Veterans News Bureau

INDIANAPOLIS, May 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Calling a proposal to award U.S. troops medals for holding fire in a war zone “misguided,” the head of the nation’s largest veterans organization voiced concern that overly restrictive rules of engagement would ultimately cost lives.

“Nobody likes to see innocent civilians killed in a war zone but the blame for these tragedies lies with the terrorists who caused the war in the first place,” American Legion National Commander Clarence E. Hill said. “The proposal to award medals for holding fire is troubling because it is symptomatic of a growing culture in the military that will punish troops for making split-second decisions while they are expected to defend themselves and their comrades. This proposal is an insult to our men and women in combat who already do an extraordinary job of exercising restraint. Too much restraint will get our own people killed.”

Hill also worried that rewarding those who don’t use force sends the wrong message to those that do. “Vietnam veterans were outrageously slandered as ‘babykillers,’” he said. “This was tragic because the overwhelming majority of those who served there tried to prevent innocent casualties. Now, by awarding those who supposedly practice restraint, we would be implying that our heroes who have to fire their weapons are somehow failing in their mission or coming up short. It’s a bad idea and the Pentagon should kill it.”

With a current membership of 2.5 million wartime veterans, The American Legion was founded in 1919 on the four pillars of a strong national security, veterans affairs, Americanism, and youth programs. Legionnaires work for the betterment of their communities through more than 14,000 posts across the nation.

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DEARBORN — Forgotten for generations, the unclaimed cremated remains of U.S. military veterans sit on shelves of funeral homes and state hospitals across the United States.

Mostly men, some were indigent or homeless; some outlived their families and friends. They ended up missing in America.

In Dearborn, 26 veteran cremains were found at local funeral homes. They will be buried with dignity by the Dearborn Allied War Veterans’ Council (DAWVC), which has planned a first-of-its-kind ceremony in Michigan.

At 9:30 a.m. on Memorial Day, the DAWVC will pay final respects to the veterans who served in WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam.

They expect to set a new standard for transferring the cremains, including a WWI veteran who had been languishing at funeral home since 1938.

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Veterans groups are blasting Georgia lawmakers for passing legislation that would allow a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder to appear on driver’s licenses.

The legislation, which awaits Gov. Sonny Purdue’s signature, would permit servicemembers and veterans to request a PTSD denotation, which would appear on their driver’s licenses as a specific health problem, much like poor eyesight.

PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can occur after a traumatic event, including sexual assault, physical assault and military combat. Symptoms include vivid flashbacks to the traumatic event, depression and substance abuse, among others. Up to 20 percent of veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars suffer from PTSD, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The bill would require a sworn statement from a physician verifying a diagnosis of PTSD and a waiver of liability for the release of the driver’s medical information.

State Sen. Ron Ramsey, who co-sponsored the bill, says he sees no downside to the measure. In a statement to FoxNews.com, Ramsey, a Democrat, said the “completely voluntary” legislation may protect law enforcement officers and veterans from potentially dangerous situations.

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ARLINGTON, Va. | Garage sales and quilt raffles helped a determined group of female World War II veterans raise money to transform a rundown wall at Arlington National Cemetery into a grand stone memorial to women who served their country. But those women are dying off, even as the memorial runs short of funds.

With women now involved more heavily in combat jobs, those early organizers hope a new generation will step up to the challenge of keeping the memorial open so military women’s stories won’t be lost.

The dedication of the memorial that today is visitors’ first view of the cemetery was such a joyous event that 40,000 people attended in 1997. One of them was a 101-year-old World War I vet named Frieda Mae Hardin, who was met with cheers when she told the crowd that women considering military careers should, “Go for it!”

Even as a steady flow of visitors enters its doors, the deaths of about three-quarters of the 400,000 women who served in World War II has left the memorial honoring military women of all eras without many of its loyal benefactors, though some still visit.

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VFW Press Release:

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2010 – The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. learned yesterday that the cross-shaped veterans’ memorial in the Mojave Desert was torn down Sunday night by someone or persons with no respect for the dead or the nation’s laws.

“This was a legal fight that a vandal just made personal to 50 million veterans, military personnel and their families,” said VFW National Commander Thomas J. Tradewell, Sr. “To think anyone can rationalize the desecration of a war memorial is sickening, and for them to believe they won’t be apprehended is very naive.

“The memorial will be rebuilt and the vandals will be caught and prosecuted in federal court, since the crime occurred on government property,” said Tradewell, a combat-wounded Vietnam veteran from Sussex, Wis. “We hope this horrible act will highlight the importance of resolving this case quickly so that the memorial and land can be transferred to the VFW so that the service and sacrifice of all American war dead will be properly recognized and honored, as originally intended by a group of World War I VFW members 76 years ago.”

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A new 30-page Veterans Affairs Department training letter outlines a new policy for VA regional offices to use in determining benefits for veterans who have been exposed to environmental hazards, including burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.

This marks the first time in its history that VA has addressed potential battlefield exposures while the troops remained in the combat zone, as well as the first time VA sent out guidance about a potential war-related health issue without it a congressional mandate or a recommendation from a large health organization.

The letter, with the subject line, “Environmental Hazards in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Military Installations,” went out in late April to all VA regional offices, signed by Brad Mayes, director of VA’s compensation and pension service.

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Friday’s Labor Department announcement that the U.S. economy grew 295,000 jobs in April includes some good news for post-9/11 veterans, whose unemployment rate dropped to 13.1 percent.

That is down from 14.7 percent reported in March for what the Labor Department describes as Gulf War-era II veterans, but it is still well above the April 2009 rate of 10.3 percent.

For veterans of all generations, the April unemployment rate was 9.1 percent, lower than the 9.9 percent national rate. While veterans are doing better overall than nonveterans, the job market still remains tougher today than one year ago, when the rate for all veterans was 8.5 percent.

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Veterans would get online access to their military personnel file and health and benefits records under legislation introduced in the House.

Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.), the sponsor of the Improving Veterans Electronic Transition Services (iVets) Act, wants to help ease the transition from military life to civilian life by enabling veterans to access their service records electronically in a veterans-only Web portal. The proposed Web portal also would offer a “white pages” directory of veterans, e-mail and a direct communications link with the Veterans Affairs Department.

Active duty military service members now use the Defense Department’s Defense Knowledge Online system to check their personnel records and benefits, but they lose access to the system once they become veterans.

For medical records, President Obama in April 2009 started efforts to create a joint DOD/VA seamless lifetime medical record for each service member that follows the person as he or she exits the military and becomes a veteran. Two pilot projects are currently taking place testing the Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record and using the Health and Human Service Department’s Nationwide Health Information Network.

However, Tsongas, while recognizing those ongoing efforts, said her bill addresses a specific goal. Under Tsongas’ bill introduced May 5, an assessment would be made of whether a veterans Web portal can be created that is modeled after the Defense Knowledge Online system and able to access information from the DOD system.

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