BVA has joined 13 other organizations in support of the Caring for Survivors Act of 2025, legislation reintroduced in the House of Representatives by Representative Jahana Hayes (D-CT-5) on January 23. Hayes introduced an identical bill during the 118th Congress that passed with a voice vote in the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs last April but was not taken up by the full Committee. Representative Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1) […]

Earlier this month, Representatives David Valdao (R-CA-22) and Morgan McGarvey (D-KY-3) reintroduced in the House of Representatives a significant legislative priority for BVA that had lost a portion of its previous momentum by the end of the 118th Congress last December. For nearly two years, BVA has been the catalyst behind proposed legislation that would pave the way for a new Federal Advisory Committee to oversee and work with VA in its efforts to improve […]

BVA joins more than a dozen other Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) in endorsing the Dental Care for Veterans Act, a bill reintroduced this week in the House of Representatives by Representative Julia Brownley (D-CA-26). The bill will be assigned shortly a new number for the current congressional session. The proposed legislation seeks to provide dental services to all veterans enrolled in VA health care, thereby eliminating current statutory eligibility restrictions that limit coverage to veterans […]

February is Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and Low Vision Awareness Month as decreed by Prevent Blindness, the nation’s leading eye health and safety nonprofit organization. AMD is one of the common causes of low vision, alongside diabetes and glaucoma. Increasing recognition of AMD recognizes the condition as an eye disease that impairs central vision and may appear in two forms, wet AMD and dry AMD. Releasing accurate information about AMD and low vision is important […]

Senate lawmakers this week voted to confirm the first ever post-9/11 veteran, former Georgia Representative Doug Collins, as the new Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Collins tallied the second widest number of bipartisan votes of any President Donald J. Trump nominee thus far with 77-23 in his favor. Only Marco Rubio’s 99-0 confirmation as Secretary of State was more decisive to this point. The 58-year-old Collins served in Congress from 2013 to 2021 after service in […]

January 21, 2025, will forever be known as an official Snow Day in Southern Mississippi after a record-breaking winter storm dumped seven inches of snow along the Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida. The icy road conditions and snow accumulation resulted in a three-day shutdown of the VA Gulf Coast Blind Rehabilitation Center (BRC) in Biloxi, Mississippi.  Several BVA members rode out the “once-in-blue-moon storm” with nurses and staff who were identified as part of […]

Winter 2025 has, to this point, been a colder and harsher season than the winters of recent years, at least in and around BVA National Headquarters in the Mid-Atlantic region of the country. Could the elements be tempered somewhat and bring an early spring? For an answer, check in with the semi-mythical, legendary groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil. He will be awakened early on Groundhog Day, February 2, to view, or perhaps fail to view, his […]

This Monday, February 3, marks the 82nd anniversary of the sinking of the United States Army Transport (USAT) Dorchester at the height of World War II.  Four Chaplains Day commemorates numerous legendary acts of heroism by four U.S. Army Chaplains who found themselves together onboard, all representing different faiths but united in purpose. In all likelihood but still not entirely certain, the feats of the four Chaplains consumed little more than an hour aboard the […]

The BVA Auxiliary (BVAA) Scholarship Committee has reinstated the organization’s annual scholarship program to benefit spouses and generational children (child, grandchild, great-grandchild) of current or deceased BVA members. Effective for semesters during 2025-26, two $2,000 Feldman awards and one valued at $1,500 are open to full-time students enrolled in 12 or more credit hours during the academic year at an accredited vocational and/or technical school, community college, college, or university. The applications are available via […]

February is recognized and observed annually as Black History Month. Throughout the month, the National Veterans Memorial and Museum in Columbus, Ohio, is sharing the experiences, challenges and triumphs of Black American veterans by telling their stories. The memorial and museum honor these veterans for their courage, sacrifice, and perseverance, and thanks them for preserving American freedoms. African American veterans fought our country’s wars even when they had to battle for the right to do […]