Showing posts with label Washington DC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Washington DC. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

VA finds 'deteriorating' conditions at DC hospital

This is what happens when the President decided that it was a good thing to privatize the VA and then appointed people to make sure that happened.

Too bad when people tried to warn about this, some just passed it off and wanted to "give him a chance" to pull it off!

He is finishing the job the others in Congress started a long time ago. Destroy the VA instead of honoring the fact that veterans, unlike civilians, prepaid for the care they need BY GETTING DISABLED IN THE FIRST PLACE SERVING THIS COUNTRY!


Memo: VA finds 'deteriorating' conditions at DC hospital
STARS AND STRIPES
By NIKKI WENTLING
Published: August 1, 2018
Since then, inspection reports from the Food and Drug Administration and the VA’s National Program Office for Sterile Processing have revealed ongoing problems. The reports, obtained by Stars and Stripes this spring, detailed instances of dirty syringe bottles, unsanitary conditions, rooms in disarray and staff and supply shortages that led to canceled procedures.

WASHINGTON – After being deemed high risk in January, the flagship Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Washington has continued to deteriorate in quality during the first six months of 2018.

The hospital was designated “critical” and its performance is under administrative review, including possible changes of leadership, according to a memorandum sent to the D.C. hospital July 17 from Carolyn Clancy, then executive in charge of the Veterans Health Administration. The memo was obtained Wednesday by Stars and Stripes.

“Unfortunately, we have not seen the amount of improvement desired over the past two quarters and now see benefit in utilizing additional measures to support the facility in stabilizing the hospital’s quality to the extent that it can be sustained,” Clancy wrote.

According to the memo, the hospital isn’t getting better, despite public assertions from VA officials over the past several months that problems there were being fixed.
read more here

Saturday, July 28, 2018

Never Forgotten Honor Flight trip

There are some stories that absolutely melt your heart. When Vietnam Veterans take an honor flight, sometimes there are no words needed to express the emotions. 

This is one of those times and you can clearly see it in the stunning pictures taken by Alexandra Wimley.

As for the words, it is also clear that Devi Shastri, the reporter, took the time to know these veterans and tell their stories.

*******

Vietnam veterans reflect on an emotional Yellow Ribbon Honor Flight trip to Washington
Oshkosh Northwestern
Devi Shastri
July 28, 2018
“It’s the camaraderie that we are united,” Rihm said. “We are together as a group (of Vietnam veterans) because we weren’t treated very well. When I was discharged from the Army, I did not leave the fort with my uniform on. I put on civilian clothes. I did not want anyone to know.”

OSHKOSH - Standing in front of the dark, reflective sheen of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, Navy veteran Joel Walker knew exactly whose name he was looking for.

George D. MacDonald.
Veteran Al Morasch II becomes emotional and hugs board member Jim Campbell after finding a name on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., during the Never Forgotten Honor Flight trip, May 21, 2018. "He was my best friend," he said. Alexandra Wimley/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
MacDonald was a childhood friend of Walker; the two grew up together in Evanston, Illinois. MacDonald was a captain in the Air Force during the war.
A veteran looks for a name on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., during Never Forgotten Honor Flight, May 21, 2018. Alexandra Wimley/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Walker had been to the wall before — with the Veterans of Foreign Wars as a past state commander for Wisconsin. He also had a general idea of where MacDonald’s name was etched into the shiny black granite. But he couldn’t find it.
read more here and see more stunning pictures

Sunday, June 17, 2018

Marine accidentally shot at Marine Corps barracks

Marine apparently shoots himself by accident at Washington guard post
FOX NEWS
By Greg Norman
June 8, 2018

A Marine apparently shot himself by accident Friday inside a guard post at the Marine Corps barracks in Washington, D.C., officials say.
A Marine apparently shot himself Friday at the Marine Corps Barracks and Commandant's House in Washington, D.C. (Google Maps)

One official with the Marines told Fox News that “early indications are this was a negligent discharge.”

Another said the Marine suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen, while Marine Corps spokeswoman Capt. Colleen McFadden described the wound as "self-inflicted."

The Marine is now in “stable condition with a non-life threatening injury,” she added.
read more here

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

The Vietnam Helicopter Pilot and Crewmember Monument

Dedication ceremony set for monument honoring Vietnam helicopter pilots, crews
Military Times
By: Charlsy Panzino
March 21, 2018

The war was known as the “helicopter war” because the United States relied heavily on the aircraft to transport troops and provide close-air support.
Retired Lt. Col. Forrest “Frosty” Price, a Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association member, stands with the Vietnam Helicopter Pilot and Crewmember Monument. (Courtesy photo)
Those who wish to honor the helicopter pilots and crew members killed in Vietnam can do so on April 18 at Arlington National Cemetery.

After four years, these service members will have their own monument at the Virginia cemetery.

The Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association spearheaded the effort, working with Arlington National Cemetery and Congress to get the monument approved.

At first, the cemetery was hesitant because of the ever-shrinking space for grave sites, but supporters of the monument wrote to Congress and gained attention. Eventually, a compromise was made, and the cemetery approved the monument.

The Vietnam Helicopter Pilot and Crewmember Monument will be placed in Section 35 along Memorial Drive, not far from the Tomb of the Unknowns. It honors the nearly 5,000 helicopter pilots and crew members who were killed during the Vietnam War.
read more here

Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Homeless Veterans Increasing in Nation's Capital

Homelessness among veterans rises in D.C.
Resources shift to meet needs as spike opposite to nationwide reduction
Washington Times
By Julia Airey
January 30, 2018

Veteran Affairs Secretary David J. Shulkin has expressed concern that homelessness among former troops in the District has inched higher, even as it has fallen nationwide.
Army veteran Bernin Gibson, 82, leans his pack of donated winter clothes against a bollard near the Washington DC VA Medical Center on Saturday after the Winterhaven service fare. Mr. Gibson has attended Winterhaven since it began 24 years ago. (Julia Airey / The Washington Times)
“We are very committed to ending veteran homelessness,” Mr. Shulkin told The Washington Times during his agency’s recent Winterhaven homelessness services fair at the Washington DC VA Medical Center. “This has been a journey which started in 2010 where we made significant progress across the country — a 46 percent reduction nationally. But last year we actually went backwards with a 2 percent increase.”

According to the annual “Point-in-Time” tally of people sleeping outdoors in winter, the District counted 672 homeless in 2017, up from 350 in 2016. The data from last week’s PIT tally will be available in May.

In addition, 14.1 percent of the District’s 28,400 veterans were reported living in poverty in 2016, up from 10.5 percent in 2015, according to the Census Bureau.

Citing poverty as a leading risk factor for homelessness, federal and local providers of human services have begun shifting resources to address the needs of veterans at risk of becoming homeless.
read more here

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Honor Flight Brought Veterans of Military and Law Enforcement to DC

Veterans who also served in law enforcement get a warm welcome home at CVG

WCPO News
Ashley Zilka
October 24, 2017

HEBRON, Ky. -- The country's first-ever law enforcement "honor flight" returned home Tuesday night to a waiting crowd of 1,000 well-wishers at Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Airport. 

Honor Flight Network organizers said they had never seen such a large turnout to welcome passengers home.

"We need more of this in America," Chief Jim Gilbert, who accompanied his Vietnam veteran father Harry and brother Officer Eric Gilbert on the trip, said.

"(It was) overwhelming," Harry Gilbert added. "I never dreamed something like this. … I am at a loss for words."

The Honor Flight Network recognizes veterans by flying them to Washington, D.C., to visit memorials dedicated to the wars in which they fought. Tuesday night's was special in that, like Harry Gilbert, every passenger honored by the trip was a veteran who entered law enforcement when they left the military.
read more here

Saturday, September 16, 2017

Wisconsin Vietnam Veterans Honor Flight of Remembrance

Wisconsin Vietnam veterans visit D.C. with Stars and Stripes Honor Flight
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Meg Jones
September 16, 2017


Photos: Stars and Stripes Honor Flight
A group of Vietnam veterans visiting the Air Force Memorial in Washington, D.C., pose for pictures. The Port Washington-based Stars and Stripes Honor Flight brought its first planeload of Vietnam veterans to the nation’s capital as the ranks of World War II and Korean War veterans dwindle. Meg Jones / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
WASHINGTON - They came because they wanted to visit their buddies.

They wanted to see the names of men forever 19 or 20, men who never aged or grew gray or started families or got on with the rest of their lives after serving their country.

They came to experience the camaraderie only people who have served in combat, no matter how many decades ago, feel when they come together. And though they weren’t expecting it — they also received the heroes’ welcome veterans of other wars had gotten but was cruelly denied to many of them.

A group of 80 Vietnam veterans traveled to Washington, D.C., Saturday on the first Stars and Stripes Honor Flight dedicated to men and women who served during that conflict.

Stewart Johnson came to visit Johnnie Vaught Jr. John Phelan wanted to see Bob Gasko. Ted Peller Jr. was paying his respects to Danny Sikorski.

Johnson, 68, a retired Milwaukee police officer, planned to leave a medal awarded to him for saving someone’s life in Vietnam. His daughter, Kelly Becker, encouraged him to instead take a picture of his medal and leave that at the memorial at the spot where Vaught’s name is listed among 58,000 others who lost their lives in Vietnam.
read more here

Sunday, September 10, 2017

A Hundred Vietnam Veterans Return from Honor Flight to Honors

Vietnam vets have emotional homecoming after Honor Flight trip

AUSTIN (KXAN) – About 100 Vietnam War veterans returned home to Central Texas Saturday evening, after visiting our nation’s capital on behalf of Honor Flight.

It’s an experience they said was special for them, and the reception they received upon arrival back at Austin Bergstrom International Airport brought out an emotional response.
“It was my first time in D.C. I really enjoyed it, and I wish everybody could do it,” said Alerse Martinez, Vietnam veteran. “This, I think, is great. I wish we would have had this 50 years ago. It would have been different.”

They were met upstairs in the airport terminal’s west ticketing area with a welcome home greeting from a big crowd.
read more here

Saturday, September 9, 2017

Vietnam Veterans Take Honor Flight With Dignity and Grace

Austin veterans head to D.C. to visit war memorials


FOX 7 News

RaeAnn Christensen
September 8, 2017
“When we saw what happened with these veterans when they saw the wall and when they etched their buddies name off the wall, it was unbelievable, it was a very powerful and painful but a healing experience.” Dulen Lee

There was a long overdue proper send off at the Austin airport Friday morning as more than 100 veterans took off for Washington, D.C. It was part of Honor Flight Austin and was extra special because it was the largest group to go so far and they all served in the Vietnam War.

The vets were met with cheers, smiles, waves, some tears, and many thank yous.

“It's very nice to get recognized because we did not get recognition in the 1970s and 60s,” said veteran Dulen Lee. Lee was one of the many who served in the Vietnam War, considered one of the most controversial wars. Many were not well received when they made their way back home.

“People stayed away from you or insulted you one of the two,” he said.

Lee is part of the group from the Austin area that will be visiting at our Nation’s Capital. But there's one memorial for them in particular, that has special meaning, the one built in their honor.
read more here

Friday, August 11, 2017

Honor Flight, Living Proof Vietnam Veterans Are Worthy of Tribute

Vietnam Veterans Moved to Tears on Honor Flight to D.C.

FOX Insider
August 11, 2017


"When I look at those names, they're not names to me," Medal of Honor recipient Gary L. Littrell said in front of the memorial. "Those little 18, 19-year-old faces, they come back to life temporarily in my heart, my soul, my eyes."

Vietnam veterans who got few thanks for their service since the controversial war were finally appreciated on an honor flight to Washington, D.C. to visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

The 107 veterans of the Vietnam War were treated to a plane decked out in patriotic trimmings. In D.C., they headed to spend time looking at the 58,318 names carved into the memorial wall.
"We all know we didn't get a whole lot of pats on the back, didn't get a lot of thank yous," said Army veteran Bruce Farris. "Well, as of today, that changes."
Old Glory Honor Flight flies World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans out to D.C. to visit the memorials of their wars.

read more here

If you think you don't matter to the people of this country, I dare you to watch the video without having to wipe your eyes!

Let me know if you were not touched by all the people there to welcome this group of Vietnam veterans home!

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Judge Orders VA to Hire Back Fired VA Employee

MSPB forces VA to take back fired official, VA exploring all options under new accountability authorities
08/09/2017 03:02 PM EDT

On August 2, the Vice Chairman of the federal Merit System Protection Board ordered a stay of VA’s removal of the former director of the Washington, D.C. VA Medical Center.

MSPB’s stay order requires VA to return Brian Hawkins, fired on July 28, to work pending the Office of Special Counsel’s review of Hawkins’ claim that he was wrongly terminated.

VA has complied with the order and returned Hawkins to the payroll, but to an administrative position at the VA headquarters in Washington rather than to a patient-care position at the VA Medical Center.

“No judge who has never run a hospital and never cared for our nation’s Veterans will force me to put an employee back in a position when he allowed the facility to pose potential safety risks to our Veterans,” said VA Secretary Dr. David J. Shulkin. “Protecting our Veterans is my most important responsibility.”

The stay order came one day after the VA Office of Inspector General (VAOIG) issued a new report finding that Hawkins violated VA policy by sending sensitive VA information from his work email to unsecured private email accounts belonging to him and his wife.

VA will quickly make an assessment of Mr. Hawkins’ employment using the new evidence and armed with the new authorities recently provided by the VA Accountability Act signed into law by President Trump in June.

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Veterans of Three Wars Took Honor Flight for July 4th

Local veterans embark on Fourth of July honor flight to DC
Spectrum News
By Reena Diamante
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
Before they took flight, the World War II, Korean and Vietnam War veterans, could not help but to reflect on their years of service.
AUSTIN, Texas — Each day, there are fewer and fewer veterans of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

For those who are still here, many have yet to see the memorials built in their honor at our nation's capital.

One local group is honoring them with a flight full of thanks.

There was a grand gesture of gratitude on Tuesday at Austin Bergstrom International Airport. Hundreds of people lined the gates inside the departure terminal to show their support for the men and women who risked their lives for America.

“It means everything to me. I can’t believe this is happening.” said Frank Serpas, a World War II veteran. “It makes me feel so good to know that so many people respect the veterans.”

“It brought tears to my eyes,” said Jack Green, another WWII vet. “It’s been a long time.”

More than two dozen veterans took part in an Independence Day Honor Flight to visit the national memorials in Washington, D.C. and watch fireworks. For many, the experience is a trip of a lifetime.
read more here

Saturday, June 3, 2017

Veteran Found Dead After Sister Searched VA Parking Lot

Body of Missing Veteran Found in Car in Washington DC VA Medical Center Parking Lot
NBC 4 Washington
By Scott MacFarlane, Rick Yarborough and Steve Jones

The Metropolitan Police Department, the D.C. medical examiner and top officials with the Washington DC VA Medical Center are investigating the discovery of the body of a military veteran in a car outside the medical center in May.
The News4 I-Team learned the agency is being questioned for a delay in finding the man’s body, despite multiple requests from his family to look for him.

A relative of the veteran said she reported the man missing when he didn't return from an appointment at the medical center May 15. She said the man’s body wasn’t found until the early morning hours of May 17 and was only discovered by the man’s sister. The veteran’s sister said she searched the parking lot herself after the VA medical center failed to find him, after multiple requests.

A police report obtained by the I-Team said the veteran was found “slumped over” and unconscious in a vehicle at the medical center’s parking lot. The large DC VA Medical Center, which sits along Irving Street near North Capitol Street in Northwest, has a large, open-air parking lot near its main entrance.
read more here

Monday, May 8, 2017

Vietnam Veteran Got Emotional By Support Shown

Vietnam War veteran gets emotional homecoming decades after his service 
KETV 
Erin Hassanzadeh 
May 5, 2017
Elkhorn, NEB. — Tom Meradith said when he came back after two tours in Vietnam, his 1967 homecoming was anything but heartwarming. 

Meradith was one of the nearly 650 Vietnam veterans from Nebraska that took the honor flight in Washington DC on Monday. Meradith is the Chaplin for the Brookestone Meadows Care Center in Elkhorn. Staff, residents and patients there wanted to make sure he got a proper homecoming this time around. 

Around 75 people lined the halls of the center with yellow roses to surprise Meradith after the trip. The surprise brought him to tears. read more here

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

VA Medical Center Director Relieved of Duties

VA News Releases
VA Responds to IG Report on Health-Care Inspection at D.C. VA Medical Center
04/12/2017

WASHINGTON — Today, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) released an interim summary report titled Healthcare Inspection – Patient Safety Concerns at the Washington, D.C. VA Medical Center (VAMC), Washington, D.C.

The Department of Veterans Affairs thanks the OIG for its quick work reviewing the D.C. VAMC. The department considers this an urgent patient-safety issue. 

Effective immediately, the medical center director has been relieved from his position and temporarily assigned to administrative duties.

Dr. Charles Faselis has been named the acting Medical Center Director.

VA is conducting a swift and comprehensive review into these findings. VA’s top priority is to ensure that no patient has been harmed. If appropriate, additional disciplinary actions will be taken in accordance with the law.


Previous Release
On March 21, 2017, a confidential complainant forwarded to the Office of Inspector General(OIG) documents describing equipment and supply issues at the Washington D.C. VA Medical Center (the Medical Center) sufficient to potentially compromise patient safety. OIG promptly reviewed the documentation.

On March 29, 2017, OIG deployed a Rapid Response Team to assess the allegations. OIG’s team conducted interviews, collected documents, and conducted a physical inspection of the Medical Center’s satellite storage areas on March 29–30, 2017. The team returned for an additional site visit on April 4–6, 2017, and is on-site for a third inspection at the time of this report’s publication.

OIG has preliminarily identified a number of serious and troubling deficiencies at the Medical Center that place patients at unnecessary risk. Although we have not identified at this time any adverse patient outcomes, we found that:
 there was no effective inventory system for managing the availability of medical equipment and supplies used for patient care;
 there was no effective system to ensure that supplies and equipment that were subject to patient safety recalls were not used on patients;
 18 of the 25 sterile satellite storage areas for supplies were dirty;
 over $150 million in equipment or supplies had not been inventoried in the past year and therefore had not been accounted for;
 a large warehouse stocked full of non-inventoried equipment, materials and supplies has a lease expiring on April 30, 2017, with no effective plan to move the contents of the warehouse by that date; and
 there are numerous and critical open senior staff positions that will make prompt remediation of these issues very challenging.

At least some of these issues have been known to the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) senior management for some time without effective remediation.

Although our work is continuing, we believed it appropriate to publish this Interim Summary Report given the exigent nature of the issues we have preliminarily identified and the lack of confidence in VHA adequately and timely fixing the root causes of these issues. We are also including recommendations for immediate implementation.
read more here

Sunday, March 26, 2017

Driven by Love, Medal of Honor Day

On Medal of Honor Day, a nation's military heroes honor courageous civilians
STARS AND STRIPES
By MICHAEL S. DARNELL
Published: March 25, 2017
"And that's the bottom line behind all the actions on the battlefield – the mortal battlefield of combat and the other battlefields of life – [that] in my mind, in my heart, were driven by love."
Mike Fitzmaurice, left, and Will Swenson, center, both Medal of Honor recipients, lay a wreath with the help of a soldier with the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Regiment "The Old Guard"at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on Saturday, March 25, 2017.
MICHAEL S. DARNELL/STARS AND STRIPES
ARLINGTON, Va. – Always a select group, the number of living recipients of the nation’s highest military award for valor continues to dwindle. Many of the 75 living Medal of Honor recipients are Vietnam War veterans in their 70s and 80s. Traveling for them isn't as easy as it used to be, so it's a special event, indeed, that can bring so many of them together.

More than 20 of those honorees gathered Saturday in the shadow of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, where they watched two of their number — Mike Fitzmaurice and Will Swenson — lay a wreath at the base of that famous monument to soldierly sacrifice. They did so in commemoration of National Medal of Honor Day, a day set aside to celebrate heroism.

But to hear them tell it, the men gathered not to be honored, but to instead to pay their respects to men long since passed.
"Service has never been about camouflage and guns, it's been about giving of yourself to others selflessly," said Salvatore Giunta
read more here

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Vietnam Veterans Memorial 35 Years of Healing

‘The Wall’ is turning 35, and the man behind it wants to honor this generation’s fallen
Military Times
By: Jan C. Scruggs
March 24, 2017
On a cold and windy March day, veterans from each of the 50 states broke ground with shovels to show wide support.
On Sunday, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial will host a ceremony to commemorate the 35th anniversary of its historic groundbreaking. The idea for a memorial engraved with names of the fallen flowed from my academic research and from testimony before the Senate on what is now called post-traumatic stress, a common reaction to witnessing violence.
Jan Scruggs, left, and project engineer Gary Wright look over plans for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on March 23, 1982. Groundbreaking took place March 26.
Photo Credit: Bill Auth/AP
The memorial was planned as a societal acknowledgement of those who served, funded by the American people. I started the effort in 1979 while a GS-7 at the Labor Department, thanks to the permission of my wife. This was nonstop work, day after day.

In 1982, the money was in hand, as was a permit to begin construction. The effort barely succeeded. I hope the lessons learned can ease the path to success for a Global War on Terrorism Memorial that will honor a new generation of service members.
read more here

Saturday, January 28, 2017

Double Amputee Army Veteran Now Serves in Washington DC

Army Veteran, Double-Amputee Finds New Battlefield in DC
ABC News
By LIZ ALESSE
Jan 27, 2017
Florida Congressman Brian Mast says he decided to run for office on a day seven years ago when he woke up in the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The Army bomb technician had been serving in Kandahar, Afghanistan, as part of the Joint Special Operations Command. “We came to a place on the battlefield that I told my guys I was pretty sure that there was a bomb buried somewhere there,” Mast said. “I found it in a way I didn’t intend to.”

Mast stepped on an improvised explosive device and lost both of his legs and his left index finger in the blast. His injuries ended his 12-year military career, but not his commitment to service. “The most important lesson my father ever gave me was very shortly after I was injured,” Mast recalled.

“He said, 'Brian, you can't let this keep you down ... You cannot let your kids see you sitting on your butt regardless of what happened to you, because your kids will think it’s an OK way for them to go through their life. That's when I decided the most important fight of my life could be here in Washington, D.C. in another capacity.”
read more here

Sunday, January 22, 2017

Iraq Veteran Donnie Reis Explains What Freedom Means to Him

Local musician “honored” to perform at inauguration
Dayton Daily News
Randy Tucker Staff Writer
Jan. 21, 2017
“This is something that should unite us. I’m not attending the march in any anti-American stance. This is just democracy. This is what I fought for. I’ve been to places where democracy doesn’t exist.” 
Donnie Reis,
Donnie Reis, left, performs with Lee Greenwood, right, at a pre-Inaugural “Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration” at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2017. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Donnie Reis, a national recording artist and producer from Tipp City and an Iraq War veteran, respects Civil Rights, women’s rights and the right to protest — but above all else, he respects the democratic process, which manifests itself every four years as the inauguration of the President of the United States.

Reis said he considered it an honor to perform Friday at President Donald Trump’s inauguration, where he sang and played violin with The Frontmen of Country band, led by country music singers Larry Stewart, Richie McDonald and Tim Rushlow.

The group was joined by fellow country artist, Lee Greenwood, to perform his iconic song “God Bless the U.S.A” for President Trump, his family and thousands of attendees on Washington, D.C.’s National Mall.

“That was the highlight for me,” said Reis during a phone interview Saturday from Washington. “Standing up on stage and looking out over a sea of people from all different walks of life, singing “God Bless the U.S.A,” and hearing them sing it back; It took everything I had not just to cry.”
read more here

Saturday, January 21, 2017

Operation Stand Down-Central Texas Honored At Ball

Local nonprofit honored at Texas ball in D.C.
Killeen Daily Herald
By David A. Bryant
Herald staff write
Posted: Friday, January 20, 2017

What the Copperas Cove resident and former Army warrant officer didn’t know, however, was her organization was in for a treat. Toyota of Texas had a surprise in store for her — a brand-new custom Toyota Tundra pickup truck to help haul much-needed donations and provide rides for poor and homeless veterans to appointments at the Temple Veterans Affairs hospital.
Photo courtesy of Jack Barcroft
U.S. Rep. Roger Williams (R-Austin) introduces Joann Courtland, director of Operation Stand Down-Central Texas, during the Texas State Society Black Tie and Boots ball Thursday in Washington, D.C. The nonprofit was presented a brand new Toyota Tacoma pickup truck by Toyota of Texas to honor the nonprofit's work in helping homeless veterans.
WASHINGTON — When Joann Courtland, director of the Copperas Cove-based Operation Stand Down-Central Texas, was told to pack her bags Wednesday for a trip to the nation’s capital, she wasn’t quite sure what was going on.

She was told that U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Austin, was flying her out to attend the Texas State Society Black Tie and Boots ball to bring attention to the work the nonprofit does to help homeless veterans and bring them back into society. So she packed her bags, hopped on a plane Thursday morning and flew to Washington, D.C.

“I just thought he would talk about our organization in front of fellow Texans and allow for people who wanted to sponsor or donate to do so,” Courtland said. “It was full of 10,000-plus folks from all over the state.”
read more here