Archive for September, 2006

Military veterans memorial making progress in Omro

OMRO – A memorial to area military veterans is taking shape in Omro. Granite and concrete panels honoring servicemen and women from five branches of the military – Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard – are expected to be erected in mid-October at the memorial in west Scott Park in downtown Omro, said [...]

Veterans Group Wants Larger Raise for Military

Concerned that Congress is moving toward providing a 2.2 percent pay raise for the military next year, a leading veterans’ group said that with troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, this is not the time to skimp on a raise. The House approved a fiscal 2007 defense appropriations bill late Tuesday that would raise military [...]

Two hold key roles in veterans groups

For Joe Steen, the call to serve came early. At age 17 he pestered his mother to let him sign up for military service, and went off to fight in Korea. It wasn’t a choice really; it was a matter of tradition. “Everyone in my family was in the military,” he said.”My father, grandfather, and [...]

Air Force vet helps others with disabilities

Instead of settling into retirement and putting up his feet after 26 years in the Air Force, John Prater headed to the college classroom. However, somewhere along the way he began to suffer the effects of memory loss brought on by a chemical imbalance in his brain. Extensive time at a veterans hospital, disability programs [...]

Veterans groups sue over data theft

WASHINGTON – A coalition of veterans’ groups charged in a lawsuit Tuesday that their privacy rights were violated after thieves stole personal data on 26.5 million military personnel from a Veterans Affairs employee. The class-action lawsuit against the federal government, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, is the second suit since the VA disclosed [...]

Mental disorders plague Iraq, Afghanistan vets

WASHINGTON – More than one-third of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans seeking medical treatment from the Veterans Health Administration report symptoms of stress or other mental disorders – a tenfold increase in the last 18 months, according to an agency study. The dramatic jump in cases – coming as more troops face multiple tours in Iraq [...]

New clinic opens for Hammond area veterans

Hurricane Katrina brought a lot of heartaches to a lot of people, but to the military veterans who live on the North Shore the hurricane was a godsend. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, veterans living on the North Shore had to travel to New Orleans or Baton Rouge to receive free medical services from the Veterans [...]

Military veterans still find ways to serve

BY BILL WAGNER — STAFF WRITER — Sept. 24, 2006 — Many of the veterans who stepped forward to defend their nation in wars past continue to serve their country and their comrades. They are the volunteers who assist the professional staff at VA medical centers through the 50 states and in the veterans’ homes [...]

VRC Purple Day, A Salute to Military Families

HARRISBURG, Pa. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Sept. 21, 2006 — Veterans Resource Central (VRC), a Harrisburg-based non-profit group, announced yesterday that “Purple Day in PA,” a statewide salute to military families, is planned for Saturday, Oct. 14. The organization will observe the event, which was officially designated by a Pennsylvania Senate resolution passed this summer, [...]