Free Republic

A remembrance mural has become the target of "mindless vandalism" for a second time. Spray paint was used between Monday and Tuesday last week to deface the artwork situated on Witham's river walk. The initial incident was reported to Essex Police, but silver spray paint was then used at the weekend to create further damage. A spokesperson from Witham Town Council said it was "just mindless vandalism". Police have been contacted for comment.

The ATF can’t go after NRA members over guns with pistol braces on them. That’s the outcome of a preliminary injunction issued by a federal judge on Friday. US District Judge Sam A. Lindsay sided with the gun-rights group and enjoined the federal agency from enforcing its rule reclassifying pistol-brace-equipped guns as short barrel rifles (SBRs) under the 1934 National Firearms Act (NFA). The decision keeps any NRA member who owns a braced gun from facing six-figure fines or imprisonment if they didn’t register their gun by last year’s deadline–something most owners didn’t do. “[C]ompliance with the Final Rule is...

A plan to turn a former Boston-area veterans’ home into a shelter for hundreds of migrants has been slammed as “disgusting” by local residents, who say Massachusetts’ services should instead go to the nation’s heroes. Democratic Gov. Maura Healey announced last week she would convert the historic Chelsea Soldiers’ Home — which was vacant and scheduled for demolition — into a site for 100 migrant families and pregnant women, the Boston Herald reports. But the proposal comes as veterans continue to face homelessness in the state, with 545 vets experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2023, according to US...

A few notes from the many articles.Commemorative events like wreath-laying ceremonies, speeches, and luncheons are held to mark the occasion at venues that include the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC, war veteran medical facilities, and military cemeteries.ALLEGHANY COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) - National Vietnam War Veterans’ Day is March 29. It’s been celebrated every year since 2017, when the Vietnam War Veterans Recognition Act was signed into law. WDBJ7 unpacks the importance of honoring those vets and how our hometowns are supporting them.Wesley Womelsdorf is a Vietnam veteran who said the war was a significant time in his life.Womelsdorf said...

Democrat lawmakers in the House signed a joint letter suggesting infringements on certain veterans’ Second Amendment Rights because of a “mentally incompetent” diagnosis from Veterans Affairs (VA) rating agencies. The current regulation regarding VA pensions, 38 CFR 3.353, defines “mentally incompetent” as “A…person is one who because of injury or disease lacks the mental capacity to contract or to manage his or her own affairs, including disbursement of funds without limitation.” The “official determination” of mental incompetency is made by the VA rating agencies, who have “sole authority” in making such a determination. According to the regulation, the determination is...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Highway signs welcome drivers entering North Carolina to “the nation’s most military friendly state,” and veterans here know they’re being courted. But in a state where camouflage-colored appeals have become commonplace, recent efforts by progressive groups to cut into what has long been a reliably red constituency face an election-year test. Tar Heel State veterans interviewed earlier this month, ahead of Super Tuesday primary voting in some of the most active-duty and veteran-populous states, varied in their politics, even if they agreed that their military service had informed their opinions. Ryan Rogers, who fought in Afghanistan...

More than 140 House Democrats are demanding that the ability to bar veterans from gun purchases/ownership under certain circumstances be added back to the Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. For decades, the VA has been reporting veterans to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) for mental issues, and such issues include using a fiduciary to manage one’s VA benefits. But this year, the Clinton-area gun ban was rolled back in the Senate by an amendment put forward by Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA).

The Department of Veterans Affairs office dedicated to rooting out racism and harassment is itself a “hostile, toxic work environment with a permissive culture of rampant gossiping and innuendo,” where multiple layers of top officials participated in and covered up sexual harassment, an internal agency review concluded.At one point, a senior manager fired a mid-level manager because both men wanted to sexually harass the same employee. When a complaint was filed, a political appointee sat on it, apparently partly for racial reasons.

She’s the kiss of death for hospitals. The woke Veterans Affairs official who ordered hospitals take down the iconic Times Square V-J-Day kissing photo previously mismanaged a Missouri hospital so badly, she was condemned by both Democrats and Republicans alike. Smooch-bashing VA bigwig RimaAnn Nelson headed the department’s St. Louis hospital for more than three years, during which time the facility was rated worst in the country — with patients allegedly left in their feces for days, and more than 1,800 of our nation’s heroes being exposed to HIV and hepatitis from unsterilized dental equipment, reports said. “What happened in...

(Deroy Murdock, Headline USA) Democrats constantly crow about their faith in “the right to choose.” But this applies to little beyond abortion. Any woman who chooses to buy a gun or send her child to a charter school should expect “pro-choice” Democrats to stand in her way. Democrats crave control and uniformity, even when it comes to medical care for America’s veterans. Democrats want vets in the Department of Veterans Affairs, not getting cured in the private sector. Obama–Biden’s VA waitlist scandal found veterans dying before they could see their doctors. Donald J. Trump promised to fix this lethal mess....

It has been revealed that the Biden administration has been diverting resources from the Veterans Affairs (VA) organization to help illegal immigrants around the country. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) spoke about the matter with Fox Digital in an interview reported on Tuesday morning. The Alabama senator recently introduced a bill titled the "No VA Resources for Illegal Aliens Act" in order to prevent it from happening again. uberville told the outlet, "They've opened up care from the doctors in these [VA] community care systems. The lines now in the VA's are getting longer. Our funds that are supposed to go...

GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley’s latest ad showcases former President Trump’s past remarks mocking veterans as she attempts to ramp up her campaign ahead of the South Carolina primary later this month. Haley’s campaign released the roughly 90-second ad Monday, after Trump took aim at Haley’s husband for being absent; he is serving in the military overseas. The ad includes snippets of news reports discussing past remarks from Trump, including him reportedly calling soldiers who died overseas “losers” and “suckers.” The ad highlighted Haley’s response to Trump’s attack on her husband, who was deployed to Africa in June last year...

Conor MacNessa (Tom Mitchell) will be laid to his final rest at Arlington National Cemetery April 10. Unfortunately it takes that long to be scheduled with full appropriate honors. I will be there, and invite any Freepers in the DC/VA/MD area who may have known and respected Tom to participate. PM me for more details. God love Tom, God Bless and comfort his family, and God Bless you all. 'Til Valhallah, Brother

More than 200 military veterans, active-duty members, former officials, and military spouses released an open letter on January 1 in which they vowed to do everything in their power to hold senior military leaders responsible for forcing the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on troops. They wrote in the letter, released on social media Monday: While implementing the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, military leaders broke the law, trampled constitutional rights, denied informed consent, permitted unwilling medical experimentation, and suppressed the free exercise of religion. Service members and families were significantly harmed by these actions. Their suffering continues to be felt financially, emotionally, and...

Review 2024 Veterans disability compensation rates. Use our compensation benefits rate tables to find your monthly payment amount. We base your monthly payment amount on your disability rating and details about your dependent family members. How to use the tables to find your monthly payment Find your basic rate Go to the compensation rates for your disability rating. On the Basic monthly rates table, find the amount for your disability rating and dependent status. This is your basic monthly rate. Example (Veteran with no children): If you’re a Veteran with a 30% disability rating, and you have a dependent spouse...

I think that some of our members were somewhere in Vietnam 50 plus years ago and couldn't imagine where they would be in this 21st century year of 2023, on Christmas Day. CCR - Run Through The Jungle (Vietnam footage) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3tvaSSJoyI

This week, two Republicans introduced legislation that would prevent the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) health care resources from being used for illegal immigrants. According to a report from Fox News, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R) and Illinois Rep. Mike Bost (R) unveiled the legislation, called the “No VA Resources for Illegal Aliens Act.” This reportedly came after Fox News reported on complaints stating that the VA was providing healthcare services to illegal immigrants and lengthening wait times for veterans. "Joe Biden is putting illegal immigrants over America’s veterans," Tuberville said in a statement to Fox News. "It is outrageous....

A group of Republicans are looking to ban President Joe Biden’s administration from siphoning healthcare resources from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) away from military veterans to illegal aliens arriving at the United States-Mexico border. The legislation, first reported by Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph and Adam Shaw, comes as Biden’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been accused of siphoning VA healthcare resources from military veterans to illegal aliens. Last year, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas seemingly confirmed to Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA) that the agency was looking at using VA healthcare resources at the border.

Company must stop false claims, turn over money to FTC, and notify consumers The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against Florida-based EXOTOUSA LLC. (d/b/a Old Southern Brass) for falsely claiming that certain company products were manufactured in the U.S, and that the company was veteran-operated and donated 10 percent of its sales to military service charities. The FTC’s proposed order would stop the company and its owner, Austin Oliver, from making these deceptive claims and require them to pay a monetary judgment. “This company and its owner’s brazen deception cheated consumers who wanted to support U.S. manufacturing, veteran-operated businesses,...

This year I went to the Veteran’s Day celebration at my grandkids school, which does an outstanding job. I sat next to a 103 year old survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack. He was a PBY crewman, and somehow made it through the entire war. These reconnaissance aircraft were so vulnerable, that the squadron in the Guadalcanal area said their call sign of NNOK stood for “notify next of kin”. Neither of us could hear that well even with hearing aids, but we two Navy men had a grand time.Winston Churchill’s assessment of the attack is found on page 606...