INDIANAPOLIS
(June 14, 2010)

A letter signed by The American Legion is asking President Barack Obama to restore the Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial cross.
       
The letter, which also copied U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, was signed by National Commander Clarence Hill and also included signatures from the heads of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Military Order of the Purple Heart, and Liberty Institute and the veterans counsel for Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.
       
"It is time for the President to intervene and restore this tribute to our World War I veterans which stood as a testament to their sacrifice for over 75 years," Hill said.  "After its reaffirmation by the highest court in the land, its clandestine removal by thieves cries out for its immediate replacement."

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Tell Congress To Fix The Reimbursement Rate Issue
 
On June 18, the Senate completed legislation that cancels a scheduled 21.2 percent cut in Medicare and TRICARE payments to doctors.  The Affordable Health Care Act, HR 3962, has achieved a goal that has been terribly aggravating for a period of time.  The bill provides a doctor fix for at least six months.
 
NAUS appreciates this development, however, this legislation still needs to pass the House, which is where we need your help.  Please contact your elected member of the House and urge immediate action on HR 3962.   
 
Unless a definitive solution is found soon, the number of doctors dropping Medicare and TRICARE will continue to increase, and accessibility to important health care benefits will decrease.  
 
Military retirees gave a lifetime of service in exchange for the promise of earned benefits like TRICARE.  While the obligation to keep these promises falls to our elected officials, the responsibility to maintain them is ours.  If we fail to keep Congress and the Administration on track, the benefits of TRICARE, as is often said, will be worth very little when a beneficiary cannot find a doctor when one is needed.
 
NAUS continues to press Congress for a permanent fix to the problem and to ensure that military retirees and their families have access to quality care.  Your involvement is key to ensuring lawmakers provide this issue the proper time and attention like it deserves. 
 
Contact your representatives in Washington and tell them to fix the Medicare/TRICARE reimburse rate problem.

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WASHINGTON
(June 23, 2010)

While the Veterans Health Administration is well prepared at the national level to handle emergencies, it needs to improve its degree of preparedness at the local level, according to The American Legion.
       
Barry Searle, director of the Legion's veterans affairs and rehabilitation division, told a congressional subcommittee today that "there may be a lack of oversight and feedback concerning preparedness" at Dept. of Veterans Affairs regional offices and local facilities.
       
Noting that VHA has a well-organized training framework for identifying duties and responsibilities during emergencies, Searle said The American Legion found no evidence of any feedback mechanism to confirm that such training was being implemented at regional and local facilities.

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Orlando
(June 27, 2010)

Dept. Commander
Al Porter
albertporter@bellsouth.net

Dept. Vice Commander
Fletcher Williams
Fletcher.williams@cox.net

Nat'l Executive Committeeman
Robert Proctor
proctorbr@comcast.net

NECA
Dennis Boland
paratrooper@embarqmail.com

Dept. Sgt-at-Arms
Mike Addis
maddis@tampabay.rr.com

Department Chaplain
Robert Vick
ravick311@yahoo.com

Department Judge Advocate
David Pleasanton
dfplaw@bellsouth.net

Dept. Assit. Judge Advocate
Dick Mondro
dickmondro@comcast.net

Department Historian
Sue Mason
wacsmason@aol.com

Department Service Officer
Ed Ortiz
ortize@fdva.state.florida.us

Steve B. Brooks
(June 17, 2010)

Kathleen Moakler, of the National Military Family Association, presented a study to the Legion's Policy Coordinating and Action Group that outlined the effects parental deployment can have on children.

The National Military Family Association has been around since 1969, providing scholarships for the children of servicemembers, lobbying on behalf of those families, and operating camps and retreats for military children.

But it was a recent study conducted by the organization that was touched on during a presentation to The American Legion's Policy Coordinating and Action Group by the organization's government relations director, Kathleen Moakler.

During the morning session at Wednesday's PCAG event, Moakler reviewed a study that her organization commissioned the RAND Corporation to conduct, examining military children's experiences when their parents deployed. The results of the study - Children on the Homefront: The Experience of Children from Military Families - were published in January in the journal Pediatrics.
           
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Killed were: