Program to Help Vets Get Medals Earlier and Easier Kicks Off Today [Senator John Kerry's Medals]

John Kerry's Senate Website ^ | 8/19/03 | Kerry Staff

[TastyManatees]

PROGRAM TO HELP VETS GET MEDALS EARLIER AND EASIER KICKS OFF TODAY

Kerry-backed effort uses the Internet to eliminate paperwork, reduce processing time

Tuesday, August 19, 2003

WASHINGTON, DC – The Army has cut the ribbon on a new program designed to make easier and quicker the process veterans must go through to receive the medals they have earned for their service. The program, the Veterans Medals Automation Program, was advocated for by Senator John Kerry and will be carried out by the Army’s Clothing and Heraldics Team.

“The brave men and women who served this nation with distinction during times of war should not have to wait to receive the medals they so much deserve,” said Kerry, who received a Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat V, and three awards of the Purple Heart for his service in combat in Vietnam. “But the current system was saddled with paperwork and bureaucratic entanglements that forced our vets to wait.

“That is unacceptable in this day and age. I am very pleased that the Army was able to enact the Veterans Medals Automation Program, which will use modern technology to eliminate paperwork and expedite the process of getting our vets the medals they have earned.”

Upon hearing that many Army veterans were being forced to wait up to 18 months for replacement medals or medals they never received to begin with, Kerry directed his staff to contact the Army and work with them to fix the problem. After meeting with Kerry’s staff, the Army developed the Veterans Medals Automation Program.

“Some of our vets were dying while waiting for their medals,” said Kerry. “Others were being forced to wait for as long as one-and-a-half years.

“It is unconscionable to treat these men and women with such disrespect. I commend the Army’s efforts to rectify this situation.”

This new Internet-based system eliminates extensive paperwork, reduces processing time, and has new capabilities such as allowing each veteran the opportunity to find out the status of his or her request or make address changes online.

The Clothing and Heraldics Team prepares 4,000 to 5,000 award requests per month and this new system will be invaluable since it will both increase production and lower costs. In addition, this system will reduce the backlog and assist in order processing by predicting incoming workload. It also provides quick access and immediate processing for any congressional inquiries, enabling the Veterans Medals Unit to process them within a shorter period of time.

The new system, developed in partnership with the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis, still requires veterans or family members to request awards in writing to the NPRC. Once they finish that step, there is no need for multiple other paperwork steps that were originally part of the process. The NPRC can now send information through the web-enabled database for order entry right to the personnel in the Clothing and Heraldics Team’s Veterans Medals Unit.

[TastyManatees]

This is an ironic press release coming from a man who threw "his" medals over the White House fence after Vietnam to show his disapproval of the war. Senator Kerry is running hard on his combat laurels, and they are well earned. However, should he get the nomination, he should be forced to explain to the American people that he is no longer ashamed of that service...and why. For years, he got political mileage in Massachusetts off knee-jerk anti-war types through a disgusting book and shameful actions, now he must live with that past.



Tasty Manatees

[WorkingClassFilth]

I agree with a strategy that does not attack his service but rather, attacks him by pointing out, repeatedly, his disrespect of his own and other's service and his 180 degree flip-flop, lies of denial and the hypocrisy of throwing away those laurels and then retrieving them. The large (and bloated) presence of Teddy Kennedy as a mentor is a liability too.

Johnny, we hardly know what ye ever stood for...

[raybbr]

I am so cynical. I think there are many people out there who will see this as an honorable thing Kerry's doing.

His self-aggrandizement make me want to puke.

[mabelkitty]

It isn't so cumbersome now. He's an ass.

You download a form, you fill it out, you send it in. They send you yeah/nay in the mail, you send a check, you get them.

What's the problem? This has been in effect for a few years now.

[jaz.357]

Didn't ketchup boy toss his Medals over the White house fence during an anti-war protest?

[Chad Fairbanks]

That, and if any Vets have retired or otherwise have access to teh exchange, you can pick up most medals you need right there (Never seen the CMOH available, though, but pretty much every other one is there)...

[Chad Fairbanks]

I heard that they weren't actually his, but someone elses'...

[Redwood71]

Yeah, let's worry about giving medals to people, but ignore the promises the feds made to military members concerning health care. They cut the VA, cut services in military hospitals, and replace it with a lie about who is in control of the health system, TRICARE. Meantime, the good senator is on one of the best health care systems in the US, both now, and when he leaves office. Yeah, some of the brave military members are dying to get their medals, and part of it is that the system is letting them do so. What a con!

[TastyManatees]

Yes, they were someone else's medals. That's why I put "his" in quotation marks. He admitted years later that he hadn't actually thrown his own medals.

Tasty Manatees

[steplock]

the french-looking ketchup boy wants to hear from you!

http://kerry.senate.gov/high/contact_email.html

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[MonroeDNA]

I qeustion his medals, and his patiotism.

I think he is lying, and trying to cover up.

[Smartass]

LURCH HAS STINKING BAD BREATH...

"Hanoi John" was a stinking traitor 30 years ago, is a
stinking traitor today, and will be a stinking traitor tomorrow?