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City & state -Zip. 100 Fairview Avenue 700% Satisfaction Guaranteed or Full Refund of Purchase Price at Any Time! Prospect Park, NJ 07530 I I The Magazine for a Strong America Vol. 140, No. 4 April 1996 ARTICLE s SHE SERVED TOO... Forfar too long, military women have been treated as second-class citizens. By Chandra M. Czape 20 ENGINE OF DEMOCRACY The Library ofCongress is only a mouse click away. 22 PHANTOM PAIN He could never ever be a good-enough hero. By Deborah Mattingly Conner 24 HOUSES OF HEALING Ronald McDonald-type homesfor veterans and theirfamilies. ByJohn W. Alexander 26 A HELD OF THEIR OWN Never-say-die Legionnaires turn a Brooklyn junkyard into ballfieldsfor kids. 28 DECAUSE THEY CARE Special Americans doing special thingsfor others. By Anthony Miller 31 DEPARTME NTS BIG ISSUES Should America replace the dollar bill with a coin? 10 VETVOICE 4 ON DUTY 14 LEGION NEWS 36 COMMANDER'S MESSAGE 8 YOUR AMERICAN LEGION 16 VETS 40 WASHINGTON WATCH 12 VETERANS UPDATE 34 PARTING SHOTS 60 COVER Today 's woman in the military: earning the respect that 's long overdue. See Page 20 The American Legion Magazine, a leader among national general-interest publications, is published nnonttily by Ttie American Legion for its 2.9 million members. Ttiese military-service veterans, working through nearly 1 5,000 community-level Posts, dedicate themselves to God and country and traditional American values; strong national security; adequate and compassionate care for veterans, their wid- ows and orphans; community service; and the wholesome development of our nation's youths. APRIL 1996 1 n TTIHHi^IMIlI^D©^ Memorial Day Flag Pride! J FOR GOD AND COUNTRY 700 N. Pennsylvania St. P.O. Box 1055 Indianapolis, IN 46206 317-630-1200 National Commander Daniel A. Ludwig Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Steve Salerno Art Director Simon Smith Executive Editors Miles Z. Epstein Joe Stuteviile (Operations) (Articles) Managing Editor Raymond H. Mahon Veterans Affairs Editor Ken Scharnberg Associate Editor Anthony Miller staff Pfiotographer John Simon Editorial Administrator Joan L. Berzins Publication Design & Production Caron M. Morales, Cindy G. Thompson General Administration Patricia Marschand, Robyn Black Production Manager Joseph Campioni Advertising Director Donald B. Thomson Advertising Assistants Diane Andretti, Cathy Frakes The American Legion Magazine P.O. Box 7068 Indianapolis, IN 46207 317-630-1200 Top Quality 3'x5' Nylon U. 5. Flag Publisher's Representatives Fox Associates, Inc. Chicago; 312-644-3888 with embroidered stars and sewed New York; 212-725-2106 Los Angeles: 31 0-841 -0280 Detroit, Ml: 810-543-0068 stripes. MuCH HIGHER QUALITY than Atlanta: 404-252-0968 San Francisco: 415-989-5804 the silk- screened flags available at The American Legion Magazine Commission Milford A. Forrester, Chairman, Greenville, SC; Russell discount stores. Set is complete with H. Laird, Vice Chairman, Des Moines, lA; James R. Kelley, National Commander's Representative, Wayne, PA; George F. Ballard, Belleville, IL; Samuel Barney, three-piece six foot pole & eagle, Lancaster, OH; J. Leslie Brown Jr., Louisville, KY; Joseph Chase, Hatboro, PA; Donald Conn, South Bend, wall bracket, halyard and storage IN; James W. Conway, Charlestown, MA; Bettylou Evans, Laurel, DE; James H. Hall, Hopewell, NJ; Hoy M. Haught, Huntsville, AR; Dennis Henkemeyer, Sauk box. FREE shipping on orders Rapids, MN; Halbert G. Horton, Topeka, KS; Eugene J. Kelley, Savannah, GA; J. Fred Mitchell, Brewton, AL; J.H. Morris, Baton Rouge, LA; Everett G. Shepard, 111, received by May 31, 1996. n Q90 Woodstock, CT; George G. Sinopoli, Fresno, CA; Robert E. Vass Sr., Huntington, WV; Paul T. Woodard, Lacey, Ai)U SaixsTax lOK sjiiPMEN-rs TO CA, DC, ID, IN, ME, NE, & ND. ^Jw - - ^ WA; Tom C. Smith, Oklahoma City, OK; John W.J. Orders TO 317-630-1251 Fax Orders TO 317-630-1381 Phone — Richter, Consultant, Brenham, TX; James V. Kissner, Consultant, Palatine, IL. Copyright 1996 by The American Legion Mail order to: Naitonai, Emblem Sales, Deft. M496, The American Legion, The American Legion (ISSN 0886-1234) is published P. O. Box 1050, iNiMANAroLis, IN 46206-1055 monthly by The American Legion, 5561 W. 74th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46268. Second-class postage paid at Indianapolis, IN 46204 and additional mailing offices. Send me . -NYLON U. S. Flag Sets — Total Enclosed $. Annual non-member subscription, $15 ($21, Foreign); post- sponsored gift subscriptions, $6; Single copy, $3. POST- MASTER; Send address changes to The American Legion, Name input Services, P.O. Box 1954, Indianapolis, IN 46206. Change of Address: Notify The American Legion, Input Sen/ices, P.O. Box 1954, Indianapolis, IN 46206. 317-328- Strect- 4640. Attach old address label, provide old and new addresses and current membership card number. To request microfilm copies, please write to: University - ClTV — -State Zip- Microfilms, 300 N. Zeeb Rd., Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 Canada Post International Publications Mall (Canadian Distribution) Sales Agreement No. 546321. Re-entered ClIAKGE MY second class mail matter at Manila Central Post office dated December 22, 1991. SlGNATURi;_ Printed in USA Member Audit Bureau of Circulations 2 THE AMERICAN LEGION Quartz |95 Movement Genuine Leather Why pay $130.00? Wristband Authentic Reproduction DEER CREEK PRODUCTS, INC., Dept. M688 3038 NW 25th Ave., Pompano Beach, FL. 33069 Hundreds of thousands of our brave U.S. soldiers wore a WWII military Comes with a 30 Day Money Back Guarantee government issued watch. This famous watch was also worn in the Please PRINT Years Of Service Korean, Viet Nam and Desert Storm conflicts. The military watch is a reli- BRANCH OF SERVICE 2 or 3 initials From To Div. or Unit If Desired able, ruggedly built watch that possesses a style and character uniquely its own. It has always been a constant companion to all our military branches - Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines. This authentic replica was so carefully thought out that it even includes a military feature our combat One WWII Watch only $19.95 plus $3.50 shipping men constantly relied upon called the Hack Feature. The Hack Feature is Two WWII Watches only $38.95 plus $6.00 shipping a method used by the military, which allows a soldier to stop the sweep Enclosed is my payment: Money order Check hand in order to synchronize his watch right down to the second. The fine Mastercard Visa Cash quartz movement is accurate within seconds per month. The rich leather Card No. Exp. Date wristband is finished with an alligator texture. Its eyelet holes allow you to Signature conveniently adjust the size for total comfort. Gives you both civilian and (Credit cards please sign) military time. The gold-plated front has a handsome textured Bezel face. Name The back, which we will engrave for you free of charge, is made of stain- Address less steel. Watch is water resistant. Imagine, now you can own a person- City alized WWII watch that says, I am an American and proud of it! l^tate Hire Authority offered any position within the federal Although the service provides a nice government. gift or conversation piece, these opera- I must point out that your recent tions have neither the right nor the abil- article, "With Preferences Like "With Preferences Like These...," ity to officially name stars. Official These..." (January), contains factual THE AMERICAN LEGION MAGAZINE naming of stars is only done by interna- errors, half-truths and misinformation. has again performed a valuable journal- tional convention and is never done for The article is wrong to say that vet- istic service for veterans and their fami- monetary considerations. In other erans comprise only 20.7 percent of the lies. words: No one can buy the rights to Federal work force; the actual share is As someone who has been on the officially name a star. I bring this to 28 percent. During the past 10 years, receiving end of the administration's your attention because I would not the hiring rate for 30 percent disabled shameless and vicious attacks on Veter- want other veterans to spend their veterans rose from 1.0 percent to 1.5 ans Preference in the workplace, let me money believing they really are naming percent—a 50-percent increase—and say that Mr.