Archive for January, 2010
Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day
The Virginia Chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is following through on a concept that was started as a grass roots effort in Whittier, California to basically say thank you to the brave soldiers returning home from Vietnam who were more often than not faced with social unrest and civil turmoil rather than the thank you they deserved.
The overall mission of the Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day organization is to insure all honorably discharged veterans are received with more than just a thank you or a pat on the back when they have completed their tour of duty. However, their immediate focus is toward the debt of gratitude that Vietnam Veterans particularly deserve.
March 30th was chosen because it was on that date in 1973 that the U.S. Armed Forces completed withdrawal of combat troops.
Last year, Congress (patroned by Rep. Linda Sanchez and co-patroned by Frank Wolfe) passed a national Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day. Each state chapter of VVA is now trying to get similar recognitions passed by state legislators.
In Virginia the state joint resolution is in progress. There was a hearing in the House of Delegates last Wednesday, January 20th. George Corbett, Secretary, Vietnam Veterans of America, Virginia State Council testified. House Joint Resolution No. 136 was patroned by Delegate David Bulova, et. al., and Senate Joint Resolution No. 42 was patroned by Senator Chap Petersen.
In Fairfax County on March 23rd at 8:30am, in the auditorium at the Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax, VA 22035-0071, the Board of Supervisors will present Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 227 with a proclamation declaring March 30th as “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day”. Please consider being there in support of the proclamation. We want everyone, regardless of conflict. Please contact Bruce Waxman at bruce_waxman@vva227.org for further details.
Further details about “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day!” is available at www.whvvd.org.
Nye Announces Hampton Roads Military Affairs Commission
With the Department of Defense expected to announce its plans concerning East Coast homeporting of nuclear aircraft carriers in the near future, Congressman Glenn Nye (VA-02) is leading a new effort to advocate for maintaining a strong military presence in Hampton Roads.
At a press conference in front of the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk on Thursday, Nye announced the formation of the Hampton Roads Military Affairs Commission. The Commission will provide independent policy advice on military issues affecting Hampton Roads, including the ongoing debate over East Coast homeports for nuclear aircraft carriers.
Virginia is for Heroes 2010
The Virginia Wounded Warrior Program is proud to host the annual Virginia is for Heroes statewide conference addressing combat/operational stress and traumatic brain injury.
Conference participants include veterans and their family members; local, state and national leaders; subject matter experts; and those serving on the “front lines” of behavioral healthcare and supportive services.
Presenters will be sharing information about recent initiatives to partner with communities to expand behavioral healthcare and supportive services to veterans in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as those affected by previous conflicts.
There also will be opportunities to learn about the infrastructure established throughout Virginia as a result of the Virginia Wounded Warrior Program and to discuss and plan for regional resources.
Recognizing the importance of providing the best information available in order to support veterans and their families in their communities, this conference is offered free of charge.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
9 A.M. to 5 P.M.
The Greater Richmond
Convention Center
403 North 3rd Street,
Richmond, Virginia 23219
More details available here.
Veterans Legislation
The Bills and Resolutions have now been filed for this year’s General Assembly session. There are a number of bills and resolutions that address Veterans and we will highlight some of them here on this website. In the mean time, you can follow all of them here.
What are your thoughts on any of these?
Webb Visits VA Medical Center After Receiving Complaints
U.S. Sen. Jim Webb made his first visit Friday to the Hampton VA Medical Center, where he praised the dedication of health care workers but said he is still following the incomplete investigations of many patient complaints.
In the fall, Webb asked the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to examine the quality of care at the Hampton facility after his office had received 149 complaints, including allegations that ranged from abusive patient treatment to wrongful death.
“We have disposed a number of those and there are others we’re still looking at,” said Webb, who declined to discuss the specifics of the complaints. “Any time anybody contacts us, we’re going to take it very seriously.” He made the remarks after touring the Hampton hospital with his staff.
Webb said his office has received several new complaints since writing to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki about the allegations by patients or their families.
The Virginia Democrat said his staff was briefed this week about the findings of an internal VA peer investigation – known as a System Wide Ongoing Assessment and Review Strategy, or SOARS – that was initiated by his complaint and was completed last month.
The SOARS probe was a “thorough investigation” that led to development of an action plan for the hospital, Webb said. He declined to elaborate.
Read more at The Virginian-Pilot
Why The VA Frustrates Veterans
There is a sacred tradition in the military: leave no one behind on the battlefield. But many veterans are beginning to believe their country has left them behind at home, once they’re out of uniform and in need of help. That help is supposed to come from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the financial compensation it gives to veterans disabled by their military service.
It was Abraham Lincoln who said the purpose of the VA was to “care for him who shall have borne the battle.” But the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have pushed the VA further behind in that mission, and today there are a million veterans waiting for the VA to handle their disability claims.
That has led some to latch onto another motto making the rounds for how the VA operates: “Delay, Deny and Hope That I Die.”
“When I hear that, I will tell you that it really troubles me. As somebody who has devoted 35 years of my life to this organization, and to serving veterans, it’s extremely troubling that there are veterans who feel that way,” the VA’s Deputy Undersecretary for Benefits Michael Walcoff, told 60 Minutes correspondent Byron Pitts.
Last year, $30 billion dollars – one third of the VA’s total budget – was paid in disability compensation to nearly three million veterans.
To receive a disability benefit, a veteran has to be honorably discharged.
“They have to have a current disability, and provide evidence that it was service related?” Pitts asked Walcoff.
“That it’s connected to their service, right,” he replied.
“Why, then, is the claim form 23 pages long?” Pitts asked.