Thursday, May 31, 2012

Unemployed? Vets 35-60 sign up for VRAP!!! 34,000 Slots left this year $1400 month for School






WASHINGTON, D.C. —Today, the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs held an oversight hearing entitled "Reviewing the Implementation of Major Provisions of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011." The VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 is the signature veterans' legislation of the 112th Congress. Officials from the departments of Labor (DoL) and Veterans Affairs (VA) testified on the implementation of the law to date.

 

The Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP) was the main focus of the hearing. The cornerstone of the VOW to Hire Heroes Act, VRAP will provide up to one-year of Montgomery GI Bill benefits to unemployed veterans, ages 35-60, for in-demand jobs and careers. The Committee applauded efforts by the departments at the program staff-level, but cautioned that more needed to be done to promote VRAP.

 

"I am pleased to see that over 11,000 applications have been received so far, meaning that we are well on our way to filling all of the 45,000 slots paid for in the VOW Act for the remainder of this fiscal year," stated Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. "But I am concerned that not enough is being done by either department, or the President himself, to promote this benefit. Getting the message out about this opportunity is critically important to putting unemployed veterans on a path to a job in a high-demand field."

 

In addition, Committee Members also expressed concern that DoL and VA were not taking the appropriate steps to ensure that veterans were aware VRAP existed. Allison Hickey, Under Secretary for Benefits at VA, noted some of the challenges facing the two departments to effectively reach out to veterans about VRAP were that "a centralized system to identify eligible veterans does not exist."

 

Few Members had seen any outreach in their local communities, leading the Committee to ask if a plan was in place to reach unemployed veterans in non-metropolitan areas, specifically through TV advertising.

 

"Despite having had ample time to come forth with one, VA has failed to deliver an advertising budget," Miller said. "Advertising is a quick, effective way to control the message in order to reach a large number of veterans in a very short period of time. That is the level of promotion for VRAP that our unemployed veterans deserve. We cannot afford to let even one training slot go unfilled. I encourage all eligible veterans to sign up for this opportunity at their local one stop career center or online."

 

The House Committee on Veterans' Affairs will host a live chat on VRAP with Military.com, tomorrow, June 1, 2012, at 1 p.m.




I am surprised there are this many spots left. The word has been slow to get out in veteran grapevine on VRAP the VA needs to do better job getting the word out. It is a great program that nobody knows about . on the other hand with only 45,00 slots this year we could quickly have the opposite problem of more applicants than slots. Tell your friends when word does get out this program will be in demand.

--
Sean P Eagan

American Cold War Veterans  Inc  Image



               

Former Chairman American Cold War Veterans
Life Member Veterans of Foreign Wars
716 720-4000




Wednesday, May 30, 2012

CWSM Act and H.R. 4114 Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2012 Discussed.

Report to Members and Guests May 01 2012
http://americancoldwarvets.org/

CWSM Act and H.R. 4114 Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2012 Discussed.







The American Cold War Veterans annual meeting was held in Washington, D.C. on May 1, 2012, from 1-3 PM. in Room SVC 200, Capitol Visitors Center (Senate side). Frank Tims chaired the meeting, with general discussion of Cold War, legislative, and future meeting topics, and William Boyle made an excellent presentation on possible sites for a Cold War Memorial. Mr. Javier Correoso, Deputy Chief of Staff to Congressman David Rivera was present, and offered constructive feedback on the legislative process.


We gained some legislative support for the Cold War Service Medal, which was not included in the 2012 Defense Authorization, but is still possible for the 2013 Authorization. We are past the mark-up of that bill (House version is H. R. 431, which does not include the CWSM), so a floor amendment would be needed. We do not yet have the Senate version of NDAA. The legislative route does not seem promising, especially in the face of the budget sequestration. Support for the legislation is still important, even in the face of chronic Pentagon opposition.


The question was raised regarding alternatives to a Cold War Service Medal. Sean Eagan suggested that the eligibility dates for the Armed Forces Service Medal could be changed to cover the Cold War Period, or at least the intervals between recognized "periods of war." This was presented as a recommendation to the Board of Directors of ACWV. Another alternative suggested was asking President Obama to issue an executive order to reopen dates for eligible operations and expeditions since the beginning of the Cold War (September 1945) for which a campaign medal is not already authorized, for award of the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM), using same criteria as are currently in regulations. This might include the deployment of the Sixth Fleet in the 1956 crisis, MAAG mission to Greece 1947-50, and various "imminent hostilities" alerts of the Armed Forces during the Cold War.


Member Frank DeBenedictis suggested that we engage educators, particularly history teachers, via the website to increase awareness of the Cold War, especially significant events, operations, and political-military aspects of that global conflict. We will follow up on this excellent suggestion, and begin to expand content as a resource page for teachers.

 We adjourned at 3 PM to travel to Arlington National Cemetery to hold a memorial service at 4PM at Section 34, where numerous Cold War Heroes are buried, including USS Liberty crewmen, CAPT McGonagle (MOH - skipper of USS Liberty), and aircrews shot down during Cold War operations. Afterwards, we placed roses on graves of Francis Gary Powers, CAPT McGonagle, several of the aircrews including those shot down over Soviet Armenia 1958), USS Liberty casualties, General Van Fleet (who led US Military Mission to Greece 1947-50), LTC Nicholson (killed in East Germany 1985), COL Nick Rowe (killed in Philippines 1989), MAJ Willard Palm (shot down over Barents Sea 1960), CAPT Edward Nordeen (killed in Greece 1988), and SP4 Phillip Michael Kern (killed on Korean DMZ 1969), AND COL James Webb (who flew in Berlin Airlift).

 In a separate meeting, Glen Talon, Sean Eagan and James Allen with Ryan Kaldahl from Senator Collins office about the CWSM Act. Ryan discussed that after this session we will have many new faces in the Senate and some of our usual supporters are leaving Congress. In an honest assessment he recommended we might try to tweak our approach to develop new and stronger support in the next Congress.

 At 4:45 the same group met with the House of Veteran's Affairs Committee Staff Director of The Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity Mike Brinck CDR USN Ret. about H.R. 4114 Veterans' Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2012. This bill would assure if the the general population got a COLA increase for SSI-D benefits that Veteran's Compensation would increase the same amount automatically as of today that is not the case. The proposed bill would make it more difficult for Veterans Pension and Compensation benefits being caught up in and used as leverage or held hostage in political budget fights.

Important Veterans Legislation Heads to Senate

IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 30, 2012                   CONTACT: Amy Mitchell             (202) 225-3527      

Veterans Legislation Heads to Senate

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, the House of Representatives reaffirmed its commitment to America's veterans by passing H.R. 3670, a bill to require the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to comply with the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), a law designed to help deployed National Guard and Reserve members return to their civilian jobs after a separation from military service. The House also passed the Servicemember Family Protection Act (H.R. 4201).

H.R. 3670, introduced by Rep. Tim Walz, ensures that TSA hiring practices comply with USERRA. Although TSA currently employs thousands of veterans, including members of the National Guard and Reserves, they are not protected by USERRA. National Guard and Reserve members face greater unemployment rates than their civilian counterparts. Enforcement of USERRA within TSA will conform to the standards applied throughout the rest of the federal government.

"The unemployment rate among our servicemembers is already far too high. Protecting the jobs they already have should be a top priority and I'm pleased the House took action on this common sense bill today," said Rep. Walz, a 24-year veteran of the National Guard. "We have USERRA protections in place for a reason and this bill simply ensures that the thousands of veterans, Reservists, and members of the National Guard working for TSA are protected as they would be in any other position."

The Servicemember Family Protection Act, introduced by Rep. Mike Turner, amends the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), and would ensure a servicemember's deployment, or possible deployment, cannot be used as a factor in child custody determinations. SCRA is intended to relieve servicemembers of certain civil and financial obligations if military service prevents their obligation from being discharged.

"With every deployment, our men and women in uniform live with the constant fear that their custody rights as parents could be in jeopardy due to their service," said Rep. Turner. "This legislation would ensure that being deployed, or the possibility of deployment is not used against them when child custody decisions are made by the courts."

Both pieces of legislation now head to the Senate for consideration. They join the ten previously House-passed bills that are pending in the Senate from the first session of the 112th Congress.

"Over the past year and a half, America's veterans, their families, and survivors, has been where Republicans and Democrats have found common ground to pass meaningful legislation, which has included putting America's veterans back to work through the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011," stated Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. "With only six months left this Congress, I hope we can continue to work together and clear the backlog of legislation pending in the Senate before the end of this session. Our veterans deserve nothing less."

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--
Sean P Eagan

American Cold War Veterans  Inc  Image



               

Former Chairman American Cold War Veterans
Life Member Veterans of Foreign Wars716 720-4000




VA Partnership Aims to House 10,000 Homeless Veterans


U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

WASHINGTON, May 30, 2012 - The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced today that it will collaborate with the "100,000 Homes" campaign and its 117 participating communities to help find permanent housing for 10,000 vulnerable and chronically homeless veterans this year.

"President [Barack] Obama and I are personally committed to ending homelessness among veterans," Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki said in a VA news release. "Those who have served this nation as veterans should never find themselves on the streets, living without care and without hope."

According to the 2011 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report to Congress, homelessness among veterans has declined 12 percent since January 2010.

The new initiative is intended to help accomplish Shinseki's goal of ending veteran homelessness in 2015. It will also support the ongoing work of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and a host of state and local organizations working to implement "Opening Doors," the federal plan to end chronic and veteran homelessness.

The 100,000 Homes campaign is a national movement of over 100 communities working together to find permanent homes for 100,000 vulnerable and chronically homeless individuals and families by July 2014.

The new partnership will better integrate the efforts of VA case managers and their local partners by leveraging VA resources and those of participants in the "100,000 Homes" campaign. The campaign's national support staff, provided by New York-based non-profit Community Solutions, will also work with VA to provide technical assistance to help communities reduce the amount of time necessary to house a single homeless veteran.

As a result, community organizations will be better able to utilize the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program. The program is a coordinated effort by HUD, VA, and local housing agencies to provide permanent housing with case management and other support services for homeless veterans.

The collaboration will also help VA increase the proportion of HUD-VASH vouchers that help house chronic and vulnerable homeless individuals. Research indicates that this approach can successfully end homelessness for vulnerable and chronically homeless veterans while also achieving significant public cost savings. From fiscal years 2008 to 2012, HUD has allocated funding to local public housing authorities to provide over 47,000 housing choice vouchers to homeless veterans.

Volunteers in participating "100,000 Homes" communities will help the VA identify homeless veterans through their registry week process. Registry weeks are community-wide efforts in which volunteers canvass their neighborhoods to survey homeless individuals and gather key information to help VA case managers expedite the housing process.

Support staff will also offer quality improvement training designed to help reduce the amount of time necessary to house a homeless veteran to 90 days or less. Pilot training in Los Angeles and New York City has already helped shave an average of 64 days from the veteran housing process in these communities.

In 2009, Obama and Shinseki announced the federal government's goal to end veteran homelessness by 2015. Through the homeless veterans' initiative, VA committed $800 million in fiscal year 2011 to strengthen programs that prevent and end homelessness among veterans. VA provides a range of services to homeless veterans, including health care, housing, job training, and education.
 

Biographies:
Eric K. Shinseki

Related Sites:
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
News Release




--
Sean P Eagan

American Cold War Veterans  Inc  Image



               

Former Chairman American Cold War Veterans
Life Member Veterans of Foreign Wars
716 720-4000




Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Wounded Warrior Projects denounces General's Statement

Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) calls on the Department of Defense and the Administration to publicly address the disturbing and highly inappropriate comments made by Major General Dana Pittard that suicide is "an absolutely selfish act" further adding that those soldiers thinking about suicide should "be an adult, act like an adult, and deal with your real-life problems like the rest of us." These comments further compound the already glaring stigma our service members face when dealing with mental health issues. This is exactly this type of attitude that keeps many of our wounded warriors from seeking the help they need and deserve.

Though the statement was later retracted, the silence from the DoD and the Administration speak volumes and discount the great courage it takes for a service member to come forward and admit they are dealing with combat stress or PTSD. We urge the DoD and the Administration to respond with actions.

In fact, our experience has shown us that wounded service men and woman can be even further damaged by sentiments like these expressed from within the DOD system. These brave warriors served our country honorably and many have returned home different people. The invisible wounds of war – traumatic brain injury (TBI) and PTSD – have surpassed the visible as the signature injury in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. WWP has made this a focal point in its mission to honor and empower wounded warriors, and we challenge the DOD and the Administration to immediately reinforce proper attitudes and education on these critical issues. The increase in awareness of this issue will hopefully decrease the stigma attached – stigmas that were only built up by General Pittard's irresponsible words.

The mental health of this generation of injured veterans is Wounded Warrior Project's number one priority. Wounded Warrior Project will continue to address those needs through our combat stress recovery program and pursue the necessary steps to encourage a shift in how we think and deal with mental health.


--
Sean P Eagan

American Cold War Veterans  Inc  Image



               

Former Chairman American Cold War Veterans
Life Member Veterans of Foreign Wars716 720-4000




AP IMPACT: Almost half of new vets seek disability

 AP Photo

AP Photo/Lisa Krant









America's newest veterans are filing for disability benefits at a historic rate, claiming to be the most medically and mentally troubled generation of former troops the nation has ever seen.

A staggering 45 percent of the 1.6 million veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now seeking compensation for injuries they say are service-related. That is more than double the estimate of 21 percent who filed such claims after the Gulf War in the early 1990s, top government officials told The Associated Press.

What's more, these new veterans are claiming eight to nine ailments on average, and the most recent ones over the last year are claiming 11 to 14. By comparison, Vietnam veterans are currently receiving compensation for fewer than four, on average, and those from World War II and Korea, just two.

It's unclear how much worse off these new veterans are than their predecessors. Many factors are driving the dramatic increase in claims - the weak economy, more troops surviving wounds, and more awareness of problems such as concussions and PTSD. Almost one-third have been granted disability so far.

Government officials and some veterans' advocates say that veterans who might have been able to work with certain disabilities may be more inclined to seek benefits now because they lost jobs or can't find any. Aggressive outreach and advocacy efforts also have brought more veterans into the system, which must evaluate each claim to see if it is war-related. Payments range from $127 a month for a 10 percent disability to $2,769 for a full one.

As the nation commemorates the more than 6,400 troops who died in post-9/11 wars, the problems of those who survived also draw attention. These new veterans are seeking a level of help the government did not anticipate, and for which there is no special fund set aside to pay.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is mired in backlogged claims, but "our mission is to take care of whatever the population is," said Allison Hickey, the VA's undersecretary for benefits. "We want them to have what their entitlement is."

The 21 percent who filed claims in previous wars is Hickey's estimate of an average for Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield. The VA has details only on the current disability claims being paid to veterans of each war.

The AP spent three months reviewing records and talking with doctors, government officials and former troops to take stock of the new veterans. They are different in many ways from those who fought before them.

More are from the Reserves and National Guard - 28 percent of those filing disability claims - rather than career military. Reserves and National Guard made up a greater percentage of troops in these wars than they did in previous ones. About 31 percent of Guard/Reserve new veterans have filed claims compared to 56 percent of career military ones.

More of the new veterans are women, accounting for 12 percent of those who have sought care through the VA. Women also served in greater numbers in these wars than in the past. Some female veterans are claiming PTSD due to military sexual trauma - a new challenge from a disability rating standpoint, Hickey said.

The new veterans have different types of injuries than previous veterans did. That's partly because improvised bombs have been the main weapon and because body armor and improved battlefield care allowed many of them to survive wounds that in past wars proved fatal.

"They're being kept alive at unprecedented rates," said Dr. David Cifu, the VA's medical rehabilitation chief. More than 95 percent of troops wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan have survived.

Larry Bailey II is an example. After tripping a rooftop bomb in Afghanistan last June, the 26-year-old Marine remembers flying into the air, then fellow troops attending to him.

"I pretty much knew that my legs were gone. My left hand, from what I remember I still had three fingers on it," although they didn't seem right, Bailey said. "I looked a few times but then they told me to stop looking." Bailey, who is from Zion, Ill., north of Chicago, ended up a triple amputee and expects to get a hand transplant this summer.

He is still transitioning from active duty and is not yet a veteran. Just over half of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans eligible for VA care have used it so far.

Of those who have sought VA care:

-More than 1,600 of them lost a limb; many others lost fingers or toes.

-At least 156 are blind, and thousands of others have impaired vision.

-More than 177,000 have hearing loss, and more than 350,000 report tinnitus - noise or ringing in the ears.

-Thousands are disfigured, as many as 200 of them so badly that they may need face transplants. One-quarter of battlefield injuries requiring evacuation included wounds to the face or jaw, one study found.

"The numbers are pretty staggering," said Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston who has done four face transplants on non-military patients and expects to start doing them soon on veterans.

Others have invisible wounds. More than 400,000 of these new veterans have been treated by the VA for a mental health problem, most commonly, PTSD.

Tens of thousands of veterans suffered traumatic brain injury, or TBI - mostly mild concussions from bomb blasts - and doctors don't know what's in store for them long-term. Cifu, of the VA, said that roughly 20 percent of active duty troops suffered concussions, but only one-third of them have symptoms lasting beyond a few months.

That's still a big number, and "it's very rare that someone has just a single concussion," said David Hovda, director of the UCLA Brain Injury Research Center. Suffering multiple concussions, or one soon after another, raises the risk of long-term problems. A brain injury also makes the brain more susceptible to PTSD, he said.

On a more mundane level, many new veterans have back, shoulder and knee problems, aggravated by carrying heavy packs and wearing the body armor that helped keep them alive. One recent study found that 19 percent required orthopedic surgery consultations and 4 percent needed surgery after returning from combat.

All of this adds up to more disability claims, which for years have been coming in faster than the government can handle them. The average wait to get a new one processed grows longer each month and is now about eight months - time that a frustrated, injured veteran might spend with no income.

More than 560,000 veterans from all wars currently have claims that are backlogged - older than 125 days.

The VA's benefits chief, Hickey, gave these reasons:

-Sheer volume. Disability claims from all veterans soared from 888,000 in 2008 to 1.3 million in 2011. Last year's included more than 230,000 new claims from Vietnam veterans and their survivors because of a change in what conditions can be considered related to Agent Orange exposure. Those complex, 50-year-old cases took more than a third of available staff, she said.

-High number of ailments per claim. When a veteran claims 11 to 14 problems, each one requires "due diligence" - a medical evaluation and proof that it is service-related, Hickey said.

-A new mandate to handle the oldest cases first. Because these tend to be the most complex, they have monopolized staff and pushed up average processing time on new claims, she said.

-Outmoded systems. The VA is streamlining and going to electronic records, but for now, "We have 4.4 million case files sitting around 56 regional offices that we have to work with; that slows us down significantly," Hickey said.

Barry Jesinoski, executive director of Disabled American Veterans, called Hickey's efforts "commendable," but said: "The VA has a long way to go" to meet veterans' needs. Even before the surge in Agent Orange cases, VA officials "were already at a place that was unacceptable" on backlogged claims, he said.

He and VA officials agree that the economy is motivating some claims. His group helps veterans file them, and he said that sometimes when veterans come in, "We'll say, `Is your back worse?' and they'll say, `No, I just lost my job.'"

Jesinoski does believe these veterans have more mental problems, especially from multiple deployments.

"You just can't keep sending people into war five, six or seven times and expect that they're going to come home just fine," he said.

For taxpayers, the ordeal is just beginning. With any war, the cost of caring for veterans rises for several decades and peaks 30 to 40 years later, when diseases of aging are more common, said Harvard economist Linda Bilmes. She estimates the health care and disability costs of the recent wars at $600 billion to $900 billion.

"This is a huge number and there's no money set aside," she said. "Unless we take steps now into some kind of fund that will grow over time, it's very plausible many people will feel we can't afford these benefits we overpromised."

How would that play to these veterans, who all volunteered and now expect the government to keep its end of the bargain?

"The deal was, if you get wounded, we're going to supply this level of support," Bilmes said. Right now, "there's a lot of sympathy and a lot of people want to help. But memories are short and times change."

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Online:

VA's Home Page http://www.va.gov/

VA budget, performance: http://www.va.gov/budget/report/

IOM Coming Home report: http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record-id12812

Costs of war: http://bit.ly/y5cLsH

Veterans quick facts: http://www.va.gov/vetdata/Quick-Facts.asp

War casualty reports: http://www.defense.gov/news/casualty.pdf

Brain Injury Center: http://www.dvbic.org/





We know the claims backlog is the biggest issue many Veterans have with VA, and we acknowledge there is much room for improvement. However, the issue is not as simple as it appears. In the piece below, a reporter from the Associated Press takes a look at the root causes for the problem, and VA's work to break the backlog. –Alex Horton
This was from the VA FB feed. High rates to me are not surprising when you consider  the nature of the GWOT  and the multiple tours and vets returning to such a poor economy all must factor in skewing the percentages higher than ever before.
--
Sean P Eagan

American Cold War Veterans  Inc  Image



               

Former Chairman American Cold War Veterans
Life Member Veterans of Foreign Wars
716 720-4000




Monday, May 28, 2012

Obama: All Americans Must Help Shoulder the Burden of War


By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, Va., May 28, 2012 - Binding the wounds of war is the priority for our nation, President Barack Obama said during the Memorial Day observance here today.

Representing all Americans, the president placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns and then spoke at the Memorial Amphitheatre.

"Today we come together as Americans to pray, to reflect and to remember these heroes," he said. "But tomorrow this hallowed place will once again belong to a smaller group of visitors ... following a well-worn path to a certain spot and kneeling in front of a familiar headstone. You are the family and friends of the fallen."

Those who have lost a loved one "leave a piece of yourselves beneath these trees," the president said. "You, too, call this sanctuary home."

The president noted that for the first time in nine years Americans are not fighting and dying in Iraq. The war in Afghanistan is winding down, he said, and U.S. troops deployed there will come home. "After a decade under the dark cloud of war, we can see the light of a new day on the horizon," he said.

With the war in Iraq over, the president put the scale of the sacrifice in perspective. He spoke of the four Marines who died in a helicopter crash on the first day of Operation Iraqi Freedom in March 2003. Maj. Jay Thomas Aubin, Capt. Ryan Anthony Beaupre, Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy and Staff Sgt. Kendall Damon Watersbey were the first casualties of the war. He then spoke of the last of the nearly 4,500 casualties: Army Spc. David Hickman who was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad a month before the last Americans left Iraq in December.

The president spoke about meeting the Hickman family at Fort Bragg, N.C. "Right now, the Hickman's are beginning a very difficult journey that so many of your families have traveled before them – a journey that more families will take in the months and years ahead," he said.

Obama spoke directly to the families of the fallen and shared what he told the Hickmans: that there is no more wrenching decision as president than sending service members into harm's way.

"I can promise you that I will never do so unless it is absolutely necessary," he said. "Then when we do, we must give our troops a clear mission and the full support of a grateful nation."

Americans need to help the families facing such tragedy, the president said. "As a country, all of us can and should ask ourselves how we can help you shoulder a burden that no one should have to bear alone.

"As we honor your mothers and fathers, your sons and daughters who have given their last full measure of devotion to this country, we have to ask ourselves how we can support you and your families, and give you some strength."

The best way to help is to remember the sacrifices and to remember the dead as not just a line in the newspaper, but as individuals, Obama said. The country can honor them by meeting its obligations to those who did come home, he added.

"To all our men and women in uniform who are here today, know this: The patriots who rest beneath these hills were fighting for many things – for their families, for their flag – but above all, they were fighting for you," Obama said. "As long as I am president, we will make sure you and your loved ones will receive the benefits you've earned and the respect you deserve. America will be there for you."
 

Related Articles:
Obama: Remember Veterans Past, Present on Memorial Day

--
Sean P Eagan

American Cold War Veterans  Inc  Image



               

Former Chairman American Cold War Veterans
Life Member Veterans of Foreign Wars
716 720-4000