ARE YOU OR IS SOMEONE YOU KNOW A CAREGIVER FOR AN ELDERLY PARENT?

AARP reports that there are 43-million caregivers taking care of elderly family members in the US.  When illness strikes a parent, it is most often the siblings upon whom the care giving falls.  They can divide up the responsibilities, write up a contract as to who handles finances, daily care, research, and all other immediate and anticipated future needs.  Elder care mediators are available and website or blogs can be set up for each sibling to record daily events so all siblings are “on the same page” and up to date on care provided.

When a caregiver’s own finances are at peril, the family can get together and each compensate the care giving sibling who lives in with or nearby the elderly parent.  Author Francine Russo calls this period in a family’s life, “The Twilight Transition.”  Read the Amazon.com reviews and perhaps you will find this book helpful regarding sibling issues.

There are 16,000 Nursing Homes in the US, with about 1.5-million people living in them.  The US News & World Report article on Best Nursing Homes explains the rankings, with 11 homes that have received perfect ratings for four consecutive quarters.  The article also directs you to Nursing Home Compare, on the Medicare site, to find a local nursing home.  A family can find a Geriatric Care Manager to help.  

The new health care plan includes The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports Act, otherwise known as CLASS.  CLASS provides for a national insurance program to help cover the cost of long-term care -- something 70 percent of people over 65 will need at some point along the way. The premiums will be much lower than those for private plans, and you won't get screened out because you've already had some health problems. Once vested after five years, enrollees unable to care for themselves will be able to claim cash benefits for as long as needed.  Nursing homes will face more transparency requirements.

As the benefits of the CLASS program become clear, you will read about them on this blog in the near future.  Licensed Advisor/Independent Insurance Agent Marilyn Jacobs can provide details about Long Term Care Insurance and explain what Medicare, Medicaid and the newer Long Term Care Partnership (which protects a portion of assets) can and cannot do to help with expenses.

ROBERT L. HOWARD, ONE OF AMERICA'S MOST DECORATED HEROES

It is important for future generations that we remember our military heroes and the great sacrifices they have made for us in the name of Freedom.  Only 3,448 Americans have been awarded Medals of Honor.  Today only 91 of them survive.

Wounded 14 times in 54 months of combat duty in Vietnam, Robert Howard was awarded 8 Purple Hearts and was believed to be the most decorated living American.  He served five tours in Vietnam and is the only soldier in our nation's history to be nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor three times for three separate actions within a 13-month period. Although it can only be awarded once to an individual, men who served with him said he deserved all three. 

President Richard M. Nixon awarded him the Medal of Honor at the White House in 1971.  Other awards included the Distinguished Service Cross - our nation's second highest award, and the Silver Star - the third highest award. He received his decorations for valor for actions while serving as an NCO (Sergeant First Class).

Robert L. Howard grew up in Opelika, Alabama and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1956 at age seventeen. He retired as a full Colonel in 1992 after 36 years service. During Vietnam, he served in the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets) and spent most of his five tours in the super-secret MACV-SOG (Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observations Group) also known as Special Operations Group, which ran classified cross-border operations into Laos, Cambodia, and North Vietnam. These men carried out some of the most daring and dangerous missions ever conducted by the U.S. military. The under-strength sixty-man recon company at Kontum, in which he served, was the Vietnam War's most highly decorated unit of its size with five Medals of Honor. It was for his actions while serving on a mission to rescue a fellow soldier in Cambodia, that he was submitted for the Medal of Honor the third time for his extraordinary heroism. 

In later years, as a larger-than-life figure on the national military scene, he appeared at many patriotic events, encouraging people to remember our troops.  He was also an advocate for troops missing in action and believed there were more than 100 troops living in captivity in south east Asia.  He died in 2009 and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Robert L. Howard is said to be our nation's most decorated soldier from the Vietnam War. He was the last Vietnam Special Forces Medal of Honor recipient still on active duty when he retired on Sept. 29, 1992. His story is told in John Plaster's excellent book, SOG The Secret Wars of America's Commandos in Vietnam.  

Excerpt from John Plaster's recent book SECRET COMMANDOS Behind Enemy Lines with the Elite Warriors of SOG - pg. 303:
"The day that President Nixon draped the Medal of Honor's pale blue ribbon around Howard's neck, I sat before the TV in my parents' living room watching the evening news. Coming on top of his previous decorations - the Distinguished Service Cross and multiple Silver and Bronze Stars, plus eight Purple Hearts - Howard's combat awards exceeded those of Audie Murphy, America's legendary World War II hero, until then our most highly decorated serviceman. At last, Howard would get his due. I flipped station to station, but not one of the networks - not CBS or NBC or ABC - could find ten seconds to mention Captain Robert Howard or his indomitable courage. I found nothing about him in the newspapers. Twisted by the antiwar politics of that era, many in the media believed that to recognize a heroic act was to glorify war. They simply chose not to cover the ceremony. It might as well not have happened." 

Let's pass these stories of valor, bravery and dedication to the United States of America on to our children and grandchildren