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The Death of a VDBC Commissioner and War Hero by McClellanVet (created on )Gallery | Comments 
========================
UPDATE NOTE: Senator Chuck Nagel
attended the funeral at Arlington
and delivered the eulogy for Butch
Joeckel. I am told Butch complained of
coming down with a cold the day before
he died of a heart attack.
========================

Before I resume the photographs collection
from the final session of the Veterans
Disability Commission, we at Vets for
Justice which take a moment to remember
and pay tribute to Commissioner Charles
"Butch" Joeckel who died on the very
day we were all gathered at the Senate
to witness the last and final step of
submitting the VDBC Commission report
to Congress.

Butch suffered a horrible fall in his
home earlier this year, and was in
a steady decline ever since. It will
be a debate left for the history books
as to why there was no hospital
intervention to force him into 24 hour
care. But he apparently was not going
to do this voluntarily. He died unexpectedly
in his Florida home on October 17th, the
day of the Commission review hearing
at the Senate. I was there and can
say at that point, there was no indication
that the rest of the Commissioners had
been told by cell phone that he had
passed on. We knew him to suffer
weight loss, and be weak and under
the influence of pain medication in the
final days of the Commission. In
September he was showing signs of
weight gain and starting to thrive again.

Butch was in the Tet Offensive, one
of the worst ever in the Vietnam War
and had lost both legs to a landmine.

When the Commission began, I knew
him to be a tough authoritarian who
questioned me time and again on
the certainty of my statements regarding
Fort McClellan, Alabama for the patient
group that I was representing. We did
not always agree on Veterans issues,
but we were friends in spite of it all
as was the same with the rest of the
Commissioners.

He was particularly struck by some of
my emotional speeches, where I advocated
to bring the VA PROCESS itself under
national question and scrutiny. This
mission was accomplished at the Senate
review hearings of October 17th, and
I was still elated from that victory when
I got the news about Butch. Butch had a
former life with the DAV organization and
he held the Silver Star.

In his stronger months at the Commission,
he was the picture of health and the
national ICON of a wounded soldier
getting on with his life, and earning his
place of importance at a national review
table. Butch was not a slacker, but a hard
worker and he made many astute
observations about other Veterans as
he was hearing their stories during the
countless Public Comment periods the
Commission held.

Butch knew how to evaluate information
and I cannot say that across the board
to all of the rest of the Commissioners.
His choice and appointment on this
VDBC Commission was more than
appropriate, and I know that other Activists
who appeared before him over the 2
year period, will be shocked and saddened
by his passing. We pray for the speedy
healing of his family, who made it a
point to come with him and care for him
in the final Commission sessions.

Butch will be in my own personal heart
when I attend the upcoming 25th Anniversary
of the Vietnam Wall on November 10th.

I share these photos with you now
of Commissioner and Vietnam War Hero,
Charles "Butch" Joeckel.

click on the little ICON in the upper
right hand corner for full screen
viewing to enlarge the photos.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: McClellanVet,
 

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