ptsd Veteran's Day

[Berta]

"The Blue Water Navy Family wishes you a very Happy Veterans Day and thank you for your service to our Country"

( Carol Olzenacki- Blue Water Navy- wanted me to post this here to you all)

also

This is the VA press release from Secretary Shenseki:

"On Veterans Day, VA Secretary Shinseki Recognizes, Thanks Veterans

WASHINGTON (Nov. 11, 2010) - This Veterans Day, Secretary of Veterans

Affairs Eric K. Shinseki calls on America to honor its 23 million

Veterans by reaching out to them and their families with heartfelt

thanks and encourage them to seek the benefits and services they have

earned from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

"As we observe Veterans Day, I look to everyone - families, friends and

acquaintances in communities, large and small--to turn out and thank all

our Veterans, from earlier eras and those who are just returning home,"

said VA Secretary Shinseki.

Shinseki noted that America has made significant investments in Veterans

benefits and services over the past 19 months: a 16 percent VA budget

increase last year and a 10 percent increase in the 2011 budget request.

He said this is making it possible to increase Veterans' access to

benefits and health care services, help end the disability claims

backlog, and eliminate Veterans' homelessness by 2015. The Post 9/11 GI

Bill has already sent more than 400,000 Veterans to college, and care

and benefits will be extended to more Veterans who have illnesses

related to exposure to Agent Orange and service during the first Persian

Gulf War.

Under Shinseki, VA is taking unprecedented steps to reach out to

Veterans and their families with a television ad campaign, a new VA

blog, and other social media initiatives, and outreach teams traveling

throughout rural communities. The goal is to let Veterans and their

families know what services they are eligible for and how to access

them. The emphasis is on meeting emergent transitional needs such as

treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which affects many

Veterans, including those returning from the Middle East, as well as

those who served in Vietnam four decades ago.

VA recently launched its first official blog, "VAntage Point," at

http://www.blogs.va.gov to improve the way VA and Veterans engage

online. The blog expands VA's social media presence, adding to its

Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/VeteransAffairs), Twitter

(http://twitter.com/DeptVetAffairs/), Flickr

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/VeteransAffairs/), and YouTube

(http://www.youtube.com/user/DeptVetAffairs) postings. With more than

70,000 subscribers, VA has the largest Facebook subscriber base among

cabinet-level agencies.

On Veterans Day, Shinseki will join White House and military officials,

and leaders of major Veterans organizations, at the traditional Veterans

Day wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington

National Cemetery at 11 a.m. Following the ceremony, VA will host an

observance program in Arlington's Memorial Amphitheater.

Across the country, from the rousing notes of the "Star Spangled Banner"

to the poignant bugle solo of "Taps," Americans will celebrate U.S.

Veterans with music, ceremonies and speeches. Nearly 100 VA-sponsored

activities are scheduled, highlighted by Birmingham's 63rd annual

Veterans Day parade and parades in Lexington and Denver; recognition

ceremonies in Anchorage, Alaska, Chillicothe, Ohio, and Tomah, Wis.;

concerts in Durham, N.C., Bath, N.Y., and Tucson, Ariz.; and the third

annual Veterans Run/Walk in West Haven, Conn. The oath of citizenship

will be administered to 25 Veterans at the Fort Sam Houston Cemetery in

Texas as they become official citizens of the nation they served.

The Veterans Day National Committee has designated regional observance

site status to Veterans Day programs at 54 sites in 29 states. Sites

were selected on the basis of community involvement, regional impact and

continuity. They are also eligible for support from the Department of

Defense.

A guide to these sites and other information about Veterans Day is

available on VA's Veterans Day Web page at

http://www.va.gov/opa/vetsday/ under "Regional Observances." The page

includes a variety of resources, including a teacher's guide, a poster

gallery and links to information about the Arlington National Cemetery

ceremony."

And my personal wish is that you all have a wonderful day today and I cannot ever thank you all enough for keeping me Free and Safe with your Service to the US of A!!!!!!

[mrs rockman (widow of vet)]

To all the veterans out there and the

Thank you all who served and continue to serve; without that service we wouldn't have the freedoms we have today.

T.S.

To all the veterans out there and those who are serving in the military now-HAPPY VETERANS DAY! May God bless each and everyone of you!

rockman