DEBT, DEFAULT, MILITARY AND VETERANS
July 26, 2011 (7:10 p.m. Eastern) Fred Burns, the VFW Washington Office Director of Administration and Operations, attended a meeting this afternoon in the Roosevelt Room of the White House with representatives from other veteran and military service organizations, and Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President, and Jon Carson, Director of Public Engagement. No new information was given concerning the ongoing debt negotiations or what protections veterans and military family programs will receive. Ms. Jarrett did express that she believes the military will continue to be paid in the event of a default and that payment priorities will be set. During the question and answer period, Mr. Burns asked if the President's strong commitment to veterans and military families remains the same. Mr. Carson answered with a resounding "Yes!" The VFW maintains its position to not agree to any Administration or Congressional proposal to deny or limit any health care program or benefit to eligible veterans, or to increase fees on any eligible veterans, service members, their families or survivors. ROBERT E. WALLACE Executive Director VFW Washington Office ---
|
|
|
|
|
Red Shirt Friday Photo Night!
If you are the proud owner of a “Red Shirt Friday” tee shirt, the Commander of VFW Post 9907, Tom Judd, invites you as his guest, if you are not a VFW or Auxiliary
member, to the post on Friday, August 5, 5:45PM, for Red Shirt Friday Photo Night. We would like to get a group photo of all the proud owners of the Red tee shirts
that read “Home of the Free, Because of the Brave” on the back and “Thank you Troops” on the front. This photo will be submitted to the White Mountain
Independent and also will be available for purchase. Don’t have a Red Shirt Friday tee? They will be available for sale prior to the photo so you too can be included
in the group photo. Commander Judd hopes to see all of the persons who support our troops by wearing the Red Shirts on Friday, August 5, at 5:45PM.
|
Navajo County is Wearing Red to Support Troops
|
|
|
Navajo County is doing everything it can to boost support for the servicemen and servicewomen of the armed forces. In addition to the County Attorney’s Sponsorship of the First Annual Memorial Day Parade and Car Show in Show Low, the County is also lending support to a campaign led by the Ladies Auxiliary of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9907 in Show Low.
On Tuesday, May 10th, Navajo County staff presented the County’s Board of Supervisors with information about the Auxiliary’s campaign and asked the Board for its support in advancing the effort. As part of the campaign, Navajo County staff members will be encouraged to wear red each Friday as a demonstration of support and make donations to the effort.
County staff will be asked to bring small donations that will help to fill the packages or “Troop Boxes” that are sent. Typical donations will include, AA batteries, insect repellant, hand wipes/baby wipes, canned air (for cleaning equipment), Razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, socks, coffee, games, books, puzzle books and dozens of other items that make living more comfortable for the troops. Local members of the community, and the cities and towns within Navajo County will also be invited to participate in similar fashion.
Since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Ladies Auxiliary has collected items to send to servicemen and servicewomen overseas. All of the items, and the money to ship them, are collected from the generosity of members in the community. To raise funds, the Ladies Auxiliary sells red t-shirts with the motto, “Home of the Free because of the Brave,” on the back. As part of the campaign, Navajo County employees will be encouraged to observe “Red Fridays” by wearing one of the t-shirts or some other red blouse or shirt.
Donations will be collected in Holbrook (County Complex Administration Offices at 100 East Code Talkers Drive), and two other collection points at the County offices in Show Low (White Mountain Facility at 550 N. 9th Place) and Heber-Overgaard (Mogollon Complex at 2188 W. Country Club Dr, Overgaard).
|
The Ladies Auxiliary is selling RED SHIRTS to support our troops. On the front of the shirt is Red Shirt Friday, Thank You Troops!
VFW Post 9907 Show Low, AZ. And on the back is:
HOME OF THE FREE BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE
These shirts come in sizes S-XXL (XXXL is available by special order), Short sleeves, long sleeves, with a pocket
or without. Priced from $18.00 to $25.00 and they are
MADE IN AMERICA.
All of the proceeds pay for the postage for the troop boxes that are sent each month to our active duty soldiers.
Shirts can be purchased at the canteen or call
SANDY NOBLE @ 928-205-8947 or 928-537-0866
ALSO WE WILL SHIP FOR A SMALL FEE!
|
|
VETERAN NEWS AND INFORMATION |
|
VA Launches New Prevention Initiative to Serve 22,000 Veteran Families at Risk of Homelessness
Announces Nearly $60 Million in Homeless Prevention Grants Nationwide
WASHINGTON – Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced today the award of nearly $60 million in homeless prevention grants that will serve approximately 22,000 homeless and at-risk Veteran families as part of the new Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program. This initial $60 million award will serve Veteran families at 85 non-profit community agencies in 40 states and the District of Columbia under VA’s new homeless prevention initiative.
“This new homeless prevention program will provide additional comprehensive support to Veterans who have served honorably, and now find themselves in a downward spiral toward despair and homelessness,” said VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki. “This program expands our capacity to act before a Veteran becomes homeless and to target the problem of family homelessness. These grants would not have been possible without the extraordinary partnerships forged with community organizers who are firmly committed to making a positive difference in lives of Veterans and their families.”
The SSVF Program, a critical element of VA’s plan to prevent and end homelessness among Veterans, will promote housing stability among homeless and at-risk Veterans and their families. Under the SSVF program, VA awards grants to private non-profit organizations and consumer cooperatives that can provide a range of supportive services to eligible very low-income Veteran families. Supportive services include outreach, case management, assistance in obtaining VA benefits, and assistance in obtaining and coordinating other public benefits. Grantees will also have the ability to make time-limited temporary financial assistance payments on behalf of Veterans for purposes such as rent payments, utility payments, security deposits and moving costs.
NEWS from: VFW Washington Weekly, July 8, 2011
New VA Outreach to Women Veterans: In June, representatives from VA’s Health Resource Center began calling to ask women veterans nationwide to share their experiences with VA, and to suggest potential improvements to the care it provides them. HRC also wants to know why some women veterans who are enrolled in the VA have not yet used their services. According to the VA, women veterans are one of the fastest growing segments of the veteran population. They comprise nearly 8 percent of the total veteran population and 6 percent of VA healthcare patrons, percentages that the VA expects to rise by the year 2020 to 10 and 9.5 percent, respectively. Read more at http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2129.
|
VFW Advocates Help Defeat Anti-Veteran Amendment
Yesterday's Senate vote on an amendment to restrict benefits for veterans exposed to Agent Orange herbicides during the Vietnam War was defeated by a vote of 69-30. I personally want to thank our membership and advocates for making this happen. Your calls and e-mails let the Senators know that the VFW was adamantly opposed to any rule change that would placed undue burdens on veterans seeking an Agent Orange presumption. We ask that you now take time to thank those Senators who voted in favor of veterans, as well as to let those who voted for the amendment know that we are disappointed that they would try to balance the budget on the backs of disabled veterans. To view the Roll Call vote, go to http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll
Bob WallaceExecutive DirectorVFW Washington Office
VFW Washington Weekly June 24, 2011
2. Senate Defense Bill Includes Tricare Increases: The Senate Armed Services Committee-passed version of the National Defense Authorization bill would provide $530 billion to the Defense Department to fight the ongoing wars, as well as for force modernization, equipment replacement, and for personnel programs that would include a 1.6-percent across-the-board military pay raise, educational funding, and improved research and treatment of traumatic brain injury and psychological health conditions. To the VFW's great disappointment, the Senate committee agreed to the House-passed proposal to increase Tricare premiums for working age retirees by 13 percent this year, and link future increases to annual cost-of-living adjustments. VFW opposes any increases in TRICARE fees and will continue to urge senators to drop the provision from their package when it comes up for a full Senate vote in the coming weeks. To contact your senators, go to http://capwiz.com/vfw/issues/alert/?alertid=50425506. For full committee coverage, go to http://armed-services.senate.gov/.
|
|
Red Shirt Friday Photo Night!
If you are the proud owner of a “Red Shirt Friday” tee shirt, the Commander of VFW Post 9907, Tom Judd, invites you as his guest, if
you are not a VFW or Auxiliary member, to the post on Friday, August 5, 5:45PM, for Red Shirt Friday Photo Night. We would like to
get a group photo of all the proud owners of the Red tee shirts that read “Home of the Free, Because of the Brave” on the back and
“Thank you Troops” on the front. This photo will be submitted to the White Mountain Independent and also will be available for
purchase. Don’t have a Red Shirt Friday tee? They will be available for sale prior to the photo so you too can be included in the
group photo. Commander Judd hopes to see all of the persons who support our troops by wearing the Red Shirts on Friday,
August 5, at 5:45PM.
|
|
VFW Joins in Houston National Cemetery Censorship Lawsuit
KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 1, 2011 - The national commander of America's largest and oldest major combat veterans' organization is appalled over allegations of religious censorship at one of the nation’s national cemeteries, calling it a case of “bureaucracy running amok.”
“This is a point in case of bureaucracy…or rather, a classic example of a bureaucrat running amok. In spite of VA policy, the cemetery director is making up her own rules and has imposed hurtful, unilateral restrictions of her own choosing,” said Richard L. Eubank, the national commander of the 2.1 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. and its Auxiliaries.
Texas-based Liberty Institute has filed suit on behalf of the VFW, American Legion, and The National Memorial Ladies over allegations of religious hostility and unlawful censorship by the VA and its director of the Houston National Cemetery. "They've told the VFW and the American Legion that they cannot have prayer during the burial services of our veterans, unless the family requests it in writing and submits the prayer for pre-approval," said Liberty Institute general counsel Jeff Mateer.
The VA, meanwhile, insists its national cemeteries welcome appropriate religious recitations. The "VA values and respects every veteran and their family's right to a burial service that honors their faith tradition," said Keith Ethridge, director of VA's National Chaplain Center. The Houston cemetery superintendent has declined to speak to the media despite numerous requests.
“Generations of patriotic Americans have fought, bled and died to help defend the U.S. Constitution –that great document provides and guarantees fundamental rights of religious expression and freedom of speech. Those basic tenets are clearly being violated at the cemetery and that simply cannot be tolerated," concluded Eubank.
Read more about the lawsuit here.
|
|
This web site is maintained by the Editor of the Bugle. If, at any time you have information you feel
would be of use to our membership, email me at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
I will look over such
information and determine if it is usable on the web site. At NO TIME will information be
published if it is commercial in nature.
Also, and MOST important! If you are reading this but you are NOT receiving my weekly
emails, then I do not have your email address! You do NOT need a computer to have an email address!
There are FREE email servers out there such as YAHOO GMAIL MSN LIVE HOTMAIL
So if you go to the library, a friends' house, your kids or your neighbor to use their computer
you can still have an email address. OH, I forgot.....the Post Canteen has a computer that you
are welcome to use any time you wish! Just think, with an email address you will know all the latest
happenings at your POST 9907; PLUS I will alert you to the latest issue of the BUGLE.
My promise to you....I will never send you junk, jokes or any material NOT related to POST 9907
and I will never sell your information to any group or organization.
If you would like to establish an email account but are not sure how, call me at 928-242-0898 and
I will help. I am not an expert but I know experts!
Another thought.....you are my email buddy already but maybe your friend, son, uncle or....who is a member, has
not become my email buddy, call them, email them send a carrier pigeon! Tell them to contact me
at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
OR 928-242-0898 and I will put them on my list!
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE GREATEST POST IN ARIZONA
THANK YOU!
|
|
VFW OUTRAGED BY SEXUAL ASSAULTS AT VA
WASHINGTON (June 8, 2011) --- The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is outraged by news that America's disabled veterans could become a victim of sexual assault when they visit a Department of Veterans Affairs facility.
According to a report released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office, 284 alleged assaults occurred at the VA between January 2007 and July 2010. Included were 67 rapes, 185 cases of inappropriate touching, and other assaults between patients against patients, patients against staff, and staff against patients.
"It is inexcusable for security equipment and incident reporting procedures to be so broken that patients and staff alike may fear for their personal safety," said VFW National Commander Richard L. Eubank, a retired Marine and Vietnam combat veteran from Eugene, Ore.
"What matters now is for the VA to immediately clean its own house and to hold everyone accountable for their actions," he said. "We have far too many veterans --- especially women veterans --- who need the VA to be a place of healing and not a threat."
The GAO report was based on visits to only five of VA's 152 medical centers, and interviews with only four of their 21 Veterans Integrated Service Networks, or VISNs. This led House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (D-Fla.) to ask "How widespread is this problem?"
The VFW national commander fully agrees, and now expects Congress to increase its oversight of the matter through more hearings and legislation, such as H.R. 2074, introduced by Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R-N.Y.).
"All veterans and employees need to be treated with the utmost respect in every facility," said Eubank. "This is a zero tolerance issue, and nothing less is acceptable to the VFW."
To read the full GAO report, entitled "VA Health Care: Actions Needed to Prevent Sexual Assaults and Other Safety Incidents," go to http://www.gao.gov/.
|
|
|
|
AGENT ORANGE/TRICARE NEWS |
|
1. Final Agent Orange Presumptive Regulations Available: The VA last week published final regulations for three new illnesses to be added to the list of presumptions caused by exposure to Agent Orange --- hairy cell leukemia, Parkinson's disease and ischemic heart disease. VA Secretary Eric Shinseki added the illnesses after an Institutes of Medicine independent study linked the illnesses to exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicide defoliants used during the Vietnam War. New VFW Commander-in-Chief Richard Eubank called the decision very significant for Vietnam veterans. "Scientific research is validating what the veterans' community has been saying for decades --- that Agent Orange exposure made people sick. By accepting those findings, the VA is telling veterans that 'We believe you,' which is exactly the level of trust that we want," he said. Congress now has 60 days to review the regulations.
Read the VFW press release at http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=news.newsDtl&did=5577.
The Federal Register posting is at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-21556.htm.
2. Tricare Retired Reserve Update: Enrollment for Tricare Retired Reserve (TRR) began Sept. 1 for eligible grey area retirees to purchase Tricare healthcare coverage for themselves and their family members. Grey areas retirees are those under 60 who have earned military retirement in the Reserve component. Coverage begins the first day following the month of enrollment (i.e., enroll on Sept. 15 and coverage begins Oct. 1, etc. Visit the Tricare website for more information or to enroll at http://www.tricare.mil/tricaresmart/product.aspx?id=790&CID=88&RID=3.
|
|
|
|
Page 1 of 2 |
|