Military Officer - January 2008 - (Page 24) rapidfire Invest in the Future Now In Review Miracle at Belleau Wood: The Birth of the Modern U.S. Marine Corps By Alan Axelrod. The Lyons Press, 2007. $24.95. ISBN 978-159921-02504. World War I at Belleau Wood, but they saved France from defeat. Band of Sisters: American Women at War in Iraq By Kirsten Holmstedt. Stackpole Books, 2007. $27.95. ISBN 978-0-8117-0267-6. I f you’re looking for a military-friendly way to save for college, look no further than the Vanguard 529 College Savings Plan. Sponsored by MOAA, it is a competitive college savings plan with high-value investment options, tax advantages, and the ability to start saving immediately. Benefits of the plan include a minimal initial investment of only $50 (Vanguard has agreed to waive the usual $3,000 minimum initial investment fee for servicemembers) and no enrollment fee. You can sign up online in about 10 minutes. Vanguard will waive its $20 annual maintenance fee once the account balance reaches $3,000, and Vanguard’s asset management fee of 0.5 percent to 0.7 percent is one of the lowest in the country. To sign up, visit www.moaa.org/529. Additional information can be obtained by calling (800) 8708419 or by reading the program description at www .vanguard.com, which includes investment options, risks, charges, expenses, and other information. TRICAREUPDATE EFFECTIVE OCT. 19, 2007, TRICARE covers the herpes zoster vaccine Zostavax, which is designed to prevent shingles for beneficiaries age 60 and older. Medicare covers Zostavax under Medicare Part D, the drug benefit, whereas TRICARE covers it under the health care benefit. For most TRICARE for Life (TFL) beneficiaries, TRICARE will be the primary payer. When TRICARE is the primary payer, the TRICARE Standard deductibles of $150 a person and 20-percent or 25-percent cost shares apply. TFL and TRICARE Standard beneficiaries can get the vaccine from any TRICARE authorized provider licensed to give the vaccine. TRICARE Prime beneficiaries can get the vaccine from their primary care managers if they carry the vaccine. Zostavax must be administered by a TRICARE provider to qualify for reimbursement. 24 MILITARY OFFICER JANUARY 2008 In June 1919, on the western front in France, a heavily wooded game preserve named Belleau Wood saw some of the most bitter close-combat fighting in Marine Corps history. “The reputation of the Marines as America’s fiercest warriors, the nation’s elite fighting force, was forged in this battle,” claims Alan Axelrod in this story about two Marine infantry regiments that defeated two German divisions. Axelrod tells of the German offensive that summer, of the French army’s near collapse, and how U.S. Marines stopped the Germans with remarkably accurate rifle marksmanship and skillful bayonet work. This is a story of extreme violence and courage, with servicemembers bloodying the Germans so badly the enemy complained the Marines didn’t fight fairly. The Marines didn’t win American society still struggles with the role of women in the military, especially in combat, but the war in Iraq reveals no matter their service, rank, or job, female U.S. servicemembers have proven themselves on the battlefield. Kirsten Holmstedt tells of these servicemembers who unselfishly do their duty, sometimes fighting, getting wounded, or even dying in a war with no front lines. She tells stories of officers and enlisted women who are pilots, nurses, doctors, MPs, medics, mechanics, and truck drivers. Exciting tales of firefights and close-air support are mixed with stories of tender compassion and intense camaraderie. Holmstedt vividly discusses the women’s mindset as they willingly endure the same stresses, fears, discomforts, and risks of combat as the men. — William D. Bushnell PHOTOS: ABOVE, STEVE BARRETT; LEFT, CORBIS http://www.moaa.org/529 http://www.vanguard.com http://www.vanguard.com
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