By Debbie Gregory This week President Obama signed an executive order that will have an immediate impact on student loans. The president said in a press conference that his order will focus on three main areas: 1) The president will direct the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, to cap student loan payments at 10% […]
By Debbie Gregory This summer, millions of American families will visit thousands of museums, monuments and historical sites across the country. Depending on the site, families will spend up to $100 or more for each visit to these centers. But thanks in part to the collaboration called Blue Star Museums, more than 2,000 museums […]
Many American youngsters grow up wanting to be a hero. We watch movies about soldiers going into battle and offering themselves as the ultimate sacrifice to their country, their mission and their comrades in arms. We often fantasize about what we would do if and when the opportunity to do something heroic presented itself. In […]
By Debbie Gregory The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has come under heavy criticism in the last few months. While several criticisms are justified and others are erroneous, criticisms seem to have the improvement of care for Veterans in mind… mostly. One criticism about the VA that the public should be aware of are the […]
By Debbie Gregory Beginning in 2010, Congress named June 27th as Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Awareness Day. Since then, June has been recognized as a month to raise PTSD awareness throughout the U.S. PTSD is a condition in which the body’s fight or flight response becomes overactive following a life threatening or horrific event, and […]
By Debbie Gregory Last week, Republicans in the Senate said that they would produce legislation permitting Veterans who are under the VA healthcare system to seek treatment at any hospital within 40 miles of their homes. The Senate bill, “The Veterans Choice Act of 2014” seeks to allow Veterans enrolled in the VA healthcare system […]
By Debbie Gregory Like it or not, military deployments often change people. Many previously deployed service members feel like they don’t fit in when they return. Their social behaviors can change. They might be more serious. This is normal. But there is a difference between changed behavior and alarming behavior. While most families have […]
By Debbie Gregory The VA is looking into allegations that supervisors and managers within their system retaliated against employees who had previously spoken out about misconduct within the VA healthcare system. Acting VA secretary Sloan Gibson said that such behavior will not be tolerated. “I think that is wrong. It is absolutely unacceptable,” Gibson said […]
Saturday, June 14, is Flag Day in the United States. The holiday commemorates the adoption of the stars and stripes as our nation’s flag by the Second Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. The American Flag, as we know it, has 13 red and white stripes that represent the 13 original American colonies that declared […]
By Debbie Gregory On June 3rd, Californians resoundingly decided that they needed to provide for Veterans. In the primary elections held that day, voters passed a measure in the state that would allocate $600 million to build housing for homeless Veterans. Currently, the state of California has the highest homeless Veteran population in the country. […]
