Master Sergeant Vincent G. McCrave Jr., USAF Retired

We lost one of the best on April 11, 2024! Family and friends gathered to say farewell on April 22 in Clermont, Florida, followed by military honors.

Vinny was a leader in the 74th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at Westover, and one of the first men I met when I joined in 1974. In a unit full of wonderful people, he was exceptional. 

Vinny was a med tech flight examiner and Desert Storm veteran. He had years of flying the unit's C-123 aircraft, and consequently suffered many of the typical Agent Orange illnesses.

In addition to his beloved wife, he leaves two sons Vincent G. McCrave III and his wife Lynn of Bellville, IL and Michael McCrave and his wife Bev of St. Petersburg, FL. His daughter Michele Bessette of Pawtucket, RI. was especially helpful arranging Vinny's veterans benefits.

He will be missed by eight grandchildren – Dan McCrave-Bessette, Shannon Schwoebel, Britt Whitney, Meghan McCrave, Mitchell McCrave, Matthew McCrave, Thomas Bessette and Hailey Roberson.

April 1987: Vinny's son swearing him in
for another six year reenlistment.

Be at ease, Sergeant McCrave. You honored the flag all your life. Now the flag honors you.

Rickenbacker's Col. Bob Shondel passes

Obituary:

Robert George Shondel, 68, of Newport, KY, passed away on November 30, 2016 at the Cincinnati VA Hospital. 

He was a pilot with United States Air Force Reserves, serving in Desert Storm. He was the former Wing Vice Commander of the 445th Airlift Wing and former Squadron Commander of the 356th Airlift Squadron; He was inducted into the Order of the Rhino. 

Bob was a member of St. Catherine of Siena Church and a member of the Catholic Order of Foresters. He was a graduate of The Ohio State University with a degree in computer engineering and a master's of business; he retired from various leadership roles at the IBM Corporation. He was a member of the National Ski Patrol, active with the Boy Scouts of America Troop 86 and a member of the Cincinnati War Birds. 

Bob also enjoyed sailing, boating and camping. He was preceded in death by his parents, John Robert and Helen (Bidinger) Shondel. Bob is survived by his wife, Lynn (Joseph) Shondel; sons; Brandon (Rachel) Shondel and Robert C. Shondel; daughters, Cassandra (Benjamin) Greenwell and Bridget (Jordan) Sammons; brothers, William Shondel and Edward Shondel; sister, Kathleen (Dean) Blair, cousins, John (Dee) Shondel, Joe Shondel, Joyce (Paul) Oeschle and Ann Layer and many other family members. 

SMSGT DICK HASKINS DIED OCTOBER 26, 2016

Senior Master Sergeant Richard Haskins, USAF Retired, was born on April 8, 1936 and passed away on Wednesday, October 26, 2016.

SMSGT Haskins was a resident of Longmeadow, Massachusetts at the time of his passing.

Richard was a graduate of W. Bridgewater H.S.

Richard served his country proudly with the US Air Force and made a career with the Dept. of Defense for 35 years. He served his country proudly with the US Air Force and made a career as an Air Reserve Technician for 35 years. He served during the Korean, Vietnam, and Desert Storm wars. After active duty he enlisted with the US Air Force Reserves and received numerous medals awards and citations.

Dick was a flight examiner with the 74th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, Westover AFB, MA and one of the most experienced aeromedical evacuation technicians.

He was married to Barbara.

Relatives and friends may gather with his family during calling hours on Friday Nov. 4 2016 from 11:00 to 1:00 followed by a Memorial Service with Pastor Barry Andrusik officiating at Browne Memorial Funeral Chapels Enfield CT. Interment with military honors will then take place in the Massachusetts Veteran�s Memorial Cemetery in Agawam MA.

In lieu of flowers the family has requested memorial donations in his memory be made to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute P.O. Box 849168 Boston MA 02284-9168.

Institute of Medicine Releases New Gulf War Illness Report

Its official: we're calling it "Gulf War Illness." All those boo-boos we got in Desert Shield and Desert
Storm are lumped into what the Institute of Medicine recommended be named Gulf War Illness.

Previously, these mysterious maladies were described in various ways, generally to sooth the veterans' worries that nobody believed the complaints of illness. The new IOM report reviews historical data which likens the reported symptoms to those reported by veterans as far back as the Boer War, and provides interesting reading.

No solutions, however.

To most of America, Desert Storm was where we learned to love CNN. To most of America, Desert Storm is merely where we learned to spell desert and dessert and what the difference was.

March 14, 2014

IOM unable to define 'Gulf War' illness

IOM unable to define 'Gulf War' illness

HealthDay News -- Two definitions for chronic multisymptom illness should be used to identify cases of Gulf War illness among Gulf War veterans, according to a report from the Institute of Medicine.

Kenneth Shine, MD, from the University of Texas in Austin, and colleagues reviewed more than 700 studies to develop a case definition for chronic multisymptom illness in relation to 1990 to 1991 Gulf War veterans. As many as 250,000 veterans experience symptoms including fatigue, joint and muscle pain, respiratory problems and gastrointestinal distress.

Recognizing the difficulty of establishing a case definition given the lack of uniform symptoms, the variety of symptoms, and the long onset and duration, the researchers note that the absence of an agreed upon definition may limit the ability to select and administer treatments.

"[T]he committee has concluded that the available evidence is insufficient to develop a new case definition of [Gulf War Illness],” the researchers wrote.

Although the committee could not recommend one specific case definition, it did recommend consideration of two case definitions on the basis of their concordance with the evidence.

The CDC and the Kansas definitions seem to describe the array of symptoms most frequently reported by veterans. To capture the population of interest and symptoms, the researchers recommended use of the term "Gulf War illness" rather than chronic multisymptom illness.

"The diversity and intensity of exposures and experiences, as well as the breadth and extent of symptoms, warrant workable definitions of the illness and nomenclature so the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs can advance research and administer effective treatments," Shine said in a statement.

PTSD and Coming Home

Just an FYI re: VA Mental Health and Counseling:

Back from Operation Desert Storm and seriously injured, with multiple operations not helping things too much, I asked for some advice (counseling) at the Asheville VA Medical Center.

I reached out. I didn't get it. Total extent of their response: I was invited to attend a couple afternoon VA-sponsored picnic on the Medical Center's back lawn complex, with all other veterans being the local Navy Construction Battalion sailors who'd also been overseas. I don't know if any VA staff were present...all that happened was munching on refreshments, a cup of Coke, shaking hands of other vets and that was all. A picnic.

From what I recall, this was the limit of VA outreach in the areas of mental health...shouldn't call it outreach because one had to ask to find out about it. Not really outreach, as there seemed to be nothing except a few "just ask for help" posters had been taped up on walls and elevators. And no follow-up on that request nor subsequent requests for medication.

I was told that, having my back surgery two weeks earlier at Bethesda Naval Hospital, the soonest the VA ortho clinic could see me for care would be about six months. I was prescribed narcotics to last me until then, and I pulled out the wire staples myself

Over the next twenty years, the sole mental health interest in me by the VA has been the occasional question about depression, with heads nodding at whatever my response (sometimes quite intense) and on to the next question on whatever unrelated health form was being completed.

Suggestion: The VA might more effectively prevent veterans' post-deployment suicides by some form of actually doing something. Perhaps, offer their smorgasbord of resources rather than passively wait to be asked or be forced to intervene because of inappropriate veteran behaviors. Practitioners should read the VA's own publications, including their pivotal article identifying PTST among patients who've experienced three or more surgeries. I've had twelve since Desert Storm and more coming.

Every veteran should be approached by a social worker for an informal background assessment and an offer of resources. Every combat veteran and every severely ill or severely disabled veteran must receive social worker intervention, requested or not, as so few veterans grasp the full range of their own issues, and so few grasp the range of VA resources which might help address their needs.

Clearly, PTST should be assumed among various groups of veterans and eliminated by individual evaluation, rather than waiting for problems to come to a boil.

September 12 2013 Update: Not much changed except the posters urging vets to reach out have been updated to "It Takes a Warrior" theme. Even calls to the VA's suicide prevention hotline are problems, and the system's chat feature drops conversations repeatedly. Really, now VA: hanging up the call mid-conversation on a vet who is reaching out for help at 0300 isn't much help!

Do you think it might be better just to switch to calming elevator music??

About Face..

by Smedley D. Butler, Major General, United States Marine Corps, 1936 Two time recipient of the Congressional Medal Honor (regarding WWI soldiers but applicable to all of our wars)

“Boys with a normal viewpoint were taken from the fields and offices and factories and classrooms and put into the ranks. There they were remolded; they were made over; they were made to ‘about face’, to regard murder as the order of the day. They were put shoulder to shoulder, and through mass psychology, they were entirely changed. We used them for a couple of years, and trained them to think nothing at all of killing or of being killed. Then suddenly we discharged them and told them to make another, “about face.” This time they had to do their own readjusting without mass psychology, without officers aid and advice, without nation-wide propaganda. We didn’t need them any more. So we scattered them about without any speeches or parades. Many too many, of these fine young boys are eventually destroyed, mentally, because they could not make the final, “about face," alone.