Jerick Johnson, driving The American Legion/David Law Firm 76 Freedom Car, will race in an historic contest at Memphis Motorsports Park Nov. 7. The American Speed Association Late Model Challenge Series will not only conclude its 2009 season at the three-quarter-mile short track oval, but the 300-lap race will be the last event held at the historic Tennessee track.
Johnson heads into the Kings Ransom 300 in 10th place in driver points and second place in rookie points – five points out of ninth place and first place, respectively.
“It’s been a year of growth for us,” Johnson said after the Sept. 19 race at Iowa Speedway. “We have competed in the entire Late Model Challenge Series, and we are a stronger team today than we were at the season opener May 17 at the Milwaukee Mile.”
Johnson said he will “give it all we’ve got “ at Memphis to cap the season on a positive note and to carry momentum into the 2010 season. “And Memphis is going to be a great place to put our best foot forward,” he said.
Indeed, Memphis is the perfect place for the Team Johnson Motorsports crew and driver to shine. The 76 Freedom Car will carry a live-action camera from FOX Television, and the race will be broadcast to 52 million homes on FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports Florida and America One television network.
“The television coverage will give us an excellent opportunity to get some solid air time and exposure for The American Legion and the David Law Firm,” Johnson said. “We want to stay up front to show our race fans what we can do, as well as to climb up the series points and maybe capture the rookie title. That would be the perfect ending to our season.”
Wednesday, October 28, 2009 – The House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs approved two bills Oct. 28, including measures to increase veterans’ ability to compete for VA procurement contracts and to improve job-training opportunities for veterans.
Ranking committee member Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., amended a draft veteran benefits bill to elevate the priority status for veteran-owned small businesses seeking sole source contracts with VA. Buyer’s amendment would place veterans on the same priority level as minority-owned small businesses.
“This provision is a major victory for all veteran-owned small businesses,” Buyer said. “Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and my amendment would give veteran entrepreneurs the priority they have earned and deserve when competing for contracts with the federal government.”
Other provisions in the draft benefits bill would amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to strengthen servicemembers’ rights with regard to service contracts on items such as cell phones, and establish a system within the current VA database of veteran-owned small businesses to provide verifications necessary to process contract applications.
The committee also approved H.R. 1168, as amended, the Veterans Retraining Act of 2009, which was introduced by Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity Ranking Member John Boozman, R-Ark. The bill would provide a housing stipend to unemployed veterans enrolled in a Department of Labor job-training program. The bill also would provide financial assistance to help newly trained veterans relocate to geographic locations with a high demand for their acquired skills.
“Veterans’ unemployment rates are at an all-time high of over 8 percent. This dismal number equates to nearly a million veterans who cannot find work, and over half of those are between the ages of 35 and 64 – the prime earning years,” Boozman said. “It is my hope that H.R. 1168 will provide the necessary training opportunities that will allow more of these men and women to acquire employment skills that reflect job market demands, and the financial means to relocate to where those jobs are plentiful.”
WASHINGTON (Oct. 28, 2009) – “A good temporary solution,” is how the leader of the nation’s largest veterans service organization characterized VA’s decision to employ an outside contractor to assist in processing the large volume of GI Bill claims.
The American Legion, which usually opposes outsourcing services that the organization believes the Department of Veterans Affairs should directly provide, recognizes the unprecedented number of claims facing VA as a result of the Post 9/11 GI Bill and the urgency of delivering those benefits in a timely manner.
“The American Legion applauds the Department of Veterans Affairs and Secretary (Eric) Shinseki for taking prompt and decisive action to ensure that the applications are processed as quickly as possible,” said National Commander Clarence E. Hill. “However, as we have indicated in the past, The American Legion believes that VA’s personnel are very capable of handling the workload and implementation under normal circumstances. We urge the secretary to employ the services of this outside contractor only as long as they are needed to expedite the current flood of applications. We would not approve of a long-term arrangement under which an outside contractor would be performing functions that VA’s staff is perfectly capable of performing for itself.”
Post 9/11 GI Bill students can also contact The American Legion directly for assistance with educational benefits questions and issues at (202) 263-2995 or by sending an email to the vice president of the National Association of Veterans’ Program Administrators at askvalerie@legion.org. Moreover, The American Legion has created a website, www.mygibill.org, to aid veterans in understanding and applying for their new educational benefits.
Shortly after the Post 9/11 GI Bill passed Congress, U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards, D-Texas, a key congressional appropriator, said the new GI Bill new would not have happened without the hard work of The American Legion.
“Unlike some organizations, The American Legion does not wish to unfairly castigate VA. We believe in being part of the solution, not the problem,” Hill said, referring to the GI Bill backlog.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Oct. 22, 2009) – On what leaders of The American Legion characterized as “an historic day,” President Barack Obama signed into law the Veterans Health Care, Budget Reform and Transparency Actof 2009. The landmark legislation contained a provision for which the nation’s largest veterans’ service organization had long campaigned: advance budget appropriations for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) medical care operations.
“While this is indeed an historic day for VA,” said Peter Gaytan, executive director of The American Legion’s Washington headquarters who attended the Presidential signing at the White House, “it is an especially important day for our nation’s veterans.”
“No longer will VA and the veterans in its care have to suffer from the ‘check’s in the mail’ syndrome,” said Clarence E. Hill, national commander of The American Legion. “Now the VA will know a year in advance what resources will be available to it so plans can be made accordingly. Advance appropriations will go a long way toward minimizing compromises in the delivery of the high quality VA health care our veterans expect and deserve.”
President Obama made brief remarks during the White House ceremony, which was attended by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki and members of Congress who played key roles in the passage of the legislation. The signing ceremony was also attended by The American Legion’s Director of Economics, and Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran Joseph C. Sharpe, Jr., as well as representatives of several other veterans’ service organizations.
With a current membership of 2.5-million wartime veterans, The American Legion is the nation’s largest veterans organization. It 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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Media contacts: Craig Roberts (202) 263-2982 or Joe March (317) 630-1253. A high resolution photo of National Commander Hill is available at www.legion.org.
INDIANAPOLIS (Oct. 21, 2009) — In less than a week, an American Legion blog site raised more than $50,000, which Target matched with an additional $50,000 contribution, to help U.S. soldiers who were forced to destroy their camp and all of their possessions during a deadly Oct. 3 enemy attack in Afghanistan. In addition, Connecticut-based Computer Sciences Corporation has donated 56 laptop computers to the relief effort to replace those that were destroyed.
The Combat Outpost Keating Relief Fund sprang to life on The American Legion’s Burn Pit blog site after one of the 56 surviving troops wrote in an e-mail that he believed no one at home had any idea what they were doing there, and that no one cared.
“The American Legion, Target and all who contributed to the COP Keating Relief Fund have shown these brave soldiers that we do indeed care,” American Legion National Commander Clarence Hill said. “The relief fund contributions will help replace such things as digital cameras, video games, DVDs, books, memory cards, music players, and other personal items that give soldiers a break from the intensity of the war.”
The early-October attack by Taliban-allied militants in the rugged Nuristan province of Afghanistan claimed the lives of eight American soldiers from Bravo Troop 3-61 Cavalry out of Fort Carson, Colo. The troops were forced to call in an artillery strike on their own position to destroy the camp before it was overrun.
On Saturday, Oct. 24, members of The American Legion will go to a Target store near Fort Carson and purchase many of the items that will be shipped later in the month to Afghanistan. Also participating in the “packing party” at American Legion Post 209 in Colorado Springs will be members of Fort Carson’s Family Readiness Group. Similar shopping and packing events are planned for Minneapolis on Oct. 27 and Fairfax, Va., on Oct. 29. Target Volunteers will help assemble the packages in Fairfax.
“Within a month of losing everything other than the clothes on their backs, these soldiers will have replacement items from home and a realization that they are not forgotten at war,” said Hill, who leads the nation’s largest veterans service organization. “It is our duty as a nation to stand by those who go in harm’s way on our nation’s behalf. Visitors of the Burn Pit, Target and Legionnaires across the country understand the importance of that duty.”
“For years, Target has donated funds and volunteer hours to local and national veterans’ and military organizations,” said Laysha Ward, president, community relations, Target. “It is our hope that our contribution, along with other generous donors’ gifts, will show our thanks to the soldiers of COP Keating who are sacrificing so much for our country.”
About The American Legion
With a current membership of 2.5-million wartime veterans, The American Legion is the nation’s largest veterans organization. It 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.
About Target
Minneapolis-based Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) serves guests at 1,743 stores in 49 states nationwide and at Target.com. Target is committed to providing a fun and convenient shopping experience with access to unique and highly differentiated products at affordable prices. Since 1946, the corporation has given 5 percent of its income through community grants and programs like Take Charge of Education. Today, that giving equals more than $3 million a week.
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Media contacts: Craig Roberts (202) 263-2982 or Joe March (317)630-1253. A high resolution photo of National Commander Hill is available at www.legion.org.
“Calls Part of Systematic Outreach to Improve Service”
WASHINGTON (Oct. 19, 2009) — Representatives of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will be telephoning Veterans across the country to explain their education benefits under the new Post-911 GI Bill and ensure beneficiaries are able to receive payments due them.
“The Post-9/11 GI Bill is one of our highest priorities,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “Instead of making people wait to hear from us, we’re reaching out to Veterans, so they can get the money they need to stay in school.”
The Department is conducting this telephone outreach in response to the large numbers of Veterans who have applied for education benefits for the fall 2009 semester.The calls are scheduled to go to Veterans who have applied for benefits under the new educational assistance program.
Those who registered for advanced payments will be called, too, in ensure they received their benefits.
To protect the personal identity of Veterans, VA representatives making calls will not ask for any personal information, such as birthdates, bank account or social security numbers, but they may ask family members for information to contact Veterans who are away at school.
“Our procedures and policies to provide advanced payments remain in effect,” Shinseki said. “Meanwhile, we’re completing the on-time development of our automated processing system that will ensure timely delivery of checks in the future.”
WASHINGTON, DC (October 14, 2009) – A long campaign by The American Legion has come to a victorious conclusion with Senate passage yesterday of the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009, better known as the “VA Advance Appropriations Bill.”
The act authorizes financial appropriations for Veterans Affairs Department medical care programs one year in advance of the start of each fiscal year. It was already approved by the House of Representatives and is now on its way to President Obama’s desk for signature.
National Commander Clarence E. Hill of The American Legion was greatly pleased when he learned of the Senate action last night. “Imagine having to live paycheck-to-paycheck, but not knowing how much that paycheck would be or when it would arrive,” Hill said. “That’s the situation the VA’s Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has been in. This has resulted in hardships for the agency and even compromises in care to veterans.
“I have every confidence that President Obama will sign this act into law and thus resolve this longstanding problem,” continued Hill. “This is a milestone measure and The American Legion celebrates it.”
Hill has sent thank you letters to congressional leaders instrumental in shepherding the bill and to President Obama. His letter to the President reads, in part:Your signature enacting this critical piece of legislation would be greatly appreciated and a noteworthy achievement. “The American Legion believes this bill will go down in history as landmark legislation in the veterans’ community.”
Whether the Sunrise Rock War Memorial will remain standing in the Mojave Desert is now in the hands of a U.S. Supreme Court that appeared divided on the issue during an Oct. 7 hearing.
The nation’s highest court heard arguments from both sides of Salazar v. Buono. At stake is whether a Latin cross dedicated to the dead “of all wars” can remain in an isolated area that currently rests on federal land.
U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan, arguing on behalf of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and among others – The American Legion, said that an attempted land transfer from the U.S. government to the Veterans of Foreign Wars (ordered in the DoD Appropriations Act of 2004) never should have been ruled unconstitutional by the Ninth Circuit Court. The VFW erected the monument in 1934 and later donated the land to the United States. Now the cross is encased in a plywood box while its fate is being decided.
“When the Ninth Circuit ruled and said that this memorial was unconstitutional, Congress had a choice,” Kagan said. “And the choice was to take down that memorial – which meant an enormous amount to veterans in the community – or to completely dissociate the government from that memorial. And what Congress did was to completely dissociate the government from that memorial, while allowing some war memorials to stand.”
The Obama administration also has argued that the land transfer should put an end to the issue. Justice Samuel Alito seemed to agree when he asked, “So, isn’t the sensible interpretation of the injunction that it was prohibiting the government from permitting the display of the cross on government property, and not on private property that happens to be within the Mojave National Preserve?” Alito said.
“I thought (the argument) was that, although there was going to be a formal transfer of title, as a practical matter, the government was still involved with the maintenance of the cross on this land. And when the government says that that’s not the case, I don’t know why that doesn’t cure the practical problem,” he said.
Peter J. Eliasberg – managing attorney for the ACLU Foundation of Southern California (it represents former National Park Service official Frank Buono in the case) – disagreed with Alito’s view. “One of the bases for the entry of the injunction in the first instance was the way that the government had favored one party to come on, contrary to the government’s own regulations, and erect a permanent symbol, while not allowing others,” Eliasberg said.
Justice Antonin Scalia strongly disagreed with that perception.
“What would you have them erect? A cross – some conglomerate of a cross, a Star of David, a Muslim half-moon and star?” Scalia said. “I don’t think you can leap from that to the conclusion that the only war dead that that cross honors are the Christian war dead. I think that’s an outrageous conclusion.”
Chief Justice John Roberts concurred with Scalia. “I think the government told us the plaque reads ‘The cross, erected in memory of the dead of all wars, erected 1934 by members of Veterans of Foreign Wars, Death Valley Post 2884,’” Roberts said. “That’s a big difference. I mean, the whole point is that the plaque tells you, this is not a government memorial, government structure. It was put up by members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Death Valley Post 2884.”
Justice Stephen Breyer, however, said that the issue on the table was whether or not the land transfer violated the Ninth Circuit’s orders to remove the cross. He seemed to think it did.
“The injunction says the government is enjoined from permitting the display of the Latin cross – period. Once this law takes effect and you follow it, you are violating that injunction. You don’t need nine proceedings to see that,” Breyer said.
“Now, if you don’t like the injunction because you think the statute has so changed the circumstances … there is a remedy. You go back to the district court and you say, ‘Judge, change the injunction.’ But you haven’t done that. And therefore, the only question before us is whether the Ninth Circuit is right in saying when you carry the statute into effect, you are violating this injunction, which I think no one could say you aren’t.”
Toward the end of the hour-long session, Scalia asked for consideration of the fact that the cross was designated as a war memorial – not a religious monument, despite the form it took.
The ACLU says other monuments to American war dead – such as Arlington National Cemetery – are not in jeopardy because they contain symbols of many religions, not just one. “Context matters,” Eliasberg said.
The court isn’t expected to decide on the case for several months. For more information, visit The Liberty Legal Institute online.
A memorial will soon be dedicated at Northridge Elementary School in Longmont Colorado. Back in 2005, Billie Pett, an art teacher, asked us to list names of veteran “heroes” from our town, which we did. As time went on we were asked to give more names, and the project was stalled due to lack of funds, logistics with the school district, etc.
Jr. Vice Commander Jim Gates, from Longmont Post 32 is chairing the committee that is designing and facilitating the dedication of this memorial.Jim has been working with the school and district staff and Post 32 officers and has indicated to me that; “Northridge Elementary School principal Rob Orbanoski, Department NEC Ralph Borzella, and the art teacher (emeritus) Billie Pett will co-host the ceremonies on Friday Morning, October 23 at 10:00 am.”
The short program will combine the dedication along with the annual Veterans’ Day observance by the school kids. Those family members of Veterans whose names are on the monument (and some of the actual Veterans themselves) will be recognized at this time. And, a reception will be held in the school library following the dedication ceremony for the invitees, while the school kids returned to their classrooms. The whole thing should be a wrap in an hour.
American Legion Post 15 of Loveland, Colorado cordially invites you to
join us in welcoming the National Commander of America's largest
veterans group to Northern Colorado. National Commander Rehbien is
finishing up his term this summer with one last trip to Colorado. No
National Commander has visited northern Colorado in recent history.
National Commander Dave Rehbien has served as chairman of the National
Foreign Relations, Veterans Affairs and rehabilitation and Legislative
commissions. Commander Rehbien was instrumental for the change in
President Obama's veteran's health care plan and the apology from the
DHS director about the distinction of our veterans as right wing terrorist.
Post 15 will be Honoring commander Rehbien with a luncheon in Monday,
August 3^rd from 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm at Post 15, 350 N. Cleveland Ave.,
Loveland. Lunch will be provided by locally owned and operated
Silvermine Subs.
Please RSVP to <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Reinard.patrick@gmail.com">Reinard.patrick@gmail.com</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:Reinard.patrick@gmail.com"><mailto:Reinard.patrick@gmail.com></a> no later than July 30^th .
Thank You,
Patrick Reinard
Senior vice Commander Post 15
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Reinard.patrick@gmail.com">Reinard.patrick@gmail.com</a> <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:Reinard.patrick@gmail.com"><mailto:Reinard.patrick@gmail.com></a>
720-318-1694
Proud Navy Seabee Veteran 96-01
