VFW WA Post 10445

Wreaths Bound for Veterans Cemeteries

Posted at 09:03 AM on Wednesday, December 9, 2009 by post10445

Wreaths bound for veterans cemeteries across the country are on their way to their destinations as part of the Wreaths Across America program.

The Wreaths Across America story began over 18 years ago when the Worcester Wreath Company from Harrington, Maine initiated a tradition of donating and placing wreaths on the headstones of our Nation's fallen heroes at Arlington National Cemetery. Recognition of the service and sacrifice of our veterans, and their families, is especially poignant during the traditional holiday season.

Worcester Wreath Company continues to be a major supporter of the project, donating over 25,000 total wreaths in 2008. Over 100,000 wreaths will be sponsored by individuals, businesses, and groups from communities Nation-wide. Wreaths will be placed in all 50 states from Maine to Alaska and Hawaii, at several locations is Iraq, and at 24 national cemeteries on foreign soil.

For people who wish to support the project, wreath sponsorships are available online. A complete list of participating locations is available on the website at www.WreathsAcrossAmerica.org.

VA To Survey Veteran Households

Posted at 11:12 AM on Friday, December 4, 2009 by post10445

WASHINGTON (Dec. 3, 2009) - Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has launched a national survey of Veterans, active duty service members, activated National Guard and reserve members, and family members and survivors to learn if they are aware of VA services.

"By hearing directly from Veterans and their family members, we gain valuable information to help us serve them better.  We hope those who receive the survey will respond to it," Secretary Shinseki said.

In addition to assessing awareness levels, the National Survey of Veterans will collect important health care, benefits, employment, and demographic information that VA will use to inform policy decisions and improve benefits.  Recognizing a broader client base than just Veterans, this is the first time VA has included others, such as Veteran family members, in its survey population.

VA is mailing out survey "screeners" to more than 130,000 households to identify potential survey participants.  The screener asks if anyone in the household is a member of one of the identified survey groups - Veterans, family members and survivors, active duty, Guard or Reserve members.  Eligible survey participants then may be requested to participate in a full-length survey.

Participants will be able to select a preferred survey method: through U.S. mail, telephone or a password-protected Internet address.  VA expects approximately 10,000 Veterans to complete the full-length survey.

This is the sixth VA National Survey of Veterans since 1978.  The information collected will help VA in its efforts to design and conduct outreach to Veterans.  In addition, it will provide a clearer picture of the Veteran population's characteristics to help evaluate existing programs and policies and measure their impact.

The data collection is expected to be finished by the end of February and the final report released by December 2010.

VFW Strongly Supports New Afghan Strategy

Posted at 11:09 AM on Friday, December 4, 2009 by post10445

WASHINGTON, December 2, 2009 — The national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is strongly supporting the president's new strategy to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda and its extremist allies.

"President Obama set the conditions for success in Afghanistan, and he did it without lowering any bars" said Thomas J. Tradewell Sr., a combat wounded Vietnam veteran from Sussex, Wis. "What we now need is for Congress and the American people to get behind him and destroy this global threat to world peace once and for all."

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VFW Commander Refutes M.T. Columnist

Posted at 03:30 PM on Monday, November 30, 2009 by post10445

By Thomas J. Tradewell Sr.

Columnist Robert F. Dorr has once again missed the mark regarding the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. ["Some vets still more equal than others," Nov. 16]. His insinuation that we regard Cold War veterans as "second-class citizens" is disingenuous, and the facts reveal a different story altogether.

The VFW is a membership organization that is open to all who currently serve or have served, provided they meet eligibility requirements as established by Congress through public laws. Founded in 1899, the VFW is America's oldest major veterans' organization, and with more than 1.5 million members, we are also her largest organization of combat veterans, an all encompassing category that includes those who went to war as well as those who deployed in support of contingency operations.

All who have deployed into the unknown are forever bound by a common experience — regardless of service, conflict or MOS — and so, too, are our families. It is a "One Team, One Mission" concept that only we who have been there can understand. It is unfortunate that Mr. Dorr continuously refuses to understand this concept and its critical distinction.

He used the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall to say we "betrayed" Cold War veterans because our membership requirements are more exclusive than inclusive, and he cites Korea in trying to validate his point. Had he checked VFW eligibility requirements, he would have discovered that those who served in Korea from the end of World War II forward are eligible. So, too, are those who flew clandestine reconnaissance flights over the former Soviet Union or its satellite states, provided hostile fire or imminent danger pay or an expeditionary medal was awarded.

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The American Veteran - November Edition

Posted at 03:26 PM on Monday, November 30, 2009 by post10445

(via The Pentagon Channel)

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted at 09:36 AM on Thursday, November 26, 2009 by post10445

VFW Washington Weekly - November 13, 2009

Posted at 08:54 PM on Sunday, November 15, 2009 by post10445

In This Issue:
1. VFW / VA Members Among Fort Hood Victims
2. VFW Legislative Priority Goals for 2010
3. No Tricare For Life Changes
4. White House Employment Initiative Good for Veterans:

1. VFW / VA Members Among Fort Hood Victims: Last week's tragic shooting
at Fort Hood included VFW and VA members.  Staff Sgt. Justin M. DeCrow,
32, was killed by Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who allegedly murdered 13
and wounded dozens before being shot and apprehended by two civilian law
enforcement officers.  DeCrow was a member of VFW Post 11016 in Songnam,
South Korea.  He graduated high school in 1996 in Plymouth, IN, and
leaves behind a wife and daughter at Fort Gordon, GA.  Two VA employees
also slain were identified as:
*        Dr. Russell G. Seager, Ph.D., a 51-year old Army Reserve captain
who led a mental health team at the VA medical center in Milwaukee.
*        Lt. Col. Juanita L. Warman, a 55-year-old Maryland National
Guardsman who was a nurse practitioner at the VA medical center in Perry
Point, MD.  She was a former member of VFW Post 8276 in Delmar, MD.
VFW Commander-in-Chief Thomas J. Tradewell Sr. said, "No words can
properly convey our condolences to the wounded and families of those
murdered.  The entire military family is grieving right now.  I just
want them to know they do not grieve alone. Our hearts and prayers are
with them."  Read the VFW press release at
http://www.vfw.org/index.cfm?fa=news.newsDtl&did=5280.

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