The Downtown Committee in Syracuse, New York has announced that a Veterans of Central NY Parade will be held on Saturday, November 7^th. The parade will serve as a “tribute to all of our CNY veterans.”

According to the committee, the parade will lead veterans and others through the downtown area, beginning on Salina Street and ending at the Onondaga County War Memorial. Last year, about 45 local veteran organizations were represented in the parade, including representatives of American Legion posts, VFW posts, Army ROTC members and representatives from the VA Medical Center.

Good question. I consulted the Naval Historical Center website for the answer.

As you know, the 234^th birthday of the United States Navy was last week, on October 13^th. Way back then, the ships of the Continental Navy were not given names with any real significance – ship names came from all kinds of sources. For example, the very first Continental Navy ship was named Alfred, in honor of the King of Wessex, Alfred the Great, who reportedly commissioned the first naval force in England [remember, at this point, the colonists still felt some allegiance to Britain, so this name choice made sense].

More than 7,000 miles away in a sweltering desert, where temperatures reach 125 degrees, 600 soldiers will be participating in their own LIVESTRONG Challenge. The heavily secured streets at Victory Base camp in Baghdad will be host to a 50 mile bike ride and a separate 10k run on October 25^th. Organized by Maj. Scott LaRonde, a U.S. Army intelligence planner, this challenge is in memory of his father-in-law, who lost his battle with pancreatic cancer this June.

So far LaRonde, 38, and his crew has successfully raised over $16,000 for the Austin-based Lance Armstrong Foundation, the non-profit organization founded by seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong. This race has not only given LaRonde’s family and his crew honor his father-in-law, but it has also kept him in close touch with his hometown.

On October 13, 1775, Continental Congress approved the procurement, staffing and arming of two ships that would attempt to stop the British Army from receiving ammunition and other supplies. The two vessels commissioned by the CC cruised the waters off the shore of what we now call America, but was then known as the Colonies. These two ships were the first vessels of the Continental Navy [1775-1783] and by the conclusion of the Revolutionary War the Continental Navy fleet consisted of about fifty vessels, including approximately twenty warships.

To gain a better understanding of why the CC decided to acquire and arm two ships, one must understand what was happening between Britain and the Colonies – if you’re a history buff, pardon the mini-history lesson. 1775 was a year of rebellion for the Colonies, and the CC decided to take control – they created the Continental Army, began issuing paper currency, and even created a committee that would be responsible for interactions with other countries. While the Colonies were getting their business in order, Britain was dominating the sea, creating a range of problems for the Colonies [from destroying colonial communities close to the shores to attempts to block ships from entering colonial ports with imports].

Have you visited the National WWII Museum in New Orleans yet? Tom Hanks thinks you should.

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John Finn, who was wounded during the attack on Pearl Harbor, received a Medal of Honor for his service and was recognized by President Obama and other veterans during the September Congressional Medal of Honor Society convention. If you ask Mr. Finn about being a hero, this is what he will tell you:

“That damned hero stuff is a bunch of crap. Well, it is one thing that I think any man that is in that, you gotta be in that position. You gotta understand that there’s all kinds of heroes, but they never get a chance to be in a hero’s position.”

When I was first enlisting in the United States Navy, I was lucky to have a father who was a career sailor. He understood how recruiting worked and how to pressure recruiters to get a great career on track in the Navy. If I hadn’t had my father, I probably would have been chipping paint for many years.

Chipping paint isn’t such a bad job, though. I respected our Boatswain’s Mates just as much as our Radar Technicians. His or her job was keeping the ship healthy, safe and livable – that’s something every sailor appreciates. As you walk on board, it’s always great to cross a quarterdeck that’s been polished and cleaned with pride.

A group of adult men have been diagnosed with breast cancer, and some have just months to live. You have to ask – how did this happen? Less than 1,900 men in our country will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year, compared to over 200,000 women. None of these men had a family history of breast cancer, so their cancer must be attributed to an external factor, right? What did these men have in common?

All twenty lived or worked at Camp Lejeuene in North Carolina between the 1960s and the late 1980s.

U.S. Military veterans have faced hardships that most Americans could never comprehend. And while many chose to put their lives on the line to protect America, many veterans never expected that their time in the service could kill them decades after they returned home.

Many veterans are now facing cancer, and in some cases that cancer was caused by exposures that occurred during their time in the military. For example, veterans suffering from lung cancer or mesothelioma were likely exposed to asbestos while in the service.

Few people know the entire story of the USS Indianapolis, CA-35. For those of you who have seen the movie Jaws, there’s a chilling scene where Quint recalls the USS Indianapolis, “Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, Chief. We was comin' back from the island of Tinian to Leyte... just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb. Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in 12 minutes. Didn't see the first shark for about a half an hour. Tiger. 13-footer.”

He goes on to describe the horrific details of the USS Indianapolis. The USS Indianapolis delivered the world’s first atomic bomb to the island of Tinian on July 26, 1945 and then was ordered to run escorted from Guam to prepare for the invasion of Japan.

Do you remember where you where when the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001? Most Americans do. And most will never be able to forget it.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, people were arriving at their offices. Children were in school, having just returned after their summer recess. Reporters were on the air. Taxi drivers were shuttling business people to and from appointments. Doctors were performing surgery. No one was prepared for what would happen to our country at approximately 8:46 EST. At 8:46 AM, American Airlines flight 11 hit the North Tower, leaving a massive hole in the side of the structure. Several fires started in the building as a result.

Most people don’t realize that they utilize lingo from sailors on a daily basis. I wanted to share some of the more common sayings that you might use but didn’t even know came from ol’ salts!

Are you pooped out? The aft deck of old ships was also called the poop deck. When a huge wave hit the boat, it often washed the sailors violently to the back… pooping them out!

Fellow vets and friends – I wanted to share this email with all of you, with the hope that you might be able to help.

SPECIAL REQUEST for Diabetic Foot Supplies from a Hero Physician in Afghanistan

Wanted to share this veteran alert with all of you…according to a recent post on Gathering of Eagles, a forum for vets, VA clinics have been handing out fliers warning patients of a new scam. Here’s what was written on the fliers:

While at the Vista VA Clinic on 28 Aug 09, VA staff were handing out flyers warning of a VA Scam. Here is the content of the warning flyer:

My good friend’s mother, Carol, volunteers at the USO on a regular basis. “The USO is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to support the troops by providing morale, welfare and recreation-type services to our men and women in uniform.” [http://www.uso.org]

When I was in the Navy, the Navy Marine Corps relief society helped my family out a couple times. “Founded in 1904, the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society is a private non-profit charitable organization. It is sponsored by the Department of the Navy and operates nearly 250 offices ashore and afloat at Navy and Marine Corps bases throughout the world.” [http://www.nmcrs.org/]

Check out our recent press release: Veterans’ Claims Go Unheeded as VA Officials Rake in Massive Bonuses

Here’s a preview:

The backlog of veterans’ disability claims has been the center of a heated debate in Washington, where President Obama has called on Congress to reduce the number of claims which have been held up.

Writing, speaking or even alluding to death is a pretty touchy situation in any case. The re-emergence of the so-called “Death Book”, titled “Your Life, Your Choices”, is no different. It’s a guide provided by the VA to veterans on end of life planning. Distribution of the book was halted by the Bush administration but recently started again under the Obama administration.

My first glimpse at end of life planning was sitting on board the USS Spartanburg County (LST-1192) in Little Creek, Virginia, preparing to depart for Desert Storm. The galley of our naval ship was filled with legal counselors and sailors. I was a young petty officer at the time – with a wife and son worried about what would happen next.

These days, healthcare reform is on the mind of most Americans and the issue didn’t escape attention at the recent National Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Phoenix, where President Barack Obama was the keynote speaker.

Though Obama touched on a variety of subjects during his 33-minute speech to about 2,000 mostly-older veterans, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, healthcare for veterans was a major issue during the dissertation. “Whether you've left the service in 2009 or 1949, we will fulfill our responsibility to deliver the benefits and care that you earned,” Obama said as he entered into the portion of his speech that centered on improvement of care for veterans of all ages. “We're dramatically increasing funding for veterans health care. This includes hundreds of millions of dollars to serve veterans in rural areas, as well as the unique needs of our growing number of women veterans. We're restoring access to VA healthcare for a half-million veterans who lost their eligibility in recent years...”

With the country in a frenzy about what might happen to the healthcare industry, changes to veterans haven’t been discussed too much. It appears that current veterans may have some protection and additional options under the proposed bill. As for future Veterans, the jury is still out.

In the proposed bill, 102 (a)(1)(A), “Protecting The Choice to Keep Current Insurance” has been confirmed to cover Veterans who utilize VHA benefits. Veterans need not change their benefits under this bill.

As a follow-up to our recent post highlighting acupuncturist Elizabeth Peterson of Acupuncture for Soldiers, I wanted to share a video about acupuncture and the military community. This video highlights the benefits of acupuncture for servicemen and women.

Military Medical Acupuncture