Air Force Veteran Continues Fighting by Lyman Stucky - City News Group, Inc.

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Air Force Veteran Continues Fighting

By Lyman Stucky
Community Writer
11/16/2015 at 12:28 PM

What does a “retired” military veteran who wants to keep fighting for what’s right do with his time? Far more than just joust windmills like Don Quixote did. No mere shadow boxing for Marv. Marvin Shimel is one of millions of faithful Americans who have served his country and retired with an Honorable Discharge. However, unless you’ve had a long military career, retiring from the military doesn’t bring in enough to completely retire. So, after his tour of duty was completed, he worked in Civil Service and other jobs until he had saved up enough to retire. Now what does he do? Nicknamed ‘Smiley’ by many, Marvin loves to laugh but also has a serious side. He continues to fight for America in his 80's. He keeps current with the biggest scandals by mail and email. Most TV ‘reporting’ he finds quite biased. If the pen is mightier than the sword, he might yet free some captives from the chains on their minds. Three times a week, he meets to consult with a locally-based scriptwriter who is developing a script for Hollywood. “It’s a military, World War II movie, but not like any you’ve ever seen. Can’t say anything more at the moment,” and his wink closes the topic for now. Every week, rain or shine, he drives to Riverside National Cemetery to visit and take flowers to the grave site of his late wife, Virginia, who passed away in 2013. Several times a week, he sits down at his computer and vents, trying to communicate his grievances to appropriate people in ways that leads to solutions. His pet peeves range from typographical errors in print all the way up to treason and un-American talk and behavior, which he says “…should not be tolerated—the Constitution requires appropriate treatment of this sort of thing.” One recent letter to a local official was about a minor local ordinance, while another was to a U.S. Senator about stopping illegal immigration. “People here are starting to realize that allowing non-Americans to vote and have taxpayer-paid benefits here is crazy—stupid—and unconstitutional. We’ve got to inform people and fast.” He’s traveled to some 30 different countries, many of these during his military tour of duty. As a cameraman for what became USAF Combat Camera, he documented many ceremonies and celebrities entertaining and honoring the troops overseas, as well as technical documentation. He has documented many of the most interesting in his memoirs, available from Amazon Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LBHIWNS/. Marvin is glad to come speak to local school and civic groups at no charge. He can be contacted via his new website and blog at www.MarvinShimel.com or by mail at P.O. Box 131, Colton, CA 92324.