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OUR MEMORIAL AMERICAN LEGION POST 397 ORIGINAL PLAQUE DOCUMENTS SHOWN HERE !
Post Telephone:(314)872-3186;934 Rue De La Banque, Creve Coeur, MO. 63141CONTACT OUR POST
Post FAX Number is 314-872-3607
ON-LINE DD-214 APPLICATIONS:
The National Personnel Records Center has provided the following web site
for veterans to gain access to their DD-214 online.
http://vetrecs.archives.gov/
AMERICAN LEGION DEPARTMENT OF MISSOURI SCHOLARSHIP AWARD>
For more information on this view our Scholarship page
HOUSING GRANT BENEFIT FOR INJURED SERVICE MEMBERS EXPANDED
Service members who are seriously injured or disabled can now receive
special
adaptive housing grants from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which
range
from $10,000 to $50,000, as many as three times as long as the total
grant
money they receive is within limits specified by law. Previously, veterans
could only use the grants once. "This change ensures that every eligible
veteran
and service member has the chance to use the maximum amount afforded to
them by
our grateful nation," says VA Secretary Dr. James B. Peake. More than
16,000
veterans will soon receive letters from the VA notifying them of their
eligibility for the expanded benefit. VA has averaged about 1,000 adaptive
housing
grant applications per year during the past 10 years. Since the program
began in
1948, it has provided more than $650 million in grants to about 34,000
seriously disabled veterans. For eligibility requirements and other
information,
contact the VA at (800) 827-1000 or at www.home
loans.va.gov/sah.htm on the Web.
Local chapters of veterans' service organizations can also provide
details.
NEW VA ID CARD: Because
identity theft
is the major fraud reported by Americans in 2003, the
Dept. of Veterans Affairs has designated a new identity card for
veterans that will safeguard confidential information. The
card will have the vets photo on the front and identify them as
enrollees in the VA health care system. The card should be
requested from the local medical center. Existing cards are
valid until a new card is issued.
LAW HELPS TROOPS DEAL WITH CREDITORS:
All service members are protected under the Service members Civil
Relief Act. There have been reports of military members
having their homes repossessed. This type of activity is
illegal and should be reported to their local military legal assistance
officers for assistance in enforcing their rights.
VETERANS EMPLOYMENT: Need a Job? or
assistance in getting a job?
Contact: Jeffery G. Fink, Veterans Representative, Division of Work
Force Development, Missouri Career Center, 2780 N. Lindbergh Blvd., St.
Louis, MO 63314. Telephone (314)877-2748 or Email
jfink@east.wfd.state.mo.us
TAX CREDITS FOR TROOPS:
Troops deployed to combat zones now can apply for tax refunds based on
earned income tax credits and additional-child tax credits, explained
Army Lt. Col. Janet Fenton, executive director of the Armed Forces Tax
Council. The earned income credit, Fenton explained, primarily involves
lower-income filers with children. The additional-child tax credit, she
added, may provide refunds for
children under age 17. Service members who want to apply for the credit
refunds
must file a federal tax return, Fenton noted. Enlisted troops serving
in
combat areas already have all of their military pay excluded from
federal taxes,
Fenton pointed out, while officers in combat zones can exclude up to
$6,529 of
their monthly pay.
VETERANS EMPLOYMENT INITIATIVE FOR WOUNDED VETS:
Officials unveiled this initiative for injured service members
returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. They will get
individualized job training, counseling and reemployment
services. REALifelines is a joint commitment by the Dept. of
Labor, the Military Medical community and local agencies.
Labor Department officials are investing $500,000 into the first phase
of the program. REALifeline counselors will help veterans
identify barriers to employment and set up individual recovery and
reemployment plans. There will also be a national tracking system to
ensure follow-up services are provided and are successful. A
national call center will soon be available. As many as 3,500
one-stop career centers will be available at Department of Labor sites
nationwide.
NEW DATABASE LOCATES BURIED VETERANS, SPOUSES:The
Dept. of Veterans Affairs has posted a database on the web containing
3.2 million records for veterans and their spouses who have been buried
at most of the 120 National Cemetaries since the Civil War.
Visit www.cem.va.gov
and click on Nationwide Grave site Locator.
KOREAN DEFENSE SERVICE MEDAL:
Eligibility includes the land area of Korea and contiguous waters out
to 12 nautical miles, and air spaces above land and water
areas. Dates are from 7/28/1954 and are open ended.
G.I. BILL UPDATE: Since the October
2002 increase of GI Bill benefits, service members and veterans can now
receive up to $900 per month to finance their education. The
increase, along with over $300 million on scholarship money designated
for military personnel and grants from individual military-friendly
schools, provides service members and veterans with even more options
for pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees.
Get More Information
VETERANS' BURIAL BENEFITS INCREASED:
(source armed forces news.com) The Veterans' education and Benefits
Expansion Act of 2001 increases from $1,500 to $2,000 the burial and
funeral expense allowance for veterans who die as a result of a
service-connected disability. The act also raises the cemetary plot
allowance for certain other disabled veterans from $150 to $300. (The
plot allowance is paid when a veteran who is buried in a non-government
cemetary was either eligible to receive VA disability compensation or a
VA pension; or was discharged from military service due to disability;
or died in a VA hospital. The law also directs the VA to honor requests
for government markers for veterans buried in private cemetaries even
if their graves have headstones or markers furnished at private
expense. Previous law prevented the VA from providing markers on that
situation. The new provision for markers applies to veterans' deaths on
or after Dec. 27, 2001.
