Celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial by taking part in The American Legion’s USA 250 Challenge. Your participation, whether as an individual or part of a team, helps honor our veterans and uplift communities nationwide while promoting physical fitness, mental wellness, and community service.
See Link for Details: https://www.legion.org/get-involved/community-programs/usa250/challenge
My fellow Legionnaires (and any other Veterans reading this),
The following info is from the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), who along with MOAA, VFW, VVA, and the American Legion have pushed for the VA to be more involved with caring for VETs who have been /are suffering from illnesses resulting from their service even 70 years ago! As a 100% rated Disabled Vet arising from my AO poisoning in South East Asia (SEA) including Viet Nam (VN), I want to share this DAV article with you, especially my fellow VN/SEA brother and sister vets. I hope you will go to the links, read the info in them, and make sure you have filed with VA for the benefits and health care you are owed.
I urge the same to my fellow Vets from later conflicts, since daily we hear about problems occuring in our vets who served in the Gulf Wars and SWA. The VA is in a better position today than it has ever been to help you get your benefits and health care, so file your claims ASAP!!
“Today (10 Aug) is Agent Orange Awareness Day — a day to raise awareness about the harmful effects of Agent Orange and acknowledge the many veterans who were exposed to this toxic chemical while serving our country.
“DAV and the Military Officers Association of America’s (MOAA) groundbreaking report, Ending the Wait for Toxic-Exposed Veterans, revealed that for toxic-exposed veterans — many of them suffering life-threatening diseases — it has taken an average of 34.1 years to receive access to the full range of health care and benefits they earned and urgently need. For Alfred “Al” Lewis, it took six decades.
Al retired as a master sergeant in 1981 and filed VA claims for hearing loss due to a mortar and rocket attack and other injuries sustained in service. Then, after suffering a heart attack, DAV helped Al secure benefits for a heart condition.
But it wasn’t until after [Congress passed] the Honoring our PACT Act in 2022, which expanded benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances, that Al was finally able to get the full benefits he’d earned for his health conditions caused by Agent Orange exposure.”
Follow link to view report: Ending the Wait for Toxic-Exposed Veterans
Chuck Loomis
Past Commander
The American Legion
Leonard W. Kidd Memorial Post 2001
Ashburn, VA
Mailing Address:
Leonard W. Kidd Memorial
American Legion Post 2001
20130 Lakeview Center Plaza Suite 400
Ashburn, VA 20147
Meeting Location:
(2nd Thursday of Every Month)
Ashburn Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department (AVFRD)
20688 Ashburn Road
Ashburn, VA 20147