|
|
Greetings!
Welcome
to the fourth installment of The American Legion Department of Florida's online
Weekly Update.
In
this weeks update we are discussing help for homeless veterans, how the American Legion is offering help for Iraq & Afghanistan veterans in this employment crisis, the American Legion National Commanders praise of the 9th Circuit pledge ruling, paperwork veterans should currently be filling, the VA recognizing women's history month, as well as the VA announcing a new push to cut claims backlog.
Our goal with this publication is to keep you informed on current events.
Each week we'll bring you updated information on current issues facing our
Veterans and military, our interests on Capitol Hill, and other important topics.
Please visit our website to see how you can be an integral part of the Nation's
Largest Veterans' Organization - The American Legion.
|
|
American Legion National Commander Praises 9th Circuit Pledge Ruling
American Legion National Press Release
INDIANAPOLIS
(March 12, 2010)
"A great victory for common sense," was how The American Legion National Commander Clarence E. Hill characterized yesterday's ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance is constitutional.
In a separate ruling yesterday, the Court also upheld the use of the national motto "In God We Trust" on coins and currency.
"The American Legion was very critical, in fact outraged, when the same Court ruled in 2002 that the Pledge was unconstitutional because of a phrase that has existed in the Pledge since 1954," Hill said. "But it is time to give credit where it is due. The Ninth Circuit corrected its earlier mistake and now there is absolutely no reason why schools across the nation should not lead their students in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance every day."
Read More >>>
|
VA Announces New Push to Cut Claims Backlog
VA Press Release
On Tuesday, VA Secretary Erik Shinseki announced an aggressive new initiative to solicit private-sector input on a proposed "fast track" veterans' claims process for service-connected presumptive illnesses due to Agent Orange exposure during the Vietnam War. "This will be a new way of doing business and a major step forward in how we process the presumptive claims we expect to receive over the next two years," said Shinseki. "With the latest, fastest, and most reliable technology, VA hopes to migrate the manual processing of these claims to an automated process that meets the needs of today's veterans in a more timely manner." Read More >>> |
VA Recognizes Women's History Month
NAUS Weekly Release
The VA Center for Women Veterans is taking the lead on recognizing women veterans during Women's History Month in March. The Center is working with the National Foundation of Women Legislators; VA facility women veterans program managers and state veterans affairs women veterans coordinator on launching the "Her Story" campaign during Women's History Month (the month's theme is "Writing Women Back into History"). The program encourages VA facilities to gather and share the stories of women Veterans working at, served by or volunteering with VA. The program will be featured this month and again in August during Women's Equality Day and culminate on Veterans Day in November. For additional information, contact your women veterans program coordinator or the Center for Women Veterans at 202-461-6193.
|
|
American Legion Offers Help for Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans in Employment Crisis
American Legion National Press Release
WASHINGTON
(March 12, 2010)
The American Legion is tackling a problem suffered by an alarming number of military veterans: unemployment.
A report just released by the Dept. of Labor says that last year's unemployment rate for young veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as 21.1 percent. Meanwhile, the jobless rate among non-veterans in the same 18-to-24 age range was 16.6 percent.
"The American Legion has been aware of this situation for some time," said Joe Sharpe, director of The American Legion's Economic Division in Washington, "and we are addressing it with frequent, well-attended job fairs and business workshops for veterans.
Read More >>>
|
Help for Homeless Veterans
NAUS Weekly Release
VA recently started a National Call Center for Homeless Veterans hotline to ensure that homeless veterans or veterans at-risk for homelessness have free, 24/7 access to trained counselors. The hotline is intended to assist homeless veterans and their families, VA Medical Centers, federal, state and local partners, community agencies, service providers and others in the community.
To be connected with a trained VA staff member call 1-877- 4AID VET (877-424-3838). · Call for yourself or someone else
· Free and confidential
· Trained VA counselors to assist
· Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
· We have information about VA homeless
programs and mental health services in your area that can help you.
|
Vets Should File Paperwork Now
NAUS Weekly Release
Tens of thousands of Vietnam veterans with ischemic heart disease, Parkinson's disease or B cell leukemia should file claims now with the Department of Veterans Affairs for disability compensation, not wait until VA publishes a regulation officially linking these diseases to wartime service.
Advocacy groups are urging the swift filing of claims because veterans eventually found eligible for disability pay for these diseases will be able to receive compensation back to the date their claims were filed. Those who wait for a regulation to add these ailments to VA's list of diseases presumed caused by exposure to Agent Orange and other toxins used in the war could lessen, by several months of compensation, any retroactive pay that they will be due once their claims have been approved.
Help in filing claims is available through the Legion and its service officers as well as through most other major veterans' organizations.
Read More >>>
|
|
|
Click the Image Below to View the Full Informational Flyer
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
