Our veterans keep earning their benefits
This Veterans Day brings us thoughts of our warriors of Hayden's 455th Engineer Company training for a combat mission in Afghanistan. Dating back to December 1942, the unit was constituted as the United States Army 608th Engineer Light Equipment Company, and was activated in January 1943 at Camp Swift, Texas. It was allotted to the Organized Reserves in March 1947, as the 455th Engineer Light Equipment Company, and activated in April that year at Kansas City, Kan.
Reorganized and redesignated several times in Wichita, Los Angeles, Klamath Falls and Olympia, it now resides at the Hayden Reserve Center since September 2008. Formerly Bravo Company of the Army Reserve's 321st Engineer Battalion, the unit saw action in Iraq in 2006-2007, and was the lead element of "Task Force Pathfinder," a route-clearing mission, arguably one of the most dangerous of all endeavors, not to mention that they did it in a combat zone, constantly in the sights of the enemy. Being their second deployment, they proudly add to our veteran population here in North Idaho. From all of us old timers, we wish you God speed and a safe return.
Our new veterans will be eligible for V.A. benefits, including home loans, the G.I. bill for education and medical care. The establishment of the Veterans Administration came in 1930 when Congress authorized the president to "consolidate and coordinate Government activities affecting war veterans." The Continental Congress in 1776 encouraged enlistments during the Revolutionary War by providing pensions to soldiers who were disabled in combat. Hospitalization was provided by individual states until 1811 when the first medical facility for veterans was authorized by the federal government. However, the facility did not open until 1834.
Veterans benefits were expanded with pensions and benefits not only for veterans, but also for widows and dependents. Veterans homes were established after the Civil War (1861 to 1865 in case you were asleep during history class), and authorized medical care for all injuries and diseases, whether service connected or not. New benefits were established by Congress as the United States entered World War I for disability compensation, vocational rehab, and insurance for service members and veterans. World War II produced 15,000,000 new veterans eligible for V.A. benefits, in addition to the existing 4,000,000 vets from World War I. Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars have all added to the veteran population in the U.S., and V.A. benefits have grown to accommodate the all volunteer force we have today.
An important veteran program outside of the V.A. is the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program, providing information for National Guard and Reserve troopers before, during and after their deployment. Every Guard and Reserve unit is required to implement YRRP, and is a Department of Defense wide program. Since its inception in January 2008, some 1.1 million Guard and Reserve troops and their families have benefited from the services offered by the program. Post deployment information is presented on health care, educational training opportunities, finance and legal benefits. Also on board is the Small Business Administration and Department of Labor.
Unique to Idaho is a program offered by The University of Idaho. The "Operation Education Scholarship Program" offers comprehensive and integrated educational support to "severely wounded and permanently disabled post-9/11 veterans and/or their spouses." Individualized scholarships provide financial, academic and social support in conjunction with other resources the individual may receive, for tuition/fees, books, housing and tutoring so they can earn a college degree. The first veteran was admitted to the program in January 2007, and the first spouse in August 2009.
For our new veterans, and all of us 15,000 or so here in North Idaho, and of course millions in the United States, these benefits are welcome and necessary. Success stories abound of vets taking advantage of the programs and benefits offered by the V.A. and other agencies. After all, we earned it, didn't we?
On this Veterans Day, let us remember the meaning and purpose of honoring our veterans, especially for those who gave it all.
Jack Evensizer is a Press correspondent and resident of Dalton Gardens.