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The Schedule For Rating Disabilities For Vietnam Veterans Once a veteran has achieved service connection for his or her disability(ies), the next question to be addressed is somehow evaluating (or rating) the severity of the symptomatology to determine the appropriate level of compensation. Waiting for the Call: The September Eleventh Disaster At The Pentagon The conference room doors blew open. The rush of wind hit the officers in the meeting room and the concussion made their ears pop. Col. Robert Cortez instantly knew what it was. Charlie Green Visits The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Vietnam Veterans share their stories and experiences. The Moving Wall The Moving Wall is a half-size replica of the Washington, D.C., Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It has been touring the country for the past 16 years. Agent Orange - A Final Analysis That dioxin is a deadly toxin cannot be disputed. The weight of scientific evidence is just too great. Behind The Scenes Of In The Shadow Of The Blade In the Shadow of the Blade, a documentary film that follows the flight of a restored UH-1H Huey helicopter, leads to people and places stretching across 10,000 miles of America. Vietnam Veteran's Memorials At College Campuses A look at the memorials to the veterans of the Vietnam War at college campuses and other areas in the United States. The Moving Wall And Other Vietnam Veteran Memorials A look at The Moving Wall and other memorials to the veterans of the Vietnam War. Vietnam Veteran's Memorials A look in to the various memorials dedicated to the veterans of the Vietnam War. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder The Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) still has not sufficiently taken the lead in many important aspects of the effects of Post traumatic Stress Disorder among veterans. The Last Full Measure of Devotion One of the first was built in 1971 by a bereaved father on his own land, with his own funds, in a windswept valley deep in the mountains of northern New Mexico. Connecting The Dots It started in December 2004 when the Chicago Sun-Times ran a series of articles highlighting variations among states' veterans disability compensation payments. The report showed that New Mexico had the highest compensation payments and Illinois the lowest. More Of The Same In yet another GAO report released on February 16, the investigative agency questions whether the Veterans Affairs Department can adequately help troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD. First Shots Fired In The Claims War On February 13, VVA presented testimony before the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine Gulf War and Health Subcommittee. The Downhill Spiral Continues With the number of American soldiers killed in Iraq having topped 2,000, those fortunate enough to return face the task of putting the war behind them and resuming their lives. It's About The Money Judging by the number of e-mails I've received in recent weeks, many of you have heard the news that the VA will be reviewing some 72,000 PTSD claims that have been granted. "Why?" is the No. 1 question that's being asked of me in those e-mails. The Next Generation Of Veterans Dr. Joe Boscarino's seminar sponsored by the PTSD/SA Committee, "Exposure to Combat, PTSD & Future Medical Problems: The Health Impact of Military Service for Vietnam Veterans," played to a packed seminar room. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Treatment Distinguished members of the Subcommittee on PTSD of the Gulf War & Stress: Health Project, Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) thanks you for the opportunity to present for the record our views on the current state of clinical diagnoses and the disability compensation claims process as accorded our nation's veterans suffering from PTSD. To Realize A Dream, Many Lent Their Skills, Time, And Commitment Unless we came home on a gurney, most of us who served in Southeast Asia returned to The World alone, as individuals, our 12- or 13-month tour of duty completed. We were in the jungles or rice paddies or firebases one day, back on the streets of Boston or Brooklyn, Baton Rouge or Bakersfield, 48 hours later. Magic Moments Near The Wall: The Memorial Day Writers Project It's happened every Memorial Day and every Veterans Day since 1993 in a white tent pitched on The Mall in Washington, D.C., a stone's throw from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. A Long-Overdue Tribute: The Dedication Of The Korean War Veterans Memorial The Korean War is sometimes referred to as the "Forgotten War" because it seems to have receded from the national consciousness-eclipsed in large part by the continuing legacy of the Vietnam War. Tim Brown's Vow In the early 1970s, Tim Brown saw an advertisement in Leatherneck magazine. The parents of a missing Marine sought anyone who might have known their son. Tim Brown knew him. He had fought alongside him, and he knew the man had died in the battle at Ngok Tavak. L.Z. Motown: Chapter Nine's Quarter Century Chapter Nine, a front-runner in the fight for veterans' rights, has been fulfilling the mission of Vietnam Veterans of America for over twenty-five years. L.Z. Motown's roots go back to the mid and late '70s at Wayne State University where Detroit-area Vietnam veterans had enrolled in classes under the G.I. Bill. SBP vs. DIC Benefits Conflict For Survivors Of Deceased Veterans Several programs exist to aid the survivors of deceased veterans. In certain situations, these programs may interact with each other, preventing a full and appropriate financial recovery by the survivors. Disability Benefits Commission: Town-Hall Meeting After-Action Report The Veterans Disability Commission met in St. Petersburg, Florida, in a Town Hall format to listen to the concerns of the veterans' community. A New War: Dennis Andras in the Hurricane's Aftermath VVA member Dennis Andras found it strange that a hurricane in Louisiana should send him back to roots he put down in Vietnam. Training Workshop Features Role-Playing To Teach Principles, Techniques of Advocacy Two dozen VVA members from across the country journeyed to VVA national headquarters in Silver Spring in October to participate in a first-ever advocacy training workshop. "We Look Out For Each Other" Tony Catapano and Veterans Over the Horizon Tony Catapano calls it a two-headed snake: Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on one side, the addictions - alcohol and drugs - on the other, feeding off one another, bringing grief to everyone who comes close. An Enduring Veteran-to-Veteran Effort Now in its eleventh year, the Veterans Initiative Task Force (VITF) began with far more questions than answers, the most compelling an unasked one that hung in the air at the first meeting between veterans who had clear memories of being mortal enemies in the not-so-distant past. Paradise Lost Those who have read Robert Allen's excellent book, The Dioxin War, know that the health effects of dioxin are hardly unique to Americans. Strength Through Partnerships As an organization, VVA is always looking for ways to improve its programs and services while at the same time getting the biggest bang for its buck. An excellent method to accomplish this goal is through mutually beneficial agreements with other organizations. Claims for Gulf War Illness, Revisited A lot has been learned about Gulf War Illness (GWI) (aka Gulf War Syndrome) since the 1990s. A lot remains a mystery. The Department of Veterans Affairs Providing Certain Veterans With Prescription-Only Health Care The "Transitional Pharmacy Benefit" would never have been necessary if the veterans health care system were fully and properly funded to take care of the veterans who are statutorily eligible to use the VHA system. What Is PTSD? The essential feature of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is the development of characteristic symptoms following exposure to an extreme traumatic stressor. Peace and Friendship Among Nations On September 12, in Hanoi, the VVA Veterans Initiative Task Force was awarded the prestigious Medal for Peace and Friendship Among Nations in recognition of the continuing contributions VVA has made in the exchange of information about fallen Vietnamese during the war. One Belly-Dancing Marine: VVA's Mike Zimmerman It's hard to predict how a guy might become a belly dancer. Maybe even reinvent the whole genre. Or at least expand its, uh, horizons. Belly dancing isn't the kind of thing that floats into a guy's mind while he's waiting for halftime to end or driving home from work or sitting in a barber shop with a Sports Illustrated in his hands. It probably helps if you're open to new experiences. A Death in the Desert: The Legacy of Lori Piestewa More than three months after Pfc. Lori Piestewa's death March 23 in an Iraqi ambush near Nasiryah, the telephone calls still come every day to the Hopi tribal offices in Kykotsmovi, Arizona. A Veterans Day Reunion On Veterans Day, Jerry Barfield walked up to Tom Corey in a Washington hotel and introduced himself. Corey didn't recognize him. Barfield had seen Corey's name on an e-mail list some time before and was shocked at the sight of it. When he heard Corey would be at the Veterans Day dinner, he made inquiries. Double Cross At Ngok Tavak On May 10, 1968, at three o'clock in the morning at Ngok Tavak, a Forward Operating Base near the Vietnam-Laos border, a small force of U.S. Marines, a handful of Australian and U.S. Special Forces, and 122 ethnic Chinese Nungs working under the command of Australian Capt. A Long Time Coming In 1987, at a fish fry near Toledo, Ohio, a World War II veteran named Roger Durbin asked Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) a question about a memorial dedicated to those who served in the war. The question: Why wasn't there one? An Image Crystallized Lee Teter's Gift to Veterans Describing Lee Teter's painting Reflections carries two risks. The first is inadequacy. No words can capture it. The second is redundancy. A Winning Tribute: The Nevada Vietnam Memorial The quiet and powerful Nevada Vietnam Memorial is nestled inside Mills Park in the state capital named for the legendary frontiersman and scout Kit Carson. From Vision To Reality: The Evolution of the In Memory Plaque Eleven years after it began, Ruth Coder Fitzgerald sounds surprised to be talking about it in the present tense. To speak of its completion is to acknowledge the reality of the struggle's success, an outcome she always hoped for but whose likelihood she often described as "miraculous." For Those Who Lived: The Vietnam Women's Memorial The last thing I said to anyone I served with when I left Vietnam was that this place will never be anywhere but just over my shoulder for the rest of my life. Victor Westphall: "He Was A Father To All of Us" On Veterans Day 2002 four helicopters lifted off in a swirl of snow from the small airport at Angel Fire, high in the mountains of northern New Mexico. "My Life Is Complete": Virginia Warren's Visit to The Wall Thirty-three years after her son died rushing to the aid of a fallen Marine, Virginia Warren touched him and felt him reaching back, touching her. She knows it in her soul. She had heard that this kind of thing happened to the loved ones of others who touched the names. Now it had happened to her. Hope In Bipartisanship Veterans are indebted to Reps. Rehberg and Thompson for their leadership and commitment to a shining, if rare, example of real bipartisanship. Our Right To Know As I begin my term as chair of VVA's SHAD/Project 112 Task Force, I want to express my appreciation for the honor given me of being asked to take this important post. I will work diligently to fill the position vacated by our Vice President, Jack Devine, and to keep us moving forward. Freedom Flight's POW / MIA Message From Above Jim Tuorila's most memorable hot air balloon flight comes with a small bit of irony attached to one of its more prominent elements, altitude. The veteran balloon pilot and co-founder of Freedom Flight, Inc., a non-profit organization that raises awareness as well as hot air balloons, had flown hundreds of times. Jackpot VVAs Twelfth Biennial Convention Any way you look at it, VVA's 12th biennial National Convention, which was held Aug. 10-13 at the Silver Legacy Hotel and Casino in Reno, Nevada, was a huge success. A VVA Action Plan For The Future Like every organization these days, VVA is in transition. To grow and remain relevant, we must change in order to respond to changes occurring around us. History Of The League's POW MIA Flag In 1971, Mrs. Michael Hoff, an MIA wife and member of the National League of Families, recognized the need for a symbol of our POW/MIAs. Honoring And Keeping Faith On September 17, 1999, National POW/MIA Recognition Day, Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen officiated over a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery. A Short History of the VVA Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) is the only national Vietnam veterans organization congressionally chartered and exclusively dedicated to Vietnam-era veterans and their families. Accomplishment Of The VVA Vietnam Veterans of America, the nation's largest and most successful Vietnam veterans organization, and the only Vietnam veterans organization chartered by Congress, is proud of what it has accomplished over the last twenty years. Those accomplishments are many and varied.