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Before the House Committee on Veterans Affairs
Subcommittee on Health Regarding Veterans’ Health Bills
(HR 1197, 2770, 1293, 1302, 1335, 1546, 2734, & 2738
Plus three Draft Bills)
June 18, 2009
Good morning, Chairman Michaud, Ranking Member
Brown, and other members of this distinguished Subcommittee.
We appreciate your giving Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA)
the opportunity to testify today on legislation that relates
to improving the health care of veterans and issues involving
their caregivers. And on behalf of the members and families
of VVA, we thank you for the stellar work this Subcommittee
has been doing.
We would like first to comment on H.R.
1197, the “Medal of Honor Health Care Equity Act
of 2009.” VVA supports enactment of this
bill unequivocally. We would like to offer a bit of commentary
as to why.
Americans are hungry for heroes. We confer
this status on people who lead their sports teams to championships
to the adoration of their fans: guys who can throw for fifty
touchdowns or run for two thousand yards in a season; guys
who can rocket baseballs into the stands fifty times a season;
guys who score thirty points a game; guys who drive race
cars really fast. We tend, too, to overuse this term when
we honor men and women in uniform.
In reality, all who serve are not heroes. Yes,
they don the uniform and, during times of war or conflict,
put themselves in harm’s way. Some are killed. Others
are wounded, some grievously. Mostly, though, they are men
and women doing the jobs for which they’ve been trained
(and oftentimes doing jobs for which they haven’t been
trained).
While this gesture – dubbing them heroes – may
be understandable, and even commendable, it in some ways
diminishes what a hero really is: one who puts his (and as
more women serve in the military, her) life in danger, and
sometimes loses it, attempting to protect or save the lives
of his comrades.
We have heroes – true heroes – who
have met this standard. Their heroism, their selfless acts
of valor and bravery in the chaos of combat, has been acknowledged
with the awarding of the Medal of Honor. Others who have
committed heroic acts have been honored with the Silver Star,
the Navy Cross, the Distinguished Service Cross.
 Read
or Print Complete Testimony
Vietnam Veterans of America to Hold Scholarship Golf Tournament At the VVA National Convention (June 9, 2009)
(WASHINGTON,
D.C.) –Vietnam Veterans of America will hold its annual Mike Nash Memorial Scholarship Fund Golf Tournament on Tuesday, July 28, at the Iroquois Golf Course in Louisville, Kentucky. The event will take place in conjunction with VVA’s 14th biennial National Convention, which will be held July 29-August 2, at the Galt House Hotel & Suites in Louisville. The shotgun-start tournament begins at 9:00 a.m. Players may register any time up to then. The cost per player is $75, which includes green fees, a cart, a box lunch, and beverage. Sponsorships also are available at $100 per hole, and everyone is invited to sponsor a hole.
[Read
Complete Press Release] | [Become a Sponsor]
[ click here to read ]
[
click here to read ]
Click on the cover image to read the VVA Self-Help Guide to Service-Connected Disability Compensation for Exposure to Agent Orange
An email hoax, “States From One State,” has been circulating the Internet for more than a year. Unfortunately, someone has taken his/her personal initiative to attach the Vietnam Veterans of America logo to this flyer after it had been in circulation. The content of this email has nothing to do with Vietnam Veterans of America. We regret this egregious misuse of our logo and appreciate your efforts in setting the record straight.
For information on the LA Times response to this email hoax, please see the linked article.
An email hoax concerning Target stores and VVA has been circulating for a number of years. Please click here for more information.
Thanks so much for your assistance in dispelling these email hoaxes. |
