HE'S STILL LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD MEN.Byline: Dennis McCarthy Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
Martin Christie's bad back wasn't caused by some old football or work injury. He didn't hurt it lifting his grandkids or in any kind of accident. No, Martin Christie's bad back came from pick handles and rifle butts Noun 1. rifle butt - the butt end of a rifle butt, butt end - thick end of the handle rifle - a shoulder firearm with a long barrel and a rifled bore; "he lifted the rifle to his shoulder and fired" coming down hard on his spine for 40 months in four different World War II prisoner of war PRISONER OF WAR. One who has been captured while fighting under the banner of some state. He is a prisoner, although never confined in a prison. 2. In modern times, prisoners are treated with more humanity than formerly; the individual captor has now no camps. Finally, one day, after one too many beatings, his back couldn't take it anymore and fractured Fractured is the Industrial Music band created by Canadian Nick Gorman in 2003. Located in Toronto Canada, his self produced release CD-R demo entitled Contami-Nation caught the attention of European label Dependent Records, who signed them. . When he got home in 1946 with all the other young POWs who were systematically beaten and tortured in camps, our government gave him a 10 percent disability pension and its deep-felt thanks. Martin took his $19 a month for a fractured back and kidney stones Kidney Stones Definition Kidney stones are solid accumulations of material that form in the tubal system of the kidney. Kidney stones cause problems when they block the flow of urine through or out of the kidney. , and went off to pick up the pieces of his life. Fifty-four years later, the West Hills man is still picking up the pieces, but not of his life anymore. After many operations and years of chronic pain, Martin was awarded a 100 percent disability which pays him nearly $2,000 a month now. And as commander of the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. Chapter of American Ex-Prisoners of War American Ex-Prisoners of War is a service organization based in Arlington, Texas, which was founded in 1942 and chartered by the United States Congress in 1982. The organization attempts to assist the surviving POWs, many of whom are elderly and/or have psychic scars and longterm , he's fighting for the disability rights for all those other local ex-POWs and their widows who may not know they have benefits coming to them. But first, he has to find them. Arthur Norwood was going through the mail at his Canyon Country home a few months back when he came upon an invitation for a pot luck pot luck Noun take pot luck Informal to accept whatever happens to be available: we'll take pot luck at whatever restaurant might still be open . It was from a guy named Christie who was heading the local chapter of American Ex-Prisoners of War. Arthur's name was on an ex-POW list he had received from Washington, D.C., Christie said. Stop by and meet some of the other guys and their families in our group. Norwood thought about it and said, Why not? Almost four years in POW camps after the crew of his ship was captured in Shanghai Shanghai (shăng`hī`, shäng`hī`), city (1994 est. pop. 12,980,000), in, but independent of, Jiangsu prov., E China, on the Huangpu (Whangpoo) River where it flows into the Chang (Yangtze) estuary. , China, at the outbreak of World War II certainly made him deserve to be in the company of these men. Like a lot of other young POWs who came home in 1945 and 1946 with scars and nightmares they wanted to put behind them as quickly as possible, Norwood didn't look back much. ``People wanted to live their own lives, and I went along living mine, trying to put those years behind me,'' he said. ``I retired in 1982 and didn't have any medical (insurance). As the years went by, things got so expensive, I finally turned to the VA.'' But it wasn't until he turned to Christie's pot luck that Norwood found that the injuries he sustained after four years as a POW entitled en·ti·tle tr.v. en·ti·tled, en·ti·tling, en·ti·tles 1. To give a name or title to. 2. To furnish with a right or claim to something: him to some benefits today. Even widows, like Miriam Ostrofsky of Panorama City, whose ex-POW husband, Sam, started the San Fernando Valley chapter before he died 15 years ago, didn't realize that changes in the law made her eligible to collect a percentage of her late husband's benefits. It wasn't the Veterans Administration going out looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. these people to tell them this. It was Christie and his group. ``These widows carry on for their husbands and deserve every penny they are eligible for,'' he said. ``We (POW's) have gone through things others can't even imagine, and our wives were there for us, putting up with us, helping us.'' So Christie keeps on fighting - for Arthur Norwood, Miriam Ostrofsky and all the others in the ex-POW family who aren't getting the benefits from this country they deserve. The American Ex-Prisoners of War, San Fernando Valley Chapter, is inviting all ex-prisoners of war and their spouses to a meeting at the D.A.V. Center, 6543 Corbin Ave., Woodland Hills, at 2 p.m. today. If you can't make it and want more information about the organization, call Christie at (818) 348-4492. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Retired Marine Corps Capt. Martin Christie holds 1944 photos of himself, upper right, and other POWs in Motoyama, Japan. Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer |
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