Pay & Benefits, Money advice for the wounded
WHAT’S UP: To help wounded service members and their families deal with pressing financial issues and get their finances on track, volunteers from the nonprofit Financial Planning Association are giving presentations and providing financial counseling at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, where the bulk of service members wounded in combat zones are treated. The effort, which kicked off Jan. 31, is being coordinated with Army Community Services.
WHAT’S NEXT: The group especially wants to help those who have received or will receive the new traumatic injury insurance payments, to help them make the best financial decisions with that money, which ranges up to $100,000. After a one-hour presentation by certified financial planners, wounded troops and family members can schedule one-hour individual meetings to discuss their financial goals and options. This free assistance is provided by the FPA’s National Capital Area Chapter. Officials are using this as a test before possibly rolling it out for wounded service members in other areas.
The Military
Hunting for an unseen enemy
WHAT’S UP: Environmental health professionals have been busy in Iraq and Afghanistan analyzing more than 4,000 air, water and soil samples since January 2003 to see if U.S. troops there are being exposed to harmful substances, said David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. “These samples were taken at 274 locations in Iraq, 28 locations in Afghanistan and from other sites across the world,” Chu said.
WHAT’S NEXT: Screening has two purposes, to detect current threats and to look for contaminants that might cause future health problems. There have been no reports of health problems similar to the Gulf War illnesses reported after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, but defense health officials intend to continue the screening in order to be prepared if problems arise.
Veterans
Adapting homes for disabled vets
WHAT’S UP: Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., wants to increase government assistance for disabled veterans who need to modify homes to adapt to their disabilities. Under her proposal, grants for severely disabled veterans would increase by $10,000, to $60,000, while grants for those with lesser disabilities would be $12,000, which is $2,000 more than current rates.
WHAT’S NEXT: Herseth, a member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee that is considering her proposal, said she wants to increase grants and to establish a mechanism for regular future increases. “While building costs have risen considerably faster than the general rate of inflation in recent years, the limit on adaptive housing grants has not increased since 2004,” she said.
Washington
Hill twist: ‘Please stop funding’
WHAT’S UP: “Congress gave the Bush administration a blank check for a war based on lies — stop payment immediately,” the wife of a National Guard soldier told House lawmakers at a March 1 hearing. While 22 other witnesses representing various advocacy groups spoke about new or continued funding for programs to benefit the service members and veterans, Stacy Bannerman demanded that funding for the war be stopped. “You took an oath of office and declared yourself a leader — be one,” she said. “Bring the troops home now. Take care of them when they get here.” Lawmakers reminded her in a polite exchange that they have pushed to address the health needs of returning war veterans, especially mental health.
WHAT’S NEXT: After the hearing, Bannerman and other members of Military Families Speak Out, along with members of other anti-war groups, visited offices of House and Senate lawmakers, but did not come away with much hope of thwarting the war effort, said Nancy Lessin, co-founder of MFSO. “Their concern is more connected to the November election than the human lives that are being lost and shattered,” she said. Still, the group says it is gaining momentum. “It has never been a politician that ended a war,” Lessin said. “It’s been social movement. We’re building a social movement.” MFSO claims 3,000 families in its membership.
Monument of the Week
Artful fete of draft dodgers
Peace activists in Canada are reviving plans for a large sculpture to serve as a monument to U.S. draft dodgers. A Reuters report says organizers of a July reunion of Vietnam-era draft dodgers who fled the U.S. also are drawing up plans for a sculpture to commemorate their decision.
Plans for the activists’ monument, to be placed in Nelson, British Columbia, were first announced in 2004, but were dropped after complaints from conservatives in the U.S. and Canada and a major public relations campaign by U.S. veterans groups, particularly the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
The monument would have an American man and woman crossing the border and being greeted by a Canadian. It is meant to symbolize the estimated 125,000 Americans who fled the U.S. to avoid the Vietnam-era draft, and would not have anything directly to do with the estimated 200 U.S. service members whom activists say have gone to Canada to avoid deployment to the war in Iraq.