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don't miss out by not being up to speed.

See the Mohave County Veterans parade here

Picnic on Photo Page here

PET PARTNERS

FOR

VETERANS

WITH DISABILITIES

Special Thanks

You didn't run, you didn't hide
You stood tall & courage when
your country called.

God bless you all for serving,
your all very special to me, you
hold a special place in my heart.

Happy Veterans Day!


Martha Zaragoza

Go here for a great memory boost

Check this site out, the folks that are represented here were present at the Veterans Day ceremony at the AVI on November 8th 2008 there is a very interesting story behind the site.

A Veterans Day Message from Secretary of Veterans Affairs


A Veterans Day Message
From VA Secretary Dr. James B. Peake

WASHINGTON (Nov. 7, 2008) -- Ninety years ago today, the guns fell silent in Europe. World War I - the "war to end all wars" - was over.

Almost five million Americans served during that first modern, mechanized war. Our last living link with them, 107-year-old Army veteran Frank Buckles, observes this Veterans Day at his farm in West Virginia.

It is important, on Veterans Day, for all Americans to reflect on the service and sacrifice of our veterans, from Mr. Buckles to the men and women who recently fought for us in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their bravery, their resourcefulness, and their patriotism mark them as our nation's finest citizens.

Since 2001, the President and Congress have provided the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with a 98 percent increase in funding, and with the guidance and support to enable VA to honor America's debt to the men and women whose patriotic service and sacrifice have kept our nation free and prosperous; to provide them with medical and financial help when they need it most; and to build and maintain beautiful national cemeteries to perpetuate their memory and their accomplishments.

During this Administration, VA has met the challenge of a new generation of veterans: those tempered by war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and those who have defended America's interests elsewhere while their comrades served in combat.

The Benefits Delivery at Discharge program serves these separating service members at 154 locations, assisting them to file for VA disability benefits. To further help these men and women, a new insurance benefit is in place to assist them with the costs of living with traumatic injury; life insurance coverage has increased by $100,000; and the time it takes to process requests for education benefits has been reduced from 50 days to less than 20.

One hundred Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have been hired to reach out to their fellow veterans throughout the nation and tell them about the benefits and services VA offers. Federal Recovery Coordinators are on board, actively engaged in helping severely injured veterans and their families navigate our system for health care and financial benefits.

Our Vet Centers now provide bereavement counseling to families of those who have given their lives in the war against terror, and we've provided health care to nearly 350,000 new veterans-about 40 percent of all separated war veterans.

Our program to screen all veterans coming to us who served in Iraq and Afghanistan for possible traumatic brain injury is giving us great insight into how best to serve these men and women. Those who screen positive are referred for a comprehensive medical evaluation to confirm the diagnosis, and are quickly and appropriately treated. For those with very severe injuries like brain injury, amputations, visual impairment and burns, we've established Polytrauma Rehabilitation Centers in Richmond, Va, Tampa, Fla., Minneapolis and Palo Alto, Calif., to provide the very finest, state-of-the-art care. They are examples of great cooperation across the continuum of care with the Department of Defense.

While caring for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans has been among VA's most important priorities, we continue to provide the full spectrum of care and benefits to our veterans of other eras. Since 2001, we've reduced our average number of days required to completely process a claim from a high of 233 days in 2002 to 162 days today and have reduced the number of disability claims pending from 432,000 in 2002 to 384,500 through a combination of process improvements, increased staffing and improved training. We've placed particular emphasis on adjudicating claims for veterans aged 70 or older. Our home loan guaranty limit has increased from $203,000 to as much as $729,750, providing a better opportunity for veterans who want to own a home. The programs to deal with the issue of veteran homelessness have measurably paid off, reducing the number of homeless veterans by nearly 40 percent from 2001 to 2007.

The number of veterans enrolled in VA health care has increased from 4.8 million to 7.8 million in the past eight years. Their care is provided by the Veterans Health Administration, an organization that excels in the provision of high quality health care, that has set benchmarks in patient satisfaction in the American Customer Satisfaction Index for seven consecutive years; that has substantially cut waiting times and improved access to care throughout the nation; and that has set, and met, a standard of 24 hours for initial assessment and a 14-day standard for comprehensive assessment of new mental health patients, thanks to more than 4,100 mental health professionals hired in the last five years.

VA leads the nation in the development and use of electronic health records, receiving the coveted "Innovations Award" from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 2006. We've laid the groundwork for sharing electronic records with the Department of Defense, launched a web-based application to allow patients and their families to interact with VA physicians over the Internet, and worked hard to set the "gold standard" for health information security to protect the vital personal information veterans entrust to us.

Addressing readjustment needs and rural access, we have announced plans to place at least one Vet Center in every county in which there are 50,000 or more veterans. We are also purchasing fifty "mobile Vet Centers"-vans which will travel to rural areas throughout the nation to bring Vet Center services to veterans in rural and highly rural areas; we're also in the process of expanding our community-based outpatient clinics to a total of 782, an increase of 100 in five years.

Our National Shrine Program has uplifted the beauty of our cemeteries, and by the end of 2009 six new national cemeteries will have opened for burials, adding to the six cemeteries we have already opened since 2001.

I am proud of this great record of accomplishment, prouder still of the approximately 270,000 men and women of VA who daily fulfill President Lincoln's promise to care for veterans and their families; and proudest to have had the opportunity to serve men and women like Frank Buckles, whose dedicated service to our nation in all its wars has enabled generations of Americans to live their lives in freedom.

Be Sure to check out the 1st

Vice Presidents notes on the State

Meeting held on Aug 6th 2008..

WANTED

Parents of current military personnel to form

Blue Star Mothers Group in Kingman Area including Golden Valley, Val Vista, Yucca, MeadView, Dolan Springs and any outlying areas. We Know there are

a lot of you out there and would love to hear

from you. The group would be to help support each other and your children in the military. Contact the Webmaster to get on the list and help start

this great group in Kingman Arizona. 

Check it out Pay As You Drive Insurance

Kilroy was here!

Two new sites to check out so be sure to go to the bulletin board today........7/20/08

PTSD NEWS

Agent Orange Info

Congress Must Act to Restore

Earned Benefits to All Vietnam Veterans – Including "Blue Water" Vets!

Tickets now available for the

Holiday Cash Drawing

Coming down to the last 30 days be sure go get your tickets before it's to late and you miss out on the $500.00 Christmas Cash drawing.

News story in THE STANDARD 10/21/2008

Check here for photos of the new

VSO in

Golden Valley to open soon...

more to come stay tuned......

Freedom Bridge Group

Receives Luke Award

LAKE HAVASU CITY, AZ – The Bullhead City-based group Veterans United Inc. has selected the Freedom Bridge Foundation (FBF)

as this year’s recipient of the Organizational Luke Award, named after Arizona’s Medal of Honor recipient, Frank Luke, a World

War I aviator who died in combat. The awards are presented

annually in various categories, including Individual Male, Female, Government, Media, Business, Youth and Veterans United

Member.
“We are truly honored to be receiving this award,” FBF

President Brian Wedemeyer told TSN. “The Foundation’s

volunteers are working tirelessly to create a Veterans

Memorial like no other in the country, and it’s wonderful to be recognized for those efforts.”
The Luke Awards will be presented on Veterans Day,

November 11th, at Arizona Veterans Memorial Park in

Bullhead City.
FBF is a non-profit group raising money to enhance an already-planned bridge construction project in Lake Havasu City. The Freedom Bridge, which will be located about a half-mile north

of the world famous London Bridge, will honor all Veterans,

 past and present. The foundation’s primary fundraiser is

 through the sale of engraved bricks along the Memorial

Walkway connecting the two bridges. The Memorial Walkway

 also will feature the "76 Moments of Freedom,” which is

currently being developed by Arizona State University’s

public history program. To purchase an engraved brick,

visit www.havasufreedombridge.com.

Awards Given at July Meeting in Kingman

The recipients received the awards for their continued support to

our projects to support Veterans and their families. Again many

thanks for all the help and support given over the past several

months and many events. Please support these fine sponsors and

let them know you heard about their support for Veterans. An additional Plaque was given out on 8/05/08 at MTC (Management

and Training Corp.) Arizona State Prison to Warden Elliott and

Deputy Warden Scott Yates for their fine support of the veterans.

1. Devoe's Embroidery

2. McKee Foods

3. Reddy Ice Co.

4. Management and Training Corp. Arizona State Prison

5. Golden Corral Restaurant

6. Heaven's Scent Florist

Important Notice

WHO ARE THE VIETNAM VETERANS OF AMERICA?

V V A's FOUNDING PRINCIPLE

V V A's GOALS