Veterans Of America

Norman Wayne Boskind, chairman of the Harford County Commission on Veterans Affairs and a retired Maryland Transportation Authority Police officer, was killed in a motorcycle accident on Independence Day on Route 213 near Chesapeake City. He was 59. Born and raised in Baltimore, Mr. Boskind graduated from Edmondson High School in 1962. He enlisted in the Army in 1964 and served in Vietnam for two years with a transportation company. He was honorably discharged in 1967 with the rank of specialist.

EASTON - The monuments on the courthouse lawn to Confederate heroes and soldiers who fought in Vietnam will soon be joined by a statue of Talbot County's most famous native son, Frederick Douglass - ending a bitter civic debate that provoked suggestions of racism against some who declared that the site belonged only to military memorials. The County Council voted 3-2 yesterday to allow a tribute to Douglass on the lawn of the 210- year-old building, a spot veterans groups had insisted was "sacred ground" reserved for those who had served in the military.

The Baltimore office of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is the slowest in the country in processing disability claims for servicemen and servicewomen - averaging about a year - and makes more mistakes than any other office. The failures locally are a symptom of a national breakdown: Across the country, more than 900,000 veterans wait an average of nine months for the agency to determine whether they qualify for disability benefits, according to the VA. Even as the VA says it is working to fix problems in Baltimore and nationwide, Paul Rieckhoff, founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, calls the situation "shameful.

WHEN EVENING shadows slipped across Vietnam's Central Highlands, Staff Sgt. Fred Bromwell got painted up and went night stalking. He would creep up on jungled enemy camps, lay and watch trails or spring thunderous ambushes. As a reconnaissance bushmaster, he was indistinguishable as a clump of bamboo, waiting to pounce.When he finally left the war after five years, Bromwell had claimed 109 confirmed enemy kills. But Vietnam had claimed another casualty in Bromwell - years of work would finally allow him to declare peace within his soul.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced Friday a plan to immediately evaluate and pay the oldest disability claims, a move that advocates expect will bring relief to Maryland servicemen and women who face one of the largest backlogs in the country. The agency will make provisional decisions on claims that are at least a year old and have not been acted upon. Based on a rating of the severity of the veteran's disability, benefits will range from about $125 to $3,000 a month, or more if a veteran requires extraordinary care.

On November 2, 2009, Howard L. Shorr Services at SOL LEVINSON & BROS., INC., 8900 Reisterstown Road, at Mount Wilson Lane on Wednesday, November 4, at 4 P.M. Interment South Florida VA Cemetery - Florida on Monday November 9, 2009. Please omit flowers. Contributions in his memory may be sent to Vietnam Veterans Of America, 8605 Cameron Street., Suite 400, Silver Spring, MD (20910-3710). Family at Home: 12406 Preserve Way, Reisterstown, MD 21136 sollevinson.com

Organizations schedule events to mark holiday Several local organizations have scheduled Memorial Day ceremonies tomorrow. Baltimore's Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 451 is holding services at 11 a.m. at the Maryland Vietnam Veterans Memorial adjacent to Harbor Hospital in southern Baltimore. Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens in Timonium will honor the seven Maryland servicemen killed in the terrorist attack Sept. 11 at the Pentagon and the war on terrorism. Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War will hold an observance 10:30 a.m. at Loudon Park National Cemetery, 3445 Frederick Road.

On January 1, 2007, MILTON L. "MILT" SOMMERS, III. Beloved husband of Jeanne VanCamp; devoted stepfather of Brian VanCamp; loving brother of Debi Butler; loving son of the late Milt and Susie Sommers; loving uncle of Kellie and Joseph Crowley. Also survived by many loving family members and friends. Funeral services will be held at the Connelly Funeral Home of Essex, 300 Mace Avenue, on Friday 7:30 P.M. Visiting hours Friday, 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 P.M. Interment private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Paralyzed Veterans of America, 7 Millbrook Road.

Nearly 40 years ago, a haunting photograph of a naked Vietnamese girl running in anguish after being severely burned in a napalm bomb attack on her village became an iconic image of the Vietnam War. But most who have seen the Pulitzer Prize-winning shot probably haven't heard the obscure song it inspired more than three decades later, says Hugo Keesing, a self-taught music historian. "The Girl in the Picture (Napalm Girl)," released by Yanah in 2004, is one of more than 300 famous and not-so-famous songs and spoken-word tracks about the war that are included in a 13-CD anthology assembled by Keesing, a Columbia resident.

On July 7, 2004, BARBARA ANN (nee Vanderbosch); beloved mother of Mary Ann Caskey and her husband Joseph and Joseph W. Nugent and his wife Jennifer; dear brother of Joseph James Vanderbosch; cherished grandmother of Sarah Nugent, Cori and Sean Caskey, Nicholas and Mc Kenna Nugent. The family will receive friends in the Lemmon Funeral Home of Dulaney Valley, Inc., 10 W. Padonia Road (at York Road), Timonium-Cockeysville, on Friday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. A Memorial Mass will be celebrated in the St. Joseph Church, Cockeysville, on Saturday, July 10 at 10 A.M. Interment St. Joseph Church Cemetery, Fullerton.