St. Louis Honors Returning Iraq War Veterans
At least one city in the United States gets it. Last week, St. Louis honored our returning Iraq War Veterans. Approximately 600 veterans took part in the parade with a crowd estimated at over 100,000. The parade was borne out of conversations between two St. Louis friends several months ago. One, Army Maj. Rich Radford said, "...It was the right thing to do." Tom Appelbaum, a school district employee, said, "It was an idea that nobody said no to...America was ready for this." Dedicated to Heroes and I know every veteran gives thanks to the fine people of St. Louis for honoring our returning men and women from war.
(Note: Mayor Bloomberg said there will be no parade in NY City for returning vets in the foreseeable future. He said military officials voiced objections. I say to the Mayor of NY City---you're full of it. If St. Louis did it; NY City can do it. For God's sake, NY City has a long history of ticker-tape parades for the military. They also have a Puerto Rican Day Parade, a Brazilian Day Parade, Universal Hip-Hop Parade, Gay Pride Parade and many others. It's a sorry excuse Mr. Mayor).
VA Publishes 2012 Disability Compensation Rates
If you're interested in the VA's 2012 Disability Compensation Rates, you can access the information at http://www.military.com/. The rates reflect a 3.6% over the 2009-2011 rates.
Women Are Heroes Too!
Just a reminder that women veterans have issues all their own. For example, they are twice as likely as civilian women to be unemployed. Grace After Fire is an organization that helps female veterans re-adjust to civilian life. They also serve women veterans from all branches of service and from all eras. For more information, please visit: http://www.graceafterfire.org/.
Speaking of female veterans, most Americans probably never heard of Bea Cohen. But we should all become familiar with this true American hero. Bea is the country's oldest female veteran at the spry young age of 101 and fast approaching her 102nd birthday. She served in the Women's Army Auxil1ry Corps in WWII. But after leaving the Army, she didn't stop there. She's spends her life helping veterans find jobs. She's also a lifelong member of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States.
RIP Police Officer William D. Talbert
Officer Talbert of the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland, died on Jan. 27, 2012, from contracting Hep C. After he was injured by a drunk driver in 1980 (he was struck by a vehicle as he was standing next to a vehicle he stopped), he was taken to the hospital and received a blood transfusion. It was later discovered the blood he had received was infected with Hep C. He medically retired from the police department in 1984.
Officer Talbert was a Navy veteran and served the Department for 13 years. He is survived by his wife, daughter, three sons, 10 grandchildren and sister.
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