Jeffrey S. BraggSecretary, Florida Department of Elder Affairs

We have a very special edition of Elder Update for you as we end 2017. This issue brings us the opportunity to honor Florida vet-erans by sharing their stories and sacrifices in recognition of Veter-

ans Day. There are more than 1.5 million veterans living in Florida, more than half of whom are over the age of 65. Florida veterans have served in both peacetime and wartime, including World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, and the Gulf War. We thank the brave men and women who have served in the military, as well as their families for the sacrifices they make, and we hope that you will also honor them this Veterans Day and beyond.

We also have some updates on our progress with the Dementia Care and Cure Initiative (DCCI) – what a fitting time to discuss this as November marks Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month. In Florida, there are currently more than 520,000 individuals liv-ing with Alzheimer’s disease, which, while the most well-known, is only one form of dementia. Florida seeks to lead the nation in response to the increasing incidence of dementia by implementing a statewide

effort to become more dementia-friendly – taking action to support those diagnosed with dementia, their families, and caregivers – bettering communi-ties and the state overall. We have been hard at work since launching DCCI in 2015 in Tallahassee/Leon County and have already expanded into Ft. Myers/Lee County, Sarasota/Sarasota County, Jacksonville,

and Orlando. We are excited for the continued expan-sion of DCCI into Jacksonville, Pensacola, and other communities across Florida this winter and into the new year. We look forward to sharing these updates with you as we work to spread dementia-caring com-munities across the state.

November/December 2017Memory Disorders

How DCCI Is Making Communities Better ................ 3Memory – Let’s Not Forget About It ........................ 4

CaregiversImproving Quality of Life For Caregivers .................. 4 Florida Lifespan Respite Alliance .............................. 5Key Respite Program Turns 20 .................................. 5

Health & WellnessDon’t Invite the Flu to Your Holiday Celebrations ..... 7Let’s Talk Turkey! ...................................................... 7Know Your Hepatitus C Status .................................. 8 Hurricanes Trigger Special Enrollment Periods ........ 8

Consumer AwarenessBeware of Imposters Who Want to Steal Your Money ................................................. 9Beware of IRS Scams ................................................ 9

Salute To VeteransVets' Homes Ready in Face of the Storm .................14Jackson County Man Remembers Korean War ........15Lucky Hank – An Air Force Navigator ......................16My Final Evening in Vietnam ...................................17Memories from a WWII Infantryman ......................18Soldier Survives Plane Crash ...................................19Out of Gas and Out of Luck ..................................... 20Chief Recounts Historic Career ................................21Fit as a Fiddle, Strong as a Horse ............................ 22Senior Athlete Also a WWII Veteran ........................24

KOREAN WAR VET – PAGE 15

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017 VOLUME 28, NUMBER 6

E L D E R A F F A I R S . O R G

NEWS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF ELDER AFFAIRS

ELDERUPDATE

FEATURED

A LOOK INSIDE

HONORING FLORIDA VETERANS

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update2

(USPS 403-710/ISSN 1060-4545)

Elder Update is a bimonthly publication mailed in state to Florida residents at no cost to recipients. Out of state, Elder Update can be accessed at www.elderaffairs.org

Rick Scott Governor

Carlos Lopez-Cantera Lieutenant Governor

Jeffrey S. Bragg Secretary

Ashley M. Chambers Communications DirectorRick Burnham Editor-in-ChiefLiz Jameson EditorHaven Capone Layout & Graphic Design Editor

Elder Update welcomes submissions from readers. However, due to the volume of submissions, acknowledgements cannot be mailed. Articles selected for publication must provide accurate information to Florida’s elders about aging-related programs and services and complement the Department’s mission. The editor reserves the right to edit submitted material.

Elder Update Department of Elder Affairs 4040 Esplanade Way Tallahassee, Florida 32399-7000 Phone: 850-414-2000 TDD: 850-414-2001

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Elder Update Department of Elder Affairs 4040 Esplanade Way Tallahassee, Florida 32399-7000

Periodicals postage paid at Tallahassee, Florida, and additional offices.

ELDER UPDATE EDITOR

Rick Burnham Editor in Chief, Elder Update

Somewhere in our great state lives a senior who fought gallantly amid the carnage and chaos of the Battle of the Bulge. Somewhere, there is one who experienced firsthand the frigid con-ditions of the Korean Conflict. Some-where, an elder struggles to forget the jungles of Vietnam.

Somewhere there is a man or woman who did all three.

Welcome to the fourth annual Elder Update salute to the vets, which began as recognition of the 70th anniversary of D-Day and our World War II veter-ans but has evolved into much more. This year we offer a dozen heroic, war-torn stories about Florida veter-ans and their time in uniform. WWII is once again represented, as is the Korean Conflict. There is a Vietnam story or two as well, along with an assortment of veteran-related stories by state organizations and agencies.

With 1.5 million veterans in the state – more than half of whom are seniors – Veterans Day is certainly an impor-

tant occasion. But other things are going on as well, and we have all the details for you, right here.

Hurricane Irma made landfall in the Florida Keys in early September, and Floridians young and old came together to help out those in need. From the Governor and Mrs. Scott on down, people donned their hardhats, gloves, and boots and went to work to ensure the state got back on its collec-tive feet. We have the ongoing report (with plenty of staggering numbers) right here, along with a story about how one person volunteered to make a difference.

Speaking of young and old coming together, how about Intergenerational Week? Intergenerational programs – those that bridge the important con-tributions of both elders and today’s youth – improve the lives of all of us. DOEA’s Janice Harvey tells us why with an informative and timely article.

Depending on when you read this, we are now approximately three months away from Florida Senior Day 2018. (Can you believe it?) Officials from both the Department of Elder Affairs

and United Way of Florida are busy making last-minute tweaks to make this year’s celebration the best ever. Cut out the reminder on Page 5 and put it on the fridge.

We want to see you in Tallahassee in January!

Health care is always a hot topic here in the Sunshine State, just as it seems to be everywhere else on the planet. Our resident expert, Lance Jarvis, is back once again to merge the worlds of Medicare and insurance coverage in a tidy edition of “Ask Lance.”

Finally, Christine Sherrill of DOEA’s Elder Rights Division offers the first in a series of articles detailing the con-tinued progress of our Dementia Care and Cure Initiative (DCCI). DCCI is making a significant difference for those adversely affected by dementia and its many forms.

As always, we appreciate your sup-port of the Elder Update and offer a heartfelt “thank you” for choosing our wonderful state as a place to spend the best years of your life.

Saying "Thanks" to Our Many Veterans

SUDOKUThere is only one valid solution to each Sudoku puzzle. When you start a game of Sudoku, some blocks will be pre-filled for you. You cannot change these numbers in the course of the game. Each column must contain all of the numbers 1 through 9, and no two numbers in the same column of a Sudoku puzzle can be the same. Each row must contain all of the num-bers 1 through 9, and no two numbers in the same row of a Sudoku puzzle can be the same. Each block must contain all of the numbers 1 through 9, and no two numbers in the same block of a Sudoku puzzle can be the same. Good luck!

Solution found on page 20.

www.brainbashers.com

5 4 3 25 7

8 2 57 5 4 6 38 91 9 8 2 5

5 3 98 9

6 8 1 7

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update 3MEMORY DISORDERS

HOW THE DEMENTIA CARE AND CURE INITIATIVE IS MAKING COMMUNITIES DEMENTIA-FRIENDLY

Elder Update staff is deeply gratified by the many generous donations given recently by our readers. Your generosity and kindness are truly appreciated, and your donations will be used to ensure the continued production of Elder Update.

Diana SamDoloris MottleSPECIAL THANKS

Christine Sherrill, MSWBureau of Elder RightsFlorida Department of Elder Affairs

With more than 520,000 individuals living with Alzheimer's disease here, Florida has the second highest inci-dence in the nation. The Alzheimer’s Association projects that this figure will rise to more than 720,000 by 2025. These figures do not include individuals with other forms of dementia or the 1.1 million caregivers of those with Alzheimer's Disease or Related Dementias (ADRD).

Individuals who experience demen-tia, their caregivers, and their families know all too well the unique barriers, daily stressors, and frustrations that can come along with the disease. Even the first step of seeking a diagnosis or navigating the maze of supportive programs can seem insurmountable. In fact, the Alzheimer’s Association estimates that only half of people liv-ing with Alzheimer’s disease ever receive a formal diagnosis, limiting access to supportive care and ser-vices. Even those receiving a formal diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia and their caregiv-ers may experience withdrawal from normal social activities, experience safety hazards in their homes and in their community, or find themselves in dangerous situations without a way to communicate for assistance.

The Dementia Care and Cure Ini-tiative (DCCI) aims to identify and advocate to remove these barriers while also providing education to all community members to encourage the healthy and safe participation of all members of a community.

While DCCI is a statewide effort, it is vital to remember each com-munity may not face the same chal-lenges regarding dementia awareness

and access to resources. Instead of using a one-size-fits-all model, DCCI relies on task forces in each partici-pating community. Task force efforts are led by the community’s Memory Disorder Clinic and the community’s Area Agency on Aging (AAA). Task forces are made up of members who live, work, and participate in each individual community and represent a diverse array of businesses, profes-sions, organizations, and local servic-es. That means task force members are neighbors, consumers, providers, friends, and family of the individuals to whom they bring awareness and provide advocacy.

All task forces utilize the pictured trajectory to map where they can spread awareness about DCCI goals. Task force members take great care to assess the needs of their own com-munity and the sectors where aware-ness and advocacy are most needed and provide public presentations on topics including dementia signs and symptoms; safe, respectful, and effective communication techniques to use with individuals exhibiting signs of dementia; and an overview of the community resources available that support individuals experienc-ing dementia and their caregivers. The efforts of each community are unique but follow the same goal of creating aware and sensitive commu-nities where individuals with demen-tia, their families, and their caregivers can access supportive services while also maintaining their active partici-pation in their community.

Task forces currently exist in the cit-ies of Tallahassee, Sarasota, and Ft. Myers with plans to extend the ini-tiative to the cities of Orlando, Jack-sonville, and Pensacola by the end of the year. Since its induction of the state’s first Dementia-Caring Com-munity, Tallahassee has utilized part-

nerships with city and county leaders to provide awareness to over 5,000 law enforcement officers, health care providers, homeless shelter advocates, firefighters, and EMTs. The Talla-hassee task force is now spreading dementia awareness and sensitivity to local businesses, including banks and grocery stores, as well as working with local city leaders to implement dementia sensitivity trainings for all city employees.

The cities of Sarasota and Ft. Myers only began their efforts in the sum-mer of 2017 but have already made tremendous strides in identifying the areas of their cities that would benefit directly from the mission of the initia-tive. The City of Sarasota has been hard at work collaborating with its local leaders and will be featured on

local public television to present the initiative with support from the city’s commissioners. Task force members in Ft. Myers are ready to begin work-ing with first responders, including law enforcement officers, EMTs, and fire and rescue professionals.

The Dementia Care and Cure Initia-tive truly relies on the collaborative efforts of not only task force members but on each unique and diverse sector of the community. When communi-ties adopt a collaborative approach to making communities livable and accessible, a more cohesive and ben-eficial community is available for all to enjoy. We hope to bring the ini-tiative to your community soon and look forward to continuing to spread awareness and advocacy to every cor-ner of Florida.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update4 MEMORY DISORDERS

Katie Grueninger, MSFlorida Institute of Technology Sandy Stauffer, MACEast Central Florida Memory Disorder Clinic

Stress should be taken into consideration when a person is placed in the role as a caregiver for a loved one. More often than not, a caregiver’s primary focus is helping to take care of their loved one while disregarding their own needs. Caregiving can come at an emotional, physical, financial, or social cost to the caregiver. If the stress becomes overwhelming and is perceived to be too difficult to cope with, it can lead to burnout.

Researchers have created the Stress-Busting Pro-gram for Family Caregivers to help bring aware-ness to this concern. The program is nine-weeks long and consists of a combination of education, discussion, and support, where caregivers are given an opportunity to learn different stress management techniques that can be useful in reducing the stress related to caregiving.

The program was initially developed in 1996 through the National Institute of Health (NIH) at the University of Texas Health Science Center. From 2010-2012, a partnership with the Admin-istration on Aging and the WellMed Charitable Foundation resulted in the program being dis-seminated throughout central and south Texas. Since then, the program has been recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Admin-istration of Aging as an evidence-based program.

There are many reasons why the Stress-Busting Program can be beneficial. It provides a safe place for individuals to come together to share their experiences and concerns. Every single member comes to the program with his or her own life experience when it comes to being a caregiver. As a result, it offers an opportunity to build trusting relationships among members and facilitators within a nonjudgmental zone.

In addition, the Stress-Busting Program helps teach caregivers about stress and the different relaxation techniques that they can utilize to help manage it.

Improving Quality of Life for Caregivers: Stress-Busting Program for Family Caregivers of People With Dementia

Carlton Gass, PhD Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare

Memory problems are among the most common complaints people make to their doctors. What is memory? How does it work? Why does it sometimes NOT work? What can I do about it?

Memory is known as the mental capacity of retaining and retrieving information from previous experi-ences. However, there are different kinds of memory. There is working memory, recent or retentive mem-ory, and remote memory.

Working memory, also known as short-term mem-ory, is in your immediate awareness and temporary storage. An example of working memory is remem-bering a phone number. It only lasts for a few sec-onds unless you store it! In your typical day, you are bombarded with over a million bits of information, but only a very small part of it is stored. Your frontal lobes (prefrontal cortex) tell you when you need to store parts of this incoming data.

The next type is recent memory or what I prefer to call “retentive memory” because this information is now retained in storage. For example, if the phone number you were provided with was a close friend or family members, you would be more likely to store this information. In contrast to recent memory, remote memory refers to memories of things that are not recent – like the vacation you took years ago, or even childhood recollections. In many brain diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, remote memory is unaffected until the disease advances.

In contrast, brain diseases often attack recent memory first. They increasingly prevent you from storing new information. This is why people some-times complain, “I can remember many details of my childhood but not what I had for breakfast this morning!” So why are remote memories so strong in the face of many types of brain damage? Because these memories were stored by a healthy brain with healthy memory circuits. Retentive memory is the most fragile kind of memory; the storage process is easily damaged.

Imagine the brain being like a file cabinet. When papers are filed properly, they are easy to access. But if the file clerk starts filing papers randomly and even drops pages on the floor, these papers will be inaccessible. The only accessible papers are the ones that were filed by an organized file clerk.

In some diseases, like Alzheimer’s, the problem is poor storage. Using our file cabinet analogy, almost all of the papers are accidentally dropped on the floor, so almost nothing gets filed. In other diseases, including traumatic brain injuries and Parkinson’s disease, the problem is disorganized storage. Then

it is difficult to retrieve the stored information. The difference occurs because these conditions typically affect different areas of the brain. Alzheimer’s ini-tially destroys neurons in a small area (about half the size of a dime) on each side of the brain called the hippocampus. This is an area that is critical to changing working memory into retentive memo-ry. We learned this in a famous historical case of a 27-year-old man (referred to as “HM”) with constant seizures who had his hippocampus on both sides surgically removed. The operation was successful in reducing his seizures, but prevented him from storing new memories. He couldn’t remember new conver-sations, new events, meeting with people, or doing countless psychology experiments. He could do the same crossword puzzle repeatedly with the enjoy-ment of a totally new challenge each time. “HM” was mentioned in nearly 12,000 scientific journal articles and this taught us the value of the hippocampus and a nearby structure (amygdala) for storing many new memories.

Did you know the human brain is largely composed of fat and water? How about that it has 100 billion neural cells that are amazingly complex? Memory, just like the brain, is also complex. So how does it really work?

The two hippocampi (remember this is the area that changes short term memory to retentive memory where it stores information) are only one part of the memory circuitry. Each hippocampus is connected to an amygdala (involved in fear reactions), to the thalamus and to the mammillary bodies. The hip-pocampus is also attached to the uncus, which is involved in our sense of smell. You might notice how certain fragrances and scents are powerfully ingrained in your memory. Hippocampi are initially attacked by Alzheimer’s disease, but other conditions (such as B1 deficiency in alcoholism) destroy parts of the thalamus and mammillary bodies, also causing severe problems with memory storage. These areas can also be damaged by stroke, tumor, infection, abscess, and other types of brain lesions. The frontal part of the brain (prefrontal cortex) helps to store and retrieve stored memories. It is often damaged in severe head trauma. The result is that new informa-tion cannot be stored in an organized way, and it’s even harder to retrieve.

Regardless of what type of memory you may have problems with, if memory is a concern, it’s impor-tant to ask your primary care physician if you need further evaluation.

To learn more about Neuropsychology at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare, please call 850-431-5001 or visit TMH.ORG/Neuro.

Memory – Let’s Not Forget About It

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update 5CAREGIVING

Kasey CunninghamFlorida Lifespan Respite Alliance

Greetings from the Florida Lifespan Respite Alliance! As the FLRA Pro-gram Coordinator, I am excited to have this opportunity to work on the development of such a needed organi-zation. Along with an amazing, dedi-cated Board of Directors – and part-nerships with the Florida Department of Elder Affairs, Ounce of Prevention Fund of Florida, and the Administra-tion for Community Living – we will be working with stakeholders to pro-vide education and support regarding all things respite-related.

It is the goal and mission of the Florida Lifespan Respite Alliance to promote access to affordable, high-quality lifespan respite care services for family and unpaid caregivers of people of all ages and disability types. Further, the FLRA aims to serve as the focal point and voice for respite care in the state of Florida.

The FLRA began as a vision of sev-eral leaders in the state. In 2014, these individuals organized a summit and convened to discuss the need for a cross-disability, lifespan “one-stop-

shop” for caregivers seeking respite-related information and support. Out of this summit, the idea of a Respite Alliance was formed. Partnerships were forged with federal, state, and non-profit agencies.

In 2015, Florida became the 34th state to receive the Lifespan Respite grant through the Administration for Com-munity Living. Because of this oppor-tunity, Florida has support and guid-ance through ARCH, the National Respite Alliance and Resource Cen-ter. The Florida Lifespan Respite Alli-ance was incorporated in December, 2015.

Over the past year, the FLRA has developed a website, blog, and social media presence on Facebook. The website provides content for caregiv-ers and anyone seeking more infor-mation on respite care in general. The Facebook page is our way to connect with other agencies and organizations around the state and country.

The FLRA held a summit in June that brought together caregiver coalitions, state agencies, nonprofits, respite pro-viders, and faith-based community members to discuss and plan building

regional FLRA hubs throughout Flor-ida. This day successfully built a road map for expansion of the Alliance.

Most recently, the FLRA has com-pleted production of a public service announcement that will be released on television and radio in November – National Family Caregiver month. This PSA identifies respite as a break for caregivers and brings awareness to the benefits of such important self-care.

We hope you will visit our website – www.FLlifespanrespite.com, “like” us on Facebook - www.facebook.com/FloridaRespite, and join us as a member! There are no member-ship fees. We are looking for regional leaders and would love to share more about partnership roles with you.

We are growing and developing daily, and will update and change frequently as a result. Please visit us often. We are looking forward to working with you as an Alliance member!

For more information on the FLRA, call (850)764-FLRA.

The Florida Lifespan Respite Alliance

Christine KuceraBureau of Community and Support ServicesFlorida Department of Elder Affairs

In 1997, State Senator Betty Hol-zendorf of Jacksonville envisioned a volunteer-based program that would provide valuable respite for caregivers of frail, homebound elders – especially during evening and weekend hours, when private care is often unavailable. Hozendorf’s own family had struggled to care for her ailing mother, barely able to keep her out of a nursing home.

The senator knew that tens of thou-sands of other Florida families faced the same problem. And she knew that if those families buckled under the

strain of caregiving, Florida’s taxpay-ers would face a huge financial crisis.

Holzendorf was able to communicate her concerns to other state legislators, and, eventually, her hard work and patient lobbying paid off. The RELIEF Bill was signed into law by Gov. Law-ton Chiles on May 29, 1997, and the program was implemented in July of that same year.

Twenty years later, the Respite for Elders Living in Everyday Families has provided more than two million hours of service to an average of 469 clients annually. In the upcoming year, an anticipated 300 volunteers will ser-vice more than 350 clients in Escam-

bia, Duval, Lee, Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami Dade counties.

Volunteers for the program must be age 18 or older, pass a background check, commit to serving a minimum of four hours per week and attend pre-service orientation and training as well as regular in-service training sessions. Volunteers are individually matched with clients to ensure that their per-sonalities, skills, interests, and abilities are a good fit with the elders and care-givers they serve. Volunteers received a stipend to help defray the costs of volunteering.

For more information on the RELIEF program, or to volunteer, call the Elder Helpline at 1-800-963-5337.

KEY RESPITE PROGRAM TURNS 20

Strength in Numbers,Strength in Action!

www.floridaseniorday.org

Wednesday January 24, 2018

10:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.

State Capitol Courtyard Tallahassee, Florida

Hosted by:

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update6 SHINE

Dear Lance,My wife and I had Original Medicare for several years. During the recent Medicare Annual Enrollment Period, we signed up for a Medicare Advan-tage Plan that has prescription drug coverage. We are both anxious about our decision because we have never had this type of plan before.

If we are not happy with our Medicare Advantage Plan, must we wait until next year’s Annual Enrollment Period to switch back to original Medicare?

Having Second Thoughts

Dear Having Second Thoughts,It is not uncommon for people to have second thoughts about their choices. Medicare recognizes that this can hap-pen and that beneficiaries may wish to change the options they chose during the Annual Open Enrollment Period or at other times.

Here are a few of the most common situations in which people may want to make changes to the choices made dur-ing Medicare’s Annual Open Enroll-ment Period. I have also included options available.

SITUATION 1: (This is your situation.) You enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan for the first time and would like to enroll in Original Medicare instead. You can dis-enroll from the Medicare Advantage Plan and switch to origi-nal Medicare any time during the first 12 months you are in the Medicare Advantage Plan. This is called the Medicare Advantage Trial Period, and it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you had a Medicare Supplement Plan, you can get it back. If the plan is no longer available, you can enroll in any Medigap Plan A, B, C, F, K, or L. If you had a Part D Prescription Drug Plan, you can re-enroll in it.

SITUATION 2: You had original Medi-care and just enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan. You previously also had a Medicare Advantage Plan and now would like to return to original Medicare instead. If it is before Dec. 7, you can cancel your enrollment in the Medicare Advantage Plan, and you will keep Original Medicare. Other-wise, there is a Medicare Advantage Disenrollment Period from Jan. 1 to Feb. 14 at which time you can call Medicare to dis-enroll and return to

Original Medicare. You can also sign up for a Part D Prescription Drug Plan during this period. You cannot switch to another Medicare Advantage Plan during this period unless Situation 3 applies to you.

SITUATION 3: You enrolled in a Medi-care Advantage Plan but would like to switch to a different Medicare Advan-tage Plan. If it is prior to Dec. 7, you can dis-enroll in the plan you chose and select a different one. After this date, you can make a change only if the Medicare Advantage plan that you wish to switch to is rated by Medicare as a 5-Star Plan (if available in your area). If so, you can do this at any time.

SITUATION 4: You have Original Medicare or Original Medicare plus a Part D Prescription Drug Plan and would like to enroll in a Medicare Advantage Plan instead. After Dec. 7, you cannot make any changes for the coming year.

Well-trained volunteer SHINE coun-selors can further explain the options available to you.

SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders) is an award-winning volunteer-based program at the Department of Elder Affairs that provides information and free, unbiased counseling for people on Medicare, their families, and their caregivers. Trained counselors provide personal and confidential assistance over the phone or at local counseling sites. To speak with a SHINE counselor, call our Elder Helpline toll-free at 1-800-96-ELDER (1-800-963-5337).

Your Questions Answered by a SHINE CounselorASK LANCE:

LANCE JARVISLance is the co-Area Coordinator for the SHINE Program in Brevard County. He joined the program in 2009, volunteering his time to help Brevard County's Medicare ben-eficiaries make informed health care insurance decisions.

If you have a question you would like the answered in our Ask Lance column, please email us at infor-mation@elderaffairs.org or send mail to Elder Update: Ask Lance, 4040 Esplanade Way, Tallahas-see, FL 32399-7000, and look for a response in one of the next issues.

Having Second Thoughts About Your Choices?

SHINE Award-WinnerDepartment of Elder Affairs Deputy Secretary Richard Prudom (left) and SHINE Statewide Program Director Anne Chansler (right) congratulate Charles Franckle of Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas for win-ning the 2017 Harold Barnes Volun-teer Leader of the Year Award. The award, presented during this year’s SHINE Volunteer Leadership Meet-ing in Orlando, annually recognizes excellence in tenure, effort, and leader-ship history among SHINE volunteer leadership members. Franckle has a PhD in Economics from the University of South Florida and provides finan-cial expertise through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program. Con-gratulations Charles!

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update 7HEALTH & WELLNESS

Don’t Invite the Flu to Your Holiday CelebrationsHeather Kelleher Florida Department of Health

The holiday season is a time to spend with loved ones, so the last thing you want to do is to stay in bed sick with the flu or risk spreading it to your family and friends. The Florida Department of Health advises all Floridians to get the flu vac-cine to protect against infection and help prevent the spread of seasonal flu to others. Flu strains change from year to year, so it’s critical to make sure you get vaccinated every year.

An annual flu shot is especially important for elders. According to the Centers for Disease Con-trol and Prevention (CDC), the majority of sea-sonal flu-related hospitalizations occur in people age 65 and older. The annual flu vaccine is safe and is the most effective way to protect yourself and your loved ones. CDC recommends people get injectable flu shots. Nasal spray vaccine is not recommended for this flu season because of concerns about its effectiveness. It takes about two weeks after vaccination for your body to develop protection against the flu, so getting your vaccination early is your best defense against infection before the months get colder and the flu season intensifies.

It is also essential to practice good hygiene by properly and frequently washing your hands to help prevent the spread of seasonal flu. Make it a habit to clean and disinfect commonly used surfaces in your home. You can take additional steps to ward off the flu by coughing or sneezing into a tissue or your elbow and avoiding touching your face.

If you do develop flu symptoms, stay home to prevent spreading it, and seek medical atten-tion from your health care provider quickly so that antiviral treatment can begin early if nec-essary. Early treatment can help older adults avoid becoming severely ill from the flu. The symptoms to look for include fever, cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, body aches, head-ache, chills, and fatigue. Some people may also experience vomiting and diarrhea.

Do everything you can to make the most of this holiday season, and keep the flu off the guest list. The flu vaccine is offered in many conve-nient locations, including doctors’ offices, clin-ics, health departments, retail stores, pharma-cies, health centers, and by many employers and schools. You can find a location close to you by visiting www.FluFreeFlorida.com.

LET’S TALK TURKEY!Heather Kelleher Florida Department of Health

Crowd-pleasing dishes and delectable desserts are the centerpieces of festive gatherings, but don’t let foodborne illness be the lasting memory of your holi-day celebrations. The Florida Department of Health reminds you to keep food safety at the forefront as you prepare your holiday feast. It’s important to take simple precautions to avoid food poisoning as you shop for, prepare, and store food.

Holiday grocery shopping:• Don’t let raw meat, poultry, or seafood touch

other foods in your cart.

• Do not purchase canned goods that are bulging or have deep dents.

• Add cold foods and dairy products to your cart last.

• Bag your raw meat, poultry, or seafood separately.

Safe food preparation:• Wash your hands with soap and warm water for

20 seconds before and after handling food.

• Keep raw meat, poultry, or seafood away from other foods, and use different cutting boards for these items to avoid cross contamination.

• Wash items such as cutting boards that have touched raw meat with warm water and soap, or place them in a dishwasher.

• Use a food thermometer to make sure foods are cooked to a safe internal temperature. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states that fresh beef, pork, veal, and lamb should be cooked to 145˚F; fish should be cooked to 145˚F; ground beef, veal, and lamb should be cooked to 160˚F; egg dishes should be cooked to 160˚F; and all poultry should be cooked to 165˚F.

Leftover safety:• After everyone has enjoyed the meal, divide all

remaining leftovers into smaller portions and store in shallow containers in the refrigerator within two hours of the meal.

• Do not store stuffing inside a leftover turkey. Remove the stuffing from the turkey, and refrig-erate the stuffing and the meat separately.

• Discard any perishables that have been left out of the refrigerator for more than two hours.

• Thaw foods properly and reheat leftovers to a minimum of 165˚F.

• Don’t eat leftovers that have been in the refrig-erator for longer than three or four days. Use the freezer to store leftovers for longer periods of time.

For more information on how to keep food poisoning from being an unwelcome guest at your holiday meal, visit www.FoodSafety.gov.

If you believe you have a foodborne illness, report the incident to your local county health department or complete the online food and waterborne illness com-plaint form at www.FoodAndWaterDisease.com.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update8 HEALTH & WELLNESS

Hannah NorciniFlorida Department of Health

With age come new concerns related to health and well-being. One disease, Hepatitis C, should be of particular importance to older Floridians. Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus. It causes inflammation of the liver that may lead to a chronic or long-term infection and potentially early death if not treated.

Baby Boomers (individuals born between 1945 and 1965) in the United States bear the greatest burden of Hepatitis C infections. The Centers for Disease Con-trol and Prevention estimates that Baby Boomers are five times more likely than other populations to have Hepatitis C. In Florida, Baby Boomers accounted for over 40 percent of all Hepatitis C cases last year – a total of 12,370 cases.

Hepatitis C is spread through contact with blood or blood products of an infected person. According to the CDC, many Baby Boomers were likely infected in the 1970s and 1980s from contaminated blood and blood products before widespread screening of the blood supply was adopted in 1992. Other ways an individual may have become infected include the following:

• Sharing a needle or other equipment to inject drugs, even one time 30 years ago;

• Receiving a blood transfusion or organ transplant before 1992 or clotting factor concentrates before 1987;

• Sharing or reusing diabetes equipment;

• Having long-term dialysis (kidney treatment) when equipment has not been properly sterilized;

• Having tattoos or piercings from artists who reuse needles or leftover ink, or are not licensed;

• Acquiring from infected mothers through child-birth; and/or

• Working in a health care or public safety pro-fession where there is a chance of needle stick injuries.

Sixty to 80 percent of people with Hepatitis C show no symptoms and can live with this infection for decades without feeling sick. However, going untreat-ed means an individual could develop cirrhosis (scar-

ring of the liver), liver disease, or liver cancer, which may lead to an early death. For this reason, the CDC recommends that Baby Boomers receive a one-time Hepatitis C blood test. In Florida, this blood test is covered by Medicaid and Medicare and may be cov-ered by private insurance.

Knowing your Hepatitis C status is an important step toward treatment of Hepatitis C-related health prob-lems, and most importantly, eliminating the virus from the body. New, highly effective medications have minimal side effects and are successful within weeks of starting a treatment regimen. While these medications can be expensive, private insurance often covers the cost (partially or fully), and patient assistance programs are available through pharma-ceutical companies that may reduce the financial burden of your treatment regimen.

To learn more about specific patient assistance pro-grams, go to www.floridahealth.gov/diseases-and-conditions/Hepatitis/Hepatitis-resources.html, click the “Clients/Patients” tab, and select the “Hepa-titis Resource Guide.” Or, your local SHINE (Serv-ing Health Insurance Needs of Elders) counselor can help you navigate your Medicaid, Medicare, or other health insurance plan to ensure you receive Hepatitis C treatment at the lowest price possible.

Talk to your doctor today about receiving a Hepa-titis C blood test. You can also discuss your testing options with your county health department. To find your county health department, go to www.florida-health.gov/programs-and-services/county-health-departments/index.html.

Finally, learn more by visiting the CDC’s “Know More – Hepatitis” site at www.cdc.gov/knowmore-Hepatitis or by contacting the Hepatitis Prevention Program at the Florida Department of Health at 850-245-4303.

Hurricanes Trigger Different Health Care Enrollment Periods Pene MillerSHINE ProgramFlorida Department of Elder Affairs

In August and September, U.S. Health and Human Services declared public health emer-gencies in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands – areas all impacted by Hurricanes Har-vey, Irma, and Maria.

With the public health emergencies in effect, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has temporarily waived or modified certain Medi-care, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Program requirements to provide health care pro-viders, facilities, and suppliers the flexibility they need so they can focus on the health and safety of those impacted by the hurricanes.

CMS will provide all beneficiaries affected by a weather-related emergency or major disaster a Special Enrollment Period (SEP), giving them an additional opportunity to change their Medicare health and prescription drug plans in the event they were unable to make a change during anoth-er qualifying election period. This includes both enrollment and disenrollment changes. Individu-als will be considered “affected” and eligible for this SEP if they reside or resided – at the start of the incident period – in an area for which the Fed-eral Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has declared an emergency or a major disaster.

Depending upon an individual’s circumstances, CMS may make the new plan retroactive to a date determined by CMS.

In addition, the SEP is available to those individu-als who don’t live in the affected areas but rely on help making health care decisions from friends or family members who live in the affected areas.

The SEP is in addition to the fall Open Enroll-ment Period and any other enrollment period for which the beneficiary may be eligible. The SEP will allow individuals affected by these hurricanes to enroll, disenroll, or switch Medicare health or prescription drug plans. It is available at the start of the incident period and runs through the end of the calendar year.

Impacted individuals are to contact CMS at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) to request the SEP. CMS is open for calls 24 hours a day.

Baby Boomers: Be Aware of Your Hepatitis C Status

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update 9CONSUMER AWARENESS

Drew J. BreakspearCommissioner, Office of Financial Regulation

Scammers can disguise themselves as government officials, business representatives, or someone you may know, like a relative or a friend in need. It’s called an imposter scam and chances are, you or someone that you know has received one of these fake calls, texts, or emails.

Below are some common types of imposter scams with helpful tips to consider.

IRS SCAM: Scammers, disguised as Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents, typically contact consumers via phone, email, or text message. These “agents” claim that the con-sumer owes money, and if it is not paid, legal actions will be taken, such as arrest or incarceration. Often, they will insist that the consumer com-pletes the transaction while on the phone with them. Keep in mind: The IRS will always contact consumers by U.S. mail first. The IRS only accepts payment by check or credit card and never insists on payment with a reloadable debit card or wire transfer.

TECH SUPPORT SCAM: This scam usually starts with a phone call to the victim from a “support represen-tative” of a well-known technology company claiming they have detect-ed a problem with your computer. The fake support representative sug-gests that the victim visit a particu-lar website or give the representa-tive remote access to their computer, assuring you that these steps will help solve your computer problem. Gaining access to the victim’s com-puter gives the scammer the ability to download malicious software onto the computer to steal data or poten-tially hold the computer hostage until the victim pays a ransom. Keep in mind: Legitimate technology sup-port representatives cannot detect a problem that the consumer has not reported. They will not spontane-

ously call you to help solve an unre-ported problem. If you didn’t report the problem, hang up.

GRANDCHILD SCAM: Scammers pose as a young relative, like a grand-child, to try to trick a grandparent or elder person into wire-transferring money to help them get out of trouble while traveling or in an emergency. They typically ask that the grandpar-ent not tell anyone. Keep in mind: If a family member is in trouble, a quick phone call or text message to their actual relative is an easy way to verify the person’s identity. Another way to spot an imposter is to ask to call them back. If they insist that calling back is not possible, it’s prob-ably a scam.

Scammers typically do not leave messages, so if you receive a call from a number you do not recognize, let it go to voicemail. Also, be wary of the types of payment requested. Never send money via wire transfer unless you know where it is going. Call the person, the government agency, or someone you trust for confirmation.

The Florida Office of Financial Regulation oversees Florida’s finan-cial services businesses, and we are a valuable financial capabil-ity resource. We offer Floridians a robust online Consumer Knowledge Center, www.flofr.com/staticpages/consumerknowledgecenter.htm, where you can find more information on many financial topics, including how to spot potential scams.

If you or someone you know spots a scam, please report it to your local law enforcement and the Federal Trade Commission online at www.ftc.gov/complaint. If you feel that you may be a victim of a financial crime or to report suspicious activ-ity, please file a complaint with the Florida Office of Financial Regula-tion online, www.flofr.com, or call (850) 487-9687.

On June 16, I received a telephone call. It was a female voice, sound-ing very official, telling me that the Internal Revenue Service was filing a lawsuit against me and that I needed to call a specific number for further information. I did not call the num-ber because I know the IRS notifies by U.S. mail and not by telephone. Further, I was confident that the IRS has no reason to file any legal action against me.

Instead, I called the FBI office in Tampa, and they instructed me to notify the Inspector General of the IRS in Washington. The FBI offi-

cer I talked to also advised that had I called the phone number given, I would have been told that in order to stop the legal action, I would need to send money to a post office box.

I also notified my local law enforce-ment – the Sheriff’s Office of Polk County.

Karen Veasley, Poinciana, Fla.

Been scammed? Write in and tell us all about it. We will publish your response to help others avoid the same fate. Write to eueditor@elder-affairs.org)

Iris Collier Florida Department of Financial Services, Divi-sion of Consumer Services

The Department of Financial Ser-vices believes it is important to honor the brave men and women who have served our country and sacrificed so much to ensure that we can live freely. As we celebrate Veterans Day, we say “thank you” to those who have given us the freedom that we enjoy each day.

Unfortunately, many seniors who are current or former military members fall into two populations that scam-mers often target. This places them at a greater risk for financial problems, credit issues, and predatory lending due to financial fraud.

The Department is committed to ensur-ing members of the military commu-nity’s financial frontline is protected from individuals who try to seize their finances. That’s why the Department created Financial Frontlines and Serve Save Succeed, financial literacy pro-grams that address the unique financial challenges our military faces each day.

FINANCIAL FRONTLINES provides information and resources to help vet-erans, active duty servicemembers, and their families fight financial fraud and debt. Financial Frontlines provides valuable financial information about identity theft, credit scoring, budget-ing, predatory lending, and the Ser-

vicemembers Civil Relief Act. The website offers valuable savings tips from individuals who have success-fully navigated financial challenges and the techniques they used to reach their financial goals.

SERVE SAVE SUCCEED serves as a resource and community forum for veterans, active duty servicemembers, and their families on financial-related topics. On the forum, members are encouraged to discuss successful sav-ing and budgeting options and tips that are specific to those in the military. Testimonial videos featuring veterans and active duty servicemembers dis-cussing their personal stories of saving and budgeting are highlighted on the site. The forum also allows for depart-mental interaction and engagement with the military community to assess their resource needs directly.

BEWARE OF IMPOSTERS WHO WANT TO STEAL YOUR MONEY

Honoring Those Who Have Served

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

BEWARE OF IRS SCAMS

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update10 NURSING HOME RESIDENTS

Mindy Sollisch Manager, Office of Stra-tegic Initiatives Florida Department of Elder Affairs

For many people, making choices is a central part of life. Having the power to choose can make people feel in control. This includes choice in the health care one receives.

Studies have confirmed a strong rela-tionship between the perception of having a choice in one’s health care and the satisfaction they have with the care they choose, among individu-als residing outside of nursing homes. Recently, a group of researchers set out to determine whether this rela-tionship between choice and satisfac-tion held true for individuals residing in nursing homes. Are nursing home residents who perceive that they have a choice in their health care more sat-isfied that their care preferences are met?

The Centers for Medicare and Med-icaid, the federal entity that defines quality standards in nursing homes, continues to promote nursing home quality improvement, emphasizing principles of person-centered care. Person-centered care, which embrac-es individualized approaches to care, requires the preferences, needs, and desired outcomes of each individual to guide the health care they receive.

Personal control and selection of nurs-ing homes has been elusive because opportunities to exercise choice is oftentimes limited due to the imple-mentation of regulations. The focus on person-centered care is a nation-wide effort to fundamentally trans-form nursing home care through efforts that prioritize quality of life and quality of care for residents. This culture change movement advocates that care should be directed as much as possible by the resident, and that residents should be allowed to state

their preferences and make choices about care that personally affects them.

About the studyFor this study, researchers inter-viewed 39 residents from seven nurs-ing homes in the greater Philadelphia area. The nursing home residents selected for this study were all cog-nitively capable (determined by the Mini-Mental State Examination), spoke English, and had an anticipated length of stay of at least one week. The attending physician verified that these individuals were medically stable and had the capacity to provide consent to be part of the study. Interview ques-tions were selected from the Prefer-ences of Everyday Living Inventory (PELI) survey instrument. The PELI instrument is used to guide conver-sations with nursing home residents to assist in understanding residents’ true preferences and to utilize those preferences in the creation of their plan of care. The PELI survey was developed by the Polisher Research Institute which provides national leadership in improving the quality of life of older persons by research-ing and studying social and behav-ioral aspects of aging. The goal of the survey is to identify personal prefer-ences for everyday living. It assesses a wide range of domains including self-dominion, caregivers and care, social contact, and positive pursuits.

ResultsResearchers found a significant cor-relation between nursing home resi-dents’ perceived choice and feelings of satisfaction with their care pref-erences being met. Participants who reported having “free choice” were linked to significantly higher ratings of satisfaction compared to indi-viduals who reported having “some choice” or “no choice.” Responses of “some choice” were associated with significantly higher ratings of satis-faction compared to those reporting they had “no choice.”

In summary, offering choices that are deemed favorable to individuals liv-ing in nursing homes is a fundamental step toward increasing residents’ sat-isfaction with their care.

The Power of Choice Leads to Satisfaction

The Stress-Busting Program also places an importance on under-standing and recognizing the need for self-care from the perspective of the caregiver. Outcome research has shown that caregivers who have undergone this nine-week pro-gram showed significant improve-ment in their quality of life, better responsiveness to stressors, and a decrease in the general feelings of depression that can occur as a result of being a caregiver.

If you or someone else you know thinks they could benefit from the Stress-Busting Program, reach out to your local Memory Disor-der Clinic, which can help navigate you to the appropriate resources.

STRESS-BUSTING FOR CAREGIVERS OF PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA…CONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

So, as we take the charge of Veter-ans Day to heart and mark it with a celebration honoring our veter-ans and servicemembers for their patriotism, their love of country, and willingness to serve and sacri-fice, we give back to them the tools and resources for financial protec-tion and the commitment to fight with them against those who try to attack their financial stability.

For additional financial informa-tion and resources for the mili-tary, visit the Financial Frontlines and Serve Save Succeed websites at www.MyFloridaCFO.com/YMM/FinancialFrontlines and www.MyFloridaCFO.com/ServeSaveSucceed. For assistance with insurance matters, call the Department’s Insurance Consum-er Helpline at 1-877-MY-FL-CFO (1-877-693-5236) or visit www.MyFloridaCFO.com/Division/Consumers.

HONORING THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED…CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update 11INTERGENERATIONAL WEEK

Janice Harvey Office of Volunteer and Community ServicesFlorida Department of Elder Affairs

The Department of Elder Affairs will recognize the first week in December as Intergenerational Week. During this week, communities across the state are encouraged to plan activities to bring youth and older adults together.

According to Generations United, a clearinghouse for improving intergenerational connections, “Intergen-erational programs are social vehicles that can offer younger and older generations the opportunities to interact and become engaged in issues concerning our society.” It is through these kinds of programs that both generations can share their knowledge, tal-ents, resources, and expertise. Meaningful relation-ships can be created that benefit both individuals and the community.

In the past, it was commonplace to see multiple gen-erations sharing the same household. Grandparents usually resided in the home, saw their grandchil-dren daily, and shared in the responsibility of rearing them. Now, living arrangements have changed, and some families are separated by great distances. Not having grandparents doesn’t mean youth can’t have older people in their lives. Margaret Mead, an Ameri-can cultural anthropologist, once said, “Somehow, we have to get older people back close to growing children, if we are to restore a sense of community, acquire knowledge of the past, and provide a sense of the future.”

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all method for older adults and youth to engage in intergenerational programs. There are many opportunities for wholesome interac-tions. The key is to make time and engage in activi-ties that individuals of any generation will enjoy doing together. Learning how to navigate a smart phone, using a computer, teaching social media, culi-nary art, gardening, mentoring, art, and reading are just some of the activities for consideration. Celebra-tion of Intergenerational Week, Dec. 4-8, can be as simple as doing something for an older adult in your neighborhood, making a telephone call to an older adult, writing a letter to a grandparent, storytelling to youth, putting a puzzle together, or playing a board game.

It is time for Florida communities to become stake-holders in making Intergenerational Week the cata-lyst for encouraging opportunities to bring youth and seniors together. Our communities have a responsi-bility to invest in our children, so those children can draw from the wealth of experience and knowledge of our seniors. This is what intergenerational week is all about: raising awareness of the benefits that intergenerational connections bring.

I lived in a multigenerational family household. My childhood was much richer because of the presence of grandparents in the home. I learned the impor-tance of relationships with seniors and developed life-long skills like tolerance, acceptance, and family traditions. I was exposed to various activities that enriched my relationship with my grandparents and with other older adults. I didn’t know at the time, but they were passing the torch and sharing their wisdom and experiences. This experience shaped my mindset about how I relate to older adults in my community and everyday life.

There are many other benefits to youth who interact with older adults through intergenerational connec-tions. These benefits can include bringing differences together to better understand one another, learning from one another, and learning how to interact with people who are much older. Overall, youth can learn about the importance of relationships with older adults in their community.

There are also many benefits to seniors participating in intergenerational programs. Seniors can feel val-ued, useful, share their life experiences, spend time with youth, have pride in knowing they are making a difference, and diminish social isolation.

For more information about intergenerational week, visit elderaffairs.state.fl.us/doea/intergeneration-alconnection.php. There you will find an intergen-erational fact sheet, suggested activities, resources, and more.

The Benefits of Intergenerational Week

Interested in ideas to creating meaningful intergenerational connection? Visit some of these resources: TRIED AND TRUE: A Guide to Successful Intergenerational Activities at Shared Site Programwww.intergenerational.clahs.vt.edu/pdf/jarrotttriedtrue.pdf

Quality Aging – A Life Style Connectionwww.qualityaging.com.au/intergenerational-activities

Legacy Project Activities & Guidewww.legacyproject.org/activities/index.html

Generations Unitedwww.gu.org/resources/ learningactivities/intergenerationallearningactivities storytelling.aspx

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update12 HURRICANE SEASON

Bev DeMello Florida Public Service Commission

As the 2017 Hurricane Season nears its end on November 30, parts of the state are still recovering from Hurricane Irma’s destructive run up Florida on September 10 and 11. Irma’s landfall was a wake-up call to always be prepared for storms and, impor-tantly, to check that senior family members or neigh-bors are prepared, too. According to the U.S. Census bureau, nearly one out of five Florida residents is age 65 or older—the highest proportion of any state—and we know this vulnerable population may face difficulties in an emergency situation.

The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC), which regulates the state’s investor-owned utilities, monitored Florida’s utilities as they worked around-

the-clock post-Irma to get families, businesses, and communities back to normal. Coordination between utilities throughout Florida and other states meant tens of thousands of workers were on-the-ground helping speed restoration efforts as quickly and safely as possible.

PSC Chairman Julie Brown stated that the PSC plans to review Hurricane Irma’s impacts on electric utility infrastructure and the utilities’ post-storm restoration performance as soon as reasonably feasible. Forensic data will be collected on the transmission and distri-bution facilities impacted by Hurricane Irma’s winds, and the utilities’ tree trimming practices and pole inspection cycles will be analyzed. After an intensive fact-based review, the PSC will identify opportuni-ties to improve utility practices and procedures.

Big storms like Hurricane Irma are terrifying, but being prepared eases some of the anxiety. Many times, seniors don’t have this option, since they face additional obstacles that make storm preparation challenging or even frightening. Some might have physical impairments that limit mobility and others might have medical devices that require electric-ity. This is why family members should be helping seniors prepare for storms long before one strikes.

If you, or a family member, use special medical equipment at home, let your electric utility know. PSC rules allow the utilities to offer Medically Essen-tial Service for those dependent on electric-powered medical equipment. This offering provides extra services, such as pre-notifications before a major

Storm Preparation Is Key to Helping Ease Anxiety

CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

Florida Governor Rick Scott met with residents around the state in the days immediately following Hurricane Irma's landfall. State officials orchestrated a response that included more than 30,000 power restoration specialists, 1,200 National Guard members, and more than 150 officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update 13HURRICANE SEASON

Rick Burnham Editor in Chief, Elder Update

Hurricane Irma had moved out of Hillsborough County Sept. 12 when officials began the process of closing down school-based shelters so that stu-dents could get back to class. But with area waters still rising and flood conditions rampant throughout the area, the need for assistance and compassion remained high.

Knowing this, Lauren Cury, Long Term Care Servic-es Manager at Senior Connection Center in Tampa, wanted to help.

Cury, a lifelong resident of Tampa, was one of a group of volunteers who showed up at the Hyde Park Pres-byterian Church to do just that. For about six hours

that day, she and others helped set the church up to receive busloads of people displaced by the storm. She said there were volunteers present from Hillsbor-ough County, the American Red Cross, and from the church itself – as well as the local Mormon Church.

The task at hand, at least early on, was setting every-thing up, she said. That included a variety of donated items, from cots, water, and food to blankets and towels.

“We were just getting ready for those people who were coming in, so we went in a few hours early to do that,” she said.

They did that for approximately two hours before the first of the buses arrived. Cury said the arrivals were

CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

VOLUNTEERING DURING THE STORM:Tampa Woman Finds Reward in Helping Others

Ellen Cheek and Mary HaberlandFlorida Senior Legal Helpline

When we are confronted with a disaster such as Hur-ricane Irma, the “fight or flight” response is triggered in our brains. Our recent shared experience – Irma had an impact in nearly every county in Florida – illustrates the stressors we faced before, during, and after Irma landed: the inability to obtain necessary supplies, losing electricity or having our homes dam-aged due to high winds and flooding, and the fear we didn’t make the right choice – “fight or flight” – and that our decision could harm ourselves and our families. Because better preparation may help us make better decisions or cope more effectively in the future, we recommend the following actions “next time”:

BEFORE THE STORM, gather the following docu-ments and store them in a safe, waterproof container, or take them with you if you decide to evacuate:

• Birth certificate, Social Security card, driver’s license, passport, military ID, immigration/visa documents for all family members;

• Insurance policies (auto, homeowners, flood);

• Deed, title, or lease for your dwelling;

• Benefit account information (food stamps, dis-ability, and/or worker’s compensation);

• Bank account information;

• Credit cards with latest invoices and other debt information;

• Medical insurance cards;

• Prescriptions and a list of medical providers with contact information; and

• A list or photos of your personal property, for insurance purposes.

After the disaster:• Document all damages with photos ASAP for

insurance claims and other types of assistance. Take photos before repair or restoration begins and continue to do so as work proceeds.

• Keep all receipts for cleanup and restoration expenses (such as material, labor, equipment rental, motel and food costs, etc.).

• Seek assistance available for individuals, includ-ing FEMA (1-800-621-3362), as soon as possible.

• Keep all receipts to show how you used emer-gency assistance you may have received. You may be asked for this documentation long after the work has been done.

• Seek legal advice on any disputed issue or for any entitlement you may have.

Legal problems resulting from a disaster vary widely. Some common issues include the following:

• LOSS OF FOOD If you currently receive food stamps (SNAP), you may be entitled to Replace-ment Food Stamps. If you didn’t previously receive SNAP but need help now, you may be

CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

AFTER THE STORM: NOW WHAT?

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update14 SALUTE TO VETERANS

Glenn W. Sutphin, Jr.Executive DirectorFlorida Department of Veterans’ Affairs

As we come together to honor the con-tributions of our state’s more than 1.5 million veterans during the Veterans Day weekend, many Floridians are still recovering from the long-term impact of Hurricane Irma.

Florida’s network of county veteran service officers, many of whom shel-tered in place, are helping to connect

local area veterans and their families to earned benefits, services, and support. Veterans’ Claims Examiners from the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs are also connecting veterans to earned services and support, as well as augmenting Disaster Recovery Cen-ters operating in the hardest hit areas of our state.

Our colleagues from the U.S. Depart-ment of Veterans Affairs were also busy prior to and immediately after the hurricane knocked out power to millions of Floridians. While all VA Medical Centers remained open, more than 50 VA clinics in the path of the storm were closed as a result of Irma’s landfall. Thanks to their emergency preparedness, most VA health care facilities had reopened within the week and were adjusting patient appoint-ment times. The last impacted facility, the Key West Community Based Out-patient Clinic, reopened on Sept. 25.

As the state agency charged with representing Florida’s veterans, their families, and survivors, we also were prepared for the impacts of Irma.

The medical and support staff of each of our six veterans’ nursing homes and one domiciliary home participate each year in an annual Hurricane Pre-paredness Exercise, hosted by Flori-da’s Division of Emergency Manage-ment. As our seven veterans’ homes are built to shelter in place with a vari-ety of in-house generators, shutters, and wind-resistant glass, we practice serving our residents in a near-normal environment, while preparing for the anticipated loss of utility power and access to additional supplies and relief health care staff.

Indeed, our plans call for the sheltering of families and pets of both residents and staff, to help those in need, and ensure the availability of critical health care staff in the immediate hours and days following the impact of a major storm.

Our planning paid off, as five of our seven veterans’ homes lost main power in the immediate aftermath of Hur-ricane Irma. One home, the 120-bed Baldomero Lopez State Veterans’ Nursing Home in Land O’ Lakes,

was on generator power for five days until utility power was restored. Home Administrator Marlies Sarrett and her team hosted more than 300 people and a variety of pets during and immedi-ately after the storm, and she and her team excelled in providing care to their residents without missing a beat. I’m very proud of their efforts, and those of all our veterans’ homes impacted by Irma.

A comprehensive list of county vet-eran service offices and FDVA Vet-erans’ Claims Examiners is available on our website at www.FloridaVets.org or by calling (850) 487-1533. If you would like to know more about our network of award-winning state veter-ans’ homes, please visit our website or call (727) 518-3202, Extension 5562.

On this Veterans Day, let’s pause, reflect, and thank our nation’s veterans who have defended the principles upon which our country was founded.

Thank you for your service. We are pleased to serve you.

eligible for Disaster Food Stamps and/or Expedited Food Stamps. Call DCF at 1-866-762-2237.

• DAMAGE TO YOUR RENTAL UNIT Florida law provides for your rights and your obligations when your dwelling is uninhab-itable or severely damaged. You may also be entitled to assistance if your personal belongings are lost or destroyed.

• INABILITY TO PAY YOUR MORTGAGE In general, you must continue to make mortgage payments and pay HOA, COA fees. However, you may be enti-tled to a grace period or payment assistance from FEMA.

• LOSS OF JOB Disaster Unem-ployment Assistance may be available if your workplace closed or your work was otherwise inter-

rupted. To file a Disaster Unem-ployment Assistance claim, go to connect.myflorida.com or call 1-800-681-8102.

• INABILITY TO PAY YOUR TAXES The IRS may grant you an extension on filing certain tax returns and making select pay-ments. To find out, call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040.

IF YOU ARE A HOMEOWNER, you may face additional challenges as you repair damage to your home. The fol-lowing tips may help you avoid scams:

• Verify that the insurance adjuster is licensed by calling the Florida Department of Financial Services at 1-800-227-8676.

• Verify that the FEMA represen-tative has a laminated photo ID

card; don’t rely upon a logo on a shirt or jacket.

• Verify that a contractor is licensed by calling the Department of Business and Professional Regu-lation, 1-850-487-1395. A licensed contractor may be required by your insurer or for emergency assistance.

• Demand a written agreement signed by both parties which has the contractor’s name, address, telephone number, license num-ber, description of the work/mate-rials, price, and warranties, if any. Do not sign a document which has blank spaces.

• Pay in installments or upon com-pletion; don’t pay in advance and don’t pay cash.

• Don’t pull the construction per-mit; a legitimate contractor will do that for you and you may lose important protections by doing so.

• Visit the Florida Attorney Gener-al’s website (myfloridalegal.com) for more information about Hurri-cane Preparedness and about pro-tecting yourself from scammers in the wake of a storm.

We live in a beautiful state, and fortu-nately, disasters on the scale of Irma are not common. However, we should always be prepared. If you have any disaster-related legal questions, you may contact the Florida Senior Legal Helpline, 1-888-895-7873, for free legal advice or a referral to a lawyer in your community. You may also find self-help resources and additional information at FloridaLawHelp.org.

AFTER THE STORM: NOW WHAT?…CONTINUED FORM PAGE 13

Veterans’ Homes Ready in Face of Storm

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update 15SALUTE TO VETERANS

Rick Burnham Editor in Chief, Elder Update

Thomas Harvey was 19 when he left Jack-son County for the U.S. Army, and he was 20 when he first set foot on Korean soil.

That was more than six decades ago. But he remembers it well.

Harvey, 84, of Marianna, was a combat engineer, one of the last draftees during the period. He attended boot camp in May 1953 at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and then went through “about eight weeks of engineer training.” Then it was off to the Korean Peninsula.

Harvey remembers tough, arduous work – setting explosives to clear paths for bridges and roads.

“We were infantry, and we maintained roads and built bridges,” he said. “My specific job was a demolition man. I used dynamite and occasionally TNT. We drilled holes in those big hills at night, and then I set off the explosives the next morning. Then it was a matter of getting the rocks off the road.”

By that time, the war had essentially ceased. An armistice was signed in late July 1953. But Harvey’s group still came under fire before dawn early one evening. An investigation was launched to find out why, but the culprits were never found.

Despite the minimal threat of enemy attacks, the duty was difficult, Harvey said, because of the overwhelming smell. In 1954, farmers in rural Korea used human waste to fertilize their crops.

“It was not a real clean place over there, and the health department had some con-cerns about that,” he said. “It smelled all the time – it was horrible.”

Because of the bureaucracy of the time (or perhaps the lack of one), Harvey was not initially able to get his medals for the time he served in the Army. There was little in the way of support for veterans in rural Jackson County, so there was no one to help.

“I asked the Army for them and they never did respond,” he said. “I really don’t have an answer for why they didn’t. Eventually, I just quit trying.”

When Harvey’s second oldest son, Elwood, joined the Army, his father gained an important advocate.

“He said, ‘I am going to get you your med-als,’ and he did. I would not have gotten them if not for him.”

Harvey got his first of six medals in 2016 and the rest in 2017. They include the Korean Service Medal, the Korean Defense Medal, the United Nations Ser-vice Medal, the Infantry Service Medal, the Bronze Service Star, and the Korean War Service Medal.

Harvey separated from the U.S. Army as a Sgt. First Class.

His first wife passed away in 2007. He has since remarried, to Inez. He has four chil-dren: Thomas Jr., Elwood, Marvin, and Sandra. He also has eight grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

The Department of Elder Affairs salutes Thomas Harvey for his service to our great nation.

Jackson County Man Remembers Korean War

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update16 SALUTE TO VETERANS

Rick Burnham Editor in Chief, Elder Update

A central theme runs throughout the book detailing JH (Hank) Gold-man’s WWII experiences. It is such a resounding premise that it is prac-tically impossible to miss. For those who do, though, there is always the title: Lucky Hank – A World War II Air Force Navigator.

It was actually the U.S. Air Corps when Hank Goldman signed up in October 1942, 10 months after the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. He was 20 years old back then and was attending the University of Pennsylvania. He was called to duty on Feb. 24, 1943, along with about 350 other men from Pennsylvania.

Goldman was to become a B-25 navigator, a job that would certainly require a degree of luck, given the rig-ors of war and the fact that the art of air warfare was still in its infancy. Several of the book’s chapters detail the har-rowing adventures of aircrews trying desperately to get crippled aircraft out of enemy territory and back to friendly runways.

Luckily, each of the 25 missions Gold-man participated in concluded with the young Lieutenant alive and well. But, time and time again, that outcome was in serious doubt. The chapter entitled “My First Crash” is a prime example.

The crew was flying a ground sup-port mission near Bataan when its starboard engine was hit by ground fire. The pilot turned to Goldman and requested a heading for the closest friendly base, and he chose Mindoro Island – which was partly controlled by Japanese forces. An actual argument ensued between Goldman and the pilot, who wanted to attempt a landing on a beach controlled by the enemy.

They ultimately chose to forgo the beach in favor of a short landing strip just beyond a mountain range. The pilot thought they would never make

it over the mountains, but Goldman urged him to try anyway.

“I said I would rather try that then accept being a prisoner,” Goldman said in his book. They barely cleared the trees atop the mountains, and then crashed the plane trying to accommo-date the short landing strip. Everyone got out of the plane alive, though, liv-ing to fight another day.

Two days later, Goldman was assigned to another ground support mission, and, once again, the plane’s starboard engine was hit by ground fire. This time around, the pilot expertly maneu-vered the aircraft back to the base. But, because another aircraft was in the process of landing, had to steer away to avoid a deadly crash. By doing so, he drifted out over the ocean, where the plane went down.

Because of their proximity to the top hatch, the pilot, copilot, and engineer were able to quickly get out. By the time Goldman got there, however, the plane had slipped beneath the waves and was sinking fast. He swam to the surface and climbed aboard the small, inflatable boat from the plane – pulling an injured crewmember in with him.

When Hank awoke the following day, his back was killing him, so he went looking for the flight surgeon. As it turned out, his back was badly bruised, and he would spend the next month or so in a facility in Sidney, Australia.

He would experience problems with his back, caused by the two crashes, for decades.

A third mission saw his plane fly low and within 40 yards of three enemy destroyer ships – which is actually a recommended defensive tactic. When they got back to the base, the crew chief remarked that he had never seen a plane with so many holes – includ-ing one through the fuel tank. Because there was actual fuel in the tank, it had effectively self-sealed. Had it been

empty, the whole thing would have exploded.

Another mission saw his plane fly into an area in which all the available air-strips were closed because of poor vis-ibility caused by horrendous weather. At the very last minute, one opened.

As the war drew to a close, he was stationed on a small Japanese island – about two by five miles. As luck would have it, a powerful typhoon hit. He sur-vived, of course.

While in Japan, he contracted hepati-tis. He survived, of course.

When the war in the Pacific came to a close, Hank was handpicked to accom-pany a group of U.S. general officers to various Japanese outposts to accept their surrender. War-torn and home-sick and already notified of his eligi-bility to come home, he declined the opportunity because it would delay his departure. The navigator selected to take his place would end up getting assaulted – and maimed – in Saigon.

In 1985, Hank Goldman retired and moved to Boca Raton with his wife Sunny. She passed away from a brain disorder in 2005. They had a daughter and two grandsons.

LUCKY HANK An Air Force Navigator

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update 17SALUTE TO VETERANS

Lou Berra Dowling Park

On the evening of Feb. 16, 1964, I heard the two shots that killed the military police officer guarding the entrance to the theater. I hoped the sounds were coming from the leftover “Tet” fireworks, but that feeling of hope was dashed when a military officer pushed open the theater doors and yelled at all of us to “hit the deck!” Another military officer who apprehended the suicide bomber was killed by the blast.

I wondered why this was happening when I had only hours left in Vietnam before my plane took off to the United States and my family.

I crouched between the rows of plywood seats and closed my eyes. I made sure that my companion and military replacement did the same. I began to think of what was about to happen and two scenarios entered my mind. Either the Viet Cong were going to shoot us row by row or set off a bomb. Think-ing that a bomb would give us a better chance of survival, I began to hope that it was a bomb. Either way, I felt a definite fear of dying that evening. I was only 25 years old, and I can still remember the exact scene in “The List of Adrian Messenger” when we were told to get down.

As I knelt on the floor, a bright flash went through my closed eyelids, and I felt heat. And then the ter-rific noise of my hoped-for bomb assaulted every-one in the theater.

The theater lights went on and the film was off, and I started to stand up when I felt a part of the ceiling resting across the seats over me. I pushed it off and checked on my companion replacement, who appeared all right. I had trouble hearing him reply due to the deafness caused by the nearness of the bomb explosion. I looked around and heard the cries of the injured, which were not only military personnel but a number of dependents who were allowed to be in the country. Several back rows of seats which were occupied with personnel were ripped from their bolts in the floor and pushed for-ward toward the movie screen.

We exited by the forward side doors to a sidewalk along the building. In the front, I saw the dam-age to the folding metal closure which protected the theater from Viet Cong entry. Shards of the steel closure had been sent out of the entrance into the street and sidewalk, hitting and killing several passersby. One very old woman was lying on the sidewalk on her stomach and elbows looking up at us. Her leg had been cut off. It was lying along her side but she did not yet realize that she had lost her leg. I am sure she bled to death.

I informed my replacement officer that sometimes the Viet Cong will set off another bomb to get many of the crowd that gathers around such an event. We left the area immediately and walked about two miles back to our quarters. I departed Vietnam the following day.

clearly distressed over the hurricane and the damage it had left in its wake.

“They were fearful, out of sorts,” she said. “They had water rising up to their homes, and, obviously, they were really concerned and worried.”

At that point, Cury said, it became a matter of signing people in, and reassuring them that they would be safe and sound at Hyde Park Presbyterian Church. Many different accommodations were set up to assist in that regard, she added.

“We had family rooms, rooms for just women, rooms for just men,” she said. “We also had areas set up for those with pets. We ended up using some tents outside to help with some pit bulls. The tents

were donated by Hillsborough County, and, fortu-nately, we were able to house the animals safely.”

Cury said she recognized one person from the Senior Connection Center.

“I actually came in contact with someone our agen-cy had helped,” she said. “She was a senior who suffers from cancer. She was displaced, and it was neat that we had been assisting her already. Our services can reach people and really help them when they need it.”

The arrivals were provided food and clothing while at the church, Cury said. Most stayed there about a week.

Cury said she witnessed plenty of good things throughout the day. Personally, she added, the expe-rience was a very rewarding one.

“It made me realize how important community is and working together to overcome things and that you can overcome most anything,” she said. “Mate-rial things are not important. What is important is to help each other. Simple things, like a glass of water, a shower, or a clean place to sit and rest, can help bring comfort. Some people just need a listening ear and a willing heart. You don’t need a whole lot more than that.”

VOLUNTEERING DURING THE STORM: TAMPA WOMAN FINDS REWARD IN HELPING OTHERS…CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

MY FINAL EVENING IN VIETNAM

Image IndelibleMy name is Jerry Cohen, age 102. I am a veteran of WWII. My expertise was in 1945. I was with the 34th Infantry Division. We were on the border of Italy and Switzerland. Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci were executed by Italian partisans as they attempted to flee the country.

Some nights when I can’t sleep, I see Mussolini hanging.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update18 SALUTE TO VETERANS

Rick Burnham Editor in Chief, Elder Update

During his 40 months of active duty military service during World War II, Emil De Donato of Dunnel-lon suffered a broken nose, a dislocated shoulder, a scratched left eye, and frost-bitten toes.

But it could have been much worse.

The 9th Infantry Division, De Donato’s unit from Jan. 28, 1941, until his discharge in June 1945, suf-fered 4,581 fatalities, more than 16,500 wounded, and over 1,700 prisoners of war or missing in action.

“I was one of the lucky ones,” he says.

The 9th called itself “the division of peeved yanks” because, despite fighting in six countries and on two continents, they never really came across a town large enough to relax in. Correspondent Ernie Pyle called them “one of our best divisions,” one that “moved so fast it got to be funny.” Based with the division command post, Pyle remembers moving forward six times in seven days.

One of a dozen men from Hackensack, N.J., who answered his country’s call in late January 1941, De Donato was assigned to the newly formed 9th Infantry Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. Less than a year later, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, which set in motion a series of events that made the division one of the most famous units of the entire war.

Trained as amphibious invasion unit, the troops of the 9th were the first U.S. forces to ever go to combat in

the African-European theater. De Donato remembers volunteering to go in with the initial wave as the only Message Center soldier on the radio and wire team.

“The eight or nine mock invasions that were made in the USA were just practice,” he said. “This was the real thing.

“My job was to make contact with the command ship anchored approximately 11 miles offshore to let the commanding general know how the fight was going, and what troops and equipment to bring to the fight.”

The invasion group raced toward the shore at around 4:30 a.m., just as the big guns of the U.S. Navy were letting their presence be known – a sound De Donato called “beautiful in all its fury.” At some point later, after they had reached the beach, the group began to draw machine-gun and small-arms fire. In the ensuing confusion, the radio team became separated. Fortunately, De Donato was able to find and secure the hand-cranked generator radio unit.

“We picked it up and rushed it behind a small build-ing, where our colonel was viewing the situation,” he said. “Our colonel on land was now able to talk to the general offshore and get the necessary supplies and armament to secure the beachhead.”

For his role in making this happen, De Donato received the Bronze Star – one of a number of med-als he received for his time of service in WWII. He received a second Bronze Star for his actions during the invasion of Palermo, Sicily.

“That was for the battle for the town of Randazzo,” he said. “In all, it took the Allied Forces less than a month to drive the enemy out of Sicily.”

And then there were the beaches of Southern France. De Donato said elements of the 9th Infantry Division went ashore on Utah Beach two days after D-Day – June 6, 1944. He joined them on the fourth day, and it was “full speed ahead.”

Now 98 and living in Dunnellon, De Donato still has vivid memories from the days ahead. Among the most vivid: the heavy fighting at Saint Lo, France; the entry into Belgium; the cracking of the Sieg-fried Line; the Battle of the Bulge; the crossing of the Remagen Bridge over the Rhine River; the stench of dead bodies at the concentration camp of Nordhau-sen; and the meeting with Russian soldiers at the Elbe River.

Of those experiences, the crossing of the Remagen Bridge stands out because of the intensity of the action.

“The battle waged there was one of the fiercest in the history of warfare, and we were right in the thick of it,” he recalls. “History tells us that the taking of the Remagen Bridge, by surprise, and in one piece, shortened the war by many months, thereby saving countless lives.”

By May 7, 1945, the war in Europe was over. Emil De Donato was discharged on June 14, 1945.

Governor Scott Honors Veterans in Live OakGov. Rick Scott awarded more than 240 veterans with the Governor’s Veterans Service Award for the service to Florida and the nation March 27 at the Louie C. Wadsworth Armory in Live Oak. “I’m proud to honor some of Florida’s great vet-erans for their service to our state and country,” the Governor said. “As a son of a World War II veteran and Navy veteran myself, I recognize the sacrifices our service members make to protect our freedom. We must take every opportunity to honor and thank our American heroes.”

VIVID MEMORIES FROM AN INFANTRYMAN

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update 19SALUTE TO VETERANS

Frank Butoryak Cape Coral

I was drafted on Dec. 28, 1942, and was shipped to a station in eastern Pennsylvania. After all the shots, then the uniform, I became a soldier. They put me on a train with a lot of other soldiers, and after many days, we arrived at Camp Hale, Colo.

We were ushered into a large arena. They started call-ing all the names and the outfit they were assigned to. After all the names were called off, they asked if there was anyone not called. I was the only one, so they put me in the 99th Field Artillery, which was a mountain outfit made up of mules packing 75mm artillery cannons.

We eventually boarded a ship from San Francisco. After 21 days, we arrived in Brisbane, Australia. We stayed there for about two months, getting reoutfit-ted from a mountain pack outfit to jungle equipment. What a change! Snow to heat!

We eventually shipped out to New Guinea and trained for jungle operations. Later on, we left that base and made an invasion on the Admiralty Islands. We went on shore on the second landing because they wanted the aircraft in the air as soon as possible to direct the battleship’s shells ahead of our troops.

After we got on shore and reassembled the planes, we dug our hold and stayed there because the front troops were only about 50 yards ahead of us fight-ing the enemy. During one of these battles, I went up with another flier, Masona, to drop blood plasma and ammunition to our troops on one of the islands. On our return back to the airfield, the aircraft went into a spin and the pilot was bent over forward. Not realizing that he had been shot, I didn’t take over the controls soon enough and the plane crashed into the water. All I remember was saying to myself, “I have to get the hell out of here.”

When we hit the water, I hit the back of the forward seat. The next thing I remember was that the cabin was full of water. I opened the door and tried to get out but forgot to release my safety belt. I relaxed, unbuckled the belt and swam out from under the aircraft. I went back twice to try to pull the pilot out, but was unable to reach him before the aircraft sank below the waves.

One of the wheels was in front of me, so I swam to it and removed my shoes and leggings for the long swim. I was bleeding from the mouth but did not know why. As I was about to remove my jump suit, I saw a large ship coming at me but then went right by. I thought it didn’t see me, but the next thing I knew, there was a life boat beside me. Two sailors grabbed me and pulled me into the boat. Later, in the hospital, I was told that there were many sharks swimming around me, and that an Australian sub chaser lowered the lifeboat as he got near me. Thank God for the smart thinking of that captain.

The crew of the lifeboat wrapped me in a long bam-boo mat, got next to the ship, and pushed me up. The sailors on board the large ship tried to pull me up, but almost dropped me back in the water! When they finally got me back on board, my body relaxed and all the pain in my lips, back, and legs came rushing in. The captain offered me rum, whiskey, gin, and some other hard drink, but I said “no.” He asked me what I wanted and I asked for cold water. The captain looked at me and said, “You’re the first damn Yank I know that doesn’t drink.”

I came to in the Evac hospital with a doctor looking at me. He had a needle in his hand and started to sew my upper lip back together. He told me that the only thing that was holding my upper lip together was the outer skin. They took me to the x-ray tent and took pictures of my back. I had fractured vertebrae. They put a body stocking on me and wrapped me up in wide strips of wet gauze. When they were through, I was wrapped from under my arms to my knees with my legs spread apart and my back arched. I looked like a mummy.

I was on a landing ship in Tokyo Harbor when the enemy surrendered. While in Japan, I met a Japanese Air Force officer. The only way we could talk to each other was by looking at a book with cross meanings for each word. But we both learned a little about each other.

One day, word came down that some of us were going home. The very next morning, I was on a ship, and my first thoughts were that I would see Jean – my girlfriend – again. When I got home, we continued our relationship, married, and had six children that I am proud of. One of my sons was in the Army, and one of my grandsons made a career in the Air Force.

Soldier Survives Plane Crash With Severed Lip, Broken Back

Out of Gas and Out of Luck: Mission Goes Awry Over Italy

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update20 SALUTE TO VETERANS

Joseph Rifkin Sunrise, Fla.

One would have to say that my first mission on 16 Oct. 1944 in the B-24 “Queen of Hearts” is one I won’t ever forget.

My crew arrived in Bari, Italy, on 11 Oct. 1944, but new crews never flew their first missions together. They were first assigned to fly with seasoned veter-ans (any crew with five missions) so as to get their feet wet to combat flying.

My first combat missions was to be on 16 Oct. 1944. My bombardier, Bill Adams of Westchester, Pa., and I were assigned to the crew of Lt. Gary, whose crew had a reputation of being “jinxed.” For some reason or other, things never went smoothly on their first five missions.

The target for that day was St. Valentine, Austria – the Hermann Goering Tank Works. With my new briefcase containing my navigational instruments and necessary maps, I finally arrived at the plane. The crew chief asked me if this was my first mission, and I replied, “Yes.” He then wished me good luck. I said that we’d probably need it. Little did I know how right I was.

The trip to and from the target was uneventful. True, some black puffs were seen, but from a distance they looked harmless.

At about 2:25, Lt. Gary suddenly called me and asked for an immediate heading to the nearest airfield. The reason: we were running out of fuel. I quickly gave him a heading for the nearest field, and we turned onto the new heading and hoped our fuel would last for at least 20 miles.

At 2:28, the pilot alerted the crew to prepare for a crash landing. At that moment in space we were about 500 feet over vineyards surrounded by stone-wall fences.

Bill Adams was not wearing his headset, so he had no way of hearing the order. Since we were both in the nose of the plane, I grabbed him by the shoulders, lifted him off the floor, and shouted into his ear what was happening. We scrambled under the pilots’ deck, through the bomb bay, and managed to get into the rear of the plane as it was going down.

What was going through my mind during the fleet-ing seconds was the fact that I was mad and say-ing to myself, “Just like me to get killed on my first mission.”

Before impact, I looked at my watch and saw that it was about 2:30 p.m. I closed my eyes, and sud-denly two things happened: 1) my entire life flashed before my eyes as if on a large screen; 2) I suddenly became completely and thoroughly relaxed, some-thing I guess all experience before death. It is a feel-ing that defies description unless one experiences it.

Then we hit the ground at about 2:30 p.m.

After what appeared like an eternity, my eyes opened. Who knows – for all intents I was dead for a moment in time. But since it was not my time, I was sent back. I found myself with my feet and midpoint lying on top of the rear deck and the rest of my body facing downward against the bulkhead, where I originally placed myself.

I immediately looked for Bill and found him pinned by the ball turret. I tried to lift the ball turret off his leg, something I discovered cannot be done. While this was going on, all other crew who were able to get out of the plane did so as quickly as possible for fear of fire. I was literally forced at gunpoint to abandon my attempts to free Bill. Once out and after having two crew members stand by with fire extinguishers and surveying the damage, we found that besides Bill Adams, the top turret gunner was pinned in his turret. We then split up into two teams in order to

rescue the trapped men. I led the group back to Bill Adams, and Lt. Gary led the group to rescue the top turret gunner.

Realizing the ball turret couldn’t be moved, I started digging with my hands so as to remove the earth around Bill’s leg. Good fortune smiled on us, for in no time I found the grape vine root that had pinned Bill’s leg to the ball turret. I immediately unsheathed the knife that I had purchased while aboard our troop ship and had sharpened during the trip so that it was razor sharp. The knife cut through the one- to one-and-a-half-inch root as though it were butter. With a little more digging, we were able to free and ease Bill out of imprisonment.

Little did we know that his leg was crushed and that he had finished his tour of duty. In order to ease his pain we gave him a shot of morphine. The crew members working on the trapped gunner weren’t as successful because they lacked the necessary tools. It would be another five hours before he would be freed by our rescuers. He too suffered a crushed leg.

Within 15 minutes of impact, some friendly Ital-ians arrived to see how they could help us. We were offered homemade wine and one came with a horse and cart. The owner of the cart took one of the crew to the air field, about nine miles away, to summon help.

It would be three weeks before I would fly again. My back injuries healed, but never completely. The nerve in my left leg was injured so that today I walk with a slight pain and stiffness – sort of a reminder of my first mission, 16 Oct. 1944.

The flight log of this mission was never returned to me, so I can’t recall all the crew members. However, of the 10 men who flew that day in the “Queen of Hearts,” I was the only one fit for a second tour of duty. Of the others, two went home with crushed legs, one became a prisoner of war, two were grounded for health reasons, and the other four were killed in action.

So ended my baptism by fire. After this encounter, I would break out in a cold sweat if anyone wished me “good luck” on a mission.

www.brainbashers.com

SUDOKU SOLUTION7 5 4 1 9 8 3 2 61 3 2 5 6 7 9 8 48 9 6 3 2 4 7 1 52 7 5 9 4 1 6 3 86 8 3 2 7 5 4 9 14 1 9 6 8 3 2 5 75 2 1 7 3 6 8 4 93 4 7 8 1 9 5 6 29 6 8 4 5 2 1 7 3

Chief Recounts Historic Career

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update 21SALUTE TO VETERANS

Joseph G. Salazar

I began my military service by join-ing the Air Force toward the end of the Korean Conflict and during the war in Vietnam. The first four years in the Air Force became the most memorable time because I was being recruited, after a thorough back-ground investigation, by the Office of Special Investigations (OSI) for assignments in Europe.

As a young enlisted member, I thor-oughly enjoyed the benefits of being a member of the OSI family, living off base with the privilege of working in civilian clothes. Assignments were in various OSI Detachment offices

in Europe. A fabulous tour of duty at Soesterberg Air Base in The Neth-erlands – the country of windmills – was most fascinating. It was a joint Dutch/American fighter base. Follow-ing a tour of duty in Europe, there were numerous deployments over the years to assist in conflicts dating back to the Berlin Airlift.

Another memorable tour of duty was serving nine years on the Mainte-nance Standardization Evaluation Team (MSET) out of Robins AFB, Ga. As part of a 10-member inspec-tion team, I traveled to Air Force bases throughout the United States inspect-ing and preparing aircraft flying units for Inspector General inspections.

The final assignment of this amaz-ing career ended with selection and deployment to Andrews AFB, Wash-ington DC, to be the Aircraft Mainte-nance Superintendent on the C-141A aircraft for more than five years. After years of getting waivers approved by senior officials, I was told that it was time to let the younger men and women get a chance to do the same. Thus ended my military career after serving an honorable 39 satisfac-tory years, retiring as Chief Master Sergeant.

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ELDERUPDATE

STAYING INFORMED: Property Tax Exemptions for Veterans With DisabilitiesDid you know Florida has the third largest veteran population in the country? During the 2016/2017 fiscal year, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reported there were approximately 1.5 million veterans in the State of Florida, and of that number about 1.1 million were wartime vet-erans. Further, data from the U.S. Census Bureau estimates 315,670 Florida veterans are living with a service-connected disability.

Many times, veterans with disabilities are not only dealing with physical limitations but finan-cial limitations as well. Over time, Florida law-makers have recognized this hardship in the veteran community and enacted laws providing assistance in the form of property tax exemp-tions. Below you will find a list of current exemp-tions available to veterans with disabilities.

$5,000 Service-Connected Disability Exemp-tion. If you are a veteran with a service-con-nected disability of 10 percent or more, you may qualify for a $5,000 reduction in your property’s assessed value. Proof of disability is required. A surviving spouse may qualify as well.

Combat-Related Disability Exemption. If you are a veteran with a partial or total combat-related disability, who was 65 years of age or older as of Jan. 1 and honorably discharged, you may qualify for a tax discount. Proof of disability is required.

Service-Connected Total and Permanent Dis-ability Exemption. If you are a veteran with a total and permanent (100 percent) service-connected disability, you may qualify to be exempt from property taxes. Proof of disability is required. A surviving spouse may qualify as well.

Surviving Spouse of Active Duty Military Exemption. If you are the surviving spouse of a veteran who died while on active duty, you may qualify to be exempt from property taxes. For the year in which the veteran passed, they must have been a Florida resident as of Jan. 1. Supporting documentation is required.

If you feel that you or someone you know may qualify for one of these exemptions, contact your local property appraiser’s office. They will be able to thoroughly discuss the requirements of these exemptions. This article only provides a general overview. (Courtesy, Leon County Prop-erty Appraiser's Office)

Henry Jendras Lighthouse Point

I am a Navy veteran of two wars: WWII and the Korean War. I am now 92 years old and in fairly good shape for my age.

In WWII I was attached to a troop transport ship – the USS General SD Sturgis – and was mostly in the South Pacific area. I was in the medical corps, a Pharmacist Mate 2nd Class. We carried up to 4,000 troops aboard our ship, so we had to take care of their medi-cal needs. I worked in the labo-ratory and at times assisted the doctor in surgery.

The Sturgis was commissioned in July 1944. In the South Pacific, we went to Manila in the Philippines, New Guinea, Guadalcanal, Hol-landia, Mindinar, and, of course, Japan. We also stopped in Won-son, Korea.

We went through the Panama Canal to Gibraltar and then Mar-seille, France, to pick up Ameri-can soldiers to transport back to the South Pacific. We went again

through the Panama Canal and to Manila and then to Tokyo Bay, Japan. We went to Yokohama, Japan, for the signing of the peace treaty with Japan. We car-ried some of the dignitaries for the ceremony on the USS Missouri. We saw General McArthur on the boardwalk for the ceremony.

Our doctor had a photo hobby, and he took pictures of the American flag being raised on the Japanese

mainland. We did one-day stops at two of the atomic bomb harbors at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

I was in the Naval Reserve in 1950, so I was called into service in the Korean War. I was attached to the USS Washburn. It was an attack cargo ship, and I was given a job to serve as a medical person when we went to Korea. We stayed in Korea for about 10 months and then I was discharged back to civilian life.

Fit as a Fiddle, Strong as a Horse

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update22 SALUTE TO VETERANS

hurricane; however, it does not guarantee service nor provide an exemption from paying electric bills. Consumers will still be responsible for backup equip-ment and power supply in the event of power outages.

Any residential customer whose electric service is medically essential is eligible for the service if that medical condition has been certified by a physician licensed to practice in the state of Florida. Electric service is considered essential if you’re dependent on electric-powered equipment as specified by a physi-cian to avoid:

• Loss of life;

• Serious medical complications requiring imme-diate hospitalization.

To apply, contact your local utility and ask them about the sign-up process; you will need to reapply annually.

As a reminder, Hurricane Season runs from June 1 to November 30. Preparation should run from January 1 to December 31. The PSC recommends that you use the following general checklist from its website (www.floridapsc.com) to “be prepared” in case of power outages and other utility service interruptions during extreme weather events.

Seniors should also build a personal Family Emer-gency Plan by visiting Florida’s Division of Emer-gency website at www.FLGetAPlan.org. Find shel-ter locations and register with your counties’ Special Needs Registry by visiting www.FloridaDisaster.org/Shelters.

Please call the PSC’s toll-free line, 1-800-342-3552, if you have questions, or visit the PSC’s website at www.floridapsc.com.

STORM PREPARATION IS THE KEY TO HELPING EASE ANXIETY…CONTINUED FROM PAGE 12

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017Elder Update 23 ELDER RESOURCES

Information & Referral

1-800-96-ELDER(1-800-963-5337)

Access to information regarding elder ser-vices and activities is available through the Elder Helpline Information and Referral service within each Florida county. For the hearing or speech impaired, all Elder Helplines can be accessed through the Florida Relay by simply dialing 711 from anywhere in the state.

Florida Area Agencies on Aging (Counties Served)

Northwest Florida Area Agency on Aging, Inc. 5090 Commerce Park Circle Pensacola, FL 32505 850-494-7101 (Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa and Walton Counties)

Area Agency on Aging for North Florida, Inc. 2414 Mahan Drive Tallahassee, FL 32308 850-488-0055 (Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Taylor, Wakulla and Washington Counties)

Elder Options 100 SW 75th Street, #301 Gainesville, FL 32607 352-378-6649 (Alachua, Bradford, Citrus, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Hernando, Lafayette, Lake, Levy, Marion, Putnam, Sumter, Suwannee and Union Counties)

ElderSource 10688 Old St. Augustine Road Jacksonville, FL 32257 904-391-6600 (Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, St. Johns and Volusia Counties)

Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas, Inc. 9549 Koger Boulevard North Gadsden Building, Suite 100 St. Petersburg, FL 33702 727-570-9696 (Pasco and Pinellas Counties)

Senior Connection Center, Inc. 8928 Brittany Way Tampa, FL 33619 813-740-3888 (Hardee, Highlands, Hillsborough, Manatee and Polk Counties)

Senior Resource Alliance 988 Woodcock Road, Suite 200 Orlando, FL 32803 407-514-1800 (Brevard, Orange, Osceola and Seminole Counties)

Area Agency on Aging for Southwest Florida 15201 N. Cleveland Avenue, Suite 1100 North Fort Myers, FL 33903 239-652-6900 (Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hendry, Lee and Sarasota Counties)

Your Aging and Disability Resource Center 4400 North Congress Avenue West Palm Beach, FL 33407 561-684-5885 (Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee, Palm Beach and St. Lucie Counties)

Aging and Disability Resource Center of Broward County, Inc. 5300 Hiatus Road Sunrise, FL 33351 954-745-9567 (Broward County)

Alliance for Aging, Inc. 760 NW 107th Avenue, Suite 214 Miami, FL 33172 305-670-6500 (Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties)

If you need information about, or referral to, a service provider outside Florida, call the national Eldercare Locator Service at 1-800-677-1116. An information specialist will assist you Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. – 11 p.m. Eastern time. For people with Telecommunication Devices for the Deaf (TDDs), all Elder Helplines, as well as the Eldercare Locator Service, can be accessed through Florida Relay Service at 1-800-955-8771.

FLORIDA ELDER HELPLINE DIRECTORY Please call the telephone number below in your area for information and referrals.

Are you worried that an elder relative or friend may be the victim of abuse? You can report known or suspected cases of abuse by calling Florida’s Abuse Hotline at 1-800-96-ABUSE (1-800-962-2873).

Elder Helpline Can Assist Non-English Speakers

By calling the Elder Helpline, Florida’s elders can access information and referral services through a translation service. Telephone interpreters provide live, on-the-line assistance by translating from English into as many as 148 different languages.

Alachua . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-262-2243 Baker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .888-242-4464Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .866-467-4624Bradford . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-262-2243 Brevard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407-514-0019Broward . . . . . . . . . . . . . 954-745-9779Calhoun . . . . . . . . . . . . .866-467-4624Charlotte . . . . . . . . . . . . 866-413-5337Citrus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-262-2243 Clay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .888-242-4464Collier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 866-413-5337Columbia . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-262-2243 DeSoto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 866-413-5337Dixie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-262-2243 Duval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .888-242-4464Escambia . . . . . . . . . . . . 866-531-8011Flagler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .888-242-4464Franklin . . . . . . . . . . . . . .866-467-4624Gadsden . . . . . . . . . . . . .866-467-4624Gilchrist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-262-2243 Glades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 866-413-5337Gulf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .866-467-4624Hamilton . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-262-2243 Hardee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-336-2226Hendry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 866-413-5337Hernando . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-262-2243Highlands . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-336-2226Hillsborough . . . . . . . . . 800-336-2226Holmes . . . . . . . . . . . . . .866-467-4624Indian River . . . . . . . . . 866-684-5885Jackson . . . . . . . . . . . . . .866-467-4624Jefferson . . . . . . . . . . . . .866-467-4624Lafayette . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-262-2243 Lake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-262-2243

Lee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 866-413-5337Leon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .866-467-4624Levy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-262-2243 Liberty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .866-467-4624Madison . . . . . . . . . . . . .866-467-4624Manatee . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-336-2226Marion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-262-2243Martin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 866-684-5885Miami-Dade . . . . . . . . . 305-670-4357Monroe . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305-670-4357Nassau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .888-242-4464Okaloosa . . . . . . . . . . . . 866-531-8011Okeechobee . . . . . . . . 866-684-5885Orange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407-514-0019Osceola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407-514-0019Palm Beach . . . . . . . . . 866-684-5885Pasco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 727-217-8111Pinellas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 727-217-8111Polk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-336-2226Putnam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-262-2243 Santa Rosa . . . . . . . . . . . 866-531-8011Sarasota . . . . . . . . . . . . . 866-413-5337Seminole . . . . . . . . . . . . 407-514-0019St. Johns . . . . . . . . . . . . .888-242-4464St. Lucie . . . . . . . . . . . . 866-684-5885Sumter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-262-2243 Suwannee . . . . . . . . . . . 800-262-2243 Taylor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .866-467-4624Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 800-262-2243 Volusia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .888-242-4464Wakulla . . . . . . . . . . . . . .866-467-4624Walton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 866-531-8011Washington . . . . . . . . . .866-467-4624

SALUTE TO VETERANS

Nick Gandy Florida Sports Association

There are some who cringe at the loud noises of a bowling alley. Balls weighing 10 pounds and more hit the lane with a thud as they roll toward the pins, only to knock them down and make more noise. Multiply that by 30 or more lanes and it’s pretty loud.

That’s nothing to Florida Senior Games Bowler and World War II veteran, Jack Appel, of Boca Raton. He’s heard much louder noises.

He has heard the sounds of war.

These days, when the 94-year-old Appel hears loud noises, it’s usu-ally followed by a trip to the medal stand for a Florida Senior Games or National Senior Games bowling gold medal.

In June 1944, a 20-year-old Appel was a member of the Signal Corp attached to the U.S. First Army and landed on the beaches of Normandy. Over the next year, he heard the worst sounds of the European front of World War II.

Through July 1945, when he was deployed stateside, he set

up communications in Normandy for the Army forces and made his way to Central France and into Bel-gium, where he was involved in the Battle of the Bulge.

He and the Signal Corp advanced into Germany where he was among the first to arrive and liberate the Buchenwald concentration camp, one of the largest on German soil.

“They called us liberators even though all the Germans had fled by then and there was no one left for us to fight against,” he said in a recent interview with a Hungarian jour-nalist during a visit to Europe. ”We were eyewitnesses who can testify that the Holocaust did really happen. Photographs of the time have cap-tured a lot of the horrors, but I will never forget that smell.”

He was part of the Army of Occu-pation after the German surrender before returning to the U.S. for a 30-day furlough.

He was prepared to go to Japan to be part of the invasion that was sure to involve a large loss of life like in Normandy. During his furlough, atomic bombs were dropped, and Japan surrendered on the day he was to return.

For his efforts during the two years, 11 months, and 10 days Appel served the United States, he received five battle stars and was honored as a Knight of the French Legion of Honor in 2008, the highest honor of the French military.

Before and after Appel’s military service, there has been bowling. He’s been bowling competitively since the age of 14 and was around bowling alleys even before then.

“I’ve been bowling for 80 years,” said Appel, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. “My father had a bowling alley in Queens.”

Born in 1923, Appel’s bowling expe-rience goes back to days of having to clear out the pins after the ball came careening down the lane.

“This was during the depression when I started bowling, and AMF didn’t invent the automatic pin setter until the 1950s,” he said.

These days, it’s much easier for him. He just knocks down the pins and he does it well – by himself in sin-gles competition and with his men’s doubles partner, Stanley Corwin, of Boynton Beach.

At the 2016 Florida Senior Games, Appel rolled a record-setting three game men’s singles score of 521 in the 90-94 age group to qualify for the 2017 National Senior Games. He and Corwin set a 90-94 age group Men’s Doubles record with a com-bined three-game score of 1,003. The duo also set the 85-89 age group record in 2011.

Six months later and six months more past the age of 90, at the National Senior Games in Birming-ham, Ala., Appel was a men’s singles gold medal winner with a three-game score of 525. He and Corwin combined for a three-game score of 1,052.

He improves with age.

Also improving with his age is the appreciation for the decreasing number of World War II veterans. Like Appel, these veterans exist in the Florida Senior Games and are competing in the 85-89 and 90-94 age group. But in talking with Jack Appel and seeing his three-game bowling scores of over 500, it’s safe to say age has not slowed this Ameri-can hero.

He’s quick to produce a cell phone photo of himself with Tom Hanks, taken when the actor received an “American Spirit Award” in 2015. Appel was a guest of the World War II Museum in New Orleans.

“We had breakfast together the morning after the awards ceremo-ny,” says the real-life soldier proudly about his meeting with the actor, who played a World War II soldier in Saving Private Ryan.

His journeys to Europe and the World War II battlefields have been chronicled in Forbes magazine, and Appel’s life story is documented in a two-hour video interview by the World War II Museum that can be found online.

He moved to Florida in 1972 and has lived in various Palm Beach Coun-ty locations since. He retired after working 50 years on Wall Street. “I made small fortunes for people who started with large ones,” he says with a grin.

Jack Appel is still building fortunes – in the form of sharing his stories of American history while staying active in the Florida Senior Games and enjoying the loud noises found in bowling alleys throughout the state.

Senior Athlete Is a World War II History LessonNOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

Elder Update24

Jack Appel, of Boca Raton, has been recognized by France (as well as actor Tom Hanks) for his military prowess.