Art Sloane
The Veterans Administration is seeking public comments on the draft task force report concerning Gulf War veterans’ illnesses. The instructions for how to submit comments will be posted at regulations.gov. In addition, a public discussion board on the seven focus areas is at vagulfwartaskforce.uservoice.com. To view the report without making recommendations, go to http://tinyurl.com/qcvaeq9.
The Luke Chapter of the Military Officers Association of America awarded nine scholarships to outstanding high school seniors. The scholarships ranged from $1,500-$2,500.
Military sexual trauma has really been in the headlines lately. Nationally, everyone that goes to a VA Hospital or clinic for the first time is supposed to fill out a questionnaire. There were 127,988 positive MST screens in 2012. In the Phoenix VA system there were 1,946. Of those 1,102 were from women and 844 from men. Yes, it is not confined to women.
The address to pull up on your computer is www.GunstoSalutetheFallen.com to buy a memorial paver at the WWII Memorial at Wesley Bolen Park in Phoenix. This project, led by the present Secretary of State Ken Bennett, will be finished and dedicated on December 7 at the park. There has been for many years an anchor and a signal tower from the USS Arizona sunk at Pearl Harbor. In addition there will now be two gun barrels from the Arizona signifying the start of WWII and Battleship Missouri where the peace treaty was signed ending WWII. You may show your support by going to the web site or contacting the Secretary of State’s office to receive an application blank. You may purchase a 4”x8” brick paver for $125 or an 8”x8 “ paver for $500 or a 12”x12” granite paver for $1,000. You may purchase for any reason – your own, a business, organizations etc. For more information please contact Kim Crawford at the Secretary’s office at 602-542-6170. You may also send a check to 1700 W. Washington St., 7th Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85007 and made out to the address of the web site.
At the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans conference in Washington, DC last week, Arizona was recognized by HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan as one of only two states in the nation on track to end veteran homelessness by 2015. Madison Street Veterans Association have been an integral part of this mission. They recognized early that there would be an influx of homeless women veterans with the recent advent of women in combat. To that end, MSVA opened up the first of its kind in Arizona a separate, secure homeless Women Veterans Transitional Living Center this year. But to achieve their mission, they need your help. They need our community of veterans and supporters to aid them in this fight. They need funding to keep our operations going. Please go to madisonstreetveterans.org to contribute; or contact Director Terry Araman at 602-525-4456, or [email protected] to see how you can help. Many persons in the Sun Lakes area have helped already such as the Jewish War Veterans. The group arranges pizza party at the facility.
President Obama has signed the bill that makes it a crime to wear medals or make a false claim that you are a hero if you are doing it to accept remuneration of any kind. The last Stolen Valor act was ruled unconstitutional because it interfered with freedom of speech. This Stolen Valor Act makes it clear that if you are going to accept any form of gain from it that it is then a crime. I know that all the veterans’ organizations in Sun Lakes have been particularly interested in this subject.
Art Sloane may be contacted at 480-802-6810 or [email protected].