Some of the 'Services' and 'Programs we have available
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180 W. Idaho Ave, Ontario, Oregon 97914
541-889-1978
The Chairman of Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida, Ronald Verini, writes two articles every month for publication in a Regional Newspaper, this "DON'T TELL ME THAT" will be published DECEMBER 4, 2022. Here is a part of Mr. Verini's article, and you can read the full article by clicking the red bar below.
Don’t Tell Me That…
Dec. 4th, 2022 Veterans Column by Ronald Verini
Another lie and I will explode. Don’t tell me that I am not able to get care for an injury that I had because of my service. Don’t tell me that I have to wait. Don’t tell me I missed the date to sign up for help. Don’t tell me I am having flashbacks of my service and I don’t have the proper paperwork. Don’t tell me that I cannot get help getting to the VA Hospital because I smell bad (I smell bad because I am homeless) and the others in the vehicle will not like it. Don’t tell me because I am in a wheelchair, I can’t get transportation to the VA. Don’t tell me another thing that you will not do for me because of some lame excuse of government rules. Don’t tell me I have to fill out forms on a computer, I don’t have a computer. Don’t tell me I can’t get a meal, I am hungry. I was evicted. Then the other day I was talking with a veteran and I heard these words that I have heard too many times before: “I am about ready to kill myself”.
The above comments are some I have gotten over the years since Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida was started in 2008 here in Ontario. I am sure these comments occur in many locations like the VSO, American Legion, VFW, DAV and even the VA. There is help for mostly everyone of these comments with few exceptions. The few that are missed or not caught in time have (I am sure) caused the death and suffering of some of our men/women that have served and are serving today.
Not one of the organizations that help veterans have all the answers. Some have more ways to help than others but the challenges of help for our veteran and active-duty military and their families is a vast system that takes much in the way of money, individuals, equipment, locations, transportation, knowledge, passion and a host of other things to make the help needed get to the right person when needed. It does not happen with a touch of a button or turn of a switch. Help occurs when someone takes the time to listen. Actually, hear what the person is saying and then take the time to find a solution. Time is a valuable commodity and is a very important component of the help process.
Our community here in the Western Treasure Valley is very fortunate to have many agencies that are able to help but are still lacking in ways to understand the unique challenges of our military and veterans.
. TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE PLEASE CLICK THE RED BAR BELOW
HOW TO CONNECT WITH A RESPONDER
1-800-273-8255
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Connect with the Veterans Crisis Line to reach caring, qualified responders with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Many of them are Veterans themselves.
November 2022 by Rachel Nostrant, Observation Post
With the question-and-answer portion of the on-Broadway Arts in the Armed Forces event drawing to a close on Nov. 7, an Army explosive ordinance disposal veteran stood and gripped the microphone. His voice and hands were shaking.
The veteran, who did not give his name, turned to Star Wars actor and Marine Corps veteran Adam Driver, who was sitting in the wing of the theater, and thanked him and the event’s cast for what the organization and the evening had given him.
His best friend had been killed during his last deployment, he said, and seeing “Larry” — a character portraying a Marine home from war — address the violence inside of himself on stage struck a chord within the former EOD technician.
“I didn’t deal with [my emotions] until I saw Mr. Driver’s TEDTalk,” he said. “So, I decided to get into acting because therapy wasn’t working. ... I found out that I do have emotions besides being angry all the time. And so, seeing that TEDTalk did change my life. ... You did have a positive impact on my life.”
The veteran also shared that after finding an outlet in the arts to address feelings and trauma, he had pulled himself together and recently filmed his own work in Los Angeles.
Every year, the non-profit organization run by Driver and his wife, actor Joanne Tucker, provides active duty, reserve, veteran and other military-affiliated personnel the chance to experience theatre professionals on Broadway.
This year’s production featured playwright James Ijames’ Pulitzer Prize winning reinvigoration of one of Shakespeare’s most famous works with a showing of “Fat Ham.” The play follows Juicy, “a queer Southern college kid” grappling with the recent death of his father and the subsequent impact on his personal identity and sense of family and responsibility.
October 2022
The Food Pantry at Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida has really expanded and grown over the last few years. There has been such an increase of our Veteran and Military Families needing help to handle the increasing problems of 'food insecurity'. We do have a 'modest' pantry open every Monday and Thursday from 9:00am to 4:00pm. Give a call to 541-889-1978 to let us know you are coming to pick up Food Box. Please let us know how many in your family and about when your coming.
Also, if you are interested in volunteering to help our veterans and the Food Pantry please give us a call or come on in and see what we are doing...
What is the White House VA Hotline?
The hotline’s pilot began under direction of the Veterans Experience Office on June 1, 2017, and entered phase two on October 15, 2017.
White House VA Hotline: 1-855-948-2311.
Calls are answered by a live agent 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The hotline is staffed by more than 60 agents who have had extensive training on VA programs and services. Most of these agents are a Veteran, military family member, caregiver or a survivor.
The White House VA Hotline conducts immediate warm hand offs for at-crisis risk Veterans needing the services of the Veterans Crisis Line.
Trends identified by the hotline will be used to rapidly respond to systemic inefficiencies and empower VA employees to resolve Veteran concerns quickly.
AUGUST 2022, By Jim Absher, Military.com
There are potentially hundreds of VA benefits and military benefits available to active duty members, veterans, and their dependents. We know it can be confusing to know exactly what you may be eligible for.
You may have heard from a friend of a friend that her cousin got a free car from the VA, or you may be fed up with trying to navigate all the confusing websites trying to figure out what is real, or you may just be looking for information to help out a family member.
Whatever your situation is, we have compiled an extensive list of all the real and true benefits available for veterans and their families. These benefits can include free medical care, discounted hotel rooms, free hunting and fishing licenses, medical care, job training and more. Check our list of benefits available to you below:
Benefits for the spouse of a veteran
Benefits for the spouse of a disabled veteran
Benefits for the spouse of a retiree
Medically retired veteran benefits
Military benefits are always changing. Keep up with everything from pay to health care by subscribing to Military.com, and get access to up-to-date pay charts and more with all latest benefits delivered straight to your inbox.
Related Topics: Veteran Benefits Family and Spouse Military Retirement
A new initiative is seeking out the voices of America’s military-connected caregiving youth to further shine a light on the experiences of “hidden helpers” — children living with and serving wounded, ill or injured service members and veterans.
Children and young adults are asked to submit their stories in the way they want to tell them — through writing, drawing, film, photography or other means. It’s the beginning of the “Untold Story Challenge,” launched by the History Channel and A&E Networks in partnership with the Elizabeth Dole Foundation. The final form of the project hasn’t yet been determined, as officials are intentionally keeping it very broad, said Rashi Venkataraman Romanoff, executive vice president of the Dole Foundation, which oversees the Hidden Helpers Coalition.
The idea is to give these children a voice because “these families aren’t readily seen,” she said. “But it’s also giving kids the opportunities to see themselves in the stories of others.”
To submit materials, visit hiddenheroes.org/untoldstory. The deadline for these initial entries is Jan. 20, and winners and prizes will be announced in April. But the portal will remain open to encourage more stories, officials said. Military and veteran children and young adults age 24 and under are eligible.
The coalition, which was launched a year ago at the White House, is a partnership with First Lady Jill Biden’s Joining Forces Initiative, the Dole Foundation and Wounded Warrior Project in response to a study that highlighted concerns about the 2.3 million children and young adults who are military and veteran caregivers.
The number of veterans elected to Congress will increase next session, only the third time that has happened in the past five decades.
As of Wednesday afternoon, 79 veterans had won House or Senate races in the congressional midterm elections. Another 12 veterans currently serving in the Senate were not up for reelection this year. One undecided race — the New York 22nd congressional district — features two veterans running against each other.
That’s a total of 92 veterans who will serve in the 118th Congress when it convenes in January, one more than at the start of the 117th Congress two years ago. And with more than 20 congressional races still undecided, the number could rise even higher in coming days, perhaps approaching 100 veterans.
“While this seems like a moderate uptick, it represents a profound and very positive shift in America’s relationship with its veterans,” said Seth Lynn, a University of San Francisco adjunct professor and founder of Veterans Campaign, which studies the participation and impact of veterans in public office.
“Having veterans in Congress has been shown to significantly affect how the country conducts foreign policy, and military experience is especially crucial as the world is becoming increasingly dangerous and complicated.”
The increase this cycle in the number of Congress members with military service is largely due to the low place they started — the number of veterans in America has declined steadily over the past five decades — and a resurgence in the number of younger veterans running for office.
Since the all-volunteer force was instituted in 1973, the total of Americans who served in the Armed Forces has decreased steadily. In 1980, about one in every eight American citizens had served in the military, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. By 2020, that figure was closer to one in every 17 American citizens.
The makeup of Congress has reflected that.
In 1973, a total of 401 veterans were serving in House and Senate — 75% of all the seats in both chambers. By 1995, that number was down to 213. It dropped below 100 for the first time in 2013.
November 2022 By Patricia Kime & Rebecca Kheel - Military.com
This is the second article in a three-part series on the epidemic of traumatic brain injury among those who served. Read part one here.
It was 2009 at the Pentagon, and a group of military doctors and civilian experts was having a fight in front of two of the top generals in the U.S. military.
ALSO MORE ON THIS SUBJECT FROM CONGRESSMAN BRIAN MAST -
Every servicemember knows that one split second on the battlefield can impact the rest of his or her life. Risk is an inherent part of being in the military, and every man and woman who signs on the dotted line understands that.
One of the biggest risks is traumatic brain injury. These invisible injuries can have short-term and long-term impacts, including things like degraded readiness, loss of operational capability and an overall decreased quality of life.
That is why in 2018, I voted for the Traumatic Brain Injury Program Reauthorization Act. President Trump signed the bill into law, which authorizes government agencies to monitor, collect and analyze data regarding concussion and other traumatic brain injuries.
Thankfully, the Pentagon is also stepping up.
Recently, the Pentagon published a plan for its Department of Defense Warfighter Brain Health Initiative, which aims to prevent, identify and treat brain damage caused not only by combat, but by repeated shakes and blasts during training.
There is still more work to be done to prevent traumatic brain injury and I will continue to fight in Congress for veterans so that no servicemember who agrees to the risk is left to deal with the consequences on his or her own.
Share This: https://mast.house.gov/2022/10/pentagon-plans-to-combat-traumatic-brain-injury
November 2022 By Patricia Kime & Rebecca Kheel, Military.com
Warning: This story includes discussion of suicidal ideation and suicides.
He had endured many tough days with a fog descending on his brain -- fumbling for words, forgetting the reason he left his house, hellish nightmares.
But this was different.
Army Spc. Daniel Williams had barricaded himself inside a bathroom of his home with a loaded .45. Less than a year after seeing combat in Iraq. Williams, who had been trained by the service to detect and destroy weapons of mass destruction, sat in the cramped space, his broad shoulders slumped forward in defeat.
Fury had given way to despair. The anger over the loss of a friend to a roadside bomb, frustration at the growing blanks in his memory, and rage at an Army that couldn't get him a psych appointment for six months all collapsed into a burning desire to just make the pain stop.
As Williams' wife pounded on the door, visions of his future faded from view. The physical pain from his injuries -- a torn shoulder, busted back and relentless migraines -- was omnipresent, but the mental fallout from the blast was what moved Williams to put the pistol in his mouth and pull the trigger.
Click.
No bang, just his wife's continued begging and the door splintering open as police officers busted through and grabbed the gun.
They thrust the burly, 6-foot-3-inch soldier into the tub and handcuffed him. After the chaos subsided, one of the officers took the weapon from the house. When he attempted to clear the gun of ammunition, it went off.
"The same round that refused to kill me went off perfectly for him," Williams testified before Congress nearly a decade later...
14 Oct 2022 Military.com | By Blake Stilwell
When "Thank you for your service" usually comes from a well-meaning civilian, veterans often fumble for an appropriate and respectful response. Saying "thank you" to a "thank you" seems awkward, and saying "you're welcome" feels a little pompous.
So imagine having to reply when someone says "thank you for our freedom," as if you're Captain America, personally dealing death to terrorists and various super villians.
No matter how awkward that might feel for veterans, two members of Congress seem to think that the highfalutin phrase should be the official way to thank vets and want to make it official.
Reps. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.) and J. Luis Correa (D-Calif.) introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives on Sept. 29 to replace "thank you for your service" with "thank you for our freedom," despite neither phrase having an official status of any kind in U.S. law or policy.
So imagine having to reply when someone says "thank you for our freedom," as if you're Captain America, personally dealing death to terrorists and various super villians.
No matter how awkward that might feel for veterans, two members of Congress seem to think that the highfalutin phrase should be the official way to thank vets and want to make it official.
Reps. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.) and J. Luis Correa (D-Calif.) introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives on Sept. 29 to replace "thank you for your service" with "thank you for our freedom," despite neither phrase having an official status of any kind in U.S. law or policy.
"People who are food insecure are making choices on how to spend their last $20 or $50. Usually food is the flexible component, so they apply it to rent."
Photo-elicitation is a research method that combines detailed interviews with photographs taken by study participants. Researchers use it to gain a better understanding of complex topics. Often, the act of taking photographs—in response to questions from the researcher—can summon emotional responses in study participants. It can also help both participants and researchers gain insight into participants’ behaviors.
Dr. Nipa Kamdar is a researcher at the VA Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (iQUeSt) in Houston. Her focus is food insecurity in Veterans. In October 2021, Kamdar published a commentary, in Public Health Nursing, on her use of photo-elicitation to study food insecurity in low-income, post 9/11 Veterans.
![[This is a picture of what was] in my fridge when I first started the project. You see [there's] hardly anything in there? And see how small the fridge is?](https://www.research.va.gov/images/research-currents/feb22/mini-fridge-sm.jpg)
"[This is a picture of what was] in my fridge when I first started the project. You see [there's] hardly anything in there? And see how small the fridge is?" (Photo taken by Veteran study participant.)
The article discussed the results of an earlier study by Kamdar and colleagues that used photo-elicitation to better understand food insecurity in a group of post 9/11 Veterans with children. The researchers found that food insecurity in Veterans is highly intertwined with physical and mental health, military culture, and lack of basic resources like housing or transportation.
![We have the G.I. Bill, the Hazelwood Act, and the 'Voca Rehab' [Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment], but right now, I'm just using the G.I. Bill. It's the money from the G.I. Bill that helps us pay bills and stuff.](https://www.research.va.gov/images/research-currents/feb22/GI-bill-sm.jpg)
"We have the G.I. Bill, the Hazelwood Act, and the 'Voca Rehab' [Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment], but right now, I'm just using the G.I. Bill. It's the money from the G.I. Bill that helps us pay bills and stuff." (Photo taken by Veteran study participant.)
Food insecurity is defined as a limited ability to access food, largely due to financial considerations. In the U.S. population, about 10% of adults experience food insecurity, according to a 2020 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Veterans have about the same rate of food insecurity as the general population, but differ in their level of food insecurity, according to a 2021 study that looked at working-age Veterans with children. Veterans often experience a greater severity of food insecurity, Kamdar notes. "That severe level means they are cutting down on what they eat, or they are skipping meals."
Those Veterans and Families in the Ontario, Oregon area can reach out to our Food Pantry every Monday & Thursday from 9:00am to 4:00pm.
call 541-889-1978 to come pick up a FOOD BOX
Here are some Pics from All Branches of the Military Service
April 2022
For all too many veterans, returning from military service means coping with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. But there are things you can do to start feeling better today.
Are you having a hard time readjusting to life out of the military? Are you always on edge, always on the verge of panicking or exploding, or, on the flip side, do you feel emotionally numb and disconnected from your loved ones? Do you believe that you’ll never feel normal again?
For all too many veterans, these are common experiences—lingering symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It’s hard living with untreated PTSD and, with long V.A. wait times, it’s easy to get discouraged. But you can feel better, and you can start today, even while you’re waiting for professional treatment. There are many things you can do to help yourself overcome PTSD and come out the other side even stronger than before.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sometimes known as shell shock or combat stress, occurs after you experience severe trauma or a life-threatening event. It’s normal for your mind and body to be in shock after such an event, but this normal response becomes PTSD when your nervous system gets “stuck.”
Your nervous system has two automatic or reflexive ways of responding to stressful events:
Mobilization, or fight-or-flight, occurs when you need to defend yourself or survive the danger of a combat situation. Your heart pounds faster, your blood pressure rises, and your muscles tighten, increasing your strength and reaction speed. Once the danger has passed, your nervous system calms your body, lowering your heart rate and blood pressure, and winding back down to its normal balance.
Immobilization occurs when you’ve experienced too much stress in a situation and even though the danger has passed, you find yourself “stuck.” Your nervous system is unable to return to its normal state of balance and you’re unable to move on from the event. This is PTSD.
Recovering from PTSD involves transitioning out of the mental and emotional war zone you’re still living in and helping your nervous system become “unstuck.”
April 2022
This is a National Directory for resources that you as a Veteran, Military, Family member, Caregiver might need to assist you and help you with your needs.
https://nrd.gov/Homeless-Assistance
https://nrd.gov/Education-Training
https://nrd.gov/Family-Caregiver-Support
August 2022, by Sarah Sicard, Observation Post
One of the best pieces of advice, for people in careers both in and out of service, is to learn to deal with things or take the bad in stride.
But the military, famed for its ability to turn a phrase or ruin anything with an absurd acronym, came up with its own colloquialism for making the best of any situation: “Embrace the suck.”
Though it’s impossible to trace back the phrase definitively to its first user, it became popularized in 2003 by Marines in Iraq.
Retired U.S. Army Reserve Col. Austin Bay authored a book in the mid-2000s called “Embrace the Suck,” in which he explains the meaning of the phrase.
“The Operation Iraqi Freedom phrase ‘embrace the suck’ is both an implied order and wise advice couched as a vulgar quip,” Bay wrote.
He likens the slang phrase back to legendary military strategist Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz and his views on “friction.”
“Clausewitz went to war when he was 12 years old,” Bay wrote. “Over the last few decades, critics have argued that his treatise ‘On War’ is a bit dated in terms of theory. However, everyone with military experience agrees that Clausewitz understood ‘the suck.’ He called it ‘friction.’”
For Clausewitz, it’s this “friction, or what is so termed here, which makes that which appears easy in war difficult in reality.”
Troops, in their resilience, in effect, mitigate the chasm of difference between training or planning and the often harsh realities they face on the ground. And they do it with aplomb, because they must.
February 2022 by Sarah Sicard, Observation Post
One of my most unpopular opinions is that IPA beers taste a whole lot like pine needles. But when troops fought in both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, a piney beer was the only thing standing between the Army and a slow painful death by scurvy.
Spruce Beer, made from plentiful spruce trees found in North America, was the only solution to solving soldiers’ scurvy woes.
The disease, most commonly associated with rum-soaked pirates who don’t have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, is caused by vitamin C deficiency and can lead to anemia, oozing sores, tooth loss, and delayed healing processes for injuries — which, if you were a soldier during America’s early conflicts, could most certainly kill you.
An early version of the ale, which doesn’t contain alcohol, was drunk by Vikings, who brewed their beer from Norway spruce shoots, according to the second edition of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America.
Later versions can be traced to New France, now Canada, in the 1700s. Explorer Jacques Cartier and his men reportedly fell victim to scurvy until the Huron taught them to use tree bark to brew teas and concoctions that would keep them healthy. In that same century, Swedish-Finnish botanist Pehr Kalm observed how locals there avoided the scurvy that so affected early settlers, and found that they had employed a beer brewed from spruce branches, a military heritage research site found.
Spruce beer was used during the French and Indian War to give the British an edge. During the war, British Gen. James Murray wrote in a general order that spruce beer be made a ration requirement.
This practice continued into the American Revolution, where the Continental Army was ordered to drink up to a quart of its own funky spruce beer each day.
Ah, super glue — the greatest-of-all-time fast-acting adhesive for all of your stuck-together needs.
Chances are, you have a tube of this in that kitchen drawer, you know, the one with all the takeout menus, rubber bands and random keys to who knows what doors (you should probably clean that out by the way), because it’s an undeniable necessity.
But before it occupied space in our junk drawers, and our hearts, it was accidentally developed for the U.S. military.
Too sticky for Army weapons
In 1942, companies across the country were looking to support the war effort, including the Eastman Kodak Company. One if its inventors, Dr. Harry Wesley Coover, accidentally created a new compound while attempting to make clear plastic gun sights for Allied soldiers.
The compound, cyanoacrylate, was incredibly durable but way too sticky to use. (Imagine getting Krazy Glue anywhere near your eye. No thanks!) So Coover and his team abandoned the substance, not wanting to get stuck, literally or figuratively, on it.
Over a decade later, Coover, who would become known as “Mr. Super Glue,” rediscovered the adhesive compound while researching heat-resistant polymers for jet canopies. Cyanoacrylate adhesives required no heat or pressure to stick items together and hold them permanently. Thus, in 1956, the patent for “Alcohol-Catalyzed Cyanoacrylate Adhesive Compositions/Superglue” was born. How’s that for a name?
National Veterans & Military Family MonthMonth of NovemberWarrior Care MonthMonth of NovemberNational Family Caregivers MonthMonth of NovemberDaylight Savings Time EndsNov. 6, 2022Election DayNov. 8, 2022National Veterans Small Business WeekNov. 1-5, 2022Marine Corps Day/BirthdayNov. 10Veterans DayNov. 11Armistice/Remembrance DayNov. 11Thanksgiving DayFourth Thursday in NovemberDecemberCivil Air Patrol (USAF Auxiliary) BirthdayDec. 1#GivingTuesdayTuesday after ThanksgivingNational Pearl Harbor Remembrance DayDec. 7
U.S. National Guard BirthdayDec. 13National Wreaths Across AmericaDec. 18Hanukkah BeginsDec. 18 – Dec. 26, 2022Christmas DayDec. 25KwanzaaDec. 26 – Jan. 1New Year’s EveDec. 31
April 2021 by Blake Stilwell, Military.com
These days, service members need to be wary of the multitude of online for-profit schools out to get a piece of their coveted Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. Depending on which “academic institution” is looking to sign them up, the term “Results May Vary” doesn’t come close to describing some of the “schools” out there.
But there are better choices for service members with non-traditional schedules who are looking for a good distance education to prepare them for life after the military. National University was founded by a veteran with similar issues and is today the second-largest nonprofit online school in America.
David Chigos’ transition to civilian life had been rough. As a retiring naval officer in 1967, he tried to enroll in night classes at San Diego State University. The only problem, he said, was that San Diego State didn’t offer night classes, so he was faced with the choice of going to school or working during the day. He knew there were veterans and civilians like him trying to balance both tasks.
In 1971, Chigos was working as a management development specialist for the General Dynamics corporation. The academic system in the U.S. kept many executives from pursuing higher education. So he did what any veteran might consider doing: fixing the problem by creating a college for the “real world” at a fraction of the cost.
“From the trunk of my car,” he founded National University, completely upending the idea of how academic programs were formed, he said. Chigos created academic programs with a no-frills look at the world. National University would offer classes that would lead to education and employment. His first class numbered 27 students....
January 2021 By Harm Venhuizen. MilitaryTimes
When separating from the military, it’s not uncommon for servicemembers to discover gaps between their resume and the civilian job they want.
Worries about putting food on the table can make going back to school, getting on-the-job training, or taking an internship seem like costly ways of filling that gap. Luckily, there’s a way servicemembers can gain the experience required by civilian jobs while still on the military’s payroll.
The DoD SkillBridge Program lets active-duty personnel from all four branches spend the last 180 days of their military service interning at a civilian job with one of more than 500 industry partners.
Participants continue to receive military pay and benefits, whether they’re getting certified by Microsoft in cloud development, learning to weld, or taking advantage of any one of the hundreds of other opportunities available.
As part of the DoD’s requirements, all training programs offer a “high probability of post-service employment with the provider or other employers in a field related to the opportunity,” according to the SkillBridge website.
In his internship with the Global SOF Foundation, retired Navy commander Chuck Neu says he not only tripled the size of his professional network, but also discovered a talent for sales.
“Without that exposure to cold-call sales from doing SkillBridge with the Global SOF Foundation, I likely would have ended up on-base as a contractor or a government civilian, which is really not what I wanted to do,” Neu told Military Times....
For more on this story click the 'Red Bar' below.
August 2021 by Blake Stilwell, Military.com
SkillBridge is one of the most groundbreaking programs the U.S. military ever introduced to help transition service members into civilian life. It allows veterans looking to separate from the military to work in training opportunities, internships and apprenticeships during the last 180 days of their enlistment while still receiving full pay and benefits.
The only problem is that navigating SkillBridge to browse those opportunities is a notoriously difficult task. 50Strong was founded to help bridge the gap between the way the military works and the way the civilian world works, and it starts with an internship tool. Simply click here and scroll down to the middle of the page to start browsing.
0Strong was founded by Kandi Tillman, a former corporate executive whose resume boasts some pretty impressive names, like Oracle, Proctor & Gamble and Standard & Poor. It’s safe to say she knows something about getting a job in the civilian world. When she met her now-husband, Kevin Tillman, he was a veteran struggling to get what he calls "a regular job."
Kandi helped her husband with every aspect of his job search, from resume writing to employer referrals. Eventually, he landed a job at Lockheed Martin. The pair eventually founded 50Strong with the mission of smoothing out the process for any and all veterans.
Their idea is that military norms to which veterans are accustomed often do not make the jump into the ways civilian companies look for and hire talent. 50Strong has developed a twofold approach to facilitating the process of helping veterans understand the way their new world works.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released in January an updated Department of Defense (DOD) list of locations outside of Vietnam where tactical herbicides were used, tested or stored by the United States military.
“This update was necessary to improve accuracy and communication of information,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “VA depends on DOD to provide information regarding in-service environmental exposure for disability claims based on exposure to herbicides outside of Vietnam."
DOD conducted a thorough review of research, reports and government publications in response to a November 2018 Government Accountability Office report.
“DOD will continue to be responsive to the needs of our interagency partners in all matters related to taking care of both current and former service members,” said Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper. “The updated list includes Agents Orange, Pink, Green, Purple, Blue and White and other chemicals and will be updated as verifiable information becomes available.”
Veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides during service may be eligible for a variety of VA benefits, including an Agent Orange Registry health exam, health care and disability compensation for diseases associated with exposure. Their dependents and survivors also may be eligible for benefits.
June 2022 by Sarah Sicard, Observation Post
Is there anything sweeter — literally or figuratively — than biting into the plastic-wrapped chemical compound of luxuriously spongey cake with vanilla cream that is a Twinkie?
Perhaps not. But the original Hostess delicacy was once something else entirely. The preservative-filled dessert that many once believed could withstand nuclear war got its start as a banana cream shortcake, until World War II changed everything.
In 1930, a baker named James Dewar began experimenting while serving as manager of Continental Baking Company’s Chicago area plant in River Forest, according to the Chicago Tribune. He wanted to prove that shortbread could serve a purpose outside strawberry shortcake.
“The economy was getting tight, and the company needed to come out with another low-priced item,” he told the paper. “We were already selling these little finger cakes during the strawberry season for shortcake, but the pans we baked them in sat idle except for that six-week season.”
While in St. Louis on a work trip, Dewar saw a billboard for “Twinkle Toe Shoes,” and thus found the name for his compact confections.
January 2021 By Leslie Thompson, Argus Observer
ONTARIO
In the absence of the Ontario Area Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Citizens of the Year awards, which have been celebrated annually since 1972, the Argus Observer aimed to help fill the gap created by the pandemic and offer the community the chance to nominate a citizen of the year.
Nominations for the Argus Observer Citizen of the Year for 2020 were open Jan. 1-8, and the community’s responses came pouring in for people throughout the Western Treasure Valley.
A unifying theme in all of these nominations was people who put their community’s needs before their own.
The person who garnered the most nominations for this inaugural award was Ron Verini, president and chairman of the board for Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida, a nonprofit dedicated to serving veterans. Trailing not far behind, but neck-in-neck, were Malheur County Health Department Director Sarah Poe, who is currently leading the local fight against COVID-19, and Jennifer Tolman, a pharmacist at Malheur Drug in Vale who, according to nominations is a vital part of groups that give back to the community.
Verini mentioned all the work these people do (and there isn’t room to list it all — it is extensive), which includes myriad services, such as running the nonprofit’s food bank, connecting vets with local services, finding housing, hosting a website and Facebook page, sitting and talking with local vets, building ramps, home renovations, setting up a station for the visually impaired to read books and putting together a military museum.
Along with others in the community who nominated Verini, many people from his core group of volunteers say they believe Verini deserves the award.
Haines said Verini is the initiator and motivator behind the nonprofit, which consists solely of volunteers.
“It takes a special gift and desire to motivate and inspire others to do the same,” said Haines. “This year has been unique. Ron has more than passed the test.”
When asked how he keeps inspiring volunteers, Verini had the following to say.
“I stay focused on the mission, and you treat people like you want to be treated,” he said. “I think it’s so important that folks understand that we are all in this together, truly. There is something about the human nature that comes to the surface on a positive level when people are treated with respect.”
Some of the volunteers have their own challenges, Verini said, including in some cases severe physical or mental challenges.
Upon finding out he won the Citizen of the Year award, Verini quickly went from disbelief to saying it was quite an honor “especially for Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida.” Then he quickly insisted (and still does) that the award really should go to the volunteers of the organization, without whom he says, “we don’t exist.”
“I am thrilled,” he said about the award. However, added, “It’s far from mine. VAOI would not exist if it wasn’t for the volunteers.”
He said that a core group of people helps get things done. That group includes Charlene Pelland, Doug Dean, Bob and Janet Metzger, Marilyn Justus, Vince and Claudia Schwartz, Billy Vance, Jan and Phil Jacques, David Looper, Margie Yasuda, Barbara Ogawa, Judy Snyder, Gerald Haines and John Breidenbach.
He furthermore said Veteran Advocates could not operate without community services, such as the Oregon Food Bank, Payette Senior Center and Community Action, nor without donations from businesses, such as the nonprofit’s number one contributor Grocery Outlet along with Albertsons, The Home Depot, Dr. Jeffrey Pitts, the Ontario Masonic Lodge and others.
“This is not my award,” Verini reiterated. “It’s an award that transcends anything I do.”
He said it belongs to the team of people who work together to provide services for vets and their family members.
“It’s unbelievable how many people are in that stream of support,” he said.
"If you give them responsibility and you let them take the lead, give a little bit of direction but respect what they have to say — I think that makes all the difference in the world, whether they are a volunteer, worker, political individual serving on the city council, whatever,” he said.
In turn, volunteers continue serving because they love what they are doing and are passionate about it.
“The volunteers take the lead, and I just give them direction
NEED HELP!!!! PLEASE!!! The Covid-19 pandemic has left many local Veterans and their families in need. If you are fortunate to not need your stimulus money or part of it, please think about donating it to Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida. As a non-profit your donation would be tax deductible. Please call me, Thank You.....
Ron Verini - Chairman 541-709-8373
We thank all the Supporters, Businesses and Friends for giving their time and resources in helping and caring for our Veterans, Military and First Responders and their Families.
We really appreciate your interest too, in 'Who we are and What we do'. If you have any questions or suggestions or would like to 'volunteer' or 'donate', well please contact us with an email, a phone call. Our hours are 9am to 4pm, and with the Covid rules we have, masks are required as are number of people in the Office, so please call.
We are a "No Dues' nonprofit organization with the coffee pot always on and lots of conversation always available. Bring your questions regarding any veteran services you are concerned about, and we will do our best to steer you in the right direction.
Our phone is 541-889-1978, and we are located in Ontario, Oregon at 180 W. Idaho Ave.
Your support and contributions will enable us to meet our goals and improve conditions. Your generous donation will fund our mission.