Tag: Vets

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National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day

Pearl Harbor

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, also referred to as Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day or Pearl Harbor Day, is observed annually in the United States on December 7, to remember and honor the 2,403 citizens of the United States who were killed in the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941.

On August 23, 1994, the United States Congress, by Pub.L. 103–308, 108 Stat. 1169, designated December 7 of each year as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. On November 29, President Bill Clinton issued a proclamation declaring December 7, 1994, the first National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.[2] It became 36 U.S.C. § 129 (Patriotic and National Observances and Ceremonies) of the United States Code.

On Pearl Harbor Day, the American flag should be flown at half-staff until sunset to honor those who died as a result of the attack on U.S. military forces in Hawaii.[4] Pearl Harbor Day is not a federal holiday – government offices, schools, and businesses do not close. Some organizations may hold special events in memory of those killed or injured at Pearl Harbor

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Wyckoff teen aims to help vets find peace in fly fishing

fly fishing

JANUARY 20, 2016    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20, 2016, 1:21 AM
BY TODD SOUTH
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

The Iraq war veteran carefully looped a thread around a steel hook secured in a vice to make a fly-fishing lure as his 15-year-old guide, Will Percy, quietly offered words of advice.

It was an exercise in patience that in some way embodies the challenging task that Will, a Wyckoff resident, has embarked upon: bringing fly-fishing into the lives of disabled veterans.

Nearly a year ago, Will saw a promotion for a non-profit fishing group, Project Healing Waters, that teaches fly-fishing skills to disabled veterans. He contacted the New York chapter and asked if he could get involved. A short time later, the call came back, asking if he would guide a disabled veteran on an outing on the Musconetcong River in northwest New Jersey.

That’s when he realized that the peace he always got from fly-fishing might help someone else. It inspired him to found a North Jersey chapter of the group, whose mission began in therapy classes at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in 2005. Since then, the program has expanded to 209 locations across the 50 states and in Germany.

The organization assisted 6,572 disabled veterans last year, said Daniel Morgan, the spokesman for Project Healing Waters. The non-profit aims to keep disabled veterans involved in fly-fishing for the long term and will outfit a participant with $500 worth of gear

https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/clubs-and-service-organizations/fly-fishing-as-a-way-vets-can-focus-and-reconnect-1.1495238

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Trump lays out plan to reform Veterans Affairs

-donald-trump-candidacy-speech-thridgewoodblog

October 31, 2015, 01:17 pm
By David McCabe

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Saturday announced a plan to reform the veterans health system at a rally in Norfolk, Va.

“We’re going to take care of those wounded warriors and we’re going to take care of our vets better than anybody.”he said, speaking in front the USS Wisconsin — the same spot where now-Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was formally introduced as Mitt Romney’s running mate in 2012.

Trump promised that in his administration, veterans would receive better healthcare more quickly.

“The plan will ensure our veterans get the care they need, wherever and whenever they need it,” he said.

Trump said that he would institute policies that would see Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities competing with non-VA hospitals. He said that under his plan, any veteran could go to a doctor that accepts Medicare and receive care.

In a winding indictment of the VA system, he targeted Veterans Health Administration hospitals that came under fire in the last year for keeping long wait lists of veterans who needed crucial care.

“Think about me going to my doctor’s office and waiting four days,” he said. “If I wait 15 minutes, I’m angry as hell at the doctor.”

Trump said the VA system needed to be maintained but reformed.

https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/258755-trump-lays-out-plan-to-reform-veterans-affairs

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VETS, VISITORS RETURN TO NORMANDY TO MARK D-DAY ANNIVERSARY

D-Day_theridgewoodblog

PARIS (AP) — Allied veterans and families of their fallen comrades gathered Saturday at the U.S. cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach to mark the 71st anniversary of the D-Day invasion that helped defeat the Nazis in World War II.

Visitors and cadets from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland watched as a bagpipe band paraded at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, amid the thousands of white marble crosses and Stars of David of servicemen and women who lost their lives during the invasion.

The invasion began shortly after midnight on June 6, 1944, with a perilous airborne operation led by paratroopers of the “Screaming Eagles” 101st Airborne and the 82nd Airborne divisions.

https://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_FRANCE_D_DAY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-06-06-08-06-05