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910 Jackson Ave.,
River Forest, Ill

June 26, 1948

David L. Behncke,
A.L.P.A,
Chicago, Ill

Dear Dave:

This will acknowledge your letter of the 22ns carrying the Senate report on the House bill H.R. 2744 as I now have a copy of the entire bill as it becomes law, assuming that the President has signed it. The House concurred in the amendments and therefore both Houses of Congress are in accord and the bill thus has gone to the President, who, having agreed to the provisions, will no doubt sign it without delay. The report doesn't carry in detail a number of things we are, as individuals most interested in, for instance:-

Title III

This section applies to Reserve personnel, both commissioned and enlisted and in the Reserve branches of all the military services, Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard. It provides that retirement is paid upon reaching the age of sixty, and having completed twenty years of SATISFACTORY SERVICE as defined in the act. Satisfactory service is defined in the various sections of the act, and there appears no requirement stipulating a minimum of ACTIVE DUTY. The number of years of service are determined through use of the point system. The same point system is used to determine whether or not any particular year is a year of satisfactory service, and in the final computation determines the monetary amount of retirement benefit. The items of particular importance to us are:-

Sec 302(a)......that no person who was a member of a reserve component on or before Aug. 15th, 1945, shall be eligible for retirement benefits under this title unless he performed active Federal service during any portion of either of the two periods beginning April 6, 1917 and ending November 11, 1918".

This section has the effect of eliminating for the time being any reserve personnel holding reserve appointments on Aug 15, 1945 who did not serve on active duty in one of the two World Wars. Another war during the life of such persons would doubtless bring an amendment to this section.

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