* Military veterans thinking about retirement and looking for a great place to live should consider coming to Ashe County for a look at all the area has to offer. Click here to visit our Chamber of Commerce.

* If you'd like to hear from a representative of the New River Chapter of the MOAA, click on the "Contact Us" link in the menu bar and drop us an e-mail.

The Ashe County Veterans Services Office provides quality assistance to veterans, their widows, orphans or survivors in obtaining or preserving existing benefits from the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

For a resource to get an updated ID card, click here: Veterans Services Office home page . Scroll down to "Links" to access the Military ID Card facility finder and locate a facility closest to you.

MOAA experts provide members with reliable and accurate guidance on a variety of topics from retirement to estate planning, medical, survivors benefits, and more!

This 80-page book from MOAA National guides you through ensuring your hard-earned military benefits are available to your survivors.

The complete workbook, as well as the interactive appendices that can be modified and saved to your computer, are available free of charge to members of MOAA.

Follow the below link to visit and learn about the Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc. whose primary purpose is to honor the memory of all the men and women who have served our country as members of the Armed Forces.

* Help.org is a group of medical professionals and addiction experts concerned with the substance abuse crisis that military veterans throughout the U.S. and their families are facing.

* There are concerns, of course of further implications such as long term medical problems, additional psychiatric disorders, interpersonal and vocational impairment, and sadly suicide. Unfortunately, for most communities, this problem is hidden due to the lack of awareness.

* Therefore, the site provides a guide with comprehensive information on substance abuse statistics among veterans, governmental programs that offers treatment, and steps that veterans can take to get the help that they need.

For more information, contact Heather Cora, Community Outreach.

* This link will open the North Carolina Council of Chapters web site that has a variety of relevant sites, both military and other support organizations, that may be of interest to our Chapter, as well as North Carolina, military servicemembers and their families.

* This is a comrehensive, and ALL (or at least MOST) inclusive reference resource of telephone numbers to most everything related to military retiree needs.

* Visitors to this link may wish to download the document and bookmark it on your computer to ensure ready access.

- Researched by Mel Weiss, CWO-2 SC USN-Ret. & GM-14, Ret.

- This list was compiled in 2002 and information and/or updates are welcomed...e-mail at address: melweiss@mindspring.com

Information regarding VA burial benefits can be found in the link to the VA main site below, or in the attached file that has additional resource web links.

The below link is to the Virtual Wall ®, Vietnam Veterans Memorial

The names, and profiles, of persons lost, or missing, from the Vietnam War can be located by last name, state, and various other forms of searching.

Individual profiles can be viewed, as well as printed, and the location of the individual service member on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall can ascertained.

The Mesothelioma Center is an organization devoted to assisting veterans through their application processes for VA benefits, and helping them obtain the maximum benefits for which they are entitled.

See the attached file, "Mesothelioma Q&A" for more information.

For more assistance, please contact the Veterans Liaison, Colin Hare at chare@asbestos.com or via telephone, (407) 965-5755

A representative of the Mesothelioma & Asbestos Awareness Center, Barbara O'Brien, provided the following information on their organization, the leading resource for those affected by asbestos cancer. At her request, the site is being added as an important and valuable source of information for persons visiting our Chapter's website.

Check it out.

The Mesothelioma Fund website is a resource that offers free services for patients dealing with the cost of treatment.

* A Community Outreach team at the Mesothelioma Group which supports the American Legion, VFW, and many other veteran organizations.

* A part of their mission is to spread mesothelioma awareness to veterans and their family members.

* Mesothelioma targets many veterans because of the extensive amount of asbestos absorbed in veterans lungs when handling past military equipment.

* As part of a Community Outreach team, the below link is provided for access to the Mesothelioma Guide.

* Veterans comprise 1/3 of all mesothelioma patients and approximately 6,000 veterans afflicted with this asbestos-caused cancer died between 1999 and 2005 alone.

* The reason this cancer targets so many veterans is because of the prevalence of asbestos use in the military in the past.

* Part of the mission of this organization is to spread awareness to veterans and their families; their website offers free veteran specific resources and support for patients and families.

This is an active online community made up of medical professionals: two thoracic nurses with more than 25 years of experience, Ricki Lewis, PhD, geneticist who has proven to be an invaluable expert resource for MesotheliomaHelp as we report on the latest breakthroughs in gene therapy, two caregivers and survivors that share their experiences and advice with our readers.

* This is an organization created to help the millions of people who were exposed to asbestos, a cancer causing mineral. Many of these men and women were exposed at work or during their military service and are now suffering from asbestos related diseases, such as mesothelioma cancer, a devastating and nearly always fatal disease.

* The website (below) is a comprehensive asbestos disease informational resource. Additionally, mesothelioma victims and their loved ones are offered the following items, free of charge: a comprehensive Mesothelioma & Asbestos Guide; 3 must-read mesothelioma books written by medical professionals and mesothelioma survivors; veteran benefits assistance, and more.

This posting was provided by Kaitlin Wilson, Public Relations Specialist for the Mesothelioma Lawyer Center and is intended to further increase awareness and help those in need.

Need more information? E-mail kwilson@mesotheliomalawyercenter.org.

Mesothelioma.net is an attorney advertised page sponsored by Danziger & De Llano, LLP., Houston, TX which provides free resources, education, support, and hope to veterans, and others...

* This is an organization's website that is for a public service geared towards helping individuals who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma .

* Follow the below link to open the website and learn more about mesothelioma and the services provided by this organization.

* This is an attorney advertising page sponsored by The Peterson Firm, LLP that offers help and hope to families affected by mesothelioma.

This is an attorney advertising page sponsored by Seeger Weiss LLP. The Mesothelioma Resource Online site provides answers and support for people diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer, as well as their families and loved ones.

* Mesothelioma is a rare form of cancer that is caused by exposure to asbestos and has long been considered a mystery and incurable. However, over the past two decades, physicians, scientists and researchers have begun to unravel this mystery and help people diagnose mesothelioma in its earlier stages, while providing more extensive forms of treatment, vast resources, and general information to make coping and survival more about optimism rather than uncertainty.

* Need more information? Email: patia@mesotheliomasymptoms.com

This page is an attorney advertised page sponsored by Bullock Campbell Bullock & Harris P.C., Houston, Texas. Providing information to treatment, clinical trials, and free VA benefits support, the Mesothelioma Veterans Center was created to help veterans who developed mesothelioma due to asbestos exposure. The organization has one thing in mind, To Serve Those Who Served.

* This is an interesting video on YouTube that details the history and current status of the first plane in the U.S. Air Force to be designated as Air Force One.

* At the end of the video is a request to extend the information about this historic plane on social media, etc. with the hope that it will find a permanent home in an appropriate museum and not be relegated to becoming scrap or harvested for spare parts.

* Definately worthwhile to spend five minutes watching!

* This is an interesting video on YouTube where SR-71 Blackbird pilot Brian Shul tells the famous story of the LA Speed Check across Arizona...

* Definitely a worthwhile and fun watch for a few minutes on the life and times of a pilot of the "Blackbird" spy plane!