| Veterans
News Flash 
Gulf
War Veterans Given Added Voice at VA
June 17, 2008
New Committee to Air
Veterans’ Concerns
WASHINGTON - - Veterans
of the 1990-91 Gulf War will gain additional
access to the leadership of the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA) when the department’s
Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans holds
its first meeting today. The 14-member, independent
panel will advise the Secretary and the department
on the full range of health care and benefits
needs of those who served in the conflict.
“I will ask them to take a ‘fresh-eyes’ approach
in developing their recommendations and work expeditiously
to produce a final report within 18-months,” said
Secretary Peake.
Serving on the committee
are Gulf War and other Veterans, Veterans service
organizations’ representatives,
medical experts, and the surviving spouse of a
Gulf War veteran. Members were selected to provide
a variety of perspectives, experiences, and expertise.
Open to the public, the meeting is scheduled for
June 17 – 19, 2008 at the Hamilton Crowne
Plaza, 14th & K Streets, NW, Washington.
Secretary of Veteran Affairs Dr. James B. Peake
will welcome the members and thank them for their
service both on the committee and in their lives
as citizens, Veterans or veteran advocates. He
will discuss the importance the department places
on the unique issues and challenges faced by Gulf
War Veterans.
The first meeting is designed to give committee
members an overview of VA as well as the benefits
and services provided to Gulf War Veterans. Members
will receive briefings on education, home loan
guaranty, disability compensation and other benefits.
Additional briefings
will include health care and Veterans’ legal
and appeal rights. They will hear public comments
June 18 at 2:15 p.m. and June 19 at 3:30 p.m.
Membership:
VA Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans
- Charles Cragin,
(Chair) of Raymond, Maine.
Currently serves a senior counselor for Maine
Street Solutions, LLC.
- Martha Douthit
of Ashburn, Va. Surviving spouse
of Gulf War Army veteran, member of the Gold
Star Wives of America, currently an international
trade analyst with the U.S. Department of Commerce.
- Dr. Henry Falk
of Atlanta. Retired rear admiral
and former Assistant U.S. Surgeon General. Currently
director for the Coordinating Center for Environmental
Health and Injury Prevention with the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Mark Garner of
Lorton, Va. A retired Marine
Corps chief warrant officer-three and Gulf War
veteran who served as a Nuclear, Biological,
and Chemical Defense Officer.
- Dr. Lynn Goldman
of Chevy Chase, Md. Vice chair
of the Institute of Medicine Gulf War and Health
Study; currently professor of environmental health
sciences at Johns Hopkins University.
- Dr. John Hart of
Plano, Texas. Past president
of the Society for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology,
currently professor of neurology and psychiatry
at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical
Center.
- William (Rusty)
Jones of South Riding, Va.
Retired Marine Corps colonel, and veteran of
Gulf War and Vietnam War.
- Kirt Love of Crawford,
Texas. An Army veteran
of the Gulf War, currently serving as director
of the Desert Storm Battle Registry.
- Daniel Ortiz of
Whittier, Calif. An Army veteran
of the Gulf War, currently serving as department
service director with the Veterans of Foreign
Wars.
- Daniel Pinedo of
Oceanside, Calif. Marine Corps
colonel currently serving as the comptroller
for First Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp
Pendleton, Calif.
- Thomas Plewes of
Annandale, Va. A retired Army
lieutenant general and former chief of the Army
Reserve. Currently a senior program officer with
National Academy of Sciences.
- Valerie Randall
of Savage, Md. A retired Army
sergeant first class; currently with the Department
of Homeland Security.
- Edward (Randy)
Reese of Washington, D.C. An
Army veteran of the Gulf War; currently national
service director for the Disabled American Veterans.
- Steve Robertson
of Fredericksburg, Va. A Gulf
War veteran who served both in the Air Force
and Army National Guard. Currently director of
the national legislative commission for The American
Legion.
SOURCE:
US Department of Veterans Affair
top
of page |
