Military

A set of letters written by a sailor aboard the original U.S.S. Juneau may be headed to the Juneau-Douglas City Museum for research and display.

Assemblymember Randy Wanamaker, who’s organizing activities centered around the cruiser’s tragic sinking during World War II, said he was contacted by the daughter of a woman who held on to the letters for nearly seventy years. Winifred Blohm of New Jersey was the next door neighbor and good friend of William George Meeker, Jr. who served as a seaman aboard the Juneau. Wanamaker says Meeker wrote at least sixteen letters to Blohm.

“He became alive to me because I can remember being that person,” said Wanamaker reflecting on his early military training. “A new person, with less than a year, still learning and having a sense of wonderment about it all.”

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Wanamaker said the collection also includes postcards and Japanese documents which need translation. Blohm recently passed away and her daughter wanted to pass the documents on to Meeker’s family, but she could not find any surviving relatives. She then turned to Wanamaker to arrange a possible donation to a museum or library.

A representative of the Juneau-Douglas City Museum was not present during an organizational meeting on October 5th. But a representative of the state’s historical collections said the City Museum would be the proper place for such artifacts.

The wife of Juneau Mayor Harry Lucas sponsored the U.S.S. Juneau which was launched in Kearny, New Jersey on Oct. 25, 1941.

The U.S.S. Juneau was a light cruiser that was eventually sunk following the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal. Among the 687 sailors who perished were the five Sullivan brothers.

Wanamaker is leading a group that’s organizing events to mark the seventieth anniversary of the sinking on Nov. 13, 1942. He said if anyone has any old artifacts or pictures related to the first U.S.S. Juneau, then they should contact him.

The Coast Guard’s newest asset for Southeast is now on station. The cutter Chandeleur stopped for a brief welcoming ceremony at Station Juneau on Friday before the heading back down to its designated port of Ketchikan.

The 110-foot Chandeleur replaces the medium-endurance cutter, the 213-foot Acushnet, that was decommissioned last year. The Acushnet was named Queen of the Fleet, or oldest serving vessel in the Coast Guard fleet, just before going out with 67-years of total service. The Chandeleur was recently stationed in Florida and just went through a nine-month refit.

Senator Lisa Murkowski criticized the proposed reassignment last year and said the vessel will have a hard time getting out to the Gulf of Alaska.

The Chandeleur with its seventeen crew joins the Naushon already stationed in Ketchikan. It’s also of the Island class, like the Anacapa based out of Petersburg and the Liberty in Auke Bay.

Coast Guard Lt. Sam Blase, commanding officer of the Chandeleur, says it’s a pleasure to be up in Southeast Alaska and he says they look forward to working in the area.

Blase says the vessel just emerged from a nine-month re-fit that included stripping everything out from the vessel except the kitchen sink.

“She got a lot of hull work and a lot of metal replacement done on her since she is 20-plus years old,” said Blase. “She also got upgraded electronics packages. We got some updated navigation capabilities and as well as making sure that we had the latest in technology on board for the radios and communication gear.”

You can hear the full interview below:

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Southeast Alaska’s newest Coast Guard cutter arrives in Juneau tomorrow (Friday).

The 110-foot Chandeleur is being transferred from Miami to Ketchikan to assist with regional responses throughout the panhandle.

The Island Class patrol boat has a crew of 18 and was commissioned in 1988. It recently underwent modernization and maintenance in Baltimore.

A welcoming ceremony for the Chandeleur is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Friday at Coast Guard Station Juneau downtown.

The vessel replaces the Acushnet, which was decommissioned in 2011.

Seventy years ago this Nov. 13, the Navy warship U.S.S. Juneau was lost in the battle for Guadalcanal.

The city of Juneau will commemorate that anniversary with a series of community activities leading up to a solemn memorial on the waterfront.

The U.S.S. Juneau Remembrance Planning Committee will hold two public meetings this week to plan for those activities.

Assembly member Randy Wanamaker is coordinating the events.

“We want it to be a community event, by the community, for the community,” he says.

Wanamaker hopes local schools, libraries, museums, service clubs and other community organizations will participate

“What we see is a series of community activities at various times and locations leading up to the actual anniversary on the 13th of November, so people have an opportunity to go to an activity at a time and a place that works for them, because not everybody would be able to dome to a single large event,” he says.

The U.S.S. Juneau public planning meetings are Thursday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Mendenhall Valley Library. Friday’s meeting is noon to 1:30 pm at the Downtown Library.

More than 800 military vets attended the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs first ever “Stand Down” in Southeast Alaska last week.

“Stand Down” events are designed to give veterans access to health care and housing services, both from the VA and local nonprofits.

A new agreement between the VA and Alaska Native health care providers should make it easier for vets in rural Alaska to access those services.

Alaska VA Spokeswoman Marcia Hoffman-DeVoe says the agreement, signed in May, allows Native health providers to directly bill the VA for care provided to veterans.

“Even though we have probably the largest geographic area of any state, our veterans in Alaska will probably have the best access to either directly provided VA health care or care that we purchase from a community or Alaska Native provider,” says Hoffman-DeVoe.

Lincoln Bean, Sr. of Kake is a board member for the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium and Alaska Native Health Systems. He’s not a veteran himself, but he helped negotiate the agreement, because when he was growing up, those who served were among the most respected members of his community.

“World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan. And I kept hearing they’re not getting the benefits they should be getting,” Bean says. “And that’s why this is happening today.”

While Anchorage and Fairbanks have hosted “Stand Downs” for years, the event at Centennial Hall Friday and Saturday was the first one held in Southeast Alaska. It’s part of the VA’s effort to expand its presence in the state. The Southeast Native Veterans group opened the event with the Presentation of Colors.

Tony Mills is an Army vet from Hoonah, who served during Vietnam. He says he’s had issues with the VA in the past. During a visit to a VA clinic in Anchorage in 1998, Mills says the doctor didn’t even know what branch of the service he’d been in.

“He said, ‘How long were you in the Marine Corp?’ I told him, ‘Marine Corp? I never was in that Marine Corp,'” Mills says. “I told him I got drafted into the Army.”

Mills says he’s glad to hear about the new sharing agreement, which he plans to take advantage of at the SEARHC clinic in Hoonah. He also says the two-year-old VA clinic in Juneau’s Federal Building should make it easier to access the medical tests he needs.

“I’ll be coming back this coming Wednesday for the hearing test over here. I guess they’re gonna have it up on the sixth floor,” he says. “And the Coast Guard doctor from Mt. Edgecumbe [Hospital], he came over, and he’s the one who got me going on this.”

“Stand Down” events date back to Vietnam, when frontline soldiers would rotate to a safe and secure area for hot meals, medical treatment, and new uniforms. Traditionally, non-combat “Stand Downs” focus on homeless vets and vets in need.

The VA brought two semi-truck loads of military surplus gear to Juneau for the Southeast “Stand Down.” Socks, underwear, jackets, backpacks and other supplies filled one of the ballrooms at Centennial Hall, available to any vet who needed something.

Ex-Marine Dan Roberts came looking for a new sleeping bag.

“I sleep on my boat and it gets kind of chilly now, because I don’t use my heater at night,” Roberts says.

As he collected his new sleeping bag from a volunteer, Roberts talked about how much it and all the other supplies mean to him.

“Shoes, bag, sleeping bag deluxe, and other clothing, socks and underwear, you name it,” he says. “I’m overwhelmed.”

For those veterans who couldn’t make it to the “Stand Down” in Juneau, the VA arranged for gear to be shipped to smaller communities throughout Southeast. The VA’s Marcia Hoffman-DeVoe says the agency would like to see a local nonprofit organize it into an annual event.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is holding its first ever “Stand Down” outreach event in Southeast Alaska, Friday and Saturday at Juneau’s Centennial Hall.

“Stand Down” events are designed to provide services to veterans, especially homeless vets and vets in need. The Juneau event will feature information about VA services, as well as thirteen local nonprofits and Native groups.

“Having VA staff and programs, and community programs, ultimately provides a better package for the veterans,” says Marcia Hoffman-DeVoe, a spokeswoman for the Alaska VA Healthcare System. “So that, we’re working with the agencies here in the community to do those transitions between what we can provide and what the community agency can provide.”

Hoffman-DeVoe says VA “Stand Down” events take place nationwide. Anchorage has hosted them for more than 25 years and Fairbanks for more than a decade. Barrow held the first one in rural Alaska last fall. She hopes the Southeast “Stand Down” will become a regular event.

“There are 77,000 veterans in the State of Alaska. I just checked the 2010 Census figures again, and Alaska continues to have the highest number of veterans per capita at 14 percent of our population. About 10 percent of those veterans live in Southeast Alaska,” Hoffman-DeVoe says.

Non-VA partners in the “Stand Down” event include the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium, the Tlingit and Haida Central Council, Front Street Clinic and Southeast Senior Services.

In addition to health care and housing services, veterans who attend the event can get used clothing, blankets and sheets through the U.S. Defense Re-Utilization Office.

The event will be held Friday from to 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Centennial Hall. Lunch will be provided.

For more information on the program, Hoffman-DeVoe will be on a Juneau Afternoon Thursday at 3 p.m. on KTOO.