Veterans Day Event at the Air Force Memorial

Each year, AFA and the Air Force Sergeants Association (AFSA) host a Veterans Day Ceremony at the Air Force Memorial. This year's event will take place at 11am, Sunday, November 11. A two-minute moment of silence will be observed to commemorate those members of the U.S. armed forces who were killed during war. During the ceremony, a wreath will be placed at the Memorial in memory and in honor of the veterans of the United States Air Force and its heritage organizations.

This annual event, which is open to the public, is more than just recognition of a national holiday but an opportunity to remember and give honor to all of our nation's veterans for their strength, dedication and sacrifice. It reflects the pride in the heroism of those who died in service to our nation.

Remarks will be given by CMSgt David Popp, USAF (Retired), Deputy CEO of the Air Force Sergeants Association, and Lt General Richard Newton, USAF (Retired), Executive Vice President of the Air Force Association and the Air Force Memorial Foundation.

Please stop by if you can.

Activity on the Hill: Veterans Employment

AFA has been behind two separate veteran employment bills and keeping track of them as they go through each side of Congress. Yesterday, U.S. Representative Jeff Miller (R-FL), Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, and U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, commended a bipartisan agreement to boost employment opportunities for veterans -- the "VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011."

The unemployment rate for separated Iraq and Afghanistan veterans averages 13 percent nationally. Often these service men and women are already equipped with the skills needed to qualify for civilian professions. The “VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011” contains bipartisan provisions to ensure service members transitioning to civilian life receive the aid they need to find a job in today’s tough economic climate. This bill combines provisions of Chairman Murray’s Hiring Heroes Act (S. 951; Report #112-36), Chairman Miller’s Veterans Opportunity to Work Act (H.R. 2433; Report #112-242), and veterans’ tax credits into a comprehensive package that will aggressively attack the unacceptably high rate of veteran’s unemployment.

“This agreement is a bipartisan and comprehensive approach to getting our nation’s veterans back to work,” said Chairman Murray. “It includes Republican and Democratic ideas because getting our veterans the financial security and dignity a job provides should never be partisan. For too long in this country we have patted our veterans on the back for their service and then pushed them out into the job market alone. By advancing this legislation we are giving our veterans the job skills to get their foot in the door and incentivizing employers to make sure that door is open to them.”

Key provisions include:

• Improving the Transition Assistance Program (TAP): The VOW to Hire Heroes Act will make TAP mandatory for most servicemembers transitioning to civilian status, upgrade career counseling options, and resume writing skills, as well as ensuring the program is tailored for the 21st Century job market.
  
• Translating Military Skills and Training: This bill will also require the Department of Labor to take a hard look at what military skills and training should be translatable into the civilian sector, and will work to make it easier to get the licenses and certification our veterans need.

• Veterans Tax Credits: The VOW to Hire Heroes Act provides tax incentives of up to $5,600 for hiring veterans, and up to $9,600 for hiring disabled veterans, if the veteran has been looking for work for six months or longer.

Read more here >>

AFA President and CEO Mike Dunn and Legislative Assistant Kristine Robbins
attended Rep Nancy Pelosi's Veterans Roundtable on Wednesday, Nov 2.

Feature on Veterans

With Veterans Day capping this week off, we (AFA) wanted to share some of the great articles we've recently found highlighting veterans. Parade published a great feature over the weekend, including six stories of courage and commitment from six vets serving six wars. This piece is truly a great tribute to our nation's veterans.

You can check out the feature here:  http://www.parade.com/news/veterans/index.html.

AFA supports restoration of veterans cemetery in Philippines

AFA is an association that doesn't just invest in the future of aerospace and the Air Force, but honors and commemorates the history and heritage as well. 

We proudly join several organizations as Allies of the Clark Veterans Cemetery Restoration Association (CVCRA), an organization that dedicates itself to helping transform the Clark Veterans Cemetery, located in Pampanga, Philippines, from its present neglected status to one properly supported by the U.S. Government. 

Clark Veterans Cemetery is the final resting place of 8,600 men and women – both Americans and allied Philippine Scouts – who were involved in conflicts from the early 1900s to World War II.  The 17-acre cemetery lies outside of the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport, what used to be a military facility, Clark Air Force Base, from 1903 to 1991. It served as a key location for U.S. forces during Korean and Vietnam wars.

According to an AP story back in July, the cemetery relies on retired U.S. soldiers, Marines and sailors who volunteer to keep watch and runs on donations to maintain the grounds. Washington, however, is unwilling to help.The Air Force maintained the cemetery from 1947 to 1991, when Mount Pinatubo’s eruption forced the U.S. to abandon the area. But by 1994, it had become neglected, overwhelmed with weeds, overgrown grass and debris.

 
Chief of Staff of the Air Force General Norton Schwartz and his wife visited the grounds on Thursday, along with the former American military base, paying respect to fallen Airmen who have been laid to rest.

AFA supports the efforts carried out by the CVCRA as they work to maintain this cemetery that holds the remains of thousands of individuals who gave the ultimate sacrifice for this country. Its a place of history that commemorates the sacrifices of many individuals. 

Click here for more information about CVCRA >>

The Last Doughboy

Frank W. Buckles, the man who lived to become America’s last known World War I veteran, died peacefully in his sleep early Sunday, at the age of 110.

Buckles joined the Army at the age of 16 on Aug. 14, 1917, having lied about his age to enlist. He joined nearly 5 million Americans for the first of World Wars, which dominated Europe from 1914 to 1918. Buckles served as an ambulance driver behind the trenches in Europe and rose to the rank of corporal before the war ended. Next, he took up a career as a ship's officer on merchant vessels.

Then in 1941, Buckles survived being a civilian POW in World War II, after he was caught in Manila when Japan invaded the Philippines. He endured 38 months of cruel treatment before being freed in a military raid.

According to the Washington Post, with Buckles' death, only a 109-year-old Australian man and a 110-year-old British woman were believed to survive from the estimated 65 million people who served in the 1914-1918 war.

Buckles lived out the rest of his life on a cattle farm with a Colonial-era stone house near Charles Town, W.Va. He died of natural causes early Sunday at his home. AFA proudly salutes the legacy of the last doughboy.

Check out this fantastic photoblog of his life at http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/02/28/6151083-farewell-to-frank-buckles-last-surviving-us-world-war-i-veteran.

AFA Member Featured in Video Diary for the Veterans Project of Marion County

One of AFA's Chapter members was interviewed as the Featured Veteran for the Veterans Project of Marion County! Mike Emig is President of the Red Tail Memorial Chapter (in Lane Ocala, FL).

The Veterans Project of Marion County is a page dedicated to the men and women of the Armed Forces who have served the United States throughout its history, giving them an opportunity to share with us their experiences.

Check here to learn more about AFA's activities in Florida.