The next meeting of the Advisory Committee to the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs will be held from 9:30 a.m. to noon Sept. 7 at the Oregon Veterans’ Home in The Dalles. The public is invited to attend and participate.
On Oct. 12, 1864, a man named Jewett Williams joined the 20th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army. The 21-year-old son of Canadian immigrants and small-town farmers, he went on to participate in several decisive engagements that helped secure the Union’s victory in the waning months of the Civil War.
Today is Atomic Veterans Day. The occasion was first declared in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan, to mark the anniversary of the earliest detonation of a nuclear weapon on July 16, 1945, and to honor the hundreds of thousands of U.S. service members who witnessed and participated in the some 235 nuclear weapons tests that occurred between 1945 and 1963.
One of the largest veteran resource events in the state will be held in central Oregon next month, when the Veteran Benefit Expo kicks off at 10 a.m. July 15 at the Deschutes Fair & Expo Center in Redmond.
With over 75 booths featuring state and federal service providers, non-profit agencies, employers and other local partners, this free event promises to bring together the best benefits, resources and programs Oregon has to offer veterans and their families.
In honor of the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs’ 71st anniversary, which we recognize today, we offer a look back at some of the highlights from the agency’s history. The following are excerpts from the Vets News veterans newsletter, published regularly since Aug. 16, 1946.
The bill authorizing the creation of the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs was signed into law by then-Gov. Earl Snell on March 12, 1945. But the agency was not officially established until June 16 (90 days after the Legislature’s adjournment that year), making today the ODVA’s 71st anniversary.
