VFW OK District 2

Commander-In-Chief Independence Day Message

Friday, July 4, 2008 at 08:04 AM

by dist2

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.

God bless America.

George Lisicki
VFW Commander-in-Chief

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VFW Demands Accountability Over Chantix Issue

Thursday, June 19, 2008 at 04:33 PM

by dist2

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.

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VFW Washington Weekly - May 9, 2008

Saturday, May 10, 2008 at 09:13 AM

by dist2

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

 

1. GI Bill Call to Action: The VFW still needs you to urge your senators to support S. 22, and your representatives to support H.R. 5740, so that the VFW goal of creating a new GI Bill for the 21st century becomes a reality. As of this morning, 57 senators are supporting S. 22, a number that is unchanged from last week. Introduced by Jim Webb (D-VA), S. 22 has strong bipartisan support from fellow senators such as Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and John Warner (R-VA). Its companion bill in the House, H.R. 5740, increased by 27 to 293 co-sponsors, or 67% of the House. Introduced by Harry Mitchell (D-AZ), it, also has strong bipartisan support from fellow congressmen such as Bill Young (R-FL) and Chris Smith (R-NJ). America's newest Greatest Generation needs your help to bring educational benefits back in line with current day tuitions. Use this link to contact your members: http://capwiz.com/vfw/dbq/officials/.

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VFW Washington Weekly - April 28, 2008

Monday, April 28, 2008 at 06:03 PM

by dist2

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

1. Senate Passes Large Veterans Bill: The Senate passed 96-1 a large veterans' package that improves a wide-array of benefits, including life insurance, burial allowance and adaptive equipment grants. The package now moves to the House. Some of the VFW-supported provisions in S. 1315 would:
• Increase the maximum amount of supplemental Service-Disabled Veterans Insurance from $20,000 to $30,000.
• Expand eligibility for home improvement and structural alteration assistance to include permanently disabled servicemembers.
• Provide a specially-adapted housing grant to veterans and qualified servicemembers with severe burn injuries.
• Extend authority of the VA to assist individuals living temporarily in residences owned by family members.
• Provide automobile and adaptive equipment assistance to disabled veterans and servicemembers with severe burn injuries.
• Increase to $445 from the current $300 allowance for veteran burial plots.
• Provide a presumption of service-connection for osteoporosis for former POWs with post-traumatic stress disorder.
• Increase cost-of-living for additional dependency and indemnity compensation paid to certain surviving spouses with minor dependent children.
• Expand retroactive traumatic injury protection under SGLI (TSGLI) to include all servicemembers, not just those injured in Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom.
For a complete listing of S. 1315 provisions, visit the Thomas website at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:s.01315:

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VFW WebCOM Membership Forum: 1000+ Members Strong and Growing

Tuesday, April 8, 2008 at 04:09 PM

by dist2

Late last evening, our 1,000th member joined the VFW WebCOM Membership forum!!!

We'd like to take a moment to thank you all for visiting the forum over the past year and taking the time to register to become part of the VFW WebCOM Community.

If you haven't visited the forum lately, we'd like to take this opportunity to invite you back to see what you've been missing. We now have over 7,400 entries in nearly 2,000 different topics. The forum has become a wealth of information about all sorts of topics relating to the VFW organization, the VFW community and veterans issues.

We'd also like to issue a special thank you to our top posters in the forum. These are the folks who stop by the forum on a regular basis and keep the information moving. Without them, we wouldn't be where we are today:


We'd also like to remind you that you can stay on top of all the latest entries to the forum, get updates on all the information moving thru the VFW WebCOM Network and support your department by downloading and installing the VFW WebCOM Departmental toolbar at http://toolbars.vfwwebcom.org

And finally, if you'd like to claim the weblog for your VFW Post or District, you can contact your state Blogmaster or IJK3770 in the forum  for assistance in getting your Post or District site up and running. We hope you've enjoyed your visit(s) to the forum and welcome your feedback in building a bigger and better community as we reach for our next 1,000 members.

Regards, The VFW WebCOM Membership Forum Team.

http://www.vfwwebcom.org/forum

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VFW Washington Weekly - March 7, 2008

Saturday, March 8, 2008 at 09:43 AM

by dist2

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

3. Veterans Disarmament Bill Doesn't Exist: An allegation is being passed around the Internet that a new law the President signed in January would deny veterans diagnosed with PTSD or other mental health problems their constitutional right of gun ownership. The allegation is false; there is no legislation called the Veterans Disarmament Bill, and there are no validated instances of an otherwise eligible veteran being denied employment because of the the new law, which signed Jan. 7, 2008. A major supporter of H.R. 2640 was the nation's staunchest gun rights advocate, the National Rifle Association, who would have never backed a bill that overly restricted ownership rights. Bottom line: Gun ownership is a Second Amendment right, but exercising that right comes with inherent social responsibilities in a democratic society. If a court of law rules someone as mentally unfit and a danger to him/herself and to others, then the rights of society must outweigh individual rights. The new law is not anti-veteran legislation; it is common sense legislation.
Read the NRA position at: http://www.nraila.org//Issues/Articles/Read.aspx?ID=246
Read a Military.com article at: http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,151321_1,00.html?wh=wh
Read the White House press release at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/01/20080108-7.html

Click here for stories 1, 2 & 4

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Meet Maj Dennis McCool and his "Resolve to Win"

Wednesday, February 27, 2008 at 05:18 PM

by dist2

Major Dennis McCOOL......


.....and a core group of supporters have planned a 16 day "Resolve to Win" March to Washington, DC to demonstrate unwavering support for our Troops and their Families.

The starting line is the SC/NC border March 1, 2008 and will work its way up 301 though North Carolina to Highway 1 through Virginia ending at the Lincoln Memorial.

You can click here for March Route and Schedule.

This non-political effort has evolved through a swell of grassroots support of local VFW and American Legion Posts all along the planned Route.

Jim Clark, Department VFW NC Military Assistance Program (MAP), is Co-Chairing the event with Bob Sussan, Commander of Fairfax, VA American Legion Post 177.

You can follow the preparations and the journey in real time through the Resolve to Win blog:

http://vfwwebcom.org/resolvetowin/

and by checking back here for regular updates. The Veterans News Bureau is providing Video coverage support . They have established a dedicated channel to bring you the newest videos straight from the road.

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