Segs4Vets

via YouTube:

Segs4Vets is an unprecedented grass-roots effort sustained and administered by volunteers. This video talks about what it means to both volunteers and recipients in the program to participate.

Purple Heart Homes

via its site:

After returning home and building a house Dale realized a need for all veterans who have mobility limiting service connection injuries. This need has been recognized by some organizations which have assisted veterans and their families in acquiring housing that is suitable to their needs. This is achieved through construction, remodeling, or renovation.

Purple Heart Homes, Inc. Is dedicated to providing housing for disabled veterans that is substantial in function, design, and quality... fit to welcome home the fighting men and women of America."

Dale I. Beatty SSG USA (ret)

The Purple Heart Homes site can be found here.

The Vietnam Friendship Village

via YouTube:
In this clip from Michelle Mason's "The Friendship Village", Friendship Village founder George Mizo and other Vietnam War vets who contributed to the facility's initial work with Agent Orange victims share their motivation and compassion.

Filmmaker Michelle Mason visited the Friendship Village for the first time in 1998. "It was really clear how much the Vietnamese do with so little," she recalls. "At that point, only a certain amount of dollars had been raised and [yet] they'd built half the village. Through a lot of simplicity they were achieving great things. One thing that stood out for me was that the Vietnamese government was years and years behind when it comes to disability issues. To have kids come and learn some really basic skills -- like how to feed themselves -- was significant. It was through this journey to self-reliance that these kids were shaping their own lives and people's perceptions and attitudes."

National Council on Disability to Hear Presentations on Military Health Care

WASHINGTON—The National Council on Disability (NCD), as part of its 2.5 day quarterly meeting, will hear presentations and discuss the state of wounded warrior care and transition. Presenters from the Fort Hood and Fort Sam Houston Center for the Intrepid will provide their perspective. The presentation will be held at the JW Marriott Houston, 5150 Westheimer, Houston, TX, from 1:30 p.m. until 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday, January 20, 2010. This meeting is open to the public.

Presenters will include:

Colonel William Salter, Commander, Fort Hood Warrior Transition Brigade, Killeen, Texas

Becky Hooper, Program Manager, Center for the Intrepid, Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, TX

The purpose of NCD, an independent federal agency, is to promote programs, practices, policies and procedures that ensure full inclusion of people with disabilities into all aspects of society. NCD accomplishes this mission by providing advice and making recommendations to the President, Congress, governmental agencies, and other stakeholders.

For more information, please contact NCD’s Director of Public Affairs, Mark S. Quigley, at mquigley@ncd.gov or by telephone at 202-272-2004.

# # #

Mark S. Quigley

Director of External Affairs

National Council on Disability

1331 F Street, NW, Suite 850

Washington, DC 20004

202-272-2004

202-272-2022 fax

Prayers on this Veteran's Day...

...for all our veterans, their families, friends and loved ones.

Help for homeless vets

This letter in the Baltimore Sun online explains benefits available to homeless vets. It's written by the executive director of the Homeless Persons Representation Project Inc. and the co-chairman of the Maryland State Bar Association's Military Law Committee.

One third of the homeless, it is estimated, are vets. These programs are underutilized and, the authors claim, improper denials and lengthy waits occur.

Highlights:

The Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program can provide a rent subsidy to veterans that allows them to pay approximately 30 percent of their income for rent. This program is a major tool to end homelessness

Some veterans may be eligible for service-connected disability compensation, which can pay them more than $2,600 a month, depending on their disability rating, and can more than cover the cost of housing

So help me God

An interesting blog post on President Obama retaking the oath over at PrawfsBlog:

Most people (myself included) argue that because the transposition did not change meaning, just as adding "so help me God" does not change meaning, the Constitution was not violated by the oath at the Inauguration. But Paulsen argues that it did violate the Constitution (because the focus is purely on the text and the way the oath always is inconsistent with the text); in fact, every President since Washington has, formally, violated the Constitution by adding "SHMG" and their names. But, because meaning has not changed, the unconstitutionality (the "constitutional error," if you will) is harmless; it does not matter and does not require any remedy.

So in asking whether transposing "faithfully" renders the oath invalid, the question is not whether the oath was unconstitutional; it was unconstitutional, as has every other oath since 1789. The question is whether the unconstitutionality matters.

IMHO a lot less harm done at the oath taking by presidents than afterwards.

But this is leading to something - an organization called the So Help Me God project, which is also known as Operation Thank You.


Our latest project is Operation Thank You, a massive effort to collect and send 1 million military thank you cards and get well cards to our troops!

The site offers resources to military members and families and an online store which carries specialty bibles for armed forces members, police and firemen, DVD's, dogtags, and grief packets, among other items. You can visit them here.

{Their logo is shown at left, which shows a silhouette of a person in blue taking an oath and an American flag in the background. On top are the words So Help Me God Project and Beneath SoHelpMeGod.Org on a white background.}

Veteran's Help Network

The National Veterans Foundation offers help to vets with live help available daily 9AM to 9PM. Operation Dignity is for veterans helping homeless vets. This site (Veteran's Help Network) offers help to vets and opportunities for people to learn about their experiences and extend a helping hand.They need volunteer attorneys. Fisher House offers help to families while a vet is hospitalized. And there is Welcome Back Veterans.

There are so many organizations doing good work, but we need to remember that our donations and our help as individuals is also important. Veterans returning home face a myriad of issues. This story, about the parents of a critically injured soldier who lingered for months before dying, shows what families often face. Then there are those who lack family support.

"Often when veterans return to civilian life the transition is difficult, and they are left to face a complex set of issues including psychological disorders, homelessness and unemployment," says Jim Gibbons, President and CEO, Goodwill Industries International. "Goodwill's holistic approach to providing services to veterans hinges on developing and maintaining working partnerships with other service providers to meet the multiple needs of the veteran seeking services. via www.marketwatch.com

Some of the first wheelchair users I met were vets. They were extraordinarily helpful to me. Many extended themselves by giving me wheelchair parts, helping me fix my chair, and spent hours talking to me about life in a wheelchair. I remember a few of these friends who have now passed on, who served in wars like Vietnam and Korea. I will always owe them a debt of gratitude and paying it forward is the best way I can think to do that.

Some of the vets from the current war who are newer to living with disabilities have contacted me. Many of these vets need the support of others from the disability community, who can ease their path in so many ways. Their spouses and family members also need your support. Opportunities to help folks like this are available over at any of these sites and many others. Donate to the USO, google for the site you'd like to donate even a dollar to. No amount is too small.

[To help soldiers still serving abroad in harm's way, visit anysoldier.com to send a care package. Busy? Use treatanysoldier.com for ready made packages. Call a VA hospital to volunteer to read to soldiers, a great way to connect with those dealing with disabilities.]

Veterans Day

Praying for our vets, their families and loved ones with gratitude for their sacrifices.

Congress backing parity bill

The NY Times reports that

Congress on Tuesday moved close to final approval of a bill that would require group health insurance plans to provide more generous coverage for treatment of mental illnesses, comparable to what they already provide for physical illnesses.
....
The House, by a vote of 376 to 47, passed the mental health measure as a free-standing bill. The two chambers agree on the substance of the legislation, which requires equivalence, or parity, in the coverage of mental and physical ailments. Federal law now allows insurers to discriminate, and many do so, by setting higher co-payments or stricter limits on mental health benefits.

President Bush, business groups, insurance companies and mental health advocates all support the measure.

Although the House and the Senate are using different vehicles for the legislation, supporters said that a single mental health bill would soon emerge from Congress and go to Mr. Bush for his signature.

You can read the rest of the article here.

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In other news, veterans gain US benefits for Lou Gehrig's disesase and the VA will increase benefits for mild brain trauma.

Up to 320,000 troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffered traumatic brain injury, a RAND Corp. study estimated this year. The vast majority of the cases are mild and came from exposure to an explosion, often from a roadside bomb. Most veterans with mild cases recover, Pamperin said, but some are left with permanent problems.

Compensation could reach $600 a month, the VA said. Currently, veterans with symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, sensitivity to light, ringing in the ears and irritability and insomnia collect $117. via usatoday.com

and the third report on Medicare fraud and billing is in, this time including stories of prescribing durable medical equipment for those with bubonic plague. Guess they need a wheelchair more than those of us who can't walk....

Wounded Warrior Project and Paralympian Melissa Stockwell

So what would it take to get 100 blogs to mention the Wounded Warrior project, to get the word out about its resources and how it helps folks?

I'm in. If you have a blog, can you mention it?

This project provides advocacy, coping services and outreach to veterans with disabilities and their families to help them transition to civilian life. I blogged about it over a year ago and after visiting the site, can see that the resources listed have grown immensely.

The Wounded Warrior Project is also running a contest where you can win a custom built 2007 Jeep with a $25 per ticket contest.


Paralympian swimmer Melissa Stockwell, shown above, is a Board member. You can visit her blog here to read about her experiences at the Paralympics.

Forgotten Vets

Three pieces in the news recently, juxtaposed:

Ron Kovic, on the forgotten Iraq vet, describing his own experiences returning from Vietnam

and a video on Iraqi army vets, commenting that over there, vets face far greater challenges and neglect


and another story, about burying the remains of vets, one whose ashes sat for 34 years ago, never claimed

On the day before Memorial Day : Merlin's Miracles

Marine Merlin German was burned over 97% of his body in Iraq and was dubbed the Miracle Man by doctors. He underwent three years of surgeries on his body, before passing away from complications from a surgical procedure.

Those are the facts. The truth is that when you read about Merlin, what you start to realize is that during his life, he positively affected the lives of many around him. Hospital staff members and other patients talk about his positive attitude despite the pain and difficulty of the procedures he constantly underwent. And then, of course, there's the foundation he left for children with burn injuries - Merlin's Miracles. He created this fund in order that children who are burn survivors could realize their dreams and live well after having a burn injury.

On this day before Memorial Day, I'd like to feature Merlin's Miracles as a way to honor the positive attitude this young man showed which teaches all of us that we can reach out and help others, no matter what our circumstances.

On this Memorial Day, we not only honor those who have died, but think of those who survive with injuries and disabilities. Burn injuries aren't often discussed. Many of our vets are getting burn injuries because of IEDs. These injuries can result in difficulties when out in public due to disfiguration. Plastic surgery can help, but since the skin stretches, there is a limit to what it can do. Burn injuries can also result in loss of function - e.g. Merlin lost his fingers due to burns. The number of surgeries required after burn injuries can take years and, of course, a myriad of other health issues can arise, leaving the families and loved ones in need of a great deal of support.

All of these experiences are important for the rest of us to know and understand, so that when we meet a burn survivor (for yes they are survivors!) and/or his/her family , we can be open to their presence in our lives.

Please take a moment to visit Merlin's Miracles, say a prayer, buy a t shirt, donate - whatever your heart moves you to do and your wallet can bear.

At the drug store

He was in his twenties and wore ear muffs over his shaved head. On the left side of his scalp was a scar, which he touched repeatedly with his right hand as he spoke.

"Flags, I want flags," he said to the drug store clerk, then repeated it.

"The only flag we sell is the one we have in the window," the thirty-something blonde woman replied.

"I've bought that before," he said.

"I know," she said. "Yesterday. And the day before that." She looked at me.

He turned around, saw me in my wheelchair, then said "I wasn't always like this. I could talk better and people understood what I meant."

"Before the war?" I asked, guessing. Flag. Young. Brain injury.  

He nodded. "You understand. Yes, I want as many flags as possible hanging up all around to show people that - that - I used to be able to say this better but-"

"I think I understand," I said.

"You do?"

"To remind them? " I asked.

"Yes, that a war is going on," he said. "Yes, you get it. She gets it," he told the clerk. "I'm going to the front of the store to look for more flags," he said suddenly.

"Okay," she said.

I sat there, waiting. He came back, his hands empty, two tears running down his cheeks. "They only have one flag," he said, shaking his head. "Why  don't they understand how important it is to carry more flags? There's a war going on."

Bluetooth technology being used with prosthetic legs

Two vets who are double amputees are testing them. One Iraq vet, Gregory Gadson, who is an amputee is trying them out. A former linebacker at West Point, he says that he hopes this technology, after testing is completed, can eventually used by many more people. Joshua Bleill, a Marine, is also using the prosthetic legs.

3,500,000 turkeys -and a dream

In 1996, two youngsters, siblings Betsy and Dan, started Turkeys4America to provide turkeys for families in need. Since then, these young people have served 3,500,000 turkeys!

When interviewed recently, older brother Dan, a college sophomore, looked back on over ten years of doing this service work. Betsy, now a senior in high school, spoke about how she hopes some day families won't have to go to food pantries for holiday dinner fixings- and of her dream to end hunger.
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A recent article appeals to us on behalf of wounded troops returning from the war, citing language from 1920 speaking of the need to support returning vets.
""Appeal for Wounded Men," proclaimed the New York Times headline. "An appeal to citizens to open their homes on Thanksgiving Day to the 15,000 wounded soldiers in the city was sent out yesterday.... 'Many of the disabled men feel the people have forgotten them.'"
That same need exists today with many vets struggling to readjust to life back home as John Whitehead's piece points out. Sadly, in the column on the right side of the piece, is an article about how the military is asking vets to return bonus monies if they weren't able to finish their full tour -pointing out some of the issues these vets face at the home front. Check out how a 4 year old amputee's presence at Walter Reed hospital helps out vets recovering from injuries - the video came out a bit choppy although I put it up a few times - but is well worth watching.

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This local article talks about running a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving and how the director always seems to find that she has enough food! She encourages local residents to bring by food donations on the holiday since their addition might be just what the soup kitchen needs. And one volunteer found he was too late to sign up at the annual Father Fred Thanksgiving dinner - but when he did get to serve,knew he'd want to do it again.
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Officials at a Texas jail arrange for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner to be catered for inmates. One official says that many of the inmates miss family at the holiday and they try to address this by making an effort to have a traditional meal. Please keep those in jail in your prayers this holiday, especially those who have no visitors. Also keep those who work in prison ministry in your prayers to sustain them through this challenging work.
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Getting through the holidays after losing a loved one isn't easy. This article offers some helpful tips.
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18 year old Logan from the US visited Africa and met some of the orphans there. As a result, he wrote a letter about Thanksgiving in our country and his reflections on his visit..
"And I can’t tell you how much we take for granted our homes here in America. We live in an older farmhouse that we have fixed up. I used to look down on our home but I have come to realize that it really is a mansion. There are so many people there who don’t have a place to call a home and many of those who do, live in a small mud hut. I visited a widow who had ten children and lived in a mud hut that was around ten feet by eight feet. Some of her children had to sleep at the neighbor’s house because of lack of room. Seeing how this family lives really makes me realize how rich I am. I wish everyone could go to Africa and see how these people live so they could see how much they have to be thankful for."

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For children, making a Thanksgiving tree is a wonderful way for them to write down what they're thankful for. This can be particularly helpful if your family is facing a stressful time or you'd like to emphasize the meaning of the holiday to children.
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FDR's words ring through history in this editorial as we celebrate Thanksgiving.
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Thanksgiving is a time to recognize the blessings in our own lives. It's also a good time to honor the sacrifices others make for us by reflecting on what we can do for others. As this piece points out, we can't be grateful for what we don't pay attention to!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!
{visual description: Eighteen year old Logan is pictured with his adopted African brothers and sisters. Logan spent six months volunteering in Africa to work with orphans from the AIDS crisis.}
[visual description: Troops serving in Iraq are served the traditional Thanksgiving meal.}

Veterans Day - A Rose Garden in Remembrance

To those fallen warriors we've loved, we honor your lives this day and celebrate the memories that will never die.

To visit The Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund, click above. This fund helps out the children of troops who died in Iraq or Afghanistan, as well as the children of troops who return with a disability.

Disabled Iraq vet sues Army

A vet whose hand was amputated as a result of injuries sustained while in Iraq is suing the US Army for violating his rights as a person with a disability on his job, saying fellow workers called him names and pushed him out of handicap parking. A copy of the complaint filed in the lawsuit is here.

Sesame Street makes video for kids of disabled and injured vets

...to help them understand and deal with the experiences and feelings involved. Below is a video (with audio) showing parts of the presentation. The video will not be aired on TV but will be available free to military members and as a free download online.

Traumatic brain injury in vets...

..is discussed in this USA Today article. Medical experts indicate that they are treating TBI's which, in some cases, are presenting unlike conditions seen before.