The American Legion Department of Colorado Blog

Through January of 2012, Department of New York Commander Mike Bowen had brought 51 members to The American Legion, spanning several states and nearly 20 posts. Two years ago, Bowen signed up nearly 70 members.

Bowen’s membership strategy is as basic as it gets, but it works. He identifies the veteran and then finds out what he or she needs. More often than not, The American Legion can fill that need.

The 43-year member of Warner-Van Riper Post 435 in Waterloo, N.Y., also makes it easy to join. Bowen’s department commander business cards have a Legion application printed on the back.

Bowen, a member of the National Membership & Post Activities Committee, talked about his approach to membership.

Q: Why have you stayed in The American Legion for 43 years?

A: Because of service to the veterans. Veterans are what make this country work. Being to able to serve them and their needs kept the interest growing all the time.

Q: Are the services that The American Legion provides something that you use when you are recruiting members?

A: One of the main things – especially with the younger generation of veterans right now – is their need for veterans benefits. I probably promote the Post-9/11 GI Bill and the benefits it has for themselves and their families. Their interest seems to be intrigued. I’ve had them thank me for that. I’ve also just signed up an Iraq vetera, 26 years old, and he was enrolled in the VA system at the hospital and had never been asked to join The American Legion. I spoke with him, told him about the benefits and the fact the VA system and the GI Bill were both supported and developed by The American Legion. He joined up immediately, and he’s got five more friends who he’s going to let know (about the Legion) and hopefully get them in the same post he’s in.

That’s what they want to know. They want to know “What’s in it for me?” – what we can do for them. I go by the four pillars all the way around, everything that we do.

Q: They say this generation of veterans are not joiners, but if you tell them what the Legion does, they will join, won’t they?

A: That’s correct. One of the biggest points that I tell them is that being the largest advocate for veterans’ rights, when you turn that into votes for the politicians – the Senate, the House – they listen to us when we ask for things for the veterans. And numbers count. That’s probably the No. 2 reason they join. They believe if they join, the greater number we have within the Legion, the more benefits and more services we’ll get for the veterans and their families.

Q: How long are you going to be selling The American Legion?

A: The rest of my life.

The Department of Veterans Affairs announced today a change in regulations regarding payments for emergency care provided to eligible Veterans in non-VA facilities.

“This provision helps ensure eligible Veterans continue to get the emergency care they need when VA facilities are not available,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.

The new regulation extends VA’s authority to pay for emergency care provided to eligible Veterans at non-VA facilities until the Veterans can be safely transferred to a VA medical facility.

More than 100,000 Veterans are estimated to be affected by the new rules, at a cost of about $44 million annually.

VA operates 121 emergency departments across the country, which provide resuscitative therapy and stabilization in life-threatening situations. They operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. VA also has 46 urgent care units, which provide care for patients without scheduled appointments who need immediate medical or psychiatric attention.

For more information about emergency care in non-VA facilities, visit www.nonvacare.va.gov.

By: June Walbert

Nothing tops experience as a means of learning. And the global financial challenges plaguing us for the past few years have certainly offered plenty of lessons, none more fundamental than the importance of saving money in an emergency fund. Setting aside cash is not a luxury; it’s a necessity in today’s economic environment. High unemployment continues, with no sign of easing. If you had to go without a paycheck, would you be ready?

For many Americans, saving money in an emergency fund has made the difference between financially sinking and staying afloat. Many more have been caught short, unable to make ends meet, in part for lack of this critical component in their financial plan. A recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that half of Americans would struggle to come up with $2,000 for an unexpected expense.

Ordinarily, I recommend that this stash cover three to six months of living expenses. But if you think a pink slip could be coming your way, it probably makes sense to have nine to 12 months of cash set aside, given today’s job outlook. I suspect to many of you, nine to 12 months of cash in the bank seems like a bridge too far. Not so fast! It may not happen overnight, but it definitely isn’t possible unless you get started. Below, I’ve mapped out some ideas on how I could scrape together $1,000 in 30 days – a good start to saving money:

Brown-bag it

Dining out for lunch typically runs about $8. If I take my lunch to work and eat at home on the weekends, I cut costs to about $2 per day. Savings = $180

Brew my own joe

I grind my own organic coffee beans every morning and bring a cup to work. This costs me 50 cents per day. A cup of java at a coffee shop costs about $3. Savings = $75

Tap the tap

Bottled water costs anywhere from $1.50 to $5. If I do buy bottled water, I choose the lower-end variety because I’m a cheapskate. Instead of purchasing three bottles per day, I drink tap water. Savings = $135

Going to the dog wash

I have two German shepherds and a border collie. They like my shower as much as I do. Clean the dogs at home once a month instead of taking them to the groomer. Savings = $200

Skip the car wash

Once a month, I wash my car in the driveway and turn off the water when it’s not in use (kind of like taking a Navy shower). Savings = $20

Lose the landline

The average cost for a home phone is about $50. I dropped mine and only use my cell phone. Savings = $50

Get my news online

Drop the local daily newspaper. Savings = $15

DIY pedicure

Instead of paying someone else each time, do it yourself. I do. Savings = $50 (at least)

In the weeds

The commercial company that sprays my lawn charges $75 per month. I can put up with a few weeds at that price and save money. Savings = $75

Ditch the satellite radio

The local DJs need love, too. Savings = $30

Streamline the cable package

Skip the premium channels. I don’t miss them a bit. Savings = $85

Iron(ing) is good for you

I iron four blouses per month instead of taking them to the cleaners. Savings = $20 (Question: Why does a woman’s blouse cost so much more to iron than a man’s shirt?)

Trim dining out

Imagine an enjoyable evening out with friends … wine, an appetizer and a nice dinner. That’s about $65. I forgo that pleasure once a month and cook instead. Savings = $65

Snap! I’ve saved $1,000. I’ve upped my to-do list, but a little yardwork, nail-painting and ironing never hurt anybody.

To add to my savings, I ask for military discounts (don’t be shy; they can be significant), and I might consider saving money by dropping my gym membership (I can do push-ups, sit-ups, and run/power-walk anywhere). Plus, about every two months, I highlight my own hair to save another $100 to $125.

Your spending habits may be a bit different from mine, but everyone can come up with their own ways to save money. Here are just a few more ideas: shop for groceries with a list; buy in bulk; use generic products; avoid paying ATM fees and bank charges; check out movies and books at the library; or set your thermostat higher. Where can you cut back? Start building your fallback fund today.

This article was originally written for The Motley Fool.

As 2012 gets under way, American Legion posts are encouraged to visit local schools to promote and award the School Award Medal Program.

The award is given to a boy and a girl in the graduating classes of elementary school, junior and senior high school, and college who uphold the ideals of Americanism and exemplify six qualities: courage, honor, leadership, patriotism, scholarship and service. Each recipient is presented with a certificate and a medal featuring the six qualities.

Additionally, each year the department with the strongest involvement in the use of the School Award Medal Program earns the Ralph T. O’Neil Education Trophy, named in honor of the Legion’s 1930 national commander. The 2011 recipient was the Department of Maryland, whose 147 posts statewide awarded a total of 1,363 medals.

“We try to get our foot in the door at our local schools by making direct contact with teachers and guidance counselors,” said Steve Tatro, adjutant of Calvert Post 85 in Huntingtown, Md. “We educate faculty about the award program, which too opens the lines of communication for the Legion’s other youth programs, such as Boys State and the Oratorical contest.

“And receiving the trophy showed us at the post level that we are on the right track when it comes to supporting our youth and ensuring a brighter future for them.”

Review the School Award Medal brochure to learn more about the program’s specifications and expectations.

After a six-year partnership, Team Johnson Motorsports and The American Legion parted way Dec. 31 after their contract expired.

“It has been a wonderful experience,” said Jerick Johnson, driver for the iconic American Legion/David Law Firm 76 Freedom Car. “Regardless where racing takes me, I will always cherish my years driving the Freedom Car.

“We at Team Johnson Motorsports have been privileged to carry The American Legion emblem on our race cars across the country and humbled by the grassroots support bestowed us by the Legion family from California to Virginia, Minnesota to Florida, and the many states between. It has been an awesome ride. I will miss it. We all will miss it.”

The decision to not ink a new contract was amicable and mutual, said car owner Jack Johnson.

“It takes money to field a competitive race car – “a lot of money,” Johnson said. “Our contract with The American Legion stipulated that we could use The American Legion Emblem for marketing purposes but that we would receive no other financial support from the national organization. Unfortunately, we were not able to continue to field a competitive race team within the confines of the contract.”

The race team and national Legion leadership agreed it was untenable to provide direct financial support to the Legion Racing program.

“We are the world’s largest veterans organization,” said Jack Querfeld, director of The American Legion Internal Affairs Division. “Our primary focus and responsibility is to support our nation’s veterans and their families.

“Jerick Johnson has been a powerful spokesman for The American Legion, and the racing program has introduced the Legion to thousands of race fans across the country. But from the beginning we knew we could not justify direct financial support to a racing program when our resources must focus on veterans’ issues.”

The Johnsons were perfect American Legion spokespersons, Querfeld said. “Jack is a Legionnaire, his wife, Debby, is a member of the American Legion Auxiliary, and Jerick is a Sons of The American Legion member,” he said. “They personify what is great about America and understand the challenges facing veterans. They have enthusiastically carried the Legion message to scores of communities and thousands of race fans across the country –“ for which we will forever be grateful.”

Team Johnson Motorsports is not leaving racing. Jerick Johnson will drive the POW/MIA Freedom Car during the 2012 season. Johnson is scheduled to compete in the 2012 Speedfest Jan. 27-29 at Lanier National Speedway in Braselton, Ga.

Team Johnson Motorsports will continue to serve veterans across the country with their POW/MIA Freedom Car National Tour.

“We have received a great amount of enthusiasm from our veteran supporters across the country and are excited to bring a new twist to the Freedom Car,” Jack Johnson said. “The POW/MIA cause is something that is very important to all veterans, and we will continue to show our support for those that have served our country –“ including Legion members –“ by carrying the POW/MIA logo on all of our race cars.”

The Johnsons also are taking applications for their startup school, Stock Car Tech, a nine-month hands-on curriculum to introduce students to the racing world and to give them skills to work for a race team and/or build, repair or setup their own race car.

The new 20,000 sq. ft. facility will give participants the equipment and ability to work hand-in-hand with the Team Johnson Motorsports Freedom Cars, said Jerick Johnson, who has also committed to helping young drivers pursue their careers in racing by giving driver development opportunities within Stock Car Tech.

Information regarding Stock Car Tech can be found at www.StockCarTech.net.

Legionnaires can keep up to date with results of future POW/MIA Freedom Car races and get information on how to schedule a Freedom Car appearance at www.freedomcar.org

This is the ninth year that Vi Ranney will be escorting veterans and others to Europe for the 68th anniversary of D-Day. The tour is produced by Rupiper Travel and designed by WWII veteran Dr. Brooks Ranney of Yankton, SD. Highlights will include:

• Paris, Normandy and Eisenhower’s headquarters in France

• Patton’s grave in Luxembourg

• The Battle of the Bulge area in Belgium

• The Remagen Bridge, Munich, Dachau, Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest and more in Germany

The tour features professional guides, great hotels, most meals and is economically priced. Two departures are slated: June 3-13 and August 8-18. Veterans are especially honored at the June 6th ceremonies.

Mrs. Ranney stated that “since our WWII veterans are elderly and often living on a small pension, a trip like this is not always feasible unless help is solicited. Therefore, we are asking individual, businesses, large corporations, VFW and Legion Posts and Departments for contributions of extra frequent flyer miles.

If we could get the air transportation covered for our needy veterans, they could afford the rest in most cases. Each year I hear from between three and four hundred veterans who would like to make the trip, but just can’t afford it.

After all they have done for us, isn’t it a shame they can’t go. They need to go back and make a closure. If you can help, please call me,” she concluded. Call Mrs. Ranney at 605-665-3596 if you would like a brochure or to donate frequent flyer miles.

By: Ken Olsen

Construction of a new Denver VA Medical Center is finally set to begin after more than a decade of delays that have contributed to the near tripling of the price tag.

VA awarded a $580.2 million construction contract to Kiewit-Turner Joint Venture on Nov. 17, four days before veterans and U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., planned to hold a protest if the long over-due contract wasn’t finalized.

“We announced we were meeting on the hospital site Nov. 21 with shovels for a demonstration or a celebration,” said Ralph Bozella, president of the United Veterans Committee of Colorado and member of The American Legion’s National Executive Committee.

Hundreds of other veterans attended the contract signing celebration at the former Fitzsimmons Army Medical Center site wearing lapel pins with a shovel and the letters “BTDT” – which stand for “Build the Damn Thing.” Sales of the lapel pins, created by American Legion Past National Commander Tom Bock, have raised $1,500 toward the construction of a new Fisher House at the new VA hospital site. The lapel pins also are indicative of the skepticism that remains about completion of a new Denver VA Medical Center.

VA still hasn’t said when hospital construction will begin, Bock says. “Since they have not established a target completion date, other than sometime in 2015, I feel they will just plod along with the same intensity they have been using for the past 27 months – since the official ground-breaking ceremony in August 2009.”

VA says renovation of an existing building that will house a mental health clinic, VA administrative offices and a Department of Defense clinic started last spring. Meanwhile, the agency acknowledges finalizing the contract for the final piece of the $800 million project has been a slow process.

“Negotiations were a little more difficult and a little more lengthy than we anticipated,” said Jordan Schupbach, spokesman for the Denver VA Medical Center. “I can say, as a veteran, I’m completely confident this project is moving forward and moving forward appropriately.” Schupbach is an Air Force veteran who deployed in support of the war in Afghanistan in late 2001.

The new Denver VA Medical Center will have 182 beds, including a 30-bed spinal cord injury/disorder center. It will serve veterans from Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Kansas and Nebraska.

United Veterans of Colorado – which includes the American Legion and other veterans service organizations – will watchdog hospital construction and make sure veteran-owned contractors have the opportunity to bid on the work, Bozella said. “Our primary goal is to have them build a hospital,” he said. “And we want to make sure veteran contractors get these jobs.”

There are ample reasons for Colorado area veterans to be wary. Replacing the 60-year-old Denver hospital has been marked by more than a decade of bureaucratic debacles and delays. The University of Colorado offered VA free land at Fitzsimmons in 2000, where it was building a new medical school and hospital complex. That opportunity vanished two years later when VA Secretary Anthony Principi walked away from plans for a joint UC-VA hospital, saying the $288.6 million price tag was too high.

In 2004, the Capital Asset Realignment for Enchanced Services (CARES) Commission announced the Denver VA Medical Center was one of three veterans hospitals in the nation most in need of replacement. But subsequent plans to build a new Denver VA Medical Center were scuttled, first by VA Secretary Jim Nicholson and then by VA Secretary Dr. James Peake.

Bozella, Bock and other members of the American Legion met with Shinseki in March 2009 and asked him to personally review a white paper detailing the need for a new Denver VA hospital and a spinal cord injury center. Ten days later, Shinseki announced support for the project. When Congress finally authorized funding for the latest proposal in May 2010, the total price – including land acquisition, building design, and initial excavation – had reached $800 million.

President Obama signed the VOWS to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 into law on Nov. 21, which will help many of America’s unemployed veterans get back into the civilian work force.

Provisions of the new law, including tax credits for businesses that hire veterans, are backed by The American Legion, which has been urging Congress and the White House to take action in helping the country’s jobless veterans.

“Last September, we asked Congress to create incentives to promote the hiring of veterans, and they have done exactly that,” American Legion National Commander Fang A. Wong said. “Tax credits for businesses, along with other specific programs, will go far in placing more and more of our veterans into the private sector.

“We were also impressed by the provision that makes transitional assistance mandatory for every man and woman who chooses to leave the military. This will make them even more prepared as job-seeking civilians.”

During his Sept. 21 testimony on Capitol Hill, Wong said “The American Legion hopes you will collaborate and bring your parties together to get a jobs bill for America’s veterans passed.”

Wong also testified about the critical need for civilian employers to recognize the value of military professions. “Civilian licensing agencies must recognize military training, education and experience when a veteran transitions to the civilian work force.

“It is our obligation as a nation to ensure that every single member of the military who chooses to leave … can effectively transfer his or her education, training and experience into a civilian career field.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs is implementing a telephone support program to help spouses of returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans after a pilot telephone support program showed significant reduction in stress for the spouses.

The spouse telephone support program, which is part of VA’s Caregiver Support Program, builds spouses’ ability to cope with the challenges that reintegration to civilian society can bring, helps them serve as a pillar of support for returning veterans, and eases the transition for families after deployments. Spouses in the pilot program reported decreased symptoms of depression and anxiety, with an increase in social support.

Local caregiver support coordinators are available to assist veterans and their caregivers in understanding and applying for VA’s many caregiver benefits. VA also has a website, www.caregiver.va.gov, with general information on spouse telephone support and other caregiver support programs available.

Unless Congress moves quickly, limits for Department of Veterans Affairs home loans in America’s high-cost counties will soon be reduced.

The American Legion is calling upon congressional representatives to make good on their commitment to ensure veterans and servicemembers have access to sustainable and affordable housing. If Congress doesn’t act before Dec. 31, limits for the VA Home Loan Guaranty program in high-cost counties will drop.

“We worked long and hard, then saw a wave of support just before Veterans Day to pass a jobs bill for veterans and other related initiatives,” American Legion National Commander Fang A. Wong said. “It’s a genuine disappointment to see that momentum fail, now that Veterans Day has passed.”

VA loan limits for high-cost counties were raised in the wake of the financial crisis but are scheduled to roll back on Dec. 31, from $729,750 to $625,000 per applicant. A lower cap in high-cost markets means some military families will face untenable down payments that put home ownership beyond their reach.

“Veterans returning from America’s longest war should have full access to the safest loan guarantee program in our nation,” Wong said. “These limits help level the playing field for military families who are stationed in costlier parts of the country, or who simply want to put down roots in communities they’ve come to call home.”

Twice this fall, Congress included proposals to extend limits for VA loans –“ only to pull them from consideration later. The most recent occasion was in the VOW to Hire America’s Heroes Act, signed into law last week by President Obama.

“The VA home loan program helps fund the law just signed by the president,” American Legion Legislative Division Director Tim Tetz said. “If we drop the loan limits, that may mean fewer veterans will apply for these loans, and thereby put programs to hire more veterans in jeopardy.”

Tetz said that recently passed legislation to extend Federal Housing Authority (FHA) loan limits would do little to help most military borrowers in high-cost counties, where the minimum FHA down payment on a $650,000 home would be nearly $23,000. “The average VA borrower has less than $7,000 in assets, and 90 percent get their VA loans without any kind of down payment,” he said.

American Legion Economic Division Director Joe Sharpe said thousands of veterans and active-duty servicemembers live in VA’s 140 high-cost counties, spread across 19 states and the District of Columbia. “We shouldn’t be forcing these individuals, who are middle-class Americans living in high-cost districts, to either make higher down payments or else use the FHA program,” he said.

A tight credit climate has made the VA Home Loan Guaranty program even more important. VA loan volume has soared 135 percent since 2007. At the same time, these flexible, no-down-payment loans continue to exhibit the lowest rate of foreclosure of any major loan product on the market.

“We urge Congress to keep its bargain with our nation’s veterans and extend these loan limits without delay,” Wong said. “We’ve asked so much of our veterans, especially the most recent generation. To reduce these limits is tantamount to a slap in the face for their sacrifices.”