Disabled American Veterans

Blind Veterans National Chapter #1

WEB SITE: http://www.davbvnc1.com/contents.htm

January-February 2016 Newsletter

Editor: Dennis O’Connell

Email address: bvnc1@optonline.net

 

"IF I CANNOT SPEAK GOOD OF MY COMRADE,

I WILL NOT SPEAK ILL OF HIM OR HER."

 

OFFICERS OF THE BLIND CHAPTER

 

Commander James Hogan (CA)

Phone 661 251 7870 email: ja2paroses@aol.com

Senior vice commander: Ron Lester (AZ)

1st Junior vice Commander David May (PDC, PC) (OH)

 2nd Junior vice Commander Leonard Pope (NJ)

3rd Vice Commander Dennis O’Connell (PC) (NY)

4th Junior vice Commander Robert Abshire (CO)

Judge Advocate Richard Bugbee (PC) (AZ)

Chaplain Rev. Tony Martino ( PDC) (IL),

Phone 847 736 2111, email: deaconmartino@gmail.com

Adjutant/Treasurer Paul Kaminsky (FL) (also webmaster),

Phone 904 291-0576, email: pkjax@kaminsky.com

Immediate Past Commander Carroll Prosser (PDC) (SC)

 

PLEASE, if you know of any member who is sick or deceased inform one of the officers whose contact information is listed above ASAPP.

 

Please keep Richard Bugbee (PC) and Carroll Prosser (PC) in your prayers!

 

 

WELCOME ABOARD

 

Troy Randall,  Fleming Island FL

 

 

MESSAGE FROM THE COMMANDER

 

Happy New Year!

The holiday decorations are put away and it is time to get back to the business at hand. February will see the DAV Mid-Winter Conference in Washington DC. There we will learn how to better communicate our needs to the Senate & Congress. Our National Commander Moses Mc Intosh will deliver our message to the Joint House & Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. I encourage all of you to familiarize yourselves with our legislative issues and to contact your home Senators & Congressmen, by adding your personal touch it makes the message even stronger. For 2016, DAV will redouble our focus on reforming and modernizing VA health care, expanding caregiver services and supports for veterans injured or made ill prior to September 11, 2001, improving health care and other services for women veterans, and completing reform of the compensation appeals system. Your support of these causes is vital. 

We look forward to a successful conference in our Nations beautiful Capitol and to return home better equipped to serve all of our Disabled Veterans.

 

Women Veterans Suicide Crisis Prompts Legislation

 

 

 

 

Representative Julia Brownley introduced H.R. 2915, the Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act. If enacted, this bill would identify mental health and suicide prevention programs that are the most effective with the best outcomes among women veterans at risk. The bill would require VA to report the results of this analysis to the Congressional Veterans' Committees.

 

Recent data reveals the suicide rate of women veterans is nearly six times higher than women in general; for women ages 18-29, the risk is even higher, at nearly 12 times the rate of women in general. These findings have prompted clinicians and policy makers at VA to develop a number of outreach initiatives and clinical approaches to enable VA to better deal with this health care crisis.

 

VA experts are examining the many reasons suicide rates among women veterans are higher. According to VA's suicide prevention office, a history of military sexual assault may be a major contributing factor.

 

Enactment of Mrs. Brownley's bill would improve VA's evaluative efforts in this challenging area.

 

Please write your Representative today to urge co-sponsorship and passage of H.R. 2915. As always, thank you for your active participation in the Commander's Action Network.

Moses A. McIntosh, Jr., DAV National Commander, Linda Stake, DAVA National Commander [mailto:lbogle@dav.org]

 

 

No Cost Record Retrieval

 

Always Ask for Your Veterans Discount

Veterans and retirees who served on active duty or in the reserves and their family members are eligible to receive a variety of service-related documents for free. It's just a matter of knowing how.

 

Records and other documents are available from Human Resources Command, Department of Veterans Affairs, National Archives and other official government sources.

Because the documents are provided free to those qualified to receive them, there is no reason to get them from commercial firms that charge fees, according to Army & Air Force officials.

 

A good first stop for information on how to get veteran service documents is HRC’s Human Resource Service Center at 1-888-276-9472 or DIN 983-9500, or email at ask-hrc@us.army.mil.

 

Veterans can receive a copy of a lost DD Form 214 by submitting a request on a SF Form 180. Veterans who were never issued a DD Form 214 can request an issuance, provided there is enough information on file.

If there is not enough information in the record, HRC will issue a Transcript of Military Records (DA Form 1569) or a Statement of Service (AHRC Form 2496-E).  Both documents are authorized replacements for DD Form 214.

 

While HRC can verify a veteran’s military service, requests for veteran benefits eligibility should be directed to a local Veterans Benefits Administration office, or the Department of Veteran Affairs.

 

One of the most popular benefits is the VA Home Loan. To qualify, veterans must provide proof of service to the VA with such documents as the DD Form 214, a Chronological Statement of Retirement Points (AHRC Forms 249-E or DARP 249) or the National Guard Bureau Retirement Credits Record (NGB Form 23).

 

Officials recommend that requests for proof of service be submitted to HRC at the same time a veteran contacts a mortgage company. Processing can take 30 to 45 days. Requests should be submitted on a SF 180 or a signed and dated letter.

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FYI   May be of interest.

 

 Tick Removal

 

To Remove the entire TICK safely......

School Nurse has written the info below -- good enough to share -- And

it really works!! I had a pediatrician tell me what she believes is

the best way to remove a tick. This is great, because it works in

those places where it's sometimes difficult to get to with tweezers:

between toes, in the middle of a head full of dark hair, etc.

 

Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick with the

soap-soaked cotton ball and let it stay on the repulsive insect for a

few seconds (15-20), after which the tick will come out on its own

and be stuck to the cotton ball when you lift it away.

This technique has worked every time I've used it (and that was

frequently), and it's much less traumatic for the patient and easier

for me. Unless someone is allergic to soap, I can't see that this

would be damaging in any way. I even had my doctor's wife call me for

advice because she had one stuck to her back and she couldn't reach it

with tweezers. She used this method and immediately called me back to

say, "It worked!"

 

 

 

GOD BLESS AMERICA!