The American Legion Department of Colorado Blog

The American Legion – March 1, 2010

Issues faced by women veterans got front-and-center treatment Feb. 26 on the last day of The American Legion’s Department Service Officers School. The afternoon session began with role-playing scenarios acted out by three staff members of the Legion’s Veterans Affairs & Rehabilitation Division. The first scenario highlighted the insensitivities that a male VA facility staffer can have toward a woman veteran seeking help after being raped. The second scenario demonstrated that women veterans often fare much better when they can be interviewed by a female VA staff member.

    Verna Jones, who manages the Legion’s Appeals and Special Claims Unit at the Board of Veterans Appeals, spoke to the audience of department service officers when the scenarios were finished. “When I was a field officer for The American Legion,” she said, “one of the most difficult things for me to do was asking veterans if they suffered from erectile dysfunction. But I knew I had to ask that question because it could make a difference in the amount of disability benefits a veteran might receive. So men need to make themselves aware of unique needs and conditions of women veterans, too.”

    Jones urged the male DSOs to ask women veterans the right questions  – even if it was difficult to do so  – and to ask such questions with the proper degree of sensitivity.

    The group then heard presentations from two VA representatives: Rosemary Jordan, analyst for the Compensation and Pension Program; and Betty Moseley-Brown, associate director of the Center for Women Veterans.

    Jordan discussed disability compensation for military sexual trauma (MST), and how service officers can develop evidence for such claims. She also explained differences between the restricted (confidential) and unrestricted (open) reporting of sexual assault claims.

    Stressing the seriousness of long-term effects from sexual trauma, Jordan said it could “lead to anxiety, behavior change, and changes in the quality of duty performance. It can also cause someone to break up with a partner and encourage substance abuse. In some cases, it may even contribute to a woman veteran becoming homeless.”

    Brown told the DSOs about a federal law passed in 2004 that allows women veterans, without filing a claim, to receive VA services and benefits for MST. While this eased the paperwork requirement, Brown also noted that VA’s Center for Women Veterans had only five staff members to deal with the needs of 1.8 million women veterans. The center also advocates cultural transformation both inside and outside VA to promote better treatment for an ever-increasing woman veteran population.

    “Women often do feel uncomfortable in VA facilities,” Brown said. “VA has to construct its facilities to make them more woman-friendly.” She also said that VA employees need to be better educated about women as veterans and as servicemembers, noting that some VA workers still have difficulty understanding that women serve in combat roles.

    Women are enrolling in VA health care at higher levels, according to Brown. She said VA paid for 1,500 births last year and “we’re going to be seeing more of that because VA pays for births for women veterans with service-connected illnesses or conditions.” She said VA needs to pay attention to the entire health care of women veterans, “not just breast and OB/GYN issues.”

    Brown also addressed the lack of respect frequently demonstrated by male VA workers toward women veterans. “Don’t just yell out ‘Betty’ or some other first name when you call a woman vet up to the desk in a VA waiting room. And don’t call us ‘guys.’ Some women get upset when they’re called guys. Because when you use that word, it means the power is with the men, not the women.”

    Women veterans want jobs, and want to know that someone will help them fight for their jobs, Brown said. “We want good homes and the best health care” and procedures at VA medical centers that make sense to women. “Does the PAP smear table still have to face the door?” she asked the crowd incredulously. Many women veterans don’t use VA facilities because they simply don’t feel comfortable in them, Brown said.

    “We need to be on the commissions and the task forces because we need to provide input for future VA construction and change some of these things around,” she said. One of the best things DSOs can do to help women veterans, Brown suggested, is to go over to their local VA facility and get to know its woman veteran coordinator; each VA medical center is now required to have one.

    The month of March is Women’s History Month, and Brown told the audience that VA will do its part to tell “her story,” highlighting the stories of women veterans on its Web site.

Focus on 200,000 Veterans Expected to File Claims under New Agent Orange

Presumptives over Next Two Years

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today an aggressive new initiative to solicit private-sector input on a proposed “fast track” Veterans’ claims process for service-connected presumptive illnesses due to Agent Orange exposure during the Vietnam War. 

    “This will be a new way of doing business and a major step forward in how we process the presumptive claims we expect to receive over the next two years,” Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki said. “With the latest, fastest, and most reliable technology, VA hopes to migrate the manual processing of these claims to an automated process that meets the needs of today’s Veterans in a more timely manner.”

    Over the next two years, about 200,000 Veterans are expected to file disability compensation claims under an historic expansion of three new presumptive illnesses announced last year by Secretary Shinseki.  They affect Veterans who have Parkinson’s disease, ischemic heart disease and B-cell leukemias. 

    In practical terms, Veterans who served in Vietnam during the war and who have one of the illnesses covered by the “presumption of service connection” don’t have to prove an association between their medical problems and military service.  This “presumption” makes it easier for Vietnam Veterans to access disability compensation benefits. Vietnam Veterans are encouraged to submit their claims as soon as possible to begin the important process of compensation. 

    Along with the publication of proposed regulations for the three new presumptives this spring, VA intends to publish a formal request in Federal Business Opportunities for private-sector corporations to propose automated solutions for the parts of the claims process that take the longest amount of time.  VA believes these can be collected in a more streamlined and accurate way. 

    Development involves determining what additional information is needed to adjudicate the claim, such as military and private medical records and the scheduling of medical examinations. 

    With this new approach, VA expects to shorten the time it takes to gather evidence, which now takes on average over 90 days.  Once the claim is fully developed and all pertinent information is gathered, VA will be able to more quickly decide the claim and process the award, if granted.

    The contract is expected to be awarded in April with proposed solutions offered to VA within 90 days.  Implementation of the solution is expected within 150 days. 

    “Veterans whose health was harmed during their military service are entitled to the best this nation has to offer,” added Secretary Shinseki. “We are undertaking an unprecedented modernization of our claims process to ensure timely and accurate delivery of that commitment.”

    Last year, VA received more than one million claims for disability compensation and pension.  VA provides compensation and pension benefits to over 3.8 million Veterans and beneficiaries.  Presently, the basic monthly rate of compensation ranges from $123 to $2,673 to Veterans without any dependents.

    Disability compensation is a non-taxable, monthly monetary benefit paid to Veterans who are disabled as a result of an injury or illness that was incurred or aggravated during active military service. 

Three Federal Departments Collaborate on National Resource Directory

The federal departments of Veterans Affairs, Labor and Defense unveiled today an improved Web site for wounded warriors.

    “VA is committed to tapping into the full powers of the Internet to provide accurate, timely, easy to find and easy to understand information that improves the lives of Veterans, service members, their families and all who care for them,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. 

    The National Resource Directory is a comprehensive, free, online tool for wounded, ill and injured service members, Veterans and their families.  Visitors to the site can find an extensive range of information about Veterans’ benefits, including disability and pension benefits, VA health care and educational opportunities.  The site also provides information for those who care for Veterans, such as access to emotional, financial and community assistance.

    The Web site has been enhanced to provide a single point of access to a wealth of information from more than 10,000 sites by federal, state and local governments and organizations offering services for wounded warriors.

    “This online directory is an invaluable resource for those involved in helping service members and Veterans,” Shinseki said. “Reliable information about government and private-sector programs can be a priceless tool.”

    A recent addition to the Web site is a specialized section where users can find help for homeless Veterans.  These resources will help end Veteran homelessness over the next five years. 

    The new design will help visitors find needed resources easily.  Other enhancements include a fast, accurate search engine; a “bookmark and share” capability that allows users to share valuable resources on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites; and a news feature with updates on relevant information and events.  Resources are added daily.  Visit the site at www.nationalresourcedirectory.gov.

The American Legion – March 2, 2010

In honor of black history month, National Adjutant Daniel S. Wheeler spoke before The African American Consortium at the War Memorial in Baltimore on Feb. 27. In his speech, Wheeler expressed sentiments of praise for black servicemembers, noted their important contributions to military history and highlighted the struggles they’ve faced in gaining service honors equal to their non-colored brothers-in-arms.

    Wheeler delivered keynote remarks to about 125 people in attendance. The event was part of a celebration put on by The African American Consortium, an organization of Legionnaires and Buffalo Soldier Association members that exists to recognize the contributions of African-American servicemembers.

Below is a transcript of Wheeler’s speech:

“It is a great honor to be here among American heroes. I want to begin by thanking you, the African American Patriots Consortium, Inc., and the National Association for Black Veterans. You not only make events like this possible, but you also constantly remind us that black history is American history from the very beginning to today. The sacrifices of the Buffalo Soldier, the Harlem Hellfighters, the Tuskegee Airmen, the Marines of Montford Point, the integration of our armed forces and the black women who have served with honor and distinction are too important to be included as mere footnotes to be discussed only during Black History Month. They are the substance that helped mold America into the nation that we are today. One of the many things that set us apart from other countries is that we acknowledge our history – the good, the bad and the ugly. There is no debate about it. The legacy of the African-American veteran, hard fought and hard won, made America richer for all of us, even as they paid a greater price than most to win their place in history.

    “The American Legion believes that all veterans are special and, in many ways, unappreciated. Veterans are disproportionately homeless, unemployed and always have to fight the bureaucracy to get their well-earned benefits.

    “But the African-American veteran, historically, has suffered even greater indignities. Simply put, the black veteran often loved America more than America loved her black veteran.

    “Take Vernon Baker for example: a World War II veteran who was by any definition a remarkable officer in a racially-segregated Army. In April 1945, armed with a rifle and grenades, he destroyed four German machine gun nests and killed nine enemy soldiers. Yet, during that same period of our history, he was not welcomed in most hotels, restaurants and other public facilities.

    “Typical of the times, and typical of the mindset of too many, instead of praise for his actions in Italy, Baker was chewed out by his white regimental commander because he wasn’t wearing his steel pot when he returned from his heroic fire fight. Fifty-two years later, Vernon Baker, first lieutenant, U.S. Army, was finally awarded the Medal of Honor that he so richly deserved. Six other African-American World War II veterans were recognized with him on January 13, 1997, receiving the nation’s highest honor after more than a half century of having their valor denied because of the color of their skin. Despite the injustices they endured, they were patriotic, god-fearing, family-loving, hard-working American veterans – and proud of it. It is on the shoulders of these great men that we stand today.

    “Years before Gen. Colin Powell became the first African-American to chair the Joint Chiefs of Staff there stood another general who paved the way. U.S. Air Force pilot Daniel “Chappie” James, a graduate of the Tuskegee Institute, trained pilots for the all-black 99th Pursuit Squadron during World War II. After flying 101 combat missions in P-51 Mustang and F-80 aircraft during World War II and the Korean War, Gen. James’ service continued throughout the Vietnam War, and included the destruction of seven communist MiG-21s as part of Operation Bolo.

    “Gen. Chappie James summed up his own patriotism when he said, “I’ve fought in three wars and three more wouldn’t be too many to defend my country. I love America and as she has weaknesses or ills, I will hold her hand.”

    “The American Legion has long recognized some of the weaknesses that General James was referring to. In 1923 our national convention passed Resolution 407, which stated that groups fostering racial, religious or class strife were “un-American, a menace to our liberties,” and “inconsistent with the ideals and purposes of The American Legion.” It took a while for society to catch on – and it’s a long road we still travel.

    “As then, The American Legion believes today a veteran is a veteran, and we championed a GI Bill in 1944 that would include all veterans, even though some segregationists in Congress opposed giving equal education and unemployment benefits to black veterans of the 1940s.

    “National Commander Clarence Hill has made minority outreach in The American Legion a priority. We need your help with this. A larger and more diverse American Legion is a better American Legion for all veterans and their families.

    “I am proud that so many African-Americans continue to serve America in The American Legion and would be prouder to see even more. Black veterans are already a significant part of our history. With your support, we can make history together and continue to do great things for America’s veterans, marching together in a common cause as brothers and sisters who share a common heritage of patriotism, courage, duty, respect, sacrifice, service for God and Country and for each other.

The American Legion – March 1, 2010

Richard Pond wears lapels full of service pins, exhibiting his dedication to The American Legion. His Legion nametag identifies him as the Boy Scout chairman for the Department of New Hampshire. In a navy blue suit punctuated by a splendidly colorful “Save the Children” necktie, Richard seems like a most unlikely candidate to be identified as a homeless veteran.

    Yet, not all that long ago, Pond faced that prospect. “We were $8,000 behind in house payments,” he confesses candidly, “with more bills piling up. There was no way out, and we lost our home. It was only because my mother-in-law took us in that we didn’t end up on the street.”

    Richard Pond and his wife are recovering now, and prospects are good for a secure future. But Army vet Richard Emden, without any family support, has not been so lucky. “I’ve been homeless for four years now,” he says. “I got a nice job a little while ago, going from $10 to $21 an hour, but then I lost it.”

    Inspired by their experiences, Pond and Emden work in their own ways on behalf of homeless veterans. Emden volunteers in shelters and carries copies of “Street Sense,” a bi-weekly newspaper published in Washington, D.C., to help raise public awareness about the homeless and poverty-stricken.

    For his part, Pond is active in a group called “Friends of Veterans” or FOV, based in White River Junction, VT. The group is a member of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, which helps veterans in need with assistance in resolving the root causes of homelessness: health issues, economic hardship and lack of affordable housing.

    Pond and Emden met at The American Legion’s Homeless Veterans’ Provider Workshop last Friday in Washington. The workshop featured five speakers: Mary O’Malley, the VA’s Homeless Special Populations Manager; Cynthia High, Special Needs Assistance Specialist at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); Gordon Burke, Department of Labor; Verna Jones, a Legion staffer here who spoke on behalf of Women Veterans Support Services, Inc.; and retired U.S. Army National Guard Lt. Col. Aaron Rodgers.

    O’Malley detailed the varied causes of homelessness and the difficulty of eliminating it. “Homelessness is not solely a result of the lack of available housing or financial resources but frequently a consequence of multiple psycho-social factors, including unstable family support, job loss, inadequate job skills, health problems, substance abuse disorders or other mental-health concerns,” she said.

    In broad terms, O’Malley outlined VA’s five-year plan to assist every homeless veteran willing to accept help in obtaining safe housing, needed medical treatment, employment and earned veteran benefits.

    High then spoke about HUD’s work to locate and acquire transitional housing units for groups of homeless vets. She pointed to special challenges faced by the increasing number of women veterans who are homeless.

    “Many of them do not wish to go to a traditional shelter, both because of fear of harm to themselves, and because they do not wish the custody of their children to be endangered,” High said.

    Burke as well as Jones, who told her own story of homelessness some years ago as the result of domestic violence, echoed the plight of homeless women veterans later in the day.

    All workshop speakers emphasized prevention as the most essential factor in ending homelessness among veterans. All agreed that education and vocational training, as well as effective health care, could help make the goal of ending veteran homelessness attainable.

    Rodgers, who heads a Junior ROTC program at a Maryland high school, introduced one more preventive measure to the discussion: instilling traditional values in youth. Rodgers believes that teaching youth about military values, whether they intend to pursue a military career or not, will help steer them into healthy lifestyles and away from behavior patterns that often contribute to homelessness.

    The sentiment of the session was encapsulated in a closing statement by workshop organizer Mark Walker of The American Legion’s Economic Division: “These men and women led fulfilling, valuable and productive lives in the service. They need and deserve the same in civilian life.”

The American Legion – February 26, 2010

The Post-9/11 GI Bill is considered landmark legislation because of its sweeping benefits, which provide aid to veterans pursuing nearly all forms of higher education. But a few academic areas have been left out – namely, advanced-learning classes offered at institutions that don’t officially grant degrees.

    Under current terms of the legislation, the Post-9/11 GI Bill won’t cover vocational courses, on-the-job training or any sort of classes at institutions that don’t give degrees. So, veterans wishing to take private flight school lessons after their service have to use the Montgomery GI Bill or different education benefits to receive aid, which likely won’t be as generous.

    This oversight has drawn criticism from veterans and political entities including The American Legion, which testified Thursday afternoon in front of Congress for H.R. 3813 – a bill that would make the appropriate changes to the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Robert Madden, assistant director for the Legion’s Economic Division, gave oral testimony for H.R. 3813 in front of the House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity, Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

    Among other bills, Madden advocated for H.R. 3813, Veterans Training Act, which would amend the Post-9/11 GI Bill to include coverage for postsecondary education and higher learning at non-degree granting institutions on a by-approval basis.

    “The American Legion supports H.R. 3813 and would like to make sure on-the-job-training, flight schools and vocational courses are covered under the Post-9/11 GI Bill,” Madden said. “The American Legion seeks to support equalizing education benefits for those who seek higher learning in less traditional manners, as opposed to the traditional ways of seeking education at a degree-granting institute.”

    Madden also gave oral testimony on two other bills: H.R. 3948, which seeks to include Post-9/11 GI Bill coverage for preparatory courses for entry into postgraduate studies, and H.R. 3976, which would enhance benefits during housing crises to help servicemembers keep their homes.

The American Legion – March 3, 2010

David DuBois remembers trying to explain his work to a young soldier – a member of the so-called “millennial generation.” He told him to check out the Office of Wounded Warrior Care & Transition Policy’s Web site. The soldier looked at DuBois and politely explained that Web sites are for old people with enough time to sit down and use a computer.

    “The millennial generation is an on-demand society,” said DuBois, a former American Legion department commander who now directs wounded-warrior and transition-assistance operations for the Department of Defense. “Seventy percent of millennials sleep with their phones,” he explained. “They do not use phones to make phone calls so much anymore.”

    DuBois and three other military-to-civilian experts told The American Legion Economic Commission on Monday that networking – through electronic social media via cell phones, as the new generation prefers, or in person, as with the Marine for Life program – is critical to help newly discharged veterans restart their lives, especially if they come home with service-connected disabilities.

    “We’ve got to find a way so that every returning servicemember gets red-carpet networking,” said DuBois, a 2001 graduate of American Legion College. “To welcome all of them back, networking is the absolutely critical need.”

    The panel discussion, coordinated by the Legion’s Heroes to Hometowns program during the 50th Washington Conference this week, examined transition assistance from multiple angles, all of which rely on making connections among communities’ returning servicemembers.

    “Two million OIF/OEF veterans are enrolling in college,” said Stacie Hitt, director of “Operation Diploma” at Purdue University’s Military Family Research Institute. “Twenty five percent will have a hidden disability, and 15 percent will have a clear disability. That’s about 800,000 students with some kind of disability.”

    Her program engages the entire community – schools, clergy, veterans groups and others who come into contact with transitioning military families – to address concerns faced by those who have stepped off the military base and onto college campuses.

    One of her program’s goals is to provide resources for institutions in Indiana to better understand and serve transitioning families. Operation Diploma, she explained, provided $275,000 in grants for colleges that strengthened their veteran-transition programs last year, and $1.1 million will be awarded this year. While she said Indiana schools that accept GI Bill benefits are making headway in their transition-assistance programs, gaps exist. Classroom policies that deny calculators or electronic organization devices to veterans who have suffered from traumatic brain injuries, for instance, need to be rethought, she said. She also explained that with the amount of veterans coming home with some kind of disability, the number of campuses with veteran disability coordinators needs to rise from the current level of 72 percent.

    Col. Gregory A.D. Boyle, commanding officer of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Wounded Warrior Regiment at Quantico, Va., told members of the Economic Commission that “the goal is not for DoD to push the Marine out of the service but for the community to pull the Marine in.”

    The USMC’s transition assistance program, which is structured around the Marine for Life philosophy and includes a 24/7 call center, is a model among the service branches.

    “Every day, I work with the other branches, and we are all heading in the same direction,” he said. A key component of the program, he explained, is outreach before and after discharge, including “a 16-page checklist to prepare them.”

    He said that by the time a wounded warrior leaves Quantico, claims paperwork will have already been completed; TRICARE benefits will be managed, and resumes will be written. “We prepare them for life,” Col. Boyle said. “It’s the Marine for Life way.”

    And once a Marine is home, local mentors – often former Marines themselves or members of veterans service organizations like The American Legion – network with the newly discharged veterans to help them adjust.

    Roger Neppl, director of military programs for the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Paralympic Division, explained how local community networks can help newly discharged wounded warriors restore self esteem, avoid depression and improve their health by getting them involved with adaptive sports programs. “If, in fact, you have an injured servicemember in your community, you can help by connecting the dots,” Neppl said. “Link people with local sports clubs, parks and recreation departments that have adaptive training programs, colleges and universities and even K-12 public education systems can help. Just connect that person.”

    DuBois – who recently led a work group on a massive update of the federal TAP (Transition Assistance Program) that will better serve the needs of National Guard and Reserve components – said a new online directory provides a comprehensive listing of programs and services to help troops in transition. The site – www.nationalresourcedirectory.gov  “is a huge resource system for the federal, state and local level. If your organization’s program is not there, there is a mechanism to self-nominate to be included.”

    American Legion Heroes to Hometowns program coordinator Andrew Tramontana told the commission that in order for any of these efforts to help transitioning troops to be successful – whether it’s on campus, over coffee, on a ski slope, in a swimming pool or as a friend on a social media site – “we have to do better. Too often, the request for assistance that we receive comes too long after the fact. We have to ascertain information and needs at the grass-roots level. We have to communicate, and we have to collaborate.”

    Heroes to Hometowns is a nationwide program that connects American Legion posts and members with returning wounded, sick or injured servicemembers in transition. For more information, visit www.legion.org/heroes.