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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
Veterans Today - U.S. Military Veterans VA Home Loans, Vet Jobs, VA Benefits, VA's LiveJournal:
| Saturday, October 11th, 2008 | |
| 1:30 pm | R.I.P.: Ed Freeman - An American Hero
Medal of Honor Recipient Once they were Soldiers.... You're an 18 or 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley, 11-14-1965. LZ Xray, Vietnam. Your Infantry Unit is outnumbered 8 - 1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming in. You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you're not getting out. Your family is 1/2 way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day. Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter, and you look up to see a Huey, but it doesn't seem real, because no Medi-Vac markings are on it. Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come. |
| 1:30 pm | Veterans' Benefits Legislation Signed by President Veterans' Benefits Legislation Signed by President Changes to Claims Process Suggested by Well-Known Military Law Attorney Washington, DC - After passing the Senate in unanimous consent, President Bush today signed into law the Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008. The act includes a wide range of provisions that provide further service to the nation's veterans, including compensation enhancements and labor, education, and housing benefits for veterans. |
| Friday, October 10th, 2008 | |
| 10:30 pm | DOD Handbook, Comp & Benefits for Seriuosly Injured or ILL Service members The Department of Defense (DoD) has developed a comprehensive handbook describing compensation and other benefits service members and their families would be entitled to upon separation or retirement as a result of serious injury or illness. The handbook describes the disability eligibility process, various program qualifications, application procedures, and numerous resources with associated contact information. Additionally, there are references to assistance provided by other governmental and non-governmental agencies and organizations. |
| 10:30 pm | TRICARE & Military Health Care News Military Health Care News On Oct. 1, 2008, TRICARE Management Activity awarded contracts to the six designated providers of the Uniformed Services Family Health Plan (USFHP). The USFHP is a Department of Defense (DoD)-sponsored health plan, made available by nonprofit healthcare providers in six service areas across the country. Over the years, DoD has partnered with these former U.S. Public Health Service facilities to provide care for military beneficiaries. Initially, they were given a statutory deemed status as military healthcare facilities. In 1997, Congress mandated that they become a permanent part of the Military Health System, to administer a program that became known as the US Family Health Plan. USFHP offers the TRICARE Prime benefit to over 100,000 military beneficiaries, including active-duty family members, activated Guard and Reserve family members, and retirees and their family members. More than 40 percent of the USFHP participants are 65 and older. |
| 9:30 pm | OIF/OEF Veterans Now get 5 years VA Health care VA Issues Directive Controlling 5 Year VA Health Care Program For OIF/OEF Veterans-Below please find the long VA directive controlling the enlarged 5 year program which qualifies OIF/OEF veterans for 5 years of VA healthcare without a service connected disability. When this program started it was a 2 year program but in January of this year the President signed a bill lengthening the qualification time to 5 years. As you can see in the directive if you are one of the beneficiaries who enrolled in the 2 year program and finished those two years you will be requalified for the remaining 3 years. When you are in this program you are placed in Category 6 “Special Enrollment Category” but after the 5 years you will continue to be enrolled at the VA now in Category 7 or 8. In these very difficult financial times we strongly suggest that if you qualify you should immediately take advantage of this program. You should then go to the VA at least once a year to maintain your VA healthcare enrollment qualification after your 5 years are over. This can provide you with a first rate medical coverage backup that you would be foolish accept. |
| 9:30 pm | U.S. Department of Defense Announces Latest Contract Awards: 10-10-08  American Ordnances LLC, St. Pittsburg, Kan., has three contract were awarded Oct. 2, 2008, a $427,782,611 firm/fixed-price contract for the operations Iowa and Milan Army Ammunition Plants. Work will be performed in Iowa Army Ammunition, Middleton, Iowa, Milan Army Ammunition Plant, Milan, Tenn., with estimated and completion date of Dec. 31, 2018. Bids solicited were via the Web and two bids were received. Army Sustainment Command, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activities (W52P1J08-E-003, W52P1J08-D-0074, and W52P108-G-004). LW Matteson Inc, Burlington, Iowa, was awarded on Oct. 9, 2008, an $11,730,750 firm/fixed/price contract to repair more than one mile of levee breaches at the Hunt and Lima Lake Drainage Districts and Indian Grave Drainage District, located along the Mississippi River in Illinois. Work will be performed in Mississippi River Hunt Lima Lake Drainage District and Indian Grave Drainage District, Quincy, Ill., with an estimated completion date of Jan. 15, 2009. Bids were solicited via the www.fbo.gov and one bid was received. US Army Corps of Engineer, Rock Island, Ill., is the contracting activity (W912EK-09-C-0002). Lockheed Martin Corp, Missile and Fire Control-Dallas, Grand Prairie, Texas, was awarded Oct. 7, 2008, a $5,414,500 firm/fixed/price contract to support recertification of 72 each baseline PAC-3 missiles during the fiscal years of 2009 and 2010 and 1 Lot of consumable material to support recertification of 24 each baseline PAC-3 missile during fiscal year 2009. Work will be performed in Huntsville, Ala., with estimated and completion date of Sept. 30, 2010. U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command, Redstone, Ala., is the contracting (W31P4Q-06-C-0180). |
| 9:30 pm | McCain's attacks fuel dangerous hatred McCain's Attacks Fuel Dangerous Hatred By Frank Schaeffer, U.S. Veteran & Author John McCain: If your campaign does not stop equating Sen. Barack Obama with terrorism, questioning his patriotism and portraying Mr. Obama as "not one of us," I accuse you of deliberately feeding the most unhinged elements of our society the red meat of hate, and therefore of potentially instigating violence. At a Sarah Palin rally, someone called out, "Kill him!" At one of your rallies, someone called out, "Terrorist!" Neither was answered or denounced by you or your running mate, as the crowd laughed and cheered. At your campaign event Wednesday in Bethlehem, Pa., the crowd was seething with hatred for the Democratic nominee - an attitude encouraged in speeches there by you, your running mate, your wife and the local Republican chairman. Shame! |
| 4:30 am | DoD Launches Web Site on Chemical-Biological Warfare Exposures DoD Launches Web Site on Chemical-Biological Warfare Exposures By Navy Lt. Jennifer Cragg WASHINGTON - The Defense Department has launched a new Web site to educate the public about chemical and biological testing conducted from the early 1940s through the mid-1970s. “This is a new Web site that we have created to put together for all those who may have interest in everything that we have been able to uncover and understand about the chemical and biological testing of warfare agents done from probably the early 1940s up through 1975,” said Dr. Michael Kilpatrick, strategic communications director for the Military Health System. He explained the recently launched Chemical-Biological Warfare Exposures Web site during a “DotMilDocs” radio program on BlogTalkRadio.com Oct. 2. Officials launched the site to educate people on what was done and to also let them know what DoD knows about it, Kilpatrick said. “The CB exposures Web site explains why the testing was done, where it was done, what was used in the testing, and really what DoD learned from the testing,” he said. |
| 4:30 am | Shame on VA Bureaucrats and Shame on Congressman Waxman
Los Angeles National Veterans Home Land By Rees Lloyd The Los Angeles National Veterans Home Land was donated in 1888 to be utilized solely to provide assistance to veterans suffering from physical, mental, or emotional wounds of war. Originally some 500 acres, it is now reportedly down to less than 400 as a result of leases granted by the VA -- free or far below market value -- for a variety of purposes other than that for which it was donated, i.e., the sole purpose of aiding veterans, not commercial interests, and not non-veterans organizations like the so-called Veterans (sic) Park Conservancy ("VPC"). Not a Veterans Organization |
| Thursday, October 9th, 2008 | |
| 9:30 pm | Copy Your VA Medical Records My name is William Rist, and currently there is an issue inside the Denver Va hospital concerning physicians who have put information into my medical records without my knowledge or consent, which is a violation of patient rights. If you are a veteran within the VA Health care system, then it is important for you to copy your VA medical records. I am a veteran who has been violated twice by physicians both on active-duty as well as in the VA healthcare system.
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| 6:30 pm | Younger Military Families Closing Ranks Around Obama QUANTICO, Va. -- One of the largest U.S. marine bases in the world is located in Quantico, a tidy town with scant election fanfare. Everyone who lives here just assumes Republicans have a lock on the military vote. And so when Obama signs began to appear, tongues began to wag. "At first I was worried about how my neighbors would view it," said former marine corporal Dawn Jennings, 31, who bravely put an Obama sign in the center of her front yard. Jennings told OffTheBus that Quantico is the "kind of place where they'll ask you to remove an Obama bumper sticker from your car." Barack Obama is promising to make college affordable for all Americans, and this appeals to Jennings. "I can't imagine telling my two kids, "No college for you, because I voted for McCain." She emailed all of her military friends, encouraging them to register two new voters. "It's time to take a stand," said the marine vet. "I want us to be like Michigan -- I'd love to see John McCain quit campaigning in Virginia, too." Jennings isn't the only Obama supporter in Quantico -- not by a long shot -- and this should raise a red flag for the McCain camp. In hotly contested states with large military populations, these voters can make an impact because they turn out to vote in higher percentages (79/64) than the general public, according to a Rand study. John McCain assumes he has the military vote -- but does he? |
| 5:30 pm | Denver VA Patient Right Violations My name is William Rist, and currently there is an issue inside the Denver Va hospital concerning physicians who have put information into my medical records without my knowledge or consent, which is a violation of patient rights. |
| 5:30 pm | U.S. Department of Defense Announces Latest Contract Awards: 10-09-08 Valero Marketing & Supply Co., San Antonio, Texas is being awarded a maximum $234,721,965 fixed price with economic price adjustment, indefinite delivery and indefinite quantity contract for fuel. Other locations of performance are Pasadena and Corpus Christi, Texas. Using service is Foreign Military Sales. This proposal was originally Web solicited with three responses. Contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The date of performance completion is Sept. 30, 2009. The contracting activity is Defense Energy Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Va., (SP0600-08-D-0454). NAVY Lockheed Martin Systems Integration, Owego, N.Y., is being awarded a $173,000,000 modification to a previously awarded cost plus award fee contract (N00019-05-C-0030) for the System Development and Demonstration (SDD) of the VH-71 Presidential Helicopter. The SDD Phase will consist of engineering design and integration activities for the various communications, navigation, and mission systems required for the Presidential Helicopter support mission. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, Md., (28 percent); Owego, N.Y., (26 percent); Yeovil, United Kingdom, (20 percent); Cascina Costa, Italy, (15 percent); Rolling Meadows, Ill., (3 percent); Lynn, Mass., (3 percent); Clifton, N.J., (2 percent); Denton, Texas, (1 percent); Grand Rapids, Mich., (1 percent); and Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in Sept. 2011. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity. Raytheon Co., Integrated Defense Systems, Keyport, Wash., is being awarded a $171,124,519 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-04-C-6101) to provide MK48 and MK54 torpedoes on a firm fixed-price basis. This effort is a continuation of MK48 ADCAP, MK48 Common Broadband Advance Sonar System and MK54 torpedo programs under contracts N00024-98-C-6107, N00024-00-C-6100, N00024-00-C-6102 and N00024-03-C-6104. The primary purpose of this contract is to purchase the necessary quantities of torpedoes and support services necessary to support Fleet operational requirements for the various torpedo product lines. Work will be performed in Keyport, Wash., (50 percent) and Portsmouth, R.I., (50 percent), and is expected to be completed by Jul. 2011. The total amount funded at contract award will be $166,368,226. Contract funds in the amount of $48,946,820 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity. |
| 8:30 am | Calls for the Arrest of John McCain and Wink Palin "TERRORIST, KILL HIM!" McCain and Palin must be arrested violating the Patriot Act VULGARITY IS NO LONGER IN STYLE JOHN by William Goodell "TERRORIST, KILL HIM!". These are the cries heard at Palin and McCain rallies this week. Now no one can stop a few lunatics from acting irresponsibly at rallies. It happens! Maybe the candidates can't hear them as they have said. But when these incidents keep happening at the same rallies over and over and the candidates don't do a darn thing about, something is rotten! Now let's give McCain and Palin the benefit of the doubt that they can't hear them at the rallies. But why, when after they find out about them, they don't, at the very least, issue a strong and very direct statement to their supporters condemning such vile and vicious, and now by definition via our lovely and unconstritutional Patriot Act, acts of terrorism! At the very best, how come they don't call for the arrest of these terrorists attending their rallies! Wouldn't that be leadership? America is getting it's ass kicked all over the place and our country and culture has suffered abuse via a vacuum of leadership. We need better than this now! |
| 7:30 am | BOOK REVIEW: Job Search: Marketing Your Military Experience
by Joe Breen, Colonel, USAF (Ret.) I was very fortunate when I made the decision to depart the service--I had access to Dave Henderson's original edition of "Job Search: Marketing Your Military Experience." I did have multiple skills and considerable experience but very little idea just how to identify and package them, and how they should or could apply to my new life as a civilian. If you were going to limit yourself to one source, which you really should not-edition 3 of "Job Search: Marketing Your Military Experience" would be the one to choose. The material is well organized, easy to follow and is very careful to avoid the "one size fits all approach." The advice, well grounded in years of experience and highly tuned to today's job market, is individually tailored to meet needs ranging from a young NCO leaving the service after one hitch, to a senior officer with decades of experience. |
| 7:30 am | BOOK: A Deadly Misunderstanding: A Congressman's Quest to Bridge the Musli
Who would ever guess that the ancient language of Aramaic might hold the key to peace and understanding between Muslims and Christians? And that a former U.S. congressman from Michigan (1981–87) and former deputy ambassador to the UN would have discovered some key word similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an? Siljander’s book recounts these discoveries as he travels to some of the most embattled places in the world: the Sahara, Libya, Sudan, Pakistan, Nepal, and India. His accounts of amazing interviews with heads of state and leaders like Muhammad Abdelaziz of the Sahrawri peoples and Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, are very revealing. He attempts to allay the misunderstandings and ignorance through startling language discoveries, discussing, for example, words and concepts like “conversion,” “son of God,” “crucifixion,” and “peace” in the context of the original language of Jesus Christ—Aramaic. Finally, Siljander declares that love and relationships are more important than political strength and posturing. An understanding of the principles in this important book could help heal the rift between Islam and the West. Recommended for all libraries. Former Congressman and Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Mark D. Siljander takes us on an eye-opening journey of personal, religious, and political discovery. In the 1980s, Siljander was a newly minted Reagan Republican from Michigan who joined Congress in the same generation as Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay, ready to remake the world. A staunch member of the Religious Right, he once walked out of the National Prayer Breakfast when a speaker quoted from the Qur'an. |
| 6:30 am | U.S. Department of Defense Announces Latest Contract Awards: 10-08-08 DRS-C3 Systems Inc., Fort Walton Beach, Fla., was awarded Oct. 7, 2008, a $8,694,387 firm fixed price contract. This procurement is for 564 tube-launched optically-tracked wire guided missile launchers. Work will be performed in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., with estimated and completion date of Jul. 31, 2010. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command, Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting activity (W31P4Q-08-C-0145). The Nutmeg Companies Inc, Norwich, Conn., was awarded Oct. 1, 2008, a $7,465,200 firm fixed price contract for construction of a new east Greenwich Readiness Center, at Camp Fogarty, East Greenwich, Rhode Island. Work will be performed in East Greenwich, R.I., with estimated and completion date of Jun. 10, 2010. Bids were solicited via the Web and seven bids were received. National Guard Bureau, Providence, R.I., is the contracting activity (W912LD-08-C-0037). Army Armaments Inc., (AAI), Hunt Valley, Md., was awarded on Sept. 30, 2008, a $6,624,322 cost plus fixed price contract. This modification exercises options for additional engineering service hours for Laser Low Rate Initial Production in support of the Shadow 200 Unmanned Aircraft System. Work will be performed in Hunt Valley, M.D., with an estimated completion date of Sept. 30, 20009. One bid was solicited and one bid was received. U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command is the contracting activity (W58RGZ-08-C-0033). |
| Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 | |
| 5:30 pm | DOCUMENTARY: Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery Nnew documentary which will premiere this Monday, October 13th on HBO. Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery is the third in a trilogy of Iraq-related HBO documentaries (following the Emmy-winning “Baghdad ER” and the Emmy nominated “Alive Day Memories: Home from Iraq”) from Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill which provides rare, intimate glimpses of the loss, love and pride felt by the Section 60 visitors. Capturing the sights and sounds of this quiet pocket of Arlington National Cemetery, mourners ranging from young widows and family members to fiancés and fellow soldiers visit Section 60 to try and connect in spiritual and physical ways with the loved ones they’ve lost. Whether it’s a father camping out at his son’s grave with a bottle of bourbon and a cigar or a widowed mother whose daughter just learned how to walk, Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery comprises vignettes of these individual stories shot from early morning to sundown (when the site officially closes). Since the Civil War, Arlington National Cemetery has been the nation’s preeminent burial ground for military personnel. Over 300,000 people are buried in an area of more than 600 acres, including veterans from all the nation’s wars. Funerals average 28 a day, with about 6,400 burials annually. Nearly four million people visit Arlington each year. |
| 5:30 pm | ChalleNGe Academy and Seaborne ChalleNGe Corps CAMP MABRY, Texas – Seaborne ChalleNGe Corps cadets and staff will resume normal operations and classes in Sheffield, Texas this week. Class 2008-2 first assembled July 19 at the Galveston Island facility. Hurricane IKE flooded the Galveston facility three weeks ago forcing the move to West Texas. Serving at-risk Texas youth, Seaborne ChalleNGe Corps is an initiative of the National Guard. Students who are at risk of dropping out of high school (ages 16-18) may apply for the 17.5 month program. During the first 5.5 months cadets are housed under residential supervision. After completing this residential phase, students return to their communities across Texas and are mentored by adult volunteers locally for the next 12 months. These mentors assist the youth in their life plans and help the program track the students' progress. Over one-hundred cadets are expected to continue the ChalleNGe program at the Texas ChalleNGe Academy facility. The Sheffield facility is capable of housing 128 cadets. |
| 5:30 pm | EPISODE 6: MONK CHEATS ON TRUDY AT THE V.A.
MONK "TAKES IT FROM BEHIND" AT THE V.A. By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER Last Episode, Monk (really our writer, Uncle Gordie) was forced to drive 100 miles to seek treatment at an out of state VA hospital because his nearby clinic had mysteriously given up making appointments for ill veterans. As we remember, Monk had been on a mysterious case in Egypt when he had been subjected to a particularly nasty local bug, leaving him seriously debilitated and at risk of death or worse. Monk, after driving up to Michigan and waiting hours for Urgent Care, submitted to a series of tests. He was informed that treatment would/could only begin after the tests were evaluated in 24 to 48 hours. Though Mr. Monk was very ill, he accepted this promise and drove back to Ohio, waiting by the phone (or taking it into the bathroom with him, as he spent more time there than anyplace else). No matter how much Mr. Monk stared at the phone, it never rang. Friends who saw Episode 5 contacted Mr. Monk, advising him on established treatments for his problem. The US Army G2 for the Joint Operations Command (Bright Star) in Egypt repeatedly phoned Mr. Monk along with Navy Seals, Army Officers and one utter fool who retired from the Coast Guard. Mr. Monk had been "burned" by the V.A. before, many times, but like the lovable fool we know he is, he keeps coming back for more, no matter how much damage his already overused "area" would suffer from the unwanted intimate contact the V.A. was certain to subject him to. (read more........) |
Ed Freeman: An American Hero
Shame on VA Bureaucrats and Shame on Congressman Waxman
BOOK REVIEW: Job Search: Marketing Your Military Experience (Job Search) (Paperback)
BOOK REVIEW: A Deadly Misunderstanding: A Congressman's Quest to Bridge the Muslim-Christian Divide 
FOLLOWUP CARE THAT NEVER CAME