News Blog

LVMAC Tidbits

Judith’s Reading Room Helps Veterans Sanctuary As an extension of one of its ongoing efforts, which is support our troops with books to read,  Judith’s Reading Room is donating to Veterans Sanctuary a custom designed mobile library stocked with books Read more…

LVMAC Tidbits

Band of Brothers Seeks Support for a “Tribute to the Troops” Garden

President Christopher Posch of the Band of Brothers veterans group at Northampton Community College, a member organization of LVMAC, announced at the September Council meeting that his organization is raising funds for a “Tribute to the Troops” section in the Tribute Garden at the main campus site. (more…)

LVMAC Tidbits

18 April….Crayola Factory Family Day Camp….Sponsored by the PNG Children & Youth Program…..Many activities throughout the day….To register visit http://www.jointservicessupport.org/events/kioskRegistration.aspx?Mode=AddNew&ld-bd7eaaf6-0722-4b71-99b2-647a90fdbb36 or you can call the PNG Child & Youth Program @ 717.861.6289 22 April…….Keystone Wounded Warriors Day @ Hershey park.  the park Read more…

LVMAC News — Keystone Wounded Warriors Introduce Themselves

Council Speaker:  On 21 September 2011, Captain Samuel Johnson, USMC – who is assigned as an Instructor-Inspector to the newly relocated 150 personnel Battery I, 3-14 Regiment of Artillery (155 mm) which closed on the Lehigh Valley’s Navy-Marine Corps Reserve Center from Reading on 15 September – spoke to the Council on the origins and initiatives of the Keystone Wounded Warriors, a new nonprofit, charitable 501(c)(3) organization incorporated  in October of 2010 and just beginning to operate in the Lehigh Valley. (more…)

LVMAC Tidbits

Trout Unlimited – Hokendauqua Is Having Another Event for Injured Veterans Trout Unlimited’s Hokendauqua has arranged for its third Project Healing Water Fly Fishing event of the season to occur on 8 October just upstream of the Robin Hood Dell Read more…

LVMAC Tidbits

TTI’s “Supporting the Homefront”  has Launched A groundbreaking new program for the families of deploying and deployed military members and returned veterans has just become available in the Lehigh Valley beginning 27 September on Tuesday evenings. “Supporting the Homefront” offers Read more…

LVMAC Tidbits

Understanding Travel Reimbursement for VHA Health Care

We have had a number of inquiries regarding VA travel reimbursement.  The information sheet provided below should answer most questions.

1.  PURPOSE:    To explain travel reimbursement for VHA health care as it applies to veterans and their families.

2.  ELIGIBILTY FOR TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT*: (more…)

LVMAC News

Speaker:  On 17 August, BG (PA) Michael Gould, the Deputy Adjutant General for Veterans Affairs in the Commonwealth, spoke to the council.  He explained that most states have a Secretary of Veterans Affairs but in this state the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs has the responsibility.  He is one of three deputies and serves at the pleasure of the Governor, though he sees his responsibility is in serving first the veterans.

His Office of Veterans Affairs is primarily consumed with the operation of six state veterans homes, requiring some 1800 employees.  Its other functional responsibilities, in comparison, are relatively small.  For example, the Office of Veterans Affairs has three small field offices of veterans service officers located in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Ft. Indiantown Gap which file VA claims on behalf of veterans and work in confederation with the County Directors of Veterans Affairs.

This does not mean he is not busy.  He has an open door policy for any veteran and has traveled approximately 63,000 miles on veterans business in the last year.

General Gould pointed out that his office manages six benefits programs, such as a paralyzed veteran pension and an emergency assistance fund, to the tune of $1 million but these touch only 1 to 2 per cent of the state’s veterans and as constituted are mostly redundant, considering the federal programs available for the same purposes.

He believes changes are necessary in his office (more…)

LVMAC Tidbits — Review of Medical Separations

DoD Physical Disability Board of Review is Reviewing Medical Retirement Ratings

Share this with the younger veterans you encounter. It may be old news, but it is worth repeating.

Roughly 70,000 vet­er­ans rated at less than 30% disability and given a  med­ical sep­a­ra­tion between Sep­tem­ber 11, 2001 and Decem­ber 31, 2009 now have the chance to get their sep­a­ra­tions reviewed and pos­si­bly upgraded to a “med­ical retire­ment” status.  This could mean thou­sands in added ben­e­fits for dis­abled vet­er­ans who were orig­i­nally denied a mil­i­tary retire­ment.  The review is being con­ducted by the Phys­i­cal Dis­abil­ity Board of Review.  It will exam­ine each applicant’s med­ical sep­a­ra­tion records and make a rec­om­men­da­tion to the respec­tive  Ser­vice Sec­re­tary based on its find­ings. (more…)

LVMAC Tidbits

VA Creates Office of Economic Opportunity

The Vietnam Veterans of America’s (VVA) Newsletter of July/August 2011 reports it has long pressed for the creation of  a Veterans Economic Opportunity Administration, a fourth administration under the Department of Veterans Affairs — the others being the Veterans Benefits, Veterans Health, and National Cemetery Administrations.  The Department of Veterans Affairs has now created an Office of Economic Opportunity. The education, home loan guarantee, vocational rehabilitation programs are now to be under one roof. (more…)