The Coming Home Project is Sponsoring a Student Veteran Retreat on March 28 - 31, 2012, near Yosemite Park. Join with other student veterans and service members, share stories and experiences, and more. « Read More
LONDON — Florence Green, the world’s last known veteran of World War I, has died at the age of 110, the care home where she lived said Tuesday. Briar House Care Home in King’s Lynn, England, said Green died Saturday, two weeks before her 111th birthday. Born Florence Beatrice Patterson in London on Feb. 19, 1901, [...]
The following bills signed into law by Governor Brown in 2011 focus on veteran services, benefits, and/or compensation. We encourage all veteran advocates to familiarize themselves with the new laws to ensure veterans receive the maximum benefit due to their passage, as well as monitor their proper implementation. AB 167 “Stolen Valor Act” The [...]
WASHINGTON – Veterans, their families, and survivors receiving benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs saw a 3.6 percent increase in their compensation and pension benefits beginning January 1. “Veterans, their families and their survivors are entitled to benefits that keep pace with the cost of living,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. [...]
The Veterans Affairs Department has added 47 vessels to its list of Navy and Coast Guard ships whose crews may have been exposed to the defoliant Agent Orange. Former service members who served aboard these “blue water” ships as well as the more than 200 others listed in VA’s database from 1962 to 1975 [...]
WASHINGTON — U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday that the Pentagon is preparing new initiatives to try to curb sexual assaults in the military — a problem he believes could be six times greater than reported. Panetta said 3,191 sex assault cases were reported in the military last year, but because so few victims come [...]
Last December, Swords to Plowshares joined more than 500 student veterans from around the country for the 4th Annual Student Veterans of America (SVA) Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. General Eric Shinseki, the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs opened the conference with a simple message to student veterans, “Take ownership of your [...]
WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs announced today a change in regulations regarding payments for emergency care provided to eligible Veterans in non-VA facilities. “This provision helps ensure eligible Veterans continue to get the emergency care they need when VA facilities are not available,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. The [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mrs. Obama was to announce the commitment from more than 100 medical schools during an appearance Wednesday at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. The schools are agreeing to step up training for medical students in how to treat PTSD and traumatic brain injury, increase research into the conditions and share new [...]
Amos Lee Gregory wants people to know that every day 32 U.S. veterans attempt to commit suicide and 18 are successful. It is a statistic that he cites in conversations about the SF Veterans Mural Project, which he launched in November on Shannon Alley between Geary and O’Farrell and Jones and Taylor in the [...]
The U.S. military is no longer a men’s club — almost 15 percent of today’s active-duty troops are women. They drive Humvees, fix airplanes and often find themselves in combat situations, shoulder to shoulder with their male comrades-in-arms. But when it comes to military and veterans’ medical care, women soldiers remain a step behind [...]
This year’s Miss California pageant will be held in Palm Desert in February. Contestant Denise Berry has no competitors when it comes to life experiences and perspective. Denise spent four years on active duty in the U.S. Army and is now in the Army reserves. She is not the only veteran to compete in [...]
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A Navy tradition caught up with the repeal of the U.S. military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” rule on Wednesday when two women sailors became the first to share the coveted “first kiss” on the dock after one of them returned from 80 days at sea. Petty Officer 2nd Class Marissa Gaeta of [...]
Anthony Sordini, Swords to Plowshares’ Green Job Training Program Manager, talks with KTVU about the struggles many veterans face while transitioning to the civilian workforce. The Green Jobs Training Program that launched in 2009 has provided free job training in the growing green industry to 120 veterans. Since the inception of the program, Swords [...]
Swords to Plowshares executive director, Michael Blecker and women veteran coordinator, Starlyn Lara speaks with CNN about the difficulties of finding work after war. Since 2001, more than two million military personnel have served in war, either in Iraq or Afghanistan. Veterans returning home have found it difficult to find work in a job [...]
On November 16, the Ninth Circuit granted VA’s petition to vacate its May 2011 ruling and to appoint an 11-judge panel to reconsider the case in a proceeding known as “en banc review.” The oral argument will be held on December 13 at 12:30 p.m. in the Ninth Circuit’s San Francisco courthouse at 7th [...]
Often referred to as the military’s secret shame, military sexual trauma (MST) is something that happens too both men and women who serve in our nation’s military. According to the Department of Defense (DoD), 19,000 servicemembers, both women and men, are victims of MST every year. Even more shocking is that the DoD’s own [...]
DANVILLE – Officials in Danville were advising residents that a funeral procession for a local marine killed last week in Afghanistan could disrupt traffic on Monday morning. The family of Lance Cpl. Joshua Corral, 19, will receive his remains at Travis Air Force Base in Solano County on Monday morning, according to Danville officials. [...]
Goal: Help Vets Get Jobs WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs today announced the Badges for Vets contest for creating digital “badge” systems to help Veterans translate their military skills into civilian jobs. “We are looking for ways to make it easy for employers to see Veterans for who they are: highly qualified [...]
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Army Cpl. Joshua Smith saw the orange glow against the South Carolina night sky long before he reached his sister’s apartment complex. The fire in the back buildings was intense. People stood in shock, watching the blaze. Smith leapt from his rental car and vaulted a five-foot brick wall, yelling [...]
"Swords to Plowshares' training course to become an apprentice carpenter.. will give me stability, great income and the training I need for the future." « Read More
