Review of DC summit on Female Veterans

DC national summit focuses on issues of women veterans
Clarksville Leaf Chronicle - Clarksville,TN,USA
by Stacey Hopwood • July 2, 2008
I recently spent a week in our nation's capital, Washington D.C. Along with seven other area women veterans and the Women Veterans program manager from the VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System, I attended the 2008 National Summit on Women Veterans' Issues.

This three-day event is held every four years by the Department of Veterans Affairs' Center for Women Veterans and is attended by women veterans and veterans' service personnel from all over the country, as well as those in a position to formulate policies.

James Peake, the secretary of Veterans Affairs, gave the opening remarks.

"VA has made many strides and advancements in women veterans' research and services, and we are dedicated to filling in the gaps that may still exist," he said. "This summit will be beneficial in identifying those gaps and helping to shape our response to those needs."

Secretary Peake and the under secretaries for both Health and Benefits acknowledged the shortfalls in the VA system. They were up front about where the deficiencies are and what the VA is doing to address them.

As always, money is the key. The best intentions go nowhere without the funding to put them into action.

There also was a screening of "Lioness," an upcoming PBS documentary on five female support soldiers sent into combat with Marine and Army units. This film was absolutely incredible, and three of the women were present at the summit.

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From what I heard, this was a rehashing of the same problems they heard about 4 years ago. Let's just hope and pray this time they also heard about what needs to be done instead of just what the problems are. The PBS special seems very interesting.