Sunday, August 19, 2012
What does the Disabled American Veterans do?
In other words,,,,they take care of disabled veterans.
2012 Outstanding Disabled Veteran of the Year
J.R. Martinez
Price of Freedom
DAV Orlando needs drivers too
I received the following email from the Orlando Disabled American Veterans Chapter 16 in response to the post I put up about volunteer drivers needed for Syracuse area VA.
Considering the recent report about the Lake Nona VA stated there are now 500,000 veterans in Central Florida, the need is greater than ever! If you live near a VA hospital, connect with your local DAV and volunteer to drive these veterans so they can get their medical care.
The same thing can be said for the Orlando Veterans Affairs Medical Center (see article below), since they have four vans, but many days they do not have four drivers. There are days when only one driver is available.
We need to get the word out to the newspaper, radio stations, and tv stations, but I am not sure how.
If you can get the word out, I would appreciate it. I get letters from DAV headquarters in Cold Springs, Kentucky, that are letters passed on from veterans complaining they can not get rides in the DAV vans.
I am the VAVS representation for the Orlando V.A.M.C., but can not tell the VA what to do with the vans. Some drivers are only here during the winter, and like other "snowbirds," they go back north in the summer.
There is a code for how veterans must behave, and rules like no wheelchairs nor oxygen tanks.
Remember, many of these drivers are disabled too, and are older veterans themselves.
Please ask others if they can volunteer.
I think the transportation department at the VA can get rides for a few veterans who are special cases.
Lynx has special vans for wheelchairs and oxygen tanks, but they do charge a fee.
I was unconscious in 2008, so I can not be a driver.
Thanks for reading this.
Jonathan Turk
Considering the recent report about the Lake Nona VA stated there are now 500,000 veterans in Central Florida, the need is greater than ever! If you live near a VA hospital, connect with your local DAV and volunteer to drive these veterans so they can get their medical care.
DAV needs volunteer drivers in Syracuse area
Volunteer drivers needed for vets
By MARTHA ELLEN
Watertown Daily Times
TIMES STAFF WRITER
FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 2012
Disabled American Veterans is looking for volunteer van drivers to take veterans to clinic appointments and to the Syracuse Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
“We’re in desperate need, especially in the north country,” said Andrew T. Newcomb, DAV transportation/hospital service coordinator. “The ones we have are being run ragged.”
The need will grow as the DAV has 13 new vans on order, which will replace some aging vehicles and add to existing service. Massena soon will have two vans instead of one; Watertown will grow from two vans to three; and Ogdensburg and Potsdam will receive replacement vans.
“We’re looking for as many drivers as we can possibly get,” Mr. Newcomb said. “Our needs are always for drivers and donations.”
Saturday, August 18, 2012
New blood in vets' groups is often female
New blood in vets' groups is often female
By Rupa Shenoy
Minnesota Public Radio
via The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Aug 18, 2012
ROSEMOUNT, Minn. — On Wednesdays, the Rosemount VFW regulars head to the post for bingo night. The weekly game is open to the public and helps fund the VFW's operations.
Minnesota National Guard Maj. Kristin Auge volunteers at the post selling bingo cards to the players. And though she lives just a few miles away, she had never been inside this VFW until last spring when she joined.
It took a little more work that she thought it would.
"I walked up to one of the guys and I said I wanted to sign up to be in the organization and I said 'I'm here to join.' And he says, 'Well, you've had to have been in the service.' And I said, 'Well, I am, and I still am.' And he says, 'Well, you'll have had to have deployed.' 'Yes, I just got back from Iraq.' And he was like 'Oh, OK, I guess I'll take your paperwork,' " she recalled.
The older members welcomed Auge, so she cajoled some initially reluctant female friends into joining.
read more here
By Rupa Shenoy
Minnesota Public Radio
via The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Aug 18, 2012
ROSEMOUNT, Minn. — On Wednesdays, the Rosemount VFW regulars head to the post for bingo night. The weekly game is open to the public and helps fund the VFW's operations.
Minnesota National Guard Maj. Kristin Auge volunteers at the post selling bingo cards to the players. And though she lives just a few miles away, she had never been inside this VFW until last spring when she joined.
It took a little more work that she thought it would.
"I walked up to one of the guys and I said I wanted to sign up to be in the organization and I said 'I'm here to join.' And he says, 'Well, you've had to have been in the service.' And I said, 'Well, I am, and I still am.' And he says, 'Well, you'll have had to have deployed.' 'Yes, I just got back from Iraq.' And he was like 'Oh, OK, I guess I'll take your paperwork,' " she recalled.
The older members welcomed Auge, so she cajoled some initially reluctant female friends into joining.
read more here
VA to adjust list of Agent Orange disorders
VA to adjust list of Agent Orange disorders
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
Posted : Friday Aug 17, 2012
Veterans suffering peripheral neuropathy from exposure to the toxic herbicide Agent Orange could be eligible for compensation from the Veterans Affairs Department.
Early-onset peripheral neuropathy is initially characterized by numbness, tingling or pins-and-needles in the extremities, progressing to symptoms of pain in hands and feet, loss of balance and weakness.
VA on Aug. 10 proposed substituting early-onset peripheral neuropathy for acute and subacute neuropathy on its list of diseases presumed to be related to Agent Orange exposure.
The distinction removes the requirement that the symptoms resolved themselves in two years after they appeared.
Eligible veterans must have developed the condition within one year of exposure to a degree that it is at least 10 percent disabling.
Those who have lingering neuropathy as a result of service in Southwest Asia in the 1960s and 1970s could be affected.
Those who think they qualify can apply now for the benefits, but they may not be compensated until the ruling is final.
The proposed change was published in the Aug. 10 Federal Register. The comment period on the proposal is open until Oct. 9.
read more here
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
Posted : Friday Aug 17, 2012
Veterans suffering peripheral neuropathy from exposure to the toxic herbicide Agent Orange could be eligible for compensation from the Veterans Affairs Department.
Early-onset peripheral neuropathy is initially characterized by numbness, tingling or pins-and-needles in the extremities, progressing to symptoms of pain in hands and feet, loss of balance and weakness.
VA on Aug. 10 proposed substituting early-onset peripheral neuropathy for acute and subacute neuropathy on its list of diseases presumed to be related to Agent Orange exposure.
The distinction removes the requirement that the symptoms resolved themselves in two years after they appeared.
Eligible veterans must have developed the condition within one year of exposure to a degree that it is at least 10 percent disabling.
Those who have lingering neuropathy as a result of service in Southwest Asia in the 1960s and 1970s could be affected.
Those who think they qualify can apply now for the benefits, but they may not be compensated until the ruling is final.
The proposed change was published in the Aug. 10 Federal Register. The comment period on the proposal is open until Oct. 9.
read more here
Bill would expand fertility coverage for veterans
Bill would expand fertility coverage for veterans
By ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press
3 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The roadside bomb that exploded outside Andrew Robinson's Humvee in Iraq six years ago broke the Marine staff sergeant's neck and left him without use of his legs. It also cast doubt on his ability to father a child, a gnawing emotional wound for a then-23-year-old who had planned to start a family with his wife of less than two years.
The catastrophic spinal cord injury meant the couple's best hope for children was in vitro fertilization, an expensive and time-consuming medical procedure whose cost isn't covered by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Robinson and his wife were forced to pay out of pocket, with help from a doctor's discount and drugs donated by other patients.
A bill being considered in the Senate would expand the VA's medical benefits package so other veterans, and their spouses or surrogates, don't have to bear the same expense.
The department currently covers a range of medical treatment for veterans, including some infertility care, but the legislation specifically authorizes the VA to cover IVF and to pay for procedures now provided for some critically injured active-duty soldiers.
The bill's meant to help wounded veterans start families as they return home from war and to address a harrowing consequence of combat that can radically change a couple's marriage but receives less attention than post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injuries.
"It's common sense: a male veteran cannot have a kid by himself. It doesn't happen.
They need obviously to have it with their wife or a partner," said Robinson, of Florence, N.J., who is now 29 and was injured in a 2006 explosion in Al Anbar province. "So for the VA to say, 'Oh, we can only cover this part of it,' it just kind of doesn't make sense."
read more here
By ERIC TUCKER
Associated Press
3 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — The roadside bomb that exploded outside Andrew Robinson's Humvee in Iraq six years ago broke the Marine staff sergeant's neck and left him without use of his legs. It also cast doubt on his ability to father a child, a gnawing emotional wound for a then-23-year-old who had planned to start a family with his wife of less than two years.
The catastrophic spinal cord injury meant the couple's best hope for children was in vitro fertilization, an expensive and time-consuming medical procedure whose cost isn't covered by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Robinson and his wife were forced to pay out of pocket, with help from a doctor's discount and drugs donated by other patients.
A bill being considered in the Senate would expand the VA's medical benefits package so other veterans, and their spouses or surrogates, don't have to bear the same expense.
The department currently covers a range of medical treatment for veterans, including some infertility care, but the legislation specifically authorizes the VA to cover IVF and to pay for procedures now provided for some critically injured active-duty soldiers.
The bill's meant to help wounded veterans start families as they return home from war and to address a harrowing consequence of combat that can radically change a couple's marriage but receives less attention than post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injuries.
"It's common sense: a male veteran cannot have a kid by himself. It doesn't happen.
They need obviously to have it with their wife or a partner," said Robinson, of Florence, N.J., who is now 29 and was injured in a 2006 explosion in Al Anbar province. "So for the VA to say, 'Oh, we can only cover this part of it,' it just kind of doesn't make sense."
read more here
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