Cong. Delia Ramirez met with her Veterans Working Group at the Portage-Cragin Library, March 18, 2025. Read more [...] 
Being a U.S. military veteran also means you were willing to fight and die in service to this country. It meant being separated from friends, family and loved ones. It meant giving up control of your life to others and having to trust your well-being to them. It meant risking life and limb and potential (permanent) injury, either to complete a mission, help your buddies fighting alongside you or just in doing what you were supposed to do. It meant you took an oath to ‘Support and Defend the Constitution of the United States’... and lived up to your part of the bargain. Since there is no longer a military draft in this country, it meant you voluntarily signed up. Read more [...]
“Get a job, you bum”!
I slowly open my eyes, hearing a voice and those unkind words in my ears. Not anything I haven’t heard before. What I see is a suit, dark and cheap. Kind of like the ones I used to wear, when I had a job and a life. A face above the suit, nothing remarkable about it, except for the spittle forming at a corner of the mouth. Striped tie hanging down, almost touching my face. I look down along my prone body and see his leg moving back, as if to send send a kick my way. Perhaps Read more [...]
It is estimated that on any given night in the U.S. over 40,000 veterans are homeless and living in the street or shelters (source: Google). The actual number is going to be higher than that, probably a lot higher. Yes, you’re right, no one should be homeless, veteran or not. Realistically, homes won’t be found for all that need them. That doesn’t mean to stop trying. Read more [...]
About 8% of the U.S. population will have PTSD at some point in their lives (around 8 million adults during a given year). For veterans of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, those numbers climb to about 20%. Symptoms of PTSD for anyone who has experienced a trauma include nightmares and flashbacks to trauma, anger, jumpiness, depression, and alcohol or substance abuse. Read more [...]
More than 300,000 American military veterans likely died while waiting for health care -- and nearly twice as many are still waiting -- according to a new Department of Veterans Affairs inspector general report. Read more [...]
In a review of how the military investigates child deaths, the Pentagon's Inspector General found that 71 percent of criminal probes of child fatalities were flawed because investigators did not follow all required procedures, according to a new IG report. Read more [...]
According to 38 USCS, section 5303(b): "if it is established to the satisfaction of the Secretary that, at the time of the commission of an offense leading to a person's court-martial, discharge, or resignation, that person was insane, such person shall not be precluded from benefits under laws administered by the Secretary based upon the period of service from which such person was separated." Read more [...]
Many veterans use non-VA healthcare facilities because VA regulations place bureaucratic hurdles in front of the veterans who are least able to overcome them and the people that these veterans go to for help either don't know how or simply refuse to serve them because of their own prejudice. Read more [...]
As more women serve in armed forces, the VA and other agencies gear up to meet their specific needs when they return home. Read more [...]
People are still talking about the Coalition of Veterans Organizations (CVO) and their September 22 "Pick Up Everything That Doesn't Grow Party"! CVO Members helped clean up a large vacant lot at the corner of 71st and Vincennes. Read more [...]
The Obama Administration Budget proposed for 2013 for the VA is $140.3 billion. $76.3 billion is for mandatory benefits such as disability compensation and pensions. The remaining $64 billion is for discretionary spending, primarily for medical care.*
The discretionary spending amount represents a 4.5% increase from the current year. This is more than $4 billion less than the major veterans organizations call for in The Independent Budget. Read more [...]