Sunday, March 25, 2007

The American Legion

Bryan Anderson coming home to Chicago, having lost his legs and one arm





I'm anti-war but I certainly recognize (or should I say, because I recognize) that those who have been at war, need all the help and assistance of all kinds they can get when they return home. Instead of our dear government who's had no problem sending soldiers off to war but have not been as helpful to them once returned, the American Legion has stepped in to assist their fellow service men and women.
Hat tip to Donkephant for this story :

The transition from active duty to civilian life doesn’t begin when a wounded U.S. servicemember arrives home after leaving the military. It starts before the servicemember even checks out of the hospital, which is why The American Legion will now have an even greater presence at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

During the organization’s Washington Legislative Conference in March, The American Legion signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Walter Reed Army Medical Center establishing an office at the facility with paid staff – provided by The American Legion – to assist in the transition of wounded servicemembers from the Department of Defense to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The agreement is a step toward ending recent problems brought to light at Walter Reed due to delays in timely out-processing of soldiers, resulting in backlogs and some being housed in deplorable facilities


Read the full story on Cyber Otter's site.
Here are some of the services the American Legion provides to severely injured service members, called the "Heroes to Hometowns" program;

A Welcome Home celebration
Temporary Financial Assistance
Pro-Bono Financial Planning
Housing Assistance
Home and Vehicle Adaptation
Government Claims Assistance
Transportation to hospital visits
Entertainment options
Childcare
Counseling
Family Support

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4 Comments:

Blogger lindsaylobe said...

Hi Ingrid

We heard about the fate of returning solders in the Australian Press. Oppostion to an ill conceived War should never preclude a warm welcome home to those solders in appreciation for their courage and commitment.

One of the least acceptable outcomes is for these brave souls to be left to fend for themselves with no assistance, unintended or otherwise!! . All solders will be in need of some form of assistance; I don’t believe you can expose anyone to the horrors of war without some form of scarring. This has been borne out by our Vietnam Veterans, whose post traumatic stress disorders, stomach complaints, and a whole host of other issues continued to surface long afterwards as they were not treated upon their return home. It’s good that organisations such as is mentioned , The American legion step in to help, but I am also concerned to read words such as "if you are severely wounded ". This gives the mistaken impression all others will be okay.

When a country sends off their troops to War, the least it can do is to support those returning. From the politicians who made the ill fated decisions, the least they can do is to ensure they are very well rewarded and well cared for upon their return. This does not seem to be the case.

Best wishes

10:46 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice initiative.

I must say that in Israel, the state, through the ministry of security, spends a lot of money in taking care of it's veterans, wounded and disabled.
They are also entitled to special rights. The disabled individuals have a special status that to translates to something like "IDF disabled".

The scandals began when some journalist uncovered that people in the air force received higher benefits than others...

11:58 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Ingrid, I am glad that someone is offering help to our veterans who have been so shamefully maltreated by our government. The scandal at Walter Reed et al is only the beginning of the perfidy of our government.

Months ago Marty ( http://martyonthehomefront.blogspot.com) who is actively involved in veterans' issues, warned me that the military was shafting vets by diagnosing them as having "personality disorders" instead of PTSD in order to avoid paying for treatment and benefits.

That is a fact, revealed in the article at http://imperial-sacrifices.blogspot.com/2007/03/lies-betrayal-save-money-for-bushs-war.html (that may be -wars in the url). By diagnosing the vets with personality disorder, they get no treatment and are robbed of ALL benefits for LIFE!

Another scandal is the treatment of our aging veterans in retirement/nursing homes. One such is the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington where the vets live in squalor and abuse. One vet was found to have maggots in his bedsore. Read about that at http://imperial-sacrifices.blogspot.com/2007/03/more-neglect-and-abuse-of-veterans-old.html These WWII and Korean War vets are now old and useless so who cares about them? Let them die, the sooner the better, and save the money "wasted" on them? This is a disgrace!!

2:49 AM  
Blogger - said...

Hi Ingrid, guess what...were finally up and running. Thank you for the pimp and I miss chatting.

The Legion Vision Blog

Here is my official message on the release.

Please help welcome the American Legion National Headquarters into the 21st century with the promotion of our latest endeavor “The Legion Vision Blog” I am the new Webmaster for the Legion site. We have worked very hard to design a blog worthy of our cause and need your help bringing it to the world. All I ask is a simple “pimp” or cross post. We will be taking tips and submissions in the very near future.

Thank you for your time and consideration

6:47 AM  

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