LZ:DC: Pennsylvania Sons Honor Congressman

This week, the Pennsylvania Sons of AMVETS met with most of the Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation during their annual Capitol Hill visits as part of LZ:DC.

On Wednesday, the Sons hosted a special meeting with Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., where they presented Altmire with an award for his continued dedication to veterans' causes.

Though the award does not have an official name yet, the Pennsylvania Sons have acknowledged that the award will now be an annual tradition when the group comes to Washington to advocate for American veterans and their loved ones.

During their visits with legislators, the Pennsylvania Sons not only advocated for AMVETS Legislative Priorities for 2011, but bolstered support for the Veterans for Equal Treatment of Service Dogs Act, of VETS Dogs Act, which AMVETS helped to champion on Capitol Hill and officially announced yesterday alongside Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, who introduced the bill, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., one of the bill's original cosponsors, AMVETS Acting Legislative Director Christina Roof, and AMVETS Kevin Stone and Sue Downes.

Details and highlights from the bill's introduction will be available later today on American Veteran and the LZ:DC timeline.

The Pennsylvania Sons explained the bill in detail and encouraged their representatives to sign on as cosponsors as soon as they had the chance.

Pat Brown, a member of the Sons Squadron from Lancaster AMVETS Post 19, said that most members were enthusiastic about the bill and eager to learn how they could support.

The bill, which would close a loophole that has prohibited certain veterans utilizing service dogs from receiving VA care, already has extensive bipartisan support in only a few short days since it was drafted.

The Pennsylvania Sons schedule 13 meetings with their Congressional delegation this week and dropped by the offices of their entire delegation to hand-deliver copies of the AMVETS Legislative Agenda.

American Veteran continues to follow the Sons of AMVETS and all participants in this week's LZ:DC. Check back regularly for updates from the LZ.

(Images: Top: Pennsylvania Sons of AMVETS present Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., with their inaugural award, recognizing service and advocacy on behalf of American veterans. Middle: The Pennsylvania Sons pose for a photo with Rep. Tim Holden, D-Pa., on Capitol Hill. Bottom: The Pennsylvania Sons review their schedule and materials between meetings on Capitol Hill. Photos courtesy of Pat Brown.)

LZ:DC: AMVETS to Introduce Service Dog Bill, Tesify Before the House, Honor Congressional Leadership

This afternoon, AMVETS will once again be out in force on Capitol Hill when AMVETS Acting Legislative Director Christina Roof appears alongside Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, AMVETS members Sue Downes and Kevin Stone, and other Congressional leaders to introduce the Veterans Equal Treatment of Service Dogs Act, or VETS Dogs Act, a critical piece of legislation that will permanently close a loophole in VA policy that has created hurdles to care for disabled veterans.

Carter and AMVETS will officially announce the bill during a press conference at the House Triangle, outside the U.S. Capitol Building at 3 p.m.

Both Downes and Stone are veterans utilize service dogs as VA-sanctioned prosthetic devices for physical injuries, but both have experienced barriers to care at VA facilities. Though VA issued a directive recently to ensure veterans and their service dogs will not be turned away, AMVETS and Congressional leaders continue to push for a policy change that will offer permanent equality in access.

Downes, a double amputee who was severely wounded in Afghanistan, was the first female combat veteran from the current conflicts to receive a service dog. Downes earned two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star for her service and today she is a mother of two.

Stone, a former Army infantry light fighter who was injured in a training accident, is now a U.S. Paralympic medalist in archery who represented Team USA in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.

Downes and her service dog, Lila, and Stone and his service dog, Mambo, will be available to explain what the legislation means for veterans and share some of their personal, inspiring experiences.

This afternoon, AMVETS National Communications Director Jay Agg will also appear before the House VA Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs to discuss the proposed 2012 budget for VA's National Cemetery Administration, or NCA, and the Veterans Benefits Administration, or VBA.

The hearing will come to order at 1 p.m. in the House Veterans Affairs Committee chambers, Cannon 334. To view live video of the hearing, Click Here.

Agg will appear alongside Independent Budget partner Disabled American Veterans and VA officials, including VA Acting Under Secretary of Veterans Benefits Mike Walcoff. Agg's testimony will focus heavily on the mission of NCA, but will also touch on issues facing VBA, such as the ongoing claims backlog.

To view a full list of witnesses and to read their prepared remarks, Click Here.

Sons of AMVETS from around the country will also continue their visits with legislators, armed with the AMVETS Legislative Priorities for 2011, and AMVETS Department of Ohio will commence its annual visits with the Ohio Congressional delegation.

Finally, tonight, AMVETS will honor Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., with the 2011 Congressional Silver Helmet Award during a special reception in the Cannon Caucus Room at 5:30 p.m. Roe, a former Army doctor and current member of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, was chosen for the award for his sustained commitment to American veterans, which spans both his career as an Army surgeon and his current role as a veterans' advocate in Congress.

All events are open to the public and all members of the AMVETS family in Washington for LZ:DC are invited to attend. American Veteran will also be on hand throughout the day, bringing continuing coverage of AMVETS LZ:DC. Check back regularly for updates from the LZ.

(Image: Kevin Stone meets with Rep. John Carter, R-Texas, during visits to Capitol Hill last March when AMVETS and partner non-profit Paws With A Cause educated legislators on the benefits of service dogs for disabled veterans. Photo by Ryan Gallucci.)

LZ:DC: Massachusetts Sons Take to the Hill

This morning, the Massachusetts Sons of AMVETS took to Capitol Hill, armed with AMVETS Legislative Priorities for 2011, to advocate for America's service members, veterans and their loved ones.

Led by Sons of AMVETS Past National Commander David Spencer, the Massachusetts contingency plans to meet with all 10 representatives in Congress and both Senators that comprise the Massachusetts Congressional delegation.

With the AMVETS family converging on Capitol Hill for AMVETS "LZ:DC," the Sons of AMVETS have come out in force in 2011 looking to surpass last year's total of more than 120 visits with legislators, enlisting help from members of AMVETS, AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary and the AMVETS Riders.

American Veteran will continue to bring you highlights throughout the week and all AMVETS family members are encouraged to keep submitting their content to rgallucci@amvets.org.

Check back regularly for continuing updates from the LZ.

(Images: Top: Massachusetts AMVETS Post 51 Commander Don McLean, Massachusetts Sons of AMVETS Commander Mark Serpis, and Sons of AMVETS Past National Commander David Spencer meet with Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass. Middle: Serpis, McLean, and Spencer meet with Rep. Chris Neal, D-Mass. Bottom: Serpis, McLean and Spencer meet with Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. Photos courtesy of David Spencer.

LZ:DC: Sons of AMVETS Take to Capitol Hill

This morning, AMVETS' week of advocacy in Washington, "LZ:DC," will commence when the Sons of AMVETS land on Capitol Hill, meeting with legislators, advocating for American service members, veterans and their families.

Armed with AMVETS Legislative Priorities for 2011, the Pennsylvania Sons of AMVETS will be the first to hit the halls of Congress, meeting with Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., at 10 a.m.

The Pennsylvania Sons have more than a dozen meetings scheduled this week with the Pennsylvania Congressional delegation and a special award presentation to Rep. Jason Altmire, D-Pa., taking place tomorrow afternoon.

Sons of AMVETS National Commander Robert Hammett, a life member of the Indiana Sons, is already on the ground in Washington and plans join the Pennsylvania contingency for their early meetings.

Each year, the Sons of AMVETS come to Washington in force to advocate for veterans and their loved ones. The Capitol Hill visits coincide with the testimony of the AMVETS National Commander before a special joint hearing of the House and Senate committees on Veterans Affairs, where AMVETS officially presents its legislative priorities for the coming year.

AMVETS National Commander Jerry Hotop will present AMVETS' legislative agenda tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. in the Senate Derksen Ground Room 50. For details about the hearing, Click Here.

Last year, the Sons of AMVETS conducted more than 120 meetings with legislators, and Hammett said this year they plan to surpass that mark.

For this year's visits, the Sons also recruited support from AMVETS and the AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary to cover more ground on the hill.

Every year, members of AMVETS, the AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary, the Sons of AMVETS and AMVETS Riders converge on the nation’s capitol for four days of advocacy on behalf of American military families, memorial events to honor the fallen, organizational business, and the annual AMVETS Silver Helmet Awards, honoring champions of veterans’ service from across the country. This year, AMVETS has given this week a name that captures the urgency and scale of the mission: LZ:DC.

“LZ” is the common military acronym for a helicopter “landing zone”—a place where forces can be quickly inserted into the forward-most areas of the battle space. This week, AMVETS' LZ is Capitol Hill.

American Veteran will follow LZ:DC and the Sons of AMVETS Capitol Hill advocacy closely, bringing you updates from each day's events. Each Sons of AMVETS Department participating in LZ:DC will also be sending in photos and highlights as they happen, which we will include on the blog and on the AMVETS National Web site.

To learn more about LZ:DC, Click Here.

Sons of AMVETS Make Their Mark on Capitol Hill

Last week, Congressional offices on Capitol Hill were inundated with men in blue blazers and gray garrison caps, as Sons of AMVETS from around the country converged on Washington, D.C., for their annual legislative visits.

More than 70 Sons, joined by members of AMVETS and the AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary, took to Capitol Hill for more than 120 appointments and more than 50 additional impromptu meetings with Senators, Congressmen, and staff, including newly-elected Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.).

This year, the Sons of AMVETS were armed with hundreds of copies of the AMVETS 2010 Legislative Priorities book, explaining AMVETS' top legislative goals to key decision-makers.

Founded in Vermillion, Ohio in 1972, Sons of AMVETS is a national organization comprised of male descendants of American military men and women. The organization is dedicated to supporting the mission of AMVETS, which includes advocating for improved veterans' care and benefits.

Along with the AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary and Junior AMVETS, Sons of AMVETS help to ensure that the voices of military families are also heard when discussing veterans' issues on a national level.

The 2010 Sons of AMVETS Capitol Hill visit was the organization's most successful program to date, with Sons conducting more than 170 meetings in four days.

(Photos: Top: Sons of AMVETS National Commander David Spencer, center, speaks with Sen. Scott Brown during last week's Hill visits. Photo by Karen Spencer. Bottom: Sons of AMVETS pose for a photo with AMVETS members Kevin Stone, bottom center, and Luis Montalvan, right, during last week's Sons of AMVETS Hill visits. Stone and Montalvan were also on Capitol Hill alongside AMVETS partner non-profit Paws With A Cause for educational meetings with legislators on the benefits of assistance dogs for wounded veterans . Photo by Ryan Gallucci.)

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.)

This Week at American Veteran

This week is one of the most significant weeks of the year for AMVETS, its subordinate organizations, and its partners. Leading up to Thursday's testimony of AMVETS National Commander Duane J. Miskulin before a special session of the House and Senate committees on Veterans Affairs, AMVETS and its partners will take to Capitol Hill, pushing for improved care and services for veterans and their loved ones. American Veteran will be on hand for all of this week's events, providing photos and coverage on this blog.

Starting tomorrow, AMVETS and partner non-profit Paws With A Cause will kick off a two-day push around the nation's capitol, promoting responsible assistance dog legislation for wounded veterans. Two AMVETS members, Luis Montalvan and Kevin Stone, will join leaders from AMVETS and Paws on a series of Capitol Hill visits with top legislators and staff, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), and House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-Calif.). The group will also visit with staff at the White House to discuss how the Obama Administration could help advocate for the cause.

On Thursday, members of AMVETS, AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary, and Sons of AMVETS will join Cmdr. Miskulin for his special testimony at 9:30 a.m. in the Dirksen Senate Office Building. After the testimony, members of the AMVETS family will take to the halls of the House and Senate office buildings to meet with legislators to explain critical veterans' issues first-hand and to provide copies of the AMVETS 2010 Legislative Agenda.

Meanwhile, AMVETS National Legislative Director Ray Kelley will participate in the House Veterans Affairs Committee summit on the VA claims backlog--AMVETS' top legislative priority for 2010.

On Thursday night, AMVETS will also present Congressman Tim Walz (D-Minn.) with the AMVETS Congressional Silver Helmet Award in recognition of Walz's decades of service as a command sergeant major in the Minnesota Army National Guard and his continued service as a vocal veterans' advocate in Congress.

Finally, AMVETS will gather over the weekend in Herndon, Va., for the spring meeting of the AMVETS National Executive Committee, tending to the business of the organization, before honoring the final four recipients of the 2010 AMVETS Silver Helmet Awards during the 56th annual Silver Helmet Awards banquet at the Hilton Washington Dulles in Herndon.

Check back regularly with American Veteran for updates as this busy week unfolds.

This Week at American Veteran

This week at American Veteran, we will once again follow AMVETS' legislative team to Capitol Hill for a series of hearing on critical veterans' issues ranging from benefits-delivery, veterans' suicide, Gulf War illness, and pending veterans' legislation. Several of these hearings were rescheduled from the back-to-back blizzards that struck Washington prior to the district work period.

This week, we will also keep you posted on plans for upcoming Capitol Hill visits with AMVETS and Paws With A Cause to discuss responsible service dog legislation. The Paws hill visits will correspond with a barrage of AMVETS and Sons of AMVETS meetings with legislators on critical veterans' issues, as well as National Commander Duane Miskulin's testimony before the joint session of the House and Senate committees on Veterans Affairs and the presentation of the Congressional Silver Helmet Award to Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.). As details become available (and as AMVETS develops a clever name), American Veteran will keep you up to date.

Cmdr. Miskulin is visiting the AMVETS Department of Illinois this week, meeting with AMVETS and veterans' advocates across the state and participating in the State Executive Committee meeting on Sunday.

Last week, Miskulin and AMVETS National Service Foundation President Joe Piening were in Nevada for the Special Olympics national bowling championship--an event AMVETS has supported for more than 25 years. American Veteran will post photos and highlights in the coming days.

Next, the new issue of American Veteran is on its way. We will post highlights on this blog in the coming days.

As always, we're eager to how what you think, so please feel free to post in the comments section on this blog.

AMVETS Fall NEC Recap

On Saturday, Dec. 5, AMVETS National Executive Committee convened for its fall meeting at the BWI Hilton in Linthicum, Md. AMVETS leaders from all 38 departments around the country were on hand to report the business of the organization and discuss the way forward in serving the veterans' community.

AMVETS Past National Commander Bill Boetcher and National Finance Director Velma Hart discussed the second annual AMVETS leadership conference, which will take place January 22-24, 2010 at Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Boetcher and Hart encouraged interested participants to register as soon as possible, since space will fill quickly. To read the conference agenda and to find registration information, Click Here.

The AMVETS National Conference Committee also announced rule changes to this summer's AMVETS National Convention in Louisville, Ky. This year, all AMVETS members who plan to attend activities of AMVETS subordinate organizations at the convention must also register to participate as AMVETS members at the convention.

National Sons of AMVETS Commander David Spencer also joined Cmdr. Miskulin and AMVETS National Executive Director Jim King, who officially signed the paperwork commissioning the new Sons of AMVETS Department of Tennessee.

AMVETS Riders National President Vincent "Dutch" Stivason announced that the AMVETS Riders enjoyed another successful year of growth in posts and departments around the country.

On the NEC floor, AMVETS National Commander Duane J. Miskulin presented a check for $10,000 to the winner of the first AMVETS National Sweepstakes, Henson Bedeau of Severn, Md.

With the help of AMVETS' partners at the University of Phoenix, AMVETS also presented Sharon Adger with one of this year's $4,000 scholarships to attend the university. University of Phoenix awarded 50 scholarships to veterans and their dependents through the AMVETS partnership in 2009.

AMVETS partner Choice Hotels also introduced a new rewards program exclusively for AMVETS members to earn additional travel discounts and credits while staying at any Choice Hotels location.

(Photos: Top: The floor at the AMVETS fall NEC meeting. Middle: AMVETS National Commander Duane Miskulin presents AMVETS sweepstakes winner Henson Bedeau with his check for $10,000. Bottom: University of Phoenix Military Liaison Manager Kristen Nolan and Cmdr. Miskulin present Sharon Adger with her $4,000 scholarship. Photos by Ryan Gallucci.)