Local veteran receives service award from Rep. Gianforte

By KATHLEEN WOODFORD

Mineral Indepedent

Nearly 40 people converged onto the Old Schoolhouse in De Borgia to watch their friend and neighbor, Bruce Charles, receive an award for his military and community service. The award was presented by Montana’s U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte, on Saturday, Feb. 17.

The accommodation was given to Charles in a blue folder embossed with gold lettering. The letter was entitled, “Montana Congressional Veteran Commendation. November 30, 2017” and read as follows from the Congressional Record:

“Mr. Gianforte: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize William “Bruce” Charles of De Borgia for the Montana Congressional Veteran Commendation for his service to the country and leadership in his community.

Mr. Charles was a United State Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War, having joined the Air Force in 1965 as a result of the Gulf of Tonkin incident.

Following his military career, Mr. Charles volunteered for various community service organizations, including 25 years as a member or officer in the local Kiwanis.

In De Borgia, he was instrumental in preventing the closure of the local post office and revitalizing the volunteer fire department. He also led a successful effort to create a fuel mitigation plan to protect the De Borgia area.

I ask my colleagues to join me today in commending William Charles for his dedication and service.

—Greg Gianforte, Member of Congress”

After reading the letter to the group, Gianforte presented Charles with an American flag that had flown above the U.S. Capitol.

“On Veterans Day last year I flew a flag in Bruce’s honor,” Gianforte said. “On behalf of the U.S. government, thank you for your service.”

Charles said that upon accepting the award, there are others who deserve it much more. He held up a painting created 40 years ago from a local Missoula artist entitled, “Forget me not.” In the gold frame was a U.S. flag with three F-105 aircraft from the Vietnam War. It depicts a “missing man formation” and there is normally a fourth aircraft. The formation is flown over the funeral of a vet, “representing that we lost one,” said Charles.

He also held up a Dec. 2008 issue of the Missoulian newspaper with an article written about Haugan resident Jerry Parrick’s funeral. Parrick was a Marine during the Vietnam War and had been killed during his work as an emergency volunteer near Haugan.

“I simply represent many other people such as myself some of whom have done far more me than me. Especially those who have died in service or those like Jerry,” he said.

After the brief presentation, the congressman spoke to people about their concerns. Jeff Owens, who is a retired veteran who moved into the area a few years ago, talked about his frustrations dealing with the VA health-care system. He’s had to travel for medical appointments and hasn’t been reimbursed for expenses and can’t get through when he calls the office in Helena.

“We need to fix it systemically,” said Gianforte. “Having been in business my entire life, one thing I’ve learned is that leadership matters. Nationally we need better leadership in the VA because we’ve stopped serving the vets, particularly in rural states.”

The No. 1 issue he hears from veterans is access to health care. The Choice Program is important and a good concept but not in execution, he said. The program has been administered poorly where sometimes doctors don’t get paid, and preauthorization is a problem.

“If you live in Plentywood and go to Fort Harrison to get preauthorized to see a local doctor, it’s a day and a half drive and that just doesn’t make sense,” Gianforte said. “I’m finding in Washington (D.C.) they don’t always understand the issues facing rural communities. It’s not just VA, it’s FEMA, its all the agencies. There’s a lot of orientation towards urban centers and my job is to be a voice for rural Montana.”

In the revised budget, the House recently passed $50 million in incremental rural health-care funding along with increased accountability at the VA, but Gianforte said, “You can throw money at a problem but if you don’t have the right leadership, you are not going to get the right result.”

Another big issue on Montana’s mind is federal overreach. St. Regis resident Carol Young talked about how Mineral County used to have thriving communities and now it’s almost broke.

“We are surrounded by all this bounty (of the forest) and I’m looking at something immediate and am asking for your support,” she said to Gianforte. “If we send a tax bill to the federal government for this forest land, would you support that?”

He said he would look at it and talked about the Resilient Federal Forest Act he co-sponsored. It has gotten through the Natural Resources Committee and passed in the House. Currently the legislation is in the Senate and he hopes it will pass in the budget bill in March. He is also working with the Montana Association of Counties on PILT reform because rural communities are disadvantaged and the formula doesn’t work.

In February the new withholding tables are set and he said hourly employees could see a raise as a result. Because of the new tax code, smaller business have been able to give their employees raises, “this tax plan lowers rates for any income level and hard-working Montanans keep more of their money,” he said.

After the DeBorgia presentation, Gianforte along with his wife, Susan, traveled to St. Regis to visit the women in the Cabin Fever Quilters Guild before heading to Kalispell for another presentation.