Message from KDVA National Commander

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Volume 3 - Issue No. 12 DEC 2002

NATIONAL COMMANDER'S YEAR-END MESSAGE


Members and supporters, I want to take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS and THANKS to each of you that worked on behalf of the KDVA to make the dreams and hopes of thousands of Korea defense veterans come true. A task of this magnitude can only be realized when those with a common cause work in common. It requires a team, each giving what they can, each with a single agenda, and each supporting the others as needed.

We have accomplished in a few short years what many good people have been trying to do for at least 48 years. We have not just been the recipients of a service medal; we are part of something much much bigger. What we have accomplished is crowned by honor. We have brought respect and recognition to a deployment previously kept in hiding. We have brought respect and recognition to those who served under a double standard. We have brought truth to the forefront. We have honored our fallen. Anything less would not have been a victory.

I hope that when each of you holds this coveted new piece of ribbon and bronze in your hands that it means all of these things to you as well as a personal award for hardship, suffering and sacrifice. This is your medal, you earned it and you deserve it, but wearing it puts you in a unique position. It was not earned alone and those who fell while serving, and those no longer with us, must be as close to your heart as the medal will be, and they must go side by side with the medal wherever you go. It is part of the honor of a warrior to not leave one of your own behind.

I also feel that as I owe you thanks, I also owe many of you an apology. Our organization grew much faster than ever anticipated, and with growth there are additional responsibilities. We took those responsibilities very seriously; however,

we had to prioritize them due to a lack of people to perform all tasks timely and correctly. Our first priority was to the legislators that either sponsored or cosponsored our bills. Veterans organizations, the Defense Department, the media and our own public relations were also very high on the list. These were key to our success as was managing the volume of snail mail, email, faxes, and telephone calls. We must also consider the coordinating of the forever changing activities the Leadership Team and the State Commanders had to deal with. Unfortunately the prompt delivery of membership cards and memorabilia suffered during this time. We are trying very hard to change this. We will be going to a new card vendor and we expect to get the memorabilia orders caught up by the end of the year.

As an organization, we are growing. We are chartering new Detachments around the country and we have new and important missions in the future that will affect all of us. We have always believed that we deserved the UN Korea Service Medal or a new Korea medal from the UN. We have served under the same UN Command that was established in 1950, and one former USFK Commander stated that its mission has not changed since it was begun. We are seeking full combat recognition on an individual case basis and we will work to change current regulations on combat awards. Currently the regulations are a blatant double standard that all but precludes ones chances of earning any combat recognition.

This has been a year filled with excitement and some tranquility. We have worked very hard and have had some high highs and some bottom scraping lows. We thought we had it locked, but then we were not sure. Things beyond our control almost moved things into next year, but a little magic dust and we were back on track. The waiting was a killer. In the end it proved to be a year none of us will ever regret, or forget. This was our year to ?Take the Hill!? We have much to be thankful for. We had two legislators with the courage and honor to lead the charge in Congress, sixty-three Senators and 243 Representatives joined them, truly special brothers and sisters digging in and continuing fire on the well equipped, well financed, and skilled defense leadership, and outstanding Armed Forces members who joined in the fight. The thing we can be most thankful for is that we are still alive and able to celebrate this huge and wonderful victory for ?the sake of right?. I will treasure my KDSM and always remember those that helped me get it. I hope that each of you feels the same way and that we can all finally ?Come home from the R.O.K.!?

I wish Happy Holidays to everyone. May God Bless and keep us all safe and well.
Norm

N. KOREAN SHIP WITH SCUDS SEIZED EN ROUTE TO YEMEN
Updated 7:02 PM ET December 10, 2002
By Carol Giacomo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A North Korean ship carrying at least 12 hidden Scud missiles and bound for Yemen has been stopped in the Arabian Sea, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
The discovery could be politically explosive. North Korea recently acknowledged it has an active nuclear weapons program in violation of various agreements. Yemen is a Middle Eastern nation that is home to fractious tribes and Islamic extremists.
"The ship was stopped on Monday by Spanish authorities who stopped it in the Arabian Sea about 600 miles from the Horn of Africa. ... It was believed to be bound for Yemen," one official told Reuters. He said U.S. intelligence had been tracking the ship closely for weeks. CNN reported that the ship had been boarded by U.S. military specialists who were trying to stabilize the cargo.
The Pentagon had no immediate comment.
U.S. officials said the 12 Scud missiles were hidden beneath some concrete. They said other suspicious cargo could be on board but could not say exactly what it was. U.S. officials said the ship departed from the port of Nam Po and "is a North Korean ship," although it was operating under a different flag, which they declined to identify.
Scud missiles were used by Iraq against Saudi Arabia and Israel during the 1991 Gulf war. Last August, the United States imposed symbolic sanctions on a North Korean company -- Changgwang Sinyong Corporation -- and the North Korean government for exporting medium or long-range missile components. Reports at the time said Pynongyang had sold Scud components to Yemen before President Bush came to office in January 2001.
Since North Korea acknowledged in October that it was pursuing a uranium enrichment program, the United States and its allies have halted heavy fuel oil deliveries to the Stalinist state and have cut back on humanitarian food offerings. But in general, the Bush administration has tried to maintain a patient diplomatic effort to persuade the North to dismantle the nuclear program. Officials have said they had no interest in stirring a crisis with Pyongyang while they are involved in a U.N. arms inspections row with Iraq that could lead to war.
Yemen has long been a country of U.S. concern. Al Qaeda, the Islamic militant group headed by Osama Bin Laden that is blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, is known to operate in Yemen. Many al Qaeda adherents were said to seek refuge in Yemen's remote territory after the United States went to war against the extremists group and its ally the Taliban in Afghanistan.
In October 2000, extremists attacked a U.S. Navy vessel in the Yemeni port at Aden, resulting in the death of 17 American servicemen and women.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is on a trip to the Horn of Africa this week, trying to enlist regional leaders in fighting terrorism and expanding military cooperation with the United States. The region was shaken by a suspected al Qaeda attack in nearby Kenya last month.

MEMBERSHIP NOTIFICATION, CARD ISSUE AND MEMORABELIA ORDERS ARE BEHIND SCHEDULE
The KDVA apologizes to all members that have not yet received their membership cards. The vendor for our membership card stock has changed the card stock we have been using and we must adjust or seek another source. Until this is resolved we can not send out membership cards. The membership staff has been reduced to a single person who is very heavily tasked at this time and unable to keep up with membership and the volume of memorabilia orders in a timely manner. We ask for your patients a little longer.

IMPORTANT ? IF YOU ARE MOVING ? CHANGING YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS ? NOTIFY US
The KDVA gets a large amount of email rejections due to members and supporters changing their addresses. PLEASE, notify us if you are making a change. You will lose valuable information that we provide and we lose contact with valuable members, and we lose in the member count.

COPY THE KDVA ON CORRESPONDENCE TO TARGETS ? VERY IMPORTANT
When sending documentation for support to your elected officials, the Joint Chiefs or other Dept. of Defense individuals or groups, news media or special interest groups, be sure to copy the KDVA. Please ?cc? us at: kdva.hq@att.net[/b]. The KDVA will back you up by sending documents to the same locations. Volume is of major importance. Also, please inform the KDVA of any responses you get so that we can update the Supporters page on the web site.