history of the gi bill - va.gov homebecause of the people i was deployed with, i came back feeling...

VAnguard

January/February 2006 1

outlook

History of the GI BillInside the 2006 Budget

After the Storm

Teaching the Teachers

January/February 2006

History of the GI BillInside the 2006 Budget

After the Storm


VAnguard

2 January/February 2006

Features

Inside the 2006 Budget 6A look at how VA fared in the appropriations process this yearAfter the Storm 8An update on the status of Gulf Coast employees and operationsThe Silver Lining 12An employee deployed to help hurricane evacuees shares his storySuccession Planning for ‘A Special Mission’ 14Prosthetic Service looks to recent amputees to fill positionsHere Comes Santa Claus 16Jolly Old St. Nick made appearances at VA facilities all over the countryLife Never Tasted So Good 18Surgery saves a veteran’s life and his ability to eat normallyTeaching the Teachers 20Educators in three states are learning lessons about veteransTaking Her Bow and Moving On 22Dr. Susan Mather says goodbyeBorn of Controversy: The GI Bill of Rights 23How one of the most significant bills ever passed almost didn’t

Departments

3 Letters4 Management Matters5 Outlook24 Around Headquarters28 Introducing29 Medical Advances30 Have You Heard31 Honors and Awards32 Heroes

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VAnguardVA’s Employee MagazineJanuary/February 2006Vol. LII, No. 1

Printed on 50% recycled paper

Editor: Lisa RespessAssistant Editor: Matt BristolPhoto Editor: Robert TurtilPublished by the Office of Public Affairs (80D)

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs810 Vermont Ave., N.W.Washington, D.C. 20420(202) 273-5746E-mail: [email protected]/opa/feature/vanguard/index.htm

On the coverA disabled veteran in 1943. The return of mil-lions of veterans from World War II motivatedCongress to do something to help them as-similate into civilian life. The result was theServicemembers’ Readjustment Act of 1944—commonly known as the GI Bill of Rights.Signed into law by President Franklin D.Roosevelt on June 22, 1944—after much de-bate—it is now widely considered one of themost significant pieces of legislation ever pro-duced by the federal government. Photo cour-tesy of Franklin D. Roosevelt Library

VAnguard


letters

Have a comment on something you’ve seen in VAnguard? Weinvite reader feedback. Send your comments to [email protected]. You can also write to us at: VAnguard, Office of Public Af-fairs (80D), Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 VermontAve., N.W., Washington, D.C., 20420, or fax your letter to(202) 273-6702. Include your name, title and VA facility. Wewon’t be able to publish every letter, but we’ll use representa-tive ones. We may need to edit your letter for length or clarity.

We Want to Hear from You

Hurricane ReliefI read your article on hurri-cane relief in Texas (Novem-ber/December issue). I wasthere, along with hundredsof other volunteers, and wewere able to do anything andeverything because of the ef-forts that Robert McDivittand other top managersmade. The only hard and fastrule was to ensure that thesurvivors of the hurricanewere treated with dignity andrespect, and we were allcharged with doing every-thing that we could to makethem comfortable. Whenyou are in a situation wherethe director and top manage-ment contribute 150 percent,you are willing to put in thesame amount.

Mr. McDivitt and topmanagement set the tone forthe shelter and made it aworthwhile experience for usall. They could be foundholding a child, talking tothe residents, sharing a mealwith residents, attending awedding of residents, com-forting children, encouragingchildren to do their home-work, waving them off whenthey went to school. Theyhad no titles there—theytreated everyone the same.Because of the people I wasdeployed with, I came backfeeling wonderful and putmy name on the list to be re-deployed in the future!

Michelle SmithSecretary

VA New Jersey Health CareSystem

Bonus MarchAs a student of history, I readyour article in the Novem-ber/December issue aboutthe 1932 Bonus March withsome interest. The articlestates that “some of the vet-erans set fire to their shacksas a final act of resistance.”

This is somewhat at oddswith various versions I haveread that gave credit for theburning of the makeshifthousing, along with bayonetand tear gas attacks, to Gen.MacArthur. Most accounts ofthis episode in our historywill tell you that the generalexceeded President Hoover’sorders in quelling the “rebel-lion.” Perhaps the general’smemoirs are the source ofyour version.

Jeffrey L. TeasSupervisory Management

and Program AnalystMemorial Service Network II

Decatur, Ga.

Editor’s note: We, too, foundvarying accounts of the BonusMarch while researching thisstory. So we decided to limitsources to VA reference mate-rial to highlight the depart-ment’s role in the event, whichis generally overlooked in mostaccounts. The first source wasthe 1932 Veterans Administra-tion Annual Report, availablein the VA Central Office li-brary. The second was “ToCare for Him Who Shall HaveBorne the Battle,” a history ofthe Veterans Administrationcompiled by Robinson E.Adkins, who worked for VA(and its predecessor agency)from 1919 to 1963. His his-torical compilation was pro-duced from documentedsources and first-person ac-counts, and was printed in1967 for use by the HouseCommittee on Veterans’ Af-fairs. The question of who setfire to the shacks—the soldiersor the marchers—illustrateswhat most historians alreadyknow: much of history dependson who’s telling it.

Buyer’s Guest ColumnI wanted to say a specialthank you for the article andheartfelt words from Rep.

Steve Buyer (November/De-cember issue). As an OIF vetand VA employee who comesfrom a long line of veterans,I appreciate that our hardwork is supported by Con-gress. The seamless transitionprograms that are croppingup all over the VA systemmake it a wonderful and dy-

namic place to be. I feel theseprograms really show ournew veterans we care andshow our Vietnam veteranswe have learned from pastmistakes. The VA truly is agreat place to work.

Marie L. Sasse, R.N.Nurse manager

Dayton, Ohio, VAMC

Heads or Tails?Secretary Nicholson performed the coin toss to start the 106thArmy-Navy game in December. As part of the day’s activities inPhiladelphia, he also visited with wounded OIF/OEF soldiers.

ANDREW SCHELLER JR.

VAnguardmanagement matters


VA Seasonal and Pandemic Influenza Programs: PublicHealth, Performance and PreparednessLawrence R. Deyton, M.D.Chief Public Health and Environmental Hazards Officer

The rate of influenza vaccination for our patientstops that of any other public or private integratedhealth care system.

Influenza is an importantpublic health issue for veter-ans and VA, whether it is the“regular” seasonal variety orthe human version of theavian or “bird flu”—a newinfluenza virus that could in-fect humans worldwide andbecome a pandemic.

Vaccination against sea-sonal influenza is a high pri-ority for VA. Veterans usingVA health care services areolder and have more chronicmedical conditions than theaverage American, and aretherefore especially vulner-able to seasonal influenza andthe complications that canresult from it.

Thanks to a coordinatedand dedicated effort by VAstaff, the rate of influenzavaccination for our patientstops that of any other publicor private integrated healthcare system. Last season, forexample, even with a na-tional influenza vaccineshortage, 75 percent of veter-ans in VA care over 50 yearsold were vaccinated, and 82percent of VA patients over65 were vaccinated.

In the U.S., only 63 per-cent of the over 65 popula-tion got a flu shot, and just75 percent of Medicare pa-tients in this age range did.Of adults 50-64 in the U.S.on commercial insuranceplans, a mere 28 percentwere vaccinated last season.

We can all be proud ofthe commitment VA staffhave to make sure their pa-tients get flu shots. But insome ways, VA staff don’ttake as good care of them-selves; we are certain the rate

of influenza vaccinationamong our employees in themedical system is not what itshould be. Thus, this year wehave put emphasis on vacci-nating health care employees,because their jobs put themat higher risk of exposure toinfluenza, and particularlybecause helping them stayhealthy keeps our patientshealthy and our systemworking. VA is collectingdata about our employee vac-cination rates to guide futureefforts.

Preparedness againstpandemic influenza is also a

high priority for VA, as it isfor the nation. Because VAhealth care facilities are lo-cated in nearly every com-munity, if pandemic influ-enza happens anywhere, vet-erans will be affected. VA canhelp alert the country to anincrease in influenza activitycaused by a pandemic strain,and VA facilities will respondto protect veterans, our staff,and our operations, and bepart of the national response.

VA’s successful seasonalinfluenza vaccination pro-gram, combined with ourwell-established emergencymanagement programs, pro-vide a strong foundation forour pandemic influenza pre-paredness. VA is taking sev-eral key actions to preparefor pandemic influenza, in-

cluding:■ Promoting a national cam-paign, “Infection: Don’t PassIt On,” to enlist all staff, pa-tients and visitors in takingbasic public health mea-sures—especially hand wash-ing and respiratory hy-giene—that could reduce ordelay the impact of pan-demic influenza.■ Establishing a stockpile ofthe antiviral drug oseltamivirand a policy for distributionin an emergency.■ Initiating a clinical studyto determine if using this an-tiviral with another drug

(probenicid) could enable thesupply of oseltamivir to beextended for use in morepeople.■ Developing a RespiratoryInfectious Disease Emer-gency Plan for VA Facilitiesoutlining the actions neededto be prepared.■ Expanding the capacity ofthe electronic medical recordsystem to provide real-timeclinical data to the Centersfor Disease Control and Pre-vention for surveillance of in-fluenza-like disease in theU.S.■ Coordinating with WhiteHouse planning activitiesand working across federal,regional and local lines.

Of course, there is muchmore to do. A VA PandemicInfluenza Plan is in develop-

ment to enable our health,benefits, and memorial affairssections to be prepared. TheVA Pandemic Influenza Planwill cover preparing for andresponding during a pan-demic in these areas:■ Patient care issues includ-ing self-care at home, if nec-essary.■ Facilities management, ac-quisitions, supplies and logis-tics.■ Employee and occupa-tional health and staffing is-sues.■ Pandemic influenza educa-tion for staff and veterans.

■ VA pandemic influenzatabletop exercises planned tooccur as a series of events in2006.■ Communication withinand outside VA during boththe pre-pandemic phase—where we are as I writethis—and during a pan-demic.

We will never know ev-erything that will happen inan emergency, but we doknow we are committed todo everything we can for theveterans who rely on us forhealth care and other servicesand to support our nation’sreadiness and response tohealth emergencies such aspandemic influenza.

www.pandemicflu.gov

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outlook

will require a sustained VAcommitment and the sup-port of Congress. To thatend, NCA has implementedan assessment program thatidentifies areas where cem-etery operations and servicescan be improved and whichmeasures progress towardmeeting maintenance andrestoration goals.

NCA also works closelywith state cemetery supervi-sors to train and supporttheir personnel to achieve thesame standards of appearancethat are expected at nationalcemeteries. These efforts willensure that national and stateveterans cemeteries serve toinspire appreciation for veter-ans and the values they de-fended—for this generationof Americans and for genera-tions to follow.

We expect that 2006will be the first year in whichVA conducts more than100,000 interments in ournational cemeteries. How-ever, even at the busiest ofcemeteries—those that con-duct 20 or more interments aday—NCA employees per-form every burial as if it werethe only service scheduled forthe day. At national cemeter-ies, each veteran’s final ben-efit will always be providedwith the full dignity and so-lemnity that befits a veteran’sservice to country.

National Cemeteries: Fulfilling the Final PromiseWilliam F. TuerkUnder Secretary for Memorial Affairs

We expect that 2006 will be the first year in whichVA conducts more than 100,000 interments in ournational cemeteries.

The number of deathsamong veterans is expectedto reach an all-time high in2006. With the average ageof our World War II veteransnow 82, and the average ageof Korean War veterans now74, VA projects that we willlose more than 687,000 vet-erans this year. Although thenumber of deaths will slowlydecrease over time, our na-tion will continue to loselarge numbers of veteranswell into the foreseeable fu-ture—at least 600,000 a yearthrough 2016.

VA national cemeteriesare growing to fulfill thenation’s promise of care forveterans in perpetuity. From2006 through 2010, the Na-tional Cemetery Administra-tion will complete the firstphase of construction on 11new cemeteries, establish 18state veterans cemeteries, andensure that all national andstate cemeteries are operatedand maintained at the high-est standards, befitting theirstatus as national shrines.

New national cemeteriesare being developed in re-gions where large popula-tions of veterans are not nowserved. In the past fewmonths, Great Lakes Na-tional Cemetery and Na-tional Cemetery of theAlleghenies opened to pro-vide burial space for veteransin the Detroit and Pittsburghareas. Construction is con-tinuing at both of these cem-eteries to bring them to fulloperational status.

Construction is also pro-gressing at Georgia NationalCemetery, 40 miles north of

Atlanta, where burial opera-tions are expected to beginthis spring. In south Florida,construction of a new cem-etery in Palm Beach Countyis expected to begin thisspring. Planning is also un-derway for a new cemeterynear Sacramento, Calif., withfirst interments planned forfiscal year 2007. NCA’s im-mediate priority is to bringthese five cemeteries to fulloperational status as soon aspossible.

As these cemeteriesprogress, NCA is preparingto establish six additionalcemeteries at locations speci-fied in the National Cem-etery Expansion Act of 2003.Environmental assessmentsare being conducted on thesites that are under consider-ation, and NCA has bud-

geted $41 million this fiscalyear for land acquisition.These six cemeteries willserve veterans in the regionsof Philadelphia; Columbia-Greenville, S.C.; Jacksonville,Fla.; Sarasota, Fla.; Birming-ham, Ala.; and Bakersfield,Calif.

While these nationalcemeteries will serve regionswith the largest concentra-tions of veterans, VA’s part-nership with the states hasbecome a vital component toserve millions of veterans andfamily members who live in

less densely populated areas.The pace of the State Cem-etery Grants Program has in-creased dramatically in recentyears.

Twenty new state veter-ans cemeteries have been es-tablished since 2001, andthree more are under con-struction to serve veterans inthe regions of Shreveport,La.; Mission (Rio GrandeValley), Texas; and Saipan, inthe Commonwealth of theNorthern Mariana Islands.Other state veterans cemeter-ies are under design forAnderson, S.C.; Glennville,Ga.; Fort Stanton, N.M.;Springvale, Maine; FortKnox, Ky.; Williamstown,Ky.; Missoula, Mont.; DesMoines, Iowa; and Abilene,Texas. In the next three years,NCA will work to approve

additional state applicationsand continue to communi-cate with states that have notparticipated to show themhow VA’s State CemeteryGrants Program can effec-tively serve thousands of vet-erans and their families.

With more veteranschoosing burial in nationalcemeteries, the number ofgravesites and columbariumfacilities that VA has respon-sibility to maintain grows ev-ery year, and continues inperpetuity. Maintaining ourcemeteries as national shrines

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Despite some initial uncertaintyas VA recalibrated workload esti-mates and the White House revisedits budget request, Congress andPresident Bush responded with en-actment of a bill providing robustappropriations for veterans pro-grams.

“Veterans of every era can resteasy, knowing that access to whathas been described as the finest inte-grated health care system in thecountry will remain undiminished—especially for low-income veterans,those with service-connected dis-abilities, special needs, or who haverecently returned from combat,” VASecretary Jim Nicholson said in astatement on the President’s requestfor additional funds.

When the debate was over, theMilitary Quality of Life and Veter-ans Affairs Appropriations Act of2006 provided $72.3 billion in bud-get authority to operate VA pro-grams this fiscal year, an increase ofmore than $1 billion over 2005.“Gross budget authority” means thespending plan made possible bothfrom direct appropriations and themoney certain lower-eligibility andhigher-income veterans pay towardcare and medications, funds VAmedical centers retain locally to

plow back into services for veterans.Highlights of the fiscal year

2006 budget outcome include:■ Funding for mental health re-search doubles, and centers of excel-

lence will be established at three lo-cations—Waco, Texas; San Diego;and Canandaigua, N.Y.—devoted toadvancing research and enhancingcare for mental health issues. Over-all, $2.2 billion identified for spe-cialty mental health care representsa $100 million increase over 2005.■ An increase of more than $34million was provided for VeteransBenefits Administration operationalexpenses, which will assist with

Inside the2006 Budget

Following a series of urgent hearings and actions onCapitol Hill late last fiscal year, VA emerged witha strong 2006 budget posture that will provide

medical care and other benefits to more veterans thanever before.

On Jan. 8, VA Secretary Jim Nicholson announced plans to purchase 200 acres near Philadelphia forthe construction of a national cemetery. The funds for the purchase are included in the 2006 budget.

MARCUS WILSON

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timely processing of disabilityclaims.■ Congress rejected proposals for anannual enrollment fee, a priority sys-tem relating to veterans needingnursing home care, and some higherco-payments for veterans at the bot-tom rungs of the eligibility pyramid,categories which include those withhigher incomes not seeking care fora service-connected disability. Thefinal bill provided additional fundsto replace the co-pay income as-sumed in those original proposals.■ The National Cemetery Adminis-tration received funding to buy landfor six new national cemeteries inBakersfield, Calif.; Birmingham,Ala.; Columbia-Greenville, S.C.;Jacksonville, Fla.; Sarasota, Fla.; andsoutheastern Pennsylvania; and forexpansion of the Fort Rosecrans An-nex in Miramar, Calif. The budgetalso includes $32 million for newstate cemetery grants.■ Gulf War illness research receiveda boost in resources with new re-search treatment centers and thecreation of a pilot program at Uni-versity of Texas Southwestern Medi-cal Center in Dallas to help VA an-swer lingering questions abouthealth problems reported by some

Medical Budget and Workload

veterans who took part in OperationDesert Shield and Operation DesertStorm.

While increases were providedeach of VA’s three administrations,much of the public interest in bud-get decision-making focused on thelarge medical care budget account.Unlike financial benefits paid by theVeterans Benefits Administration,medical care funds are not manda-tory spending and sometimes arepopularly perceived as vulnerable to“cuts” as advocates turn up the heaton Congress and the White Houseeach year championing resources forveterans.

Though the headlines generatedin this annual process may worryveterans and employees that the VAhealth care system is beingdownsized, the reality is that in re-cent years, the medical care budgethas increased annually and more pa-tients are seen (see related sidebarbelow). That trend also benefitedfrom shifts to less expensive outpa-tient care, but is challenged both byever-increasing health care costs inareas such as pharmaceuticals, andgrowing labor costs.

In fact, VA medical spending isup almost $10 billion since 2001, or

47 percent.VA will publish a detailed plan

of how it will spend its fiscal year2006 appropriations as current-yearestimates are provided in the 2007budget proposal transmittal to Con-gress early this calendar year.

To the public and most employ-ees, the announcements of new bud-get proposals, often in February, ap-pear to be the beginning of eachbudget cycle—allowing some eightmonths for Congress to consider thespending plan before the beginningof the fiscal year in question. But be-hind the scenes, the process hasbeen going on for months before theannouncement, with the depart-ment and the White House Officeof Management and Budget devel-oping the proposal for the year afternext.

While this lead time provides acomfortable window for VA andOMB to reach a consensus and forcongressional committees to heartestimony from VA and other inter-ested parties, it presented problemswith the fiscal year 2006 budget—aswell as the 2005 budget for whichVA sought and received supplemen-tal funding late in the year.

One problem for VA was thatthe federal budget cycle requiredbudget formulation using data de-rived two-and-a-half to three-and-a-half years ahead of budget execu-tion. VA’s actuarial model forecast2.3 percent annual growth in healthcare demand in fiscal year 2005.However, just halfway through lastfiscal year, VA discovered thatgrowth would probably exceed thisprojection, prompting the revisionsof its budget plans and requests foradditional appropriations.

VA has outlined to Congress fu-ture planned improvements to themodel and committed to quarterlyreviews to address resource needs inlight of last year’s experience.

By Terry Jemison

Medical IndividualFiscal Budget PatientsYear (in $Billions) Treated

2001 21.0 4,247,204

2002 22.6 4,671,037

2003 25.4 4,961,453

2004 27.7 5,166,833

2005 29.9 5,308,314

2006 31.0 5,441,952 (est.)

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More than 25 percent of VA employees in the area affected by Hurricane Katrina lost their homes to the storm, andnearly every employee suffered some type of property damage. Touched by their plight, thousands of VA staff aroundthe country gave generously to help their fellow employees get back on their feet. A hurricane relief fundraising cam-paign conducted at VA headquarters and at field facilities nationwide raised more than $327,000. The Leadership VAAlumni Association sponsored the campaign in conjunction with the VA Canteen Service and the VA Employee Asso-ciation. The funds collected are being distributed to employees who demonstrated a need for assistance.

Storm

Help from the VA Family

“You don’t really have achoice. You can’t just sitdown and throw yourhands up and quit.”

After theAfter the

As the six-month anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s assault on theGulf Coast approaches, VA employees displaced by the storm are

gradually putting their lives back together and moving on, gratefulfor the support they’ve received from their colleagues nationwide.

GARY MODICK

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Behind the Scenes of VET IT

Hurricane Katrina cast hundreds ofVA employees from New Orleans onwhirlwind journeys, with starts andstops in places like Atlanta or Hous-ton or Dallas or San Antonio.

Take Linda Cosey. She and herfamily evacuated to Houston, livedin San Antonio for a while, thenmoved to Jackson, Miss. Recently,Cosey took a new position at theSouth Texas Veterans Health CareSystem, and she and her family re-turned to San Antonio.

“I know we always have VAfamily,” says Cosey, whose home inNew Orleans East was lost duringKatrina.

That sense of family, says Coseyand other displaced VA employees,has helped them manage, helpedthem maintain their will to moveforward, to overcome after losing somuch.

“It was like working with peoplein shock. They were uncertain whatwould happen in the future,” re-called Ceagus Reed, a human re-sources specialist at the South Cen-tral VA Health Care Network, ahealth care system that includes theNew Orleans VA Medical Center,the VA Gulf Coast Veterans HealthCare System and eight other facili-ties in the region.

Reed and others at the networkhad the formidable task of helpingthe displaced employees find newpositions. “There was no medicalcenter there at the time,” Reed said.“We didn’t even know where every-one was. We set up a 1-800 numberand got the word out as much aspossible.”

That commitment to employeestouches on the very heart and soulof VA as an organization, says Rob-ert Lynch, M.D., network director.

“This was taking care of our mostvaluable resource.”

VA employees displaced fromNew Orleans say it was their com-mitment to continue their mission,to, as President Lincoln said, “ . . .care for him who shall have bornethe battle and for his widow and his

orphan,” that sustained them duringand after the storm.

“It was such a team effort. Ev-eryone was patient-focused. We sawwhat everyone was made of. Therewas not one employee at the hospi-tal who didn’t have the focus of pa-tient care,” said Diane Badeaux.

New Orleans: Sustained byWork and ‘Family’

Opposite: John Willett, care-taker at the Biloxi NationalCemetery, whose home wasflooded with 7 feet of waterin the storm; above: New Or-leans VA Regional Office em-ployees volunteered to boxup pending claims folders tobe transferred to the regionaloffices in Muskogee, Okla.,St. Louis and Milwaukee;right: Ava Nicholas, assistantsupport services divisionchief at the New Orleans VARegional Office.

ED WRIGHT

ED WRIGHT

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ROBERT TURTIL

New Orleans VA Medical Center: In December, the 10th floor of the Boggs Care Unit adjacent to the medical center(above the parking garage) was opened as a primary care clinic. In March, the ninth floor of the medical center isslated to open with limited specialty care. Mobile clinics operating in Hammond, LaPlace, and Slidell, La., are being re-placed with standing community-based outpatient clinics. The medical center has seen a dramatic workload increaseat its Baton Rouge clinic.New Orleans VA Regional Office: In December, VA opened a temporary regional benefits office in Gretna, La. The facil-ity, located at 671-A Whitney Avenue, offers the same services that had been provided at the New Orleans office,which remains closed. VA officials are still studying options for reopening the permanent regional office. Damagecaused by Hurricane Katrina forced 28 employees to request perma-nent transfers to other regional offices, three employees to retire, andnine employees to remain on temporary detail to other VA facilities.Payment of benefits to veterans and other beneficiaries in the disas-ter areas has continued without interruption in spite of the hurricanedamage and staff reductions. VA has provided replacement checksfor beneficiaries unable to receive their regular monthly paymentsdue to lack of a permanent address or access to their financial insti-tutions.New Orleans Vet Center: The vet center, which was completely de-stroyed by flooding, is temporarily operating with full services out of asmall complex upstairs from the original location. A satellite vet cen-ter was opened in Baton Rouge to serve veterans temporarily relo-cated there.VA Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System: Consolidation of theBiloxi and Gulfport Divisions as part of the Capital Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) initiative will beexpedited. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, estimated completion was 2012. Estimated completion now is 2009. The historicundertaking of this consolidation process is reflected in the name “Project Acorn.” Like the oak tree born from theacorn, the many branches of the health care system will benefit and grow from the improvements planned in thisproject.Biloxi National Cemetery: Within a month and a half after the storm, all debris, including downed trees, broken limbs,shingles, and roofing from other buildings, was removed from the cemetery. The cemetery is fully operational.

VA After Katrina: A Snapshot

Badeaux spent nearly a week inthe medical center after Katrinablew through and was among thelast group of employees to evacuate.A social worker by profession,Badeaux has returned to work at theNew Orleans VA Medical Center asa customer service coordinator aftera post-Katrina journey that carriedher from Shreveport, La., toMandeville, La., then back to theCrescent City.

“I think we all have a greaterappreciation for VA. There’s a largeVA family,” said Badeaux.

Mark Muhammad, president ofAFGE Local 3553, praised howmanagement worked with employ-ees during and after the disaster.

While the union’s contract was tem-porarily suspended because of thestate of emergency, managementcontinued to honor and follow thespirit of the agreement, he said.

Like others, Muhammad talksabout the sense of family in VA. Inone instance, a female employeewith an infant had evacuated on herown and was staying at the HoustonAstrodome. VA employees in Hous-ton went to the arena, found thedisplaced New Orleans employee,and arranged shelter for her and herchild. “They said, ‘You’re our familyand we’re going to take care ofyou,’” Muhammad said.

Sam Trapp, a fiduciary legal in-strument examiner with the New

Orleans Regional Office, believes fo-cusing on work has helped him andothers through the tough times. “It’skind of a reprieve. It helps me getmy mind clear,” said Trapp. He andhis family of five are currently livingin a small cabin on a FEMA-oper-ated cruise ship.

“This particular job takes the fo-cus off yourself and helps you focuson others,” Trapp said. “I hearpeople talking about their work, try-ing to help out wherever they can.”

Another regional office em-ployee, Ava Nicholas, assistant sup-port services division chief, put itthis way: “We still have tough daysahead, but we’re going to getthrough this.”

New Orleans VA Regional Office Director Rowland Christian wel-comes employees back on Dec. 12, when the VARO reopened in itstemporary location in Gretna, La.

ED WRIGHT

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The 8-by-30-foot trailer on ComfortDrive in Biloxi overlooks the beachand the gentle ebb and flow of theMississippi Sound.

“We have a million-dollar viewand a FEMA trailer,” says BelindaCorley, a travel clerk at the VA GulfCoast Veterans Health Care System.

Her home, along with the restof her quiet neighborhood, wasswept away as Hurricane Katrinachurned and churned, carving apath of destruction spanning hun-dreds of miles.

For Corley, like many of thehundreds of VA employees affectedby Katrina, the trailer is more than ashelter, more than an aluminumbox. If only symbolically, it stands asa line of demarcation on what issure to be a long road to recovery.

Indeed, the region is now awashin mobile homes. It has become acoast of trailers signifying small stepsforward by people determined toovercome the worst natural disasterin the nation’s history.

About 50 trailer homes occupya vacant field on the North Campusof the VA Gulf Coast’s Gulfport Di-vision, a property that had been

Biloxi: On the Road to Recoverywiped out by the storm.

Often, the images are stark, thestories halting, the sense of loss pal-pable. And yet, says Chris Jones, as-sociate director, VA employees, likeso many people on the coast, are de-termined to overcome the tragedy.

“I’m grateful for our employees,”Jones said. “They con-tinue to be heroes in mymind. They remain com-mitted to coming here,to doing their jobs, totaking care of veterans.”

More than 25 per-cent of VA employeeslost their homes toKatrina. Nearly everyemployee suffered somekind of property loss.

“It was devastating.You feel like it’s just a

dream. I still feel like one day I’mgoing to wake up and it’s not goingto be true. You drive down there andyou see the devastation. It’s warzone-like. Pictures don’t do it jus-tice,” said Mary Cook, supervisor ofthe Patient Business Office at theVA Gulf Coast.

Workers prepare land for the installation of two modu-lar buildings to make 20,000 square feet of office spacefor employees of the VA Gulf Coast’s Gulfport Divisiondisplaced by the storm.

Belinda Corley, VA Gulf Coast travel clerk, lost her home inthe storm and is living in a trailer supplied by FEMA.

GARY MODICK

However, Cook adds, the stormhas brought everyone closer togetheras a community. “You’ve never seena group of people pull together likethis facility has. Everyone is family.It’s family first.”

Cook, who has worked at VAfor 16 years, lost her cozy two-bed-room, two-bath home in the heartof Biloxi to 9 feet of water. She andher family lost nearly everything.

So many VA employees in thearea have lost so much, yet theycontinue to ask what they can do tohelp their colleagues and neighbors.“Someone is always asking what Ineed. In turn, you do the samething,” Cook explains.

The VA support—from co-workers to management to employ-ees around the country—has beentremendous, Cook says.

The names, placesand details are differ-ent from one em-ployee to the next.But story after story af-ter story reveals com-mon themes. There isgreat loss; there isgreat determination.

Take John Willett.A cemetery caretakerat the Biloxi NationalCemetery since 1983,he saw his houseflooded with 7 feet ofwater. “If it weren’t forthe five trees on it, itwould have floatedaway,” he said.

Still, despite ev-erything he’s been through, Willettremains optimistic. “You don’t reallyhave a choice. You can’t just sitdown and throw your hands up andquit. As far as the future, I think it’sgoing to be really, really bright.”

GARY MODICK

By Mario Rossilli

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three police cars appeared.My stomach clenched as I heard

an echo from my past. “Can I helpyou, Buddy?”

“I sure hope so,” I said. When Iexplained my situation to the of-ficer, he took me to the right build-ing. I introduced myself to severalworkers and looked around. Therewere no beds, cooking facilities orcleaning supplies. A grimy film cov-ered the walls and floors.

When I got to the Ramada Inn,they had no rooms. Finally, I founda place to stay at another hotel. Af-ter a management staff meeting atthe site the next morning, we vis-ited a Wal-Mart where the 175 hur-ricane survivors were housed.

The first thing that hit me wasthe smell. Trash bags filled with sur-vivors’ belongings, mounds of gar-bage, shopping carts and walkers sur-rounded the sleeping mats. Therewere no cooking facilities, and therestrooms were grossly inadequate

for the crowd.We returned to the

building they’d named“The Silver Lining” andreceived our assign-ments. I was to contactmedical center depart-ment heads who wouldhelp with supplies.

The first group ofresidents arrived by buswhile we were still set-ting things up. I greetedeach survivor, saying,“Welcome. We’re glad tohave you.” Not one per-son answered me. Silent,they slumped in line

In September 2005, I was in Phoe-nix to make a presentation at myfirst national conference. I was

proud to have been asked to speakbefore a group of VA executives,and at the same time, scared half todeath. Seven years before, at the ageof 47, I’d dragged myself out of threedecades of drug and alcohol abuseand a degrading life on the streets.This opportunity was a real bench-mark, far beyond anything I’d imag-ined achieving in my life.

On the morning of the “bigday,” my boss at the Bay Pines VAMedical Center north of St. Peters-burg, Fla., called. “Tree,” he said,“you’ve got to take the first flight toWaco to help out withthe hurricane victims.”

“Texas?” I said. “ButI’m supposed to speak at1 o’clock.”

“Sorry. They needyou ASAP.”

“But …”“Bad timing, I know.

But you’re an environ-mental services managerand we’ve only got 24hours to convert anabandoned building intoa shelter.”

The last seat avail-able was on a planeleaving at 11 a.m. I’d

miss giving my speech. Disappoint-ment engulfed me. Someone elsecould have gone instead. It wasn’tfair. As I called my boss back, my ir-ritation twisted into dismay. He saidsomeone would meet me and I’d bestaying at the Ramada Inn.

It was 9 p.m. when I steppedinto the hot, dry air at the Waco air-port. I looked around the terminal,the size of two double-wide trailers.Nobody met me. Where was I sup-posed to go? My resentment beganto boil. No one answered the phoneat the VA main building or the se-curity station. I called my boss. Noanswer.

I took a cab to the VA grounds,but the place seemed deserted.Completely frustrated and notknowing what else to do, I lurked inthe shadows behind the building,hoping someone would contact se-curity. I’d given up my speech forthis and nobody even knew I washere. Or cared. Within 20 minutes,

Editor’s note: The November/December issueof VAnguard included a story on VA’s first fed-eral medical shelters for civilian evacuees, set upin Waco and Marlin after Hurricane Rita. Thefollowing first-person account by Eugene“Tree” Hairston illustrates the profound effectthe experience had on one of the more than 400VA employees from around the country whowere deployed to Texas to staff the shelters.

LUANA MAHONE

Eugene “Tree” Hairston stops to take a call at the Bay Pines, Fla., VAMedical Center’s information desk. Looking on are volunteers ClaudetteStein and Bill Edwards.

LiningSilverTheThe Lining

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with lost, vacant looks in theirdowncast eyes, unkempt hair and ill-fitting clothes.

When they got to their assignedrooms, they dropped their black gar-bage bags to the floor and sat on thecots, waiting for the next meal.Their only apparent survival instinctseemed to be getting in the food lineearly, in case we ran short.

After eating, most left theStyrofoam containers on the tables,making no effort to clean up afterthemselves. Their rooms looked nobetter. They appeared resigned to ahopeless fate. Life had turned onthem and they’d lost any sense ofpride. Being shuttled from place toplace, with no say about where theywere going or how they would getthere, had taken its toll.

At first, the housekeeping staffcomplained. “They don’t need to bewaited on hand and foot. They’relazy, not helpless.” If we’d lost every-thing, I told them, we might act thesame way. I encouraged them tokeep smiling, do their jobs withoutbeing judgmental, and try to keeptheir comments positive.

We recommended that residentsthrow away their garbage bags; mosthad been contaminated in pollutedfloodwaters and held only mildewedclothing and a few mementos. Un-derstandably, many wanted to keepitems they’d carried through flood,rain and rescue. I just couldn’t tellthem they had to throw out theironly reminders of home, so ourhousekeepers helped them clean andsalvage what they could. A churchorganization picked up soiled clothesand returned them washed andfolded.

At last, a real silver lining ap-peared. When the Red Cross arrivedon the fourth day with vouchers forclothing and luggage, the survivorsfinally started receiving what they’dbeen promised for weeks—access towashers and dryers, as well as finan-cial, physical, and spiritual help,

which had not been available inother shelters.

In a room near the elevators, awoman named Theresa sat silent ev-ery day. Each time I passed her andher children, I said “good morning”or “good afternoon,” but she neveranswered. By the fifth day, I figuredshe might think I was being pushy,so I walked by without comment.Just as I passed, she called out,“Hello, Tree.” I smiled at her andsaid, “Good morning, Theresa!” Shewaved back.

Another of the arrivals wasMarcus, a handsome man in histwenties, taller than my 6-foot-6,who had the mind of a 10-year-old.He’d stand in the hall asking ques-tions. “What are you doing? Why?”When I assigned him the job of hallmonitor, he straightened his shoul-ders, grinned, and said, “Yes, sir!”

A couple who had canceledtheir wedding decided to go aheadwith it. The staff collected dona-tions and got the bride a beautifulwedding gown. The chaplain orga-nized a chorus and Marcus was rightin the middle, singing his heart out,although he didn’t know the words.

Two days before I left, the staffcollected money and organized akaraoke party. It was held outside,and the crowd really got into theloud, uplifting music. An old NewOrleans bluesman sang a song he’dwritten expressing his gratitude, andMarcus never stopped dancing—with staff members, by himself, andwith anyone who came close to him.

I left the party to replace somefurniture, and on a break sat at thetop of the outside staircase to thesecond floor. I looked out at thefamilies and staff. Nurses held babieswhile children played and their par-ents danced and talked. Young mendanced with elderly ladies usingtheir walkers.

Men and women, hopeless just10 days before, were laughing andhelping each other. The energy

changed as people took charge oftheir lives, making decisions andplanning their next moves.

As I looked out at them, tearsstarted coming. I put on my sun-glasses and pretended I had some-thing in my eye, while lookingaround to make sure nobody saw. Amoment later, a child ran up thestairs and offered me a tissue. Hegrinned and pointed to his mother,Theresa, the woman who hadn’tspoken to me the first few days. Shewaved and mouthed the words“thank you.”

The next morning, one of theworkers found an old trophy in acloset and had it engraved withMarcus’ name as “Best Dancer.” Ata management meeting that after-noon, we called him in. As always,he had questions. “Why do I need tobe here? What are you doing?”

The presenter had Marcus comeforward, and then read: “To honorthe energy and quality of dancing atthe Silver Lining karaoke, you,Marcus, were voted best dancer.”Smiling from ear to ear, Marcusstuck his chest out so far I thoughthe’d strain his back. We congratu-lated him and he said, “Can I goshow my mom?”

“Yes,” we said, and he took off,shouting, “Look what I got! Lookwhat I got!” We all wiped awaytears.

I had come into this job full ofresentments, feeling I’d beencheated out of a great opportunity.Instead, I got a new respect for life,for people, and for the VA healthcare community.

I learned first hand that pa-tience and understanding, alongwith baths and clean clothes, canbegin to build trust and restore dig-nity. In that small town, a group ofdedicated people, who forgot theirranks and worked as equals, madethe world a better place—an experi-ence far more gratifying than givinga speech could ever have been.

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Soldiers who lost limbs in Iraqand Afghanistan are findingnew career opportunities with

VA’s Prosthetic and Sensory AidsService.

Army Staff Sgt. FranciscoPinedo, 27, was nearing the end ofhis yearlong tour in Iraq whenshrapnel from a roadside bomb sev-ered his right hand on Sept. 4, 2004.He had been partiallyexposed in the forwardhatch of a 19-tonStryker vehicle wheninsurgents detonatedthe bomb, which washidden in a lamppost.

The blast rockedPinedo back inside thehatch and stunnedhim momentarily. Hedidn’t realize he washit until he saw hishand. “I knew I wasgoing to lose it be-cause it was just hang-ing there,” he recalled.

In the days andweeks following theattack, Pinedo’s physi-cal pain gave way tonagging anxiety abouthis uncertain future.How was a one-handed man supposedto care for his wife andyoung son, he won-dered? “Those werethe darkest days. To behonest, I just cried for weeks,” hesaid.

The dark cloud of uncertaintylifted, however, following an unex-pected visit from Frederick DownsJr., VA’s chief prosthetic and clinicallogistics officer, while recovering atWalter Reed Army Medical Center

in Washington, D.C. Downs, wholost his left arm to a land mine inVietnam, has been an amputee peervisitor at Walter Reed since theGulf War.

“The first thing you noticewhen he walks in the room is his[prosthetic] hook. In my mind, itstarted clicking right away … thereis life after amputation, there is a fu-ture,” said Pinedo.

During rehabilitation at WalterReed, Pinedo developed an interestin prosthetic devices. He later askedDowns if there were any career op-portunities in prosthetics with VA.“The rest is history,” said Pinedo,who began a two-year prostheticrepresentative training program at

the San Diego VA Medical Centerin March 2005.

He works under the guidance ofthe hospital’s prosthetic manager,Richard Rodriguez, who is also alower-arm amputee. “As soon as Iheard about Francisco, I knew hewas going to be a good fit here,” saidRodriguez. “We have so much incommon … he reminds me of my-self when I was his age.”

Pinedo immersed himself in theprosthetic handbook during his firstfew weeks on the job. He read up onVA guidelines for prosthetic service,which cover everything from issuingprosthetic limbs and orthopedicfootwear to home oxygen and aidsfor the blind. “He was very moti-

Succession Planning for ‘A Special Mission’Prosthetic Service looks to recent amputees to fill positions.

Halfway through a two-year prosthetic representative training program at the San Diego VA Medical Center, FranciscoPinedo oversees several major programs within the facility’s prosthetic service, including adaptive equipment.

WILLIAM H. BUCHANAN

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the first to qualify and participate inthe national intern program. And ifthey complete the training, they’llhave the necessary qualificationsand experience to one day run theprosthetic service at a VA hospital.

Pinedo, who is nearing the half-way mark in his training program,believes the opportunity is one thatother amputees wouldn’t want tomiss. “Have you heard that expres-sion things happen for a reason?” heasked. “Well, look at me—I’m livingproof.”

vated—you could see it in his eyes,”said Rodriguez.

Today Pinedo is overseeing sev-eral major programs within the SanDiego VA hospital’s $14 millionprosthetic service, including adap-tive equipment, clothing allowance,and home improvement and struc-tural alterations. He likes the workand called it therapeutic in a way. “Iget to talk with these veterans andthey see I’m an amputee, so we canreally connect. It’s hard to describe,actually,” he said.

He admitted that he had noidea what he was getting into whenhe started the training program. “Ireally knew nothing about VA,” hesaid, “but I’ve been really impressedso far. The treatment I’ve seen hereis definitely equal, if not better,than at any other public or privatehospital.”

In addition to Pinedo, two otherrecent amputees—one who servedin Iraq and the other in Afghani-stan—are participating in prosthetictraining programs at their local VAmedical centers.

Those local programs are mod-eled on the Veterans HealthAdministration’s Technical CareerField Intern Program, which startedin 2003 as part of the department’ssuccession planning efforts. (For in-formation on the program, visit theIntranet site vaww.va.gov/succession/tcfprog.cfm.)

The two-year program is an ac-tive recruitment process to train em-ployees for technical positions pro-jected to open in the next few years,according to Lisa Red, who managesthe national program for VHA.“Ours is a special mission, and weneed specially trained staff to re-place those that retire,” she said.

There are currently 10 VA ca-reer fields participating in the na-tional intern program: contracting,engineering, finance, health admin-istration, health information man-agement, human resources, informa-

tion technology, inventory manage-ment, voluntary service and pros-thetics.

The first class in 2003 had 119interns, according to Red. She saidthe 2006 class, which starts in July,has been approved for 219 interns,including 12 in prosthetics.

Several Iraqi Freedom veteranswho lost limbs in combat are ex-pected to apply for prosthetic repre-sentative intern positions with the2006 class, according to KathleenM. Pessagno, a program analyst inProsthetic and Sensory Aids Ser-vice. She said they would be among

Above: FranciscoPinedo in Iraq, wherehe lost his right handin a roadside bombattack; right: Pinedoworks under the guid-ance of the San DiegoVAMC’s prostheticmanager, RichardRodriguez, right.Rodriguez, himself alower-arm amputee,has been impressedwith Pinedo’s motiva-tion.

By Matt Bristol

SGT. JEREMIAH JOHNSON

WILLIAM H. BUCHANAN

VAnguardcover story


Here Comes

Top left: At the Wm. Jennings Bryan Dorn VA MedicalCenter in Columbia, S.C., Santa (volunteer John LeonBoughnight) gives a bag of goodies to extended carepatient Robert Burke.

Left: Santa delighted the children and grandchildren ofemployees at the Fayetteville, N.C., VA Medical Centerat a children’s Christmas party sponsored by the VA Em-ployee Association.

Above: Santa (volunteer Patrick Snyder) handed outgifts to patients at the Fayetteville, N.C., VA MedicalCenter, including Edwin Ward. With them is volunteerRuth Conder.

Right: Sheridan, Wyo., VA Medical Center’s Santa isAndy Sickler, a nursing assistant on the Nursing HomeCare Unit. He hands out gifts to patients every year.

DAN KELLY

Jolly Old St. Nick made appearances

ROBIN CRONSHAW

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Santa Claus

BRAD GARNER

JACKLYN VANMARK

DARRELL MANKIN

s at VA facilities all over the country.

Santa (volunteer Tim Smith) and his helper(Community Affairs staffer Joe Brown)head down the halls of the Marion, Ill., VAMedical Center with goodies for patients.Every year they stuff gift bags with comfortitems, lap robes, T-shirts, sweat shirts,socks and other goodies.

Sgt. Santa has been a part of the tree-lighting pro-gram at the Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Cen-ter in Richmond, Va., for 18 years. He’s Ricky Duling,a retired police officer.

PAUL GREENWOOD

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Seventy-two-year-old EdwinDonaldson of Uvalda, Ga., stillsavors the taste of his first meal

after returning home from surgery:roast beef with gravy, mashed pota-toes, tossed salad, applesauce andcoffee.

“I ate all the meat and almostlicked the salad bowl,” saidDonaldson. “Since then, I lovetossed salad.”

Months earlier, the elderly vet-eran went to the Dublin VA Medi-cal Center complaining of progres-sive difficulty with swallowing,which he thought was just a badcase of acid reflux. However,Donaldson would soon discover thata large tumor had been growing inhis esophagus. As a result, hisDublin providers quickly referredhim to the Atlanta VA MedicalCenter for surgery.

“The most common symptom ofesophageal cancer is difficulty swal-lowing, followed by weight loss,”said Kamal Mansour, M.D., of theAtlanta VA Medical Center, whowas the lead surgeon on Donaldson’scase.

The solution? Donaldson was tohave a total gastrectomy (removal ofthe entire stomach) and distalesophagectomy (removal of the

lower third of the esophagus).The typical procedure for pa-

tients with esophageal cancer is toremove part of the stomach and thecancerous esophagus. The stomachis then moved up into the chest andattached to the remaining esopha-gus.

In Donaldson’s case, the cancer

originated primarily in the stomachand grew into the lower esophagus,causing obstruction of the esopha-gus. This meant that his entirestomach and part of his esophagushad to be removed.

For Donaldson to still be able toswallow and not be fed intrave-nously or through a feeding tube, he

Surgery performed at the Atlanta VA Medical Center saves a veteran’slife and his ability to eat normally.

Veteran Edwin Donaldson talks with Dr. Kamal Mansour, the surgeon who performed the operation totreat his esophageal cancer.

ANN HAMILTON

Life Never TastedSo Good

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Kamal Mansour, M.D., right, hasbeen with the Atlanta VA MedicalCenter for more than 30 years. As aVA attending thoracic surgeon andprofessor of cardiothoracic surgeryat Emory University School ofMedicine, Mansour is lauded asone of the world’s leading thoracicsurgeons.

“Dr. Mansour brings unbeliev-able skill and experience to all tho-racic surgical problems—from themost minor to the most compli-cated,” said Dr. Aaron Fink, chief ofSurgical Service at the Atlanta VAMedical Center.

Mansour is a sought-after lec-turer, textbook author, Sundayschool teacher and philanthropist.In addition, the Egyptian native has returned to his homeland several times ayear for the past 15 years, performing free surgeries for the underprivileged.

“Having such expertise is a rare gift,” Fink said. “We are honored andthrilled to have Dr. Mansour on staff at the Atlanta VA.”

would need an esophageal replace-ment.

“I talked to my preacher andturned it over to the Lord,” saidDonaldson, who had previously sur-vived two other types of cancer.

Donaldson said that initially, hisdaughter was insistent that he go toa private hospital for surgery. Butthat was before she did extensive re-search and learned of Mansour andhis unmatched credentials.

“Dr. Mansour is very wellknown,” the Donaldsons recall theirdaughter telling them.

Using his signature technique,Mansour moved Donaldson’s je-junum (part of the small bowel) intothe chest and hooked it to hisesophagus, thereby makingDonaldson the Atlanta VA’s first pa-tient to have a complete stomachremoval and bowel reconstruction.The procedure left Donaldson withthe ability to eat small portions offood as long as he chews well.

“Mr. Donaldson can eat what-ever he wants,” said Mansour. “Aftersurgery, he even asked if he couldeat a goat. I told him, ‘Sure you can,as long as you do it one small bite at

a time.’”Today, Donaldson only eats

about half the amount he did before

surgery, but said that he feels fine.“What amazes me is that I

haven’t been sick one day since mysurgery,” he said, despite undergoinga series of chemotherapy and radia-tion treatments. Donaldson was pre-scribed the treatments as a precau-tionary measure to ensure that nocancer is left in the lining of theesophagus.

“Prayers got me this far,”Donaldson said of his faith, addingthat he couldn’t have asked for abetter medical team. “The VA isgreat—every doctor and every nursethat I saw was just terrific.”

Today, Donaldson still cuts grasson a riding lawnmower, rakes leaves,and plants vegetables in his garden.He’s also an active supporter of theAmerican Cancer Society’s “Relayfor Life,” having raised more than$6,000 in donations last year.

By Candace N. Hull

Healing Hands

This illustration depicts a roux en y esophago-jejunostomy, the technical term for anesophageal replacement and bowel reconstruction surgery. The patient’s stomach hasbeen completely removed. Part of the small bowel has been pulled through the diaphragmand attached to the esophagus, allowing the patient to retain normal eating habits.

ANN HAMILTON

DONN JOHNSON

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Kids Web site (www.va.gov/kids) tothe local education community.“Having formerly been a high schoolteacher, I knew that if we developeda workshop and helpful resources foreducators, the schools would be ex-cited to attend,” said Perry.

The first year’s program provedso successful, it caught the attentionof the network director, who askedthe VISN 7 Communications andCustomer ServiceSub-Council toexpand the pro-gram network-wide. Program fa-cilitator Perryheld a train-the-trainer session forrepresentativesfrom medical cen-ters throughoutAlabama, Georgiaand South Caro-lina, who walkedaway with thetools to imple-ment their ownprograms.

The “Heroesand Heroines: theFaces of Freedom”workshop provided many interactiveactivities, including age sensitivitytraining, lesson planning and lessonsharing. Each teacher in attendancereceived a binder with lesson ideasand resources, a CD containing

video and Web site resources, pho-tographs of veterans memorials andartifacts, and newsreel footage fromWorld War I, World War II and theKorean War, and a two-disc DVDset highlighting the importance ofVeterans Day, and focusing on theKorean War, POWs, Special Forcesin Vietnam, nurses, and what itmeans to be a veteran.

Each facility took advantage of

stakeholder relationships by askinglocal representatives of the Veteransof Foreign Wars and AmericanFormer Prisoners of War to partici-pate as guest speakers. World War IIand Vietnam-era veterans shared

When Jennifer Reblin, ateacher at Clay-Chalkville Middle

School near Birmingham, Ala., con-tacted the local VA medical centerabout how to start a Veterans Dayprogram at her school, she had noidea she would be invited to a pro-fessional development opportunity.“She was in search of informationand when I told her about the up-coming workshop, she asked me tohold the phone and ran to herprincipal’s office to get permission tocome,” said Bertram Perry, staff as-sistant to the director at the Bir-mingham VA Medical Center.

Reblin is one of about 100teachers who attended workshopsheld last October at the Birming-ham VAMC and the other medicalcenters in VISN 7 (Atlanta) as partof the VA Teacher Ambassador Pro-gram, which offers lessons and re-sources on veterans and patriotismto K-12 educators. The workshopsare designed to forge partnershipswith local schools by providing aglimpse into the lives of Americanservicemen and women, their con-tributions to our nation’s history andpatriotism, and the role VA plays inthe lives of the nation’s veterans.

The VA Teacher AmbassadorProgram originated last year at theBirmingham VAMC after the direc-tor, Y C Parris, asked Perry to comeup with a way to introduce the VA

Through the VA Teacher Ambassador Program, educators in threestates are learning lessons about veterans and patriotism.

Birmingham, Ala., junior high teacher Barbara Estes talks with BertramPerry, VA Teacher Ambassador Program facilitator, during a workshop at theBirmingham VA Medical Center.


APRIL JONES

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their unique perspectives on veter-ans and war and the importance ofeducators using veterans as a pri-mary resource when teaching chil-dren about war. “The teachers re-ported how pleased they were tohear personal stories from our speak-ers,” said Damon Stevenson, publicaffairs officer for theCentral Alabama Veter-ans Healthcare Systemand workshop facilita-tor.

Facilitators werenot the only ones whoparticipated in this ef-fort. At the Columbia,S.C., VAMC, all ser-vices decided to pitch inby creating baskets ofschool supplies for theteachers. “All of our ser-vices took a very activerole creating baskets forthis program,” saidXavier Teasley, one ofthe facilitators there.“The teachers weregrateful for the suppliesand the time and effortthat went into them.”

In addition to theschool resources, all par-ticipating teachers wereeducated on the uniquemission and vision ofthe VA health care sys-tem. Each group wastaken on an extensive tour of the fa-cilities.

“We welcomed the teachers atthe main entrance,” said Alfred Wil-liams, Voluntary Service programmanager and workshop facilitator forthe Dublin, Ga., VAMC. “At theend of the training, we took themon a tour of the facility, and all ofthe teachers commented that mov-ing around kept their attention andthey were excited about taking thelearning tools we had given themback to the students.”

Seeing the VA mission in ac-

tion had a clear impact on the at-tendees. One teacher participantwas so affected by what she saw, shelater wrote asking if she could vol-unteer during her summer vacation.

Results from the workshopshave been dramatic. Many schoolsare becoming involved with the Li-

brary of Congress’ Veterans HistoryProject after being introduced to theprogram at the workshops. Oneschool has started a Valentines forVeterans initiative, in which stu-dents make valentines for patientsand deliver them during the Na-tional Salute to Hospitalized Veter-ans the week of Valentine’s Day.

Cards and letters have pouredin for Veterans Day and Christmas,and students and teachers are be-coming more involved with activi-ties for the patients. “The VA islending a hand to schools and let-

ting them know that Veterans Dayis every day,” Perry said.

One of the activities the teach-ers participated in was writing abrief reflective statement about whatbeing a veteran meant to them.Kathy Kilpatrick, a fourth-gradeteacher at Thompson Intermediate

School near Birming-ham, answered thequestion this way: “To-day I know what a vet-eran is. He (or she) is aperson who “put onhold” or gave up a hugeportion of his life toserve, put his life on theline, fed hungry chil-dren, worked in 115-de-gree weather, lived in ahole he dug in thedesert and missed hisfamily. He is a man whoreturns not the same aswhen he left. He knowsfirst hand the riches andvalue of educating ourchildren. He has seenthings in the world hecan never share. Therest of his life will bedifferent because of hisservice.”

The BirminghamVAMC received first-place honors for thisinitiative in the Com-munications/Special

Events category in the 2005 Veter-ans Health Administration Excel-lence in Public Affairs Program.This effort will continue to impactlocal schools, with teachers sharingbest practices. All of the medicalcenters in the VA Southeast Net-work will continue to offer this pro-gram to all educators in the region.For more information on the VATeacher Ambassador Program, con-tact Perry at [email protected] or (205) 933-4385.

Top: Dr. Lesa Woodby, of the Birmingham VAMC’s Geriatric Research Edu-cation and Clinical Center (GRECC), leads a group of teachers through anage sensitivity training exercise; Above: Wayne Watts, a prisoner of warduring World War II, speaks to teachers at the Birmingham VAMC.

By Jeffrey Hester

BERTRAM PERRY

BERTRAM PERRY

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It’s hard to imagine Dr. SusanMather spending peaceful daysat the beach painting ocean

scenes. That’s where she’s headingnow that she’s retired from VA, butfor three decades she was at the epi-center of some of VA’s and Ameri-can medicine’s most explosive issues.

VA Under Secretary for HealthDr. Jonathan Perlin referred to themas VA’s “hot button” issues in hisnomination of Mather for theSecretary’s Exceptional andDistinguished Career Awardpresented during a headquar-ters send-off Jan. 3, her lastday with VA.

In fact, Mather was of-ten VA’s lightning rod forthose issues. That role begansoon after she came to VA in1979 with Agent Orange onthe minds of Vietnam Warveterans.

“I don’t think the VAtook a good attitude towardAgent Orange immediately,”Mather said a few days beforeher retirement. “VA was try-ing to prove that most [Viet-nam veterans] weren’t exposed toAgent Orange. That has changedand there is now a presumption inlaw that if you were in Vietnam youwere exposed to Agent Orange.”

In the ’90s, it was the Gulf Warveterans who made her the target oftheir disappointment getting helpwith undiagnosed illnesses. Theyeven created a bumper sticker thatplayed off her name: “Gulf War Vet-erans Don’t Mather to VA.”

“It was not a happy memory, butI kept one just in case I got toococky,” Mather said.

“I think I’ve always been pro-veteran,” she said. “I’ve been pro-public health, and I’ve been pro-ho-listic approach, and I don’t thinkthat you can take care of any patientwithout considering both their mindand their body, and that’s certainlythe case with returning veterans.”

After Agent Orange, it was one“hot button” issue after another forMather. Most often, she and herstaff were juggling several at a time.

She was the focal point for thedepartment’s positions on issues likemustard gas, tobacco use, AIDS, im-munization policies, women’s healthissues, Gulf War illnesses, cold inju-ries, former POW care, traumaticbrain injury, and terrorism response.

Mather is most proud of her ad-vocacy for women veterans. “Untilthe ’70s, VA really didn’t view themas equal members of the veterancommunity, and that has changed,and I think any VA medical centerthat a woman walks into today isready to take care of her and recog-

nizes that she served, [and] servedhonorably. In fact, today we wouldnot be able to mount a good armedforce without women,” Mather said.

Mather’s duties also includedoversight of the Emergency Manage-ment Strategic Healthcare Group.She said education and communica-tion were key in VA emergency pre-paredness after 9/11.

“It’s hard to terrorize a personwho is really prepared to handle any

emergency,” she said, “so ifwe can reduce the feeling ofterror that our employeesand patients have in anyemergency, then I thinkthat’s part of the job.”

According to her staff,Mather subscribed to thetheory that there’s no limitto what you can accomplishif you don’t care who getsthe credit. For her, it wasabout “team,” and she andher team in the Office ofPublic Health and Environ-mental Hazards have noth-ing but praise for each other.

“Like a good orchestraconductor, Dr. Mather was alwaysthere to keep us in focus, in tuneand on the beat,” said LawrenceDeyton, M.D., her successor andformer staffer. “I have learned muchabout leadership watching her and Ipromised her that I will continue tofollow the beat she set here.”

“I can’t imagine having a bettercareer than I’ve had in VA, and Iwould certainly recommend VA foryoung people starting out. It’s a greatway to give back,” Mather said.

Taking Her Bow and Moving OnAfter nearly 30 years tackling some of VA’s most explosive issues,Dr. Susan Mather says goodbye.

VA Under Secretary for Health Dr. Jonathan Perlin presents anaward to VA’s retiring Chief Public Health and EnvironmentalHazards Officer Susan Mather, M.D.

MICHAEL L. MOORE

By Ken McKinnon

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ANTHONY MORALES

It has been heralded as one of the most significantpieces of legislation ever produced by the federalgovernment—one that impacted the United States

socially, economically and politically. But it almostnever came to pass.

The Servicemembers’ Readjustment Act of 1944—commonly known as the GI Bill of Rights—nearlystalled in Congress as members of the House and Senatedebated provisions of the controversial bill.

Some shunned the idea of paying unemployed vet-erans $20 a week because they thought it diminishedtheir incentive to look for work. Others questioned theconcept of sending battle-hardened veterans to collegesand universities, a privilege then reserved for the rich.

Despite their differences, all agreed something mustbe done to help veterans assimilate into civilian life.

Much of the urgency stemmed from a desire toavoid the missteps following World War I, when dis-charged veterans got little more than a $60 allowanceand a train ticket home.

During the Great Depression, many veterans foundit difficult to make a living. Congress tried to interveneby passing the World War Adjusted Act of 1924, com-monly known as the Bonus Act. The law provided a bo-nus based on the number of days served. But there was acatch: most veterans wouldn’t see a dime for 20 years.

A group of veterans marched on Washington, D.C.,in the summer of 1932 to demand full payment of theirbonuses. When they didn’t get it, most went home. Butsome decided to stick around until they got paid. Theywere later kicked out of town following a bitter standoffwith U.S. troops. The incident marked one of the great-est periods of unrest our nation’s capital had known.

The return of millions of veterans from World WarII gave Congress a chance for redemption. But the GIBill had far greater implications. It was seen as a genu-ine attempt to thwart a looming social and economiccrisis. Some saw inaction as an invitation to another de-pression.

Harry W. Colmery, a former national commander ofthe American Legion and former Republican NationalChairman, is credited with drawing up the first draft ofthe GI Bill. It was introduced in the House on Jan. 10,1944, and in the Senate the following day. Both cham-bers approved their own versions of the bill.

But the struggle was just heating up. The bill almostdied when Senate and House members came together to

Commemorating 75 Years of Service: Pivotal Moments in VA History

Born of Controversy:The GI Bill of Rights

debate their versions. Both groups agreed on the educa-tion and home loan benefits, but were deadlocked onthe unemployment provision.

Ultimately, Rep. John Gibson of Georgia wasrushed in to cast the tie-breaking vote. The Senate ap-proved the final form of the bill on June 12, and theHouse followed on June 13. President Franklin D.Roosevelt signed it into law on June 22, 1944.

The Veterans Administration (VA) was responsiblefor carrying out the law’s key provisions: education andtraining, loan guaranty for homes, farms or businesses,and unemployment pay.

Before the war, college and homeownership were,for the most part, unreachable dreams for the averageAmerican. Thanks to the GI Bill, millions who wouldhave flooded the job market instead opted for educa-tion. In the peakyear of 1947, veter-ans accounted for 49percent of collegeadmissions. By thetime the original GIBill ended on July25, 1956, 7.8 mil-lion of 16 millionWorld War II veter-ans had participatedin an education ortraining program.

Millions alsotook advantage ofthe GI Bill’s homeloan guaranty. From1944 to 1952, VAbacked nearly 2.4 million home loans for World War IIveterans.

While veterans embraced the education and homeloan benefits, few collected on one of the bill’s mostcontroversial provisions—the unemployment pay. Lessthan 20 percent of the funds set aside for this were used.

Over the years, the GI Bill has been updated tomeet veterans’ changing needs. Today, the legacy of theoriginal GI Bill lives on as VA home loan guaranty andeducation programs continue to work for our newestgeneration of combat veterans.

A GI Bill poster from the 1940s.

By Matt Bristol

VAnguardaround headquarters


VA Secretary Jim Nicholsonwants all Americans to appre-ciate the courage of U.S.troops fighting overseas andknow about the top-notchcare the wounded receivewhen they return home.

With this in mind, Sec-retary Nicholson invited sev-eral of his fellow Cabinet sec-retaries to accompany himand his wife, Suzanne, on avisit to Walter Reed ArmyMedical Center in Washing-ton, D.C., on Jan. 24.

Attorney GeneralAlberto Gonzales, Secretaryof Education Margaret Spell-ings, and Secretary of Hous-ing and Urban DevelopmentAlphonso Jackson, alongwith their spouses, joined theNicholsons for a three-hourvisit, which included a lun-cheon meeting with Maj.Gen. Kenneth L. Farmer,commanding general of theNorth Atlantic Regional

Medical Command andWalter Reed Army MedicalCenter, and Col. Virgil T.Deal, commander of WalterReed Health Care System.

During the luncheon,Gen. Farmer gave an over-view of the hospital’s historyand briefly described its rolein caring for servicememberswounded in the wars in Iraqand Afghanistan. About5,000 wounded soldiers, in-cluding 350 amputees, havegone through Walter Reedsince the start of the war inIraq. “Our aim is to restorethem to the highest level offunctioning to which they as-pire,” Gen. Farmer told thegroup.

Later Gen. Farmer andhis wife led a tour of the hos-pital, which included stops inthe occupational and physicaltherapy rooms, where youngamputees were doing specialexercises to strengthen their

core muscles. Strengtheningthe core—the abdomen andlower back—is the first stepto successful use of prosthe-ses, explained Lt. Col. Bar-bara A. Springer, chief ofphysical therapy at WalterReed, as she motionedaround the room to ampu-tees who were doingcrunches and balancing exer-cises.

The visitors movedaround the room, introduc-ing themselves to the soldiersand inquiring about their in-juries. They eventually gath-ered near a triple amputeewho was balancing on pros-thetic legs between two par-allel bars. The room fell si-lent as he described his in-jury and long road to recov-ery. As he spoke of futureplans to start a family andlearn to drive a car, many ofthe visitors seemed takenaback. How could someone

who has suffered such trau-matic injuries still possesssuch a positive outlook?

Col. Deal, noticing thepuzzled looks, offered an ex-planation: many visitors saythey’re here to lift the spiritsof the troops, he explained,but often it ends up beingthe other way around.

Nicholson smiled at theinsight; it was a lesson he hadalready learned.

“These brave youngmen and women willinglyplaced themselves in harm’sway to protect our nationand the ideals upon which itwas founded,” saidNicholson. “Their serviceand sacrifice is an inspirationto me, and I want to sharethat with all Americans.”

Nicholson Invites Cabinet Secretaries to Visit Wounded Soldiers

Left to right: Col. Virgil and Ida Deal, Jim and Suzanne Nicholson, Pat and Maj. Gen. Kenneth Farmer,Marcia and Alphonso Jackson, Robert and Margaret Spellings, and Alberto and Rebecca TurnerGonzalez at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Beginning Jan. 1, veteranscan get no-down paymenthome loans up to $417,000.The previous ceiling was$359,650.

The Veterans BenefitsImprovement Act of 2004tied increases in the VAhome loan guaranty to in-creases in the Federal HomeLoan Mortgage Corporation’sconforming loan limit.When this limit increases,VA guaranty limits also goup, allowing VA to keep pacewith rising home values.

VA-guaranteed homeloans are made by banks andmortgage companies to veter-ans, servicemembers and re-servists. With VA guarantee-ing a portion of the loan,veterans can receive a com-petitive interest rate withoutmaking a down payment,making it easier to buy ahome.

Limit on HomeLoans Raised

WINSTON WILSON

VAnguard


around headquarters

President Bush will seek arecord $80.6 billion budgetfor VA in fiscal year 2007,with the overwhelming ma-jority of these resources tar-geted for health care and dis-ability compensation. Thefiscal year 2007 proposal rep-resents an increase of $8.8billion, or 12.2 percent,above the budget for 2006.

“Veterans are a priority.That’s why the President isproposing this historic bud-get with a landmark increaseto continue the best healthcare and vital benefits tothose veterans who count onVA the most,” VA SecretaryJim Nicholson said. “Withthe support of Congress, wecan take care of the needs ofour newest generation ofcombat veterans, while hon-oring our commitment toveterans of earlier eras.”

The fiscal year 2007budget proposal calls for$38.5 billion in discretionaryfunding—mostly for healthcare. This budget containsthe largest increase in discre-tionary funding for VA everrequested by a President.

For health care alone,the President’s request is anincrease of $3.5 billion (ormore than 11 percent) overthe fiscal year 2006 level.The budget proposal alsowould provide $42.1 billionin mandatory funding,mostly for compensation,pension and other benefitprograms.

Highlights include re-quests for:■ Funding to allow VA tocare for an estimated 5.3 mil-lion patients, including morethan 100,000 veterans ofOperation Iraqi Freedom andOperation Enduring Free-dom.

■ $457 million for the Capi-tal Asset Realignment for En-hanced Services (CARES)program, bringing thedepartment’s total investmentto nearly $3 billion since fis-cal year 2004. The fiscal year2007 proposal includes fund-ing for the continuation ofmedical facility projects inLong Beach, Calif., andDenver, and funds newprojects in American Lake,Wash.; Milwaukee; Colum-bia, Mo.; and St. Louis.■ A total investment of al-most $3.2 billion in mentalhealth services, which is$339 million above this

year’s level. This budget pro-posal ensures a full con-tinuum of care for veteranswith mental health issues, toinclude comprehensive treat-ment for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD).■ $1.4 billion for prostheticsand sensory aids, a $160 mil-lion increase over fiscal year2006.■ A nearly 10 percent in-crease in funding for non-in-stitutional long-term careover fiscal year 2006, with atotal investment of $535 mil-lion in the President’s pro-posed budget.

■ More than $78 million fornational cemetery construc-tion projects, including fundsfor cemetery expansion andimprovement at Great Lakes,Mich.; Dallas-Ft. Worth; andSaratoga, N.Y. Resources arealso included for the devel-opment of master plans forsix new national cemeteriesin Bakersfield, Calif.; Bir-mingham, Ala.; Columbia-Greenville, S.C.; Jacksonville,Fla.; Sarasota, Fla.; andsoutheastern Pennsylvania.The budget also includes $32million in grants for the con-struction of state veterans’cemeteries.

Legendary race car driver Richard Petty is chairman of the 2006 National Salute to Hospital-ized Veterans.

He will lead VA’s annual patient recognition program inviting the public to visit andhonor hospitalized veterans during National SaluteWeek, Feb. 12-18, and serve as national spokespersonfor the more than 140,000 volunteers serving veteransat VA facilities across the nation.

Known to stock car racing fans simply as “TheKing,” Petty is the most decorated driver in the his-tory of NASCAR racing. His illustrious career ac-counts for a record 200 victories and seven NASCARNextel Cup championships.

Today, he is busy as ever overseeing the operationof the car he made famous. Bobby Labonte is now atthe wheel of Petty’s #43 Dodge.

Racing is about winning, and Petty has proven heknows how to do that, but it is giving back to thecommunity and his fans that makes Petty “The King”of auto racing. Wearing his signature cowboy hat andsunglasses, he is often sighted signing autographs orhelping worthy causes.

There is no other person in NASCAR historywho has had more impact on the sport, on and offthe track. Petty is a member of the NationalMotorsports Press Association Hall of Fame, Interna-tional Motorsports Hall of Fame, North Carolina Auto Racing Hall of Fame, and the NorthCarolina Athletic Hall of Fame. He also serves as chairman of the North CarolinaMotorsports Association.

King Richard has seen his sport grow from the beaches of Daytona to the high-bankedsuper speedways of Talladega. As Petty Enterprises develops under his watchful eye, it won’t belong before “The King” will once again be standing alongside #43 in victory lane.

VA Would Get Nearly $81 Billion in Fiscal Year 2007 Budget Plan

Richard Petty Leads 2006 National Salute

Petty

VAnguardaround headquarters


Veterans continue to be moresatisfied with their healthcare than the average Ameri-can, according to an annualreport on customer satisfac-tion that compares the VAhealth care system with pri-vate-sector health care.

The ratings came in theannual American CustomerSatisfaction Index, whichranks “customer satisfaction”with various federal programsand private-sector industries.

“Although VA has re-ceived many wonderful en-dorsements recently, thesupport of our veterans—thepeople who know us best—isthe highest praise,” said VASecretary Jim Nicholson.

The ACSI, an indepen-dent survey of customer sat-isfaction within both thefederal and private sectors,gave VA’s inpatient care a rat-

VA Health Care Outscores Private Sector for Sixth Straight Year

The burial locations of morethan 5 million veterans forwhom VA has provided gravemarkers are now available onthe Internet, as well as theinformation inscribed on themarkers.

Online since April 2004,the nationwide gravesite loca-tor (gravelocator.cem.va.gov)helps veterans’ families,former comrades-in-armsand others, including geneal-ogy researchers, find thegraves of veterans.

VA recently added 1.9million records for veteransburied primarily in privatecemeteries to its database.The gravesite locator previ-ously carried records on 3million veterans buried in VAnational cemeteries since theCivil War, and in state veter-

Online Grave Locator Available

ing of 83 on a 100-pointscale. That’s 10 percentagepoints higher than the 73rating achieved for inpatientcare by the private-sectorhealth care industry.

VA’s rating of 80 foroutpatient care was five per-centage points higherthan the 75 rating for pri-vate-sector outpatient careand nine points higher thanthe average satisfaction ratingfor all federal services.

The latest findings markthe sixth consecutive yearVA’s health care system hasoutranked the private sectorin customer satisfaction.

Since 1994, the ACSIsurvey has been a nationalmeasurement of customersatisfaction with the qualityof goods and services in theUnited States. ACSI pro-duces indices of satisfaction

for seven economic sectors,41 industries, 200 private-sector companies and twotypes of local governmentservices.

VA’s strong showingcame after interviews withveterans who had recently

used the department’s ser-vices. The report is the prod-uct of the National QualityResearch Center at the Uni-versity of Michigan BusinessSchool, the CFI group, andthe Federal ConsultingGroup.

ans cemeteries and ArlingtonNational Cemetery since1999.

The new records datefrom January 1997, the earli-est time for which electronicrecords exist. The informa-tion comes from applicationsmade for these veterans’headstones or markers. Be-yond the 5 million recordsnow available, VA continuesto add approximately 1,000new records to the databaseeach day.

Internet users only needto provide the last name ofthe deceased veteran or de-pendent. Typically, the infor-mation available includesname, birth and death dates,rank, branch of service andthe address and phone num-ber of the cemetery.

Anne Klein, left, introduces Secretary Nicholson to My HealtheVet,VA’s health care Web portal, at the 2005 White House Conferenceon Aging Dec. 11 in Washington, D.C. My HealtheVet enables veter-ans to participate directly in their health care over the Internet,communicating with clinicians, filling prescriptions, maintaining vi-tal sign logs and, soon, accessing their VA medical records.

ROBERT TURTIL

Former VA Secretary Togo D. West Jr. returned to VA Central OfficeFeb. 2 for the unveiling of his official portrait with SecretaryNicholson. West led VA from 1998 to 2000. The portrait will hangalongside those of his predecessors outside the Omar Bradley con-ference room in the Secretary’s office suite.

West Portrait Unveiling

My HealtheVet at Conference on Aging

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

JAMES LUCAS

VAnguard


around headquarters

As 2006 begins, progresscontinues to be made onimplementing the Secretary’sCapital Asset Realignmentfor Enhanced Services(CARES) decision, an-nounced in 2004. CARES isa comprehensive, system-wide approach to provide aroadmap for investing in andlocating VA capital facilities.

The CARES decisioncalled for additional studiesof 18 sites to refine theanalyses developed in theoriginal CARES planningand decision-making process.Health care studies are nowbeing conducted in New

York City; Boston; Waco,Texas; Big Spring, Texas;Louisville, Ky.; Montgomery,Ala.; Muskogee, Okla.; andWalla Walla, Wash. Capitaland reuse plans are beingconducted in Canandaigua,N.Y.; Montrose-Castle Point,N.Y.; St. Albans, N.Y.; Lex-ington, Ky.; Perry Point,Md.; Gulfport, Miss.; PoplarBluff, Mo.; Livermore, Calif.;West Los Angeles; and WhiteCity, Ore.

The contracting firmPricewaterhouseCoopers willprovide business plan optionsat each site that describe thelocation of services, the capi-

tal infrastructure required,and any reuse potential ofVA property. The recom-mended option will addressthe optimal approach to pro-vide current and projectedveterans with health care thatis equal to or better thanwhat is currently being pro-vided in terms of access,quality and cost-effectiveness,while maximizing any poten-tial reuse of all or portions ofthe current real property in-ventory.

The wide array of op-tions initially under consider-ation is now being narrowedby the Secretary to three to

six options per site. The con-tractor will then conduct anin-depth analysis of these re-maining options duringStage 2 of the study.

Each site has a LocalAdvisory Panel, created un-der the Federal AdvisoryCommittees Act and sup-ported by the contractor. Todate, two LAP meetings havebeen held and a third is be-ing planned for early thisyear. The LAP meetings areforums for the public com-ments that have been an es-sential part of this process.

Progress on Implementation of CARES Decision Continues

continued on page 28

As it marks its first anniversary, the Office of Seamless Transi-tion in VA Central Office looks back on a year of progress inensuring that servicemembers move smoothly from the mili-tary to VA and civilian life. Highlights of the past year in-clude:■ Raising to eight the number of military treatment facilitieswith VA employees. Social workers and benefits counselorsare helping servicemembers transfer to VA medical centersand ensuring that they receive needed information about VAbenefits and services.

■ Expanding the scope of care at the four regional VA Trau-matic Brain Injury Centers to create Polytrauma Rehabilita-tion Centers focused on treating multi-trauma combat-in-jured patients.■ Assigning full-time active duty Army Liaison Officers toeach of the four polytrauma centers to help servicemembersand their families with issues such as pay, lodging, travel,moving household goods and non-medical issues.■ Leading a joint VA-Department of Defense Seamless Tran-sition Summit to improve coordination between the twoagencies.

The Office of Seamless Transition will lead VA in pursu-ing the following goals this year:■ Continuing coordinated transfers of seriously ill or injuredservicemembers from military care to VA medical centers andPolytrauma Rehabilitation Centers.■ Expanding seamless transition to servicemembers enteringthe Physical Evaluation Board process.■ Supporting DoD in providing Post-Deployment HealthReassessments within 90-180 days after deployment.■ Developing national statistical reports on OIF/OEF veter-ans.■ Measuring the performance and quality of the seamlesstransition process.■ Developing a seamless transition communication plan formarketing and outreach.■ Automating collection of information on injuredservicemembers.■ Conducting a training conference for 54 state benefits ad-visors hired by the National Guard to serve as veteran advo-cates in each state.

Office of Seamless Transition Celebrates First Anniversary

Staff of the VA Office of Seamless Transition: (left to right) JohnBrown, Air Force Lt. Col. Janet Kamer, Karen Malebranche, ArmyCol. Terry Washam, Marianne Mathewson-Chapman, BarryWarken, Marine Col. Timothy Frank, and Becky Ramos. Kamerand Washam are military reservists who work for VA in their civil-ian jobs. Kamer is a psychologist from the Jesse Brown VA MedicalCenter in Chicago and Washam is a social worker from the LouisStokes VA Medical Center in Cleveland.

ROBERT TURTIL

VAnguardintroducing


pointers on how to properlywave,” said Sumerset. “Iopted to alternate my arms,resting them as much as pos-sible. I must admit they werea little sore.”

Charles Sumerset is an inven-tory manager in Environ-mental & Materiel Manage-ment Service at the NewMexico VA Health Care Sys-tem in Albuquerque. But ev-ery once in a while, Sumersetsteps back in time, donning aU.S. Cavalry uniform to be-come a Buffalo Soldier.

It was in this vintageuniform that Sumerset wavedto thousands of onlookersfrom the New Mexico “Landof Enchantment” float at the2006 Tournament of RosesParade on Jan. 2 in Pasadena,Calif.

Roses made up a largeportion of the tens of thou-sands of flowers used on thefloat. Other flowers and or-ganic touches, such as bark,seeds and leaves, were alsoused. No paint or dyes wereallowed on any surface of thefloat—every material usedhad to be organic. Oatmealwas used as “stucco” to coverthe Spanish mission con-structed for the float.

The New MexicoTourism Department spon-sored the float, which alsocarried Gov. Bill Richardsonand his wife, Barbara, MissNorthern Navajo Nation,Miss Mescalero Nation, anda gifted trio of flamenco

dancers.“One of the goals of the

Tourism Department is toportray the rich and diverseethnic cultures of our state,”said Sumerset, a retired Navychief who has been a NewMexico VA Health Care Sys-tem employee for more than10 years.

Sumerset is also a mem-ber of the Buffalo Soldier So-ciety of New Mexico(BSSNM), a nonprofit orga-nization that travels through-out the state to bring the his-tory of the black cavalry tolife, from Medal of Honorrecipients to the commontrooper.

“One of the BSSNM’smissions is to mentor at-riskyouth,” said Sumerset. “Ihave always enjoyed workingwith children and theBSSNM gave me this oppor-tunity. From Indian battlesto skirmishes with lawbreak-ers, we educate the public onhow a small number of blacktroopers made a difference inthe lives of law-abiding citi-zens in our state.”

Congress authorized theU.S. Army to form two unitsof black cavalry and fourunits of black infantry, com-posed mostly of freed slavesand Civil War veterans, in

1866. The cavalryunits were the 9th and10th cavalries. Thefour original infantryregiments were consoli-dated into two units,the 24th and 25th in-fantries. The blacktroopers got their nick-name from the PlainsIndians.

Buffalo Soldiersserved throughout theSouthwest until theearly 1900s. In NewMexico, they were sta-tioned at Fort Union(Las Vegas), FortBayard (Silver City),Fort Stanton (Lincoln),and Fort Wingate (nearGallup). Buffalo Sol-diers also patrolled theMexican border, andparticipated in theSpanish-American Warand in the U.S. expedi-tion to the Philippines.

Sumerset’s ride inthe Rose Parade lastedabout three-and-a-halfhours and covered five-and-a-half miles. Waving to thou-sands of people for thatlength of time required agreat deal of stamina and acertain technique.

“Everyone I spoke to be-fore the parade gave me

Charles Sumerset

Charles Sumerset donned his Buffalo Soldieruniform to ride in the Rose Parade.

Relevant information aboutthe meetings is announcedthrough public notices withadequate time for stakehold-ers to prepare for the meet-ings.

A Web site (www.va.gov/CARES) dedicated to veter-ans, elected officials andother interested parties offersan opportunity to provideelectronic feedback and com-

ments. The most current in-formation on each individualsite is also available there.

The additional studiesare expected to be completedby June.

The Draft NationalCARES Plan was submittedto the CARES Commission,an independent body estab-lished to review the plan,gather public and stakeholder

concerns, and provide rec-ommendations to the Secre-tary, in 2003. The Secretaryreceived the recommenda-tions of the CARES Com-mission in February 2004and announced his decisionon CARES the followingMay.

The merger of theCARES process into VHA’sstrategic planning process is a

key component of CAREStoday. Once CARES is com-pleted, VA will have a na-tional plan for directing re-sources to where they areneeded most. The initiativesand plans identified will bevalidated and reassessed con-tinually throughout the stra-tegic planning process to en-sure they reflect current VApolicies and priorities.

CARES continued from page 27

JOE MICALIZZI

By Bill Armstrong

VAnguard


medical advances

Risk of Mystery IllnessDouble for Gulf VetsVeterans who served in theGulf War are nearly twice aslikely as non-deployed veter-ans of the same era to sufferfrom chronic multi-symptomillness, or CMI, according toa recent study by researchersat the St. Louis VA MedicalCenter and Washington Uni-versity School of Medicine inSt. Louis.

CMI is similar to whatis commonly called Gulf WarSyndrome. Veterans with theillness are diagnosed as hav-ing at least two of threebroad groups of symptoms,including fatigue, mood orcognitive disorders, andmuscle or joint pain, for atleast six months. Researchersfound veterans with CMIalso had a higher incidenceof metabolic syndrome,which increases the risk ofcoronary heart disease, diabe-tes and cirrhosis of the liver.

“Physicians need to beaware of the potential mani-festations of CMI and theneed to treat them, andmetabolic syndrome is a keyexample,” lead researcher Dr.Melvin Blanchard, associatechief of medicine at the St.Louis VA Medical Centerand assistant professor ofmedicine at WashingtonUniversity School of Medi-cine in St. Louis, told Forbesmagazine. “There’s quite abit of literature on this con-dition, and there are stepsphysicians can encouragetheir patients to take, such asincreased exercise, stressmanagement and dieting toreduce abdominal fat, thatcan lessen its effects.”

The study is an analysisof data collected in VA’s Na-tional Health Survey of GulfWar Era Veterans and TheirFamilies conducted from1999 to 2001. Results were

published in the January edi-tion of the American Journalof Epidemiology.

Does Prostate CancerScreening ImproveSurvival Rate?Popular prostate cancerscreening methods may notbe effective at detecting can-cer and saving the lives ofhealthy men, according to astudy conducted by Dr. JohnConcato and colleagues atthe VA ConnecticutHealthcare System and YaleUniversity.

In the study of 1,000New England veterans diag-nosed with prostate cancer,Concato and colleaguesfound those who took a PSAtest or had a digital rectalexam prior to any suspicionof cancer had the same sur-vival rate as those who didn’t.They concluded that PSAtests and digital exams didnot reduce mortality. Thefindings were published inthe Jan. 9 issue of Archives ofInternal Medicine.

“Based on available evi-dence, including the presentstudy, recommendations re-garding screening for prostatecancer should not endorseroutine testing of asymptom-atic men to reduce mortal-ity,” Concato told the Chi-cago Tribune. “Rather, theuncertainty of screeningshould be explained to pa-tients in a process of verbalinformed consent, promotinginformed decision-making.”

The medical communityis divided over the benefits ofprostate screening methodsincluding PSA tests—whichmeasure the amount of pros-tate specific antigen in theblood—and digital rectal ex-ams. Some physicians creditaggressive screenings with re-ducing prostate cancer deathsin recent years. Others argue

there is no evi-dence these testsreduce mortality.They also pointto the downsideof testing, in-cluding falsealarms, unneces-sary biopsies andstress over thetest results.

More than230,000 men inthe United Statesare diagnosedwith prostatecancer each year,and more than30,000 die of it.

Fish OilDoesn’tFight CancerFish oil is widelytouted for itshealth benefitsand has beenshown to im-prove heart andblood vesselfunction andlower bad fats called triglyc-erides. But a new studyfound the omega-3 fatty ac-ids in fish and fish oil supple-ments probably don’t live upto another popular claim:that they help prevent cancer.

The study was a reviewof data collected from 38previous studies involvingmore than 700,000 patients.Some of these studies hadsuggested a connection be-tween fish oil and reducedrisk for cancers of the breast,lung and prostate. These newfindings, however, may proveotherwise.

“It doesn’t mean thatomega-3 fatty acids don’thave other health benefits, it’sjust that reducing cancer riskisn’t one of them,” lead au-thor Dr. Catherine MacLean,of the Greater Los AngelesVA Healthcare System and

A study by Dr. John Concato and colleagues found thatPSA tests and digital rectal exams did not reduce mor-tality in prostate cancer patients.

Rand Corp., told the Associ-ated Press.

Though the findingsquestion the role of fish oilin fighting cancer, there is nodoubt the fatty oils help inpreventing heart disease, thenation’s leading killer. TheAmerican Heart Associationcurrently recommends twoservings of fish a week, par-ticularly those high inomega-3 fatty acids such assalmon, albacore tuna, her-ring and mackerel.

The study was fundedby the Agency for HealthcareResearch and Quality, part ofthe Department of Healthand Human Services, and theNational Institutes ofHealth’s Office of DietarySupplements. Findings werepublished in the Jan. 25 issueof the Journal of the AmericanMedical Association.

PAMELA REDMOND

VAnguardhave you heard


The photo that appeared on the cover of the May 2000 issue ofVAnguard, below, and accompanying story received more posi-tive comments from readers than any in recent memory. Titled“Home from Vietnam,” the photo shows veteran PerryShinneman embracing his wife as he returns from the war.

Photographer Ray Mews captured the touching scene onAug. 12, 1966, just four months after Shinneman was nearlyripped in half by a Viet Cong booby trap. The photo has ap-peared in print hundreds of times, received numerous awards,and was selected by the Associated Press as one of the top na-tional photographs of the 20th century.

Over the years, Shinneman, wholived a quiet life in Sioux Falls, S.D.,where he volunteered at the local vetcenter, was often contacted by completestrangers who wanted to share thepowerful effect the photo had onthem. Sadly, Shinneman died onChristmas Day.

Two VA colleagues who earnedthe admiration of their co-workers fortheir long and dedicated service tothe department, first as employeesand then as volunteers, also died overthe holidays.

Edward “Andy” Andrzejewksi,known as “Mr. VA” to employees and patients atthe Detroit VA Medical Center, worked at VA from 1937 to1988, but returned immediately after his retirement as a volun-teer. Featured in the November/December issue of VAnguard,Andrzejewksi said he’d probably stick around for another 10years. He died unexpectedly the day after Christmas while visit-ing a daughter in Kansas. He was 91.

Until his retirement in 2004 at the age of 92, ReubenWein, who worked at the Los Angeles VA Regional Office, hadthe distinction of being the longest-serving VA employee in thecountry. After his retirement, Wein, who began working at VAin 1938, volunteered at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Cen-ter until his recent death.

Notable passings

VA facilities continue to work with local organizations toensure seamless transition for veterans wounded inIraq and Afghanistan. The St. Petersburg, Fla., VA Re-gional Office partnered with the Disabled American Vet-erans and a local WorkNet office to establish a CareerResource Center to help veterans with vocational reha-bilitation and employment. The one-stop office helpsdisabled veterans develop resumes, look for jobs andovercome barriers to employment. The center houses acomputer room, career library and training kiosks and isstaffed by employment specialists who can provide indi-vidual or small group assistance.

The Dec. 11 episode ofABC’s “Extreme Makeover:Home Edition” featured ahome renovation for BobbyIsaacs, a patient at theDurham, N.C., VA MedicalCenter who lost both legs inIraq while serving with the101st Airborne Division. Fel-low Iraq war veteran LuisRodriguez, who also lost aleg while serving with the101st Airborne Division andwas featured on a previousepisode, nominated Isaacs forthe show. The two visited theDurham VAMC togetherduring taping and the foot-age made it into the pro-gram. Isaacs is the nephew of

Helping veterans find work

Penni Robinson, a pro-gram support assistant inthe medical center’s oper-ating room.

Groundbreaking forthe new VA regional of-fice in Reno, Nev., tookplace Dec. 13. The facilitywill house approximately60 VA employees, as wellas employees of the Ne-vada Office of Veteran Ser-vices and veterans serviceorganizations includingthe Veterans of ForeignWars, Disabled AmericanVeterans, AMVETS andAmerican Ex-POWs. TheReno VA Regional Officeserves 238,000 veterans in

the state of Nevada and 7,000veterans in four northeasternCalifornia counties. It is one of57 regional offices nationwidethat provide financial and otherforms of assistance to veterans,their dependents and survivors.

Approximately 60 surviv-ing members of the 100th In-fantry Battalion Veterans, theirfamilies and friends gathered atthe National Memorial Cem-etery of the Pacific on Nov. 29to dedicate a memorial plaque

commemorating their warservice from 1942 to 1945,when they earned the nick-name “The Purple HeartBattalion.” In his opening re-marks, cemetery DirectorGene E. Castagnetti praisedthe veterans for their serviceand courage in defeating theNazis on the battlefields ofEurope and facing discrimi-nation upon their returnhome because of their Japa-nese heritage.

Veteran Jeffrey S. Vainwright gets help with his resume fromPaula A. Sincell, a vocational rehabilitation counselor at theCareer Resource Center.

MARGARET MACKLIN

VAnguard honors and awards


Vandalism cleanup honored

Eugene Oddone, M.D.,director of the VA Center ofExcellence for Health Ser-vices Research in PrimaryCare in Durham, N.C., re-ceived the Under Secretary’sAward for OutstandingAchievement in Health Ser-vices Research Feb. 16 in Ar-lington, Va. Oddone was rec-ognized for his research onthe effectiveness of strategiesto improve the quality ofcare, reduce racial disparities,and foster self-managementamong patients with chronicdiseases.

The New York StateNurses Association and Nurs-ing Spectrum magazine recog-nized Bridget Maybury,R.N., a patient safety special-

ist at the James J. Peters VAMedical Center in Bronx,N.Y., for her contributions tonursing. She received the Ad-vancing the Profession awardfrom Nursing Spectrum at anawards luncheon Oct. 24 inChicago. She was also recog-nized at the New York StateNurses Association annualawards presentation in Atlan-tic City for her innovationsin nursing practices and pa-tient care, her work in re-search and forensic nursing,and other accomplishments.

The American Academyof Medical Administrators(AAMA) announced thatY C Parris, director of theBirmingham, Ala., VAMedical Center, has been

elected as chair-elect on the2006 Board of Directors.With 2,500 members in theUnited States and abroad,AAMA brings together di-verse specialties of the medi-cal administration commu-nity to improve health caredelivery.

Lance L. Goetz, M.D.,staff physician in the SpinalCord Injury Center at theDallas VA Medical Center,was appointed by Gov. RickPerry to serve as a member ofthe state’s Assistive and Reha-bilitative Services Council.The council was created toassist the executive commis-sioner of Health and HumanServices in developing poli-cies for the Texas Depart-ment of Assistive and Reha-bilitative Services.

The Hope for VeteransTransitional Housing Pro-gram, a partnership betweenthe VA New Jersey HealthCare System and Commu-nity Hope Inc., received anExcellence in Housing Awardduring the 2005 Governor’sConference on Housing andCommunity Development.Hope for Veterans receivedthe award for turning a va-cant, three-story building onthe grounds of the Lyons VAMedical Center into transi-tional housing for up to 75honorably discharged home-less veterans.

Thomas Rando, M.D.,Ph.D., a physician at the VAPalo Alto Health Care Sys-tem, is among a select groupof 13 researchers nationwidebeing recognized for their in-novative work by the Na-tional Institutes of Health(NIH). He received the NIHDirector’s 2005 PioneerAward, which is one of theorganization’s most presti-gious awards and includes upto $500,000 annually for fiveyears to fund further re-

Tommy Monk, director of the Fayetteville, Ark., NationalCemetery, presented plaques and the National CemeteryAdministration’s Gold Shovel pins to volunteers Jim Delap,second from left, and Walt Laster, second from right, inDecember for their hard work in helping cemetery staffclean red spray paint from 65 headstones defaced byvandals. “The reason the paint came off is because theseguys took it personally,” Monk said. When he first in-spected the damage, Monk thought he would have to re-place at least 40 of the headstones. Each day, as Delapand Laster worked tirelessly, that number came down.Both men are Navy veterans committed to keeping thecemetery a shrine to all veterans.

search. Rando was recognizedfor his research on ways torepair damaged tissue in theelderly by enhancing thefunction of stem cells inthose tissues.

Eleanor Sullivan-Friday,with the Office of Informa-tion and Technology in VACentral Office, received the2005 Heroines in Technol-ogy Award in the individualcategory from the March ofDimes and Women in Tech-nology. The award recognizesthose who balance demand-ing roles in the informationtechnology sector with sig-nificant philanthropic com-mitments in the greaterWashington, D.C., area.

Chester Ho, M.D., below,a researcher at theCleveland FunctionalElectrical StimulationCenter, received theJames J. Peters ScholarAward inWashington,D.C., Jan. 19.The award,sponsored bythe UnitedSpinal Asso-ciation, is pre-sented eachyear by VA’sRehabilitationResearch and Develop-ment Service to recog-nize outstandingachievements on behalfof veterans with spinalcord injuries. Ho wascited for his research onskin and bladder prob-lems related to spinalcord injury.

Researchhonors

CAROL E. KICK

VAnguardheroes


Dedication, selflessness and heroism took center stage in Washington, D.C., Jan. 31 as VA Secretary Jim Nicholson recognizedthe efforts of 73 VA employees during the Gulf Coast hurricanes.

“Our employees are true heroes,” Nicholson said, as he presented them with the department’s Valor Award. “Their profes-sionalism and bravery during an unprecedented catastrophe allowed us to focus on the well-being of our veterans. Even as theyendured personal tragedy, they showed a commitment to their patients that never wavered.”

The Secretary’s Valor Award recognizes employees and citizens for heroic efforts displayed during a major catastrophe. TheValor Award is the highest level of recognition and is given to VA employees who exhibit courage and who put their lives injeopardy to save others.

These employees were nominated because they exhibited great courage by voluntarily risking their personal safety to pre-vent the loss of human life or government property. As a result of their efforts, VA maintained continuity of care for severalhundred acutely ill veterans under difficult conditions.

Nearly 10,000 VA employees around the country will be recognized for their actions during the hurricanes. In addition tothe 73 Valor Awards, 3,000 received official commendations and more than 6,800 were given certificates of appreciation forshowing great initiative andingenuity by addressing andsolving all manner of prob-lems arising from flooding,wind damage, lack of power,water, medical supplies andtransport during the GulfCoast hurricanes. VA’s ValorAward honorees are:

William Adkins, ChicagoVAMC; Tony Allen, LittleRock, Ark., VAMC; GroverAnderson, Hines, Ill., VAHospital; Ronald Angel,Little Rock, Ark., VAMC;Linda M. Banks, Augusta, Ga., VAMC; Alvin J. Blocton, Central Alabama VHCS; Phil Boogaerts, New Orleans VAMC;Eddie J. Borja, Hines, Ill., VA Hospital; Alphonse Bourgeois, New Orleans VAMC; Lugene Brooks, Shreveport, La.,VAMC; Orville Brown, Durham, N.C., VAMC; Wayne B. Brown, Biloxi, Miss., VAMC; Christopher Cahill, New OrleansVAMC; Alfred Cain Jr., New Orleans VAMC; Calvin Cameron, Atlanta VAMC; Leonard Daniel, South Texas VHCS;Charles Deprey, Muskogee, Okla., VAMC; Jason DeRicco, Reno, Nev., VAMC; Peter Domoracki, Miami VAMC; CharlieJ. Donelson, Jackson, Miss., VAMC; William Donovan, New Orleans VAMC; Russell Eilrich, Little Rock, Ark.; StevenElliott, Salisbury, N.C., VAMC; Reginald R. Finch, Jackson, Miss., VAMC; Don Cornelius Foster, Atlanta VAMC; LisaFoster, VA Central Office; Keith Frost, VA Central Office; Gregory J. Griffith, Central Alabama VHCS; Charles Guilford,Sheridan, Wyo., VAMC; Annias Handy, Shreveport, La., VAMC; Ronald Hartley, Tennessee Valley VAHCS; RodneyHawkins, Atlanta VAMC; Mari Hughes, Little Rock, Ark., VAMC; McGraff Hurst, Memphis, Tenn., VAMC; Elbert C.James, Atlanta VAMC; Lonnie Jeffrey, North Chicago VAMC; Timothy Kildea, Northampton, Mass., VAMC; RickeyLee, Muskogee, Okla., VAMC; Corey Michael, Dublin, Ga., VAMC; Richard A. Murphy, Atlanta VAMC; Samuel MyersJr., Biloxi, Miss., VAMC; Bradley Niell, Little Rock, Ark., VAMC; J. Rex Oxner, New Orleans VAMC; Randy L. Per-fecto, South Texas VHCS; Donald Pickney, Alexandria, La., VAMC; Rodney Pigford, Columbia, S.C., VAMC; WilliamPoirier, North Chicago VAMC; Alfred Pratt, New Orleans VAMC; Calvin Rascoe, Columbia, S.C., VAMC; Ceagus Reed,VISN 16 (Jackson, Miss.); Guy O. Reger, Palo Alto, Calif., VAMC; Robert Richardson, Augusta, Ga., VAMC; StephanieRoberts, Fayetteville, N.C., VAMC; Scott Roy, Shreveport, La., VAMC; R. Lynn Ryan, VISN 16 (Jackson, Miss.); PaulShumaker, VA Pittsburgh HCS; Michael Schausten, Beckley, W.Va., VAMC; Harvey M. Scott Jr., Atlanta VAMC; ThomasSeidenkranz, Tucson, Ariz., VAMC; Jerome Simon, New Orleans VAMC; Stephen Solomon, Columbia, S.C., VAMC;John Stevens, Columbia, S.C., VAMC; Gregory Swars, Dublin, Ga., VAMC; Holly Taylor, New Orleans VAMC; CedricD. Thomas, Central Alabama VHCS; Tony Turner, Shreveport, La., VAMC; Michael C. Unthank, Hines, Ill., VA Hospi-tal; Timothy M. Valenzuela, Reno, Nev., VAMC; Roger Vines, North Chicago VAMC; James Ware Jr., Biloxi, Miss.,VAMC; Michael Wayne, Northampton, Mass., VAMC; Jackie L. Wilds, Hines, Ill., VA Hospital; Victor L. Workinger, At-lanta VAMC.

Honored for Valor

The honorees in front of the White House.

Editor’s note: The regular Heroes column will return in the next issue.

ROBERT TURTIL

history of the gi bill - va.gov homebecause of the people i was deployed with, i came back feeling...

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