Disabled
American Veterans
Blind
Veterans National Chapter #1
WEB SITE: http://www.davbvnc.com/
"IF I CANNOT SPEAK GOOD OF MY
COMRADE,
I WILL NOT SPEAK ILL OF HIM OR
HER."
OFFICERS
OF THE BLIND CHAPTER
Commander
Dennis O’Connell
Phone 516 328-3438
Email: bvnc1@verizon.net
Senior
Vice Commander Richard Bugbee
1st Junior Vice Commander Eddie Humphrey
2nd
Junior Vice Commander Joe Wallace
3rd
Vice Commander Junior Farley
4th
Junior Vice Commander William Burgess
Judge Advocate Dave May
Chaplain Rev. Tony Martino
Phone 847 736 2111
email: Deaconmart@wi.rr.com
Phone
904 291-0576
email: pkjax@kaminsky.com
Immediate
Past Commander Eddie Humphrey
If you
know of any member who is sick or deceased please inform one of the officers
whose contact information is listed above.
REST
IN PEACE
William H Walkins,
Kansas City MO
MESSAGE
FROM THE COMMANDER
We
did it again! For the second consecutive year we received a blue ribbon for
achieving our quota of new membership. Hopefully these ribbons will be put on
our new banner in New Orleans this August at the DAV National Convention. Why
not come on down and see it!
Paul
and I attended the DAV Mid-Winter this year and I believe we got a lot more out
of it this time around. Why? Last year Paul was on heavy medication for his
back and I just received the processor for my Cochlear Implant a few weeks
before attending. This time Paul was feeling better because of the surgery he
had on his back and, my processor had a year of mapping (programming).
DAV
National approved the changes of our Constitution and Bylaws which were voted
at the last two National Conventions. You can read our Constitution and Bylaws
on our web site listed above in the heading.
Marilyn
and I wish you a
Joyous Easter and Passover.
JUST
A SUGGESTION
When
I told a member I was listening to the DAV magazine on CD and it was slow
listening to, he suggested to rip the CD to a MP3 file, send
it to my Victor Stream Reader and then I could speed up the listening process.
Good idea and it worked.
THE
FOLLOWING NOTE COMES TO US FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS.
Forwarded
by Kevin Secor, VSO Liaison, Office of the Secretary of the
Department of Veterans Affairs.
An
organization called Veterans Affairs Services (VAS) is providing
benefit and general information on VA and gathering personal information on
veterans. This organization is not affiliated with VA in any way.
[Websites
with the name "vaservices" immediately after the "www" ARE
NOT part of the Department of Veterans Affairs, the US Government agency. Do not
go to them or if approached or called, do not offer them any
information concerning yourself or data on other veterans.
Keep
in mind that the real VA website ends in .gov. Also, be aware that
the
Department of Veterans Affairs does not randomly call veterans, nor does it ask
veterans for information which it does not already have--like Social Security
Numbers. In particular, if you have not dealt with the VA
previously--and in person--and all of a sudden, you receive a call from
someone saying they are with the VA or something similar sounding, hang
up
the phone. Also, do not respond to emails which suggest that they are
from the VA. The VA never conducts official business nor asks for personal
information by email.
VAS
may be gaining access to military personnel through their close
resemblance to the VA name and seal. Our Legal Counsel has requested
that we coordinate with DoD to inform military installations, particularly
mobilization sites, of this group and their lack of affiliation or
endorsement by VA to provide any services.
In
addition, The General Counsel requests that if you have any examples
of
VAS acts that violate chapter 59 of Title 38 United States Code, such as
VAS
employees assisting veterans in the preparation and presentation of
claims for benefits, please pass any additional information to
Mr. Daugherty at the address below.
Michael
G. Daugherty
Staff
Attorney
Department
of Veterans Affairs
Office
of General Counsel (022G2)
810
Vermont Avenue, NW
Washington,
DC 20420
DOD Announces Vietnam War 50th Anniversary
Commemoration Program
January
14, 2011
The
Department of Defense announced today its program to commemorate the 50th
anniversary of the Vietnam War. The program will:
- Thank and honor veterans of the
Vietnam War, including personnel who were held as prisoners of war or listed as
missing in action, for their service and sacrifice on behalf of the United
States and to thank and honor the families of these veterans.
- Highlight the service of the
armed forces during the Vietnam War and the contributions of federal agencies
and governmental and non-governmental organizations that served with, or in
support of, the armed forces.
- Pay tribute to the contributions
made on the home front by the people of the United States during the Vietnam
War.
- Highlight the advances in
technology, science, and medicine related to the military research conducted
during the Vietnam War.
- Recognize the contributions and
sacrifices made by the allies of the United States during the Vietnam War.
DoD
representatives will coordinate with other federal agencies, veteran groups,
state, local government and non-government organizations for their input in
Vietnam War commemoration activities. For more information call 877-387-9951 or
visit the official website at http://www.vietnamwar50th.com/
.
NATIONAL
PARKS
Secretary
of the Interior Ken Salazar has announced that National Park Service officials
will waive admission fees on 17 selected dates throughout 2011 to encourage all
Americans to visit a national park this year. With 394 national parks
throughout the country, most Americans live within a few hours of a park,
making them places for easy and affordable vacations any time of the year. Many
national park concessions also will offer discounts on fee-free days, saving
visitors money on food, lodging, tours and souvenirs. For more information,
visit the National Park Service website www.nps.gov/findapark/feefreeparks.htm.
Following
are the fee-free days in 2011:
January
15-17 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday weekend)
.
April 16-24 (National Park Week)
.
June 21 (First day of summer)
.
September 24 (Public Lands Day)
.
November 11-13 (Veterans Day weekend)
VA Tinnitus Care Update
Scientists from the University of Texas announced in the scientific journal Nature that they have found a way to treat chronic tinnitus. Tinnitus, a chronic ringing in the ears is the most common service connected disability for enlisted Air Force retirees and veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The VA pays approximately one billion dollars ($1 billion) a year for service connected disability payments for tinnitus. Doctors believe that over 23 million Americans suffer from some degree of this condition including 10% of seniors and a whopping 40% of veterans. The scientists believe that it is caused by the brain failing to adjust to nerve damage caused to exposure to loud or continual noise. Michael Kilgard, the co-author of the study said: .Brain changes in response to nerve damage or cochlear trauma cause irregular neural activity believed to be responsible for many types of chronic pain and tinnitus. We believe the part of the brain that processes sounds- the auditory cortex-delegates too many neurons to some frequencies and things begin to go awry..
The treatment (so far successful in rats) electronically stimulates the Vagus nerve (which runs from the brain to the abdomen) while playing a high pitched tone. Human clinical trials are expected to start in the next several months.
This technique called VNS is already used to treat approximately 50,000 people with epilepsy or depression. If the trials are successful this would be the first treatment that would eliminate rather than just mask tinnitus.
From: VHA Pubs Notice
Subject: VHA Directive
2011-013, Guide Dogs and Service Dogs on Veterans Health Administration (VHA)
Property
VHA Directive 2011-013, Guide Dogs and Service Dogs on
Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Property, has been approved for
publication; it can be found on the following websites:
http://vaww1.va.gov/vhapublications/
http://www1.va.gov/vhapublications/
DAV
NATIONAL CONV ENTION:
Put on your calendar the DAV National Convention. August 6 - 9, 2011 is the date of the Convention, but all Departments and our Chapter have organizational meetings the Friday (August 5, 2011) prior to the convention’s opening day. More information is available at the www.dav.org website. National Convention will be held at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside; 2 Poydras St; New Orleans, LA 70140. You may make reservation by calling the reservations desk at Telephone: 504.561.0500. The room rate is $124 for Single/Double room. There is a discounted Airport Shuttle available. You can book your discounted airport/hotel shuttle reservations online. You must book no later than 24 hours prior to your flight departure time. Changes to an existing reservation can be made online or via phone (866-596-2699) only if you made your original reservation online. The $3 per person discount on round trip reservations applies only to reservations made online.
Each year at the National Convention we hold our annual reunion where business for the year is conducted. Bylaws require delegates to be elected to represent the members of our Chapter. All members should, in the near future, receive a letter from the Chapter notifying each member of this. The first letter will be seeking nominations for individuals to represent the members as our Delegates. Members may, and usually nominate themselves and must provide a short biography of less than 100 words so that it may be distributed with the election ballots. So please be on the lookout for this correspondence I will try to get it out towards the end of May.
Adjutant Paul Kaminsky
FROM
THE EDITOR
If
you have an article that you think might be of interest to other members of
this Chapter, please send it to me. You can do it via email or snail mail. They
are respectively,
and
Dennis
O’Connell, Editor
303
Carnation Avenue
Floral
Park, NY 11001-3435
Please,
no jokes and if you send it by snail mail type, no script!
GOD BLESS AMERICA!