Na Leo O Na Koa

(Voices of Warriors)

2007 Chapter Rating

Newsletter of the Aloha Chapter, An Affiliate of the Military Officers Association of America Chartered January 27, 2000

Volume No. 11, Issue No. 9 Web Site: http://www.aloha-moaa.org September 2010 Give Me 10 Update our recruiting efforts for the assigned cadre/instructors un- last four months of the year. der the GMT program and Correspondence on August We can still reach our end-of- look ahead to next spring for 31 st from the Military Officers year goals with your continued the commissioning of cadets/ Association of America support. midshipmen. The senior (MOAA) gave a report on the ROTC programs offer a great status of our organization’s re- We have one month left in our 3 rd Quarter competition opportunity for recruiting un- cruiting efforts, paraphrased der the Gold Bar program, here: between councils and inde- pendent chapters in the four which will be back in 2011. Summer is ending and many regions, and some of the races Get involved and support your chapters are now resuming are close. To review the 2010 local programs. “full operations” after a re- rules – Independent chapters The end of August 2010 duced summer schedule. Our must recruit a minimum of 4 GMT-by-State report is avail- end of August Give Me 10! new paid members in order to able for review at this link: (GMT) report show that our win a quarterly competition. http://www.moaa.org/comm/ national chapters have re- Chapter members who convert chapters/chapters_leaders/ cruited 3,624 new members. to life memberships count to- chapters_givemeten/ This is down from the number wards the monthly and quar- chapters_givemeten_tracking.htm. recruited at this time last year. terly paid member totals. The As always, thank you for all quarterly independent chapter your recruiting efforts and con- winners will receive a check for tinued support. MOAA $250. Independent chapters cannot win in consecutive Inside September Issue quarters. Bridge Report 5 September is the month to “surge” and turn in the GMT Calendar 2 membership applications to Chapter Leaders 8 insure timely processing. The Editorial 3 3rd quarter winners will be Golf Report 6 We at MOAA expected some identified in early October. Membership Application 7 reduction when we placed Each fall we remind those of Merrie Ladies 3 greater emphasis and incentives you who support university and National Recognition 2 towards paid members at the high school ROTC/JROTC Obituary 2 start of this year. Now that programs to “re-connect” with President’s Report 2 chapters will soon be back in the cadre/instructors. Well, it Scholarship Fund 7 their fall meeting schedules, we is that time of the year again. Travel and Leisure 4 hope to regain momentum in Remember to recruit the newly Page 2 Na Leo O Na Koa No. 9, September 2010 President’s Message Charter Member Gordon Cho by Robert Kozuki Recognized by National MOAA The Aloha Chapter MOAA Gordon Cho , COL, USA, Ret., has been recog- Twinning event has been can- nized by the National MOAA newsletter, The Af- celled . For a variety of rea- filiate, for his work with the Major General Her- sons our Nevada friends were bert E. Wolff Memorial Golf Tournament, which not able complete plans to visit benefits the Hawaii Army Museum Society Hawaii during September, 2010, as planned. We (HAMS). Col Cho was recognized for his efforts do not have an alternative program planned for in raising nearly $25,000 at the Golf Tournament September. at Leilehua Golf Course on Friday, June 25 th . To our Coordinator, Les Ihara , a big thank you Aloha Chapter , MOAA, was the largest group for all your time and effort made in planning the of several organizations that provided a number Twinning event. For those of you who were not of volunteers to support the Herbert E, Wolff involved, Les spent many hours in arranging a Memorial Golf Tournament. Your Aloha Chapter schedule for our Las Vegas group. thanks all of the Aloha Chapter volunteers who I wish to take this opportunity also to thank helped to make the HAMS Golf Tournament a Wes Fong for the time and effort he spent in great success. contacting, Peter Carlisle , our former Prosecu- tor, to be our guest speaker for the failed Las Ve- Welcome to Our New Life Member gas – Aloha Chapter joint Twinning dinner event James M. Boersema , COL, USA, Ret. and Mark Webster for making the reservations and dinner arrangements at the Hale Koa Hotel and then, unfortunately, having to cancel them. CALENDAR OF EVENTS For our membership, I also wish to thank Peter Sept 16, 2010 Twinning Joint Dinner at Hale Koa Carlisle , for accepting our request and fitting us CANCELLED into his very busy schedule campaigning for Sept. 19, 2010 1:00 PM, Bridge Party, Fahrni Realty Mayor of Honolulu. (Sunday) Classroom, Aiea. Hosts: Les and Shirley Ihara A reminder to everyone to mark your calendar Sept. 27, 2010 Golf Outing, Leilehua Golf Course, for the Army Retiree Appreciation Day planned (Monday) Schofield Barracks, Wahiawa and scheduled for Saturday, October 9, 2010, at Oct. 9, 2010 8:00 AM, Retiree Appreciation Day, Nehelani Banquet Meeting Room, Schofield Bar- (Saturday) Nehelani, Schofield Barracks racks, 0800 – 1300. A buffet luncheon will be Oct. 29, 2010 11:00 AM, Hawaiian Buffet Luncheon served. The Army Retiree Council has planned a (Friday) Hale Ikena, Ft. Shafter full morning for all attendees. Nov. 12, 2010 10:00 AM, Patriotic Song Fest, (Friday) VA Center for Aging, TAMC Nov., 2010 General Membership Meeting IN MEMORIAM Dec 10, 2010 6:00 PM, Christmas Dinner Party, Phyllis E. Williams , 75, Auxiliary (Friday) Laulima Room, Hale Koa Hotel Honolulu, HI, Died July 29, 2010 Participated in Chapter Bridge Program. Notice This Newsletter is published monthly by New Tech Imag- Private Funeral Service was held on Mon- ing, Mapunapuna, as an official publication of Aloha Chap- ter, MOAA, P.O. Box 19267, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96817. day, August 9, at Borthwick Mortuary. Views expressed herein are not necessarily chapter policy. No. 9, September 2010 Na Leo O Na Koa Page 3

Those Crafty Merrie Ladies wreaths. The ladies are encouraged to bring other craft items of their choice. Please let Esther Take- This year, the Merrie Ladies have planned two naka know what you will be sharing with the ladies. craft days -- one to make something for the veter- For more information and reservations, contact ans at the Center for Aging at Tripler and the th Esther Takenaka at 456-7822 or Charlene other for making personal crafts. On August 9 , Towne at 623-9731 by October 25 th . Marion the first craft day, sixteen wonderful, altruistic la- dies gathered at Kalihi Union Church to decorate 56 miniature Christmas trees for the veterans at Editorial the Center for Aging. The theme was a patriotic Health Care Reform to be Paid for one and the ladies spent all morning attaching lit- by Cuts to Medicare tle flags, blue and red stars and wreaths made of The enormous, socialized health care bill signed red, white, and blue beads on to the trees. A red into law earlier this year will be largely paid for by bow was tied to the top of each snow-flocked cuts to services many seniors depend on. You may tree. The trees will be ready to be given to the be unaware, but here is just a sampling of the Medi- veterans near Veteran's Day. A special thank you to Jane Kekoa for donating the trees and for the care cuts, totaling more than $500 billion, to come: many hands who helped in decorating them. In 2010: • Medicare will cut reimbursements to inpatient On Monday, November 1st , we will have our psychiatric hospitals. second craft day at the Gyotaku Restaurant in Waimalu. We plan to have a good time of fun In 2011: and fellowship beginning at 11 am. Lunch will be • Medicare cuts to home health agencies begin. your choice from the restaurant menu. One craft • Medicare cuts begin to ambulance services, item already planned for that day is miniature yarn See Medicare Cuts on Page 5 Page 4 Na Leo O Na Koa No. 9, September 2010

tions is Government Vacations Rewards (GVR). Travel and Leisure Operated through and connected with the various We’ve had meetings and newsletter articles about military exchange systems, GVR is a travel dis- Space-A travel, but what about a place to stay or count program specifically designated for govern- visit when you get to where you’re going? What if ment employees and military personnel (active you’re driving and are in the area of a military base duty, reservists, veterans and retirees) to save that may offer reasonable, comfortable accommo- money on their vacations. You will have access to dations instead of an expensive hotel? Did you the savings on-line at www.govvacationrewards.com know that there are more than 400 military bases, or by calling their vacation consultants. Govern- posts, and stations that offer lodging? In addition ment Vacation Rewards offers over 40 cruise lines to the official lodging facilities at which you may and more than 4,000 different resort properties at stay at these installations, they may also offer rec- major destinations worldwide with no blackout reational lodging, e.g., Bellows AFS. Lodging information may be found at dates. Every booking comes with a Best Price http://dodlodging.net/ for Navy and Air Force Guarantee, and even friends and family members lodging, www.usmc-mccs.org for Marine Corps can take advantage of the prices. A portion of lodging and www.arrmymwr.com for Army GVR proceeds support the DoD MWR activities, lodging. the Wounded Warrior Program, and Vacations for Veterans. The military also operates five Armed Forces Recreation Centers overseas and in the U.S. The To access their discounted prices and take advan- in Seoul, Korea; the Edelweiss tage of their savings, Government Vacation Re- Lodge in Garmisch, Germany; and, stateside, the wards requires that you have a membership (free) Hale Koa in Honolulu, Orlando Disney World in the program. Since their prices and discounts (the ), and the Ft. Story, VA (the are not available to the general public, they only Cape Henry Inn and Beach Club). Room rates make the site available to eligible participants. vary and are on a sliding scale favoring junioir per- Comparing prices at several travel sites and airlines sonnel in rank/rate. The Navy runs a similar re- with GVR’s prices, they were essentially the same sort in Tokyo, as you may know, called the New (without booking fees) and the latter has the ad- Sanno Hotel with rates considerably lower than vantage of supporting the military. normal Tokyo hotel charges. More information Both AMTRAK and Greyhound offer dis- may be found at www.thenewsanno.com. Not to counts as well as many cruise lines. Military dis- be left out, the Air Force is allied with the Rocky counts on airlines are for full fares only and are Mountain Blue at Keystone Resort. Located about almost always more than other discounts. Most of an hour and a half from Denver’s Stapleton Air- the theme parks offer a military discount. port and two and a half hours from Colorado Springs, it is locatedin prime ski and snowboarding Remember, whenever you are making a purchase, a country. Go to www.rockymountainblue.com for reservation, or travel arrangements, always ask if they more. give a military and/or senior discount (if eligible). It generally won’t be offered. It doesn’t hurt to ask The Armed Forces Vacation Club (not directly (saving the seller of the embarrassment of having to connected to DoD, but in association with the various service MWR operations) can provide a ask if you are old enough for a discount, for exam- search capability for space-available vacation rent- ple) and you deserve it. Bon Voyage! ausn.org als for relatively low prices. They are more or less Add these Websites to your “Favorites” a consolidator and sell unused time-share and other discount travel and cruise packages. You http://www.aloha-moaa.org may find more information at www.afvclub.com. http://www.moaa.org Another resource for discounted travel and vaca- No. 9, September 2010 Na Leo O Na Koa Page 5 Aloha Chapter Party Bridge Mitzi Austin and Trudi Ernst shared host re- sponsibilities for the chapter party bridge session on Sun- day, August 15 th , at the Fahrni Realty Classroom. Prior to playing, Program Coordinator Shirley Ihara announced the recent passing of last year’s “Chapter Player of the Year,” Phyllis Williams , after which a moment of silence was observed in her honor. Four tables of bridge were played with only John Kim scoring over 5,000 points, mainly because he and two of his partners—Bill Ernst and Les Ihara —bid and made small slams during the ses- sion. Other high scorers recognized were: Harriet Weissman , Helen Fahrni , guest Harold Lee , and Mitzi Austin . Other regular players participating were Anna Blackwell , Shirley Ihara , Dan Mat- thews , and Coralie Vellis . Other guests who played were Harold Lee ’s wife, Gerri , and 2 poten- tial members, Patti Chrznowski , and Leney Vine .

Medicare Cuts continued from Page 3 ambulatory surgery centers, diagnostic labs, and durable medical equipment • Seniors are prohibited from purchasing power wheelchairs unless they first rent for 13 months. • New Medicare cuts to long term care hospitals begin. • New Medicare cuts to hospitals and cuts to Seated, left to right, Trudi Ernst , Harriet Weissman nursing homes begin (FY12) & Helen Fahrni and, standing, l to r, Les Ihara , John • Medicare Advantage cuts begin. Participating Kim , Mitzi Austin , Harold Lee & Bill Ernst . seniors will face premium increases, benefit cuts, or both. The next party bridge session will be hosted by In 2012: Les & Shirley Ihara in the Fahrni Realty Class- • Medicare reimbursements for dialysis treat- room on Sunday, September 19 th under a newly ap- ments are cut. proved Hosts/Hostesses “Refreshments Only” • concept with the Hosts/Hostesses furnishing only Medicare cuts to hospice begin. the liquid refreshments and all other members In 2013: bringing some light snacks . Those interested in • Medicare reimbursements to hospitals that playing but have not yet signed up need to contact serve low-income seniors will be cut. Les or Shirley by telephone at 239-7947 or 728- WHAT THIS MEANS FOR YOU: When pro- 9450, or by e-mail to [email protected] , not viders get paid less by Medicare for services sen- later than Wednesday, September 15 th . Shirley See Medicare Cuts on Page 7 Page 6 Na Leo O Na Koa No. 9, September 2010 August an enthusiastic aye with Joe Kuroda stating that he believes he feels well enough to play after his Golf Report bruising fall a few months ago. When John This month’s golf outing Holmes decided to join us, we eventually ended had a very gloomy beginning. up with twenty players. Things really started to I sent out my early sign-up look rosy when the sun came out and all twenty notice and after one week I players were ready for our first late start of the had twelve responses, eight season at 10:15 AM, August 20 th , at Mamala Bay of of which were “nays, can’t Golf Course. play,” and three were “ayes, We made it through eighteen holes with nary a can play,” and one was a drop of rain all day. The scores weren’t the best Norm Fujiwara definite “maybe.” After a I have seen in the past, but when all the dust set- frantic second e-mail, the re- tled and we drew our “blind partners,” in third Ron Katto sponses improved with an aye from , place was the twosome of Bob Nagao and his Katsarsky Len followed by ayes for the ’s, and guest Carl Watanabe , just ahead by one stroke Honey Jean Mark , and their son, . I also re- was the pair of Ron Katto and Leroy Perry , and Mert ceived a nay-to-an-aye turn around from in first place, far ahead of the rest of us, were the Agena . Additional turn arounds with a bonus blind partners of Mark Katsarsky and Mert Walt Janice were gratefully received from and Agena . Congratulations to all the mega jackpot Kinoshita Ray Price with their guest, , and from winners! Bob Nagao with his two guests, Carl Watanabe and Ed Hasegawa . The definite maybe became The rest of the group who played without any compensation were Allen Ono , Bob Kozuki , John Ma , Jack Bohman , Walt and Janice Ki- noshita , Joe Kuroda , John Ma , John Holmes , Norm and Alice Fujiwara . Now, for our thought of the day, some of the rules for a blissful marriage by Red Skeleton : ♦ Rule #1 – Eat out at a fancy restaurant once a week, good food, fine wine, dancing and companionship; she goes on Mondays and he goes on Fridays; ♦ Rule #2 – Sleep in separate beds; hers is in California, his is in Texas; ♦ Rule #3 – We always hold hands when we go out; if I let go, she goes shopping; ♦ Rule #4 – He married Miss Right; he did not know her first name was Always; and ♦ Rule #5 – The main reason for divorces are marriages. (Thanks Howard) Our next golf outing will be Monday the 27 th of September at Leilehua Golf Course. Aloha and see all of you there.

Norm No. 9, September 2010 Na Leo O Na Koa Page 7

Medicare Cuts from Page 5 iors depend on, many may be forced to decrease their services or close some of their locations just to make ends meet. This means that seniors may experience a decrease in their access to essential care, which is already a problem for many in rural districts. Many doctors are already limiting their services by ac- cepting no more Medicare patients. The cuts to Medicare Advantage may cause many of these insurance providers to stop offering plans to seniors, forcing seniors back into traditional Medicare. THE DIAGNOSIS: Seniors should not have to bear the cost of health care reform. Instead, we need common-sense health reform that will lead to quality, affordable health care, without breaking the bank, or cutting services to seniors. We need tort reform, inter-state competition, portability from one employer to an- other, and more competition, not a sole provider. First of all, we need to repeal this terrible healthcare bill!

Aloha Chapter, MOAA, Membership Application Form Enroll me as a Regular Member: □ Each Year of Membership = $15 □ Five Years =$60. (One Year FREE!) Enroll me as a Life Member: □ Membership rates: Age 71 & older=$85; 61-70=$135; 51-60=$185; 50& under=$235 Enroll me as an Auxiliary Member: □ (i.e., spouse of a U. S. military officer, surviving spouse of a deceased officer) AUX: Each year of membership = $10. Life Membership = $75 □ CHECK APPLICABLE BOXES ______STATUS RANK SERVICE Name (Last First Middle Initial(s)) (PLEASE PRINT) DOB (MM/DD/YY) □ Active ______□ US Army ______□ Reserve □ USAF Address □ National Guard □ US Navy ______□ Retired from AD □ USCG City, State Zip Spouse’s Name □ Retired from Resv □ USMC ______□ Former Officer □ USPHS Telephone Numbers (H=Home, B=Business, C=Cell) E-Mail □ Auxiliary (indicate □ NOAA ______Rank and Service of Spouse) Applicant’s Signature □ National MOAA Member: ______MOAA No.: ______Revised January 2007. All prior forms obsolete. Aloha Chapter Aloha Nonprofit Org Military Officers Association Chapter US Postage Paid Of America Honolulu HI P.O. Box 19267 Awards Honolulu HI 96817 * 2002 5-Star Permit No. 930 Chapter * 2003 4-Star Chapter * 2004 Winner Best Website * 2004 2nd Runner-Up Electronic Newsletter * 2004 4-Star Chapter * 2005 Winner-Cat VII "Give Me 10" Recruitment Campaign * 2005 5-Star Chapter * 2006 4-Star Chapter * 2007 2nd Runner-Up Print Newsletter * 2007 5-Star Chapter * 2008 2nd Runner-Up Print Newsletter

2010 Aloha Chapter Leade rship

Directors Executive Committee & Committee Chairs President: Robert Kozuki , USA Chairman—Allen Ono, USA 942-4047 [email protected] 536-6043 [email protected] Vice President: Norman Fujiwara, USA 626-4630 [email protected] President —Robert Kozuki, USA Community Affairs: Tom Marzec, USN 942-4047 [email protected] 261-9430 [email protected] Vice Pres.—Norman Fujiwara, USA Membership: Gordon Cho , USA 484-2400 [email protected] 626-4630 [email protected] Personal Affairs: Robert Kozuki , USA Treasurer—Vernon Von, USAF 942-4047 [email protected] 732-3908 [email protected] Programs: Robert Kozuki , USA 942-4047 [email protected] Secretary—Vernon Von, USAF Publications/PR: Mark Webster , USNR 732-3908 [email protected] 734-5994 [email protected] ROTC/Veteran Affairs: Wesley Fong , USA Gordon Cho, USA 484-2400 [email protected] 595-6127 [email protected] Bridge: Shirley Ihara Lawrence Enomoto, USAF 685-1521 [email protected] 239-7947 [email protected] Fundraising: Herb Nakagawa , USAF Mark Webster , USNR 734-5994 [email protected] 271-1172 [email protected] Golf: Norman Fujiwara, USA 626-4630 [email protected]