Free Republic

The annual Veterans Reunion is upon us at Wickham Park in Melbourne Florida. See this link for the flyer and the main web site for agenda, etc. Opening ceremonies start tonight, 20 April, at 6PM with the wreath presentation ceremony.

[Video only] Watch the full version of the 4th Annual “Salute to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans”, featuring General James N. Mattis, USMC (Ret.) at the Marines’ Memorial Club on April 16, 2015. The program included a Social Reception that followed General Mattis’ remarks.

Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder expressing deep concerns over Veterans Affairs evaluations classifying veterans as "mentally defective" and banning them in the federal background check system from purchasing or owning a firearm. According to Grassley's office, the VA "reports individuals to the gun ban list if an individual merely needs financial assistance managing VA benefits," keeping them from exercising their Second Amendment rights. (Bolding is mine) "The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is effectively a national gun ban list and placement on the list precludes...

It’s is a vividly accurate, cutting-edge film about one of the most shockingly misunderstood wars in American history – and it took Westminster, California, by storm when it premiered there this month, selling more than $30,000 in tickets in just three days during its limited release at a single movie theater. Overall, the film brought in $50,923 in a week of showings at the Regency Westminster 10 theater from March 27 to April 2. The film profits will support four charities: Semper Fi Fund, Agape International Missions, Field of Dreams and Allegiant Giving. “I’ve been waiting 40 years for this...

Veterans, Dependents Account for Disproportionate Share of ‘Mental Defective’ Category on Gun Ban List Apr 15, 2015 WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is requesting an explanation for why nearly all of the names on the Justice Department’s gun ban list in the “mental defective” category belong to veterans or their dependents. “It’s disturbing to think that the men and women who dedicated themselves to defending our freedom and values face undue threats to their fundamental Second Amendment rights from the very agency established to serve them. A veteran or dependent shouldn’t lose...

Fifteen years ago, Indiana couple Denise Jones and her husband purchased two missing in action bracelets to help veterans. Over the years the name Bunyan Price Jr. became part of their lives. Often wearing the bracelet, Jones couldn't help but wonder about him. She even sought out his name. "We had seen his name on the traveling wall." Jones said. News of the emotional homecoming last week traveled all over the world through the internet. Jones and her husband watched the news report on WCNC.com. "The name was just ringing a bell with me. And I told my husband go...

He is a veteran. He was thinking about committing suicide. But when he called the suicide hotline for veterans, he says he wasn’t helped — he was put on hold. Ted Koran experienced deep depression on Saturday night, so much so that he considered killing himself, the Florida Air Force veteran told WFTS-TV. “I was missing my wife,” he said of his life partner Karen, who died of cancer six months ago. In his pain, he turned to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Jerilynn Robinson feared the worst when she initially saw a note left on her car. However, upon closer inspection, she realized it was actually a note thanking her husband Tom for his service in the armed forces. Georgia teenager James Dorris, 13, had seen the veteran license plate on Robinson’s car and decided to leave a note,WSB-TV reported. “I was surprised,” Tom told WFLA-TV. “This is one of the very first notes I’ve ever gotten left on my vehicle, just thanking me for being a veteran, or for serving. And that did it. It brought joy to me.”

wikipedia/Doolittle Raider RL Hite blindfolded by Japanese 1942 Ever hear of the Doolittle Raiders? On Sunday, March 29, 2015, one of the last of the Doolittle Raiders, Robert Hite, passed away at 95.   [reference:  Robert Hite, 95, Survivor of Doolittle Raid and Japanese Imprisonment, Dies - NYTimes.com ] And his obituary included the photo, shown above in this public domain picture.  And it can be found on wikipedia with the following description: U.S. Army Air Force Lt. Robert L. Hite, blindfolded by his captors, is led from a Japanese transport plane after he and the other seven flyers were flown...

NASHVILLE — Before mentioning the National Rifle Association or even firearms at the gun rights group’s annual meeting in Nashville on Friday, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, asked all the men and women in the audience who serve or have served in the armed forces to stand so they could be properly thanked. “Freedom. Endowed by our Creator. Defined by our Constitution, but defended each and every day by the men and women who proudly wear the uniform of these United States,” Walker began. He then asked anyone who is serving or has served in the military to stand...

Residents of Nevada may soon have the option of trucking around with a license plate displaying their support for the Second Amendment. The bill to authorize the new plate design was unanimously passed by the Senate Transportation Committee Thursday, and will now head to the Senate floor for a vote.

While Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) was formally launching his 2016 presidential campaign Tuesday, still-not-a-candidate Jeb Bush was in Colorado, where he called for privatizing some parts of veterans’ health care. Mr. Bush, sitting in front of an untouched breakfast at an IHOP in Colorado Springs, told a group of veterans that he favors transferring some elements of veterans’ care to private hospitals from government-run Veterans Affairs facilities. “This is where I think empowering people with the equivalent of a voucher that gives you the same economic benefit of receiving care inside of a clinic or a hospital,” Mr. Bush...

Eight months ago, President Obama put on a grand show for the troops. Surrounded by new Secretary of Veterans Affairs Bob McDonald, assorted politicians, military leaders and a bevy of TV cameras, the commander in chief signed the "Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act." He's good at inking things. Obama condemned the "inexcusable conduct" at VA hospitals across the country (and under his own watch). He vowed to "do right by all who served under our proud flag." He promised America's veterans new "reform," "resources," "timely care" and an end to the disgraceful disability backlog. The bill he signed, in...

A high-ranking Veterans Affairs official who was paid nearly $300,000 to relocate from Washington, D.C. to Philadelphia last year was issued that hefty payout as part of a little-known program used to incentivize “highly qualified candidates,” TheDC has learned. Diana Rubens, the former undersecretary for field operations, was paid $288,000 last year under what’s called the Appraised Value Offer program to take a job as the director of the Philadelphia VA regional benefits office. Formerly known as the Guaranteed Home Buy Out, AVO serves as a back-up for VA and Veterans Benefits Administration employees who agree to relocate to take...

The White House has announced a goal to train 75,000 workers in the solar industry by 2020, many of them veterans. "These are good-paying jobs that are helping folks enter the middle-class," President Barack Obama said on Friday at Hill Air Force Base in Utah. The plan will expand on the Department of Energy SunShot Initiative's Solar Instructor Training Network currently running at more than 400 community colleges. The White House also announced the Solar Ready Vets program aimed at helping veterans transition into the solar industry. A joint program between the Department of Defense and the DOE, it's currently...

Ted Nugent is blaming the "enemy" for veteran suicides: President Barack Obama. “Here’s your job, Republican Party," Nugent said over the weekend in comments posted online by Right Wing Watch. "Twenty to 25 of those guys kill themselves every day, and they haven’t told you why and they haven’t told anybody else why but they told me why: because the commander-in-chief is the enemy.”

ARLINGTON, Va. (NewsChannel 8) – One of the most successful and recognizable singers in music history has found a higher calling. Rock icon Stevie Nicks has devoted countless hours visiting and helping wounded warriors and their families heal—both physically and emotionally. “I am more proud of this than Fleetwood Mac or any of the other things I’ve done,” she said. Nicks, the Grammy-award winning singer and star of Fleetwood Mac, was in the Washington area Tuesday, receiving an award for her profound and passionate work with the USO.

SIERRA VISTA — The Missing In America Project will have another ceremony Saturday at the Southern Arizona Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery during which the cremains of 17 former service members and one dependent will be laid to rest. Joe Larson, the cemetery administrator, said normally two such ceremonies a year are held in which indigent service members are honored. This year, two of those involved are World War II veterans. Since those being honored may not have family members, Larson said the public is a stand in for them an he hopes area residents will attend the ceremony. People should arrive...

The under secretary of the Army on Wednesday apologized for the military’s treatment of American service members exposed to chemical weapons in Iraq, and he announced new steps to provide medical support to those with lingering health effects and to recognize veterans who had been denied awards. Under Secretary Brad R. Carson acknowledged that the military had not followed its own policies for caring for troops exposed to old and abandoned chemical munitions that had been scattered around Iraq, and he vowed improvement. He also said that the Army had reversed a previous decision and approved a Purple Heart medal...

The director of the Philadelphia regional VA hospital was paid $288,000 in “relocation payments” to move the 140 miles from Washington D.C. to his new home last year.Diana Rubens was tapped last June to take over the Philadelphia hospital, which is one of many currently being investigated over claims that it placed veterans on unauthorized wait-lists.Rubens, who previously served as the D.C.-based deputy undersecretary for field operations, where she oversaw 57 regional hospitals and four area offices, was brought in to help fix the embattled Philadelphia facility.A breakdown of Rubens’ “relocation payments” was not immediately available, according to the...