Registration for The American Legion Legacy Run, August 22-26, 2010, is now open. You can find the 2010 registration/waiver form at www.legion.org/riders/legacy, or contact legionriders@legion.org.
This year the Legacy Run will travel approximate 1350 miles from Indianapolis to the convention city of Milwaukee.
The final 2010 route, looping to the west from Indianapolis before turning north and back east into Wisconsin and the Milwaukee area, will be finalized and announced in the Spring of 2010.
Register early to be placed back into your 2009 groupings.
As a special treat in 2010, we will be joined by a group of Royal British Legion Riders, who will travel from Great Britain to be a part of our annual run. To learn more about the RBLR, visit their website at www.rblr.co.uk
See you all in late summer!
AWACS
Friday, December 18, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Marine Corps vet encourages wounded warriors
Klay South prowls the hallways of Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, visiting wounded warriors and making life a bit easier for them. Some patients are amputees, some severely burned. Others are scarred and disfigured by torso or facial wounds. South, a Marine Corps veteran, isn’t motivated by sympathy. He relates to these troops because of his own combat experience.
On Veterans Day 2004, during the first battle of Fallujah, South was struck in the face and leg by bullets fired from an insurgent’s AK-47 rifle. A field tracheotomy saved his life, and since then he’s endured more than 40 surgeries and procedures to reconstruct his face. When he visits wounded warriors, he knows their pain. He can look them in the eyes and honestly tell them that life will get better.
South, 33, is the founder of Veterans of Valor, a nonprofit organization formed to help meet the needs of severely wounded servicemembers with specific items, services and programs. During his hospital visits, South distributes hundreds of backpacks with iPods or Sony PlayStations, zip-up hoodies, breakaway pants and other items. Each backpack is valued at more than $500.
“I know what these brave men and women are going through,” said South, after visiting a double-amputee patient. “I have a titanium jaw. I lost 22 teeth and 20 percent of my tongue. Physical recovery is sometimes easier than the mental or emotional aspects of healing. I want them to think down the road, not about their current condition. Things will get better. I’ve survived the journey, and they will, too.”
Besides hospital visits, South invites wounded warriors, their families and caregivers to an evening away from the hospital. During his San Antonio visit, 700 servicemembers and guests enjoyed food, games and camaraderie at a Dave & Buster’s restaurant. Eighty members of the Texas American Legion, Auxiliary and Sons of The American Legion volunteered to pair up with wounded servicemembers and help in any way they could – even if it meant just listening.
Delegates at The American Legion’s 91st National Convention in Louisville, Ky., unanimously passed Resolution 108 to support the Veterans of Valor program.
“It’s ‘game on’ with The American Legion family,” said South, watching Texas Legion volunteers interacting with wounded Marines and soldiers. “I am amazed at the turnout of Texas Legionnaires on such short notice. Legionnaires want to do something. It’s what the Legion is all about.”
South said he’s also grateful that members from his own Legion home – Post 252 in Greenwood, Ind., along with two other Indiana posts in Carmel and Speedway – donated money and materials.
To learn more about the program, visit www.veteransofvalor.org.
On Veterans Day 2004, during the first battle of Fallujah, South was struck in the face and leg by bullets fired from an insurgent’s AK-47 rifle. A field tracheotomy saved his life, and since then he’s endured more than 40 surgeries and procedures to reconstruct his face. When he visits wounded warriors, he knows their pain. He can look them in the eyes and honestly tell them that life will get better.
South, 33, is the founder of Veterans of Valor, a nonprofit organization formed to help meet the needs of severely wounded servicemembers with specific items, services and programs. During his hospital visits, South distributes hundreds of backpacks with iPods or Sony PlayStations, zip-up hoodies, breakaway pants and other items. Each backpack is valued at more than $500.
“I know what these brave men and women are going through,” said South, after visiting a double-amputee patient. “I have a titanium jaw. I lost 22 teeth and 20 percent of my tongue. Physical recovery is sometimes easier than the mental or emotional aspects of healing. I want them to think down the road, not about their current condition. Things will get better. I’ve survived the journey, and they will, too.”
Besides hospital visits, South invites wounded warriors, their families and caregivers to an evening away from the hospital. During his San Antonio visit, 700 servicemembers and guests enjoyed food, games and camaraderie at a Dave & Buster’s restaurant. Eighty members of the Texas American Legion, Auxiliary and Sons of The American Legion volunteered to pair up with wounded servicemembers and help in any way they could – even if it meant just listening.
Delegates at The American Legion’s 91st National Convention in Louisville, Ky., unanimously passed Resolution 108 to support the Veterans of Valor program.
“It’s ‘game on’ with The American Legion family,” said South, watching Texas Legion volunteers interacting with wounded Marines and soldiers. “I am amazed at the turnout of Texas Legionnaires on such short notice. Legionnaires want to do something. It’s what the Legion is all about.”
South said he’s also grateful that members from his own Legion home – Post 252 in Greenwood, Ind., along with two other Indiana posts in Carmel and Speedway – donated money and materials.
To learn more about the program, visit www.veteransofvalor.org.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
President Obama visits with Legion National Commander David K. Rehbein
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VA healthcare will not be endangered by national system, says President Obama
Promise made during private meeting with National Commander of The American Legion
WASHINGTON (Aug. 4, 2009) – President Obama, meeting privately with the leader of nation’s largest veterans service organization this morning, pledged to keep the medical care system administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs essentially as is – quelling fears that VA healthcare would be absorbed into a national health care system.
“(I) got his very strong assurance the VA as our veterans know it will continue to exist,” said National Commander David K. Rehbein. “It will not be diluted or folded into some sort of national system and that the folks who go to the VA…that will be considered their insurance, so any insurance requirements (will be met) simply by being enrolled in the VA.”
Another topic discussed during the one-on-one meeting in the Oval Office was Medicare reimbursement to the VA, a proposal long championed by The American Legion. This proposed practice would require Medicare to pay for care provided at Department VA medical facilities to Medicare beneficiaries – that is, eligible veterans over the age of 65 with non-service related injuries, illnesses and conditions. Currently, Medicare is precluded by statute from doing this.
“Medicare reimbursement to VA would be a boon to veterans in that it would encourage them to take advantage of what we consider the best care anywhere,” said Rehbein. It would also generate much-needed revenue for the VA.” The “Medicare VA Reimbursement Act of 2009” resulted from a discussion Rehbein had with House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) at the Legion’s DC headquarters just three weeks ago. “I am pleased that Chairman Filner visited with us and then took prompt action,” Rehbein said.
Obama and Rehbein also discussed the positive effects that the enhanced educational benefits contained within the newly enacted and American Legion-pioneered Post 9/11 GI Bill will have on the veterans community and the nation as a whole.
The vexing problem of a dramatically growing backlog of VA benefits claims was also considered by the two. Rehbein said he feels the president “fully appreciates” its gravity and will do what he can to aid in its solution.
Rehbein, obviously pleased with the meeting’s outcome, characterized the 25-minute White House chat as “very friendly…conversational in style” in which “issues were discussed rather than positions being presented.”
With a current membership of 2.5 million wartime veterans, The American Legion was founded in 1919 on the four pillars of a strong national security, veterans affairs, Americanism, and the mentoring of youth. Legionnaires work for the betterment of their communities through more than 14,000 posts across the nation.
-30-
Media contacts: Craig Roberts, (202) 263-2982, Cell (202) 406-088 or Joe March, (317) 630-1253; Cell (317) 748-1926. A high resolution photo of Nat. Cmdr. Rehbein is available at www.legion.org.
VA healthcare will not be endangered by national system, says President Obama
Promise made during private meeting with National Commander of The American Legion
WASHINGTON (Aug. 4, 2009) – President Obama, meeting privately with the leader of nation’s largest veterans service organization this morning, pledged to keep the medical care system administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs essentially as is – quelling fears that VA healthcare would be absorbed into a national health care system.
“(I) got his very strong assurance the VA as our veterans know it will continue to exist,” said National Commander David K. Rehbein. “It will not be diluted or folded into some sort of national system and that the folks who go to the VA…that will be considered their insurance, so any insurance requirements (will be met) simply by being enrolled in the VA.”
Another topic discussed during the one-on-one meeting in the Oval Office was Medicare reimbursement to the VA, a proposal long championed by The American Legion. This proposed practice would require Medicare to pay for care provided at Department VA medical facilities to Medicare beneficiaries – that is, eligible veterans over the age of 65 with non-service related injuries, illnesses and conditions. Currently, Medicare is precluded by statute from doing this.
“Medicare reimbursement to VA would be a boon to veterans in that it would encourage them to take advantage of what we consider the best care anywhere,” said Rehbein. It would also generate much-needed revenue for the VA.” The “Medicare VA Reimbursement Act of 2009” resulted from a discussion Rehbein had with House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) at the Legion’s DC headquarters just three weeks ago. “I am pleased that Chairman Filner visited with us and then took prompt action,” Rehbein said.
Obama and Rehbein also discussed the positive effects that the enhanced educational benefits contained within the newly enacted and American Legion-pioneered Post 9/11 GI Bill will have on the veterans community and the nation as a whole.
The vexing problem of a dramatically growing backlog of VA benefits claims was also considered by the two. Rehbein said he feels the president “fully appreciates” its gravity and will do what he can to aid in its solution.
Rehbein, obviously pleased with the meeting’s outcome, characterized the 25-minute White House chat as “very friendly…conversational in style” in which “issues were discussed rather than positions being presented.”
With a current membership of 2.5 million wartime veterans, The American Legion was founded in 1919 on the four pillars of a strong national security, veterans affairs, Americanism, and the mentoring of youth. Legionnaires work for the betterment of their communities through more than 14,000 posts across the nation.
-30-
Media contacts: Craig Roberts, (202) 263-2982, Cell (202) 406-088 or Joe March, (317) 630-1253; Cell (317) 748-1926. A high resolution photo of Nat. Cmdr. Rehbein is available at www.legion.org.
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