Department of Missouri

New Melle VFW Post 5651 Wall of Honor

Posted at 12:02 PM on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 by Missouri

Communications from National HQ

Posted at 08:01 PM on Monday, January 5, 2009 by Missouri in National General Orders

Received today three communications from National Headquarters.  They are posted here in printable pdf form.  Just click on the link and the pdf form will open and you can then print .

Department of Missouri 100% Posts

Posted at 10:25 AM on Thursday, January 1, 2009 by Missouri

    Many congratulations are due to the 22 VFW Posts in Missouri that achieved 100% by January 1, 2009.

The list starts with Post 2659 Dexter for achieving 128% making Post 2659 the top of the list.

The rest follow in descending order:

Some Veterans to See Another Travel Reimbursement Increase

Posted at 01:14 PM on Wednesday, December 31, 2008 by Missouri

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 29, 2008

 

Some Veterans to See Another Travel Reimbursement Increase

WASHINGTON – Service-disabled and low-income veterans who are reimbursed for travel expenses while receiving care at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities will see an increase in their payments beginning January 9. 

A recently passed law allows VA to cut the amount it must withhold from their mileage reimbursement.  The deductible amount will be $3 for each one-way trip and $6 for each round trip -- with a cap per calendar-month of $18, or six one-way trips or three round trips, whichever comes first.  The previous deductible was $7.77 for a one-way trip, and $15.54 for a round trip, with a calendar-month cap of $46.62.

“I’m pleased that we can help veterans living far from VA facilities to access the medical and counseling help they deserve, especially in the current economic climate,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake.  “Together with the increased mileage rate approved last month, we can further reduce the financial hardship some veterans undergo to use our superior health care.”

In November, Peake announced VA’s second increase in the mileage reimbursement rate during 2008, from 28.5 cents to 41.5 cents a mile.  

Service-disabled and low-income veterans are eligible to be reimbursed by VA for the travel costs of receiving health care or counseling at VA facilities.  Veterans traveling for Compensation and Pension examinations also qualify for mileage reimbursement.  VA can waive deductibles if they cause financial hardship.

VA Ramps Up Job Search for Injured Vets

Posted at 12:48 PM on Wednesday, December 31, 2008 by Missouri

WASHINGTON (Dec. 30, 2008) – Thirty percent of employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are veterans – the second highest ranking among cabinet departments after the Department of Defense -- and nearly 8 percent of VA employees are service-connected disabled veterans.  But VA intends to increase the number of disabled veterans who obtain employment in its workforce.

“I am proud of this effort,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James B. Peake.  “VA knows the true quality of our men and women, and we should be a leader in employing them.”

Peake said all severely injured veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be contacted by VA’s Veterans Employment Coordination Service to determine their interest in -- and qualifications for -- VA jobs.  So far, that office has identified 2,300 severely injured veterans of those wars, of whom 600 expressed interest in VA employment.

The coordination service was established a year ago to recruit veterans into VA, especially those seriously injured in the current wars.  It has nine regional coordinators working with local facility human resources offices across the country not only to reach out to potential job candidates but to ensure that local managers know about special authorities available to hire veterans.  For example, qualified disabled veterans rated by the Defense Department or VA as having a 30 percent or more service-connected disability can be hired non-competitively.

“Our team is spreading the message that VA is hiring, and we want to hire disabled veterans,” said Dennis O. May, director of VA’s Veterans Employment Coordination Service.

VA coordinators participate in military career fairs and transition briefings, and partner with veterans organizations, the Department of Labor’s Veterans Employment and Training Service, as well as VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Service, the Marine Corps’ Wounded Warrior Regiment and the Army’s Warrior Transition Units.

Department of Missouri January General Orders

Posted at 07:48 AM on Wednesday, December 24, 2008 by Missouri in General Orders

A Christmas Message from VFW National Commander

Posted at 02:12 PM on Tuesday, December 23, 2008 by Missouri

Anyone who has worn a uniform overseas knows this is the most difficult time of year to be separated from family and friends.

“It is easy to say ‘let us remember our troops’ during the Christmas season, but how many of us really understand the painful nobility of this sacrifice?” Bruce Kluger asked in USA Today last Christmas. “For those on active duty in the Middle East, the business of battle knows no holiday.”

I could not have possibly said it better. But this writer did not stop there. “Equally heartbreaking—and incomprehensible—is the wrenching vacuum that war inflicts on families on the home front,” he wrote.

Christmas celebrations in Afghanistan and Iraq are, by necessity, subdued. More quality food, special church services and private thoughts of loved ones usually constitute this most beloved of holidays in the war zone. Yet these gestures never seem to be enough.

On Dec. 25, 2007, McClatchy News Service was one of the few media outlets to report on the troops directly from the field. At Patrol Base Warrior Keep in southwest Baghdad, two of its reporters interviewed soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, to sample their sentiments.

“If I didn’t feel like this is where I needed to be, I think it’d be horrible,” Chaplain Eric Light told them. “Our holidays are so tied to our families, it’s nearly impossible to re-create them here.”

What we can do as veterans is to remind those around us of the emotional importance of this time of year to the troops thousands of miles from home. After all, they are “honoring our nation with their service while fighting wars whose consequences have nothing and everything to do with the humanity at the heart of the holiday,” Kluger aptly pointed out.

While we are keeping them in our thoughts, let’s not forget the other GIs on far-flung fronts that never make newspaper headlines. From Kosovo in the Balkans to South Korea in Northeast Asia, tens of thousands of Americans maintain lonely vigils. Still others prowl the seas, protecting our shores from afar. Their missions should never be taken for granted or forgotten.

The debt of gratitude we owe the tiny percentage—less than 1%—of Americans who bear the burden of our freedom can probably never be adequately paid. But the least we can do is to give them more than a passing thought. As we enjoy Christmas revelry, keep in mind that someone in uniform is making that possible. Chances are that it might even be a family member. If so, you need not be reminded of the sacrifices being made.

As the mother of one Afghanistan soldier said, “Each American should remember during this season that our soldiers are fighting the battle over there so we can be safe here at home.”

In that spirit, let my wife, Jean, and me wish all veterans a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a great New Year.
Glen Gardner
VFW Commander-in-Chief

SOURCE

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