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Veteran's E-News (February 2009) |
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SOUTH
FLORIDA VETERANS MULTI-PURPOSE CENTER IS PROUD
TO ANNOUNCE
Lorisa P. Lewis, M.S., LMHC,
LLC from Vertical Limit Equine Assisted Growth &
Development has come aboard to offer Mental
Health Counseling and offer her expertise to our
Equine Assisted Therapy Program. Lorisa can be
reached at 407-439-9656
www.verticallimitequine.com |
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Blue Water Navy Update |
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Basically, the Supreme Court's denial of
certiorari in Haas means that veterans who
served in the waters offshore Vietnam and did
not set foot in the Republic of Vietnam are not
entitled to the presumption of Agent Orange
exposure under current VA regulations. They
still may be able to prove direct exposure with
testimony, statements and other supporting
evidence, but the VA will not automatically
presume they were exposed merely because they
were in ships offshore.
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Broward County, FL VVA Chapter 23 News |
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It is hard to believe that we are already into
the third week of January! Wishing all of you a
very Happy New Year. Though these times are
difficult in our nation, we have much to be
grateful for in that we have each other, our
friends, and our families no matter where they
may be. I encourage each of you to pull together
with us and continue to make a difference for
each other and our communities. I did travel
to VVA National several weeks ago for the first
of three Executive Board meetings that will be
held this year. We worked on an update to our
ten legislative agenda areas of concern and
their policy initiatives. There are some updated
brochures that will be coming out that I will
share with you at the next meeting. One of our
greatest common interest centers around
addressing the unresolved VA disability claims
of which there are currently approximately
600,000. You will find attached to this e-mail a
petition to print out, complete, and mail to our
Senators and your Congressional Legislators.
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ELIGIBILITY FOR THE AID & ATTENDANCE PENSION |
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Any War-Time Veteran with 90 days of active
duty, 1 day beginning or ending during a period
of War, is eligible to apply for the Aid &
Attendance Special Pension. A surviving spouse
(marriage must have ended due to death of
veteran) of a War-Time Veteran may also apply.
The individual applying must qualify both
medically and financially. To qualify medically,
a War-Time Veteran or surviving spouse must need
the assistance of another person to perform
daily tasks, such as eating, |
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Gulf War Vets Need to Know - Big Meetings
Upcoming |
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Some vigilant veterans are concerned that
federal officials are not doing nearly enough to
get the word out about important upcoming
meetings concerning research and treatment of
sick veterans.
Former Gulf War Air Force nurse Denise
Nichols, Vice Chair of National Vietnam and Gulf
War Veterans Coalition, is strongly concerned
that not enough veterans will show up for these
meetings, including the Research Advisory
Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses
meeting in Dallas, Texas Feb 23-24, 2009; and
the meeting of a newer committee in Decatur,
Georgia on Feb. 18-19.
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INSPECTOR GENERAL RELEASES INVESTIGATION ON VA
STAFFER’S EMAIL DISCOURAGING PTSD DIAGNOSIS |
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Chairman Akaka remains concerned that VA is
overburdened and under funded. WASHINGTON, D.C.
– U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI), Chairman
of the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, commented
today on a new VA Inspector General (IG) report
into an email sent by a VA psychologist last
year that appeared to discourage health care
staff from diagnosing veterans with
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The IG
investigation, requested by Akaka and released
today, found that while the email was poorly
written and inappropriate, it did not result in
a change in diagnoses at that VA facility.
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Iraq, Afghanistan VA Patients Exceed 400,000 |
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Amid talk of a drawdown of troops in Iraq,
new statistics from the Department of Defense (DoD)
and the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA)
show that US casualties are still climbing
quickly. Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield
injuries and deaths number 81,361, up from
72,043 last January, according to data obtained
through a Freedom of Information Act request by
Veterans for Common Sense (VCS). Veteran
patients - including those who didn't seek care
until their return home - shot up to 400,304
(from 263,909 in December 2007). |
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“Pay It Forward” Mustang Foundation |
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A training incentive program and
mission to help physically challenged, abused
children and veterans of war through the heart
of wild mustangs.
We take our natural talents and abilities to
help train and place wild mustangs through the
BLM and the Mustang Heritage Foundation, to be
suitable and safe therapy riding and driving
companions for the para-equestion community. We
will be demonstrating our mustangs in Sulphur,
Louisiana on February 14th -15th 2009 at him
West Cal Arena and make this mission contagious.
“Let’s Show our children a whole new world of
love, patience & strength”.
“Pay It Forward” Mustang Foundation is a
training program for the Para-equestrian
community for the physically...
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WHY THE SOUTH FLORIDA VETERANS
MULTI-PURPOSE CENTER CREATES ALTERNATIVE
PROGRAMS FOR ALL VETERANS |
The Experts say
“There needs to be a safety net outside the
Department of Defense and the Veterans’
Administration – a safety net of organizations
run by veterans that can recognize what’s going
on, because if the symptoms of PTSD are not
addressed, they can last a lifetime.” More than
400,000 US troops have served in Iraq since the
invasion, and tens of thousands have shown some
signs of stress on their return, "Readjustment"
issues or what is called ‘reintegration’
includes a variety of issues that compound the
overall transition home:• Children are often
born while the soldier is away, and typical
parent bonding has not taken place
• Spousal roles have changed as the person left
behind was forced to take over all duties, and
sorting those out again adds strain to a
marriage
• The person who has gone to war has changed and
is not the same person he or she once was, and
it is the same with family members
• There is often a sense of guilt for leaving
comrades behind, coping with the deaths of
fellow soldiers, and dealing with the question,
"why am I still alive."
The list is goes on and on!
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