Thursday, July 14, 2011

Veterans Meet with Mayor Boswell on VA hospital

Harlingen City Hall
Harlingen, TX 78550
July 14, 2011
RGV Valley Vets met with Chris Boswell, Mayor of Harlingen, and Gabe Gonzales, Asst. City Manager regarding strategy for the new Full Service Medical Center for south Texas.  SB 396, HB 837 and HB 1318 were discussed.  Ruben Cantu asked that the city write a letter in support of these bills to the Veterans Affairs committee of each Chamber. Treto Garza also asked that a letter be send to Lt. Gen. Eric Shinseki, Secretary of Veterans Affairs inviting him to come to the valley and visit the new Surgical Center. This visit will convince him that there is room at the facility to be expanded to a Full Service Medical Center and avoiding expensive construction costs for a new facility.  All the bills mentioned above have language addressing the need to expand the Harlingen facility to a Full Medical Service Center.  Joe Ibarra informed Mayor Boswell and Asst. Manager Gonzales that veterans needed the continued support of the city because things were shaping up and we had made some progress in our efforts. He added that the package handed to him had a full copy of all three bills.  The mayor told the group of 12 that he would indeed write a letter of support to the Veterans Affairs Committees.  He also stated that the RAHC medical school facilities woud help in making the site more receptive since VA looked for some type of medical school to be close to a VA hospital.  Cantu added that this is why it was important that the city of Harlingen be the flagship hospital for the newly created VA health care system.  The mayor told the group that he was in close contact with Jeff Milligan on the issue. He stated that Mr. Milligan and he had the opportunity to visit with Lt. Governor Dewhurst in Austin regarding the medical school and medical facilities in Harlingen.  The Lt. Gov. supports the efforts to bring better health care to south Texas.
Alex Trejo of the Harlingen Veterans Advisory Board also attended the meeting.  Cantu is also a member of that committee. Commander Pete Garza of the Disabled American Veterans and two of his members were present as well as two members of the Vietnam Veterans of America and two from the American Legion. The others present were interested veterans that have been active in the quest for a Full Medical Service Center.  The group provided a detailed list of all the Congressional Bills filed in Congress since 1983 to present.  A total of 13 bills have been filed.  This session has seen a lot of activity on two of the bills.  HB 1318 was attached to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and Other Related Agencies Appropiration Bill of 2012-H 2055 which passed by a 411 to 5 vote.  S 396 was presented to the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on June 8, 2011, but was not on the agenda for a markup on June 29, 2011.  The group informed the Mayor that this is the very first time that bills submitted in Congress have been moved.  It shows that the efforts of veterans are being recognized.
Veterans attending were:
Sisto Barrera                        American Legion
Alberto Perez                       American Legion
Manuel Pena                        Vietnam Veterans of America
Pablo Flores                         Vietnam Veterans of America
Pete Garza                           Disabled American Veterans
Bill Rodenbaugh                    Disabled American Veterans
Alex Trejo                             Harlingen Veterans Advisory
Ruben Cantu                         Harlingen Veterans Advisory
Joe Ibarra                              U S Army Retired
Adelaido Cantu                      U S Army Retired
Arturo Treto Garza
 Irene T. Garza was also present.

Left to right clockwise:  Pablo Flores, Manuel Pena, Joe Ibarra, Cisto Barrera, Alberto Perezm Adelaido Cantu, Treto Garza, BillRodenbaugh, Ruben Cantu, Alex Trejo, Gabe Gonzales, asst. city manager, and Mayor Chris Boswell.  Photo by Irene T. Garza 

Monday, July 11, 2011

Letter Of Thanks from Iraq

A Thank You to all Vietnam Vets from a Marine in Iraq

A guy gets time to think over here and I was thinking about all the support we get from home. Sometimes it's overwhelming. We get care packages at times faster than we can use them. There are boxes and boxes of toiletries and snacks lining the center of every tent; the generosity has been amazing. So, I was pondering the question: "Why do we have so much support?"

In my opinion, it all came down to one thing: Vietnam Veterans. I think we learned a lesson, as a nation, that no matter what, you have to support the troops who are on the line, who are risking everything. We treated them so poorly back then. When they returned was even worse. The stories are nightmarish of what our returning warriors were subjected to. It is a national scar, a blemish on our country, an embarrassment to all of us.

After Vietnam , it had time to sink in. The guilt in our collective consciousness grew. It shamed us. However, we learned from our mistake. Somewhere during the late 1970's and on into the 80's, we realized that we can't treat our warriors that way. So ... starting during the Gulf War, when the first real opportunity arose to stand up and support the troops, we did. We did it to support our friends and family going off to war. But we also did it to right the wrongs from the Vietnam era. We treat our troops of today like the heroes they were, and are, acknowledge and celebrate their sacrifice, and rejoice at their homecoming ... instead of spitting on them.

And that support continues today for those of us in Iraq . Our country knows that it must support us and it does. The lesson was learned in Vietnam and we are all better because of it.

Everyone who has gone before is a hero. They are celebrated in my heart. I think admirably of all those who have gone before me. From those who fought to establish this country in the late 1770's to those I serve with here in Iraq . They have all sacrificed to ensure our freedom. But when I get back home, I'm going to make it a personal mission to specifically thank every Vietnam Vet I encounter for THEIR sacrifice. Because if nothing else good came from that terrible war, one thing did. It was the lesson learned on how we treat our warriors. We as a country learned from our mistake and now we treat our warriors as heroes, as we should have all along. I am the beneficiary of their sacrifice. Not only for the freedom they, like veterans from other wars, ensured, but for how well our country now treats my fellow Marines and I. We are the beneficiaries of their sacrifice.

Semper Fidelis,

Major Brian P. Bresnahan
United States Marine Corps

Friday, July 8, 2011

Strategic Capital Investment Plan of Veterans Affairs

This part of the June 14, 2011 House Veterans Affairs Committee report that was submitted.  I hope that the SCIP program does come through for us.  But read careful what the report states.  If anyone knows or finds any information on SCIP please let us know.

CONSTRUCTION PROGRAMS
For FY 2012, the Administration requests a total of $1.271 billion for VA's four construction accounts: Major Construction ($590 million); Minor Construction ($550 million); State Extended Care Facility Construction Grants ($85 million); and State Cemetery Construction Grants ($46 million). The total resource request would, assuming amounts for FY 2011 are funded at the President's requested level, translate to a reduction of $478 million, or 37.6 percent. Further, consistent with the requirements of section 905 of Public Law 111-275, the Administration proposes to allocate $136 million in major construction funding derived from bid savings.
VA's new Strategic Capital Investment Planning (SCIP) process is a 10-year plan designed to identify and prioritize specific capital investment options to meet service delivery gaps in the areas of safety, security, utilization, access, seismic protection, facility condition assessments, parking and energy. SCIP projects a 10-year resource need of between $53 and $65 billion.
VA's total capital request (including facility leases, equipment, and non recurring maintenance needs not covered under the four construction accounts named above) for FY 2012 is $2.876 billion. At the present rate, it would take 20 years to meet the minimum resource need identified in the SCIP 10-year plan. We are, therefore, concerned that the SCIP plan is unrealistic on its face and would like the opportunity to engage the Administration on the plan going forward. Given that the stated needs of the system are vast, we recommend providing resources above the President's request for major and minor construction totaling $168 million.

Monday, July 4, 2011

San Benito War Memorial and 4th of July celebration

About 300+ people attended the events to commemorate the grand opening of the San Benito War Memorial at its site.  The planning has been on going for about 10 years according to speakers at the Event.  Several members of the War Memorial Committee were recognized.  Mayor Joe Hernandez did the presentation.  Victor Garza, was the MC.
Here comes the March!

Part of the audience in attendance at the San Benito War Memorial Celebration on 4th of July 2011

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Tele Conference with Washington VA representatives

On Thursday June 30th, Houston Ernst of Congressman Blake Farenthold (R-TX-27) organized a tel-conference call regarding VA issues.  Present were representatives from Washington DC VA, Biro and Jeff Milligan, (VSIN 17) veterans service officers from Corpus Christi, McAllen, and Farenthold's staff members.  Also present were veterans participating from Harlingen.

It was a good meeting.  Part of the meeting dealth with daily problems at the VA clinics regarding services rendered and how veterans are treated.  An attempt to discuss Veterans Benefits Claims was set aside for this conference and it was agreed that another meeting on the subject would be forthcoming.  Some participating want someone from the Houston VARO to be present at that future meeting.  I was also mentioned to the participants from VA DC that veterans want the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to visit the south Texas and meet with veterans.

Milligan gave a power point presentation bringing those participating up to date.  The power point was the same on that was presented to veterans at the last MAC meeting.  It appears that those at VA DC are very much aware that the local VA will be submitting a proposal for Inpatient and Emergency services in south Texas.  The proposal will be the package that is being talked about relative to HB 1318 submitted by Congressman Cuellar. It will be submitted to the VA's SCIF planning.

It was difficult to identify who was talking at times and Houston agreed to send those participating a list of the participants and whom they represented.  This the first meeting of its kind that has occurred in south Texas.  For the very first time, we were able to talk to staff at the VA in DC.

Local veterans participated using the telephone intercom at Senator John Coryn's Harlingen Office provided by regional director Ana Garcia.