Check out the following member inputs for comments and requests for information, Feedback's, Items of Interest and Plea's for HELP...

GFS TEG has a complete list of the Confederate and Union burials at the Woodlawn Cemetery in Elmira, NY.  If you would like a "look-up" send him an email at GFS TEG@aol.com

mawtyfed@adelphia.net (Martin Fedchak)

Thanks for all the good work you all do with the newsletter and on the chat line -- keep it up for all of us...

Bonnie (formerly bjfedchak on aol) :)

{{Bonnie}} Thanks for letting us know your new email address.  We've made the change.

FI WATROUS

Can anyone help this fellow?

Re: [NYALBANY] Civil War/34th NY Infantry Regt.

Trimmerrw@aol.com

Anyone familiar with the 34th NY, sometimes called the Herkimer Regt., but had many from Albany including my great-great-grandfather and brother?  Lt. Louis Chapin of Albany wrote the regimental history in 1903.

"Ike" - we'll put this in the newsletter and see what hits...

QNavyWife

To: GFS Jim

 {{{JIM}}}}

My Own Native Land; what an incredible song!  Now I will have to find it so I can listen to it...better check my tapes as I may even have it on one!  I have a few Celtic music tapes...so I may have it somewhere!

R

{{R}} Hope you find it.  That one is a jewel.

NEVassau

I belong to the Wisconsin Historical Society and I want to copy something for you that was in the society's latest newsletter.  I hope it will be of some use to someone.

Eileen

Tip of the Iceberg: Society publishes Popular Resource Online: Wisconsin Civil War Rosters

What used to require a trip to the Society library in Madison now can be done via the Internet from anywhere in the world.  This, because the Society recently published on at  http://www.shsw.wisc.edu/roster (UPDATE - Now you can find this information at https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS4267   the "Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865", a popular resource for genealogists, military historians, and others.  The roster describes the service of all soldiers known to have served in Wisconsin's Civil War regiments.  Patrons have responded enthusiastically to this new service.

The roster will prove only the tip of the iceberg of the Society's plans to digitize rare books and basic references from its collections.  Michael Edmonds, acting library director, says the online version "is just the first in a series of full-text web sources that will appear over the next few years as the library and archives begin to provide public access to their holdings in a digital fashion."

Each page of the online book appears on the computer screen as a facsimile of the original. Special software, which users may download to their computer for free, enables readers to print single pages.

A few years ago, in anticipation of technological advances and ever-increasing reliance on the Internet as an electronic resource, the Society formed a partnership with Northern Micrographics of La Crosse.  NMI scans reference works and rare books and manuscripts in the Society's collections, making acid-free reprints available to libraries and providing the Society with the electronic version for posting on its wed site.

Generous financial support has enabled the Society to make this initial foray into providing digital access to the library and archives' collections.

{{Eileen}} - thank you for the info and the website :D

RCorey1998

Last week's "Fireside" was very interesting.  Thanks for sharing it.

Ruth

{{Ruth}}  Thanks for the feedback

GLITZ01

I know what the DAR is, but exactly what is their function?  Do they do research?  I hear of them all the time and I know I have the possibilities of joining, but I don't really know what they stand for.  Is there a place I can read on it.

thanks   Shirley

 {{Shirley}} I had already sent you a response but then I thought: "Self, there are a ton of DAR members and some officers that hit the forum.  Why not ask them as well?"  So I'll do that :-)   All you DAR members send Shirley a note :D

 

Bipsylou

I rarely participate in your chat room, but do read your messages and enjoy them. I learn a lot of history. Most of my searching is done regarding the United States Colored Troops.   D. Sands

Bipsylou - thanks for you note.  Here are two regiments of Colored troops that I have read about recently.  54th Massachusetts and 1st Kansas.  The 1st Kansas were a fierce group of soldiers and there are many stories about them in Missouri History.

dalongs@earthlink.net (Don Long)

Subject:    FEW: "Our GIs Earn Enough"

On 12 Jan, Ms Cindy Williams wrote a piece for the Washington Times denouncing the pay raise(s) coming service members way this year - citing that the stated 13% wage gap was bogus.  A young airman from Hill AFB in Utah responds to her article below.... he ought to get a bonus for this....

Ms. Williams:    I just had the pleasure of reading your column of 12 Jan 00, "Our GIs Earn Enough," and I am a bit confused.  Frankly, I'm wondering where this vaunted overpayment is going, because as far as I can tell, it disappears every month between DFAS (The Defense Finance and Accounting Service) and my bank account.  Checking my latest leave and earnings statement (LES), I see that I make $1,117.80, before taxes.  After taxes, I take home $874.20. When I run that through Windows' Calculator, I come up with an annual salary of $13,413.60 before taxes, and $10,490.40 after.

I work in the Air Force Network Control Center (AFNCC), where I am part of the team responsible for the administration of a 25,000 host computer network.  I am involved with infrastructure management, specifically with Cisco Systems equipment.  A quick check of http://www.monster.com under jobs for Network Technicians in the Washington, D.C. area reveals a position in my career field, requiring three years' experience with my job. Amazingly, this job does NOT pay $13,413.60 a year, nor does it pay less than this.  No, this job is being offered at $70,000 to $80,000 per annum. I'm sure you can draw the obvious conclusions.

Also, you tout increases to Basic Allowance for Housing and Basic Allowance for Sustenance (housing and food allowances, respectively) as being a further boon to an already-overcompensated force.  Again, I'm curious as to where this money has gone, as BAH and BAS were both slashed 15% in the Hill AFB area effective in January, 2000.

Given the tenor of your column, I would assume that you have never had the pleasure of serving your country in her armed forces.  Before you take it upon yourself to once more castigate congressional and DoD leadership for attempting to get the families in the military's lowest pay brackets off AFDC, WIC, and food stamps, I suggest that you join a group of deploying soldiers headed for Saudi - I leave the choice of service branch up to you.

Whatever choice you make, though, opt for the six month rotation: it will guarantee you the longest possible time away from your family and friends, thus giving you the full "deployment experience."  As your group prepares to board the plane, make sure to note the spouses and children who are saying goodbye to their loved ones.  Also take care to note that several families are still unsure of how they'll be able to make ends meet while the primary breadwinner is gone - obviously they've been squandering the vast piles of cash the DoD has been giving them.

Try to deploy over a major holiday; Christmas and Thanksgiving are perennial favorites.  And when you're actually over there, sitting in a DFP (Defensive Fire Position, the modern-day foxhole), shivering against the cold desert night, and the flight sergeant tells you that there aren't enough people on shift to relieve you for chow, remember this: trade whatever MRE you manage to get for the tuna noodle casserole or cheese tortellini, and add Tabasco to everything.  Talk to your loved ones as often as you are permitted; it won't nearly be long enough or often enough, but take what you can get and be thankful for it.

You may have picked up on the fact that I disagree with most of the points you present in your op-ed piece.  But, tomorrow from Voltaire, I will defend to the death your right to say it.  You see, I am an American fighting man, a guarantor of your First Amendment rights and every other right you cherish. On a daily basis, my brother and sister soldiers worldwide ensure that you and people like you can thumb your collective nose at us, all on a salary that is nothing short of pitiful and under conditions that would make most people cringe.  We hemorrhage our best and brightest into the private sector because we can't offer the stability and pay of civilian companies.

And you, Ms. Williams, have the gall to say that we make more than we deserve?

Rubbish.

A1C Michael Bragg

Hill AFB AFNCC

{{{{{Don}}}}}  Glad you're back in the states and I love the article....  I will certainly get this in the newsletter. For you readers, I don't normally get on my soapbox, because that is missusing the privilege and focus of this newsletter, but I love my country and I HONOR those that serve her, as I did and do.  Airman First Class Bragg has spoken much truth, and I'm bound to share it because he is ensuring that I have the right to share it.  Enjoy and learn!!!!! :-) I'll be quiet now .... Heh Heh !!

From: Jowhara7

{{Jacque}} Great Poem....   Thanks for sharing..