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Taking
Care of Our Veterans
John Lenotte, American Legion
(03/06/07)
We have
seen in the national news recently about the deplorable
conditions at a part of Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
This from a facility that is one of the best in the
country and the world. Congress, the Department of
Defense, the American Legion and other groups are
investigating and I am sure this will get corrected in a
very short time.
Is it not sad that this had to get to the national media
before it was fixed? And that it even got to the level of
disrepair that exists? On a brighter note, President Bush
has in his fiscal year 2008 budget proposed $87 billion
for the Department of Veterans Affairs. This does contain
monies for long overdue new facilities that have been
promised in Denver, Orlando and Las Vegas. However, there
are provisions that seek to charge enrollment fees and
increase prescription co-pays for some categories of
veterans.
This while there remains a backlog of claims processing
and long waits for medical appointments. This is an
injustice, given the aging of many of our veterans and
the creation of a new generation of wartime veterans who
will need assistance for many years to come. And I will
note that the VA is a premier health care system. But if
it is not funded properly, it cannot do the job it is
tasked to do.
Our Congressional delegation must ensure that the funding
for the VA is mandatory, NOT to have some of it as
discretionary funding. We all know what happens to
discretionary funding; it is apt to get spent elsewhere.
We need to let our leaders, like Marty Meehan, know how
we feel about this important issue.
In Massachusetts, we are fortunate that the state
Legislature is overall very veteran friendly, led by Rep.
Verga and Sen. Brewer. In the Merrimack Valley, Rep.
Lantigua and Sen. Baddour have introduced veteran
friendly legislation and are to be commended for doing
so.
I trust their fellow legislators will support them and
the other legislation that is proposed. There has been
controversy over the appointment of non-veterans within
the Massachusetts Department of Veterans Affairs. This is
being watched and protested where need be, by the
American Legion and other veterans organizations in the
state.
We are also fortunate to have two well-run state Soldiers
Homes in Chelsea and Holyoke. The superintendent of the
Holyoke facility is our current National Commander of the
American Legion, Paul Morin. On February 10th, members of
the Haverhill Legion Family put on a musical show for the
residents of the Chelsea Soldiers Home. This is the
second year in a row and the show just gets better each
time. There were approximately 80 residents of the home
in attendance. Representatives of the Legion Family from
Manchester, Methuen and Middleton were also there to
assist getting wheelchair-bound residents to and from the
show.
Others stepping up to the plate are some of our local
veterans agents who have banded together to work more
closely with families of troops serving overseas. This
was reported in last months Valley Patriot. We are
fortunate in the Merrimack Valley to have such dedicated
agents. And not to be forgotten is the Northeast Outreach
Veterans Center in Haverhill, led by John Ratka. Kudos to
all of them. I expect we will hear more from them in the
future.
Please, let our government officials know how you feel
about the treatment of our veterans. Let your voice be
heard not only among your friends and neighbors, but in
the halls of the legislatures, both state and national.
John Lenotte, the American Legion District 8/Essex
County Commander and Post 4 Haverhill Adjutant. You
can Email him at JohnLDistrict8@verizon.net
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The March 2007 Edition
of the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2007, Valley Patriot, Inc.
We publish 12,000 newspapers and distribute in Andover,
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Methuen, Haverhill, Chelmsford, Georgetown, Groveland,
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Salisbury Beach, and Lowell.
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