BVA Executive Director Donald D. Overton, Jr. was quoted in a Washington Post investigative report this week that highlighted the difficulty in keeping fake service animals off planes while at the same time assuring that all legally blind persons with trained guide dogs are allowed to fly. The article reported on the increased difficulty in taking guide dogs onto flights since new Department of Transportation rules took effect in January 2021.  The original intent of […]

As joyous as the Allied celebrations were on Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day), on May 8, 1945, they were rather quickly subdued by the knowledge that war raged on in the Pacific. The battles for Iwo Jima and Okinawa during the first half of 1945 were marked by spectacular carnage, and Americans had to confront the reality that Japan had never surrendered to a foreign power and that no Japanese military unit had yet […]

VA national cemeteries will be the focus of this year’s National Day of Service commemorating the 22nd anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The events will occur at more than 60 national cemeteries and include opportunities for volunteers to clean headstones and participate in other beautification projects. “The sacrifice of generations of Americans who wore the uniform for our country is always on display at our national cemeteries,” said VA Under Secretary for […]

On September 1, 1973, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) incorporated 82 Department of Defense cemeteries and 21 burial grounds to form 103 national cemeteries. The move replaced what was previously called the National Cemetery System with the National Cemetery Administration (NCA). Since then, NCA has opened more than 50 additional national cemeteries and expanded access to them with the Veterans Cemetery Grant Program, supporting state, territory, and tribal cemeteries.  Today, 94 percent of veterans […]

Despite being two weeks behind us in our rearview mirror, activities of the BVA 78th National Convention in St. Louis will not soon be forgotten by those who were part of the historic event. Always there to assist, and seemingly in several places at the same time, was longtime Volunteer Coordinator Margarine Beaman, a mainstay of the conventions since 1992. Margarine’s cadres of volunteers in St. Louis included members of the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville […]

Join BVA’s VetTech Team this Wednesday, September 6, at 2:00pm Eastern Time as the Weekly Wednesday Webinar welcomes Michelle Mendez, National Sales Director for OrCam. Michelle will present the company’s newest offering, the OrCam Read 3, an all-in-one solution for persons with vision loss or reading fatigue. The Read 3 can be used as a customizable, next-generation magnifier for pictures, handwriting, math formulas, and text. It can also serve as a handheld reading companion or […]

The first official government observance of what we now know as Labor Day, now observed always on the first Monday in September, occurred in Oregon when the state passed legislation to officially recognize the holiday in 1887. New York City’s nongovernmental observance five years earlier was initiated by the Central Labor Union. The actions in both cases spurred interest nationally, which spread rapidly until Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894.  “Rosie the Riveter” […]

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Preventing suicide among veterans has been a critical priority for VA throughout the past 20 years. In 2014, an average of 20 veterans died from suicide each day. Between 2001 and 2014, the rate of suicide increased among both veterans and civilians, but the increase was larger among veterans (32 percent) than among adult civilians (23 percent). In addition, the increasing rate of suicide among women veterans prompted Congress […]

In this issue of BVA Happenings, BVA Deputy Director of Government Relations Alek Libbin explains the often-criticized Congressional August recess. John Nance Garner, one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Vice Presidents, said: “No good legislation ever comes out of Washington after June.”  Virtually every year in August, members of Congress leave Capitol Hill and, for all intents and purposes, pause official actions (i.e., hearings, votes, and markups). This does not mean, however, that these legislators […]

Passage and implementation of The Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022 (PACT Act) has made it possible for many veterans to enroll directly in VA health care without first applying for VA benefits. For some, however, the time to apply is running out. There are two related groups with different deadlines.  The PACT Act deadlines are as follows: First, Veterans who deployed to a combat zone, […]