The month of June is PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) Awareness Month. PTSD is a trauma and stress-related disorder that some people develop after seeing or living through an event that caused or threatened serious harm or death. PTSD may result in sleep problems, irritability, anger, recurrent dreams about the trauma, intense reactions to reminders of the trauma, disturbances in relationships, and isolation.  Although there is no clear or consistent timeline for manifestations of PTSD or […]

Leela on the Beach with Larry Harper My name is Leela and, as Nora barked last week, I am honored to guide my dad Larry Harper, a BVA Member from Brandon, Mississippi. I am also honored to have been selected as the Ambassadog for the month of June. Although I will have plenty to say throughout this month, I must toss the frisbee back to Nora for a report on what was a life-changing week […]

Left to right, current and former officers of the Louisiana/Mississippi Regional Group: Gary Schoelerman, Shawntina Gibson, Raquel Welch. On May 22, the City of Pass Christian and its community leaders sponsored Carry the Load, a four-mile veterans’ walk that was part of the national Memorial Day Carry the Load initiative. The walk consisted of 50 veterans, friends, and families. Pass Christian is a town of approximately 6,500 on the Mississippi Gulf Coast within the Gulfport-Biloxi […]

A special pre-convention Rules and Credentials Town Hall overview will be held next Thursday, June 13, at 2:00pm Eastern Time. The meeting is the first of three business sessions to be held virtually before the in-person convention. All BVA members are invited to attend next week’s meeting via Zoom regardless of plans for attending the convention in person. The discussion will cover the rules and procedures for conducting the business of the 79th National Convention. […]

Carol Coney and Lawrence Harrison, both members of the BVA Mid-Atlantic Regional Group who reside in Washington, DC, joined other Association members and their families throughout the country who paused on Memorial Day to remember the ultimate sacrifice of the hundreds of thousands of men and women who have given their lives to preserve the nation’s freedoms. Accompanied by sighted guides Kathryn Coney-Ali (daughter) and Stan Wright (Pastor), Carol and Lawrence carried the U.S. flag […]

Blind and low vision veterans from several areas of the eastern United States attended a disaster preparedness workshop this past week at the Washington, DC, VA Medical Center. The event, presented by the American Red Cross, was jointly sponsored and arranged by the Visual Impairment Services Outpatient Rehabilitation (VISOR) Team at the Medical Center and the BVA Mid-Atlantic Regional Group (MARG). Chad Main, Red Cross Virginia Regional Preparedness Program Lead, connected with BVA Happenings to […]

VA now offers genetic testing that can reduce medication side effects and the trial-and-error process of trying different drugs in varying doses. VA’s National Pharmacogenomics (PGx) Program is the largest drug-gene-interaction testing program in the country and helps predict how veterans may respond to different medications.  There are specific genes linked to how a body processes or responds to specific medications and VA doctors and pharmacists can now order these genetic tests and use the […]

Please join us on Wednesday, May 22, at 2:00pm Eastern Time for the next in a series of BVA National Convention virtual Town Halls. The upcoming meeting, accessible via Zoom, will provide BVA members, families, and friends with the latest news and information to assist them in the planning process. Specifically, attendees will be provided with the following: Overview of the 79th National Convention, including important dates, events, and registration. Explanation of available offsite activities courtesy […]

It isn’t too late to sign up to “Carry The Load” and be a part of the 20,000-mile cross-country trek honoring the men and women who have died while serving in the U.S. military and interred in VA National Cemeteries. The march occurs throughout May, traveling through 34 cemeteries along five separate routes covering 48 states in what is known as the National Relay for Memorial Day 2024.  VA’s National Cemetery Administration is partnering with […]

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Health and Benefits mobile application puts VA information and resources at veterans’ fingertips via their smartphones—anywhere, anytime. The capabilities of the app include, but are not limited to, the viewing and canceling of health care appointments, refilling and tracking VA-dispensed prescriptions, checking on claims and appeals status, uploading documentation to VA, obtaining vaccine records, sending a message to a doctor, locating a VA facility, and accessing the Veterans Crisis […]