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Veterans earned their VA health care when they signed the dotted line to serve our country. So when American Legion Commander Dale Barnett saw that a commission that is top-heavy with private hospital executives was trying to dismantle it, he had to be blunt. “I don’t understand how commissions paid by the federal government are able to break ranks, create an unapproved report and try to advance self-serving agendas while operating as congressional appointees,” Barnett said. He's talking about the congressionally-mandated Commission on Care, an entity dominated by private hospital executives and Koch Brothers-affiliated "policy experts." The commission's charge under...

Video Only: Apr. 07, 2016 - 3:38 - Executive director of Cohen Veterans Network explains organization's efforts

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When Johnny Comes Marching Home - A Song Of The American Civil War What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? James 4:1 (NIV) ----

(CNSNews.com) - "I've been around guns all my life. I know how to use them, and arming our people on our military bases and allowing them to carry concealed, privately owned weapons -- I do not recommend that as a force protection," Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley told Congress on Thursday. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) asked Milley what the Army is doing to provide force protection at military bases and facilities in the United States, following last summer's attack on a Marine recruiting center and a Navy Reserve facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that killed four Marines and one...

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe Come on in, we're open Need a place just to hang out? This is it. We serve coffee, tea,maybe a brew or two and plenty of conversation and music. Our AWESOME military, our AWESOME allies, and their families are welcomed and honored here. No worries in the FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe. Grab a cup and start a conversation. You never know who you might...

~ The FReeper Canteen Presents ~ ~ Remembering Our Troops!! ~ CANINE CHAT Air Force Staff Sgt. Joshua Rettschlag talks to his military dog, Onur, during Gunfighter Flag 15-2 on Saylor Creek Range, Idaho, April 15, 2015. Rettschlag is a military working dog handler assigned to the 366th Security Forces Squadron, which participated in the exercise to train in realistic scenarios with joint service members in a tactical environment. Canteen Mission Statement Showing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies' militaryand family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. ATLANTIC COMFORT The Military Sealift...

Cats excited to see their returning veteran humanz by geoscoot Via IMGUR Made withVideo to GIF "...some heartwarming moments when returning servicemembers are reunited with their feline companions." 5,344 points 353,715 views

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Editor's note: This piece was co-authored by NCPA Executive Director Allen West and Veterans Coalition of North Central Texas President Nekima Horton.In 2014, the four year old daughter of a serviceman stationed in Iraq nearly drowned in her family pool. She spent three and a half minutes under water before her mother found her and called an ambulance. After arriving at the hospital on the military post, the doctors realized the little girl needed to be air lifted to the nearest trauma center in Dallas, Texas, where she stayed for the next six weeks. A traumatic event for any family,...

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced last July that the Pentagon intended to allow transgender people to serve openly in the military within six months, calling the decades-long ban “outdated” and an impediment to attracting and retaining top talent. More than eight months later, a new policy has yet to be unveiled. It is imperative that Mr. Carter complete this process in a matter of weeks so transgender troops can start serving openly while he is in office. A study by the RAND Corporation, undertaken at the request of the Defense Department, recently concluded that repealing the Pentagon’s discriminatory transgender ban...

Carter on Tuesday previewed reforms he hopes to push forward this year to Goldwater Nichols, the 30-year-old law that governs how the military reports to the Pentagon and how geographic combatant commands are organized. "It's time that we consider practical updates to this critical organizational framework, while still preserving its spirit and intent," Carter said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. One of the biggest changes would involve giving the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff more responsibility to coordinate, plan and move troops between geographic combatant commands while still remaining outside the chain...

The Ministry of Defence admits it is reviewing military physical fitness standards in preparation for the expected announcement later this year that women will be allowed to serve in all front-line combat units, including the infantry and SAS. The MoD denies that standards will be reduced, but of course that is precisely what is going to happen. Generals – having put up a fight for many years – have been told women will join front-line units and, like the good soldiers they are, intend to make it work. The people who have demanded this change – politicians desperate to be...

The growing scandal over cooked ISIS intelligence just got much worse. Now, analysts are saying they’re being forced out for not toeing the Obama administration’s line on the war. Two senior intelligence analysts at U.S. Central Command say the military has forced them out of their jobs because of their skeptical reporting on U.S.-backed rebel groups in Syria, three sources with knowledge of their claim told The Daily Beast. It’s the first known instance of possible reprisals against CENTCOM personnel after analysts accused their bosses of manipulating intelligence reports about the U.S.-led campaign against ISIS in order to paint a...

The US military is in mortal danger as I write this article. Americans have no idea that vast social changes forced upon the military are on the verge of destroying it. Americans will no longer sleep peaceably in their beds at night because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf. We are in serious jeopardy of losing the one institution that has enabled us to maintain our freedom for 240 years. We are in serious danger of losing the one institution that successfully defeated and destroyed the world’s thugs, maniacs and sociopaths that teed off against us....

~ Freeper Canteen ~ Canteen Mission Statement Showing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies' militaryand family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. Today We Want You To Take The..... What Do The Contents Of Your Refrigerator Say About You Quiz Click HERE and take the quiz! To share your results, click on the green "HTML" button & copy & paste the code into a "Reply" box. Have fun! Please remember that The Canteen is here to support and entertain our troops and veterans and their families, and is family friendly

A heroic U.S. Marine Corps German shepherd that lost a leg sniffing out a roadside bomb in Afghanistan was awarded the world's highest honor for service dogs during a special ceremony Tuesday. Lucca, who served U.S. troops during more than 400 missions in Iraq and Afghanistan over a six-year span, received the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) Dickin Medal at the Wellington Barracks in London. She is the first Marine Corps dog to receive the medal, considered the top honor for war animals around the world.

For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces. Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today! ~ Hall of Heroes ~ Melvin E. Biddle Info from here and here.             Melvin Earl "Bud" Biddle (November 28, 1923 – December 16, 2010) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II. Biddle was born on November 28, 1923, in Daleville, Indiana, to Owen J. and Blanche Olive (Bowen)...