News about the veteran community, for the veteran community.
Reflecting on Unity, Strength through Diversity
For the second year in a row, Memorial Day observances in communities, organizations and even within family groups will look very different later this month because of the COVID pandemic. The parades, large ceremonies and other occasions, which I and so many others in the Oregon veteran community have always found moving and meaningful, have not yet been able to safely return in many places. Yet, the importance of this day — and the emotions and memories that it brings — have not changed. For countless families across our communities, our state and our nation, Memorial Day is a stark and, often, painful reminder
Secretary Wilkie thanks women Veterans and VA’s women employees
Hello, I’m Robert Wilkie, Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. I’m honored to help celebrate Women’s History Month, pay tribute to women Veterans, and thank our VA women Veteran employees. Women’s history and VA history are inextricably linked. In 1867, Emma Miller was appointed as the first woman employee of what would become VHA, when she was appointed as matron of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Dayton,
Suicide Prevention Month: “You are not alone, and you never were.”
The following is a guest post from a Military Services Crisis Intervention Specialist at Lines for Life. It seems many veterans exist at the crossroads of “suck it up” and “I need help.” In the military, “suck it up” serves a purpose. It influences the mental toughness required to complete the task or mission. It’s an ethos that allows service members to work as a unit and perform heroic, impossible, and even history-defining acts. As a veteran, however, this attitude can also be potentially problematic. It seems many veterans exist at the crossroads of “suck it up” and “I need