Funeral with Full Honors for Slain homeless U S veteran and three other homeless or indigent veterans

Scenes from an effort to recover some dignity for U.S. military veterans who fell on hard times and died in South Florida. A funeral with full honors was held Saturday Jan. 24 at American Legion Post 29 in Miami to memorialize five veterans including one, Ernest Holman, 67, a Vietnam veteran found beaten to death behind a bus bench on Nov. 17, 2008. The others were homeless or indigent vets.

Calling all Veterans

Miami-Dade Democrats have a new sub-organization, the veterans committee. It had its organizational meeting a few weeks ago, and last night a core group met again to discuss next steps. The chair is Lettie J. Bien, a retired Army Reserve colonel and Iraq War veteran, and she’d like to hear from you, especially if you’re a veteran and member of the Democratic Executive Committee. Those who aren’t veterans but want to be active in veterans’ affairs are also welcome to join the committee. Send your contact info to her at ljbesq-at-aol.com.

We are meeting on second Mondays. Notice I said we there. I’m a veteran, too – 40 years ago I was a recently mustered-out veteran of a year in Vietnam as a rifle platoon leader’s radio operator.

Committee mission: to represent the Democratic Party to veterans, and to represent veterans to the Democratic Party.

While thinking veterans: In Tuesday’s Miami Herald the op-ed page has a reminder that Sen. McWar – I mean John McCain – hasn’t had time to decide whether to support the bipartisan new GI Bill. Authors Wesley K. Clark and Jon Solz of VoteVets.org point out that McCain, for all the power he gets from his military service, is far from a leader in taking care of veterans.

I’m guessing that he has drunk the White House Kool-Aid, which is summarized in this op-ed as follows:

The White House has voiced concern about the bill, arguing that if returning troops are offered a good education, they will choose college over extending their service. This is as offensive as it is absurd.

Well said.

Strong line to use on Sen. McWar

Being a veteran, I get stuff in my inbox like this.



That is, being a Veteran for Peace ...

A great way to help wounded vets

Thanks to DailyKos for giving this story prominence today: an organization that helps wounded veterans get back into useful and fulfilling lives.

Here's a snip from the story:

There are men and women out there who feel they are only approached to be put on a pedestal or used as props. If you want to thank a veteran for their service, offer them a job. Give them a chance to apply their skills, work ethic and values to the civilian workforce. Let them have the opportunities to take care of their families. They’re not looking for sympathy; they just want to contribute to the society they fought for. If you are a veteran with a disability from any branch of the military who is returning from Operation Enduring Freedom or Operation Iraqi Freedom, Hire Heroes USA is here for you. -- Sgt. Justin Callahan, 10th Mountain Division.