LinkVETS - The Veterans Resource Network

But I want you to meet Melissa Sterry, a Gulf War I National Guard Veteran, from New Haven Connecticut, and read the cuts I placed below also visiting the Hartford Advocate and read the rest, not only about Ms. Sterry but as to the rest of the Veterans of Connecticut, and what the state reps have to say.

Cut and Run - The Rell administration quietly kills a program to track the health of sick war veterans

Melissa Sterry's job was to clean them and ready them for storage. She'd climb inside the tanks and with a simple dust pan and broom, sweep out the Iraqi sand and the rubbish left behind by the tank operators.

Sterry was sweeping up something else too, something too small to see: dust from depleted uranium, a radioactive substance the military uses to make ammunition armor-piercing and bunker-busting. For months, Sterry cleaned these tanks without protective gear, kicking depleted uranium airborne and into her lungs.

Today, Sterry is a medical train wreck. The 46-year-old Gulf War veteran takes 11 kinds of medication — some daily and others as needed for pain — and suffers from chronic headaches, upper respiratory disease, bronchitis and a host of other ailments.

Like most Gulf War vets, the federal Veterans Administration refuses to test Sterry for exposure to depleted uranium or other chemical toxins she was exposed to in the Middle East.

So Sterry turned to the state government, and in 2005 helped Connecticut become the first state in the nation to craft a law to test returning combat troops for exposure to battlefield health hazards, including depleted uranium.

But the state has turned its back on Sterry and the more than 30,000 Connecticut troops who have deployed to combat zones in the Middle East and the Balkans since 1990. The Advocate has learned that Gov. Jodi Rell, through her budget office, quietly killed funding for the veterans health registry without telling the lawmakers who sponsored the program, nor the veterans whom it would serve.

If the registry isn't restored, hundreds of Connecticut-based troops could go undiagnosed and uncatalogued. The state has sent 16,000 troops to war since Sept. 11, 2001 and another 75 National Guardsmen and women shipped off to the southwest Asia last week, their second deployment to the war zone.

"People really don't care about veterans," Sterry says. "They really don't give a shit about us. People want to trot out veterans on photo-ops. They want to go put wreaths on gravestones. But real human beings with real life problems? No, we don't care."

Mary Jodi Rell (born June 16, 1946) is a Republican politician who became the 72nd Governor of the U.S. state of Connecticut on July 1, 2004. She had been the Lieutenant Governor of Connecticut until Governor John G. Rowland resigned during a corruption investigation. Rell is Connecticut's second female Governor, after Ella T. Grasso.

To Sterry, cutting help for vets to balance the books is just plain heartless.

"We understand care and maintenance of our military vehicles, but we don't understand we need to do the same for our troops," Sterry says. "Do you want to change the oil in the engine or do you want to replace the engine when it seizes up? These actions are just a reflection of, We'll just change the engine when it seizes up."

Rell's press office was asked to explain why they cut funds for the registry and to respond to reactions like those of Sterry that denying health screening to combat troops is cold-hearted. Despite four calls and one e-mail to the governor's press shop over three days, we received no response to our questions. The governor's chief spokesman, Christopher Cooper, referred us the Jeffrey Beckham, undersecretary for legislative affairs at OPM, who responded with this statement:

"That program was new and had not gotten started. The agency required some cooperation from the federal government to get it going and I understand that cooperation was somewhat lacking. Given that we were struggling to protect existing programs, we thought that not going forward with that new program was a reasonable call."

We asked Beckham in a follow-up e-mail to elaborate about the lack of federal cooperation and respond to the questions unanswered by the governor's staff, but did not receive a response by press time.

Now I'm assuming, and probably right, about the lack of federal cooperation, that they are talking about the previous administrations control, as the present has been on the job only since January 20th '09.

Another in an ever growing list of the Incompetence and Corrupt leadership we've been a party to for these last eight years in the federal government, including the years of control prior to in the congress, and coming also out of the state governments!

Now a certain political party can't be blamed for everything concerning Military and Veterans Care, but this political party are the ones Thumbing their Chests as to being True 'Americans', More 'Patriotic', Stronger on 'National Defense', and the only True 'Supporters of the Troops' and thus us Veterans, and are the ones who championed the Two Occupations and the creation of huge numbers of enemies towards our country and it's citizens!!

http://corksphere.blogspot.com/2009/02/this-video-will-bring-tears-to-your.html

Veterans For America (VFA) is taking a sabbatical, well, sort of…We’re taking a break from our on-line presence and reporting to develop new research and programs to better address modern challenges and threats .  As most have figured out, business…

NEW YORK – The Service Women's Action Network is launching a new telephone helpline to provide peer counseling for servicewomen and veterans, who are serving or served under the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.

"The Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy is a discriminatory law that hurts military readiness and national security," said Anuradha Bhagwati, SWAN Executive Director and former Marine captain.

This policy currently prevents gay service members from serving openly. According to the Williams Institute of University of California – Los Angeles School of Law, there are an estimated 66,000 gay service members in the military today.

"This policy not only impacts gay service members, but it is also a women's issue – both gay and straight. Women are often times victims of lesbian baiting (where they are accused of being lesbian when they rebuff sexual advances by men or if they report abuse). Often times women have no one talk with about the pressures they face serving under this policy. This is why we are starting this helpline."

SWAN, an organization dedicated to serving military women and veterans (www.servicewomen.org), began outreach work with gay servicewomen and veterans after the Department of Defense released data last year highlighting the disproportionate impact Don't Ask, Don't Tell had on women.

The data released by DOD last September highlighted that women made up 34 percent of discharges in Fiscal 2008 despite only being 15 percent of the overall military. These numbers continued the trend from 2006 and 2007.

"I applaud the leadership of (Navy)Admiral Mike Mullen, who testified at the Senate Armed
Services Hearing earlier this month and pointed out that repealing this policy is the right thing to do," Ms. Bhagwati said. "But what happens to those serving in silence now? Or those veterans who have been traumatized by living in silence or being unjustly kicked out of the military? Who do they turn to? Our confidential helpline gives callers access to peer counselors, who are women veterans who were directly impacted by Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

Those calling into the helpline are contacted by a veteran within 48-hours. The veteran provides peer counseling and referrals and all information is confidential. All veterans staffing the helpline have experience serving under Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

Passed in 1993, the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law allowed gay, lesbian, and bisexual service personnel to serve in the armed forces as long as their sexual orientation was not publicly disclosed or discovered. As of 2008, more than 13,000 men and women have been discharged from the military because of their sexual orientation, including more than 60 Arabic linguists and nearly 800 other service members in critical occupational fields.

LGBT Women in the Military Helpline:

1-888-729-2095

This is a free and confidential peer counseling help line for women impacted by the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy.

Contact: Julianne H. Sohn
Phone: (310) 883-8956, E-mail: jules@servicewomen.org

Downloadable flier for SWAN's LGBT Women in the Military Helpline (veterans welcome too)

The following official statement concerning the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and the statute banning "homosexual acts" by service members has been submitted for the record by American Veterans for Equal Rights to the Senate Armed Services Committee.  A duplicate version has also been submitted for the record to the House Armed Services Committee.

Chairman Levin, Ranking Member McCain, and members of the Committee, American Veterans for Equal Rights (AVER) would like to thank you for the opportunity to present our views on the Don't Ask, Don't Tell (DADT) policy and the ban against openly gay and lesbian personnel serving in the United States Armed Forces.  As the oldest and largest gay veterans service organization in the United States, AVER is composed of military veterans from all service branches, men and women, officer and enlisted, having served in all conflicts from World War II to Afghanistan and Iraq.  As proud veteran service members we support the mission of our nation's military and we care about the success of America's armed forces and the well being of all the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines who serve in our uniformed services.  AVER is in a unique position to offer a perspective based on the experience of gay and lesbian soldiers who have served in the military and would see no harm come to the honor, integrity, or proficiency of the armed services in which we ourselves served or the morale of those to whom we passed the torch of freedom. 

AVER supports the removal of the DADT ban in this year's Defense Authorization Bill for the safety of our troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, the successful completion of our mission in those countries, the security of our homeland against terrorism, the continued crucial expansion of diversity in our military, and the integrity of the forces directly charged with the defense of the United States Constitution.  We believe that the ban on gay service members directly endangers the lives of our troops by removing critical combat support, and compromises the security of our nation by removing vital resources at a time when we are demonstrably stretched to a dangerous limit, all for a policy that can be proven to accomplish nothing more than damaging the morale of soldiers and the success of units, and the undermining of the military's primary defense of our constitution by supporting a form of discrimination which is clearly opposed to the freedoms proclaimed within it.

Virtually every nation with which the United States now ally ourselves in the "free world" has dropped its ban on openly gay and lesbian service members with no detrimental effect to the unit cohesion necessary to military success.  These countries include Australia, Austria, the Bahamas, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Great Britain, which is not only our closest and most faithful ally with whom we are currently engaged in a joint combat operation in Afghanistan, but the nation which shares the most similar cultural roots with the United States and has a military that is all volunteer, tactically superior, and battle-tested.  Of all the nations that no longer discriminate against gay and lesbian soldiers, the British military command fought longest and hardest against lifting their ban on openly gay service members.  The legendary image of the celebrated British military was at stake.  The British Ministry of Defense commissioned a detailed assessment on the effects of allowing gay troops to serve openly, and despite the overwhelming evidence from other countries that openly gay service had not undermined performance, the commission concluded that the ban should be retained because surveys of British military personnel indicated that the majority of troops preferred not to serve with openly gay people.  Many of those surveyed said they would refuse to work with gay soldiers or obey commands given by a gay officer.  When the European Court of Human Rights forced the British military to remove its ban in 1999, the Ministry of Defense begrudgingly gave in and removed the ban with the expectation of mass desertions and the degradation of centuries of illustrious British military tradition.  Nothing happened.  The British military experienced exactly the same result as every other military that had lifted its ban on openly gay military service members:  no effect on morale, no disruption of unit cohesion, no damage to military effectiveness.  Nothing.

Supporters of DADT claim that foreign militaries have easily accepted openly gay service members because they are somehow different from the American military.  These critics claim that foreign soldiers are somewhat effete, effeminate, or "girlish" compared to American soldiers, and are therefore more culturally inclined to accept gay soldiers who are assumed to be equally effeminate.  AVER suggests that these critics be introduced to a pair of Aussie drill sergeants in a private alley where they can express their beliefs in person.  Regardless, the insinuation is that American soldiers could not successfully integrate gay and lesbian service members the way our allies have done.  AVER proudly affirms that we have the best trained and most professional military force on the planet, and if other nations can lift their bans with no adverse effect then the United States can not only do the same but do it more quickly and more efficiently.  To claim otherwise is to insult the intelligence and discipline of America's fighting men and women.  The professionalism of United States service members should not be called into question.  We are second to none.  Anything they can do we can do better.  

Other critics claim that lifting the ban at a time when our nation is involved in two wars overseas would be too disruptive to the armed forces.  AVER does not believe that any military resources should be diverted from the war effort in order to implement inclusion.  Nor do we believe that such resources will be necessary.  Again, our allies have stopped discriminating against gay and lesbian troops and there has been no negative effect on military performance or morale.  AVER believes that the fact we are engaged in two difficult wars is exactly the reason that the ban should be lifted as soon as possible, because the ban costs the lives of America's soldiers engaged in combat.  

No American soldier should ever die on the battlefield because the medic who could have saved his life was kicked out of the military for being gay.  This life-and-death situation is where the "rubber hits the road" with Don't Ask, Don't Tell.  The policy removes highly trained personnel who are necessary to save the lives of our soldiers.  No one, from Commandant to private, has the right to tell a soldier that he is better off dead than having a gay or lesbian trauma care specialist save his life.  Removal of the ban on openly gay military personnel will save the lives of American soldiers.  Plain and simple.  If you care about soldiers as we do, you will give them the tools necessary for survival and success.  Give them those tools now.  Lift the ban.  

It goes without saying that the loss of gay and lesbian intelligence experts and translators further cripples a security net already stretched beyond tolerance.  How many near misses should the American people tolerate before they demand that Congress find more resources to protect us from terrorists rather than removing highly skilled personnel already in place?  How much wasted tax money in the cost of expensive technical training will they accept because our government puts more emphasis on the removal of skilled technicians rather than the retention of highly trained security experts?  America must have every resource and every single person available to us in the war to defeat the terrorist threat.  DADT costs qualified people and weakens America's defenses.  DADT must go.  

United States military commanders deployed overseas clearly do not believe that openly gay soldiers are detrimental to unit cohesion or morale because they routinely retain newly "outed" gay soldiers in the field until their units return home from combat.  Because the military understands the essential role that each highly specialized soldier plays in today's mechanized combat units, commanders know that the loss of one soldier leads to the break down of the entire machine.  Nothing damages morale or more greatly jeopardizes the success of a military unit than losing a crucial part of a highly tuned team.  The results of the removal of vital team members are degraded performance and extra work for personnel, and that does nothing to promote unit morale or cohesion.  Nor does the removal of a dedicated and faithful member of the unit for no valid reason do much to reinforce the essential trust of their fellow soldiers that the military will take care of all service members as promised.  Commanders are reinforcing trust and securing success by ignoring the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy or finding ways around it.  Clearly, if they felt openly gay and lesbian troops were dangerous to cohesion or morale they would remove them immediately.  But they don't.  Give our commanders what they need to succeed.  Lift the ban.  Do it now.  

Ironically, the military has begun to expound on the merits of diversity while some members of Congress still choose to discriminate against our fellow citizens.  Command Sergeant Major Hector G. Marin, who assumed the top enlisted position at Aberdeen Proving Ground in 2007, spoke of "strength in diversity" at his installation ceremony.  According to Marin, "the many races, ethnicities, religions and creeds" that "make America strong" also help "make the Army strong". "We take young men and women from all backgrounds, some who come from several generations of Americans and some who are first generation Americans, and turn them into a force with a common focus, the defense of our great way of life. We understand better than most that success has nothing to do with the color of your skin, where you were born, or the type of religion to which you belong. In fact, we know there is only one color of importance to the Soldier and that is Army green….It was only in 1948, when President Harry S. Truman signed an executive order that led to the integration of the military, that we really started on the road to becoming the model of meritocracy that our military is today." The Army's first four-star female general, General Ann E. Dunwoody, Commander, U.S. Army Materiel Command, continued the theme of diversity in a speech on March 6, 2009. "Your Army considers diversity a strength – and we proudly lead the nation in offering equal opportunity to all".  These same sentiments were echoed by General George Casey, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, who stated in the wake of the Ft. Hood mass shooting tragedy by a Muslim Army officer, "Our diversity, not only in our Army, but in our country, is a strength. And as horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that's worse." 

The words of these exceptional soldiers are not just lip service.  Diversity is a strength to our armed forces because wherever in the world our soldiers go to perform their duty they are likely to already have experience with the diverse people they meet because of the diversity they experience in the military itself.  Additionally, when the US military arrives in other countries in support of freedom, the first thing people see is Americans in uniform who are black, white, Latino, Asian, male, female, gay, straight, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim, all working together as one single unified team.  This is the very essence of the freedom we present as the ultimate American value, the ability to overcome differences and work together as equals towards a common goal.  American soldiers are already serving with and taking orders from openly gay and lesbian officers and enlisted troops in the ranks of our allies fighting by our side in Afghanistan.  Our troops already have experience in serving with openly gay soldiers.  It is nothing to fear.  We need to give more credit to the young soldiers who compose the vast majority of today's military.  They are free from many of the prejudices that burden the generations of their leaders.  Do not underestimate the flexibility and courage of America's best and brightest.  

Finally, honored members of the Committee, the ban against openly gay and lesbian service members undermines the very mission of our military, which is now and has always been to defend the sacred liberties that are enshrined in our constitution.  Perhaps not every young recruit who raises his or her hand to take the Oath of Enlistment in the US military has read every word of the constitution.  But AVER does believe in our hearts that each of those young men and women has a clear understanding that they have just made a promise that is truly special in all the world, a promise for which they are prepared if necessary to give their lives, a promise that puts them among the number of a deeply honored group of freedom fighters.  They have made a promise to hold the line in defense of liberty and equality.  There is much more at stake with DADT than a simple military policy.  "Once a marine, always a marine" must be understood to mean every marine, including gay and lesbian marines.  "The Army always takes care of its own" must mean that gay and lesbian soldiers, too, are a valued member of the family that will never leave one of its own behind.  Don't Ask, Don't Tell endangers much more than the technical elements of the modern military.  It endangers traditions and truths that lie at the very heart of America and our military.  It endangers the aspirations to which countless oppressed people have dreamt great dreams.  Equality.  Integrity.  Justice.  In opposing Harry Truman's plan to integrate racial minorities into the military in 1948, General Omar N. Bradley wrote, "We all realize that the donning of a uniform does not change a man's personality, his aptitude or his prejudices".  With all due respect to that great hero, America is better than that.  We must be better than that.  When I became one of the first victims of Don't Ask Don't tell in 1994 following a statement I made in support of lifting the ban, I probably came closer to honoring my oath to defend the constitution than in the 6 preceding years I had served in the US Army.  Honored fathers, please do not chain a new generation of American warriors with old ideas foreign to their own understanding of "liberty and justice for all". They are America's future, a future that must continue the dream of one great nation forged from many diverse peoples.  Let these young people shape their own vision of America.  Give them your confidence and your moral courage.  Give them a chance.  Support them.  Lift the ban.  

This concludes AVER's testimony on this crucial issue.  We who once swore an oath to defend our nation's freedom have never forgotten our promise to keep vigil and stand ready.  We would be honored to answer any questions. 

Danny Ingram, President

American Veterans for Equal Rights

aver.us

president@aver.us

678 596-1311

Harry S. Truman did not survey white soldiers to determine if they felt comfortable serving with African-American soldiers before he integrated the US military in 1948.  America's soldiers are not asked if they mind serving with women, Jews, Catholics, Blacks, Muslims, or any other group.  They are not asked if they want to serve with wiccans, foreign nationals, or convicted criminals, or if they mind serving under NATO officers, gay or straight, from countries overseas.  Soldiers serve with whomever they are ordered to serve with, and if they are too immature to do so, they don't belong in the military.

The US military does not need a year to study what will happen if we do the same exact thing that Britain, Canada, Australia, Germany, Israel and almost all of our other allies have already done, from one end of the globe to the other.  As our nation's top military commander has testified, those countries experienced no problems whatsoever when gay and lesbian soldiers were allowed to serve openly.

Is there an assumption that America's soldiers are somehow more ignorant or less professional than the soldiers of our allies?  America's fighting forces are the best trained, most professional fighting force on the planet, and to insinuate that our men and women in uniform cannot accomplish what our allies have accomplished because our military is "bigger and better" is an insult to the intelligence of our troops.

The truth is this change is 20 years overdue.  There are many good reasons for lifting the ban, including the safety and security of our troops overseas and the protection of our homeland against the real and present danger of terrorism.  The only reason to maintain the ban is prejudice.  When General Omar Bradley, the very first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, opposed Truman's plan to integrate "the Negro" into the military in 1948, he said, "the donning of a uniform does not change a man's personality, his aptitude, or his prejudices." With all due respect, prejudice has never been a valid justification to deny rights to citizens.  Not in the United States.  Not then.  Not now.

No American soldier should ever die on the battlefield because the medic who could have saved his life was kicked out of the military for being gay.  No politician has the right to decide for that wounded soldier that he would prefer not to have that medic save his life.  This isn't kindergarten.  This is war.  Lift the ban now and move forward.

Danny Ingram, National President
American Veterans for Equal Rights

President Obama, in his State of the Union address on Wednesday January 27th, said, “This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are.”  The President preceded that by asserting his belief in true American values, “Abroad, America's greatest source of strength has always been our ideals. The same is true at home. We find unity in our incredible diversity, drawing on the promise enshrined in our Constitution: the notion that we are all created equal, that no matter who you are or what you look like, if you abide by the law you should be protected by it, that if you adhere to our common values you should be treated no different than anyone else. We must continually renew this promise.”

American Veterans for Equal Rights thanks President Barack Obama for his courage and commitment in calling upon Congress to “repeal the law” that currently bars gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender military personnel from serving openly in the United States military.  AVER, the oldest and largest LGBT Veterans Service Organization in the United States, strongly commends the President for his moral stand against prejudice and discrimination, and his obvious willingness to put the safety and security of the American people above divisive politics by removing a policy that jeopardizes our national security.

“With so much piled high on the President’s plate we are grateful that Mr. Obama continues to make the removal of injustice a priority for his administration”, said AVER President Danny Ingram, a former US Army sergeant and one of the first victims of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in 1994.  “AVER now calls upon the members of Congress and our military commanders to follow the President’s leadership in prioritizing the important upcoming congressional hearings on the 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' policy".

“As experienced veterans ourselves,” he continued, “we call upon Congress and the Joint Chiefs to put the safety of our troops and the success of our overseas missions above the partisan division which has too long held our nation back from regaining her rightful place as the leader of the free world.  The lives of American soldiers should not be sacrificed to political posturing.  Attaching the bill to end the ban, House Resolution 1283, to the Defense Authorization Bill is the right time to end the dishonor of DADT and insure that America's military men and women, whenever and wherever they serve around the globe, are not only the guardians of freedom, but the representatives of the liberty they have sworn to defend.”

“As a soldier who loved the military and still believes deeply in its mission, I am extremely grateful for the President’s promise in taking on the challenge of DADT”, said Ingram.  “Thank you President Obama.  This is the type of leadership in the same caliber of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman that brought together a broken and divided nation and built her into a powerful and shining beacon of hope for all people.  This is the type of determined leadership that our nation was praying for when you were elected to lead our united people into a new era of hope and prosperity in which all people could realize their potential as equal citizens, with equal rights and equal responsibilities in the defense and care of this great dream we call America.”

Contact:
Denny Meyer, AVER Public Affairs, 718 849-5665
Danny Ingram, AVER President, president@aver.us

Danny Ingram, a former US Army Sergeant who was among the first to be discharged in 1994 under the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” (DADT) law, was elected president of American Veterans For Equal Rights (AVER) at its convention in Ft. Lauderdale 15-18 Oct.  Sgt Ingram, of Atlanta, will lead the largest national veteran service organization dedicated to serving the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender vets, and advocating the repeal of the law banning open service of gay military personnel.

"No American soldier should ever die on the battlefield because the medic who could have saved his or her life was kicked out of the military for loving the wrong person", said Ingram following his installation as AVER president.

Speakers at the convention included Arabic linguist Lt. Dan Choi, who is in the process of being dismissed after appearing on national television proclaiming his homosexuality. At the recent LGBT National Equality March in Washington DC, Choi held his fist in the air and asserted, “I’m telling, I’m telling, I’m telling.”

The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Nathaniel Frank whose new book "Unfriendly Fire" documents the political history of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell law.

President Ingram was sworn into office by John McNeill, a WWII veteran who served in General George S. Patton's Third Army, an AVER member, Purple Heart recipient, former Catholic Priest, and Prisoner of War captured in the Battle of the Bulge.  McNeill is the author of "The Church and the Homosexual,” among other books.

Delegates representing AVER chapters from New York to Seattle gathered for the AVER convention which included workshops on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), VA benefits, and legislation aimed towards ending the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy.

"It is the duty, the honor, and the right of every American to help defend our nation's liberty," said Ingram.  “We are ready for the final battle to end this shameful and wasteful ban, which not only jeopardizes our national security and the safety of our soldiers by removing highly qualified individuals from the war against terror, but undermines the very mission of our armed forces to defend our American freedom, so that patriotic Americans who choose to volunteer may honorably and openly serve their country regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Contact: Denny Meyer, AVER Public Affairs 718 849-5665

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