Veterans
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"From May 23 to May 30, commemorative events at VA national cemeteries will present a sacred responsibility for employees and volunteers to honor these greatest of American heroes," said Steve Muro, VA's acting under secretary for memorial affairs. "Since the birth of Memorial Day in 1866, national cemeteries have been the most visible expression of our country's gratitude for their service."
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will continue its annual tradition of hosting services at most of its national cemeteries and many other facilities nationwide.
The programs, which are the focus of Memorial Day events in many communities, honor the service of deceased Veterans and people who die on active duty.
For the dates and times of Memorial Day programs at VA national cemeteries, visit www.cem.va.gov.
More than 100,000 people are expected to attend activities at VA's national cemeteries, with color guards, readings, bands and choir performances. The events will honor about one million men and women who died in wartime periods, including about 655,000 battle deaths.
Some national cemetery observances are unique. At VA's most active cemetery, in Riverside, Calif., volunteers have been reading aloud – since Armed Forces Day, May 17 – the names of more than 150,000 veterans buried there, and are expected to continue at least until the Memorial Day program. In one-hour shifts around the clock, 500 volunteers – two to four at a time – alternate reading the names.
The Dayton, Ohio, National Cemetery will host members of veterans organizations on the weekend before Memorial Day who will display 400 donated burial flags along the main road. The cemetery also expects 2,000 children and youths, many from Scout troops, to decorate more than 40,000 graves on the weekend in two hours.
VA's 128 national cemeteries include 13 that opened in the last 10 years. Another three cemeteries are under development. VA currently maintains 18,000 acres where 2.9 million gravesites are located. By
2010, Veterans' burial space is expected to be available to 90 percent of Veterans within 75 miles of where they live.
Information about Memorial Day, including its history, can be found at www.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/.
VA is a cosponsor with the White House Commission on Remembrance of an annual Moment of Remembrance at 3 p.m., Eastern time – or noon Pacific Standard Time – nationwide on Memorial Day, a time to pause and reflect on the sacrifice of America's fallen warriors and the freedoms that unite Americans.
Many institutions will announce a pause in their activities – from sporting events to public facilities – to call the nation together in a common bond of silence.
Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day when the tradition of decorating Civil War graves began. It still brings loved ones to the graves of the deceased, often with flowers as grave decorations.
Decorations honoring Veterans buried in national cemeteries are American flags – either individual small ones on each grave, usually placed by volunteers, or "avenues of flags" flanking both sides of the cemetery main entrance road. Often these flags are the burial flags donated by next of kin of Veterans buried in the cemetery.
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The doors will open at 5 p.m., with dinner served at 6 p.m.
The requested donation is $7.
American Legion Post 194 is located at Second and Gaddy Lane in Kelseyville.
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Items may be dropped off at Clearlake Storage, Unit No. 9, on Soda Bay Road at Sylvia Lane (just past the theater), Lakeport.
Naomi Bruce will be there from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., beginning June 12. She will be there for that time period every Friday thereafter. If you cannot make that time, you may reach her at 707-263-5245 (office) or 707-272-9245 (mobile) to make other arrangements.
Please price your items before dropping them off. Please price them to sell.
Then, join Operation Tango Mike at the Big Valley Grange in Finley on Sunday, Aug. 2. Support the grange at their breakfast (made to order) and browse the vendor booths.
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LAKE COUNTY – The Military Funeral Honors Team of Lake County provides full military honors at veteran funerals.
Most people would never know that this unassuming collection of veterans has done so on nearly 600 occasions in Lake County.
They are modest and dedicated. The men and women of the team are all veterans, honoring those that have also served our nation. They do so with no expectations, only the desire to honor their comrades.
Among the team you will find veterans of WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Though some have difficulty walking and their wounds and wear of aging cause them pain, they'll not miss the call to honor a fellow veteran. They stand with pride in freezing cold and blazing heat, all to pay the final tribute.
This team displays the flag representing the branch of service for each veteran's funeral. The American flag always waves proudly and prominently at any service they provide. All branch of service flags are displayed on Memorial Day and Veteran's Day. These flags are as humble as the men and women who proudly carry them.
The team has never owned a set of parade flags. These would not be flags used for parades as the name might seem to indicate. They are flags adorned with gold braiding and ribbon, appropriate for ceremony.
The Honors Team has begun the process of earning monies to purchase a set of ceremonial parade flags. Donations to help their cause would most certainly be welcome and greatly appreciated. If you can find it in your heart to spare a few dollars, your generosity will assist in providing the team with
flags that will fly in all their splendor and glory to honor those that have protected our freedoms.
Donations may be sent to Military Honors Team of Lake County, c/o Frank Parker, Post Office Box 335, Lucerne, CA 95458.
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SAN ANTONIO – Air Force Airman Rory J. Schuber graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic training earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.
Schuber earned distinction as an honor graduate.
He is the son of Theodore and Karen Schuber of Lucerne.
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"This funding signals a substantial expansion of services addressing the health care needs of our rural Veterans," Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki said. "These funds will allow VA to establish new outpatient clinics, expand collaborations with federal and community partners, accelerate the use of telemedicine deployment, explore innovative uses of technology and fund pilot programs."
The selection process was competitive and transparent.
Veterans Integrated Service Networks (VISNs), VA's regional health care networks and Veterans Health Administration program offices were allowed to submit up to eight proposed projects each.
These proposals were prioritized and then sent to the Office of Rural Health (ORH), where they were evaluated based on, methodology, feasibility and intended impact on rural Veterans.
After careful review, ORH selected 74 programs, many of which were either national in scope or affected multiple states.
Program offices validated these proposals to ensure that projects and programs were consistent with the VA mission, strategic direction, program standards and did not duplicate existing efforts.
The new funding is part of an ambitious VA program to improve access and quality of health care – both physical and mental – for veterans in geographically rural areas, with an emphasis on the use of the latest technologies, recruitment and retention of a well-educated and trained health care workforce, and collaborations with non-VA rural health community partners.
To address the unique issues facing rural veterans, the department created an Office of Rural Health in February 2007.
In the past two years, VA formed a 16-member national committee to advise on issues affecting rural veterans, opened three Veterans Rural Health Resource Centers to study rural veteran issues, rolled out four new mobile health clinics to serve 24 predominately rural counties, announced 10 new rural
outreach clinics to be opened in 2009.
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WASHINGTON, DC – On Monday Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs L. Tammy Duckworth spoke at a U.S. Postal Service ceremony announcing the reissue of the Purple Heart stamp.
Hundreds of people attended the morning event at the Washington Convention Center.
"This stamp is a tribute to our nation's wounded veterans and a reminder of our society's commitment to care for them when the war is over," Assistant Secretary L. Tammy Duckworth said. "Many people who are severely wounded have their initial fears of a life destroyed replaced by the understanding that they can do just about anything."
This is the fifth issue of the Purple Heart definitive postage stamp.
The Purple Heart stamp was first issued on May 20, 2003, at Mount Vernon, Va. The Purple Heart is awarded in the name of the president of the United States to members of the U.S. military who have been wounded in combat or to the next of kin of those killed in action.
Assistant Secretary L. Tammy Duckworth is a recipient of the Purple Heart for wounds she sustained while serving in Iraq with the United States Army.
In 2004, her aircraft was ambushed and a rocket-propelled grenade struck the Black Hawk helicopter she was co-piloting during a mission north of Baghdad.
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SAN ANTONIO – Air Force Airman Giovanni D. Ceremony graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic training earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.
He is the son of Linda Wheeler and Brian Ceremony, both of Cobb.
Ceremony graduated in 2008 from Middletown High School.
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SAN ANTONIO – Air Force Airman Kelley E. McKinley graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.
The airman completed an intensive, eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
Airmen who complete basic training earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.
He is the son of Corinne McKinley of Middletown.
The airman is a 2007 graduate of Middletown High School.
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