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JANUARY 6-10, 2003
GOVERNOR bush RECOMMENDS COLONEL ROCKY MCPHERSON AS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS TALLAHASSEE--At a meeting of the Cabinet on January 9, Governor Jeb Bush announced his recommendation of Col. Rocky McPherson for Executive Director of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. The Cabinet will vote on this appointment during their January 28 meeting. This position also requires Senate confirmation. Click here for copies of letters from the Governor to the Cabinet. Bob Hope Donates $1M for Welcome Center SHALIMAR--Bob Hope and his wife, Dolores, have donated $1 million for a welcome center and auditorium at an Air Force Enlisted Foundation's housing complex named for the comedian. Groundbreaking is set Monday at Bob Hope Village in this Florida Panhandle town next to Eglin Air Force Base. The housing complex is for widows of Air Force enlisted men. The 6,000-square-foot building will be named for retired Air Force Col. Bob Gates, 83, of nearby Fort Walton Beach. He flew Hope around the world as the comedian entertained troops during World War II. In later years Hope held benefit shows to raise money for the foundation, which also has a second complex called Teresa Village in Fort Walton Beach. The Bob Gates Welcome Center-Auditorium will include a stage and seating for 170 people. It's intended mainly to serve Bob Hope Village's 400 residents, but also will include conference rooms for seminars and business meetings, said Dick Young, the foundation's deputy chief executive officer. Gates and the Hopes' son, Kelly, are planning to attend the ceremony. (Associated Press) Note: On behalf of Governor Bush, Rocky McPherson, FDVA’s interim executive director, attended this event held on Monday, January 6th. He thanked the Hope’s for their contribution and read from a letter by Governor Bush to those attended. New STATE VEterANS’ nursing home to be ready October 1, 2003 Everything is on schedule, builder says PORT CHARLOTTE--Come Oct. 1, the new Douglas T. Jacobson State Veterans Nursing Home in Port Charlotte should open its doors and be ready for business. The state's fifth veterans' nursing home, at a cost of $15 million, will provide facilities for 60 Alzheimer's patients and 60 additional ailing veterans with other medical problems who require skilled nursing. In order to qualify for this facility, a veteran must have been honorably discharged from the service, be a Southwest Florida resident for at least one year and in need of skilled nursing. Jim Barrett, assistant Charlotte County veterans' service officer, said earlier this week that anyone who would like to be notified when applications for admission to the veterans' nursing home are available should contact his office at 625-4422. He stressed that the new VA nursing home will be primarily for veterans who live in Southwest Florida, including Charlotte, Sarasota and DeSoto counties. "Already we have approximately 35 people who have contacted us about getting on the list from Charlotte County," Barrett explained. "In addition, I understand veterans from Southwest Florida who are in other VA nursing homes around the state can request transfer to this new facility to be closer to their loved ones. They will receive first priority." The local veterans service officer added that the last thing he was told was that the Charlotte County VA nursing home should be ready for patients by Oct. 1. Trey Arias, assistant project manager for Dooley and Mack Contractors of Sarasota which is building the 69,000-square-foot complex, said Thursday, "All three buildings are on schedule. We should be finished with them by June." Despite an unseasonably wet fall, he credits "good subcontractors" with keeping the construction job on schedule. But Arias added, "All the rain isn't helping things." At this point, the first of the three concrete buildings has the walls up, roof on and carpenters are completing the inside framing. On the second building the walls are up and work on the roof and framing begins this coming week. On the last building the walls and the roof trusses are up. Work will begin on the roof and framing this coming week. The new home is the only VA nursing home in Florida situated in a woods-like setting. Arias said the contractor has worked to keep as much of the natural 15-acre setting as possible. The home is located at 21281 Grayton Terrace, Port Charlotte. The site is approximately three miles northeast of U.S. 41 and El Jobean Road (State Road 776), near the corner of Leonard Avenue and Danley Street. The new home is named for Douglas T. Jacobson, a Medal of Honor recipient, who lived in Port Charlotte and later in North Port where he died in August 2000. Jacobson was among the 75,000 U.S. Marines who landed at Iwo Jima in mid February 1945 to capture the 8-square-mile island from the Japanese. The battle raged for 36 days. When it was over, thousands of Marines had been killed and wounded and almost all of the 22,000 Japanese defenders died in the action. A week after the battle started, Jacobson and his platoon were pinned down during an assault on Hill 382, the highest point on northern Iwo Jima, dubbed "The Meat Grinder" by the leathernecks. His commendation notes: The young Marine knocked out a 20-millimeter aircraft gun and its crew with a bazooka. Then he obliterated two enemy machine gun positions, two blockhouses, seven rifle emplacements and a tank. In all 75 Japanese soldiers were killed in Jacobson's one-man assault. Even so, it would be four more days before the Marines finally took Hill 382. (By DON MOORE, Senior Writer, Sun Herald) Governor Bush Addresses Deploying Florida Guardsmen ORLANDO - As troops of the Florida Army National Guard prepared for deployment in the war against terror and possibly Iraq, Gov. Jeb Bush bid them farewell Friday with thankful words and promises that they will not be forgotten while serving their country. “Perhaps the greatest privilege that I have as governor of this state is to be the commander in chief of the National Guard,” the president's brother told scores of servicemen and women of the 2nd Battalion, 124th Infantry Regiment. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson was to address another group of guardsmen later Friday in Tallahassee. The call-up of 1,200 members from the regiment's 2nd and 3rd battalions is the largest deployment for the Florida Guard since World War II, according to officials at Guard headquarters in St. Augustine. The troops leave Sunday morning for two weeks of training at Fort Stewart, Ga., before heading overseas to an undisclosed location. Soldiers will be ordered to active duty initially for one year. The secretary of the army may add an additional year of mobilization. Bush assured the citizen-soldiers that the state would work to minimize disruptions to their home lives and jobs. ``I will promise you this: We will do everything in our power to make sure that your families are taken care of while you are in service to our country,'' Bush said during a brief ceremony at the Richard L. Lewis Armory. ``We will make sure that we encourage your employers to provide the necessary economic support while you're in service to your country, and when you get back, that your job will be there.'' Among those answering their nation's call are 72 state employees, including Florida Rep. Carey Baker, R-Eustis. Aside from Bush thanking House Speaker Johnnie Byrd for working with Baker to make sure District 33 is represented, politics were ignored. ``I'm serving in a different sort of way,'' said Baker, who is a first sergeant with the battalion's Leesburg-based Alpha Company. ``What greater service can I do for my constituents than to protect this nation from a tyrannical dictator who has weapons of mass destruction? I don't know what more I can do.'' The battalion, comprised of foot soldiers with high-tech weapons, is part of the largest National Guard unit in the state of Florida - the 53rd Infantry Brigade. That unit is one of only 15 in America to be recognized as an ``Enhanced Readiness Brigade.'' Enhanced Readiness Brigades are designed to perform a variety of functions, such as reinforcing, backfilling and/or augmenting regular U.S. military units. (Associated Press, January 3, 2003) |
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VA NEWS YOU CAN USE VA Sets Priority List for State Veterans Home Grants - WASHINGTON -- Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi has approved the priority list of pending state home construction grant applications for FY 2003. (1/9/03) VA Teaches Disabled Veterans to Ski - WASHINGTON – More than 350 disabled veterans will ski the Rocky Mountains at the 17th annual Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic in Snowmass Village at Aspen, Colo., March 31 to April 5. (1/9/03) Capital Asset Realignment For Enhanced Services, Phase II Update -- November 2002 -- In June 2002, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that the second phase of VA's national planning process, designed to meet the health care needs of veterans over the next 20 years, was underway. Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) was first conducted as a pilot study in Veterans Integrated Service Network 12. (VA's medical system is divided into 21 regional health care Networks.) Phase II is being conducted in the remaining 20 Networks. (word version) VA Health Care and the Medical Benefits Package -- July 2002 -- One of the most visible of all Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits is health care. VA has about 1,300 care facilities, including 163 hospitals, 850 ambulatory care and community-based outpatient clinics, 206 counseling centers, 137 nursing homes and 43 domiciliary facilities. (word version) Ask Benefits Questions Via E-MAIL: For specific Compensation and Pension benefits questions and local regional office issues, the contact list is by state and geographical area of jurisdiction. Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependents (2002 Edition). The 2002 edition of this booklet lists the variety of federal benefits available to veterans and their dependents. Selecting the link above will download the booklet as a PDF file. La versión en Español de el folleto "Beneficios Federales para los Veteranos y sus Dependientes", el cual explica la variedad de beneficios disponibles para los veteranos y sus dependientes, se encuentra disponible en versión PDF al presionar aquí. VA - 13 Years as a Cabinet Department - Website contains informational material regarding VA's history as a Cabinet Department |
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NEWS STORIES OF
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STATE
LEGISLATION OF INTEREST TO VETERANS
Click here for a summary/status report of bills we kept an eye on
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Click here for information on federal legislation. Issues and Action: Veterans Issues Flag Protection Reintroduced HJRES 4 Introduced by Representatives Cunningham and Murtha WASHINGTON--On January 7, 2003 -- the first day of the 108th Congress -- Representatives Randy "Duke" Cunningham (CA) and John Murtha (PA) reintroduced a proposed constitutional amendment "The Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States." The bill is House Joint Resolution (H.J. Res.) 4. H.J. Res. 4 currently has 26 cosponsors. Please contact your representative today and encourage him or her to become a cosponsor of this legislation. If they are already a cosponsor, thank them for his or her continued support. Also take time to send Representatives Cunningham and Murtha a message thanking them for their leadership. Consider using this website to send your message by clicking on Elected Officials. Here is a current list of cosponsors of HJRes 4: Representatives Bilirakis (FL), Kevin Brady (TX), Buyer (IN), Cramer (AL), Cubin (WY), Cunningham (CA), J. Davis (VA), Foley (FL), Green (TX), Issa (CA), Johnson (CT), Kanjorski (PA), Kennedy (MN), King (NY), McIntyre (NC), Murtha (PA), Ney (OH), Peterson (MN), Rothman (NJ), Sherwood (PA), Shimkus (IL), Strickland (OH), Sweeney (NY), Toomey (PA), Wamp (TN), and Wilson (NM). (American Legion Action Alert) VA Testimony at Congressional Hearings VA testimony before Committees of the U. S. House of Representatives:
VA testimony before Committees of the United States Senate: (Some links require Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be downloaded here) Please encourage others to sign up for efloridavetsNews. Sign up at http://www.floridavets.org/news/newsletter.asp
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