Texas National Guard denies benefits for same-sex spouses

By Josh Hicks

The Texas National Guard has said it will not provide benefits for same-sex couples, despite a Pentagon directive requiring the military to treat all marriages equally.

Maj. Gen. John Nichols, the commanding general of Texas Military Forces, said in an internal memo that the Texas Constitution and the state’s “Family Code” conflicts with the Defense Department’s policy, which Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced in August.

“Due to this potential conflict, we are unable to enroll same-sex families….

encourages couples who are affected by the Texas policy to enroll for benefits at one of the state’s 20-odd federal installations. “Despite the legal conflict, the Texas Military Forces remains committed to ensuring military personnel and their families receive the benefits to which they are entitled,” the agency said in its statement.

Pentagon spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Nathan Christensen said Tuesday that “all federal military installations in Texas will issue IDs to all those who provide a valid marriage certificate from a jurisdiction that recognizes same-sex marriage.”

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Dan Rutherford - Illinois State Treasurer

State of Illinois is holding more than a 100 lost or forgotten military medals in its vaults under the capitol and is trying to return them to the families of veterans.

State Treasurer Dan Rutherford is asking people to take a moment over Memorial Day weekend to see if they recognize the names on a list of veterans whose military honors are held by the state.

Click on the following if you can help:  Dan Rutherford - Illinois State Treasurer

Northwest Herald | Feds indict Crystal Lake veterans advocate

This article has a good listing of all the charges and allegations.

By STEPHEN Di BENEDETTO

John C. Blanchard of Crystal Lake and four employees of National Association of Systems Administrators Education Corp. and Liberating Solutions Corp. were indicted on six counts of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud and 10 counts of providing material false statements and documents.

The charges focus on NASA Education’s securing of government contracts, and the company’s relationship with Liberating Solutions, a Crystal Lake business that has done contract work for federal and local governments.

Click on the following to read this article*:  Northwest Herald | Feds indict Crystal Lake veterans advocate

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Burial problems found at VA cemeteries

VA officials said the problems at seven of its national cemeteries were largely the result of sloppy work during renovations. Headstones and markers were temporarily removed from the ground and reinserted in the wrong places.

Click on the following to read the entire story: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/burial-problems-found-at-va-cemeteries/2012/01/23/gIQAYXLFMQ_story.html?wpisrc=al_national

U.S. assembling secret drone bases in Africa, Arabian Peninsula, officials say

By Craig Whitlock and Greg Miller, Tuesday, September 20, 8:14 PM

The Obama administration is assembling a constellation of secret drone bases for counterterrorism operations in the Horn of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula as part of a newly aggressive campaign to attack al-Qaeda affiliates in Somalia and Yemen, U.S. officials said.

One of the installations is being established in Ethi­o­pia, a U.S. ally in the fight against al-Shabab, the Somali militant group that controls much of that country. Another base is in the Seychelles, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, where a small fleet of “hunter-killer” drones resumed operations this month after an experimental mission demonstrated that the unmanned aircraft could effectively patrol Somalia from there

Click on the following for all of the story: 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-building-secret-drone-bases-in-africa-arabian-peninsula-officials-say/2011/09/20/gIQAJ8rOjK_story.html?wpisrc=al_national

Melvin Dwork Record Cleared: Navy Changes Gay WWII Veteran's Discharge From 'Undesirable' To 'Honorable'

SAN DIEGO -- Nearly 70 years after expelling Melvin Dwork for being gay, the Navy is changing his discharge from "undesirable" to "honorable" – marking what is believed to be the first time the Pentagon has taken such a step on behalf of a World War II veteran since the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell."

The Navy notified the 89-year-old former corpsman last month that he will now be eligible for the benefits he had long been denied, including medical care and a military burial.

Dwork spent decades fighting to remove the blot on his record…..

The Board for Corrections of Naval Records said it would reinstate Dwork's benefits retroactively. But exactly what that means – whether, for example, the Navy will write him a check for the benefits he missed out on over a lifetime – is unclear, his attorney said….

Dwork said he had assumed his love letters had fallen into the wrong hands and led to his discharge. After he recently learned the truth, he contacted his former boyfriend, who had long ago married and had children. The man did not want to discuss the matter, Dwork said.

Dwork said he does not blame his former boyfriend; he said the young man was pressured into giving up names as part of a "witch hunt."

The above is an excerpt from the Huffington Post:      http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/16/melvin-dwork-record-cleared-gay-soldier_n_967197.html

American Veterans see grim legacy of Vietnam War

more than 100,000 Vietnamese people have been killed or injured by landmines or unexploded ordinance, more than 7,000 of them in Quang Tri

more than 350,000 tons of landmines and explosives remain scattered across the country, much of them in Quang Tri, near the former Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ, which once divided North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The province was the most heavily bombed and shelled during the war, and 92 percent of it remains contaminated with explosives.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, which built the Washington, D.C., monument that commemorates the lives of the 58,000 Americans who died in Vietnam….VVMF sponsors Project RENEW…RENEW focuses on three districts in the province, where it educates people about the dangers of landmines and clears the land of explosives. It also assists the injured, providing them with artificial limbs, small loans and job training.

Daily Herald | Veterans see grim legacy of Vietnam War

New GI Bill Benefits Dependents

 

Military veterans can transfer education benefits to wife or children

Benefits must be transferred before separating from the military.

Many other new features.

Click on the following to read the story:  New GI Bill Benefits Dependents