On Veterans Day, the Biden Administration announced a series of actions, that has been years in the making, that VA will take to address the health conditions veterans experience due to burn pits and other toxic exposures. VA will pilot a new model to accelerate the process to establish presumptive conditions by reviewing the available science from the National Academies, analyzing VA data, and gathering evidence from other scientific sources. VA says it already used this model when it added sinusitis, rhinitis, and asthma as presumptive conditions related to particulate matter last May. Within 90 days, VA will use the model to assess rare cancers and constrictive bronchiolitis. Over the next few months, VA will use this model to consider additional presumptive conditions. Additionally, DOD plans to accelerate the implementation of the Individual Longitudinal Exposure Record (ILER), which the VFW supported in past legislation, that tracks service members’ environmental and occupational exposures. The VFW thanks VA and the Biden Administration for taking these much-needed steps to address the urgent health needs of toxic exposed veterans. We will work with VA to monitor these developments while continuing to advocate for toxic exposure legislation.
VFW Advocates For Toxic Exposure Legislation
VFW National Legislative Service Associate Director Kristina Keenan joined activists Jon Stewart and John Feal at a press conference and a series of meetings with senators and staff to discuss S. 3003, the COST of War Act. Comprehensive toxic exposure reform is the VFW’s top legislative priority and our advocacy efforts are aimed at passing significant legislation in this Congress.
House Subcommittee Hearing on Food Insecurity
The House Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition, Oversight, and Department Operations held a hearing to examine the issue of food insecurity among service members and veterans. In testimony submitted for the record, VFW National Legislative Service Associate Director Brittany Dymond stated, “While it is not lost on us that working-age veterans are 7.4 percent more likely to reside in homes experiencing food insecurity, we want to take this opportunity to discuss the unconscionable issue of food scarcity within the active-duty ranks.” Approximately 160,000 enlisted active-duty troops and their families experience food insecurity, which negatively affects military readiness as well as recruitment and retention of our all-volunteer force.
House Committee Advances Several Veterans Bills
Ahead of Veterans Day, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs passed 18 bills. This legislation includes five VFW-supported bills, H.R 3944, H.R. 2916, H.R. 5029, H.R. 1596, and H.R. 3730, that would ensure equal benefits for Guard and Reserve members, expand VA’s research capabilities, increase access to mental health services for veteran families, study inequities faced by LGBTQ veterans, and establish a VA Advisory Committee on Pacific Areas.
POW/MIA Update
Army Cpl. Kenneth R. Foreman, 19, of Mount Orab, Ohio, was assigned to Company A, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, after a fighting withdrawal near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. He will be buried on Dec. 2, 2021, in his hometown.
Army Pfc. Juan F. Gutierrez, 26, of Santa Fe, New Mexico, was a member of 200th Coast Artillery Regiment, when Japanese forces invaded the Philippine Islands in December 1941. His remains were initially misidentified. He will be buried on Dec. 7, 2021, in Oakland, California.
Army Pvt. Archie V. Fleeman, 19, of Bell, California, was assigned to Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 11, 1944, after his unit was part of the Hürtgen Forest offensive, near Hürtgen, Germany. Fleeman will be buried in Oklahoma City. The date has yet to be determined.
Army Cpl. Charles E. Lee, 18, Cincinnati, was assigned to Company K, 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on July 20, 1950, after his unit was forced to retreat from the vicinity of Taejon, South Korea. The date has yet to be determined.
Army Pvt. Edward M. Ryan, 33, was assigned to Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division, which occupied defensive positions along the northwest coast of Saipan. Interment services are pending.
Army Pfc. Jimmy Rowland, 19, was assigned to Heavy Mortar Company, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on July 16, 1950, while fighting North Korean forces along the Kum River north of Taejon, South Korea. Interment services are pending.
Army Pfc. Jack E. Lilley, 19, was assigned to Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on July 20, 1950, after his unit was forced to retreat from the vicinity of Taejon, South Korea. Interment services are pending.
Till next week, praying for all service members.
– Charles Castelluccio
