This Week at American Veteran

This week at American Veteran, we will share highlights from the 56th annual Silver Helmet Awards, which took place on Saturday, March 20 at the Hilton Washington Dulles in Herndon, Va. We will also post highlights from the floor of the spring meeting of the AMVETS National Executive Committee.

The Sons of AMVETS were also out in force on Capitol Hill last week, meeting with more than 100 legislators and staff, outlining AMVETS' legislative agenda for 2010. We will bring you highlights.

On Saturday, AMVETS, the AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary and the Sons of AMVETS honored seven champions of veterans' service with the highest awards each organization can give. Here is a list of this year's recipients:

AMVETS 2010 Silver Helmet Awards:

• Rehabilitation - Joseph Mornini
• Civil Servant - William Montague
• Americanism - Joseph Gentile (on behalf of Gloucester Township Elementary Schoo)
• AMVET of the Year - Glen Maurer
• Congressional - Tim Walz

AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary:

• 2010 Humanitarian Award - William White

Sons of AMVETS

• Inaugural Award - PNC Joseph Piening
• Inaugural Award - PNC John Lorec

This week, American Veteran will also continue our "Women in Service" series, highlighting women's contributions to American military history in honor of Women's History Month. Our first installment this week will highlight Air Force Maj. Gen. Jeanne M. Holm, the first female general officer in the U.S. Air Force and the first female in the U.S. military to earn her second star.

Later this week, we will highlight a noteworthy female AMVETS member. We have some ideas on who we would like to highlight, but if you have a suggestion, please send me details via email, rgallucci@amvets.org.

American Veteran will also be on Capitol Hill this week where the House Committee on Veterans Affairs will hear testimony on VA's Systematic Technical Accuracy Review, or STAR, program, which evaluated VA's effectiveness in processing accurate benefits claims. The committee will also host a legislative hearing on Thursday, where 10 bills will be up for discussion.

AMVETS Deputy National Legislative Director Christina Roof will also be back on Capitol Hill, following up on last week's meetings with legislators on assistance dogs for wounded veterans. We will keep you posted on any developments.

As always, we're eager to hear what's going on within the AMVETS community, so please feel free to send us any stories you have from AMVETS posts and departments around the country.

(Photo: AMVETS ice sculpture at the 56th annual Silver Helmet Awards Banquet. Photo by Jay Agg.)