In This Issue
NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE SERVICE
1. Congress on Recess
NATIONAL SECURITY & FOREIGN AFFAIRS
1. WWII MIA Identified
2. Reserve Component Mobilization
NATIONAL VETERANS SERVICE
1. American Airlines Drops Third Bag Fee
NATIONAL LEGISLATIVE SERVICE
1. Congress on Recess: Congress is on recess for the month of August and
will return to Washington on Sept. 9 to finish up funding bills and
other legislation that remain unresolved. Bills that await final action
include VA Funding (passed out of the House only), Defense initiatives,
and several veteran-related bills that expand healthcare and benefits
for veterans and their families. Now is the time to visit your
legislators in their district offices to discuss issues important to the
VFW. It is an election year for the entire House and one-third of the
Senate, so they should be willing to talk with you about what is
important for America's veterans, servicemembers and families.
To find your elected officials, go to:
http://capwiz.com/vfw/dbq/officials/For a list of VFW Priority Goals, go to:
http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=caphill.leveld&did=3694 NATIONAL SECURITY & FOREIGN AFFAIRS
1. WWII MIA Identified: The Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office
announced that the remains of U.S. Army Air Force 2nd Lt. Howard C.
Enoch Jr., of Marion, KY, have been identified and will be returned to
his family for burial with full military honors. On March 19, 1945,
Enoch was the pilot of a P-51D Mustang that crashed while engaging enemy
aircraft about 20 miles east of Leipzig, Germany. His remains were not
recovered at the time, and Soviet occupation of eastern Germany
precluded his recovery immediately after the war. In 2004, a team from
the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command surveyed a possible P-51 crash site
and found aircraft wreckage. In 2006, another JPAC team excavated the
site and recovered human remains.
2. Reserve Component Mobilization: The total number currently on active
duty in support of the partial mobilization for the Army National Guard
and Army Reserve is 80,778; Navy Reserve, 5,799; Air National Guard and
Air Force Reserve, 11,491; Marine Corps Reserve, 8,096; and the Coast
Guard Reserve, 740. This brings the total number of mobilized Guard and
Reserve personnel to 106,904, a decrease of 850 from last week. These
figures include the totals of voluntary and involuntary activated
Reserve Component members. Of this total, 81,208 personnel have been
involuntarily mobilized, while 25,696 are voluntarily serving on active
duty.
NATIONAL VETERAN SERVICE
1. American Airlines Drops Third Bag Fee: The VFW is saluting American
Airlines for waiving the luggage fee it was charging traveling military
personnel. American, like most of the major airlines, currently allow
military personnel traveling on orders to check two bags without fee.
But there was no break for checking a third bag, with $100 being the
industry norm, which was creating a severe financial burden on traveling
military, especially those in the junior enlisted ranks. In a press
release, VFW National Commander George Lisicki said he is hoping the
other airlines follow American's lead and drop their third bag fees,
too. To view the VFW release, go to:
http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=news.newsDtl&did=4663 
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