New Option for Veterans Headstones
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki announced June 29 that the VA is now offering bronze medallions to attach to existing, privately purchased headstones or markers, signifying a deceased's status as a veteran. The new item can be furnished instead of a traditional government headstone or marker for veterans whose death occurred on or after Nov. 1, 1990, and whose grave in a private cemetery is marked with a privately purchased headstone or marker. Under federal law, eligible veterans buried in a private cemetery are entitled to either a government-furnished grave marker or the new medallion, but not both. Veterans buried in a national or state veterans cemetery will receive a government headstone or marker of the standard design authorized at that cemetery.
The medallion is available in three sizes: 5 inches, 3 inches and 1½ inches in width. Each bronze medallion features the image of a folded burial flag adorned with laurels and is inscribed with the word "Veteran" at the top and the branch of service at the bottom. More information about VA-furnished headstones, markers and medallions can be found at this . VA is currently developing an application form for ordering the medallion. Until it is available, applicants may use the form for ordering government headstones and markers, VA Form 40-1330.
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Senate urged to provide Gold Star parents with
nursing-home care benefits
WASHINGTON (July 2, 2010) – Leaders of The American Legion are urging members of the United States Senate to pass legislation that would benefit the elderly parents of servicemembers who died while serving their country.
The bill, H.R. 4505, would allow any “Gold Star” parent — one who has lost a child during military service — access to veterans’ homes administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Currently, Gold Star parents can reside in a state veterans’ home only if every one of their children died while serving in the armed forces. The bill was introduced by Rep. William “Mac” Thornberry, R-Texas, in late January and passed the House of Representatives unanimously on June 30.
But the measure’s fate in the Senate is in doubt, according to House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner, D-Calif.
The American Legion is appealing to the U.S. Senate to provide the well-earned benefit to Gold Star parents. Barry Searle, director of the Legion’s veterans affairs and rehabilitation division, expressed the organization’s support of H.R. 4505 in congressional testimony last May. He said, in part, “We believe firmly that a commitment is made not only by and to service members…but also to family members who must say good bye to their loved ones who head into combat to protect the freedoms of this nation.”
Searle said that current regulations “impose too high a threshold of suffering on surviving parents when it requires that all children must have died while serving on active duty.”
The American Legion’s National Executive Committee adopted a formal resolution calling for amendment of the current restrictions last fall; the House bill was introduced in January.
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AMERICAN LEGION PRAISES 9TH CIRCUIT COURT RULING
INDIANAPOLIS (March 12, 2010) – “A great victory for common sense,” was how The American Legion National Commander Clarence E. Hill characterized yesterday’s ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance is constitutional.
In a separate ruling yesterday, the Court also upheld the use of the national motto “In God We Trust” on coins and currency.
“The American Legion was very critical, in fact outraged, when the same Court ruled in 2002 that the Pledge was unconstitutional because of a phrase that has existed in the Pledge since 1954,” Hill said. “But it is time to give credit where it is due. The Ninth Circuit corrected its earlier mistake and now there is absolutely no reason why schools across the nation should not lead their students in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance every day.”
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