The American Legion Department of Colorado Blog

War Related Injury and Illness Study Centers established to conduct research on veterans from any era or conflict.

Jacob B. Gadd, American Legion deputy director for Healthcare, recently visited the War Related Injury and Illness Study Center (WRIISC) at the D.C. VA Medical Center. The Department of Veterans Affairs established WRIISCs in 2001 to primarily conduct research on the Persian Gulf War. The WRIISC now serves veterans from any era or conflict with war-related illnesses and injuries through clinical assessments, education and research. There are currently three WRIISC locations across the country – Washington, D.C. VA Medical Center, East Orange VA Medical Center and Palo Alto, Calif., VA Medical Center. These sites conduct studies and/or evaluations and assessments on patients within their respective geographical regions.

During the site visit, Gadd met with Dr. Matthew Reinhard, director for the D.C. VA Medical Center WRIISC. Reinhard said one of the primary mission’s of the center is “to provide a second opinion resource on diagnosis or treatment for patients.” Reinhard added that “VA medical center providers can have veteran patients referred and flown in from other states to stay at the D.C. VA Medical Center or other WRIISC location for three to five days and receive a full evaluation, diagnosis and treatment plan – similar to the Mayo Clinic.” Patients are seen by the full WRIISC staff, including physicians, nurses and other specialty staff which provide an interdisciplinary and holistic approach to treatment.

In addition to providing clinical assessments, the WRIISC conducts research in basic science, physiological, neuroimaging, behavioral health, clinical treatment trial, health services, and complementary and alternative medicine. One example of its research is the study MIND: Markers for the Identification, Norming and Differentiation of TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) and PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). The study was approved and funded in 2009 to develop evidence-based diagnostic criteria and distinguish between TBI and PTS. Dr. Julie Chapman, director of Neuroscience for the WRIISC, is the principal investigator for the MIND study; participants will begin to be enrolled this fall. The study will be held in several VA medical centers and in cooperation with the other WRIISC sites, with a total of 800 Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans. On the MIND brochure created by the WRIISC is a summary of the study that states, “the MIND study aims to integrate a very large data set of multimodal, interdisciplinary measures to comprehensively describe TBI and PTSD in in veterans, build prediction models, identify objective measures that bolster diagnostic criteria and illuminate potential mew therapies.

The American Legion’s Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission will continue to work closely with the WRIISC to receive updates on research, such as the MIND study, and best practices in treatment. For more information about WRIISCs, go to their website at http://www.warrelatedillness.va.gov.

By Terry Bowman

In April of this year I was reading the minutes of the National Veterans Mental Health Council Conference Call (April 13, 2011) and noted a comment by one of the participants. It seems that a Veteran who was a volunteer on the Veterans Mental Health Council at one of the VA Medical Centers had been downgraded on his Service Connected mental health disability because the volunteer work he was doing “showed that he could work”. I began to investigate this issue and discovered more than one Veteran at more than one VA Medical Center location who allegedly had experienced the same.

The issue, for a few Veterans, seems to be that they had volunteered in one capacity or another at their VA Medical Center; the VA likes for Volunteers to log their volunteer hours and uses the logged hours to give credit to Veterans Service Organizations and when recognizing Veteran volunteers; the affected Veterans were Service Connected with a 100% Unemployable rating for a mental health disability; and, after performing Volunteer work at their VA Medical Center and logging their volunteer hours, these few Veterans were notified by the Veterans Benefits Administration that their 100% Unemployable status was revoked because their volunteer work was evidence that they were employable.

I have written quite a few letters and sent numerous emails in an attempt to determine if this is a true issue or if it is a bad rumor. Unfortunately, no one in VA has responded. In the meantime, word of this issue has spread to Veterans across the Country. Some Veterans who were serving in VA volunteer positions resigned because they feared their Unemployable rating was in jeopardy.

It would help both VA and Veterans if the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) would issue a response to this issue from a VBA office that is high up in the chain-of-command; a position above the VA Regional Offices. A response from a position above VA Regional Offices is needed so that Veterans can rely on whatever the response is and not be concerned that individual VA Regional Offices might have different interpretations of the issue. A full explanation of the truth or non-truth of the issue, more than just a quote from the applicable law, and one that addresses the specific issue would be most helpful. (I and others have researched and read the applicable law. However, we all know that the law is subject to interpretation).

To clarify, the issue that needs to be addressed by VBA is, “If a Veteran who is 100% Unemployable due to a mental health disability performs volunteer services at a VA facility and logs those volunteer hours, is there any chance at all that VBA would recognize the Veteran’s volunteer service as evidence that the Veteran is employable and would revoke the Veteran’s Unemployable status”.

Terry S. Bowman is a retired Air Force Air Traffic Controller (SMSgt) who served in the U.S. Air Force from September 1960 to October 1981. He served as a Professor in Aviation Management at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Illinois (SIUC). Bowman completed a Doctorate in Administration of Higher Education and, from 1993 to his retirement in 2001, he served as the College of Applied Sciences and Arts’ Director of Off-Campus Academic Programs. He is now fully retired and enjoys working around his land he has established as a National Wildlife Refuge. He also volunteers at his local VA medical center.

Convention attendees showing their American Legion badge will receive a pass for 10 percent off purchases for three days.

Macy’s, located in the Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis, will offer American Legion National Convention attendees a chance to save money while shopping during the convention.

Any convention attendee who presents Macy’s, located at 700 Nicollet Mall, an American Legion badge and photo identification will receive a Welcome Savings Pass, which is valid for 10 percent off purchases (some exclusions apply) for three days.

For more information, go to http://www.legion.org/documents/legion/pdf/MinneapolisMacysDiscount.pdf

By: Gerardo Mena

So you’ve entered college and are trying to start the next chapter of your life? Here’s a quick list to make the most of your post-military college experience and to start setting yourself up for an early success.

1. Join a local or national Veterans organization:

a) Just because your enlistment has ended or you’ve transitioned into the Reserves and are starting college, does not mean that you have to stop creating friendships with like-minded professional and patriotic people. It’s easy to join a club or national organization like Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the American Legion, or the Student Veterans of America. Many of these organizations have local chapters in your hometown, making it easy to attend meetings and events to make new friends that can help you plug into the town or city that you’re living in or will be moving to.

b) The most important reason to join an organization is to stay up-to-date on your current rights and benefits. Don’t make the mistake I did and assume that the University would take care of all my paperwork. My state University had adopted the Returning Heroes Act, reducing the tuition for returning combat Vets from Iraq and Afghanistan. I didn’t receive any benefits until late 2010 and thought this was normal. It wasn’t until I grabbed a drink with a buddy that worked in my local Veterans office and mentioned this that he informed me that the Heroes Act was enacted in 2008. Through some investigation it was discovered that I had fallen through the cracks and that I was entitled to over seven thousand dollars in back pay. While this back pay felt like Christmas, if I had stayed on top of my paperwork and benefits in the beginning, it could have saved me several years of stress and anxiety trying to get bills paid.

2. Do some community outreach:

a) Whether you know it/like it or not, you are now the face of Veterans around your community. Your actions will represent all of our actions, and what better way to promote a positive image than by helping to build up your community and help the less fortunate?

3. Be aware of upcoming award submissions:

a) Your military career, involvement in Veteran organizations, and your community outreach now makes you a prime candidate to receive leadership awards from your chosen university. Using the skills you’ve already learned while in the military (i.e., filling out evaluations, nominations for Sailor/Airman/Soldier/Marine of the Quarter/Year, etc.) it should be a piece of cake to now apply this same skill set to your university. If you haven’t been doing so already, make sure that you have documented every event/meeting attended, military or university leadership roles completed, how you’ve positively affected other students on your campus, and any other noteworthy blurbs/items you think help you stand out from your college peers.

b) Now all you have to do is find out when the nomination period is and who is eligible to nominate. I’ve seen anywhere from campus faculty only to all students eligible to nominate each other. Once you’ve located who you want to nominate you, always offer to write the first draft of the award submission (because nobody can sell you as well as you can), which saves the nominator time and effort, and allows them to edit for the final draft, taking into account word submission limits. With everything you’ve done in your prior career and the amount of things you’ve done on-campus at this point, you are head and shoulders above your competition.

4.) Take a creative writing course:

a) Whether in your major or not, at some point in your college career you should take a creative writing course to enable yourself to better share your unique Veteran stories with others. You have a voice that people want and need to hear. If you choose to publish your stories you can turn to your local/college newspapers and journals, or get ambitious and shoot for a national publication such as The New York Times, New Yorker, Military Times, or Stars and Stripes. The sky is the limit to what you can accomplish if you never give up on yourself and believe in your voice.

If, after reading this guide, you have followed at least one of these simple steps, you will have already begun orienting yourself towards a successful post-military college career that places you above your competition. I will leave you with one lasting piece of advice before you begin your journey into the world of higher education: don’t wait until you finish college to become successful. Start right now. Start today.

Gerardo Mena is a decorated Iraq War Veteran who spent six years in Special Operations with the Reconnaissance Marines. He is an internationally published war poet/essayist/conference speaker and has just completed his junior year of undergraduate work in Secondary Education at the University of Missouri. For more information go to www.gerardomena.com.

President Obama’s Wednesday announcement to begin systematically withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan was welcomed by American Legion National Commander Jimmie L. Foster. However, he said, the withdrawal must be conducted “in a measured and reasoned manner.”

“Our military families have sacrificed on the nation’s behalf for nearly 10 years,” Foster said. “Lives have been irreparably changed. It is time now for our warriors and their families to begin the recovery process.”

Obama told Americans in an address to the nation that the United States can begin force reduction “from a position of strength,” having met or exceeded expectations to neutralize the Taliban and topple al-Qaida. He noted that over half of al-Qaida’s top leadership, including 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, are now dead. U.S. forces have also trained more than 100,000 Afghan troops to protect the country from a return to terrorist control.

Since Operation Enduring Freedom began in October 2001, more than 1,600 U.S. military personnel have been killed fighting in Afghanistan and another 11,000 have been wounded. Post-traumatic stress among those who have served in the theater is estimated at over 250,000.

Such sacrifices, Foster explained, is the reason the United States must be smart about the withdrawal. “Troop reductions should be driven by accomplishments of the mission and not external pressures, such as the federal budget,” he said. “We owe it to those who served in the war to be certain their sacrifices have not been in vain and that Afghanistan is fully prepared to assume command over its own security and freedom.”

President Obama said 10,000 U.S. troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of this year, and 30,000 will be out of harm’s way by the summer of 2012. From that point forward, he said, “Our troops will come home at a steady pace.” He said U.S. Armed Forces will be out of Afghanistan by 2014. “We have put al-Qaida on a path to defeat,” Obama said. “We will not relent until the job is done.”

Foster said it is important for President Obama to listen closely to his senior advisers, particularly military leaders in the field, to set the correct pace of force reduction. He said it is vital not only to Afghanistan’s success, but to global security for all peace-loving nations, that Afghan Security Forces are able to demonstrate their ability to ward off al-Qaida and control the Taliban.

Foster agreed with President Obama that those who have served in OEF – and the overall global war on terrorism so far – have succeeded in their efforts to control terrorism and put Afghanistan and Iraq alike on a course toward freedom and democracy. Obama added that “no safe haven” for terrorists will be tolerated by the United States in time to come and that Pakistan will continue to be a focus of his attention to stabilize the region.

“Tonight, we take comfort in knowing the tide of war is receding,” he said. “For now, the wartime veterans of The American Legion are proud to say well done and welcome home,” Foster said.

President Obama said that the return of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan presents an opportunity to enlist those who have defended America abroad in the effort to rebuild America at home by giving the troops, veterans and their families the care, benefits and opportunities they deserve.

“Now, we must invest in America’s greatest resource – our people,” he said. “It is time to focus on nation-building here at home.”

By James V. Carroll

Kansas chapters raise money, put in volunteer hours, and make big differences in the lives of veterans young and old.

Before he was even 10, Jonathon Blank dreamed of becoming a Marine. As a youngster in Augusta, Kan., he camouflaged his face and uniformed himself for combat. He had his picture taken, framed it in Popsicle sticks, and scribbled in felt pen, “U.S. Marine Corp, sharp shooter or fighter.” So it was no surprise to anyone in his family when he enlisted shortly after his 18th birthday.

Last year, when Blank learned that his unit would soon deploy to Afghanistan, he decided to extend his tour in order to go with them. “I wasn’t going to let my guys go without me,” he remembered. “I didn’t have to give it much thought. If something happened over there to one of them, I’d always wonder, ‘If I was there, could I have changed anything? Could I have helped them?’”

Last Oct. 26, Marine Sgt. Blank was on a foot patrol in the Taliban-infested Helmand province of Afghanistan, with his Camp Pendleton-based 1st Force Reconnaissance Battalion. Blank stepped on an improvised explosive device (IED) and was thrown several feet. When he came to seconds later, he knew something was terribly wrong.

“I was like, OK, something really bad just happened, but I didn’t know what,” he said. “It was kind of like a dream. I remember as I started to regain consciousness, smoke and dust was everywhere. I started crawling because I knew my legs were gone. I didn’t have to look. Then the pain came, and I knew that was it.”

Upon hearing the news, Blank’s family began preparing for his return. So did the Kansas American Legion Riders. In the next few months, the Legion Riders and The American Legion family led efforts across Kansas to raise more than $125,000 to help the 23-year-old Marine and his family cope with expenses associated with his injuries and recuperation.

“Our original goal was to raise $10,000 to $15,000” said Chapter 401 Legion Rider Sam Langhofer. “Blank’s heart-wrenching story touched anyone who heard it, and we soon realized we were going to get much more than we first anticipated.”

The success of the Jonathon Blank project was possible because communities across the state joined hands with Legion Riders, as well as the entire Legion family, to show their gratitude for Blank’s service and sacrifice to his country, said Kansas Legion Rider Chairman Don Behrens.

“Legion Riders are part of the military family,” Behrens added. “When our military brothers or sisters are injured or need help, it’s our duty to step forward. That’s what we do. As Legion Riders, our mission is to serve our veterans, our communities and the programs of The American Legion.”

“Legion Riders are not only an asset to The American Legion, but also to their communities, fellow veterans and their families,” American Legion Department of Kansas Adjutant Charles Yunker said. “Riders are quick to aid or assist at a moment’s notice – be it a funeral escort, a welcome-home ceremony for a returning soldier, airman, sailor or Marine, or to give a helping hand to a fellow veteran who finds himself or herself homeless.”

The Kansas Legion Riders aggressively pursue opportunities to help others, Yunker added.

Last year, the Legion family across Kansas raised more than $70,000 for the American Legion Legacy Scholarship Fund, said Dave Schoonover, Kansas Legacy Run road captain. The Legacy Fund provides college scholarship funds for children of military men and women who have lost their lives serving their country since Sept. 11, 2001.

“(Kansas) had 11 Riders and four passengers complete the entire 3,300-mile Legacy Run round trip to the Legion National Convention in Milwaukee,” Schoonover said. “The trip was a joy. The sad thing is that approximately 25 young military men and women lost their lives protecting our way of life during the 12 days it took us to complete the ride. That’s why we work so hard to raise money to assure those children have the means to attend college.”

The 72 chapters and nearly 3,200 members of the Kansas Legion Riders – with help from the state’s entire Legion family – raised more than $377,000 in 2010 alone and more than $1 million in the last three years, to aid veterans and support Legion programs. Some of the group’s accomplishments last year included:

• $159,411 for veterans projects

• $72,396 for Legion post projects

• $70,000 for the Legacy Scholarship Fund

• $45,537 for Children & Youth programs

• $33,562 for the Warrior Transition Battalion at Fort Riley

• $21,000 to purchase 35 televisions for the Kansas Soldiers’ Home

• $26,033 to Winfield Veterans Home, Kansas Veterans’ Home at Fort Dodge and the Warrior Transition Battalion at Fort Riley

• $5,100 to purchase 30 smart pens for wounded warriors

• $2,550 for turkeys, food baskets, gift cards and checks for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for wounded warriors and their families

Kansas Legion Riders chapters of all sizes – which range from six members to 236 in the department’s 72 groups – contribute substantially to the efforts. Donations from individual chapters in 2010 ranged from $400 to $18,000. Chapter projects range from paying American Legion membership dues for active-duty troops, to raising $10,000 for the Legacy Fund.

Not all Kansas Legion Rider projects are about money. Last year, members logged nearly 310,000 volunteer hours to support local activities and Legion programs. Legion Riders and Patriot Guard riders provided escorts and security at several military and veteran funerals. They attended troop send-offs, welcomed home military men and women returning from deployments, and visited local VA hospitals, veterans homes, and soldiers at the Warrior Transition Battalion at Fort Riley.

Two homeless Wichita veterans were recently laid to rest with full military honors, and Kansas Legion Riders were there to take part.

“These two men (Navy veteran Franklin Myers and Marine veteran Kenneth Calhoun) were homeless and had no next of kin,” Rider Ron Herndon said. “These two departed veterans honorably served our country, and they deserve the respect of a full military funeral. We honor them for everything they did.”

Kansas Legion Riders serve as pallbearers and flag-carriers in the Dignity Memorial network’s Homeless Veterans Burial Program. Gold Star Mothers accept the American flags draping the coffins of the homeless veterans. More than 1,800 funeral-service providers sponsor the nationwide program.

More than 50 Wichita-area Legion Riders recently gathered in a school parking lot to form a ride to welcome home Jared Smith, a young soldier who sustained injuries from an IED explosion. Smith and his family gathered on the front lawn awaiting the two-by-two parade of U.S. flag-adorned motorcycles. The roar of revving engines reverberated throughout the Smiths’ neighborhood, leading more than a few to investigate the unusual activity. Many then joined the Riders in a homecoming celebration.

“It was an awesome thing to see,” said a surprised Smith, as he greeted each Rider with a hug. “I knew something was going on but had no idea until I saw you Legion Riders round the corner. You don’t know how much this means to me. Thank you all for what you do.”

After introductions and a gift exchange, Smith shared his battlefield story with the veterans filling his front lawn – not as strangers but as fellow warriors with a common bond.

Smith explained that the IED explosion was only his first wound of the day. As a buddy carried him from the battlefield, he was hit again – this time by enemy gunfire. Later, the helicopter transporting him to the hospital experienced trouble.

Riders, family, friends and neighbors barely stifled a laugh when one Rider quipped, “Sounds like it was not a bad day you were having, Jared, but a very lucky day. You made it home.”

The fact that the Kansas Legion Riders – many of them old enough to be his grandfather – cared enough to help raise more than $125,000 to help ease the burden of his battlefield wounds gives Jonathon Blank pause.

“I’ve thought about it a lot,” Blank said. “At the end of the day, in my mind, there is no generation gap when it comes to military men and women. We can sit and talk about day-to-day experiences, frustrations, fears, and all of us get it. So, for that reason, I’m not a bit surprised that veterans of a different era are here for us young guys.

“I can’t say enough about how thankful I am to have the support and respect of The American Legion Riders and The American Legion family. War and the consequences of war is not a mystery to them. They get it.”

James V. Carroll is photo editor of The American Legion Magazine.

By Ken Olsen

Property donated in West Los Angeles on the promise it only be ysed for veterans now leased out for other purposes.

Four homeless veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress and other war-related injuries are suing the Department of Veterans Affairs, alleging it has misused land in West Los Angeles originally donated to the government specifically to provide housing for disabled veterans.

Acreage that once provided homes, food and convenient access to medical care for tens of thousands of veterans now is leased for rental car storage, a dog run and a private school’s swimming pool among other purposes, according to the class-action suit filed June 8 in federal court in California by the American Civil Liberties Union, Vietnam Veterans of America and other groups.

The suit charges that private leases violate the terms of deed that transferred the property to the federal government in 1888.

“If our nation’s laws are enforced, soldiers who risked their lives on the battlefield won’t be condemned to live in dumpsters or under freeways while land donated to house them is used instead to house a rental car company and a laundry facility for luxury hotels,” said Laurence Tribe, a Harvard law professor and former Obama administration adviser who is one of the attorneys representing the homeless veterans.

The former adjutant general of the California National Guard calls the situation tragic, especially considering that between 8,000 and 20,000 homeless veterans live in the Los Angeles area. “If anybody should have housing, it’s the veterans,” retired Maj. Gen. Paul Monroe said. “These people sacrifice for us, and we dump on them.”

The plaintiffs include three combat veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and a woman who claims to have been raped while serving in the Army in the 1970s. All need permanent, stable housing in order to receive effective treatment, the lawsuit says. It argues that VA should be ordered to resume using the West Los Angeles facilities to provide permanent housing for homeless veterans.

VA referred inquiries about the lawsuit to the U.S. Department of Justice, which declined to comment. However, exactly a week after the lawsuit was filed, VA unveiled a new master plan that proposes renovating up to three historic buildings to house homeless veterans. VA says the timing of the announcement is not related to the lawsuit.

The land in question is part of the West Los Angeles Medical Center & Community Living Center, one of three major medical complexes managed by the VA Los Angeles Health Care System. It is adjacent to Brentwood, one of the most upscale housing communities in the metropolitan area.

The 387-acre parcel is part of the land given to the federal government in 1888 by Sen. John P. Jones and Arcadia de Baker to establish a “Veteran’s National Home” to care for injured soldiers, according to Carolina Winston Barrie, great niece of de Baker. By the 1920s, the site housed veterans from the Civil War, Spanish-American War and World War I.

West Los Angeles VA’s predecessor agency stopped accepting new residents during the Vietnam War, and buildings that housed veterans were converted to other uses or abandoned. VA now leases 110 acres of the property to private companies, the UCLA baseball program, a private school and other entities.

It has never shared the details of the leases, how much revenue is generated or how VA spends the proceeds, said Larry Van Kuran, a vice commander for The American Legion’s Los Angeles County Council.

The lawsuit is accompanied by calls for Congress to investigate the Los Angeles VA’s lease deals and all property management decisions. The American Legion supports that probe.

“This is one symptom of the Greater Los Angeles VA’s questionable use of land and facilities,” Van Kuran said. “First and foremost, we want a full and fair accounting of the leases and other property management decisions and the revenue related to those decisions. VA has managed West Lost Angeles in a secretive manner, similar to Sepulveda.”

Sepulveda VA Medical Center is one of the VA’s trio of hospital complexes in the Los Angeles area. Four years ago, VA quietly leased seven acres and two outpatient buildings at Sepulveda to a private company that plans to develop a low-income apartment complex. The secret deal didn’t come to light until the developer applied for a zoning variance, even though federal law stipulates VA consult veterans groups and surrounding neighbors before signing such contracts. As troubling: VA can simply give the private company the property anytime during the 75-year lease.

Meanwhile, VA is slowly closing health-care facilities and curtailing medical services at Sepulveda and forcing hundreds of thousands of veterans to commute to West Los Angeles for care.

“There are a lot of things that raise question after question,” Van Kuran said. “We would like to see the onion peeled and full disclosure.”

Dear Legion Family….. I know that all of you are aware that Saturday Evening a Tornado went through and destroyed 70% of Joplin, Missouri.  We have been in contact with the District officers of the 15^th District and have been informed that Robert S. Thurman American Legion Post # 13 of Joplin is still standing and has electricity.  I have been trying to contact the Post Commander without any success.

Dan Musgrove informed me that he has been in contact with Commander Spiva and that the Post would like to open its doors to the homeless, but they don’t have the funds.   If anyone would like to make a monetary donation, to this cause,  please let me know.

I have been in contact with National HQ regarding the NEF and they are ready to help.  We have also been contacted by 2 additional states that would like to help.

I will keep you informed of anything that we learn about their situation.

Please keep the citizens of Joplin and the surrounding area in your thoughts and prayers.

Sincerely.

Wade F. Prosser

Department Adjutant

The American Legion

3341 American Ave.

Jefferson City, MO 65109

(573) 893-2353 (Phone)

(573) 893 2980 (Fax)

The American Legion

New radio club established during Spring Meetings designed to attract licensed amateur radio operators.

With 700,000 federally licensed amateur radio operators, or “hams,” in the United States, The American Legion has formed a special entity to provide a forum for military veterans who today are engaged in a hobby that can also provide emergency communications “when all else fails.” During Spring Meetings in Indianapolis May 4-5, the National Executive Committee authorized the establishment of The American Legion Amateur Radio Club (TALARC).

“The American Legion has always enjoyed an affiliation with amateur radio, going back to the civil-defense days when hams were key communicators in local units,” American Legion National Commander Jimmie L. Foster said. “Today, ‘hams’ are providing communications when traditional methods are knocked out.”

Over the years, countless members of the U.S. military were trained as technicians or engineers, and later obtained amateur-radio licenses to continue to use their abilities at home, as both recreation and a public-service commitment.

“The beauty of amateur radio is that it attracts folks of all career interests, from doctors, PhDs, engineers, rocket scientists to mechanics, housewives, construction and office workers, students and everything in between,” said Robert L. Morrill, chairman of the Legion’s Public Relations Commission. “Hams provide backup communications to emergency management agency offices across the country when ‘all else fails,’ and have done so with distinction in virtually every major disaster, when cell towers and commercial communications have been knocked out after earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and man-made disasters.”

The objective of the new club is to establish an amateur radio station at National Headquarters in Indianapolis to be able to conduct special operations on Veterans Day and Memorial Day, and to conduct regular “nets” of licensed hams that will be able to ask questions about veterans benefits and how participants might get help with their claims. To that end, TALARC is looking for HF and dual-band VHF/UHF transceivers, and associated gear donations. Any hams who may have upgraded their station and are willing to donate their old one to TALARC may receive a tax deduction, as the Legion is a nonprofit 501(c)(19) organization which has a 501(c)(3) subsidiary trust entitled “American Legion Charities.” Contact your tax consultant for details. If you have radio gear you are willing to donate, please email k9tal@legion.org.

As to the membership benefit, Foster noted, “Just like other public-outreach methods, this is one more way to reach a different group than our current efforts are targeting. Hams are folks who are more likely to try to help others, because they’re good neighbors. This club continues that tradition of service to community while providing a direct connection with veterans-support links.”

In January 2005, the Legion signed an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to support emergency disaster preparedness. Subsequently, the Disaster Preparedness Booklet was made available to posts. Amateur-radio support was an integral entity.

“The potential to serve here is limitless,” Morrill said. “Legionnaires who are hams can help others get licensed, coordinate with local emergency authorities, provide counseling and assistance to schools, and a whole array of other support.

“While some people may think that ham radio is an old technology, the simple truth is that hams were working with digital transmissions long before folks had home computers, and they provided the impetus to make ‘wireless’ happen. They were transmitting emergency calls from their cars long before anyone had a mobile phone to do the same. Today, hams are conducting broad spectrum experiments on the ham bands that may eventually become routine ways to communicate for all of us.”

“The basic message is that ham radio is alive and growing in America, and that there are thousands of veterans who are dedicated ham-radio operators,” Foster said. “And a lot of them are not yet carrying American Legion membership cards.”

Membership is free to members of The American Legion family, because, the club has just been authorized, Morrill invites licensed Legion family hams to join now, but to be patient – it will take time to solicit equipment donations and get a national club station assembled and on the air. Reports will be made available via Legion media as progress is made.

Posts interested in establishing an amateur-radio communications station at their post can contact k9tal@legion.org for details.

The American Legion

The House Armed Services Committee is cutting the ‘widow’s tax’ on the spouses of deceased servicemembers and military retirees.

In its final mark-up of the fiscal 2012 defense authorization act, the House Armed Services Committee is cutting the “widow’s tax” on the spouses of deceased servicemembers and military retirees. While they are covered by the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), they also receive a tax-free Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), which forces a reduction in their SBP benefits.

The American Legion has long argued that such an offset is unfair and that beneficiaries should receive full entitlements for both SBP and DIC; it now appears that Congress has been listening.

“We are certainly encouraged by the House committee’s action and hope the provision to finally cut this ‘widow’s tax’ doesn’t get lost along the way to final passage of the authorization act,” said Peter Gaytan, executive director of The American Legion in Washington. “The American Legion has always seen this offset as an injustice to the surviving spouses of America’s heroes.”

Under current federal law, SBP annuities are reduced, dollar for dollar, by the amount of DIC benefits awarded to a surviving spouse by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Gaytan said survivor benefits come from two distinct programs. “SBP is coverage that a military retiree chooses to pay for, while DIC is automatically awarded. Clearly, surviving spouses shouldn’t be penalized because they qualify for both benefits.”

The American Legion says that about 57,000 individuals stand to gain from a “widow’s tax” cut.