Welcome to District 12 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Department of California.
Our Motto is " Hit the Ground Running!" (Phase Two!)
District 12 covers five counties; San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz,San Benito, and Monterey. These counties are in Northern California, beginning just south of San Francisco in San Mateo county to as far south as King City in Monterey county. Total mileage from the farthest post in the north to the farthest post in the South is approximately 150 miles.
We currently have 25 posts, 10 Ladies Auxiliaries and 1 Mens Auxiliary
In This Issue:
1. FY2009 VA Funding Bill
2. House VA Committee Action
3. VA Outreach Hearing
4. SECDEF Recommends New Guard Chief
1. FY2009 VA Funding Bill: The Senate Appropriations Committee unanimously cleared its version of the 2009 VA Funding Bill. The bill provides $72.7 billion in discretionary funding for military construction and Veterans Affairs. This is about $5 billion more than the current fiscal year, and is in line with the House Appropriations Committee's recommendations. It includes:
$47.7 billion in total VA discretionary funding.
$41.1 billion for VA health care.
$1.2 billion for VA construction projects, nearly double the president's request, and $1.1 billion for hospital maintenance and repairs.
$84 million more than the president's request for medical and prosthetic research.
$350 million to help certain higher income Category 8 veterans to begin enrolling in VA.
$250 million targeted to the care of rural veterans.
The bill now moves to the floor of the Senate for a vote.
As we celebrate the 232nd anniversary of our nation's independence, let us pause to remember the victories in battle and the blood that was shed to preserve our freedoms. Let us give thanks to our forefathers for their vision of liberty, life and the pursuit of happiness. Most importantly, let us pay tribute to our nation's greatest assets: our servicemen and servicewomen in uniform who so proudly serve our nation in peace and defend our freedoms in war. We salute you for your dedication to duty and service to country. Thank you from the 2.4 million members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and its Auxiliaries.
WASHINGTON (June 19, 2008) - "Enough is enough," said George J. Lisicki, the national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S., in response to today's Washington Times article that provides additional information about the potential lethal effect a prescribed drug is having on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-diagnosed veterans who volunteered for a Department of Veterans Affairs smoking cessation program.
"Those in the VA who failed to properly serve America's veterans must resign their positions," said Lisicki, a Vietnam veteran from Carteret, N.J. "If not, then the VA secretary must take decisive action to terminate them."
The smoking cessation research program uses the drug Chantix, which Food and Drug Administration officials say helps people to stop smoking, but according to a Washington Times/ABC News investigative report on Tuesday, Chantix has also been linked to almost 40 suicides and more than 400 incidents of suicidal behavior. The drug's manufacturer and the FDA have recently cautioned healthcare providers about adverse side effects that could produce changes in behavior ranging from anxiety and depression to suicide.
All 940 veterans enrolled in the VA's smoking cessation program have PTSD. A test group of 143 of them were prescribed Chantix, which is also known as Varenicline.
Lisicki questions why VA clinicians who knew of Chantix's hazardous side effects would allow veterans suffering from PTSD to continue taking it, because "professional ethics and common sense just dictates that clinicians would stop their patients from taking the drug just to err on the side of safety for the veterans and their families," he said. As of May 21, the Federal Aviation Administration banned the use of Chantix by airline pilots and air traffic controllers.
The VFW national commander also questions the leadership ability of those who oversee these types of medical research programs, asks why it took the VA two more days before revealing additional details of those in the study; and wonders what other information has yet to be uncovered. Aside from Chantix, other drugs that are were reported to currently being used to treat veterans with PTSD are the anticonvulsant Divalproex, and the antidepressants Paroxetine, Mirtazapine and Citalopram, all of which carry warnings of potential suicidal side effects.
"The VA is known for quality healthcare that is delivered by highly trained and educated medical professionals and staff, but in recent weeks, the American public has read stories accusing the department of not properly taking care of veterans with mental health problems, to include veterans attempting suicide under VA care. These stories, to include the well-documented veterans' claims backlog, are having a negative cumulative effect on the overall image of the VA," said Lisicki.
August 10 Hollister Post w/ School of Instruction following - Oct 10-12 Gilroy Post w/ (Official Visit) - January 11, 2009 Salinas Post - March 8 Seaside Post - May 17 Marina Post (District Convention).
16 of 25 Posts were represented at District Convention on May 18 in Seaside. In accordance with Section 213 of our Nat'l By-Laws, Six posts were not eligible to be recognized or participate at all because they failed to be current on their district dues, Election Report or had not submitted their quarterly audit. Besides nomination and election of officers, topics voted upon included Dist 12s financial budget, updating of Dist 12 By-Laws, Department By-Law Resolutions, and 2008-09 District meeting locations. All Dist 12 officers elected for 2008-09 ran unopposed. 2008-09 DISTRICT 12 OFFICERs: Commander - Henry Wadahara, Sr Vice Cmdr - Danny Stevens, Jr Vice Cmdr - F. Castillo, Qmaster - Rick Rankin, Chaplain - Jim Bland, Judge Advocate - Joe Gonzales, Surgeon - John Walker, Trustees: 3 yr - Joe Tymer, 2 yr - Joe Perez, 1 yr - Larry Doutherd -
ELECTED OFFICERS: Commander - Joe V. Gonzales Sr. Vice: Henry Wadahara Jr. Vice: Danny Stevens Quartermaster: Rick Rankin Chaplain: James Bland Judge Advocate: Curtis Martin Surgeon: John Walker Trustee 1 year: Lloyd Paris Trustee 2 year: Lawrence Doutherd Trustee 3 year: Joe Perez STEERING COMMITTEE: Chairman: Joe V. Gonzales Member 2 year: Jeffrey Beckham Member 3 year: Curtis A. Martin
Through the continued efforts of the Monterey County Veterans Affairs Advisory Commission, Ft. Ord Cemetery Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC), Monterey County Supervisors, Senator Maldonado, Congressman Farr, Assemblyman Laird, city and county officials, and veterans groups, plans are moving along for the Cemetery on Fort Ord. The land has been set aside and is guaranteed for the cemetery. In September, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed a bill creating the Central Coast State Veterans Cemetery Endowment Fund that is responsible for generating the money necessary to ensure the maintenance and operations of the cemetery. A consultant firm has been selected to do the Cemetery Master Development Plan. The Ft. Ord Reuse Authority (FORA) has agreed to a Reimbursement Agreement for the payment of the $991,000.00 consultant fee that will speed up things. The cities of Seaside and Marina have already agreed to assist financially. Early next year a CAC Committee will be going outside of Monterey County seeking additional funds from cities, corporations, businesses, veterans groups and the public. Once adequate funds are raised, $4 million, the state will file an application with the US Dept of Veterans AffairsÕ Cemetery Grant Program, which will cover the cost of the designing, developing, constructing and equipping of the cemetery. If the cemetery foundation raises $4 million, it will receive $4 million in matching funds for maintenance and upkeep from the state and $14 million for construction of the cemetery from the federal government. Additional funds must also be raised to cover additional landscaping, equipment, and structures such as a museum, monuments, memorials, and building for the honor guards as they are not a part of the Cemetery Grant Program. When completed, the cemetery will be serving all veterans, but will be most convenient for the approximate 100,000 veterans and their families that live within the service area of the four-county 75-mile radius. The four counties that are within this radius are Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito and half of Santa Clara. The estimated interment needs of this veteran population are 5,600 burial and crypt sites for the initial 10-years. The actual interment sites to be provided in this initial phase will be approximately 2,800 burial and crypt sites. The Phase I plan will develop 26 acres of the site. Maps, photographs and Arial views of the cemetery site may be seen at: www.co.monterey.ca.us/cemetery/about_us/aboutus.htm
VFW Posts and Districts throughout the organization can now take possession of their free Web Sites/Blogs on the VFW WebCOM Network.
Effective today we are extending an open invitation for all Posts and Districts to claim their VFW WebCOM Network site. If your Post already has a web presence this would be a great way to expand it. If your Post does not have a web presence this is a no cost way for you to establish one and start sharing with the world what your Post does in the community and Organization.
It's easy to install-easy to remove-and has no spyware!
Includes a cookie cleaner, a history cleaner, and a cache cleaner
Get notified when you receive new e-mails to your POP3, Yahoo!, Gmail, or Hotmail accounts
Instant access to the VFW WebCOM Network from any site on the web- plus track instantly new stories posted to the Network from over 10,000 sites and keep up on the latest conversations in the VFW Membership Forum
Each time you search anywhere on the web from your toolbar you generate fractions of a penny for the Organization..
Get instant access to useful links
Chat with other users who have your Department's toolbar installed
Listen to online radio from the toolbar....spotlighting Jerry Newberry's National Defense Hour
Get up-to-date local and global weather forecasts...and much, much more
to request assistance if you need help or if you have already started using it and would like to share your experience or make suggestions on how the toolbar can better serve you the user or the organization.
Welcome to Departments of the Veterans of Foreign Wars' VFW WebCOM Network. This Network is comprised of close to 10,000 pre-built, established sites for each of the 54 state and international Departments, their Districts and all 8,500 VFW Posts. Each department now has an integrated internal and external communications system at their disposal for consideration of universal deployment in support of existing and planned communication protocols.
The network provides the organization the ability to push a button and broadcast, or syndicate, the same piece of information, whether it’s text, pictures, video or audio, across every site. Departments also have the ability to push a button and accomplish the same thing across just the District and Post sites within their Department. Most importantly it enables a VFW Post to directly manage and publish information to the Internet for their local community and their organization as a whole..
Over 5 years in the making and built with the oversight and to the specifications of VFW Department leadership and membership, its objectives are to foster:
More efficient organizational communication to your members and potential members.
More efficient organizational communication to your communities.
More efficient organizational communication to your legislators.
Generate revenue and resources for the organization.
In support of the Network, we have added Department toolbars, a video-sharing platform, instant WebCHAT, a Membership Forum and pre-built 31,000 VFW Department-specific Officer e-mail accounts which are transferable to the next person filling the position. E-commerce storefronts for each post, online calendars and much more are in the works.
All identified product and services are provided at zero cost to the organization with the understanding that costs are to be covered through a revenue sharing agreement. The organization retains 100% control of all branding, 100% editorial control of your message on all levels of the Network and final approval authority on all advertising and e-commerce opportunities. If the Network should fail to generate enough revenue to cover our service and product-provider partners' cost of doing business, there is no cost liability to organization.
At this time advertising and e-commerce opportunities are only available for the eight aforementioned Departments.
While you are here take a moment to take a closer look at how you can support these efforts.
1) Do you have a website or a weblog that you could add a link to a local VFW or State site? Do you have a few minutes to write about us and let people know what we are doing?
2) If you are a VFW Member or Supporter, you can download your Department toolbar. The toolbar has lots of neat features; all the RSS (syndication) feeds for every site in the Network run through them, keeping you instantly connected to all the information moving through the Network. Plus every time you search the Internet using the tool bar you generate revenue for your Department.
3) If you are a VFW Member or Supporter, you can join the conversations in the VFW Membership Forum and instant WebCHAT. There’s lots of good information and opportunities to meet new friends there.
5) If you are a VFW Member or Supporter, do you know of a business that may be interested in supporting your local VFW Posts or Department by purchasing advertising on their site? Prices start at $2.00 a day for one site and scale from there with opportunities to advertise across all sites in a Department. (Again, at this time advertising and e-commerce opportunities are only available for the eight aforementioned Departments.)
As you can see, there’s plenty to see and do on the VFW WebCOM Network with more still to come. We thank you for stopping by and invite you back regularly to support and stay connected with your Veterans of Foreign Wars.
KANSAS CITY, Mo., June 8, 2007--The VFW talk-radio program, The National Defense, has joined forces with Talk Radio Network Entertainment (TRN).
The National Defense radio show highlights important issues and hot topics of vital importance to our country that until now have only been discussed by talk show hosts who have little or no connection to the United States military. The hour-long weekly show, which is produced in Kansas City, Mo., is hosted by Vietnam War veteran Jerry Newberry, VFW communications director. Co-hosting the show is Kansas City radio personality Randy Miller.
According to Newberry, The National Defense's hard-hitting approach to important issues will fill a void in talk radio because of the show’s military focus and dedication to championing relevant issues and causes affecting the nation’s uniformed forces.
Content found on this site, unless otherwise noted, is provided for informational and discussion purposes only and does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, its Departments or Posts.
