VFW Washington Weekly, May 9, 2008
May 9, 2008 at 06:56 PM
by dist5
In This Issue
1. GI Bill Call to Action
2. House Holds Veteran Suicide Hearing
3. Senate Holds Hearing on Benefit Bills
4. Senate Committee Boosts Pay, Rejects Fees
To access the full report go HERE
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VFW Washington Weekly, May 2, 2008
May 2, 2008 at 02:49 PM
by dist5
In This Issue
1. GI Bill Call to Action
2. House VA Committee Moves Bills
3. Paid Up Survivor Benefit Plan
To read the full text of this report go to
VFW Washington Weekly, May 2, 2008
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VFW Washington Weekly, April 28, 2008
April 28, 2008 at 12:29 PM
by dist5
In This Issue:
1. Senate Passes Large Benefits Bill
2. House VA Committee Bills
3. Senate Hearing on VA/DOD Improvements
4. OIF/OEF Campaign Stars
The full text can be found at Mo Legislative Updates
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Dept of Mo May General Orders
April 25, 2008 at 08:43 PM
by dist5
The General Orders for May, 2008
from the
Department of Missouri
and
Hotel Room Registration Forms
for the 88th Dept Convention
are now available at
Dept of Mo May General Orders
(printable forms included)
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VFW Washington Weekly - April 18, 2008
April 18, 2008 at 01:17 PM
by dist5
In This Issue:
1. House VA Committee Hearings
2. Senate Passes VA Home Package
3. New GI Bill Needs Your Help
To read the full report go to Mo Legislative Updates
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VFW Washington Weekly - April 14, 2008
April 14, 2008 at 02:57 PM
by dist5
In This Issue:
1. VFW Legislative Alert Supports GI Bill for 21st Century
2. House Hearings on Disability Claims, Homelessness
3. President's Statement on Iraq
4. VFW Travels to Southeast Asia
To read the full report go to Mo Legislative Updates
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Understanding Your VA Benefits
April 6, 2008 at 02:25 PM
by dist5
Under the compensation and pension programs there is no budget. When you receive these benefits it does not take away benefits from any other veteran. If a veteran is service-connected 10 percent or more for any condition they are entitled to inpatient and outpatient care, hearing aids, eyeglasses and all their prescriptions for $8.00 per prescription for a 30 day supply at any VA facility.
When a veteran is service connected 50 percent or more all their prescriptions are free of charge.
When a veteran is rated service connected 70 percent or more they are entitled to nursing home care at no cost to the veteran.
When a veteran is rated 100 percent service connected they are entitled to dental care.
Most veteran’s who served in the Battle of the Bulge and the Chosin Reservoir suffer from the residuals of cold injuries and they receive a 100 percent evaluation from the VA. ($2,527.00 a month for a single veteran and $2,669.00 a month for a married veteran).
If you served on land in Vietnam and you have diabetes we want to make sure you are receiving all the compensation you are entitled to receive. We represent 1,500 diabetics and 27 percent of them receive a 100 percent evaluation from the VA.
If you served on land in Vietnam and you had prostate cancer we want to make sure you are receiving all the benefits that you are entitled to receive. We will explain to you what the requirements are for a higher evaluation. The number one and two disabilities granted by the VA for compensation are bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus (ringing in the ears). If your occupation in service was consistent with noise exposure or you were awarded any combat ribbon or medal you are entitled to an exam by the VA to evaluate your claimed hearing loss and/or tinnitus. The VA currently denies medical care to some veterans. You served your time so don’t let anybody tell you no when are seeking medical care. File a claim for benefits and get everything you are entitled to receive. If you records were destroyed in the fire in St. Louis, MO in 1973 is not an excuse not to file a claim. We have had veterans in the past whose records were destroyed and we still got them a 100 percent service connected evaluation.
The VA also has a Pension Program. The requirements are 90 days of wartime service, be totally disabled or age 65 or older and be under the income limits. If you or you receive in-home care we would like to talk to you about these benefits.
To file a claim you can call our office in St. Louis at 314-552-9886 or contact any of our offices at the VA Medical Center. You can also contact us by e-mail and you can send that to Mr. Jason Blakemore, Assistant Service Officer at
jasonblakemore@hotmail.com
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DO YOU KNOW WHY THE VFW WAS FORMED?
April 4, 2008 at 03:29 PM
by dist5
The VFW traces its roots back to 1899 when veterans of the Spanish-
American War (1898) and the Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902) founded
local organizations to secure rights and benefits for their service.
In order to secure these benefits for veterans the leadership of the
organization created the Veterans Service Program. In the State of Missouri
we wanted our Service Officers to be where ever we can see the most
veterans. So we have Service Officers at the VA Regional Office, every VA
Medical Center and one located in Southwest Missouri.
We keep stats on how much money we are able to secure on behalf of the
veterans that we represent. Seven years ago we were recovering $18 million
dollars in benefits. Today that amount has grown to $92 million dollars a
year. We file a little more than 1,000 claims a month with half of them from
claimants coming to the VFW for the first time. We have signed up more
than 1,100 new members during the past three years.
At the VA Regional Office in St. Louis you will find representative’s from
seven organizations. But no service organization is handling more claims
than the VFW. The VA has 8,419 pending claims and we represent 2,469 of
them or 29.33 percent of all claims. There are 1,351 veterans who have
claims pending that are not represented by anyone, which represents 16.05
percent of all claims. We represent 500 more claims than a Service
Organization that has more than twice the staff as ours and we represent
2,074 more claims than the largest Service Organization. When you look at
the stats for four of the service organizations they represent on 8 percent of
the workload.
If it was not for the generous donations of several VFW Post, substantial
donations from the Ladies Auxiliary and individuals who have given us
donations out of their own pockets we would not have been able to secure
the 92 million dollars in benefits for our veterans during the past year.
The Veterans Service Program is the only program that directly helps our
veterans to receive their medical care, compensation, pension and education
benefits. You will not find another group of individuals who are as
dedicated to helping our veterans than your Department Service Officers.
They work weekends and more than 40 hours a week not because they have
to but because they want to. There are still thousands of veterans in the
State of Missouri who could benefit from our services but we don’t have the
staff to help them. The big difference between the VFW and some of the
other service organizations is that we are looking for veterans to help. We
review the veteran’s file and we look for other conditions that veteran can
claim that they are unaware of. Besides all the claims we get granted we
also get an average of 15 veterans a week a 100 percent evaluation.
I have been your Service Officer for over 30 years and for those that know
me you know that my mission is to file as many claims as possible and to
make sure our veteran’s are receiving the maximum benefits under the law.
I spend a large portion of my day arguing with the VA about negative
decisions that have made in veteran’s claims. You would not believe how
many times we have been able to get the VA to change their original
decisions.
I am asking for your help. If the VFW has helped you with your claim for
benefits and we are asking you to do what you can to support our Program. I
would also like for you to contact your Post and ask them how much they
have sent in to support our Program. Don’t be shocked if you find out that
nothing was sent in or they only sent in $25.00 for the year. Because we
have been there for you when you needed us maybe you can convince them
that our Program is worth more to veterans than 7 cents a day from a Post
that may have more than a hundred members. Hopefully you will find out
that they are giving their fair share because we are all in this together and
until all our veterans are receiving what they are entitled to receive our job is
not done.
I have one goal and that is to help our fellow veterans to receive their
benefits and to do that I need the resources necessary to get the job done.
All contribution should be sent to: VFW Department Headquarters, P.O.
Box 26, Jefferson City, MO 65102. Make check payable to the VFW
Veterans Service Fund.
Dennis F. Flynn
VFW Service Officer
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VFW Washington Weekly, April 4, 2009
April 4, 2008 at 03:19 PM
by dist5
In This Issue:
1. New GI Bill Needs Our Help
2. House VA Committee Hearings
3. Women Veterans' Bill
4. VA Home Loan Fix
5. VA Names Acting Benefits Chief
6. Soldier Missing in Iraq Identified
Full text can be found at
Mo Legislative Updates
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VFW Pledges $1 Million to Build Vietnam Veterans Memorial Center
April 2, 2008 at 08:21 AM
by dist5
WASHINGTON, April 1, 2008--The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) of the United States has pledged up to $1 million to help build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Center, a visitors and education facility being built on the National Mall, announced Jan C. Scruggs, founder and president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.
VFW is the first veterans’ organization to pledge financial support to the Memorial Center. The organization plans to raise the money over the next three years through its more than 8,000 posts and 1.7 million members worldwide.
VFW has a long history of supporting the Memorial Fund and was, in fact, the first major veterans’ organization to contribute to building The Wall itself. VFW contributed $250,000 to build The Wall back in 1982, making it one of the largest contributors to the project. Additionally, the group gave $50,000 to the Memorial Fund to create and distribute a curriculum guide, Echoes from The Wall, to 25,000 public and private high schools in 1999.
For the full story go to the
SOURCE
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VFW Washington Weekly, March 28, 2008
March 28, 2008 at 12:31 PM
by dist5
In This Issue:
1. IRS to Hold Super Saturday/ Stimulus Package Outreach
2. WWII MIA Identified
3. Korean War MIA Identified
4. Reserve Component Mobilization
The complete report can be accessed at
Mo Legislative Updates
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Missouri Legislature Updates - 3-14-08
March 18, 2008 at 08:11 AM
by dist5
STATUS OF HOUSE AND SENATE BILLS OF INTEREST TO VETERANS
(CURRENT AS OF: 3/14/08)
The report can now be accessed at
Mo Legislative Updates
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VA Benefits Guide for Veterans and Dependents - 2008
March 15, 2008 at 03:14 PM
by dist5
VA BENEFITS GUIDE: The Department of Veterans Affairs recently
published their Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependents for
2008. An easy-to-read reference guide, it provides the most current
information about your earned benefits. Be careful before hitting
the print button--it is 153 pages and may take some time to print.
However, you may want to hit your "Save to" tab and download it for
future reference into a folder of your choice. You can download or
print your copy at http://www1.va.gov/opa/vadocs/fedben.pdf.
[Source: EANGUS Minuteman Update 13 Mar 08 ++]
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VFW National Security & Foreign Affairs Update - 14 Mar 08
March 15, 2008 at 03:06 PM
by dist5
1..
CENTCOM Commander Resigns
2. FY09 Budget Resolution – Defense
3. NATO – Russia
4. Military Compensation Report Released:
5. Reserve Component Mobilization:
To read the stories behind these topics go to Mo Legislative Updates
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March to Washington - Resolve to Win
March 14, 2008 at 09:31 PM
by dist5
This was day fourteen on the March to Washington. Daily updates have been posted to Resolve to Win along with pictures and videos explaining the mission. This evening a video was added that was taken today of the marchers.. Go to Resolve to Win to check it out. Also if you have not signed the guestbook there yet I urge you to do so at once. I know it asks for your e-mail address but it is not mandatory. If you are uncomfortable with leaving your e-mail address just leave it blank. Let the dedicated marchers know you support their efforts and the troops.
Cheerily
IJK
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GWOT Purple Heart Veterans: Win a Free Trip to Daytona
March 14, 2008 at 09:10 PM
by dist5
KANSAS CITY, Mo., March 14, 2008--Win a Free Trip to the Daytona International Speedway Pepsi 400 through VFW’s Kahle Fund Trip for Iraq and Afghanistan Purple Heart recipients.
If you received a Purple Heart for wounds sustained in Iraq or Afghanistan, you could be one of eight veterans to win VFW’s trip to the Daytona International Speedway Pepsi 400 on July 5, 2008. Airfare, luxurious hotel accommodations and a ticket to the race for each winner are included.
To read the full story go HERE
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VFW Washington Weekly, March 14, 2008
March 14, 2008 at 03:37 PM
by dist5
In This Issue:
1. VA Budget Update
2. VFW Testifies before Appropriations Subcommittee
3. House VA Committee Hearings
4. Senate Hearing on Caring for Families of Wounded Warriors
5. CENTCOM Commander Resigns
6. FY09 Defense Budget Resolution
Full text can be found at Mo Legislative Updates
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VFW Washington Weekly March 7, 2008
March 7, 2008 at 02:31 PM
by dist5
In This Issue:
1. VFW Commander-in-Chief Testifies Before VA Committees
2. VFW Members Storm the Hill
3. Veterans Disarmament Bill Doesn't Exist
4. GI Bill Update
Full Update can be read at
Mo Legislative Updates
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Missouri HJR 71 (Veterans Sales Tax)
March 3, 2008 at 03:18 PM
by dist5
We have received word that the hearing for HJR 71 will be tomorrow. The House Special Committee on Veterans will meet at 12:00 Noon on 4 March 2008 in House Hearing Room 7 to hear public testimony on HB 1783 - Flying Flag at Half-Staff; HB1784 - Requires Flags to be American made; HB 1813 - Eliminates Bingo Tax for Veterans organizations; and HJR 71 - provides for a Constitutional Amendment to the voters of Missouri for a 1/8th of one cent sales tax for veterans programs. If you can be there to show suport, it will be greatly appreciated and bring other veterans to fill the hearing room. Get the word out.
Dewey M Riehn, Legislative Chairman, VFW, MO
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