Folsom Pa. –
Abdul and Irving listened quietly and attentively from one moment to the next. When asked if they had any intentions of signing up for the armed forces the threesome laughed at the notion of diverting from planning out their first car and their first dates, playing football and all the other dreams they had in their heads?
With Dan were the Silver brothers, Leon 83, and Larry 81. Leon was a boatswain who joined the Merchant Marines at 18 and had full chest of ribbons, not the least of which were his Korean medals. You see, after WWII? He was drafted to go fight in Korea.Leon had a twinkle in his eye and smile on his face the entire time as he spoke of the voyages and recollection of the time it was a sea fairer during time of war only to be unlucky enough to have been drafted. Larry was a deck hand who went off to see the world, the taller of two brothers he had a way of leaning back taking a longer view as a taller man does as he looks across the horizon at sea, he spoke of the ports of call and the cargo runs he participated in and was very proud to have served as a Merchant Marine.
Elliot Miller was there, he is a National Service Officer of Amvets and he manned a table full of literature speaking with those who had a need to know.
what we are feeling and for this meeting we rejoiced at the return of our brother to a rightful place among the pantheon of those who served.I heard the voice of the sovereign master say, “Whom will I send? Who will go on our behalf?” 1 I answered, “Here I am, send me!”.
Sestak went on to add good accountable government says to its veterans "Thank You We Owe You" , and that the indignity suffered by past generations would not be tolerated being laid upon this new generation of Veterans to a resounding applause of approval from the attendees gathered in the modern auditorium.
“There is no more important event that we do every year than this one,” Sestak said. “I firmly believe that when a veteran is hurting, a family is hurting. And that the reverse is true. When a veteran is secure, a family is secure. In these challenging economic times, that notion is especially relevant.”
The Congressman went on to recall the statistics and data of the past and held those numbers up against the new GI bill, saying there are 6,000 Pa service members about to return from deployment the largest number since WWII, with 2 million WWII average age 90 yrs old, 2 million Korean era vets at 70-80 yrs old, Vietnam era vets in their late 50’s and 60’s reminding the audience that after Summit II, $375 million was appropriated for veterans benefits and $500,000 more was subsequently secured as well. with the help of Rep. Bob Filner.
Sestak went on to say there was less plentiful jobs available and that the Summit was also created to help address those concerns as well.
"Call us First"
http://sestak.house.gov/
Sestak also appealed to the audience to "Call us First" citing the seven day a week job Bill Walsh and the rest of Sestak’s staff do on behalf of the veterans they serve including Eve Massa, and John Dworkin. And call they did during the public input part of the forum with one veteran expressing his frustration with recent legislation with respect to privacy rules that prohibit persons from making decisions about family matters while those outside of the family circle do?
Another Iraqi Afghanistan era veteran in uniform was angry that certain determinations with respect to benefit ratings were stripped from him and he did not understand how that could happen? Shortly afterward it was observed in real time how several persons in attendance came to him and they began a dialogue to get to the bottom off his issues with out ever having left his seat and for this reporter that is exactly how it should have worked.
A Korean vet stood and spoke of how he was among the ones who were exposed to nuclear tests in the desert during the cold war and that he was hard of hearing due to the detonations there.He too was given special attention and escorted to a law professor waiting in the hall at one of the tables ready to hear what the mans concerns were.
Then Iraqi vet Tim Kilgore stood and explained that he was attending an apprenticeship program that was going to continue for two more years and the old GI Bill and the new GI bill presented decisions as to which one was a better advantage of pluses and minuses and one of the panelists on the stage agreed that there were differences between the two and that he should consider his alternatives with care.
There was an exchange regarding taxes where a question came from the audience about filing dates and actual approval dates of disabled benefits and Sestak deferred to the experts, the vets who had already dealt with the determinations themselves and it took three different members to get to the nitty gritty of the answer showing that the sincere persona of Sestak is not a mask for hubris when he admitted he could not answer the question and in his wisdom turned it over to the cohort. It’s times like this when clues are found as to who we are dealing with on matters of concern and that the truth about who the real person we are listening to is reached, and Sestak showed he is not afraid to admit his shortcoming on a particular matter.
Another man stood and spoke to concerns he had about criminal courts because he felt that dual diagnosis issues of alcohol and substance abuse coupled with mental issues including ptsd did not equate to criminal behavior per se but rather spoke to a social condition that oft times wound the vet thus affected, in criminal court? His concern was responded to with a lively dialogue from the stage by the panelists regarding ‘Veterans Courts’ and the opportunity they present to more justly determine court cases based on mitigating circumstances a better informed court may consider in its deliberations.
And there was a female public relations Air Force Sgt Marva Johnson, at her first Summit who was impressed by the event, in her company were two Airmen one, Stan Hox a C-130 specilaist and the other a senior airman, Ralph Miller a Vietnam veteran, who described his 9 tours into todays war zone and the harrowing landings and take offs that have resulted in bullet holes in aircraft more times than not, and his concerns for the aging air fleet. He spoke highly of the C-17 program and is in favor of the recent order for 8 more of the planes assembled in Long Beach, California.
There was Captain Arthur Jenkins age 43, who thanked the congressman for his support when Jenkins was injured and really needed to know some one was standing behind him, the two were locked in a moment of reflection at the bad old days and happy to see one another during better times.
But I don’t think a more poignant moment occurred until a young wife of a service member who is deployed at this time and not expected to return home till September stood up and asked about concerns that she had with respect to family benefits and you almost heard the rush of peoples concerned thoughts as their attention were drawn to her.
In that moment, the efficacy of putting the family first and all the combined effort of each and every person and organization that worked so hard to bring everyone together to hear what was being said, as the theme of Summit III, was proudly met.
Tomorrow…The Rest of the Story
The panelist’s discuss the changing VA from civil war relic to a modern program that interfaces with DOD, homelessness, jobs, SBA loans and the legal system
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