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VETERANS' ADVOCATE FIGHTS THE GOOD FIGHT -- "The boots

on the ground always do their job. It's the suits in

Washington we have to worry about."

Bob Jones, a physician assistant, is best known in the region for his efforts on behalf of the nation's Prisoners of War and Missing in Action. (DARYL CARLSON / CITIZEN PHOTO)

For more about POWs and MIAs, use the VA Watchdog search engine...click here...
http://www.yourvabenefits.org/sessearch.php?q=pow+mia&op=or

Story here... http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl
e?AID=/20080613/GJCOMMUNITY02/348266867/-1/CITNEWS

Story below:

-------------------------

Continuing the good fight Jones keeps Veterans' concerns front and center

By BEA LEWIS
bwheel@metrocast.net

Bob Jones believes that how we treat our veterans says a lot about America's character, and over the years Jones says it hasn't always been pretty.

While the bulk of vets who returned from World War II were told they were heroes, given a handshake and G.I. Bill education benefits, Jones recounts those that were shell-shocked were kept out of the public eye.

Veterans of Korea — "the Forgotten War" — arrived home to be met with silence and those who returned from Southeast Asia were treated with contempt.

Jones believes that, at the very least, what veterans deserve from their government is honesty about its failures.

"The boots on the ground always do their job. It's the suits in Washington we have to worry about," he declared.

He laments that successive generations of soldiers have failed to realize their own ill treatment and in turn have never been motivated to lend a helping hand to other returning warriors.

"It breaks my heart that after all these years it hasn't changed," he said.

As a physician's assistant, Jones says he's honored to be able to work with veterans at HealthLink, a service of LRGHealthcare that connects the uninsured with health care.

It's a common misnomer, he said, that health care services provided by the Veteran's Administration are substandard.

"I think Uncle Sam started that rumor to save themselves a lot of money," says Jones.

While he concedes qualifying veterans have to go to Manchester or White River Junction, Vt., to receive treatment, Jones explains it's a cost-effective solution and he fights as aggressively against the bureaucracy as he did to save lives while a Navy corpsman in Vietnam serving with the Marines.

Once enrolled in the VA system, Jones explains, if a Laconia veteran needed emergency health care he could go to Lakes Region General Hospital, notify them of their veteran status and receive treatment that will be reimbursed by the federal government.

Although by day Jones works with veterans, his attachment continues after hours. Each Thursday night for the past 20 years, Jones has held a vigil in Hesky Park. It began with the hope of bringing to light the nation's lack of effort to account for all servicemen and women missing following the end of the Vietnam War.

Standing on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee in rain, winter's bitter winds or among the black flies of summer, Jones and other supporters now use the vigil and the annual Freedom Ride during Bike Week to shine a spotlight on the issue of the fate of captured and missing servicemen from all wars.

Jones has helped veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam and most recently from Iraq and Afghanistan receive VA health care services. It's deeply satisfying for him to help fellow veterans navigate the bureaucracy and get the treatment and often the compensation they both need and deserve.

While the Marine and Army ethos demands that they never leave one of their members behind, Jones is angered that the internationally understood POW/MIA classification has been changed to captured/missing. Both terms, he says, are ambiguous and dehumanizing. The original language is what is written in the Geneva Convention that governs the treatment of captured service personnel during war and to change it breaks an unwritten contract between the country and its soldiers, he said.

"When one American is knowingly left behind, we as Americans have lost," said Jones.

He has worn a silver POW/MIA bracelet on his right wrist for 39 years. It is engraved with the name of Army Specialist 5 Robert O'Hara, who was declared MIA on Feb. 6, 1969.

Over the years Jones said he has learned that O'Hara was one of 11 children. He was able to speak to one of O'Hara's brothers, who recounted that when he was nine years old two men wearing suits came to their home and showed a photograph of a man wearing a hospital-type gown to his mother. They asked her whether it was Bobby. She recognized her son, whose remains were ultimately returned to U.S. soil after her own death.

While many bracelet owners believe they should return them to the family once remains are repatriated, Jones said his stays where it is.

"I'll wear mine for life. It shows I know something about something," he said.

Recently, Governor Lynch and the Executive Council recognized Hesky Park in Meredith as the site of the state's POW/MIA memorial.

For Jones, the recognition is landmark in that it recognizes that the residents of Meredith were ahead of the curve in realizing the POW/MIA issue is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to veterans' issues.

Four U.S. servicemen are currently missing in Iraq and their families continue to await word of their fate.

The 15th Annual Freedom Ride will be held on Thursday, June 19. Lineup will begin at Winnipesaukee Crossing in Gilford at 5 p.m. and bikers will leave at 6 p.m. and head to Meredith. The vigil at Hesky Park will begin at 7 p.m. Special guest will be Andrew Jimenez, whose son, U.S. Army Specialist Alex Jimenez from Lawrence, Mass., of Delta Company, 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry, has been identified by the Pentagon as among those whose whereabouts is unknown after a May 12, 2007 ambush in Iraq.

The attack near Mahmoudiya, in a Sunni stronghold 20 miles south of Baghdad, left four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi translator dead and three other soldiers missing. The Pentagon has acknowledged that it believes the missing soldiers are in terrorist hands. The body of their comrade, Private First Class Joseph Anzack, 20, from Torrance, Calif., was found floating in the Euphrates River on May 23, 2007.

Previously, Keith Maupin of Batavia, Ohio was the keynote speaker at the vigil. His son, Matt, 20, an Army specialist, was captured in Iraq when his fuel convoy was ambushed and was later killed by terrorists. Authorities ultimately authenticated a grainy video of his execution by being shot in the back of the head. His remains have since been recovered and returned. He was buried in Cincinnati on April 27 with military honors including the POW medal. Maupin was "missing" for four years before his fate was ultimately known.

"Isn't it ironic that a captured serviceman, returned under his country's flag, is now designated a POW by our government? Yet our government denies that same individual a POW status when it is needed most, when he is in enemy hands," said Jones.

Jones would like nothing better than to have so many bikers attend the June 19 vigil that it clogs traffic, helping increase public awareness about the issue.

"If we had 10,000 bikes we would not have just awareness, we would have change," Jones concluded.

20 Questions

1. Full name? "people know you as ..." Bob Doc Jones.

2. Date & place of birth? Friday, June 13, 1946, Rutland Vt.

3. Occupation? Physician assistant/health care manager.

4. How long have you lived in the area? 36 years.

5. Who was your most influential role model? My mother.

6. Favorite place to go, favorite trip, favorite hike? Colorado.

7. Favorite local business? Meredith is full of favorites... beer at Mug is cold!

8. Favorite food? Anything my wife cooks is the best! (Hamburger)

9. Favorite book? "Brotherhood of the Rose." Not most recent but most remembered. Why? I don't remember!

10. Favorite movie? Godfather (1-4) I know most of the lines.

11. What do you waste your money on? Poker.

12. What was the dumbest thing you ever did? Complete this review, (kidding but funny?)

13. What is your fondest memory? Easter Sundays as a child.

14. What item that is no longer available would you like to see return? WhiteBucks.

15. What do you think makes the Lakes Region a good place to live? N/A

16. If you could change one thing about the Lakes Region, what would it be? Fill pot holes.

17. If you could change one thing about the state, nation, or world, what would it be? Dress code for school students. Responsibility and accountability should be as important as the money spent on learning.

18. If you were to try any profession for a day, what would it be? Punt returner for the New England Patriots.

19. If you won the lottery, what would you do? What I'm doing now but we dress better.

20. What would you like to be remembered for? Good husband, father and man.

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posted by Larry Scott
Founder and Editor
VA Watchdog dot Org

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