VA Mental Health Care for Vets with OTH Discharges
During a hearing before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on March 7, Secretary of Veterans Affairs David J. Shulkin announced that VA will no longer turn away veterans seeking urgent mental health care simply because they received other-than-honorable discharges. VA plans to implement the new rule later this year.
HVAC Advances Five Important Veterans Bills
On March 8, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs held a markup to consider five bills, all of which the VFW supports. The committee deliberated and advanced a bill to give the Secretary of Veterans Affairs increased authority to hold VA employees accountable for wrongdoing and poor performance. The committee also voted to protect veterans’ second amendment rights and destigmatize mental health care by ensuring veterans who seek VA mental health care. It also requires the assistance of others to manage finances are not reported to the no-sell list without proper due process. Also advanced is a bill to remove the secondary payer requirements under the Choice Program, so veterans no longer receive bills from Choice providers simply because they are covered by private health insurance. The bill would also prolong the program by authorizing VA to use funds that are due to expire in August 2017. The committee also moved a bill that would provide full Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to veterans who have earned the Purple Heart, but were unable to complete 36 months of active duty. All five bills await consideration by the full House, which is scheduled to consider the accountability bill and other veterans’ bills next week.
POW/MIA Update
Seven Americans who had been missing in action from WWII, Korea and Vietnam are returning home for burial with full military honors. They are:
* Army Cpl. Gerald I. Shepler, 20, of Liberty, Ind., was buried March 11 in Liberty. Shepler was the lead scout on a reconnaissance patrol for Company K, 3rd Battalion, 187th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, near Hajoyang-ni, North Korea, when his patrol was ambushed by enemy forces. Shepler was unaccounted for after the mission, and the U.S. Army declared him deceased on Nov. 29, 1950. * Navy Fireman 1st Class Elmer T. Kerestes was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored off Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, when Japanese aircraft attacked his ship on Dec. 7, 1941. Kerestes was one of 429 crewmen killed in the attack. Interment services are pending. * Army Air Forces Pvt. William D. Gruber and his unit tended to the wounded until the U.S. fortress of Corregidor fell on May 6, 1942. Gruber was among the thousands of U.S. and Filipino service members taken captive and forced to endure the Bataan Death March en route to prisoner of war camps. Gruber was eventually moved to Cabanatuan POW camp on the island of Luzon, where more than 2,500 POWs would perish. Interment services are pending. * Army Air Forces 1st Lt. Robert E. Oxford was a member of the 425th Bomber Squadron, 308th Bomb Group, 14th Air Force. On Jan. 25, 1944, Oxford’s B-24J Liberator disappeared in bad weather while flying a supply mission from Kunming, China, to Chabua, India. Without a way to determine the loss location, no search efforts were conducted and all aboard were declared deceased the following day. Interment services are pending. In late July 1950, * Army Pfc. Manuel M. Quintana‘s regiment unexpectedly encountered enemy forces while moving toward Hadong, in present day South Korea. Following the battle, Quintana could not be accounted for and was declared missing in action as of July 27, 1950. Interment services are pending. On Nov. 25, 1950, * Army Sgt. Willie Rowe‘s unit was attacked by Chinese forces while advancing north toward the Ch’ongch’on River region of North Korea. Following the battle, Rowe was unaccounted for and was declared missing. Interment services are pending. * Air Force Reserve Capt. Daniel W. Thomas was an OV-10A pilot. On July 6, 1971, Thomas and his fellow crew member were flying over Laos in support of an eight-man Special Forces reconnaissance team when they crashed due to bad weather. Interim services are pending.
Till next week, praying for all service members.
– Charles Castelluccio
