Latest news with #VA-issued
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
VA to Expand Online Memorial Website to Include Veterans Buried Overseas
The Department of Veterans Affairs has added more than 210,000 veterans to its online memorial project for U.S. veterans, including pages for Americans buried in cemeteries overseas. Ahead of Memorial Day, the VA announced it has expanded its Veterans Legacy Memorial website to include those interred at locations overseen by the American Battle Monuments Commission, the federal agency that manages U.S. military burial sites in Europe, the United Kingdom, Africa, Asia and elsewhere. "The brave Americans resting in American Battle Monuments Commission cemeteries and whose names are inscribed on ABMC memorials around the world sacrificed their lives to liberate allied countries and to protect our nation's interests," Acting Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Ronald Walters said in a statement last week. "It's our honor to preserve their legacies." Read Next: Pentagon Will Use Health Screenings, Commanders to Ferret Out Trans Troops for Separations The VA launched the Veterans Legacy Memorial website in 2019 to highlight former service members buried at national cemeteries, giving loved ones the chance to tell their veterans' stories by adding service records, remembrances, photos, historical documents and more to their personal pages. The program later was expanded to include VA grant-funded cemeteries, those managed by the Department of Defense, U.S. Park Service cemeteries and private cemeteries where veterans have received a VA-provided grave marker since 1996. The project now includes more than 10 million pages, with more than 200,000 submissions made to veterans pages, according to the VA. Earlier this year, the VA announced that it will allow veterans to build their own VLM pages, uploading images, autobiographies, military achievements and life milestones -- anything they would want someone to know about them -- before they die. To use this VLM feature, known as "Your Life, Your Story," veterans must be eligible for burial in a national cemetery and have received pre-approval by the VA. They then will be able to log into a secure area of the site to create their pages; the content will go live once the veteran passes away and the VA approves their family's request for burial or other memorial benefit. VA officials have said the next goal for the VLM is to add the names of veterans who received VA-issued grave markers before 1996. The ABMC has managed overseas veteran graves since 1934, when President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive order mandating that the agency oversee eight military cemeteries in Europe. It currently administers 26 American cemeteries overseas, caring for more than 124,000 graves and memorials dedicated to roughly 94,000 who are missing in action, lost or buried at sea. "We are proud to be a part of this partnership, which adds new resources to honor our nation's veterans from all wars and brings their stories to those who aren't able to visit our ABMC sites overseas," ABMC Acting Secretary Robert Dalessandro said in a news release last week. Related: This Memorial Day, VA Adds More than 300,000 Veterans to its Legacy Memorial Project Site
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Guam veterans group worried Trump's VA cuts will upend care
Every week, in the U.S. Territory of Guam, a group of military veterans comes together and passes around a paddle, allowing each other to speak. The gathering serves as their therapy for both the physical and psychological wounds sustained in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. For people in Guam, military service is an economic opportunity. Of the roughly 170,000 residents who live on the island, 24,000 of them are military veterans, the group says. Guam is home to two primary U.S. military bases: Naval Base Guam and Andersen Air Force Base. Despite that, there is only one small Veterans Affairs clinic on the island, with one psychologist. Due to the lack of services here, Roy Gamboa assembled this group. He served 10 years in the Marine Corps. He calls the group "GOT YOUR 671." 671 is the area code for Guam. "In the first couple of years, everything was coming out of our pockets," Gamboa said. "Since then we've applied for and received a couple of grants to help keep our doors open." But the veterans in this group are worried about the looming budget cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The agency has terminated 585 contracts as part of an ongoing audit. Gamboa worries his group could be next since the group is funded through a VA-issued grant. Donovan Santos is also a combat veteran who says he has PTSD and chronic depression. He's now the person on the listening end of the group's suicide prevention hotline. "I pretty much help those that fall through the cracks that feel like they're alone," Santos said. "I'm there with them on the ledge. I'm there with them to pull them back, to catch them." Without the support from the group, Santos said he may not be alive. "Sometimes I wish my brothers were here and I wasn't," he said. Gamboa says it's a fight they all hope to carry long into the future. "I'll keep going," Gamboa said. "I mean, we were willing to die for each other in combat. I refuse to believe that it was all for nothing." If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or a suicidal crisis, you can reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. You can also chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline here. For more information about mental health care resources and support, The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) HelpLine can be reached Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–10 p.m. ET, at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email info@ "The Carters: Hurts to Love You" | Paramount+ Official Trailer Breaking down latest rulings on 2 Trump deportation cases Gayle King is heading to space
CBS News
12-04-2025
- Health
- CBS News
Guam veterans group worried Trump's VA cuts will upend care
Every week, in the U.S. Territory of Guam, a group of military veterans comes together and passes around a paddle, allowing each other to speak. The gathering serves as their therapy for both the physical and psychological wounds sustained in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. For people in Guam, military service is an economic opportunity. Of the roughly 170,000 residents who live on the island, 24,000 of them are military veterans, the group says. Guam is home to two primary U.S. military bases: Naval Base Guam and Andersen Air Force Base. Despite that, there is only one small Veterans Affairs clinic on the island, with one psychologist. Due to the lack of services here, Roy Gamboa assembled this group. He served 10 years in the Marine Corps. He calls the group "GOT YOUR 671." 671 is the area code for Guam. "In the first couple of years, everything was coming out of our pockets," Gamboa said. "Since then we've applied for and received a couple of grants to help keep our doors open." But the veterans in this group are worried about the looming budget cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs . The agency has terminated 585 contracts as part of an ongoing audit. Gamboa worries his group could be next since the group is funded through a VA-issued grant. Donovan Santos is also a combat veteran who says he has PTSD and chronic depression. He's now the person on the listening end of the group's suicide prevention hotline. "I pretty much help those that fall through the cracks that feel like they're alone," Santos said. "I'm there with them on the ledge. I'm there with them to pull them back, to catch them." Without the support from the group, Santos said he may not be alive. "Sometimes I wish my brothers were here and I wasn't," he said. Gamboa says it's a fight they all hope to carry long into the future. "I'll keep going," Gamboa said. "I mean, we were willing to die for each other in combat. I refuse to believe that it was all for nothing." If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or a suicidal crisis, you can reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988. You can also chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline here . For more information about mental health care resources and support , The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) HelpLine can be reached Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–10 p.m. ET, at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or email info@
