine
Corps by 1,000 over the President's original budget request (though we're
concerned that it approves Pentagon-requested cuts of 12,000 for the Navy
and 23,200 for the Air Force).
TRICARE Pharmacy: Dropped a proposal
to mandate use of the mail-order pharmacy for all refills of maintenance
medications. But it also dropped MOAA-supported initiatives to eliminate
copays for most drugs dispensed through the mail-order system and require
drug companies to give TRICARE equal price discounts on drugs dispensed
through retail pharmacies.
Reserve Health Coverage: Makes all
drilling reserve members eligible for TRICARE coverage at the lowest current
premium (28% of cost). Requires a Pentagon study of partially subsidizing
continuation of a private employer's coverage of family members during
periods of mobilization.
Military ID Cards: Authorizes permanent
ID cards for permanently disabled dependents of retirees, and requires
a Pentagon report on giving members an option to have their Social Security
numbers removed from ID cards.
Servicemember's Group Life Insurance
(SGLI): Provides $400,000 free life insurance coverage for members
assigned to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Dependent Education: Authorizes
$50 million in aid to civilian schools with significant numbers of military
dependents.
Payday Lender Restrictions: Restricts
unscrupulous lending practices by imposing 36-percent annual interest rate
cap on loans to servicemembers, along with other protections.
Household Goods Coverage: Requires
paying full replacement value for goods damaged during military relocations,
starting in 2008. |
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| MOAA is extremely grateful to the Armed
Services Committees for all of these important initiatives. Nonetheless,
we are disappointed that Congress also chose to drop or "low-ball" several
other much-needed improvements.
Military Pay Raise: MOAA's legislative
alert yesterday went for naught (despite generating 12,000 messages to
Congress in 20 hours), as the bill adopted the minimum 2.2% military pay
raise proposed by the Senate rather than the 2.7% House plan. The bill
does include needed "targeted" increases for warrant officers and senior
enlisted.
Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP): Dropped
Senate-recommended provisions to implement 30-year paid-up SBP coverage
immediately and end the deduction of VA survivor benefits from SBP when
military service caused the member's death.
Concurrent Receipt: Dropped Senate-recommended
provision to provide full, immediate concurrent receipt for disabled retirees
designated "unemployable" by the VA.
Reserve Retirement Age: Dropped
Senate-recommended provision to reduce retirement age by 3 months for every
90 days mobilized since 9/11.
Health Care Access: Dropped Senate-recommended
provision requiring additional incentive payments to doctors to take TRICARE
patients in areas with physician shortages. |
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America Supports You, Freedom Walk
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| The HRCMOAA joined Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf and Navy Seal Rudy
Boesch, local military dignitaries and 2,500 plus participants for
the Virginia Beach America Supports You, Freedom Walk held on Monday, September
11 at Neptune’s Park at 31st Street and Atlantic Avenue. The walk
proceeded down the Boardwalk to the Aviation Monument Park at 25th Street
and then back to 31st Street for closing remarks and a candle light vigil.
The picture above shows, from the right, our President Ray Hart
with the chapter flag, Marie Wesolowski, Walter Wesolowski,
and Jane Hart. |
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HRCMOAA Membership
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| Regular |
628
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| Auxiliary |
115
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| Honorary |
3
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| Total |
746
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| The HRCMOAA has introduced a Military ID Card Notification Program
to help chapter members remember to renew their ID cards and their dependent's
ID cards in a timely fashion. Once you and your dependents are enrolled,
you will be notified of your impending ID card expiration date in sufficient
time for renewal prior to the expiration date. Note: Over
age 75 members, who are eligible uniform family members and survivors of
deceased personnel are now eligible for Permanent Identification Cards.
Apply within 90 days of expiration of current ID card. |
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| To enroll in this voluntary program, fill in the form at the link below
for each dependent and Send by Email or Print and Mail to: Military ID
Card Notification Program, HRCMOAA, P.O. Box 4612, Virginia Beach, VA 23454-0612. |
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CHAPTER SCHEDULE
For the most current and up-to-date schedule of chapter events, click
on Calendar of Events
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Invalid Email Address
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LYNN K BAUER lynnkbauer@hotmail.com
DAVID A BUZARD dbuzard@ruttermills.com
OLA A DODSON ordodson@webtv.net
MARIO DOS SANTOS kingct1@yahoo.com
ALBERT R ESTES rayestes@aol.com
HUGH A EUBANK ddeubank@worldnet.att.net
THOMAS W FLYNN thomasf845@aol.com
THOMAS J FREY thomasfrey@earthlink.net
RICHARD E HELM dick.helm21966@usna.com
RICHARD C INGHRAM gabby99@cox.net
GLORIA M LYON glyon@exis.net
KENNETH A MacGILLIVRAY kenmacg@exis.net
MARTIN J MULDERRIG JR shirlm@exis.net
DONALD J PEARSALL dip_012yahoo.com>
RAMONDA M PETRICH rlpetrich@aol.com>
MARGUERITE K QUAMME kenneyquamme@aol.com
MANUEL A RAMOS JR mramos395@cs.com
ANTHONY R READE readear@cox.net
RAYMOND A REMILLARD remi@exis.net
JAMES R RIESS jriess@exis.net
WILLIAM G RUDOLPH wgrudolph@nehc.navy.mil
DON M SHAFER dmshafer@worldnet.att.net
FLOYD J SINGER tidewtr2@exis.net
JAMES WATT jwatt@cox.net
LARRY R WICKHAM lwickham@sybercom.net
DAVID M WOLCHKO wolchko@earthlink.net
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HRCMOAA November Luncheon
| WHEN: |
Thursday, November 2, 2006 |
| WHERE: |
Atlantic Shores Retirement Community
Dam Neck Rd, Virginia Beach, Virginia |
| TIME: |
Social: 1100 Hours
Lunch: 1200 Hours |
| MENU: |
Chicken Boneless Breast on portabella mushroom
OR
Vegetable topped Salmon
Salad, Vegetables and Dessert |
| PRICE: |
$17.00 |
| PROGRAM: |
Annual Business Meeting and
Election of Officers and Board Members
Presentation of 5 star award by VCOC President |
| RESERVATIONS: |
Reservations required by 1900 hours,
October 29, 2006
Call Jim Dellaripa , 640-0947,
or Norman Crews, 363-1094
Give name, phone number, number attending & menu choice. |
| Reservation and Checks may be mailed to
HRCMOAA, PO Box 4612, Virginia Beach, VA 23454.
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| A RESERVATION MADE IS A RESERVATION PAID |
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Please print, fill-in
and mail the pre-paid Reservation Form.
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The HRCMOAA participates in the
Annual USNI Warfare Symposium.
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| Our two day effort was a disappointment, due to the lack of overall
participation in the USNI Symposium, including Active Duty Officers.
There were new changes to the overall program format, attendance charges,
late availability of the program and insufficient marketing.
We managed to sign up 14 Active Duty Officers for National MOAA memberships.
We also signed 11 new members for our Chapter, including 9 Active Duty
Officers. We hope to try again next year in June 2007 when the USNI
will team up with AFCEA for a joint symposium. |
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VCOC Scheduled Functions
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| The VCOC meeting, October 13, 2006, was held at the Virginia War Memorial
located in the very historic area of Richmond. The next meeting will
be held on January 5, 2007. Storming the Hill in Richmond is
scheduled for 22 January 2007. Those Chapter Members wishing to attend
please contact our VCOC Representative, John Vermillion at 382-9843
or email vermillj@cox.net. |
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The Hampton Roads Chapter Wins
the MOAA 5 Star Award
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The HRCMOAA has won it’s third straight 5 Star award, thanks
to the hard work of all Committee Members, Board Members, Chapter Officers
and Chapter Member support. A total of 4 Virginia Chapters have earned
the 5 star status this year.
Virginia Chapter Winners
Hampton Roads Chapter: CAPT Ray Hart, USN-Ret. President
Richmond Area Chapter: COL Don Kaiserman, USA-Ret. President
Mount Vernon Chapter: CPT Patrick Gallagher, USA- FMR President
VA Peninsula Chapter: MAJ Melva Mallison, USAF-Ret. President
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HRCMOAA August Social
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| The Chapter held a picnic style luncheon at the Fort Story Officers
Club along the Chesapeake Bay. A good time was had by all who attended.
72 members were in attendance. This was one of our better picnic
turnouts. All members were encouraged to wear their favorite Service
Ball Cap. The location on the Chesapeake Bay was ideal for a great
view and opportunities to pound the board walks to the beach. The
food and service provided by the Fort Story Club was outstanding.
We certainly look forward to next year! |
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| Pictured above left to right are, Nordleen Crews, Adriana
Grillo, and Grace Gallagher enjoying a “war story”. |
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| Pictured above are CDR Pat Grillo USN, and LCOL Loren Peele,
USA, both enjoying camaraderie of the afternoon. |
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October Social
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| October Social featured a presentation on TRICARE and TRICARE for Life.
Our Guest speaker was Edward M. Coryell, Marketing Analyst for Naval
Medical Center Portsmouth. Joining him at the presentation
was Rhita Walker-Smith, a Community Representative with Health Net
Federal Services (HNFS), the Managed Care Support Contractor for the TRICARE
North Region. The evening social was well attended and the information
provided was very informative with helpful handouts made available for
all attendees. President Ray Hart is shown above presenting
an engraved cup to Edward Coryell. Rhita Walker-Smith also received
a cup. |
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MOAA Scholarship Fund
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| Memorial contributions may be made to the MOAA Scholarship Fund, for
deceased members of our Chapter, at Dept 889, Alexandria, VA 22334-0889.
Contributions may also be made at www.moaa.org.
Or you may call 800-234-6622. |
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WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
To protect member privacy,
New Members and Directory Changes
are only available through the Members Access page.
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Directory Changes and Email Corrections should be sent to
HRCMOAA
P.O. Box 4612
Virginia Beach, VA 23454-0612
Attention Dick Vogel
You may call Dick at 481-0694 or email vogelra1@msn.com
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IN MEMORIUM
LCDR John H. Farris,
USN Ret. (Betty)
CAPT Lorin W. Hay,
USN Ret. (Lois)
Luella Townsend,
(LCDR Okey, USN Ret.)
Lt John Gross,
USN Ret. (Kay)
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