Department of Virginia

VA News - Week of October 13, 2008

Posted at 03:22 PM on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 by Virginia A/Q

USPS Sets Holiday Mailing Deadlines for Military

Posted at 02:27 PM on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 by Virginia A/Q

Washington, DC -Holiday gifts from home are a big morale boost for military service members stationed around the world. To help the families and friends of military personnel, the Postal Service is offering a discount on its largest Priority Mail Flat-Rate box.

Mail sent to overseas military addresses is charged only domestic mail prices. The domestic mail price for the largest Flat-Rate Priority Mail box is $12.95, but for packages to APO/FPO addresses overseas the price is reduced to only $10.95. Flat-Rate boxes are free at any Post Office, or can be ordered online at usps.com. Postage, labels and customs forms can be printed online any time using Click-N-Ship at www.usps.com/clicknship.

"Flat-Rate Priority Mail boxes offer the best bargain in holiday shipping," says Paul Vogel, managing director, Global Business and senior vice president. "The contents can be any weight for one low rate. If it fits, it ships."

The Postal Service continues to show its support by offering free Military Care Kits, designed specifically for military families sending packages overseas. The mailing kits can be ordered by phone by calling 1-800-610-8734 and asking for the Care Kit. Each kit includes two Priority Mail boxes, six Priority Mail Flat-Rate boxes, eight Priority Mail labels, one roll of Priority Mail tape and eight customs forms with envelopes.

"The best support for the troops this holiday season is a gift that's on time, so mail before the deadline," Vogel advises.

VFW Washington Weekly - October 9, 2008

Posted at 11:25 AM on Friday, October 10, 2008 by Virginia A/Q

110th Congress Wrap-Up

In This Issue:
1. President Signs VA Funding Bill
2. Congress Clears Veterans' Health and Benefit Bills
3. Vet Accomplishments for 110th Congress
4. Election Day Coming - Get Out the Vote

1. President Signs VA Funding Bill
President Bush signed the FY 2009 VA funding bill which is $4.5 billion more than last year. Some of the highlights in the VA funding package, which was passed as a part of the $634 billion Continuing Resolution, include $3.8 billion for mental healthcare, $584 million for substance abuse programs, $510 million for medical and prosthetic research, and additional funding for homeless grants. It allows the Veterans Benefits Administration to hire 2,000 additional claims adjudicators to help reduce the disability claims backlog, raises the mileage reimbursement rate to 41.5 cents per mile, and provides an additional $750 million in funding for the construction of VA medical facilities. It was the first time in well over a decade that the VA was able to begin a new fiscal year with an on-time budget. VFW national commander Chief Glen Gardner thanked Congress and the president, and said, "We hope the delivery of an on-time budget is the start of a trend that will continue into the next administration and Congress."
Read the VFW Press Release at: http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=news.newsDtl&did=4772. For a summary of the bill, visit the House Appropriations Committee website at http://appropriations.house.gov/pdf/MCFY09CONFSummary09-22-08.pdf.

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VA News - Week of October 6, 2008

Posted at 10:31 AM on Friday, October 10, 2008 by Virginia A/Q

DoD Revises Purple Heart Policy

Posted at 01:25 AM on Friday, October 10, 2008 by Virginia A/Q

The Department of Defense announced today (6 OCT08) it has expanded the Purple Heart eligibility criteria allowing prisoners-of-war who died in captivity to receive the award. 

The revised department policy presumes, for service members who die in captivity as a qualifying prisoner-of-war, that their death was the "result of enemy action," or the result of wounds incurred “in action with the enemy” during capture, or as a result of wounds incurred as a “result of enemy action” during capture, unless compelling evidence is presented to the contrary.

The revised policy allows retroactive award of the Purple Heart to qualifying prisoners-of-war since Dec. 7, 1941. Posthumous award will be made to the deceased service member’s representative, as designated by the secretary of the military department concerned, upon application to that military department.

Each military department will publish application procedures and ensure they are accessible by the general public. Family members with questions may contact the services:  Army: Military Awards Branch, (703) 325-8700; Navy: Navy Personnel Command, Retired Records Section, (314) 592-1150; Air Force: Air Force Personnel Center, (800) 616-3775; Marine Corps: Military Awards Branch, (703) 784-9340.  For further information, media representatives should contact Eileen Lainez, (703) 695-3895

Source: Defense Link

VFW Urges Military Veterans' Community to Vote

Posted at 05:03 PM on Thursday, October 9, 2008 by Virginia A/Q

‘Veterans matter, veterans care, veterans vote,’ says national commander.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2008--The national commander of the nation’s oldest major veterans’ organization is urging more than 50 million Americans in the military veterans’ community to get out and vote this November.

“We represent one of the largest voting blocs in the nation, but our calls to action on Capitol Hill and in the White House are meaningless if we don’t make our voices heard and our votes count,” said Glen Gardner, the national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. and its Auxiliaries.

Both Republican and Democratic candidates for president, and those running for House and Senate seats, are heavily courting the military vote this year. At stake nationally are more than 50 million votes from a military voting bloc of 23.5 million veterans, 2.2 million uniformed personnel and their families, despite national polls that would suggest the military vote is statistically even politically and ideologically.

Three CNN/Gallup/USA Today polls taken during the 2004 presidential campaign revealed that 47 percent of America’s veterans aligned themselves politically as Republican, 42 percent as Democrat and 11 percent as Independent. Ideologically, they identified themselves as 43 percent conservative, 43 percent moderate and 16 percent liberal. More important, however, is the fact 74 percent of veterans voted in the 2004 presidential election compared to 63 percent of the general population, according the the U.S. Census Bureau.

“The military veterans’ vote matters because we are traditionally strong on national defense, homeland security, and people programs that take care of our nation’s veterans, military personnel and their families,” explained Gardner, a Vietnam veteran from Round Rock, Texas.

The VFW national commander has encouraged his 2.2 million members to wear their VFW or Auxiliary caps to political campaign rallies as a visible reminder that the veterans’ vote counts. What he does not want is for the national organization to be perceived as politically partisan or supportive of one candidate over another.

“The VFW is a nonprofit veterans’ service organization that is prohibited from endorsing political candidates,” he explained, “but our membership has free rein as Americans to campaign and vote for the candidates of their choice. They have a vested interest – a duty – to ensure that everyone knows that veterans matter, veterans care and veterans vote.”

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Posted at 04:48 PM on Thursday, October 9, 2008 by Virginia A/Q

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