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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – WASHINGTON (Nov. 11, 2010) – This Veterans Day, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki calls on America to honor its 23 million Veterans by reaching out to them and their families with heartfelt thanks and encourage them to seek the benefits and services they have
earned from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
“As we observe Veterans Day, I look to everyone – families, friends and
acquaintances in communities, large and small–to turn out and thank all
our Veterans, from earlier eras and those who are just returning home,”
said VA Secretary Shinseki.
Shinseki noted that America has made significant investments in Veterans
benefits and services over the past 19 months: a 16 percent VA budget
increase last year and a 10 percent increase in the 2011 budget request.
He said this is making it possible to increase Veterans’ access to
benefits and health care services, help end the disability claims
backlog, and eliminate Veterans’ homelessness by 2015. The Post 9/11 GI
Bill has already sent more than 400,000 Veterans to college, and care
and benefits will be extended to more Veterans who have illnesses
related to exposure to Agent Orange and service during the first Persian
Gulf War.
Under Shinseki, VA is taking unprecedented steps to reach out to
Veterans and their families with a television ad campaign, a new VA
blog, and other social media initiatives, and outreach teams traveling
throughout rural communities. The goal is to let Veterans and their
families know what services they are eligible for and how to access
them. The emphasis is on meeting emergent transitional needs such as
treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which affects many
Veterans, including those returning from the Middle East, as well as
those who served in Vietnam four decades ago.
VA recently launched its first official blog, “VAntage Point,” at
http://www.blogs.va.gov to improve the way VA and Veterans engage
online. The blog expands VA’s social media presence, adding to its
Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/VeteransAffairs), Twitter
(http://twitter.com/DeptVetAffairs/), Flickr
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/VeteransAffairs/), and YouTube
(http://www.youtube.com/user/DeptVetAffairs) postings. With more than
70,000 subscribers, VA has the largest Facebook subscriber base among
cabinet-level agencies.
On Veterans Day, Shinseki will join White House and military officials,
and leaders of major Veterans organizations, at the traditional Veterans
Day wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington
National Cemetery at 11 a.m. Following the ceremony, VA will host an
observance program in Arlington’s Memorial Amphitheater.
Across the country, from the rousing notes of the “Star Spangled Banner”
to the poignant bugle solo of “Taps,” Americans will celebrate U.S.
Veterans with music, ceremonies and speeches. Nearly 100 VA-sponsored
activities are scheduled, highlighted by Birmingham’s 63rd annual
Veterans Day parade and parades in Lexington and Denver; recognition
ceremonies in Anchorage, Alaska, Chillicothe, Ohio, and Tomah, Wis.;
concerts in Durham, N.C., Bath, N.Y., and Tucson, Ariz.; and the third
annual Veterans Run/Walk in West Haven, Conn. The oath of citizenship
will be administered to 25 Veterans at the Fort Sam Houston Cemetery in
Texas as they become official citizens of the nation they served.
The Veterans Day National Committee has designated regional observance
site status to Veterans Day programs at 54 sites in 29 states. Sites
were selected on the basis of community involvement, regional impact and
continuity. They are also eligible for support from the Department of
Defense.
A guide to these sites and other information about Veterans Day is
available on VA’s Veterans Day Web page at
http://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/ under “Regional Observances.” The page
includes a variety of resources, including a teacher’s guide, a poster
gallery and links to information about the Arlington National Cemetery
ceremony.
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