Susan Zeier, mother-in-law of late Sgt. First Class Heath Robinson of the Ohio National Guard, speaks during a press conference on the PACT Act on July 28, 2022 while Rosie Torres, co-founder of Burn Pits 360, comforts Robinson’s daughter, Brielle Robinson. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt, States Newsroom.)
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Friday celebrated the number of veterans enrolled in VA health care and benefits as part of a law he signed nearly two years ago, though he said more work must be done for troops who were stationed at a base in Uzbekistan in the early 2000s.
“Two years ago, I signed the bipartisan Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxins (PACT) Act enacting the most significant expansion of benefits and health care for toxic exposed veterans and their survivors in over thirty years,” Biden wrote in a statement.
The law, which spent years gaining the support it needed in Congress, expanded health care coverage and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances like Agent Orange and open-air burn pits.
To date, more than 1 million veterans and 10,000 survivors of veterans who died have begun to receive disability benefits stemming from the law, accounting for approximately $6.8 billion in earned benefits.
Biden said in his statement that his administration would continue studying veterans’ other illnesses for a “presumptive status,” which could ensure them access to health care and benefits without having to prove to the VA that their conditions are directly linked to their military service.
The VA is also planning to “close loopholes for certain veterans exposed to harmful toxins during their military service,” Biden wrote, without elaborating.
A White House fact sheet says the VA is looking into providing benefits for 16,000 veterans who served at Karshi-Khanabad in Uzbekistan, also known as K2, between 2001 and 2005, since there were “several contaminants…in either the air, water, soil, or soil gas.”
“VA plans to take steps to consider veterans who served in Uzbekistan as Persian Gulf Veterans so that any veteran who served at K2 and who experience undiagnosed illness and medically unexplained chronic multi-symptom illnesses can get the benefits they deserve,” it states. “VA will also create new training materials for claims processors and examiners on the hazards identified at K2.”
Since the law — known as the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act or the PACT Act — took effect nearly two years ago, the VA says that 739,421 veterans have enrolled in its health care programs.
Of that total, 333,767 veterans are covered under the new law, including those who served in the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and the wars that followed the Sept. 11 attacks.
The numbers released Friday are significantly higher than they were when Biden gave a speech on the law’s one-year anniversary. The VA said at the time, which was one year ago, that 408,581 veterans had filed their claims and that 348,469 of those had been approved.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough said on a call with reporters at the time the law had led to “more than $5.7 billion in earned benefits for veterans.”
The exact number of veterans with approved PACT Act claims as of Friday stood at 1,005,341 while the number of survivors approved had reached 10,777.
A total of 1,251,720 veterans so far have completed filing Pact Act claims as have 21,416 survivors.
The VA has an interactive dashboard that provides veterans with information about how to apply for health care and benefits under the PACT Act as well as how many claims have been submitted.
The VA has a calendar of in-person events that can be found here. Veterans or their family members can also call the VA at 800-698-2411 to inquire about PACT Act benefits.
Jennifer Shutt
Jennifer covers the nation’s capital as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Her coverage areas include congressional policy, politics and legal challenges with a focus on health care, unemployment, housing and aid to families.
Ohio Capital Journal is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
Loveland, Ohio – Veterans and dependents of Warren County can be transported at no cost to any local doctors office or VA medical center for their appointments. Please contact their office as soon as you receive your medical appointment. To take advantage of the transportation service, proof of eligibility is required (DD214).
WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs expanded access to in vitro fertilization on Monday, saying that eligible unmarried veterans and veterans in same-sex marriages can now access IVF at VA health care facilities.
The announcement notes that federal law requires the VA only provide IVF treatments to veterans whose issues having children are due to a health condition from their military service.
“Raising a family is a wonderful thing, and I’m proud that VA will soon help more Veterans have that opportunity,” VA Secretary Denis McDonough said in a written statement. “This expansion of care has long been a priority for us, and we are working urgently to make sure that eligible unmarried Veterans, Veterans in same-sex marriages, and Veterans who need donors will have access to IVF in every part of the country as soon as possible.”
The VA has only provided IVF care for married veterans who were able to use their own eggs or sperm during the process, but the new announcement allows veterans to use donor eggs, sperm and embryos.
The VA noted in its announcement the department doesn’t cover surrogacy costs.
The VA also reiterated it provides up to $2,000 in adoption expenses for veterans with a disability connected to their military service that caused infertility.
Legislative options
Washington state Democratic Sen. Patty Murray said in a written statement the VA’s decision to expand access to IVF “is an important step forward that will help more veterans start and grow their families.”
“I have fought for over a decade to expand fertility care and treatment to more veterans and servicemembers, and I’m thrilled that DoD, and now VA, are making progress toward expanding their IVF services with new policies will be life-changing for veterans and servicemembers who were for far too long excluded from care,” she said.
Murray plans to go to the Senate floor this week to ask for quick approval through unanimous consent of a bill to further broaden access to fertility treatments.
That bill, titled the Veteran Families Health Services Act, would allow the VA to permanently expand which veterans have access to IVF as well as provide the option for military members to freeze their eggs or sperm before deployment to combat zones or hazardous duty assignments.
The legislation would expand adoption assistance for veterans and require both the VA and the Department of Defense to “facilitate research on the long-term reproductive health needs of veterans.”
The Senate bill has 24 co-sponsors, all of whom are Democrats or are independents who align politically with the Democratic Party.
House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs ranking member Mark Takano and the Health Subcommittee ranking member Julia Brownley, both California Democrats, said in a joint statement the expansion “is a step in the right direction to allow eligible unmarried veterans and veterans in same-sex marriages to receive IVF, but we think current law is still too restrictive.”
“It is very difficult to prove that infertility has been caused by prior service to our country, and the onus is on the veteran to prove it,” the two wrote. “Most veterans with infertility have faced a difficult choice: pay the prohibitive cost of IVF out of pocket, or lose valuable treatment time pursuing a VA service connection.”
The two then pressed for Congress to approve a different bill that would expand IVF access for veterans, dubbed the Veterans Infertility Treatment Act.
That bill has 31 co-sponsors in the House, all of whom are Democrats.
Takano and Brownley said that their legislation is necessary to ensure “any veteran, regardless of whether their infertility is service-connected,” has access to IVF “as part of VA’s comprehensive medical benefits package.”
“Given what we recently saw in Alabama and the growing attacks on reproductive rights in our country, it is more clear than ever that we need to expand IVF access for veterans, regardless of where they live,” they wrote. “This new VA policy is an important step. We will continue to advocate for legislation that will ensure any veteran who wants to start a family can.”
JENNIFER SHUTT
Jennifer covers the nation’s capital as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Her coverage areas include congressional policy, politics and legal challenges with a focus on health care, unemployment, housing and aid to families.
Biden administration officials said Friday the Department of Veterans Affairs will expand health care coverage for certain groups of veterans and their families and create new programs meant to make care more accessible. Veterans Day fell on Saturday.
The VA will make coverage of certain toxic burn pit-related conditions available sooner than anticipated. Family members of veterans who served at North Carolina’s Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune from 1953-1987 will be eligible to have the costs of treating Parkinson’s disease. And all World War II veterans will be eligible for no-cost health care, including at nursing homes, the department said in a series of news releases.
The administration will also create a new graduate medical education program to help expand health care availability for veterans in rural, tribal and other underserved communities, the department said. And the VA will spend $5 million on an advertising campaign aimed at having more veterans sign up for services.
“As we head into Veterans Day, we’re reminded of the fundamental promise that our country makes to anyone who signs up to serve in the military: If you fight for us, we’ll fight for you,” Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary Tanya Bradsher told reporters on a Thursday call in advance of the announcements.
The administration announced five changes meant to expand veterans’ benefits.
The VA will speed up coverage for burn pit exposure that was part of a bipartisan law passed last year.
The law, which provides health care benefits to veterans exposed to toxic chemicals from burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan and certain other veterans, was written to be phased in over no more than 10 years.
But President Joe Biden is directing the VA to make all affected veterans eligible for expanded benefits by early next year, according to a White House fact sheet.
The Camp Lejeune Family Member Program will be expanded to cover Parkinson’s disease. The program, which covers a host of conditions related to the contaminated drinking water at the base, did not previously include Parkinson’s.
Veterans of World War II who served anytime from Dec. 7, 1941, to the end of 1946, are entitled to no-cost VA health care, meaning no co-pays or monthly premiums, the department said. That includes care at nursing homes.
To expand availability, the department is also creating a pilot program to reimburse residents and residency programs, including those outside of VA facilities, that serve veteran patients. The program would fund 100 physicians in rural, tribal and underserved communities, according to a VA news release.
And to encourage veterans to take advantage of their benefits, the department is planning a national advertising campaign focused on “some of the most tangible, cost-saving benefits” veterans are entitled to, according to the VA.
The multimedia campaign will tout the low-cost or no-cost health care, education, home loan and memorial service programs, the VA said.
JACOB FISCHLER
Jacob covers federal policy as a senior reporter for States Newsroom. Based in Oregon, he focuses on Western issues. His coverage areas include climate, energy development, public lands and infrastructure.
Loveland, Ohio – To supplement the story below (4 Ohio Republicans join House Dems to pass bill to boost post office funding by $25B) from the Ohio Capital Journal, Loveland Magazine visited two of the closest local U.S. Post Offices to document the number of mailboxes placed outside the buildings. We also documented the days and hours of operation of each.
While unlikely that the Trump Administration would attempt to interfere with the delivery of election-related mail in our heavily Republican voting area, nearly all Loveland mail does go to or from the Dalton Street processing center in Cincinnati. Interfering with mail delivery in the heavily Democratic voting urban areas of Cincinnati’s urban core is not beyond reasonable suspicion. And, the President may use mail problems in any part of the country to delegitimize and dispute the November election results.
One day ago the President tweeted, “The greatest Election Fraud in our history is about to happen. This may top the Democrats illegally spying on my campaign!”
On August 20 the President tweeted this, “They are sending out 51,000,000 Ballots to people who haven’t even requested a Ballot. Many of those people don’t even exist. They are trying to STEAL this election. This should not be allowed!”
Trump said last week on Fox News that he opposes some funding because he doesn’t want it used for mail-in votes, repeating his claim that it would lead to “fraudulent” election results.
WCPO has reported that processing machines from Cincinnati’s Dalton Street post office have been removed and remain offline and unusable.
The Cincinnati Enquirer recently reported that according to Jim Sizemore, president of the American Postal Workers Union in Cincinnati that in May and June, the USPS “pulled the plug on eight mail processing machines in Cincinnati, accounting for 19% of the processing center’s capacity.” The eight machines could process collectively 243,000 pieces of mail an hour according to the Enquirer. Mail is piling up on the floor at the Queensgate facility according to Sizemore.
WCPO’s John Matarese says the VA is now notifying veterans that they should order their medicine earlier than usual because at this time it cannot guarantee on-time delivery. And, by law, it cannot ship medication via private services.
Sen. Rob Portman said on August 21 on his FaceBook page, “A number of veterans have reached out to my office recently expressing concern about delays in the USPS delivery of their critical prescription medications. This is not acceptable. This morning I pressed Postmaster General DeJoy for answers.” And on August 19 Portman said, “We must protect Ohioans right to vote during to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. That’s why I sent a letter to the Postmaster General with Congressman Bob Latta calling on the USPS to ensure the timely & accurate delivery of election-related materials in Ohio.”
Rep. Brad Wenstrup told constituents in an email on Monday that the postal service has enough money on hand, “$14 billion cash” and that he voted to “open a $10 billion line of credit through the CARES Act” to help with any COVID-19 issues. Wenstrup said the USPS has enough money on hand to remain “fully function” until August of next year and that Speaker Pelosi has “manufactured a crisis and rushed the House back to vote on an irresponsible and unneeded amount of money on a problem that does not currently exist.”
Paige Pfleger reported in a Cincinnati Public Radio story on August 20 that, “Since the pandemic, even more Ohioans have opted to receive their medications by mail, to avoid possible exposure or to save money.”
Antonio Ciaccia of the Ohio Pharmacists Association is quoted in the story, “We have heard some extreme anecdotes over the last couple weeks where patients are waiting one, two, three weeks for their medications,” and adds that he’s never heard so many complaints about delivery delays.
On August 18, Senator Sherrod Brown is quoted in a Cleveland.com article about mail sorting equipment being dismantled in Cleveland. Brown said, “As the U.S. Postal Service has warned Ohio and other states that it may not be able to meet mail-voting deadlines this November, the visibly idle equipment along with mail delays and post office budget shortfalls have fueled fears that the upcoming election will be undermined.”
Reporter Sabrina Eaton writes in the Cleveland.com article:
President Donald Trump’s assaults on mail-in balloting, even as he has requested an absentee ballot to vote from his new residence in Florida, have raised questions over whether he’s deliberately trying to sabotage an election that will likely have more mail-in ballots than ever because of reluctance to vote in person during the coronavirus pandemic.
In a news conference over the weekend, Trump said universal mail-in voting would be “catastrophic. It’s going to make our country a laughingstock all over the world.”
“The ballots are lost, there’s fraud, there’s theft, it’s happening all over the place,” said Trump. “Now we’re going to do it with this whole, vast, big section of the country? It’s crazy.
Check out these two voter guides recently published by Loveland Magazine with information about requesting absentee ballots. Keep in mind that Ohio officials are recommending you stay ahead of these absolute dates to ensure your mail coming to and from the post office is delivered in time for your vote to count.
Loveland Magazine is interested in hearing from readers if they have experienced any delays in receiving mail (timely delivery of medicine, paychecks and other essentials) or about concerns they may have about receiving absent ballot requests or sending their ballot back to the local Boards of Elections. Please send us your thoughts to editor@lovelandmagazine.com.
These photos were taken on the evening of August 16 at the Loveland and Symmes post offices. We do not know if any additional boxes were recently removed but is does not appear so. Although the quantity of mailboxes and hours of operation at these locations would not necessarily reflect current delays in mail delivery, we did want to document current conditions in advance of the November 3rd Presidential Election.
Mail boxes at the Symmes Township Post Office at 9370 Fields Ertel Road
Mail boxes at the Loveland Post Office at 200 Loveland Madeira Road
Loveland Post Office at 200 Loveland Madeira Road
Collection times on the mailboxes at the Loveland Post Office at 200 Loveland Madeira Road
Service times at the Symmes Township Post Office at 9370 Fields Ertel Road
Service times at the Loveland Post Office
4 Ohio Republicans join House Dems to pass bill to boost post office funding by $25B
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Saturday that mail delays are depriving Americans of timely delivery of medicine, paychecks and other essentials. Photo by Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House convened a rare weekend session Saturday in an attempt to stop the U.S. Postal Service from allegedly disrupting mail service to sabotage the November elections.
The Democratic-led chamber passed a bill 257-150 that would infuse $25 billion into the agency as it prepares for a surge in mail-in ballots and bar it from changing operations or service levels in place at the beginning of the year.
The prohibition would remain in effect through January 2021 or for the duration of the coronavirus crisis — whichever is later.
The bill passed largely along party lines, though more than two dozen Republicans joined Democrats in backing the legislation, including four Ohio Republicans: Reps. Troy Balderson (12th District), David Joyce (14th District), Steve Stivers (15th District) and Mike Turner (10th District). Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-7th District) did not vote. No Democrats voted against the bill.
One Republican in favor was Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, who said the post office needed to be funded so his constituents could get their mail delivered on time. “Republicans and Democrats must come together and address the serious challenges that USPS has been facing for some time now,” he said.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is not expected to take up the measure. He told his hometown paper Tuesday that he doesn’t think a stand-alone bill funding the postal service would pass the chamber.
The White House threatened Friday to veto the post office boost, calling it “an overreaction to sensationalized media reports that have made evidence-free accusations that USPS has undertaken reforms to achieve political rather than operational objectives.”
But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) maintains that the administration is trying to suppress votes as the nation heads into a fraught election season in which the postal service will serve as “election central.”
In addition to undermining the integrity of the elections, the delays are depriving Americans of timely delivery of medicine, paychecks and other essentials, Pelosi said at a press conference Saturday.
Democratic lawmakers made similar allegations on the House floor.
The administration has mounted a “sabotage campaign” to manipulate the vote, Rep. Debbie Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, said Saturday morning.
Democratic Rep. Brenda Lawrence of Michigan and a member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, said the bill would prohibit the postmaster general from making any changes that would undermine the post office. She said the postmaster general has “tried to rip it apart from the inside” and “our democracy is hinging” on delivery of the mail.
“Don’t mess with the USPS,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.).
Republicans charged Democrats with ginning up a manufactured crisis intended to deny the president a second term. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said postal problems predate 2020 and the Trump administration.
GOP Rep. Rob Woodall of Georgia called Saturday’s vote a “punctuation mark” at the close of last week’s Democratic National Convention. This “wasteful partisan exercise” will “go nowhere” in the GOP-controlled Senate and “help no one,” he added.
Rep. Debbie Lesko, a Republican from Arizona, echoed the sentiment, calling the controversy “phony political theater.” Pelosi has gone “politically postal,” she said, quoting a recent Wall Street Journaleditorial.
The House approved $25 billion for the postal service in a $3 trillion coronavirus relief package approved in May. Pelosi pointed out Saturday that the USPS board of governors — a bipartisan group of members appointed by Trump — backs the funding.
Trump said last week on Fox News that he opposes some funding because he doesn’t want it used for mail-in votes, repeating his claim that it would lead to “fraudulent” election results.
He said changes to overtime, retail hours and the location of mail processing machines and blue mailboxes were made to save costs and streamline operations but said earlier this week he would suspend some of his moves until after the elections to avoid the appearance of impropriety. He also said he wouldn’t close existing mail processing facilities and would use “standby” resources in October to meet mail surges.
On Friday, he insisted that secure elections are his “sacred duty” and top priority this fall.
But Pelosi on Saturday called DeJoy’s promise into question, pointing to his decision not to replace mail infrastructure that has already been removed. She also pointed to Trump’s comment earlier this week calling for law enforcement officers at polling places.
“It is all designed to suppress the vote,” Pelosi said.
DeJoy is slated to testify again on Monday in a hearing before the Democratic-led House Oversight and Reform Committee, where he is expected to face more withering questioning. Robert Duncan, chair of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors, will also appear before the committee.
Allison Stevens is a Washington D.C. reporter for States Newsroom, a network of state-based nonprofit news outlets that includes the Ohio Capital Journal.
David Miller is the Publisher of Loveland Magazine and a Vietnam Combat Veteran
COVID-or-not – it felt imperative to somehow have a Memorial Day Service in Loveland
by David Miller
Monday marks the nation’s most significant holiday, so it should not go without remembrance. For many, it’s quite sobering and you may want to think twice about saying, “Happy Memorial Day” if you want to avoid blank awkward stares.
Traditionally the area has annual gatherings with speeches given on the stage of the Loveland Veterans’ Memorial or at the monument at Veterans’ Memorial Plaza in Home of the Brave Park, however because of COVID 19 and an Ohio ban of large gatherings the annual Memorial Day ceremonies were canceled this year. Before the Loveland Memorial was built in the West Loveland Historic District the event was held on the lawn in front of the Loveland Elementary School.
Given the National Holiday’s significance, because without the ultimate, life-giving sacrifice of young men and women there would be no other holidays celebrated in this country, including Independence Day, Christmas, Easter, or Labor Day, it felt imperative to somehow have a Memorial Day observance non-the-less, COVID-or-not.
I didn’t do too much head-scratching before I remembered Ryan Linday’s Memorial Day address in 2017 because it was a very good one – the best one of my recollection. Ryan is a “third-generation Veteran” and his uncle died in Vietnam. Ryan quickly agreed to record a message and brought Steve Bow to play taps.
I also remembered young Paul Laufersweiler the eighth-grade student from St. Columban School who read a speech at last November’s Veterans Day service in Loveland, The service is put on by students who walk from their school to the Veterans’ Memorial each fall to lay wreaths and honor current and past veterans. So, I contacted his mom Stephanie who I also met that day and asked her if Paul would like to record a speech for this year’s Memorial Day. Almost immediately she responded, “Just tell us where to meet you.”
Much of the morning that Ryan, Steve, and I spent while at the Chapel at Union Cemetery in Symmes Township centered around a conversation about how many more Veterans in recent years have died by suicide than in battlefield combat. Truthfully, it was Steve and Ryan doing the lamenting with me just listening. They remembered those lives with sobriety and respect for their pain and suffering, their endless dark days, and the families in these recent years who lost their Veteran but never received a Gold Star to put in the home’s window.
To those numerous families in Loveland I want you to know that the loss of these young souls and your pain was memorialized with quiet somber reflection at our three-person Memorial Day service at the cemetery yesterday.
Monday, Ryan and Steve will visit other local cemeteries and return to Union Cemetery to lay wreaths and Steve will play Taps to honor the greatest of our community’s heroes – including yours.
When I was with Paul and his mom on Friday to record Paul’s speech we didn’t chat about such somber subjects – I don’t have those things in common with the young man. Our conversation was about Paul’s promising future and his dreams. I believe we all have a responsibility to Paul to turn them into reality. Thank you Paul for recognizing at such a young age who it was that came before you who allows the possibility of your aspirations.
Let’s make a mission statement after hearing Paul’s last sentence of his speech – to make it so for him and all of our children. To make is so for all the Gold Star Families and those who did not receive the Gold Star but deserve it as much as anyone.
We really must make Paul a promise that we will make this country and community live up to the promise now laid at our feet, by so many lost lives who held the same dreams and potential as he has.
This photo was taken when Paul read a speech last November on Veterans Day
Meet Paul Laufersweiler
Paul just graduated from eighth grade at St. Columban school and will be attending Loveland High School in the Fall. He has already successfully auditioned to be in the marching and symphonic bands. He has two sisters, Emily still attending St. Columban as a sixth-grader and Amy who will be a junior at LHS who is in the Show Choir.
Paul said he is interested in studying science, however, he is also really interested in learning more about communicating so he might be taking those courses as well.
“When I was really little I wanted to be a pizza pilot where I would fly around in a plane and drop down pizzas to people.” I asked him if he would throw them like frisbees and he said, “Yes, I’ll get a thin crust, real crispy, so they won’t flop around.”
Paul was the student council President at St. Columban this year. Annually they raise money for school supplies for St. Julie School in Uganda, but because of COVID 19 they were not able to complete all of their fundraising activities. At the urging of his little sister Emily, they decided the canceled Walk-A-Thon should still take place, but by the students walking in their own neighborhoods. This photo (right) provided by his mom is Paul opening donations and notes from St. Columban families who contributed to the “Virtual” Walk-A-Thon. In the end, they raised $1,000.
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Meet Ryan Lindsay
Ryan is a lifelong Loveland resident and 1994 Graduate of LSH. He enlisted the Army right out os high school and served until 1998. Since, he has been a self-described “civilian-slave for the system.” Ryan told me, “Im proud to be a resident and citizen of the City.” For the past 15 years he has been an office manager for a heating and cooling company.
When I asked Ryan what he plans on doing with the rest of his life he said, ”Work, and then do lots of fun things when we are again allowed to do them. I go to Indy car races, sport car races, and concerts.”
I asked him if he ever raced and he said laughing, “No, that’s a rich man’s sport and I want to keep my money for when I retire. I know I would like it so much but I know how much it costs so I would probably bankrupt myself. It’s funner to watch somebody else spend that money so I’d rather watch ‘em do it. do it and that way if there’s a wreck I won’t have a bill to pay or anything like that.” He said he would probably try out a “Driving School” in a professional setting just to try it out to see how his skills stack up. “I would love to race cars, but then you see the price tag.”
He did race bicycles from the late nineties until 2012. “I kinda got too old and too busy with work to keep doing that. I did travel all over the country and would still like to do it but there isn’t enough time now to train and keep fit.”
Ryan will spend his Memorial Day with other veterans making their annual pilgrimage to local cemeteries, praying, and laying wreaths.
Meet Steve Bow
Steve has lived in Loveland since 2012 and has played the trumpet for 41 years. He is a technical specialist with a German company and works from home doing quality control and business and sales development. He does travel to South Carolina and Tennessee to consult with large companies such as Volvo and Volkswagen about quality and technical problems.
Steve was born in 1967 and grew up in Texas. His dad was an engineer for Dow Chemical for “the better part of 40 years.” The family moved to Columbus in 1980. He graduated from Ohio State in 1990 with a degree in metallurgical engineering and he’s been in the steel industry for a little going on 21 years. Steve’s father, Kenneth E. Bow, is a retired Army, Lt Col.
“I consider myself an Ohioan because I was in seventh grade when I first lived here,” Steve said. He attended OSU for five years and was in the marching band for four playing trumpet and in the “S Row” on the field.
Steve is the Assistant State Director, SW/NW Ohio District of Bugles Across America, an all-volunteer Taps organization. Bugles Across America (BAA) offers live/real bugle/trumpet players to sound Taps at Veterans funerals and events so the electronic device can be avoided. Steve has sounded Taps for around 300 “Missions” despite having a full-time job.
Recently, Steve has sounded Taps in Normandy in 2015, Arlington National Cemetery in 2013 and 2016, the D-Day Memorial in Bedford, VA, and various other Veterans events, including participating in a Full Honors funeral with the US Army and last year he played at Dayton National Cemetery.
In 2018, Steve and his daughter Claudia, a Music Ed major at NKU, sounded echo taps at the Normandy American Cemetery. They have also sounded Taps on Omaha Beach.
Steve said, “In addition to my full-time job and the BAA, I also own an art business on the side where I paint Military aircraft nose art from WW2 and aircraft insignia art on aluminum panels to replicate the originals.” He has shipped his artwork to clients around the world. “I also do leather jackets and I have been painting since 2012. My company is STB Aviation Art LLC.”
Steve will spend his Memorial Day with other veterans making their annual pilgrimage to local cemeteries, praying, and laying wreaths, and of course Steve will sound Taps.
Washington, D.C. – On the Senate floor yesterday, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, led his colleagues in urging the President to take action on behalf of thousands of Vietnam veterans across the country living with chronic health conditions, by expanding the Department of Veterans’ Affairs’ list of medical conditions associated with exposure to Agent Orange to include Parkinsonism, Bladder Cancer, Hypertension, and Hypothyroidism. Republicans rejected Brown’s measure.
Thousands of veterans – many of whom are aging and in urgent need of critical health care and other benefits – have waited far too long for a final decision that should have been made by the VA in 2016.
“Thousands of veterans – many of whom are aging and in urgent need of critical health care and other benefits – have waited far too long for a final decision that should have been made by the VA in 2016. I urge my colleagues to add Parkinsonism, Bladder Cancer, Hypertension and Hypothyroidism to the list of presumptive health outcomes for service-connected exposure to Agent Orange without further delay,” said Brown.
Currently, VA provides presumptions for seven of the fourteen health outcomes for which the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has found a suggestive association between herbicide exposure and a particular medical condition. However, the four aforementioned conditions have yet to be recognized by VA, making it difficult for veterans to receive care and benefits for these illnesses. In fact, hypertension is now recognized by NAM as having sufficient association, or an even stronger link, with herbicide exposure. A presumption of exposure means that if a veteran served in a specific area during a defined time frame, VA will presume that they were exposed to certain harmful chemicals or environmental hazards.
According to internal documents obtained by a veteran through the Freedom of Information Act, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and other White House officials objected to then VA Secretary David Shulkin’s recommendation to add three health conditions — Bladder Cancer, Parkinsonism, and Hypothyroidism — to the list of conditions eligible for Agent Orange benefits in October 2017, denying approximately 83,000 veterans faster access to disability compensation and health benefits.
If you are a Service member or Veteran in crisis or you’re concerned about one, there are specially trained responders ready to help you, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The Veterans Crisis Line connects Service members and Veterans in crisis, as well as their family members and friends, with qualified, caring VA responders through a confidential toll-free hotline, online chat, or text-messaging service.
Act Now
Dial 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1 to talk to someone.
Send a text message to 838255 to connect with a VA responder.
We can all help prevent suicide, but many people don’t know how to support the Veteran or Service member in their life who is going through a difficult time. A simple act of kindness can help someone feel less alone. Explore the #BeThere site for ways to show support.
“Behind the Scenes” provides a look into one of the three Veterans Crisis Line call centers, where qualified, caring responders answer the calls of Veterans, Service members, and their families and friends in times of crisis. In the video, VA responders, some of them Veterans themselves, share their stories and experiences in providing vital support and referrals for Veterans and their loved ones. The Veterans Crisis Line connects members of the military community with trained VA responders through a confidential, toll-free hotline, online chat, and text-messaging service.
![[2 Videos] We hope you will watch Loveland Magazine’s Memorial Day Service](https://lovelandmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/feature-ryan-lindsay.jpg)
“When I was really little I wanted to be a pizza pilot where I would fly around in a plane and drop down pizzas to people.” I asked him if he would throw them like frisbees and he said, “Yes, I’ll get a thin crust, real crispy, so they won’t flop around.”
Meet 
Meet ![[Veterans Day News] Brown urges Senate to take action on Agent Orange bill](https://lovelandmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/sherrod_brown_feature-unage-100x65.jpg)
