DAV members want to get word out about local chapter

Proud American veterans: DAV members want to get word out about local chapter
August 26, 2012
By Chris Lavender
Times-News

When Buddy Tate returned to Burlington in 1968 after serving in Vietnam, he found help from the local Disabled American Veterans chapter.

The group, also known as DAV, has 1.2 million members nationwide. The DAV chapter in Burlington serves nearly 500 members. DAV’s local headquarters is at 315 W. Willowbrook Drive.

Tate, 66, said when he first joined DAV in the 1970s, the local chapter consisted mostly of World War II veterans. He was always amazed by their war stories.

“Nothing compares to what some of them went through,” Tate said.

Tate, a Burlington native, was drafted into the U.S. Air Force in 1965 and was later stationed at Bien Hoa, Vietnam, and worked as a sheet metal mechanic.

After his military service, Tate went to work as a dispatcher with the Burlington Police Department. He is now retired. DAV allows Tate to connect with other disabled veterans in the local area.

Tate said when he left the service in 1968 he didn’t know what benefits were available to veterans. He later attended Alamance Community College to receive additional training.

Enrico Mitchell, 56, also is a member of the local DAV chapter. Mitchell, a Wendell native, has served many roles in DAV including former commander.
read more here

Collecting donations in Military wear is misleading, vets say

Military wear is misleading, vets say
Aug 11, 2012
Written by
R. Norman Moody
FLORIDA TODAY

Beyond wondering where the donation money goes, by far the biggest complaint lodged against out-of-town organizations’ collecting cash for veterans at local stores is the solicitors’ appearance.

In complaints to FLORIDA TODAY and multiple state agencies, veterans and their advocates say solicitors are dressed to resemble military men and women, when some have never served.

Carolyn Mosely, of Melbourne, filed a formal complaint with the state agency that oversees charities’ fundraising, about the encounter she and her husband had with a collector for Veterans Support Organization outside a local Winn-Dixie. In her letter, Mosely said the young man admitted he was not a veteran, although his dress hinted otherwise.

“He was just dressed like a soldier, and was collecting funds for the organization,” she wrote, adding that she felt it’s “totally misleading, dishonest, and possibly illegal to masquerade as a military person in order to scam the public into donating.”

She went to add, “My husband served 30 years in the USAF, had combat tours in three wars, and I resent anyone impersonating a military man.”
read more here

My husband is with the DAV and I am with the Auxiliary. We go to stores arranged way a head of time for Forget Me Not drives twice a year. It happens all the time. People will come up to the table and tell us they love the DAV and just donated. When we ask them where they were, they said on "such and such street" and gave the money to a man in uniform. When we tell them the DAV does not collect money on the street and we do not put on costumes, they are horrified. They don't like being duped. What they like even less is the fact their money did not go to where they knew it would be put to good use.

The other group keeps changing their name but usually has a sign saying Disabled Veterans Foundation or something like that. People see the words Disabled Veteran and then just assume they are with the DAV.

I strongly suggest that if you are seeing anyone collecting money for veterans on the street or at a store, check to see who they are really with. If you don't know anything about them, get information from them and then look them up to see if they are worthy of your money and trust. If they won't provide you with the information, then go into the store and complain to the manager. Let them know what is going on. Most of the time the store managers just trust them because they have a tax exempt assuming they are on the level.

The above group is yet another problem if they are dressing up like veterans instead of actually being veterans.

Groups decry DoD ‘betrayal’ of vets

Groups decry DoD ‘betrayal’ of vets

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Aug 29, 2008 16:09:27 EDT

In a letter going out to members of Congress next week, the directors of two major veterans’ groups say the Pentagon’s personnel chief has intentionally withheld benefits from wounded service members.

“We need your immediate assistance to help end the Defense Department’s deliberate, systemic betrayal of every brave American who [dons] the uniform and stands in harm’s way,” states the letter, signed by David Gorman, executive director of Disabled American Veterans, and Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

“Sadly, the 2007 Walter Reed scandal, which resulted mostly from poor oversight and inadequate leadership, pales in comparison to what we view as the deliberate manipulation of the law” by David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, and his deputies, the letter states.

Kerry Baker, legislative director for Disabled American Veterans, said Chu sent out a memorandum in March redefining which injuries qualify as “combat-related.”

The definition is important because Section 1646 of the 2008 Defense Authorization Act said service members with combat-related disabilities no longer must pay back any disability retirement severance they receive from the Defense Department before they become eligible for disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs, as has been the case under longstanding policy.

The policy affects service members who receive a disability rating of 20 percent or less from the Defense Department, and thus receive a severance payment rather than lifetime disability retirement pay.

Baker said he has seen cases in which, for example, a veteran receives a $30,000 severance payment from the Pentagon, uses it for medical care or education, and then, even if subsequently awarded a full 100 percent disability rating by VA, must pay the $30,000 back first before he can draw any VA compensation.
go here for more

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/08
/military_veteransletter_defensedepartment_082908w/

VFW, DAV tap Vietnam-era vets as new leaders

VFW, DAV tap Vietnam-era vets as new leaders

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Aug 21, 2008 17:14:19 EDT

Two of the nation’s biggest veterans’ groups have elected Vietnam-era veterans as their new national commanders.

Raymond Dempsey, an Air Force veteran, was selected to head the 1.4 million-member Disabled American Veterans.

Glen Gardner, a Marine Corps veteran, was elected to head the 1.6 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Gardner was elected during VFW’s annual convention held Aug. 16-21 in Orlando, Fla. Dempsey was elected during DAV’s annual convention in Las Vegas one week earlier.

Dempsey, who lives in Des Plaines, Ill., was in the Air Force from 1967 to 1970 and received a medical discharge after suffering a spinal cord injury while serving as a member of a nuclear, biological and chemical team.

Gardner, of Round Rock, Texas, served in the Marine Corps from 1966 to 1970 and did a tour as an aircraft mechanic with the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Group 12 in Chu Lai, Vietnam.

In his Aug. 21 acceptance speech, Gardner said veterans’ service organizations need to do more for younger veterans to remain relevant.

“We cannot hold onto the concepts of another era and expect to survive,” he said. “Young veterans are not looking for a social club. They want to belong to an organization that provides services to active-duty military, veterans and their families.”
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/08/military_vfw_dav_082108w/

Glad they opened their eyes. I've been posting about the need to change for a couple of years now.

Groups want quicker OKs of VA health budgets

Groups want quicker OKs of VA health budgets

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Aug 15, 2008 16:11:46 EDT

Hoping to avoid annual problems with veterans’ health care budgets that are too late and too small, a coalition of nine veterans groups proposes a radical change in how Congress funds Department of Veterans Affairs medical programs.

The Partnership for Veterans Health Care Budget Reform is trying to solve two problems.

One is that Congress is downright pokey in approving annual budgets. Only once in the last 14 years, and twice in the last 20 years, has the VA budget been approved by the start of the new fiscal year. The funding bill, known as appropriations, has been 3½ months late, on average, over the last six years.

A second and more serious problem is that the VA budget still isn’t large enough to eliminate waiting lists for medical appointments.

The veterans’ groups propose a two-part solution: They want a better method of calculating how much money is needed and they want advance appropriations.

If their plan was in effect now, Congress would be working on the veterans’ budget for fiscal 2010, which begins on Oct. 1, 2009.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/08/military_vabudget_081508w/

Bush ticks off veterans again with veto threat of what they need

Veterans Groups Appalled at White House Veto Threats


Last update: 10:16 a.m. EDT Aug. 1, 2008
WASHINGTON, Aug 01, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- A coalition representing millions of America's veterans today expressed outrage at a White House claim that Congress is overspending on veterans programs and has threatened to veto any of the remaining 11 spending bills that exceed the President's request unless Congress finds $2.9 billion in offsets elsewhere in the federal budget.

Under the fiscal year 2009 Military Construction-VA Appropriations bill, the Department of Veterans Affairs would receive $47.7 billion, which is $4.6 billion above the 2008 funding level and $2.9 billion more than the President requested.

As the House of Representatives prepared to debate the measure, the four Independent Budget veterans service organizations told Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi that they "vigorously defend the crucial increases in VA funding" which the Administration has underfunded in its budget requests for the past several years.

In their July 31 letter to Speaker Pelosi, AMVETS, Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America and the Veterans of Foreign Wars said, "This budget, a budget that intends to bind the wounds of war and to care for those who have worn the nation's uniform, should never be used as a political lever to force policies of one branch (of government) on the other."
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DAV agenda to address underfunded VA and honor Tammy Duckworth

DAV National Convention to Push for VA Funding Reform


Last update: 1:14 p.m. EDT July 30, 2008
WASHINGTON, July 30, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Presidential Candidate, Key Officials Scheduled to Address Disabled Veterans
The Disabled American Veterans will once again convene its national body to address the needs of disabled veterans, including those who have served and sacrificed in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere when the organization meets at the Bally's Hotel in Las Vegas for its 87th National Convention Aug. 9-12.
More than 4,000 DAV delegates will review important legislative initiatives aimed at building better lives for disabled veterans and their families. The major issues to be addressed by the Convention include the need to improve mental health care for the psychologically wounded and their families, eliminating the lengthy delays veterans encounter when submitting disability claims to the Department of Veterans Affairs and guarantying full funding for veterans health care.

A special moment will be the presentation of the DAV's Outstanding Disabled Veteran of the Year Award to Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth, whose remarkable accomplishments in service to veterans, despite suffering a double amputation and other grievous wounds during combat duty in Iraq, inspired the nation and advanced the causes of America's disabled veterans.

The 1.4 million-member Disabled American Veterans, a non-profit organization founded in 1920 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1932, represents this nation's wartime disabled veterans. It is dedicated to a single purpose: building better lives for our nation's disabled veterans and their families. For more information, visit the organization's Web site www.dav.org.
SOURCE Disabled American Veterans
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Senator Obama, what's more pressing than the troops and veterans?

When NAMI sent out a questionnaire on mental illness, you (or one of your advisors) took the time to answer every question, while others didn't bother. When NAMI asked you to send a representative of your campaign to the convention in Orlando, you did when McCain didn't bother to do more than send in the same kind of letter he responded to the request from NAMI with. For most of your campaign, you seem to claim there is nothing more important than taking care of the troops and veterans. You said the invasion of Iraq and occupation of it was wrong and spoke out against it, but for all the claims you have about the importance of the troops and veterans is to you, you decline to participate in a Town Hall meeting with them. What is more pressing then the needs the men and women serving this nation have? What is more important than addressing the military families sacrificing while their family member is deployed? What is more pressing than addressing the special needs of citizen soldiers and their families?


From Carissa Picard, President Military Spouses for Change

If there is one more debate or town hall before the general election, it should be before an audience composed of the men and women whose service and sacrifice ensure that these events continue through their defense of our country and of our Constitution; particularly after six years of war.



Press Release about the event is attached.


NEW YORK TIMES

July 12, 2008
Obama Won't Commit to Event at Military Base
By KATE ZERNIKE
A coalition of military groups is planning a nationally televised town-hall-style meeting with the presidential candidates near Fort Hood, Tex., the largest active-duty military installation in the country. But so far, only Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee, has agreed to attend.

CBS has agreed to broadcast the meeting live from 9 to 11 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, Aug. 11. The candidates would face questions directly from an audience of 6,000 people, made up of veterans, service members and military families from the base.

Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has not agreed to participate.

"Senator Obama strongly supports America's veterans and military families and has worked hard on their behalf in the Senate," said Phillip Carter, director of Mr. Obama's veterans effort and an Iraq war veteran. "While we unfortunately had a previously scheduled commitment on the date proposed, Senator Obama looks forward to continuing the dialogue he's been having throughout the country with veterans on how we can better serve our men and women in uniform as they serve us."

Carissa Picard, managing director of the Fort Hood Presidential Town Hall Consortium, said she had suggested Aug. 11 and asked the campaign to suggest other dates if that was not convenient, but after several conversations she had not been able to work anything out.

"I'm having extreme difficulty getting the Obama campaign to commit to this event, and we do not understand why," said Ms. Picard, whose husband is deployed in Iraq. "We made it very clear to them that if they would commit to the event, we would work with them on dates."

The organizers released details about the event in hopes that it would pressure the Obama campaign to agree to the event.

"This was a decision that was made with tremendous difficulty, to publicize it," Ms. Picard said. "We were at a point where we had no other option. We got the impression that they could talk us to November."

The meeting would be at the Expo Center in Belton, Tex., about 25 miles from Fort Hood.

A military audience might seem more hospitable to a Republican candidate, particularly one like Mr. McCain, who has made his support for the war in Iraq the heart of his campaign. But the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken a heavy toll on Fort Hood; one of the groups organizing the event estimates that up to 800 of the service people who have died in Iraq have come through the base.

And organizers say many Fort Hood residents — the base serves about 218,000 people, including service members, retirees and military families — have grown tired of the war and agree with Mr. Obama's declaration that it must end.

Still, Mr. McCain prefers the town-hall-style format. He had proposed a series of 10 similar events with Mr. Obama, and the two campaigns were said to be working out details for a more limited series of meetings.

Organizers say the veterans and military population in the United States, including families, totals about 44 million people.

"McCain and Obama are asking to be the next commander in chief," Ms. Picard said. "What's a more compelling audience than this, the people that you have asked to maintain our security? It would be tremendous for the morale of this community."

Organizers include American Veterans, Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Veterans for Common Sense and Military Spouse Corporate Career Network.

Carissa Picard, Esq.

VA Official Scolded for Ties to DAV

VA Official Scolded for Ties to Advocacy Group
A top Department of Veterans Affairs official has been scolded by the government agency for his involvement with a prominent lobbying organization, a group that helps disabled veterans get benefits that the official is charged with dispersing.

The official, Robert T. Reynolds, became a member of the Cold Spring, Ky.-based Disabled American Veterans before he began working for the Veterans Affairs Department, he said. But audtiors said the situation is "fraught with possibilities for running afoul" of department ethics policies and he will have his activities "closely monitored" and be instructed on what "matters may require his recusal," according to a government audit obtained by Watchdogs this week through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The audit, while redacted, references Disabled American Veterans (DAV), which has 1.4 million members, on page five of the report and, indirectly, Reynolds, the organization's national commander who also serves as the executive management officer for the Veterans Benefits Administration in Washington, D.C.

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DAV claims DOD violates law on severance

Vets group claims DoD violates severance law

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jun 17, 2008

At the end of a boisterous House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing in which lawmakers lambasted Veterans Affairs Department and Pentagon officials for not meeting various deadlines for improving care for wounded combat troops, Disabled American Veterans dropped a quiet bombshell.

The Pentagon “knowingly violated the law and ignored the intent of Congress” in implementing a provision of the 2008 Defense Authorization Act that lawmakers designed to enhance disability severance pay for wounded and injured service members, wrote Kerry Baker, associate national legislative director for DAV.

Baker argued that Congress created Section 1646 of the 2008 Defense Authorization Act with the intent that service members injured in combat, in a combat zone, or performing tasks related to combat — such as training — would not have to pay back any disability retirement severance pay they receive from the Defense Department before becoming eligible for VA disability compensation, as has been the case under long-standing policy.

But Baker said David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, sent out a “directive-type memorandum” March 13 instructing that only those injured in a combat zone in the line of duty or as a direct result of armed conflict do not have to pay back their severance money.

“This action has intentionally read ‘hazardous service,’ ‘conditions simulating war,’ and ‘instrumentality of war’ completely out of the law,” Baker wrote.

Chu’s action, he wrote, “forces one to question his true resolve to care for those he sends into battle, or orders to train for battle.”

Baker said he believes the decision was purely monetary.

“We can think of no other conceivable reason … to circumvent the law as he has done here,” Baker wrote. “To answer the question of ‘why,’ Congress need only determine in whose budget the disability compensation is deposited once offset by VA. We believe the answer to that question is the [Defense Department] budget.”

Defense Department spokeswoman Eileen Lainez said that was not Chu’s intent.

“Rest assured that saving money was not the driver in the implementation,” she said in an e-mail. “The statutory intent of [the law] clearly and appropriately focuses the ‘enhanced disability severance’ to those service members where the unfitting condition is a result of direct participation and performance of duty in the war effort.”
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/06/military_severance_061708w/

Number of disabled vets up with Iraq, Afghan wars

AP IMPACT: Number of disabled vets up with Iraq, Afghan wars

AP IMPACT: Number of disabled veterans is on rise as wars in Iraq, Afghanistan wear on

JENNIFER C. KERR
AP News

May 11, 2008 09:30 EST

Increasing numbers of U.S. troops have left the military with damaged bodies and minds, an ever-larger pool of disabled veterans that will cost the nation billions for decades to come — even as the total population of America's vets has begun to shrink.


Despite the decline in total vets — as soldiers from World War II and Korea die — the government expects to be spending $59 billion a year to compensate injured warriors in 25 years, up from today's $29 billion, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. And the Veterans Affairs Department concedes the bill could be much higher.

Why?

Worse wounds. More disabilities. More vets aware of the benefits and quicker to file for them.

Also, ironically, advanced medical care. Troops come home with devastating injuries that might well have killed them in earlier wars.

Time is also a factor when it comes to disability compensation costs. Payments tend to go up as veterans age, and an increasing number of soldiers from the Vietnam War will be getting bigger payments as they get older and are less able to work around their disabilities.

The number of disabled veterans has jumped by 25 percent since 2001 — to 2.9 million — and the cause really is no mystery.

"This is a cost of war," says Steve Smithson, a deputy director at the American Legion. "We're still producing veterans. We've been in a war in Iraq for five years now, and the war on terror since 9/11."

VA and Census Bureau figures show the previous six-year period, before hostilities in Afghanistan and Iraq, saw a more modest increase of 4 percent in the number of disabled vets. Veterans can make claims for disability benefits long after their military service has ended.

Today's veterans — disabled or not — number nearly 24 million. That population is projected by the VA to fall under 15 million by 2033, mostly because of dying World War II and Korean War vets. But costs are expected to rise.

Inflation accounts for a big chunk of the increase. But even when the VA factors out inflation, the compensation for disabled veterans would still grow from $29 billion to $33 billion in today's dollars — a more than 10 percent increase. And the department acknowledges the estimate could rise by 30 percent.

VA officials were not eager to talk about reasons for the increases. They declined several requests for interviews. In a written response to a handful of questions, the agency noted a few factors at play in the rising costs, such as the aging veterans population, an increase in the number of disabilities claimed and the severity of injuries sustained.

Outside experts provided more insight.

The American Legion's Smithson says the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are resulting in more severe injuries — amputations and traumatic burns — the kind of injuries that troops in Vietnam and earlier wars would not have survived. http://www.rawstory.com/news/mochila/AP_IMPACT_Number_of_disabled_vets_u_05112008.html

Only 24 million veterans and we, a nation of over 300 million, cannot take care of them?

Harley Davidson and DAV team up to help out

DAV help available Saturday at dealership
The Hawk Eye

Military veterans can receive free counseling and assistance with their government benefits Saturday at Heartland Harley-Davidson.

A fully equipped Disabled American Veterans service office will be at the dealership, 155 S. Roosevelt Ave., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to answer questions as part of a $1 million grant from Harley-Davidson.

Harley's Heroes allows trained DAV personnel to provide benefits counseling to veterans who suffer from service-related injuries but may never have filed a claim for benefits or have found it difficult to work with the Veterans Administration.

Veterans seeking help should bring their claim number, Social Security number and any other pertinent documentation so the DAV representative can offer help.
http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/VA-advice-042408

Veterans Legislative Updates

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
All links from United Female Veterans Of America http://www.ufva.us/
More Info
March 28, 2008

Reps. Michaud and Miller Introduce Substance Abuse Legislation for Veterans Congressman Mike Michaud (D-Maine), Chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health, joined with Congressman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), the subcommittee’s Ranking Member, to introduce the Veterans Substance Use Disorder Prevention and Treatment Act of 2008. The bill would require the VA to provide a range of solutions for treating substance abuse at every VA medical center. Rep. Michaud penned an op-ed in The Hill on this legislation.

DAV Testifies on Substance Abuse
DAV’s Assistant National Legislative Director, Joy Ilem, testified before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs earlier this month on substance abuse. She urged the Committee to provide veterans with access to a full continuum of care for substance use disorders, including drug screening in all care locations, intensive outpatient treatment and residential care for the most severely addicted. Her testimony can be viewed here.

Members of Congress Encouraged to Sign Pledge
DAV is asking members of Congress to sign a pledge that supports the principle of ensuring veterans receive the comprehensive medical care and support that they deserve The pledge was distributed earlier this month on Capitol Hill by hundreds of DAV members. A copy of the pledge can be viewed here.

Media Coverage
The Boston Globe wrote about the insufficient support for relatives of disabled veterans and others serving as caretakers.
USA Today ran a story on how the Pentagon admitted to delaying screening for mild brain injuries for two years.

About the Stand Up for Veterans Initiative
"Stand Up for Veterans" is a new initiative of the Disabled American Veterans, an organization of 1.3 million disabled veterans who are focused on building better lives for disabled veterans and their families. The initiative seeks to find public policy solutions for all veterans, particularly those returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, who have incurred devastating injuries and disabilities, including traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological wounds of war. Please visit http://capwiz.com/dav/utr/1/EIMWIGMALX/INKAIGMAPB/1856948681 to learn more about this effort. Stand up for veterans. They stood up for us.

The VA is not a "budget deficit" it's an obligation

Tom Hayes: Congress must extend VA benefits to all combat veterans
Mar 08, 2008 @ 11:35 PM
The Herald-Dispatch
American Legion Post 93 has been working on a bill in Congress (HR 1901) to help veterans of Lebanon, Grenada, Panama and Korea. This bill will make these combat veterans eligible for the VA non-service-connected disability pension. It is only paid when a veteran becomes permanently and totally disabled and has limited or no income.

We commend Rep. Nick Rahall for introducing this bill for us. Congressman Rahall testified in support of HR 1901 on the House floor on April 19, 2007. He again testified before the House subcommittee on veterans affairs on July 31, 2007, along with representatives from the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans and the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

We asked Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, to sponsor the bipartisan bill, and her response was, "Should this bill reach the House floor, I will be sure to keep it in mind."

On more than one occasion, we asked Sen. Jay Rockefeller, a member and former chairman of the Senate Veterans Committee, to join Congressman Rahall in introducing a companion bill in the Senate. Sen. Rockefeller's responses were, "HR 1901 is currently pending with the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, and I will certainly keep your concerns in mind if it is brought before the Senate for consideration," and, "The tremendous deficits faced by our country are making it difficult to expand veterans benefits as much as we would all like to see."
go here for the rest
http://www.herald-dispatch.com/opinions/x1084925679

When I read what they say or watch them speak when they are covered by CSPAN, I cannot believe the audacity of these people. While they talk about the great debt we owe those who serve this nation with one breathe they then turn around and speak of deficits in the budget. The only deficit they should be concerned with is the morality they are lacking.

How can they say whatever money Bush asks for to continue the occupation of Iraq without any form of accountability and results, turn around and whine about the money it will cost this nation to care for the wounded they demand the right to keep producing? It makes no sense at all.

Had they not been so inclined to ignore the hundreds of millions of dollars that vanished in Iraq, the cost-plus contracts the defense contractors received or the money Bush keeps asking for aside from the budget on "emergency" spending requests, there wouldn't be such a huge deficit. The wounded are part of the costs of conducting two occupations producing more and more wounded on a daily basis. They are part of the emergency they need to pay for but they cannot see it that way. They would rather see the veterans as a burden to the tax payers while conducting the occupation no one wants has no limit to the amount of money they are willing to pay.

The veterans of today and tomorrow are no less and no more worthy than those of yesterday. They are just in addition to them. It's time to fully fund the VA so that there is no more separation of indebtedness. It cannot be one group of veterans being pushed aside to make room for another group because there is a budget deficit. Why is it that politicians seem to have little problem finding money to wage war and a gigantic problem paying for the results of those wars?

Already we have seen veterans coming back and told they have to wait as their claims fall into a huge pile so deep it depends on the day and the reporter using the data provided on that day. What happens is a report will ask about the number of backlog claims and they are told what the person answering the question wants to tell them. A report came out last month addressing the cut back in IT workers stating the backlog of claims was over 800,000, yet another article will be written days later putting that number back around 400,000. Does Congress ask what that cause of the discrepancy is coming from? Do they even notice the huge difference in what they are being told by different people?

This entire subject is not just absurd, it's disgraceful.

Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Homeless Veterans All Over Blog World Today

HELLO February 08...
DAV Charitable Service Trust supports physical and psychological rehabilitation programs, meets the special needs of veterans with specific disabilities

Arizona Standdown for Homeless Veterans
By Doris Do you realize there are between 200000 and 300000 homeless veterans on the streets in this country at any given day of the year?

Military Vets to protest Bill O'Reilly and FOX News
By Rob(Rob) A delegation of homeless veterans from Fitzgerald House, an organization that provides housing and assistance to veterans, visited FOX News two weeks ago to hand deliver the petition, signed by over 18000 people.

Homeless Veterans Are in the Lurch
By contact@veteransforcommonsense.org (Steve Vogel ) A dilapidated shelter for homeless veterans is set to be leveled to make way for development on the sprawling grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Northwest Washington, leaving a nonprofit veterans group scrambling

115. The Pipeline
By wanderingvet Dear Readers: The Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development make a clear distinction between Sheltered and Unsheltered Homeless.

The Faces of Hawaii's Homeless
Hawaii Reporter - Kailua,HI,USAThe National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH) estimates than there were nearly half a million homeless veterans in 2006

Port Angeles man receives state's Outstanding Veteran Volunteer award
Peninsula Daily - Port Angeles,WA,USALee directs the state Department of Veterans Affairs. McKeown, he said, helped found Voices for Vets, a Clallam County group that helps homeless veterans

Vets: Back from the war but not home
Red Bank Hub - NJ, USAAt right, plants, books, DVDs and photos of family and his canine companions decorate the apartment of a formerly homeless veteran

Homeless veterans left in lurch by plans to raze shelter
Boston Globe - United States(kevin clark/washington post) WASHINGTON - A dilapidated shelter for homeless veterans is set to be leveled

Titusville Florida DAV has office to help Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans

Disabled American Veterans holds office hours

FLORIDA TODAY STAFF ADVERTISEMENT




TITUSVILLE — Those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and have medical problems that require care by the Veterans Administration, but not have been evaluated, the Titusville Disabled American Veterans can help.

The DAV Chapter 109 has officers ready to help all veterans with claims and other matters.

The office is located at 435 N. Singleton Avenue. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday, 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday, noon to 4 p.m. Thursday. No appointments are necessary.

For more information, call 269-0109.