Showing posts with label Orlando VA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Orlando VA. Show all posts

Monday, April 20, 2015

Wounded Times Loves Sunny FM Paco Lopez Even More

Wounded Times Loves Paco Lopez and Sunny FM even more now!

Days start rough for me and very early. I'm up about 4:45 am during the week to get some emails read and a few posts up before heading to work.

I'm usually there by 6:30 and I have Rick Stacy along with Grace starting my day off with great music and Ricky Stacy's sense of humor. I laugh so hard listening on my head phones co-workers are listening too.

Then Grace does office party until 10:00, when I am usually doing a chair dance. Right after Grace comes Paco Lopez. He makes me smile every day because he remembers veterans with an on-air shout out for the Orlando VA.

I emailed Paco through Facebook and asked for his story so I could return the favor and give a shout out to him.

Sunny 105.9 Paco Lopez Remembers Veterans Everyday! I listen to Sunny 105.9 FM everyday and one of my favorite things happens during the Paco Lopez show. He plays a song , usually the Eagles Hotel California, and dedicates it to the veterans at the VA everyday. He always makes me smile when he does it because I know how much it means to them to be remembered. It means even more because it comes from one of their own. Paco was a Marine. Or should I say is a Marine? Considering the saying goes, "Once A Marine, Always A Marine."
Well, today, he didn't make me smile. He made me cry. He said he felt humbled to be mentioned by Wounded Times. You can read it here.
Paco Lopez, 105.9 Sunny FM On Air I’m Honored To Be Recognized By “Wounded Times” April 20, 2015 12:52 PM
They were happy tears! Now I adore him even more!

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Lake Baldwin tribute to Vietnam Veterans

I took a ride out to Lake Baldwin memorial park this morning right behind the Orlando VA. If you have never been there, this is what you're missing.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Not all VA programs the same

Not all VA programs the same
January 20, 2011 posted by Chaplain Kathie
The Orlando VA had a meeting this morning on addressing the homeless veterans population. While all said that was being done sounds great I wondered why I am still asking the same question I have been asking for many years with no change happening. My question is why the VA does not do pro-active programs, like support groups and have educational meetings with families of veterans before it ever reaches the point where they become homeless. I didn’t really get an answer this morning either and none of the speakers brought up what is being done in other parts of the country by the VA like this.
Families At Ease
VA Program Helps Families Help Their Veterans
Do you know a Veteran who needs help?
“Families At Ease” is a new program developed by Department of Veterans Affairs that works with family members and friends of Veterans of any era to help them help their Veteran get care.
Many Veterans are reluctant to get help for the symptoms or difficulties they are having, or may not recognize their need for help.
It could be difficulty at work or at home, problems sleeping, driving too fast, or drinking too much. Or it could just be that they seem irritable or sad.
Whatever the problem, family members are often very aware of Veterans’ mental health difficulties and want to play a positive role in helping Veterans seek the help they need.
The “Families At Ease” educational campaign attempts to reach new Veterans through their concerned family members and provides information and support to help the Veteran access VA facilities for services and benefits.
A multi-site call center was developed at the Philadelphia, Pa. and Durham, N.C. VA Medical Centers to answer calls from family members and friends, as well as Veterans.
Callers can get information on how to enroll in VA care. They can also get free telephone-based coaching by a mental health consultant to help when a Veteran is reluctant to admit having difficulties.
According to Dr. Steven Sayers, “Familes At Ease” Director, “We take a positive approach to motivating the Veteran, which means while we work with the family member to motivate the Veteran, the choice to come in is always in the Veteran’s hands.”
Dr. Sayers is a Clinical Psychologist with the Mental Illness, Research, Education, and Clinical Center at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center.
VA Program Helps Families Help Their Veterans
Last year Congressmen Filner and Grayson had a meeting of their own here in Orlando. I asked Congressman Filner why I had to watch video after video on testimonies the House Veterans Affairs Committee had covering one heartbreaking story after another but I never heard any solutions or anything that worked. I asked why they never had families like mine talking about how to hold a family together and help their veteran heal or even how to understand what PTSD is. Again, while I was told it was a good point and was told the VA needed to put families like mine to work for them because we’ve been there and done that but nothing was done about it and it is doubtful there will ever be anything like that happening in Congress considering the leadership has changed.
read more here
Not all VA programs the same

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Orlando VA plans to build a memorial


A 3D model of the new Orlando VA Medical Center at Lake Nona. A local veterans group will announce a fund-raising campaign to create a Central Florida Veterans Memorial Park adjacent to the new VA hospital. (CENTRAL FLORIDA VETERANS MEMORIAL, Orlando Sentinel / September 8, 2009)


As VA med center design revealed, veterans plan memorial park
A sneak peek today at the design of the $665 million Orlando VA Medical Center at the emerging "medical city" at Lake Nona will also include a major announcement just in time for Memorial Day: a plan to build an adjacent park honoring Central Florida's fallen veterans.

During the unveiling this morning at Orlando City Hall of a 3-D model of the 65-acre Veterans Affairs medical campus, a local veterans group will announce a fundraising campaign to create a memorial park for the approximately 1,100 Central Florida service members who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

The group hopes to raise $4.5 million — half of which will be used to construct the 4-acre park and the other half for maintenance and upkeep.

"This park will serve as a reminder to other veterans and the general public that this country is not free by accident," said Lt. Col. Earle L. Denton, a decorated veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars and a vice president of the Central Florida Veterans Memorial Park Foundation. "Everybody today needs to know what's happened in the past in order to enjoy the freedoms they have today."
read more here
As VA med center design revealed

Friday, May 8, 2009

President Obama taking care of Florida's veterans and all veterans

President Obama’s 2010 Spending Plan Initiates Transformation for VA Services

May 7, 2009
Record Budget Enhances VA’s Ability to Become a 21st Century Organization

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced President Obama’s 2010 budget for VA. The budget emphasizes a Veteran-centric commitment to expanded services with a 15.5 percent increase over 2009, the largest percentage increase for VA requested by a president in more than 30 years.

“Our 2010 budget represents the President’s vision for how VA will transform into a 21st Century organization that is Veteran-centric, results-driven, and forward-looking,” Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki said. “This transformation is demanded by new times, new technologies, new demographic realities, and new commitments to today’s Veterans. It requires a comprehensive review of the fundamentals in every line of operation the Department performs. We must be sure that valuable taxpayer dollars are invested in programs that work for our Veterans.”

The centerpiece of the $112.8 billion VA budget proposal is a dramatic increase in Veteran health care funding, with an 11 percent increase over the current year's funding (excluding one-time Recovery Act funds).

“Organizational transformation requires changes in culture, systems, and training,” Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs W. Scott Gould said. “This will require resources, but it will also demand commitment and teamwork. The entire Department is dedicated to serving the needs of Veterans, and every VA employee has a stake in transformation to meet those needs.”

That transformation is already underway. For instance, the enhanced use of automated tools, coupled with more efficient processes, recent staffing increases, and improved training is expected to reduce the compensation and pension claims processing time to 150 days in 2010, or 16 percent faster compared to 2008, while reducing the pending inventory and improving accuracy. VA anticipates an 8 percent increase in education claims in 2010 compared to this year due largely to the improved education benefits of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act. Nonetheless, VA's goal is to complete all education claims without any increase in average processing days.

“We are making the smart choices today to improve the services that our Veterans receive tomorrow,” Secretary Shinseki said.

VA’s budget request contains four major categories of activities. These activities include: creating a reliable management infrastructure, delivering ongoing services, making progress on Departmental priorities, and instituting new initiatives critical to meeting the needs of Veterans now and in the future.

Nearly two-thirds of the increase ($9.6 billion) would go to mandatory programs (up 20 percent); the remaining third ($5.6 billion) would be discretionary funding (up 11 percent). The total budget would be almost evenly split between mandatory funding ($56.9 billion) and discretionary funding ($55.9 billion).

VA's new budget request provides for an estimated 122,000 more patients to be treated over the current year. Many of these patients will have multiple visits in the course of the year. VA expects to end fiscal year 2010 with nearly 6.1 million individual patients having received care, including 419,000 Veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan war zones who separated from service.

“VA has too often in the past been seen as difficult and bureaucratic as it relates to its charge of providing for our Nation’s Veterans,” Secretary Shinseki said. “Changing that perception will require a significant transformation. We will not nibble at the edges of this change. We must be bold and demand that we begin immediately showing measurable returns on investment in a responsible, accountable and transparent manner.”

The budget supports the administration's goal to gradually expand health care eligibility to more than 500,000 new enrollees by 2013, while maintaining excellent care quality and timeliness. In 2010, the transformation of VA health care will support scheduling of 98 percent of primary care appointments within a month of the desired date.

The new budget proposal places a high priority on initiatives aimed at making servicemembers' transition to civilian life and VA benefits seamless. This includes the President's initiative for VA and the Department of Defense to collaboratively develop and implement a joint “Virtual Lifetime Electronic Record."

The new system supports the administration's initiative for a uniform registration of all servicemembers with VA, will improve delivery of benefits by assuring availability of medical and administrative data useful both in future medical care as well as in the determination of service-connection in disability ratings.

“The Department’s number one priority is providing for our Veterans,” Deputy Secretary Gould said. “We have an obligation to make sure that every dollar goes to delivering timely, high-quality benefits and services to our clients—the Veterans. A strong corporate model will enable decentralized provision of services at VA by professionals in the field while providing integrated policy and coordination through a central office.”

The fiscal year 2010 VA budget fosters strong support for Veteran-focused information technology, providing more than $3.3 billion to ensure reliable, accessible and secure computer systems. In addition to improvements in VA's electronic health records, this investment will support the President's goal of making claims decisions timely, fair, and consistent with the extension of a new paperless processing initiative expected to lead to an electronically based benefits system by 2012.

VA-managed national cemeteries will be preserved as shrines while maintaining the current high level of service. The National Cemetery Administration would receive $242 million in operations and maintenance funding in the fiscal year 2010 request. The budget provides for activation of three new national cemeteries, Bakersfield National Cemetery in California, Alabama National Cemetery near Birmingham, and Washington Crossing National Cemetery in southeastern Pennsylvania. VA expects to perform 111,500 interments in 2010, a four-percent increase from the estimate for the current year.

The President's budget for construction projects and other capital programs in VA is more than $1.9 billion. This continues work on five major medical projects already in progress, begins seven new ones, and provides resources to support the cemetery system's expansion needs, including resources for improvements at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois, and Houston National Cemetery.

It also contains $600 million for minor construction projects, $85 million in grants for construction of state extended care facilities, and $42 million in grants for state Veterans cemeteries.

The seven new medical facility projects move VA towards new construction or renovations at VA medical facilities in Brockton, Massachusetts; Canandaigua, New York; Livermore, California; Long Beach, California; Perry Point, Maryland; San Diego, California; and St. Louis, Missouri.

Capital funds also will support ongoing improvements at medical centers in Bay Pines, Florida; Denver, Colorado; Orlando, Florida; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and St. Louis, Missouri.


People wishing to receive e-mail from VA with the latest news releases and updated fact sheets can subscribe to the VA Office of Public Affairs Distribution List.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Orlando area veterans are about to get more support

by
Chaplian Kathie
I recently took a job with Veterans Outreach/
It's no secret how I feel about veterans, especially the wounded and in need of care from the VA. I am very careful about putting my limited time into any group but I have to say I'm totally excited about brining Veterans Outreach into the Orlando area. The site has not been chosen yet, but we're looking at opening an office by April.

Go to the web site and take a look at what Veterans Outreach has to offer the veterans as well as the people working for them. I will be in need of putting together a dedicated team to get the office fulfilling the needs of the veterans as I put my total focus on veterans and their families living with PTSD.

The need right here in the Orlando area is dire. As the VA builds the Lake Nona VA hospital, we only have the clinic, which is the size of a hospital, but as you've read in the past, they are overwhelmed. My last visit there, security was directing traffic because they had over 3,000 cars. This was a first since we moved into the area over 4 years ago. We have over 400,000 veterans in Florida and their numbers are growing as the troops along with the National Guard return from deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan. The numbers will also grow because of the fact outreach work on PTSD has begun to penetrate into the Vietnam veterans minds. They are finally becoming aware of exactly "what's wrong" with them by having a name attached to it. PTSD is not new to them, only the term is. They've been living with it since the 70's.

With the backlog of VA Claims, along with the backlog of appeals to be processed, there is a veteran in need. Most of the time there is also a family in need as well. That's what Veterans Outreach is going to be there for.

So far we've received support from the Orlando area Nam Knights. They are having a dedication ceremony for the memorial they built at the site of their club house on February 28th. I'll be there to spread the word about Veterans Outreach along with seeking donations to open the office.

Nam Knights Orlando
Feb 28- Bike Week party and Memorial dedication for the "Nam Knights Eternal Chapter" Everthing starts at 2:00 pm at our club house (official function)
Click here for (flyer)


If you live in the Orlando area or are coming in for bike week, it would be great to see you there. Go to the site for directions and for more about this event.

Please go to the Veterans Outreach site to find out more about what we will do for the Orlando area veterans and think about giving your financial support as well as prayers. There is another office in Bonita Springs. I was in Arcadia to meet some other members of the team there. We had a couple of tables outside of Wal-Mart. Most of the people were generous and donated but one woman really stands out in my mind. She said she didn't have money to donate. She seemed embarrassed by this. I put my arm around her and said, "That's ok because you can do something even better. Say a prayer." Relief came on her face, she smiled, said she could do that, and then walked away. A few minutes later, she pulled up in her car and handed me a dollar. She said that she would say a prayer as well. That reminded me of the story Christ told of the woman with two cents. She didn't have a lot of money, but she gave what she had. That one dollar that kind woman gave out of the goodness of her heart meant more to me than someone clearly with enough money to afford to be generous.

Most of the time the people who are the most generous are also in need themselves or have been in need at one time or another in their lives. It's not the big donations that make a difference but the little ones because those donating have taken it into their hearts. (Naturally I won't turn down large donations from companies in the area because I know they care about our veterans.)

Come back for more details on how this is going and when the office will be opened. Please also say a prayer for us that we receive the funds needed as soon as possible so that we can open as soon as possible. If you have any questions, you can contact John Ely, the President of Veterans Outreach for more information. I'm not giving his email because I want you to go to the site first.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Veterans Break Ground On New Orlando Hospital






I was at this ceremony this morning. It was very impressive with all the politicians there. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, Gov. Crist, Congressmen Feeney, Mica, Keller, Weldon along with Congresswoman Brown. Senator Mel Martinez was there but Nelson wasn't. We even had Secretary of Veteran's Affairs James Peake there. All in all, they made short speeches talking about what the veterans deserved from this nation and they came together across party lines, which was great. What was missing was any kind of explanation why they had the ground breaking today when the hospital will not be finished until 4 years from now. The rumor was that they wanted to make sure it was done before the election.

We can talk all we want about what we owe the veterans but when you get right down to it, that is all talk considering that veterans have only really been issues when some politician wants their votes. It's amazing how fast things happen when there is a vote coming up. This time though, it was different. They have been at this for a very long time. Building a VA hospital in Central Florida is long overdue. Up until now all we've had is the clinic and veterans had to drive to Tampa or someplace else for the medical care they need. The really wonderful thing is that it also showed what people can do when they work together instead of only sticking with the party they belong to. In the short speeches these people gave, they all gave credit to the veterans who fought for it and kept the pressure on to get this done.

Veterans are not Republican or Democrat, or Independent. They are Americans. They owe their loyalty and their heart to the nation as a whole, served the nation as a whole and ended up being veterans for the rest of their lives. The lessons they have to teach all of us is that we are all stronger when we work together.

I had a conversation with the woman sitting in front of me before the speeches began. Her husband is a Vietnam vet as well. We began to talk about Iraq and I told her that one of the greatest lessons to come from Vietnam is that no one takes their feelings out on the troops. Both sides come together for their sake. It will be a wonderful day when we can carry that bond into every part of this nation and see each other as part of the greater "us" instead of separating them from us.

All that has been accomplished in PTSD research and treatment began with the Vietnam veterans even though this wound of war has been documented throughout history. The Vietnam veterans came together for the sake of the greater good and it didn't matter to any of them what party anyone belonged to because they were all part of the "brotherhood of the warrior" and that was all that mattered. It's all that still matters when actions are needed to take care of their brothers and sisters.

I told the woman that I don't care what party a person belongs to if they do not take care of the veterans, they don't deserve my vote. I just wish that all the people who do really care about the troops and the veterans would take the same attitude. No party has deserved the support of the veterans. Politicians are terrible on both sides when they are allowed to be afforded the support they do not return. Politicians are the ones who also feed the division in this nation while it's the veterans who fought for this nation. They showed us that this nation is worth fighting for and works better when we all work together. Too bad that this cannot be remembered all the time and really bad that our veterans cannot be really shown the appreciation ceremonies like today offered.

What are you doing for Veteran's Day this year? Think about it. I'm sure you can come up with something you can do for them.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

This is the way I sign all my emails. Congresswoman Brown quoted Washington's words and Peake mentioned his words as well. Amazing.


Veterans Break Ground On New Orlando Hospital
Central Florida News 13 - Orlando,FL,USA
ORLANDO -- Thousands of Central Florida veterans are one step closer to getting a veterans' hospital in Orlando. On Friday, veterans, politicians and others will break ground on the new VA Medical Center located at Lake Nona.

Presently, area veterans rely on the Daytona Beach and Jacksonville Veterans Affairs outpatient clinics and the VA hospital in Gainesville for treatment.

Friday’s groundbreaking ceremony at 10 a.m. kicks off the $656 million project, which will include a hospital, community living center and outpatient clinic in the Lake Nona area.

The VA Medical Center will eventually join the University of Central Florida’s new medical school and the Burnham Institute.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Orlando People Power Hour radio program guest is me?

I was invited to participate in the show by John Hamilton, producer of the People Power Hour radio program heard Saturdays from 11am until noon on WAMT 1190AM in Orlando. I'll be on this Saturday along with Barry Stanley and Fanita Jackson-Norman of the Orlando VA Hospital discussing their Seamless Transition Program among other things. PTSD will be the focus of this program, that is for sure. We have a lot of issues here in Florida and over 400,000 veterans in this state. Not sure how much time I'll have but you won't be able to miss my Bostonian accent.

In the Orlando area, we have 1,200 homeless veterans and very little help for them. What we have managed to do is wonderful but only a fraction of the veterans needing help are getting it. The Orlando VA clinic, the size of a hospital, is always full of veterans waiting for their appointments. This gets really crazy in the winter when the "snow birds" arrive and it becomes a freak of luck and timing if you can get a parking space without having to park on the grass section with the dirt road leading into the real parking lot. They do have golf carts to retrieve people who cannot walk that great of a distance and take them back to their cars, which is a blessing for the older veterans, usually accompanied by an equally elderly wife.

The Dom facility for homeless veterans is run by Dr. Shay with great rooms and services but they can only take in 60 homeless veterans at a time. Then there is the nursing home with a great staff. I've been there several times with friends playing Bingo with the residents and they are a great bunch.

The other thing done for them is the DAV invites them to the monthly meetings because dinner is served before the meetings and they get treated like honored guests accompanied by caring nurses. After dinner they are escorted to the van before the meeting begins. It gives them a chance to get out. The DAV also goes to the nursing home to play Bingo once a month. I belong to the DAV Auxiliary.

There is a Veteran's Council at City Hall with a dedicated group of people working very hard for the sake of our veterans. I met several of them the beginning of June when I did a presentation on PTSD with one of my videos, Hero After War. During the meeting I was fascinated learning how much is going on in this area for veterans. I was invited to the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Veteran's Clinic in Orange, which is also a much needed resource for the veterans who had to travel to Orlando before the clinic was opened.

NAMI, another organization I belong to, is gearing up to put more resources into Florida. We had our convention here in June and it was well attended. Again even more was learned about what we were getting right but raised more awareness on how much more needs to be done.

If we are going to really take care of our veterans it will take all the communities to get involved. Every service organization needs to step up as well as all the local clergy. Citizens of Florida have stepped up and that's great but too many are still not involved at all. There are things they can do but they don't ask. First suggestion is to call the Dom and find out what the needs of the homeless veterans are. Try to fill that need or at least make a donation to them. When the Vietnam Veterans of America call to tell you they will have a truck in your area, think of what you don't need in your house and tell them to pick it up. They make it easy on you to donate to them. Get involved and remember the veterans got involved for you. That's how they became veterans.



Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Monday, June 30, 2008

Women At War with PTSD

Ghosts of war tug them back. It doesn't matter if the ghosts were born out of Vietnam, the Gulf War, or today's combat, the ghosts live on. Male or female, humans are wounded by events. While they are trained to do their jobs, they cannot control events. They can only adapt to them or withdraw from them.




Post-Iraq, veteran moms can't put stress to bed
Darryl E. Owens Sentinel Staff Writer
June 30, 2008
1 2 next Army Spc. Elizabeth Jackson shut down emotionally during her tour in Iraq. It was her way of dealing with the stress and danger.

Coming home, she found it hard to turn her feelings back on and become a mom again.

"I had a lump in my throat holding him, but [I] still couldn't cry yet," said Jackson, 26, of her reunion with Christopher just three days before his first birthday. "He was still my son, but it took me a little while to get the tenderness down. It was like a 'Why are you crying? Suck it up!' kind of thing."

Doctors later diagnosed Jackson with post-traumatic-stress disorder, or PTSD -- an old diagnosis that's finding a new gender to victimize. The Deltona woman is among thousands of female veterans coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan with the mental disorder that World War I veterans knew as "shell shock."



As the current war and multiple deployments continue, the numbers will only surge, experts fear.

Women are "being exposed to combat in ways never seen before and are coming in to seek care for PTSD," said Amy Street, a psychologist with the Department of Veterans Affairs.





Trend rises

158: Women the Orlando VA Medical Center treated for post-traumatic-stress disorder during the 6 months ending in March.

143: Treated during the previous 12 months.

3,005: U.S. Army servicewomen diagnosed.

40,000: Troops from all military branches diagnosed.

193,400: Women have served in or near Iraq and Afghanistan -- about 11% of troops deployed.

SOURCES: Pentagon, Veterans Affairs

Darryl E. Owens can be reached at dowens@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5095.
click post title for more




These women brought the ghosts back with them. No safe zones. Iraq horrors are gender neutral. Bombs do not remain intact when a woman drives up to them. Bullets do not change their path when a woman is walking by. Jets and helicopters are not suddenly provided with magic shields because a woman is the pilot. Add in the fact some men still will regard women as objects instead of worthy of respect. They have to worry about the enemy trying to kill them at the same time they have to worry about some of the men they serve with attacking them.

They have to fight for their right to be there, to serve the nation with just as much devotion as the males, doing jobs needing to be done with just as much courage. While men develop with less emotional tendencies as females, women have to fight against their emotions more than males do.

Yet women are the last to be served by the government. They have different physical and mental health care needs than men do but no one bothered to prepare for the increase in their numbers. Women do not want to see male doctors or male psychologists. Too many of them have endured sexual abuse and verbal abuse by men in the military and too many cannot trust a male to provide care to them. As the need to address this grows, they wait. Why?

Did they suddenly enter into the combat zones? Iraq was invaded in 2003 and women were there. Afghanistan was invaded in 2001 and women were there. The Gulf War was in 1991 and they were there. The rest of the combat missions came before that and women were there. Since the beginning of this nation, women were there on the front lines. They were not the last to serve so why are they the last to be served?


Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos

Namguardianangel@aol.com

http://www.namguardianangel.org/

http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington