Last week, the Senate advanced three important bills. They include the VFW-supported S. 899, the Veterans Providing Healthcare Transition Improvement Act, which would ensure veterans who work for VA are able to attend medical appointments for service-connected health conditions within their first year of employment, without having to take unpaid leave. The Senate also passed H.R. 2147, the Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act of 2018, which would require VA to increase the number of Veterans Justice Outreach Specialists who assist justice-involved veterans in receiving the treatment they need, instead of being incarcerated for crimes that were associated with untreated or under treated service-connected health conditions. Both S. 899 and H.R. 2147 have passed the House and Senate and now head to the president’s desk. The Senate also advanced H.R. 6157, which would provide appropriations for the Department of Defense to carry out its mission, including an additional $10 million to enable the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to identify the service members whose remains were recently returned by North Korea and reunite them with their loved ones – a mission the VFW fully supports.
Veterans Committees Pressure VA to Conduct Cannabis Research
Members of the House and Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs sent VA Secretary Robert Wilkie a letter urging him to use his current authority to conduct medical research into the safety and efficacy of medicinal cannabis. The letter highlighted conducting this research with a focus on veteran patients with post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain so providers can better understand the potential benefits or dangers of medicinal cannabis. The authors of the letter, Senators John Tester and Dan Sullivan, as well as Representatives Tim Walz and Phil Roe, have also introduced H.R. 5520 and S. 2796, the VA Medicinal Cannabis Research Act of 2018, which are both supported by the VFW and would require VA to conduct such research. The letter also discusses that as more than half the country has legalized cannabis for medicinal or recreational use, veterans are legally obtaining it for medicinal purposes. “The veterans primarily get their health care from VA, but because of restrictive regulations, VA doctors are barred from recommending and, until recently, discussing, medicinal cannabis. The pervasive lack of research makes their jobs even more difficult, leaving VA clinicians flying blind, without concrete recommendations to provide veterans.”
Important Dates in September
Sept. 2, 1945: VJ Day (Victory in Japan.) – Japan formally signed surrender documents aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
Sept. 11: Patriots Day – A day to remember those who were injured or died during the terrorist attacks in the United States on Sept. 2001. Fly your American Flag at half-staff from sunrise to sunset.
Sept. 18: Air Force’s 71st birthday
Sept. 21: POW/MIA Recognition Day
Sept 30: Gold Star Mother’s and Family’s Day
POW/MIA Update
Navy Cmdr. James B. Mills, a Vietnam War veteran, was assigned to Fighter Squadron Twenty One, aboard the USS Coral Sea, where he served as an F-4B Radar Intercept Officer. On the night of Sept. 21, 1966, he departed on an armed reconnaissance mission over then-North Vietnam. During the mission, the other aircraft lost contact with Mills. Interment services are pending.
Marine Corps Reserve Staff Sgt. Richard J. Murphy, a WWII veteran, was a member of 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, which landed at Red Beach, Saipan. Interment services are pending.
Navy Reserve Pharmacist’s Mate 3rd Class William H. Blancheri, a WWII veteran, was a member of Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands. Interment services are pending.
Marine Corps Reserve Tech Sgt. Harry A. Carlsen, a WWII veteran, was a member of Company A, 2nd Amphibian Tractor Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, Fleet Marine Force. Interment services are pending.
Marine Corps Capt. Lester A. Schade, a WWII veteran, was a member of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment. In April 1942, he was captured by enemy forces and held as a prisoner of war in the Philippine Island. Interment services are pending.
Navy Fire Controlman Edward J. Shelden, a WWII veteran, was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7, 1941, when the ship sustained multiple torpedo hits and quickly capsized, resulting in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Shelden. Interment services are pending.
Navy Seaman 1st Class Wesley V. Jordan was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island. Interment services are pending.
Navy Seaman 1st Class Hale McKissack, a WWII veteran, was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7, 1941. Interment services are pending.
Navy Fireman 2nd Class Carl D. Dorr, a WWII veteran, was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7, 1941. Interment services are pending.
Navy Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class Archie T. Miles, a WWII veteran, was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7, 1941. Interment services are pending.
Navy Fireman 1st Class Bert E. McKeeman, a WWII veteran, was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7, 1941. Interment services are pending.
Navy Fireman 1st Class Albert U. Kane, a WWII veteran, was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7, 1941. Interment services are pending.
Navy Radioman 3rd Class Dante S. Tini, a WWII veteran, was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7, 1941. Interment services are pending.
Navy Seaman 1st Class Richard L. Watson, a WWII veteran, was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7, 1941. Interment services are pending.
Navy Seaman 2nd Class Myron K. Lehman, a WWII veteran, was assigned to the USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 7, 1941. Interment services are pending.
Till next week, praying for all service members.
– Charles Castelluccio
