Latest news with #DisabledAmericanVeterans
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Need help with VA benefits? A DAV officer is coming to Hagerstown
Veterans can access important services from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. According to a community announcement, a Disabled American Veteran (DAV) Service Officer will be available at the VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC), 1101 Opal Court Suite 202, Hagerstown. The officer will be present on the third Thursday of each month by appointment only. This month's visit is scheduled for June 19. The DAV Service Officer will assist veterans, their spouses and dependents in preparing VA claims and obtaining benefits. To make an appointment, individuals can contact DAV Service Officer Ernie Unger at 301-842-2562 or on his cell at 301-331-0091. Appointments can also be arranged via email at michelobqt@ Veterans are advised to bring essential documents to their appointment, including a copy of their military discharge, DD 214 or other service records, VA claim number if issued, and any VA correspondence or rating decisions. This service is provided free of charge by the DAV to all service members, veterans, their spouses and dependents. This story was created by Janis Reeser, jreeser@ with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at or share your thoughts at with our News Automation and AI team. The Herald-Mail is growing its local news: Send your news to us This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: A DAV officer is helping Hagerstown vets file claims this month
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Gov. Kay Ivey appoints new members to restructured veterans' board
Gov. Kay Ivey delivers the State of the State address to the Alabama Legislature in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025. (Will McLelland for Alabama Reflector) Gov. Kay Ivey appointed new members to the Alabama State Board of Veterans Affairs after a restructuring that gave the Governor's Office more control over the state agency. Ivey's office announced in a news release Friday the 11 new members and four returning members of the newly constituted board, who include representatives from various Alabama veterans service organizations. 'I am proud to assemble a strong and wide-ranging Board of veterans to serve all of their fellow veterans,' Ivey said in the statement. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Four board members kept their positions in the newly constituted board: Deborah Walker and Charles Waugh from the Disabled American Veterans; retired Colonel Anne Toms of the Military Officers Association of America and retired Colonel Scott Gedling of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, who served as the Board's vice chair. New appointees include retired Colonel Larry Vannoy, retired Colonel Walter Kozak and John Keen, Jr. of American Legion; Jeffrey Fisher of American Veterans; Sergeant Brandi Whitman of Disabled American Veterans; John Burks of Marine Corps League; Michael Urquhart of Military Officers Association of America; Lorenzo Nathan of Military Order of the Purple Heart; Robert Schmidbauer of The Veterans of Foreign Wars; Michael Davis of Vietnam Veterans of America and retired Colonel Lori Rasmussen of the U.S. Air Force. The appointments come after the passage of SB 67, sponsored by Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, in March, which overhauled the Department of Veterans Affairs. While the legislation kept the board at its current size of 17 members, it removed its power to enact policies and rules, making it an advisory role to the governor's office. The new law also grants the governor the authority to appoint the agency's commissioner. Proponents of the restructuring argued that the bill was meant to improve services for Alabama's veterans, saying it would 'elevate' veterans' needs. The legislative change came after a contentious period between the governor and the previous board. Ivey had fired former Commissioner Kent Davis over a dispute concerning his management of federal grants. After Ivey demanded Davis' resignation and his refusal to resign, the former board members voted to keep him in his post, stating they found no evidence of wrongdoing. Davis subsequently resigned, but an attorney for Davis has indicated the possibility of legal action. Following the signing of the new law on March 18, Ivey appointed retired Brigadier General Jeffrey Newton as the new commissioner. Newton had been serving as the acting commissioner since Davis's dismissal. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Advocates push Senate to drop changes in 90/10 rule for vets benefits
A coalition of 31 veterans groups is urging Senate leaders to strip a provision from the Republican budget reconciliation package which they say will allow for-profit schools to once again take advantage of student veterans. In a letter sent Wednesday evening to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the groups noted that the provision concerning a repeal of the 90/10 rule could also cost the federal government as much as $1.6 billion, making the move concerning on a fiscal level as well as a ethical one. 'Our organizations spent a decade with bipartisan lawmakers to solve this problem,' the letter stated. 'That progress shouldn't be undone.' GOP bill repeals rule on how for-profit schools count vets benefits Veterans groups in recent weeks unsuccessfully lobbied House leaders to drop the provision before passing the reconciliation bill. The new effort includes a broader array of groups including Disabled American Veterans, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and Veterans Education Success. At issue is the 90/10 rule, which covers how colleges must account for how much federal financial aid funding they take in. By law, colleges and universities must have at least 10% of their revenues derived from non-federal sources in order to qualify for federal benefits. The idea behind the regulation is to ensure that for-profit institutions aren't funded solely by federal monies, but instead also include significant investment by students interested in furthering their education. But for years, GI Bill benefits and Defense Department Tuition Assistance programs were not counted as federal dollars for the 90/10 calculation, despite being taxpayer-funded benefits. As a result, schools could target veterans or troops receiving federal education payouts to boost their government funding well beyond the 90% cap. Four years ago, as part of an emergency funding bill during the Covid-19 pandemic, lawmakers closed that loophole, reclassifying the GI Bill money and other military education programs as federal funding in the 90/10 calculations. But the Republican-backed reconciliation bill — which includes changes to tax rates, Medicaid spending and a host of other federal program reforms — would revert to the pre-2021 rules on college accounting for federal aid. GOP committee members argued the change was needed to reduce regulations and promote more affordable options for student veterans. Officials from the Congressional Budget Office estimated the 90/10 reversal could cost as much as $1.6 billion over the next decade. 'Congress designed the [rule] to be a market viability test to protect taxpayers from artificially propping up a failing college of such low quality that no employer or private-paying student is willing to pay for it,' the letter stated. 'We urge you to vote 'no' on repealing the common-sense rule.' Democratic lawmakers have been pointing to the rule change as one of many flaws in the Republican backed bill, which passed only party lines in the House. Senate lawmakers are expected to take up work on the massive budget measure when they return from recess next week. Chamber leaders have said they hope for a floor vote on the bill before the congressional July 4 recess.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Remembering those who gave some and all to preserve freedom
EVANSVILLE, Ind (WEHT) – All veterans gave some and hundreds of thousands of them gave all to preserve freedom. Honor guards spend a couple moments paying their debt of gratitude to those they say gave us the liberty we have. Jim Gorman from Disabled American Veterans Chapter 7 is just one of them. He's a Vietnam vet who's seen his share of friends die in the line of duty, including his own classmate, David Garrett, from Rex Mundi High School. 'This is the day that we come and memorialize and witness to those people that wrote a blank check for their lives and cashed it,' he said. 'We honor their families as well as those people.' Gorman joins the handful of other vets who present the colors, fire off a salute and lay a wreath at Corporal James Bethel Gresham's gravesite. An Evansville resident at the time, he is believed to be the first American soldier killed in World War I. Today, he is one of the countless reminders at Locust Hill Cemetery that freedom is not free. TAPS is played to pay tribute to vets like him. 'We just want to keep it on the forefront of people's minds that there is — the purpose for this is just to remember and we acknowledge that men and women have given everything.' On a solemn occasion, these veterans would like to remind the Tri-State to keep veterans like Garrett and Corporal Gresham at the forefront of its mind that some Americans gave everything. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Yahoo
Heartless Long Island driver mows down family of geese — despite pleas from good Samaritan to slow down
A fowl scene unfolded on a Long Island highway when a heartless driver slammed into a family of geese despite pleas from a good Samaritan to slow down — killing the adults and two of their goslings. The massacre on Veterans Highway in Islandia left Coleen DeLorenzo in tears. DeLorenzo, 58, was on her way to work and heading north Thursday morning when she spotted the two adult geese and their six feathery babies crossing the four-lane thoroughfare just before the Long Island Expressway. 'Everybody stopped,' the Patchogue resident told The Post. 'These geese were in a very perilous part of the road. . . . I saw them from a mile away.' She put her hazard lights on and was getting out of the car when she looked over her shoulder and saw a blue van that wasn't slowing down. 'It was a Disabled American Veterans van, and they were flying,' DeLorenzo said. 'I waved my hands, they never even looked up. They hit the entire family of geese. They obliterated them at 50, 60 miles per hour.' 'This van never even tapped the brake.' Devastated, DeLorenzo 'started running around trying to save the goslings. 'I picked up one baby that was hit, I thought maybe we could save it,' she said. 'It died in my hands.' A young couple eventually helped her gather four surviving goslings, while workers doing construction nearby stepped in and used their trucks to block traffic. 'I was sobbing, covered in blood. They came over and blocked the traffic and used tarps to cover the bodies and move them, made sure I was ok.' DeLorenzo and the couple helping her eventually made contact with Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown, which took in the survivors and posted about the incident on social media. Janine Bendicksen, director of wildlife rehabilitation at the center, said the surviving Canada geese are doing fine. 'The thing is, you know when you hit and kill something. You hear it, feel it. And to just keep going?' she said. 'That is the tragedy of it all.' The center, which posted an emotional video of DeLorenzo pleading with people to slow down, takes in nearly 3,000 animals a year, 'everything from eagles, hawks, owls, foxes, you name it,' she said. The incident has left DeLorenzo shaken. 'I'm sick over it. It was such a violent act it will never go out of my head,' she said. 'That any human being could lay their head down and sleep at night after doing what they did — I feel lost.' Disabled American Veterans, the organization whose name was on the van, could not immediately be reached for comment.
