Rao bulletin 1 October 2016 html edition this bulletin contains the following articles pg Article Subject
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- Senate Vet Bill Progress ► 23 SEP 2016
- H.R. 5936
- Flu Shots Update 08 ► Vet No-Cost Shots at Walgreens
- Honor Flights Update 11 ► First All Female Flight
- POW/MIA Update 75 ► Lexington, Kentucky Recognition Day Event
| House Vet Bill Progress ► 14 SEP 2016
On 12 and 14 SEP the House passed four veteran-related bills: H.R. 3471, the Veterans Mobility Safety Act, as amended, would direct the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to develop a comprehensive policy regarding quality standards for providers who dispense modification services to veterans under the Automobile Adaptive Equipment Program. The bill would also authorize VA to hire and prescribe qualifications for hiring hearing aid specialists. H.R. 5936, the West Los Angeles Leasing Act of 2016, as amended, would authorize VA to carry out certain leases on VA’s Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System West LA Medical Center campus in Los Angeles, Calif., and prohibit VA from entering into any land-sharing agreements unless the agreements provide additional health care resources and benefit veterans and their families in ways other than generating additional revenue. In addition, it would require VA to submit an annual report regarding leases and land-sharing agreements on the West LA VAMC campus and mandate that VA’s inspector general produce reports regarding the leases and implementation of VA’s master plan for the campus. H.R. 5937, as amended, would authorize the American Battle Monuments Commission to acquire, operate and maintain the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial located outside Paris, France. H.R.5620, the VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act of 2016, a bipartisan legislation that would reform the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs appeals process and reduce wait time for veterans’ claims. These bills now await consideration by the Senate. Following House passage of the bills, Chairman Miller, Chairman, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, released the following statement: “The legislation the House passed today will help bring much-needed accountability and efficiency to VA’s long-troubled West Los Angeles campus, enhance VA’s hearing health services and honor the service and sacrifice of a special group of World War I veterans. I applaud my colleagues in the House for their actions and call on the Senate to consider these bills in short order.” [Source: HVAS Press Release | September 12 & 14, 2016 ++] ***************************** Senate Vet Bill Progress ► 23 SEP 2016 During the week of 19-23 SEP the Senate advanced four veterans bills that were recently passed by the House. The bills include H.R. 1475, the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall of Remembrance Act to authorize the construction of a wall of remembrance at the Korean War Veterans Memorial. H.R. 1475 was amended by the Senate and must be reconsidered by the House before being sent to the president. The other three bills now await the president’s signature. H.R. 5936, the Veterans Care Agreement and West Los Angeles Leasing Act of 2016, to authorize VA to enter into needed leases in West Los Angeles. H.R. 5937 to authorize the American Battle Monuments Commission to acquire, operate and maintain the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial in Marnes-la-Coquette, France. H.R. 5985, the VA Expiring Authorities Act of 2016 to extend a number of important veterans programs set to expire this year and provide relief for veterans impacted by the closure of ITT campuses around the country. [Source: VFW | Action Corps Weekly | September 23, 2016 ++] ***************************** Flu Shots Update 08 ► Vet No-Cost Shots at Walgreens The cold and flu season is upon us and the Department of Veterans Affairs has once again teamed up with Walgreens Pharmacies nationwide to allow all veterans who are currently enrolled in the VA healthcare system to be able walk into any of the over 8000 Walgreens nationally (and the Duane Reade pharmacies in the New York metropolitan area) to receive a vaccination at no cost. Vaccinations will be available through March 31, 2017. Veterans wishing to receive the no cost vaccination simply need to present a Veterans Identification Card and a photo ID, at any participating Walgreens to receive the vaccination. In addition, after the Walgreens pharmacist administers the vaccine Walgreens will transmit that information securely to VA where it becomes part of the patient’s electronic medical record. VA is committed to keeping Veteran patients healthy, and during this flu season, vaccination is the best way to prevent the spread of flu. No matter where you live, visit your local VA clinic or Walgreens to get a free flu shot. To find your local VA, visit va.gov/directory/guide/home.asp. To locate a Walgreens store near you, go to https://www.walgreens.com/storelocator/find.jsp or call 800-WALGREENs (800-925-4733). To learn more about the partnership, call 1-877-771-8537 or visit www.ehealth.va.gov/Immunization.asp. To get more information on flu and flu vaccine, visit publichealth.va.gov/flu or www.cdc.gov/flu. [Source: CAL VET | September 22, 2016 ++] ***************************** Honor Flights Update 11 ► First All Female Flight Honor Flights from across the country bring Veterans to Washington, D.C., several times a week. However, on 10 SEP the Honor Flight Columbus organization out of Ohio sent the group’s first all-women Veterans’ Honor Flight to the nation’s capital. While there, 81 women—Veterans of World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War—visited their respective monuments. The trip to Washington kicked off with a hosted event at the Women in Military Service for America (WIMSA) Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, and included stops at a number of sites: the Iwo Jima Memorial, the U.S. Air Force Memorial and the memorials for World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Wilma L. Vaught—one of the most decorated women in U.S. military history—was among those who greeted the group at the WIMSA Memorial; in 1966, she was also the first woman to deploy with an Air Force bomber wing. “It means so much to see this group of women come in and see what the memorial means to them, because it does mean something to them,” said Vaught. “It is seeing their service to our country paid tribute to by the nation. And yet with it all, there comes laughter and joy, and that’s the way it ought to be about serving our country.” As the pioneers of their times, these women blazed a path that until then was only traveled for men. And yet despite their contributions, they weren’t so readily accepted as equals. “My career field was supposed to be aerospace jet mechanic,” said retired Air Force Veteran Phyllis Collins, who goes by the nickname “Sunshine.” “And the guys didn’t like me there … I was supposed to be working on a dead battery. They hooked it up, and I got zapped,” she said. “So I changed my career field real fast. I became a military cop.” Decades later, there are female Army Rangers, and the U.S. military continues the push to fully integrate women into front-line and infantry units. “It’s a lot different, what they do now,” said retired Air Force Sgt. Deb Millerberg, an aeromedical evacuation technician during Vietnam. “When I was in, I was an enlisted female, so they didn’t have female crew quarters. I got put off base when my crew was on base, or I was in TDY (temporary duty) quarters. They’ve come a long way.” Those who took that unconventional path did so because the opportunities were greater than the challenges. “There were a lot of difficult times, but I don’t regret a minute. Joining the Air Force opened up the world,” said Millerberg, who served in a number of overseas locations during the war. “We flew throughout Southeast Asia, all the bases, into Tan Son Nhut and Saigon (Vietnam); Japan; Korea; Okinawa, [and] Thailand. I went to Jungle Survival School in the Philippines. Everything was really exciting.” One of Millerberg’s greatest memories was working with the crew members who helped with Operation Babylift, the mass evacuation of hundreds of thousands of children from South Vietnam to the United States and other countries (including Australia, France and Canada) at the end of the Vietnam War. The women were just as eager as the men to do their part for the nation, but there were only so many roles available to them. “Most times, women were not wanted overseas unless you had a nurse’s degree, and you could take care [of] or nurture the men that were injured,” said Dorothy “Dottie” Wolfe, who served in the Marine Corps, Marine Corps Reserve and Air National Guard. “But I served, and I was proud to have served. I would have gone had they sent me, under any situation. That’s what you signed the contract for, and I knew it.” Wolfe eventually got activated for and deployed to Iraq during Operation Desert Storm, as she was approaching 60 years old. “I don’t know how many years I’ve got left, because I’m an old woman,” she mused, “but God has been good to me, and I love this nation. If we were in need of people today, I would go back.” The Columbus Honor Flight was much more than a group of tourists looking to take in the sights. So many had personal stories of loss for which the memorials could provide a measure of solace and connection to the past. It was Barbara Murray’s first chance to visit the Vietnam Wall, and she wanted to look up the captain for whom she’d worn a POW bracelet back in high school, a memento she still keeps close to her heart. “About 10 years ago,” said Murray, once a cryptographer with the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, “they found his remains … I’m interested in looking up my MIA’s (missing in action) name on the wall to see that it’s been changed from MIA to KIA.” “It’s going to be quite an impact,” said Millerberg, trying to hold back the tears. “I actually flew with two people who are on the wall; so yeah, I want to see it.” “It breaks my heart to think of so many thousands [who] died,” said Wolfe. “They had goals. They had things they wanted to do, and probably had plans that never took place because they were sent to Vietnam, because they signed that contract with the United States government, promising fidelity and whatever was required up to and including their life. But it just breaks my heart, because there were so many of them that were so young.” VA estimates there are 21.9 million living Veterans in the United States, and about nine percent of them are women. Nationally, the majority of female Veterans served in the modern wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with only about 13.5 percent serving in Vietnam and three percent from both Korea and World War II. For more on women Veterans, including a number of resources for women Vets, visit VA’s Center for Women Veterans at http://www.va.gov/womenvet. [Source: VAntage Point | September 21, 2016 ++] ***************************** POW/MIA Update 75 ► Lexington, Kentucky Recognition Day Event Under clear blue skies and the September sun, Veterans, staff and family members gathered the morning of 16 SEP in Lexington, Kentucky, to raise a flag honoring the nation’s prisoners of war and those still missing in action. The ceremony at the Lexington VA Medical Center’s Leestown campus was one of six events taking place in Central and Eastern Kentucky, and one of hundreds taking place across the country on this National POW/MIA Recognition Day. In Lexington, four former POWs attended the event, three from World War II and one from Korea. “Our Veterans risked capture, imprisonment, and their lives to protect this country,” said Candace Bradley, a Voluntary Services coordinator at the Lexington VA who helped organize the event. “It’s our duty not to forget their sacrifices and to pay tribute to them.” 
Charles E. Dick was taken prisoner in Korea on May 18, 1951 and was held at Ch’ang Song until April 24, 1953. He traveled to Lexington from Monticello, Kentucky, to attend the event with his wife Charlcy and daughter Marlene. “I’m very appreciative that they haven’t forgotten us,” Dick said. “My family knows I love to come to this. It’s not to get recognition, but it’s the atmosphere, the spirit of it, the appreciation.” Retired school teacher Bertha Hoover and her daughter Vicki Lee Peace attended the flag ceremony to honor the memory of Bertha’s husband, Robert L. Hoover. Hoover was serving in the 143rd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division when he was captured by the Nazis. PFC Hoover was held at Stalag 9C in Bad Sulza, Germany. Bertha Hoover said she was honored to participate in today’s event. “I appreciate the fact they’re still remembered.” World War II Veteran Blas Gerardo, his wife of 68 years, Mary, and their daughter Carmen traveled from Danville, Kentucky, to participate. Gerardo, an Army Veteran, was captured during the Battle of the Bulge. According to daughter Carmen, when he was taken prisoner, “His mother received a telegram saying he had passed away in the war. When he came back to Los Angeles from Germany [after the POW camp was liberated], she saw the Los Angeles Times front page photo and she recognized him.” That’s how his family learned Gerardo had, in fact, survived the war. The Gerardo family has a long history of military service, with 10 family members, including grandsons and granddaughters, under the age of 30 currently serving. “The last one that just joined just graduated from high school, is 17-years-old and went into the Marines,” Carmen Gerardo said. Her father “gave him a little pep talk. Nobody else could hear — it was just between the two of them.” James Tipton and Alvin Perry were both POWs held in Germany during World War II. Tipton was an Army Air Corps pilot when his plane ran out of fuel over Germany. Today he lives in Waco, Kentucky, less than 10 miles from where he was born, and is one of the few remaining POWs from a group that met once a month. That’s where he met Perry, who was captured by the Nazis in France in 1944. “We had a POW program that met once a month and at one time we had about 20 people who came,” Perry said. A native of Anderson County, Kentucky, Perry still lives in Lawrenceburg. Also among those in attendance was Denny Hart, a retired Army Veteran and author of A Soldier’s Anthology: Story-Telling by America’s Veterans, The Kentucky Connection. “Their stories need to be told,” Hart said. “They’re being forgotten and they’re dying off at a rapid pace. They all have a message for today’s generation.” What is the message Hart has gleaned from his interviews with POWs? “Stand up. Speak out. Let your voices be heard.” [Source: VAntage Point | September 16, 2016 ++] ***************************** Directory: uploads uploads -> 587 Return function, r i(X) r i(0) r i(1) r i(2) r i(3) 1 0 2 4 6 Thermal Station, I 2 0 1 5 6 3 0 3 5 6 10 uploads -> Department of science and humanities department of mathematics part-a questions and answers uploads -> The Case Against the nypd’s Quota-Driven ‘Broken Windows’ Policing What Is It? uploads -> For want of a nail uploads -> Ownership Models There are two different types of ownership models uploads -> Police Militarization uploads -> City of rising star regular meting thursday, july 14, 2016 uploads -> Township of winfield uploads -> Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act of 2014 uploads -> The Black Panther Party’s Ten-Point Program What We Want Now! Download 7.71 Mb. Share with your friends:
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