By Howard Wilkinson, Enquirer staff writer
and The Associated Press

President Bush is expected to announce here Monday a decision to bring home tens of thousands of U.S. troops from posts around the world - most of them in Europe and in Asia - plus 100,000 of their family members and support personnel.

BY THE NUMBERS

Veteran population: United States: 26,549,704 (9.4 percent of the population) Cincinnati metropolitan area: 186,231 (13 percent of the population) Ohio: 1,144,007 (14 percent of the state's population) Kentucky: 380,618 (13 percent of the state's population) U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs services Based on 2001 figures, the most recent available Ohio Total spent on veterans' benefits: $1.9 billion. Number of veterans receiving VA health care: 150,991. Number of veterans receiving disability and pension payments: 112,224. Veterans owning homes through VA loan guarantees: 94,040. Number of veterans buried in national cemeteries: 1,669. Kentucky Total spent on veterans' benefits: $714 million. Number of veterans receiving VA health care: 73,557. Numbers of veterans receiving disability and pension payments: 53,849. Veterans owning homes purchased through VA loan guarantees: 33,381. Number of veterans buried in national cemeteries: 582 Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (2000), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

SCHEDULE

The nearly 15,000 delegates to the 105th annual Veterans of Foreign Wars and Ladies Auxiliary national convention have a full plate this week, including visits from both major presidential candidates: Today • Protestant worship services and Catholic Mass will be held at the Cincinnati Convention Center. • Delegates will gather later for a memorial service for fallen comrades. Monday • President Bush will address the delegates at their opening session. • Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken and Ohio Gov. Bob Taft are expected to address the delegates. • Secretary of State Colin Powell is the featured speaker for the national convention banquet in the evening. Tuesday • In the morning business session, delegates will hear from Anthony Principi, secretary of Veterans Affairs. • Also in the morning, convention officials will present entertainer Tony Orlando with a "Gold Medal of Merit" for his work entertaining troops. • A "patriotic rally" is planned for 4:30 p.m. in Exhibit Hall B. Wednesday • John Kerry, the Democratic candidate for president, is expected to address the delegates in their morning session. • Members will attend workshops on homeless veterans, the VFW's military family support centers, the VFW National Home for Children and legislative services. Thursday • The convention's morning session will feature numerous awards ceremonies honoring businesses that have supported the VFW and active-duty military, the year's outstanding VA health-care employee, and several people receiving VFW distinguished-service medals. Friday • The morning session - the last of the convention - will feature the election of a new national commander and other officers for 2004-2005. A reception for the new national commander - expected to be John Furgess of Nashville, Tenn. - will follow in the afternoon.

The changes will have no effect on forces in Iraq or Afghanistan, two U.S. senior administration officials said.

As part of the largest troop realignment in years, Bush will shift about 70,000 uniformed military personnel, most of them in Europe.

The decision comes as thousands of veterans from across the country are gathering in Cincinnati this week.

Men and women of the 105th Veterans of Foreign Wars and Ladies Auxiliary National Convention, nearly 15,000 strong, poured into downtown Saturday, ready to be thrust smack into the middle of the presidential campaign.

But first they were looking forward to a Reds ball game and getting a bite to eat.

"I plan to enjoy myself," said Jack Coursey of Bossier City, La., who shopped with his wife, Kathy, among the dozens of vendors selling their wares in an exhibit hall at the Sabin Cincinnati Convention Center. "Politics can wait.''

But it will not wait long.

Monday morning, this seven-day annual convention of the VFW, an organization of 2.6 million members who served overseas in times of war, will transform itself into the principal stage for this week's round of the 2004 presidential contest.

President Bush is scheduled to speak to the convention Monday morning, followed by Democratic challenger John Kerry Wednesday morning.

The VFW does not endorse in presidential elections, although it does have a political action committee that monitors congressional votes and endorses congressional candidates.

But for the presidential contenders, the convention is a window to the larger world of military veterans, nearly 26 million Americans who make up about 13 percent of the voting-age population.

"I'd be surprised if they didn't come speak to our convention," said John Furgess, a retired military intelligence officer and Vietnam veteran from Nashville, Tenn., who will be installed as the VFW's new national commander on the last day of the convention. "Veterans are too big a group to be ignored.''

Robert Young, a Vietnam veteran from a VFW post in Dallas, said he came to Cincinnati expecting to hear from the major presidential candidates.

"They'd be fools not to talk to us,'' said Young. "And I don't think they're fools."

Furgess said the issues that most interest his organization's membership, and veterans in general, fall along two lines - support for a strong national defense and homeland security and how the federal government treats veterans in terms of health care and other benefits.

The VFW's membership, Furgess said, "is probably split pretty much down the middle between Bush and Kerry, just like it seems everybody else is."

Saturday, though, politics was one of many things on the minds of VFW members and their spouses as they strolled through the cavernous convention center. They registered for the convention and shopped at the many vendors' booths in Exhibit Hall B, where everything from patriotic art, military patches and caps, pre-paid burial plans and moist heat gel for aching feet were on sale.

In the area where officially-licensed VFW shirts, hats, flags and CD-roms were sold, fellow Korean War veterans J.L. Smith, commander of VFW Post 1406 in Dallas, and Harold Smith of Springfield, Ore., the former state commander, stood chatting in front of the display of honor-guard equipment.

When the talk turned to politics, it turned out the two men were on opposite sides of the fence, but it didn't stop them from having a friendly chat about their days in the service.

J.L. Smith said he is for Kerry, saying he remembers Bush as governor of his home state "and how he cut one program after another that helped the disadvantaged. I just think Kerry is the kind of man who is going to give opportunity to all Americans. Veterans too.''

Hal Smith disagreed. He said he remembers hearing Kerry speak at last year's VFW convention and thinking that it "was too political.''

"I just don't believe Kerry; I wouldn't trust him any further than I could throw him,'' said the Oregon veteran, who said his home town is a "blue collar, beer-and-shot kind of place,'' as opposed to nearby Eugene, "which is just too liberal.''

Close by, Charlie Combs, a Korean war veteran from Westwood, strolled among the vendors.

In his pocket was a "Veterans for Kerry-Edwards'' pin. He said he would keep it there instead of on his lapel - at least until Wednesday, when Kerry, a Vietnam veteran and VFW member, comes to speak to the delegates.

"The VFW doesn't endorse candidates, and I don't want to offend anybody,'' said Combs. "But there's no doubt who I'm for.''

Combs, a retired auto worker, says he has good health-care benefits, thanks to his union contract, but is concerned there are millions of veterans who don't have easy access to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs health-care system.

Others, like Coursey, a veteran of World War II and Korea who retired from the Air Force in the Vietnam era, said they have little use for either candidate.

E-mail hwilkinson@enquirer.com