CAS3
06-16-03, 11:16 AM
VA Secretary Salutes D-Day Veterans
WASHINGTON (June 6, 2003) - Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J.
Principi called on Americans to remember the sacrifices of America's
military in observing the June 6 anniversary of D-Day.
D-Day marked the Allies' invasion of northern France, a crucial
point in World War II. The assault involved five beaches along the Normandy
coast, code-named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.
"Thousands of allied troops stormed those beaches on this day in
1944," Principi said. More than 5,200 were killed or wounded in Normandy,
he recalled, with the troops at Omaha Beach bearing some of the fiercest
battles in the initial assault under relentless fire from Nazi forces
entrenched on bluffs above.
"Last year I stood on Omaha Beach, where the footprints of our
nation's finest young men left a mark of bravery we will never forget. We
can measure the freedoms we cherish today by the terrible price America paid
that day," Principi said.
Today the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is meeting the needs
of an aging World War II population whose ranks are dwindling by 1,075 a
day, as well as providing health care and financial benefits for veterans of
Korea, Vietnam and the first Gulf War. At the same time, VA is preparing
for a new wave of veterans who will be returning from Operation Iraqi
Freedom and the war on terrorism.
Principi has refocused VA's resources to improve the speed of VA
services for the department's core constituents -- the veterans with
service-connected conditions, those with few economic resources to help
themselves and veterans with special medical needs. With new scheduling
systems, VA is speeding up health care appointments for these highest
priority veterans while making gains in compensation processing time for
their service-connected disabilities.
While initiatives have helped reduce backlogs for those services, VA
also has boosted education benefits available to eligible new veterans and
instituted programs that have gained national acclaim for ensuring quality
medical care.
For older veterans, VA remains committed to operating a network of
national cemeteries maintained as national shrines. Given an aging veteran
population, some VA national cemeteries conduct dozens of burials each day.
For younger veterans who will be returning from Iraq and
Afghanistan, VA has developed programs to assure their access to medical
care and expedite their disability claims. VA collaboration with the
Defense Department is aimed at making the transition to the VA benefit
systems seamless.
"In their time of need, our nation has an obligation to serve those
who made the world safe for democracy, from the soldiers who did not shirk
from their duty under withering fire as they waded through the Omaha Beach
surf to today's citizen-soldiers who stand the lonely watch in Kandahar or
help keep the peace in Baghdad," Principi said.
Principi said he would fight for the administration's proposals for
record budget increases to meet the needs of today's veterans, from pensions
for the few remaining World War I veterans on the VA benefit rolls to the
high-tech rehabilitation needs of wounded veterans returning from Iraq.
WASHINGTON (June 6, 2003) - Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J.
Principi called on Americans to remember the sacrifices of America's
military in observing the June 6 anniversary of D-Day.
D-Day marked the Allies' invasion of northern France, a crucial
point in World War II. The assault involved five beaches along the Normandy
coast, code-named Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword.
"Thousands of allied troops stormed those beaches on this day in
1944," Principi said. More than 5,200 were killed or wounded in Normandy,
he recalled, with the troops at Omaha Beach bearing some of the fiercest
battles in the initial assault under relentless fire from Nazi forces
entrenched on bluffs above.
"Last year I stood on Omaha Beach, where the footprints of our
nation's finest young men left a mark of bravery we will never forget. We
can measure the freedoms we cherish today by the terrible price America paid
that day," Principi said.
Today the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is meeting the needs
of an aging World War II population whose ranks are dwindling by 1,075 a
day, as well as providing health care and financial benefits for veterans of
Korea, Vietnam and the first Gulf War. At the same time, VA is preparing
for a new wave of veterans who will be returning from Operation Iraqi
Freedom and the war on terrorism.
Principi has refocused VA's resources to improve the speed of VA
services for the department's core constituents -- the veterans with
service-connected conditions, those with few economic resources to help
themselves and veterans with special medical needs. With new scheduling
systems, VA is speeding up health care appointments for these highest
priority veterans while making gains in compensation processing time for
their service-connected disabilities.
While initiatives have helped reduce backlogs for those services, VA
also has boosted education benefits available to eligible new veterans and
instituted programs that have gained national acclaim for ensuring quality
medical care.
For older veterans, VA remains committed to operating a network of
national cemeteries maintained as national shrines. Given an aging veteran
population, some VA national cemeteries conduct dozens of burials each day.
For younger veterans who will be returning from Iraq and
Afghanistan, VA has developed programs to assure their access to medical
care and expedite their disability claims. VA collaboration with the
Defense Department is aimed at making the transition to the VA benefit
systems seamless.
"In their time of need, our nation has an obligation to serve those
who made the world safe for democracy, from the soldiers who did not shirk
from their duty under withering fire as they waded through the Omaha Beach
surf to today's citizen-soldiers who stand the lonely watch in Kandahar or
help keep the peace in Baghdad," Principi said.
Principi said he would fight for the administration's proposals for
record budget increases to meet the needs of today's veterans, from pensions
for the few remaining World War I veterans on the VA benefit rolls to the
high-tech rehabilitation needs of wounded veterans returning from Iraq.