http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/veterans/ en-us Mon, 6 Jul 2009 16:01:07 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2286536/posts Dear friends... Yes, our wounded and disabled veterans need help, our help. In fact, families of veterans who have been killed in action need help as well, as do families of veterans still serving. But what most people don't realize is the growing needs of our returning veterans. The unemployment rate for our returning veterans is at 25%, the highest rate of any group in America and that's a travesty of monumental proportion. Many people are aware of this and are willing to help but don't know where to start and this is the reason for this letter. Two companies... Operation Warrior Support http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2286536/posts#comment Mon, 6 Jul 2009 16:01:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2283949/posts - Military Finance Network - http://militaryfinancenetwork.com - Disabled Veterans to Receive $250 Stimulus ChecksPosted By Patrick On June 17, 2009 @ 9:58 am In VA | 66 Comments UPDATE: The first stimulus payments were sent Monday, June 22. All payments will be distributed by June 30.Disabled military veterans currently receiving VA Disability Benefits are eligible to receive a one-time $250 Economic-Recovery Check [1] from the US government. This is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act [2] that President Obama signed into law this past February.Who is eligible for the $250 Stimulus Payment? The $250 government stimulus check... militaryfinancenetwork.com/2009/06/17/disabled-veterans-250-stimulus-checks/ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2283949/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 10:14:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2283793/posts War veterans are asking Americans across the country to fly their flags upside down this Fourth of July weekend. They say it’s a sign of distress and a protest against the Veterans Administration. A small group of veterans picketed outside the Canandaigua VA Hospital Wednesday afternoon. They were protesting the closing of VA hospitals across the country. They say those that aren't closing are being sold off or leased to outside interests, depriving veterans the treatment they have earned. Displaying the American flag upside down, however, is considered by some to be disrespectful. “We're not disgracing the flag but telling... RNews http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2283793/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 02:18:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2280929/posts This is one battle that will probably be decided by whichever side is most "distressed" -- officials of the VA Medical Center in West Los Angeles, or a group of protesting veterans. On Sunday, demonstrators plan to gather by the VA grounds and display an upside-down American flag "as a signal of dire distress." They contend that agency policies have placed the VA property in "extreme danger." But if that act upsets VA officials, protesters could find themselves facing off with federal police, who view the upended banner as a sign of disrespect to Old Glory. Los Angeles Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2280929/posts#comment Sun, 28 Jun 2009 00:06:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2280662/posts Robert and Ralph Brown are leaving the United States of America today, bound for Hamburg Germany. They are voyaging across the Atlantic Ocean in an open fisherman flats boat to raise money for wounded American soldiers and their families, Saturday June 27, 2009. "There is no such thing as coincidence ... God is always in Control. I am very comfortable with the seaworthiness of the DreamBoat Intruder. I know there is real danger, just like there is in everyday life, I know that in the event of disaster, I trust my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I know my soul... I am Second Wounded Hero Voyage http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2280662/posts#comment Sat, 27 Jun 2009 15:08:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2280648/posts The Department of Veterans Affairs is at the center of a growing controversy over the improper treatment of veterans at VA hospitals. On June 16, CNN noted that a report released in June by the VA’s Office of Inspector General showed only “about 42.5 percent of 42 VA facilities inspected without warning in May had standard operating procedures in place for the equipment being used and could demonstrate that their staffs had been trained to use the devices.” In other words, more than half of the institutions (57.5 percent) had improper procedures or training... New American http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2280648/posts#comment Sat, 27 Jun 2009 14:31:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2280524/posts Mansfield North Central Ohio Take Back America! Tea Party Saturday, July 4, 2009, NOON-2:00 PM Central Park GAZEBO, Downtown Mansfield Corner of Main Street & Park Avenue Join patriots in our area and across the country who will be participating inTea Party rallies in front of their city halls.Featured Speakers: Lt. Col. Gene Berger, USAF Retired, Combat Pilot, Vietnam Thom Collier, Former State Rep. Dist. 93 & 90, State Senate Candidate Dist. 19 Maureen Collins, Concerned Citizen Dr. Patricia Lydy, D.C., Lydy Chiropractic Clinic Dennis Oleksa, USAF Veteran Pastor Brian Phillips, Cornerstone Freewill Baptist Church Dean Shoup, Shoup’s Plumbing and... American Family Association http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2280524/posts#comment Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:47:35 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277162/posts Although many Vietnam movies have been made since the mid-70. FORGOTTEN HEROES will stand out as one of the best. This is an action war drama and could be about men in any war, but this moving story unfolds in the jungles of Vietnam and Cambodia. Forgotten Heroes - The Movie http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277162/posts#comment Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:24:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276933/posts While serving in Afghanistan with the U.S. Army Reserve, Leon Batie Jr. dodged roadside bombs and scrambled to safety when rockets pierced the night sky. When he returned to Dallas in early 2006, another battle loomed. As Batie was returning from Afghanistan, he learned he was being stripped of the two Subway restaurants he bought before mobilizing. The stores were sold to Subway insiders, with one transaction yielding a Subway executive a $100,000 profit, according to a lawsuit Batie filed last year in state court in Dallas County. One issue in the case is set for trial this week. Dallas Morning News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276933/posts#comment Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:36:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276787/posts A congressional panel will question Department of Veterans Affairs officials about mistakes that put more than 10,000 patients at risk of possible exposure to HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and other infectious agents at the Miami VA Hospital as well as VA hospitals in Murfreesboro, Tenn. and Augusta, Ga. examiner.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276787/posts#comment Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:15:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276779/posts PHILADELPHIA -“ Ninety-two veterans were given incorrect radiation doses in a common surgical procedure to treat prostate cancer during a six-year period at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia, according to newspaper reports Sunday. A hospital team that performed the procedure botched it on 92 of 116 occasions and continued the treatment for a year even though monitoring equipment was broken, The New York Times said. The Philadelphia Inquirer said treatment errors occurred in 92 of 114 cases. YAHOO! News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276779/posts#comment Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:57:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276515/posts Some were able to march, others needed walking sticks or wheelchairs. But all held their heads high as they paraded proudly in Whitehall to remember their fallen comrades. Many of the veterans shed a tear yesterday as they attended the last memorial service the Normandy Veterans' Association will organise in London. Lean on me: Albert Rogers, 84, from North London, is given a helping hand Hundreds of D-Day veterans, smartly dressed in blazers and berets, their chests heaving with medals, gathered for the service. At least two collapsed as the humid weather and the long time they had to spend... Daily Mail (UK) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276515/posts#comment Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:02:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276457/posts For patients with prostate cancer, it is a common surgical procedure: a doctor implants dozens of radioactive seeds to attack the disease. But when Dr. Gary D. Kao treated one patient at the veterans’ hospital in Philadelphia, his aim was more than a little off. Most of the seeds, 40 in all, landed in the patient’s healthy bladder, not the prostate. It was a serious mistake, and under federal rules, regulators investigated. But Dr. Kao, with their consent, made his mistake all but disappear. He simply rewrote his surgical plan to match the number of seeds in the prostate, investigators... NYT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2276457/posts#comment Sun, 21 Jun 2009 21:37:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2275588/posts WASHINGTON, June 19, 2009 – When an “honor flight” from Long Island, N.Y., lands here tomorrow with 31 mostly World War II veterans aboard, it’s likely to be met in the same manner as others before it: with much applause and fanfare. Dr. Jack Griffeth, left, served as a medial guardian on the May 4, 2009, ‘honor flight’ for veterans from Atlanta. World War II veteran William Glavic, right, who also participated in that flight, survived the sinking of the USS Yorktown during the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Photo courtesy of The Honor Flight Network  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution... American Forces Press Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2275588/posts#comment Sat, 20 Jun 2009 00:40:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2274391/posts Veterans Fear Loss of TRICARE Under ObamaCare Below is the letter a veteran sent to Senator John Kerry expressing concern over the news that ObamaCare will mean the end to TRICARE, the medical insurance available to the active and retired military and their dependents. Here is Kerry's reply: Pure word processor, boiler plate junk. Massachusetts' "universal healthcare" is an unmitigated disaster, whose actual numbers are being hidden, with Massachusetts now in a $4 billion deficit. Kerry continues to backhand military veterans as he supports a Liberal take-over of all healthcare in the U.S. Return to The Nav Log The Nav Log http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2274391/posts#comment Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:32:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2274244/posts WASHINGTON -- The Veterans Affairs Department appears poised to hit a milestone it would rather avoid: 1 million claims to process. The milestone approaches as the agency scrambles to hire and train new claims processors, which can take two years. VA officials are working with the Pentagon under orders from President Barack Obama to create by 2012 a system that will allow the two agencies to electronically exchange records, a process now done manually on paper. Meanwhile, veterans, some of whom were severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, continue to endure financial hardship while their claims are processed. They wait... Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2274244/posts#comment Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:11:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2272578/posts The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) withdrew its controversial report on “Right Wing Extremism” (PDF) as a terrorism threat back in May, but now left-wing media pundits say it’s time to bring back the report that tarred all U.S. military veterans and any political conservative as potential terrorist threats. Last Friday, the New York Times’ Paul Krugman launched a full endorsement of government attacks on the political right: “With the murder of Dr. George Tiller by an anti-abortion fanatic, closely followed by a shooting by a white supremacist at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the analysis looks prescient…. Politicians... The New American http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2272578/posts#comment Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:00:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2267872/posts ANN ARBOR, MI – The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, announced today that it has filed a friend of the court brief opposing the ACLU’s campaign to tear down another war memorial cross. At issue is a small cross originally erected on Sunrise Rock in 1934 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars in memory of the dead of all wars. The cross is located in California’s Mojave Desert, in a remote area where the only visible signs of human activity are off-road vehicles and trail hikers. The ACLU succeeded in... California Catholic Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2267872/posts#comment Tue, 9 Jun 2009 12:05:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2271276/posts The three brothers grew up during the depression in a hard steel mill town. The older brother was a brilliant academic, star athlete, and he was a father figure to his younger siblings. He taught them honesty, honor, courage, and respect. He was proud of them, and they were proud of him. In fact, they freely admitted in later years that they had worshipped him. They grew to be solid young men, bright with prospect, even tempered, and religious. When World War 2 broke out, the older brother joined the Army Air Corps, and was trained by the Royal Air... examiner.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2271276/posts#comment Sat, 13 Jun 2009 23:53:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2271138/posts Generations ago, horses were used to wage war. Now they're being used to heal the psychic wounds of war. In an trend still viewed as strange by much of the mental-health mainstream, some Southern Arizona counselors are using the beasts as co-therapists to treat troops suffering from combat trauma. "When I first heard about it, I thought, 'Are they kidding?' " said Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Richard Quinn, who returned from Iraq in 2007 with a brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. But after a recent weekend spent communing with Kairos, a hulking black draft horse, Quinn is a... Arizona Daily Star http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2271138/posts#comment Sat, 13 Jun 2009 17:38:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2269863/posts The Baltimore airport officials first argued with the leaders of the volunteers, who thought Baltimore had agreed to take a pass on the vets. Instead, these veterans of Pearl Harbor and Normandy and Iwo Jima and a hundred other hellish battles of war were told to line up — in their wheelchairs — to be checked. They made them take off their shoes and their belts and their coats. They made them get out of their wheelchairs and walk through the door to make sure they weren’t hiding any weapons. The men had artificial hips and artificial knees and plates... Greene Tribune http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2269863/posts#comment Thu, 11 Jun 2009 21:03:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2266385/posts Yesterday I was in Dandenong, a city/suburb towards the South East edge of Melbourne. The Dandenong RSL (Returned and Services League of Australia - may be roughly considered to be the Australian equivalent of something like the VFW or American Legion in the US) is the site of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial of Victoria. It's quite a small memorial, but quite an impressive one, and I decided to take some photos to share with other people. These were taken using the small and not particularly wonderful camera on my cell phone. At some point, I intend to head out there... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2266385/posts#comment Sat, 6 Jun 2009 23:19:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2266188/posts NEW ORLEANS | It's "A Gathering of the Greatest Generation" - though this year only a small group of that era's aging heroes will commemorate the invasion of France at Normandy 65 years ago. On Saturday afternoon, veterans will attend a National World War II Museum ceremony in New Orleans recognizing soldiers, sailors and airmen who made that invasion a turning point for Allied forces. However, organizers acknowledge few members of an already dwindling population are hardy enough to make the trip. "We won't have a veteran from each state, unfortunately," said William Detweiler, who is in charge of the... Washington Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2266188/posts#comment Sat, 6 Jun 2009 15:02:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2266229/posts Surely, in the dawn before any theatre action, so much must run thru the minds of our warriors. The scale of D-Day is humbling, and much is captured in this video on the Army's website. Visit the page for more photos, maps and historic data on the June 6th, 1944 airborne and beach assaults on Omaha, Utah, Gold and June Beaches by American, British and Canadian forces. [video at site] Again from the US Army's webpage on D-Day, a General's message to his troops. The page has a link to the audio. Below, the transcript. Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of... Flopping Aces http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2266229/posts#comment Sat, 6 Jun 2009 16:30:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2266227/posts "You are about to embark upon the great crusade toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you...I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle." - GEN of the Army Dwight Eisenhower. Today is the 65th anniversary of D-Day. Why is this such a big deal? Well, I am certain you know the history of it and how it was a major victory in preventing the Nazis from taking over the world. Beyond that, though, is the personal stories. After writing about the military - and covering... My Daughter's Blog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2266227/posts#comment Sat, 6 Jun 2009 16:24:28 GMT