An officer with the state Department of Veterans' Services was in Socorro over the weekend, answering questions of those who served in the military or had a relative who served.

The response from the community was so good, said Veterans Services Officer E. Sardo Sanchez, he plans to come to Socorro once a month to help veterans with whatever their needs are.

Sanchez said he could answer questions and help navigate veterans and their family through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which can be confusing at times.

BOSTON - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff turned an honor to him into a tribute to the families of American servicemembers during the Patriot Dinner of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society here yesterday.

The society presented Marine Gen. Peter Pace the Patriot Award. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society is made up of the men who have received the nation's highest award for battlefield valor. They present the Patriot Award annually to "those persons, who through their life's work, have distinguished themselves as Americans who are dedicated to freedom and the ideals represented" by the society.

NORFOLK, Va. - U.S. Joint Forces Command will host the 11th annual "Salute to Veterans" concert at 3 p.m. Nov. 5 at Norfolk's Chrysler Hall.

This performance features a combined military band, made up of select members of the: TRADOC Band, Fort Monroe; U.S. Fleet Forces Band, Norfolk; U.S. Air Force Heritage of America Band, Langley AFB; Marine Detachment, Navy School of Music, and the New London, Conn.-based U.S. Coast Guard.

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 John Hoeft, commander of the Daugherty-Hamilton American Legion Post 234 in Omro.

Hoeft said the names of 13 Omro area military veterans who were killed or missing in action while serving from World War II to the present will be etched on one panel. The panels are 5 feet tall and 10 feet wide. Footings for the memorial have already been poured.

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 brothers."

Bryan O'Brien, a Wilmington resident for the past eight years, similarly served his country, this time during the Vietnam era, training troops on radar controls in South Korea.

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 pay by 2.2 percent, effective in January. Senate negotiators have signed off on the raise, but the full Senate has not voted on the spending bill.

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 at Clovis Community College and restructuring the way he had always done things helped the former master sergeant from Alabama to cope with the affliction.

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 the May 3 burglary two weeks ago.

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 Administration hospitals and medical clinics.

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 and Afghanistan - has triggered concern among some veterans groups that the agency may not be able to meet the demand. They say veterans have had to deal with long waits for doctor appointments, staffing shortages and lack of equipment at medical centers run by the Veterans Affairs Department.