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Folks, next week I can finally discuss the topic I’ve been promising you all for the last few Gig Line columns and I can hardly wait! Why? Because it’s taken some time to get to the point of making the announcement. Not today, but soon, you will understand why! Also, that Gig Line will be a doozey. It will be long because the topic is so special and I will have much to share, so please look for it! Until then, I have some other important things to tell you:

VERY IMPORTANT – National Vietnam War Veterans Day, 50^th Anniversary on Tuesday, March 29^th is in recognition of the service and sacrifice of our Vietnam Veterans and their families as one of America’s longest wars. Based on research, 2,700,000-plus Americans served in Vietnam.

Thank our Lord and Savior that we still have the living, beautiful men and women survivors of that “Hell” as my Billy called it and that we still have time to tell them how much they mean to us and how sorry we are for failing them so miserably when they came home to the one place to find peace, rest and a loving embrace – home – but as it turned out much rejection, cruel, unfathomable criticisms and ridicule greeted them in their very homeland. Dear Lord, they (you) are our heroes, they (you) deserve our respect, honor and love. I wish I could hug every one of you. If my Billy were still here, he’d hug you, shake your hand and at the very least he would say “Welcome home brother!”

Also, our Dare County Veteran Service Officer, Patty O’Sullivan (office: 252-475-5604) has conveyed some extremely helpful info that you need to know about as follows…

Veterans with VA Healthcare – if you have VA healthcare and need to go to the emergency room, you’re supposed to notify the VA within 72 hours of your visit. Sometimes veterans are unable to get through to the VA, may forget or might not even know this rule. There is a form that you can have on hand to take with you in these emergencies, VA Form 10-10143g – Non-VA Hospital Emergency Notification. In some cases, hospitals will notify the VA but, just in case, a veteran might want to have this form on hand. This form can be found on the VA’s website under forms; just type in 10-10143g, hit enter and you can download and print it.  If you are unable to do this but would like a hard copy of the form, please contact Patty O’Sullivan, Veteran Service Officer at 252-473-7749 and she will be happy to send it out to you.

I suggest you all acquire the form which Patty recommended just in case you ever need it. As most of you know, Patty’s office is in Manteo at the Dare County Health Center, however, please call her first to make an appointment because at times her work requires her to be out of the office on appointments and she would not want to miss you!

UPDATE: Guess what? To date, your kindness has provided forty (40) donated cell phones to the cause! Yippee! Thank you everybody. Please keep them coming. The four cellphonesforsoldiers.com donation boxes are in separate locations: Dare County Administration Building (lobby), 954 Marshall C. Collins Dr. in Manteo; the Virginia S. Tillett Community Center (formerly known as the Dare County Center) directly behind the Administration Building in the same complex; the Thomas A. Baum Senior Center, 300 Mustian St. in Kill Devil Hills; and the Fessenden Center, 46830 NC-12 in Buxton. Please take your old, outdated and even broken cell phones or tablets to donate at one of those locations for the benefit of our soldiers and veterans. Please see their website as noted above for further information.

Until next time, be healthy, safe and happy. Love those around you with big hugs and kisses and expressions of your appreciation for them, especially our veterans – ALL OF OUR VETERANS. Be thankful we live in these United States of America and God bless you all! I love you folks so much. If you have a question or comment, I welcome you to contact me by cell/text at 252-202-2058 or by email at giglineheroes@aol.com. I always love to hear from you all and I thank you for reading Gig Line. Take care and stay tuned!

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