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Military Appreciation Monday November 12, 2007 For the past 6 years, Golden Corral has been honoring the US Military with a free “thank you” dinner and beverage at any Golden Corral restaurant on Military Appreciation Monday (first Monday after Veteran’s Day). This year, Golden Corral has designated Monday, November 12, 2007, from 5 to 9 pm, to honor any person who has ever served in the United States Military.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 6, 2007 – A group of entrepreneurs and department acquisition officials earned praise from Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England at a Pentagon award ceremony yesterday for their support of disabled-veteran-led businesses. Talon Award recipient Air Force civilian employee Reggie E. Selby is a small business specialist at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. Enlisting small companies owned by service-disabled veterans to work with the Defense Department is good business and the right thing to do, Selby said at the first Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Awards ceremony held at the Pentagon on Nov. 5, 2007. Photo by Gerry...

ST. JOHN, U.S. Virgin Islands, Oct. 26, 2007 – Seven wounded warriors arrived in the U.S. Virgin Islands last week for an adventure set on the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea. Kevin Pannell (left), Melanie Kaplan (center), a Team River Runner volunteer, and Andrew Butterworth try out sit-on-top kayaks Oct. 18, 2007. Both Pannell and Butterworth lost legs while serving in Iraq. Pannell lost both legs above the knee, and Butterworth lost his right leg above the knee. The trio participated in Team River Runner's inaugural adaptive paddling trip to St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, Oct. 17-21. Photo...

Cpl. Raymond D. Hennagir, 21, who lost both legs and four fingers on his left hand in Iraq on June 16, came home to Deptford tonight to a hero's welcome. More than a thousand neighbors and strangers lined the roads leading to his house, surprising and humbling the wounded Marine. Word got out earlier in the week that he was coming home for the first time from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, and the scene resembled a July Fourth parade

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2007 – A Maryland-based group is out to show severely wounded servicemembers they’ve still got game through the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project. Jason Beakes holds a prosthetic leg for Army Sgt. Brandon Huff at the end of the day’s runs at Dickerson Whitewater Course, in Dickerson, Md., March 12, 2005. Beakes, a champion whitewater kayaker, volunteers with Team River Runner, teaching kayaking to disabled veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Photo by Neil Hermansdorfer  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “The idea for the program is to … get these guys active as soon...

On April 28th & 29th 2007 World T.E.A.M. Sports (The Exceptional Athlete Matters), working with the Walter Reed Army Medical Center and The National Navy Medical Center, will be hosting our 2007 Face of America Bike Ride, a two-day inclusive bike ride from Gettysburg to the National Naval Medical Center to honor and assist our disabled servicemen and women returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We are thrilled to again have the opportunity to honor and include servicemen who have been severely injured in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on our T.E.A.M. This ride offers the unique...

WASHINGTON, March 6, 2007 – Hundreds of volunteer buglers and trumpeters are being sought to participate in Armed Forces Day observances held at veterans’ cemeteries nationwide and overseas, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs official said here yesterday. The event, called “Echo Taps Worldwide,” will be held May 19 and is co-sponsored by the VA’s National Cemetery Administration and “Bugles Across America,” a volunteer group, said Michael Nacincik, the cemetery administration’s chief of communications and outreach support. “Echo Taps” will take place at VA-operated national cemeteries, U.S. Department of the Interior/National Park Service national cemeteries, and American Battle Monuments...

U.S. President George W. Bush (L) jogs with Iraq war double-amputee U.S. Army soldier SSgt Christian Bagge, of Eugene, Oregon, along the jogging path on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington June 27, 2006.

Reserve Marine uses diamond to pitch, propose Submitted by: Headquarters Marine Corps Story Identification #: 20066291733 Story by - Marine Corps News CINCINNATTI (May 27, 2006) -- Sgt. Ronald Jurden hugs future wife Katie Culp after she accepted his mid-field marriage proposal during Disabled American Veterans Day at the Great American Ballpark May 27. Jurden, a combat-injured veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, was invited by DAV to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Reds game. “I’d been planning (to propose) for a long time,” said Jurden. “When my unit told me the DAV invited me out to throw...

Ever since legislation creating the Veterans’ Disability Benefits Commission was passed, there have been concerns about whether the deck is stacked against veterans. And after a year of meetings, site visits, field hearings and public comment, it is still an open question. That’s understandable, considering the political climate in which the commission operates. The 13-member panel was established after some rather heavy-handed attempts at sweeping changes to veterans disability compensation failed in Congress. However, the same political forces are still at work, both on and off Capitol Hill, making it difficult for disabled veterans to remain optimistic about the outcomes.

WASHINGTON, May 17, 2006 – Visiting athletes encouraged Walter Reed Army Medical Center patients yesterday to challenge every limitation that comes their way. Walter Reed Army Medical Center patients joined Olympic and Paralympic athletes in playing three Paralympic sports during the athletes' visit there May 16. Sitting volleyball was a hit, drawing cheers and groans, depending on which side of the net the ball dropped. Photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "There's no such thing as a limitation, whether that's a physical limitation, a mental limitation (or) an economic limitation," soccer U.S. Paralympian Jon...

FORT SAM HOUSTON - Of the nearly 400 soldiers who have lost limbs in the Iraq war, only a few dozen have been able to return to combat. Most simply aspire to resume a "normal" life, to be able to play with their kids or take a stroll with their spouse. Now the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs are collaborating to enable wounded soldiers with limb loss to achieve rising expectations for being highly active, with help from the new generation of prosthetic legs and feet. In a demonstration Friday for VA workers, several high-performing athletes who lost limbs...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (May 3, 2006) -- Unfortunately, Marines can receive permanent injuries on the battlefield, but fortunately there is a new organization specializing in helping wheelchair-bound clients by use of highly trained dogs. A fairly new organization located in Swansboro, N.C., called Lifeline Canines, was founded and is directed by Deborah S. Viel of Manassas, Va., six months ago when she moved from Greenville, N.C., to start the facility. Viel attended The Assistance Dog Institute in Santa Rosa, Calif., with an Associate of Science Degree in Assistance Dog Education. During her schooling, she learned how to...

Just a few photos from the 2006 Face of America Bike Ride God Bless Our Fine Young Men and Women that serve their nation so well.

SNOWMASS, Colo., April 6, 2006 – Michael Brickert is a man of three services, three conflicts, two paralyzed legs, and one can-do spirit that's inspired other disabled veterans. Michael Brickert, a retired Air National Guard first sergeant, soars down the slopes during the 20th National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, at Snowmass, Colo. Photo by Robert Turtil  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Brickert, 58, of Wise River, Mont., was a Navy diver during the Vietnam War. During Operation Desert Storm, he went from being an Army Reserve drill sergeant to pulling personal security detail. During Operation Enduring Freedom,...

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., April 5, 2006 – When he was undergoing treatment 16 years ago following a near-fatal accident in Germany, Paul Miosek asked Red Cross volunteer Jim Mayer for just two things: a poster of Madonna and a milkshake. Disabled Army veteran Paul Miosek (left) reunites with Jim Mayer, a Department of Veterans Affairs employee and long-time volunteer at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, at the 20th Annual Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, in Snowmass Village, Colo. Miosek credits Mayer with opening his eyes to new possibilities while living with a disability. Photo by Donna Miles  (Click photo for...

SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo., April 3, 2006 – Veterans Affairs Secretary R. James Nicholson and former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz opened the 20th National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic here last night, praising participants for their sacrifices and their focus on their abilities, not their disabilities. Former Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz speaks April 2 to disabled veterans at the opening ceremony for the 20th National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. Photo by John Sokolowski  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Nicholson saluted this year's 350 participants, including about 50 wounded during operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, for...

Memorial to give disabled vets their dueFundraising under way for monument set to open by 2010 The Associated Press Posted on Sat, Mar. 25, 2006 WASHINGTON — Troops returning from Iraq and other conflicts with missing limbs and shattered bodies will have a place of honor among the memorials of the nation’s capital. Planners are raising money for a new site — nestled among the tributes to fallen war heroes from World War II, Korea and Vietnam — to salute about 3 million disabled veterans. Interest in the memorial has increased since the Iraq war began. So far, the Disabled...

Eligible veterans with disabilities now have the opportunity to purchase the innovative INDEPENDENCE® iBOT® 4000 Mobility System, developed by Independence Technology, through medical coverage provided by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). In 2003, Congress recommended the VHA study the iBOT®. At the conclusion of the study, the test subjects were unanimous in their positive recommendation for the iBOT®. In January 2004, the iBOT® Mobility System underwent a second consumer pilot study. This second study was expanded from three veterans to eleven veterans due to demand and interest in the iBOT®. Afterward, the iBOT® coverage recommendation was issued and in 2005...

FORT JACKSON, S.C. (Army News Service, Dec 20, 2005) – Despite several injuries acquired during combat, to include an above-the-knee leg amputation, Staff Sgt. Roy Mitchell is not willing to let go of his 12 years in the Army without a fight. “People came into my hospital room two weeks after my injury and wanted to process me for medical retirement, and they presented it to me as if I didn’t have an option,” said Mitchell. “I told them no.” For him, there was no decision to make, because the Army is his career. “And this injury didn’t change that...