Veteran 10 25 2013

35 cents

VOL. 1/ISSUE 51

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2013

Latest generation joins Greatest Generation on Honor Flight Patrick McCallister For Veteran voice

patrick.mccallister@yahoo.com

See GENERATION page 4

Mitch Kloorfain/chief photographer Gianna Napoli, 6, shakes hands with World War II veteran Thomas Ochalek of Port St. Lucie while escorted by Dillon Mason of Palm City through the Palm Beach International Airport upon the return of Honor Flight’s last trip to Washington, D.C. Mason is a Martin County High School Air Force Junior ROTC cadet. The Education Foundation of Martin County paid for Mason’s trip to be an Honor Flight guardian.

“Should tax/penalty under Obamacare be enforced given the problems enrolling?”

Send your thoughts to:

info@veteranvoiceweekly.com

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The latest generation joined the Greatest Generation on Honor Flight. On Saturday, Oct. 19, three Martin County students flew with World War II veterans on the Southeast Florida hub’s last trip. It’s the second time the Education Foundation of Martin County has paid for Air Force and Army Junior ROTC students to be Honor Flight guardians.

Lisa Rhodes, executive director of the foundation, said many of the board members have been Honor Flight guardians.

“We know what an amazing experience it is and we thought what a fantastic (educational) opportunity for our students in ROTC,” she said in a phone interview before the flight.

The students were Dillon Mason, Martin County High School in Stuart, William McClure, Jensen Beach High School, and Aaron Duerksen, South Fork High School, which is also in Stuart.

Martin County and Jensen Beach highs have Air Force Junior ROTC units. South Fork an Army Junior ROTC unit. The Junior ROTC instructors at each school were able to select one student each.

As guardians, the students spent the day with one World War

2 • OCTOBER 25, 2013 • VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE

anD our obJeCtIVe

Veteran Voice is a weekly publication designed to provide information to and about veterans to veterans and to the broader community. Veterans are an integral part of their Florida communities, which currently have individual organizations of their own, such as the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Vietnam Veterans of America and many other groups with a narrow focus, but no convenient way to connect to a wider population of veterans and to the community in general within a limited geographic area, their community.

The mission of Veteran Voice is to publish a weekly source of information that will provide, in one place, a listing of resources available to veterans, articles about changes in policies or organizations affecting veterans and events of interest to veterans as well as articles about veterans of interest to the general public.

Veteran Voice LLC is organized as a partnership of experienced newspaper executives with an interest in veterans and in the communities of Florida veterans and friends. Veteran Voice is a start-up intended to address a perceived lack of information readily available to veterans on programs and policies affecting them and objective reporting of veteran affairs to the public.

To our knowledge, and based on comments from leaders of local veterans organizations, there was no media or website currently meeting this need until the launch of Veteran Voice.

We hope you agree, and will support this publication with your subscription. Without subscriptions there will be a limited number of people we can help, without which this mission will not be realized. As part of our commitment to supporting local veteran communities, we will donate 10 percent of our profits each quarter to qualified veteran charities recommended by you, our readers and subscribers. Please let us know what you think by emailing news@veteranvoiceweekly.com or mailing your comments to us at 1919 S.W. South Macedo Blvd., Port St. Lucie, FL 34984.

County Veterans Service Officers St. Lucie County, Wayne Teegardin Phone: (772) 337-5670 Fax: (772) 337-5678 veterans@stlucieco.org Dorothy J. Conrad Building (formerly the Walton Road Annex Bldg.)

1664 S.E. Walton Road, Suite 205 Port St. Lucie, FL 34952 By appointment Mon., Tues, Thurs, Fri * 8:30 am-4:30 pm Wed * 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

St. Lucie County Community Services Bldg.

(Corner of Avenue D and 7th Street) 437 N. Seventh St., Fort Pierce, FL 34950 Walk-ins Mon. and Fri. * 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Brevard Veteran’s Services Office 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Bldg. B, Suite 102, Viera, FL 32940 Office: (321) 633-2012 Fax: (321) 637-5432 Mon., Tues. and Thurs., 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

Wed. and Fri, 8 a.m.-noon Manager: Glenn McGuffie Indian River County Joel Herman Vero Beach 2525 St. Lucie Ave., Vero Beach, FL 32960 Ph: (772) 226-1499 Fax: (772) 770-5038 Sebastian Square 11602 U.S. 1, Sebastian, FL 32958 Ph: (772) 589-6597 Fax: (772) 581-4988

Veteran Voice The Voice of Experience

Veteran Voice is a weekly newspaper for veterans, active military, their families and their friends.

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Martin County Tony Reese, Veterans Service Office Supervisor Nick Ciotti, Veterans Service Officer (772) 288-5448 Veterans Services Office Martin County Community Services 435 S.E. Flagler Ave., Stuart, FL 34994 Office Hours: Mon-Fri, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

VA Life Insurance Ctr., Phil., PA 1-800-669-8477 VA Regional Office - 1-800-827-1000 VA Medical Ctr, W. Palm Beach 1-800-972-8262 Pharmacy, VA Medical Center 1-800-317-8387 Military Retired Pay Activities, Cleveland, OH - (Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force ONLY) 1-800-321-1080 Military Retired Pay Activities, Topeka, KS - (Coast Guard ONLY) 1-800-772-8724 Survivor Benefits (SBP), Denver, CO - 1-800-435-3396 Stuart VA Clinic - (772) 288-0304 Okeechobee County Veterans Services office (863) 763-6441, Ext 5.

Fax: (863) 763-0118.

Orlando VA Medical Cente 5201 Raymond St., Orlando, FL 32803 (407) 629-1599 or (800) 922-7521 Telephone Care (407) 599-1404 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon. - Fri. (800) 645-6895 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Mon - Fri (321) 637-3625

West Palm Beach Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 7305 North Military Trail, West Palm Beach, FL 33410 (561) 422-8262 or (800) 972-8262 Telephone Care (561) 422-6838 (866) 383-9036 Open 24 hours - 7 days Viera VA Outpatient Clinic 2900 Veterans Way, Viera, FL 32940 Phone: (321) 637-3788 1 (877) 878-8387 Mon. - Fri. - 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

St Lucie County PTSD Clinical Team (PCT) Outpatient Program 126 S.W. Chamber Court, Port St Lucie, FL 34986 Phone: (772) 878-7876 Fort Pierce Community Based Outpatient Clinic 727 North U.S. 1, Fort Pierce, FL 34950 Phone: (772) 595-5150 Fax: (772) 595-6560 St Lucie Community Based Outpatient Clinic 128 S.W. Chamber Court, Port Saint Lucie, FL 34986 Phone: (772) 344-9288 Stuart Community Based Outpatient Clinic 3501 S E Willoughby Boulevard, Stuart, FL 34997 Phone: (772) 288-0304 Fax: (772) 288-1371 Vero Beach Community Based Outpatient Clinic 372 17th St., Vero Beach, FL 32960 Phone: (772) 299-4623 Fax: (772) 299-4632

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VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE • OCTOBER 25, 2013 • 3

Honor Flight 5k takes off Patrick McCallister For Veteran voice

patrick.mccallister@yahoo.com

“It struck a chord with us and put us on a mission,” Beringer said.

Plans were to use the run as a fundraiser for Honor Flight, as

promotion for the air show, and as a First Amendment exercise against the barriers if the shutdown still had them in place. Sen-

ators Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid famously worked out a pro-

See 5K page 8

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The Southeast Florida Honor Flight Twilight 5k is taking off this year at the annual Stuart Air Show.

“If it goes well, it’ll be an annual event,” Alex Beringer, executive vice president of Fair Wind Air Charter, said.

Beringer came up with the 5k idea and presented it to the Treasure Coast Honor Flight hub’s board of directors. Michael Roberts, chairman, said the board immediately liked the idea. Roberts is also on the air show’s board of directors.

“We’re hoping to get 30 to 50 runners or more,” Roberts said.

Beringer’s company, Fair Wind, was often inconvenienced by the recent 16-day partial federal government blackout. The company does a lot of business with the Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Transportation. Beringer said his company’s inconveniences suddenly seemed tiny when he saw television images of World War II veterans facing barricades at the National World War II Memorial.

4 • OCTOBER 25, 2013 • VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE

GENERATION from page 1 II veteran each looking after their needs. The youngest World War II veterans are now 87. The most famous Honor Flight stop is the National World War II Memorial on the National Mall. However, there are others.

In an interview before the flight, Mason said he was looking forward to spending the day with and caring for a World War II veteran.

“My grandfather was in World War II, but he died when I was young,” the cadet said.

Although deceased, Mason said his paternal grandfather still has a strong presence in his family.

“I’ve always heard a lot about what he did (in World War II),” he said. “He was in the signal corps.”

After the trip, Mason said he had new insights into World War II and the men who fought in it.

“I learned about a few key battles,” Mason said. “I’m a fan of history, so I had some background. But learning about it from their perspective was interesting.”

In addition to paying $400 a student to send the youths, the foundation picked up the tab to send Chief Master Sgt. Rod “Roddy” Hartsook, instructor at Martin County High. He said Martin High has 144 students in the four-year cadet program, and there were a number of good contenders for the Honor Flight spot.

He said much of the choice came down to Mason’s ability to coordinate numerous things at once.

“Dillon (Mason) is our logistics person,” Hartsook said in a phone interview before the trip.

Hartsook, too, was a guardian, in addition to being a Martin

Mitch Kloorfain/chief photographer Christine Woods of Palm City escorts U.S. Navy veteran William VanTongeren through the gauntlet of supporters at Palm Beach International Airport upon the return of Honor Flight from Washington, D.C., Saturday, Oct. 19.

County School District employee to oversee the students.

The students will make presentations about the Honor Flight trip at the foundation’s Nov. 12 meeting, 5:30 p.m. at the Stuart/ Martin County Chamber of Commerce, 1650 S. Kanner Highway, Stuart. Rhodes, who was a guardian on a previous flight, said the foundation hopes, too, that the students will make presentations at their schools. She said Honor Flight guardians get crash cours-

veteran voice The Voice of Experience

Theodore Wilson Publisher Steve Erlanger Partner

Veteran Voice is a newspaper for veterans, active military, their families and their friends.

Tammy Raits Managing Editor

Veteran Voice is published weekly by Veteran Voice, LLC. 1919 SW South Macedo Blvd., Port St. Lucie, FL 34984 (772) 204-2409 Office • (772) 204-2940 Fax

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Kelly Delprete Advertising Consultant Patrick McCallister Staff Writer Nicole Rodriguez Staff Writer Shelley Koppel Staff Writer Mitch Kloorfain Chief Photographer Eric Macon Graphic Designer Phil Galdys Director of Operations Donna Marinak HR/Accounting Manager

es in World War II history.

“My veteran was 93 years old,” she said. “He was on the beach in Normandy. It was so inspiring being with him. It was so amazing; the stories, the work ethic.

We shared lots of laughs and lots of tears all the way up and all the way back.”

Todd Tucker, vice chairman of Southeast Honor Flight, said veterans always appreciate the guardians, but they especially like the youth.

“The veterans really enjoy spending time with the young kids, especially the ones in the (Junior ROTC) program,” he said in a phone interview.

While rules generally require guardians to be 18 or older, Tucker said the Honor Flight Network allows exceptions for youths in programs such as Junior ROTC, Boy and Girl Scouts and other programs. In the past, the Road to Victory Military Museum, Stuart, has sponsored guardians selected from its 804th Venture Crew.

The Oct. 19 trip was Southeast Florida Honor Flight’s 15th. The hub has taken more than 1,000 veterans. Back in February, Martin County residents opened their hearts and wallets to give $60,000 to help the hub take veterans to Washington, D.C. “We collected $60,000 in three days,” Tucker said in a previous interview. “One hundred percent of that money goes to a flight each year and this is the flight.”

Among those that got involved

early on in Southeast Florida Honor Flight was Martin County Firefighters and Paramedics, International Association of Fire Fighters Local 2959, which leads what’s turned out to be the largest fundraisers for the flights: an annual fill-the-boot drive. Back in February, firefighters from Martin County and other fire-rescue agencies in the county went to parking lots and street corners to ask folks to fill firefighters’ boots with money.

Flights cost about $80,000, or nearly $1,000 for each veteran taken. Honor Flight figures the veterans paid their ways by serving in World War II, and charges them nothing.

The national World War II Memorial was opened in 2004.

Private donations funded it. The fundraising campaign, which started in the early 1990s, raised nearly $200 million. Design and construction of the memorial cost about $182 million. The remainder went to groundbreaking and dedication ceremonies, along with a maintenance fee required by the Commemorative Works Act. The Honor Flight Network is a national program that takes World War II veterans to see the memorial. The flights began, almost by accident, a year after it was erected. Honor Flight Southeast Florida, called a “hub,” started in 2009.

There’s a lot of urgency around everything Honor Flight does.

See GENERATION page 5

VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE • OCTOBER 25, 2013 • 5

Veteran’s rememberance Day Lunch anD benefits upDate

Enjoy a pizza lunch and learn about the benefits you deserve

Photo courtesy of Dillon Mason illon Mason spent time with World War II veteran Thomas Ochalek during Southeast Florida Honor Flight’s last trip to Washington, D.C. Mason is a Martin County High School Air Force Junior ROTC cadet. The Education Foundation of Martin County paid for Mason’s trip to be an Honor Flight guardian. He lives in Palm City. Ochalek lives in Port St. Lucie.

GENERATION from page 4

Monday, novEMbEr 11 12 - 1:30 p.M. For more information, call (772) 345-2700

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According to a 2008 Associated Press estimate, the once 16.1 million World War II veterans are dying at a rate of more than 1,100 a day. Now fewer than two million are living, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

No one has an exact daily death count, but the VA, AP and others have developed the same estimate by using long-form census data, VA data, and standard mortality tables. The VA estimates that America will have almost no World War II veterans by 2020.

Rhodes said donors can give specifically for the Martin County Education Foundation to pay for Junior ROTC students to go on the Honor Flight trips.

To learn more about the foundation, visit educationfoundationmc.org. Honor Flight Southeast Florida is on the web at honorflightsefl.org. For more about the national Honor Flight Network, see honorflight.org. Information about the Washington, D.C., World War II Monument is at wwiimemorial. com.

The Brennity at Tradition is hosting a Veteran’s Day Pizza Luncheon and Benefits Update in honor of your service to our country. Wayne Teegardin, Veteran’s Services Manager and St. Lucie County Veteran’s Services Officer will be on hand with all the details to help you get the benefits you deserve.

772-345-2700 Mitch Kloorfain/chief photographer U.S. Army veteran Harvey List is escorted by Dr. Shamshir Singh through Palm Beach International Airport following the return of Honor Flight from Washington, D.C., Saturday, Oct. 19.

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6 • OCTOBER 25, 2013 • VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE

A chat with Rep. Patrick Murphy

U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Jupiter, fields questions from constituents at his Washington, D.C., office during an August town hall meeting.

Nicole Rodriguez Staff writer

nrodriguez@YourVoiceWeekly.com

Photo courtesy of the office of Patrick Murphy

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — In less than a year in office freshman U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Jupiter, has made unprecedented strides in putting state issues on Washington’s radar. Murphy, a mere 30 years old, sits on two congressional committees and is a member of 22 caucuses for issues relating to the advancement of veterans, disaster relief funding, the environment, Florida ports and small businesses.

The Key Largo native, who earned his bachelor of science in business administration from the University of Miami, graduating with dual majors in accounting and finance, campaigned on the principle of bipartisanship against the oftentimes polarizing Allen West in the costliest congressional and controversial campaigns of 2012.

Murphy made good on his campaign promise to work across party lines, teaming up with Republican counterparts, including U.S. Reps. Tom Rooney, R-Okeechobee and Trey Radel, R-Fort Myers, to garner the president’s attention on key issues destroying Treasure Coast waterways. The accountant by trade is no stranger to environmental disasters. In 2010, Murphy gathered oil skimmers and packed a bag bound for Louisiana to help in the massive cleanup efforts of the country’s most catastrophic oil spill in history. Having lived on the Florida Coast his entire life, Murphy said the crusade for clean water is one he will never quit.

On the eve of his wildly successful Oct. 3 congressional briefing on the Indian River Lagoon, attended by more than 20 members of Congress, the youngest member of the 113th Congress sat down for a one-on-one in his Washington, D.C., office. Murphy, who didn’t take a paycheck during the 16-day partial shutdown, talked about his future in politics, the government shutdown, environment and more.

Q: What was the atmosphere like in Congress in the days and hours leading up to the shutdown? Is it has bad as what we see on TV? Is (the partisanship) as tense?

A: Confusion, frustration, disbelief. I was very — and still am every day — growing increasingly more frustrated with the fact that we’re shutdown. It’s almost surreal, it’s like a bad dream that I’m just waiting to wake up from.

This couldn’t possibly be happening. I’ve been in Congress for eight months and I campaigned against this sort of ridiculous behavior and eight months into office, this is what goes on because leadership can’t get their act together. It’s an embarrassment for this country.

Q: What type of message does a shutdown send?

A: The shutdown itself, the government shutdown, sends a message to Americans and to I think a lot of other countries that our government isn’t functioning, our Congress isn’t functioning, that we’re not doing our basic duties of funding the government.

That sort of uncertainty, is bad overseas. Domestically speaking,

See MURPHY page 7

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VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE • OCTOBER 25, 2013 • 7

MURPHY from page 6

environment and the economy.

But I grew up and realized, wow, they’re really integral and intimately connected in Florida. Our local economy is based in tourism and if you take away the nice, clean water, you take away the fishing and the diving, etc. and the Everglades National Park, then those tourists aren’t going to have any reason to come and there goes the economy. So, certainly, yeah, it’s been a big part of my passion for this issue.

I’m talking of businesses of all sizes, every day that say ‘Hey, you know I was getting ready to go buy a new piece of equipment, you know, I was going to buy a new piece of land to build a new building, I was going to hire five more people, but I don’t know what is going to happen.’ That sort of uncertainty has left a lot of people, unfortunately, having to keep their money on the sidelines because they don’t have faith in our country. They don’t know what interest rates are going to be in a week from now, in a day from now. If we default, interest rates will go up. They don’t know what the regulatory environment is going to be like. Big-picture items that we have solutions for like immigration, like reducing the debt. These are big-picture items we can solve and we’re not doing the basics, so that the big-picture things aren’t even on the table right now. That’s just sad.

Q: Looking at the water, how do you feel emotionally?

A: That’s why I’ve got this bottle of water that I’m carrying it around to show other members of Congress. I brought it to Sen. (Bill) Nelson (D-Fla.) last week.

He had that same bottle in 2005 when we had all of these discharges, so I got to talk to him about it. Part of it is just having that visual for those people to see to make that pitch so they understand. To think that you used to see through that water — years ago that was blue, beautiful water — is appalling. Another story that really stands out to me is I was with (St. Lucie County) Commissioner (Chris) Dzadovsky when we were laying those oysters and he got that little cut and he got a little water in there and it turned into these lesions.

Q: Is being a Florida native the reason why the lagoon issue has struck you and been a big concern?

A: Yes. Growing up as kid in the Florida Keys, I have two uncles that are charter boat fisherman.

I grew up fishing and diving and lobstering and enjoying the outdoors never really understanding how the two were connected, the

Q: With the lagoon, what is the fix?

Sunrise Theatre

A: That’s one of the complicated parts. There’s no silver bullet.

There’s no one easy solution. If there was, it would have been done. This is decades in the making. The Army Corps really messed up the Everglades in the 1920s and moved everything around, I mean that’s just what happened. A lot of interest, a lot Ag (agriculture), a lot of things have happened along the way to put us in this position. So, there’s been a lot of research, a lot of scientists, a lot of money spent on understanding how we can fix it and get it as close back to original form as possible.

But that takes money and that takes time. I think we realistically need a 10- to 15-year horizon, you know, to really get this, not (to) say solved, but better. And that’s hard to stomach for a lot of people because this has been going on for a very long time, but I do believe that’s the reality of it. There is no easy solution, but the more we get things like C-44 (canal improvements) funded and CEPP (Central Everglades Planning Project) and CERP (Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan), fixing the Herbert Hoover Dike, get C-43 (canal) funded, raise the Tamiami Trail. You get them all together and there’re all little pieces of the pie, but when you put them all together it adds up. And there’s some low-hanging fruit, some easy things we can do, like the water conservation,

the water farming that’s relatively inexpensive and an area that we hope we can try to get some funding from the (Obama) administration to keep that water from ever getting to Lake Okeechobee.

Q: What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in politics?

A: Always do what you believe is best. Don’t ever listen to any party or any sort of one constituency group. You have to No. 1 live with your votes, but you have to justify it and you have to be comfortable with those. I haven’t learned it the hard way or anything, but it’s just I’ve always believed that and it’s been reiterated as I’ve been here longer, because there are a certain amount of games that get played up here. And as long as you stick to your principles and your core, I think you’ll come out OK. Q: Your proudest accomplishment in office?

A: I would say two things. One, the amount of constituents we’ve helped out. We’ve been able to help with hundreds of thousands, maybe near a million by now. At least hundreds of thousands of veterans due benefits, seniors that are due Social Security and Medicare checks. So that is very rewarding, being able to call those constituents, that may or may not have voted for me that

See MURPHY page 8

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8 • OCTOBER 25, 2013 • VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE

MURPHY from page 7

5k from page 3

matter, that may or may not like the government, and say ‘Hey, X,Y and Z. Your veterans benefits you’ve been fighting for two and a half years, we just talked to the VA.’ And that’s because of the hard work of my team and I thank them for that. No. 2, a proud accomplishment would be early on we were able to get some money back to the district for beach renourishment, for inlet dredging and Everglades restoration. That again, was the hard work of my team and very happy to have gotten something substantive done.

posal that was turned into a bill to end the shutdown. The Senate passed it 81 to 18, as an election to fill the New Jersey seat left vacant by the death of Senator Frank Lautenberg progressed. The House of Representatives passed it 285 to 144. The government was open for business on Thursday, Oct. 17, a couple days before Southeast Honor Flight took its latest group of veterans to Washington, D.C. The National World War II Memorial was opened in 2004. Private donations funded it. The fundraising campaign, which started in the early 1990s, raised nearly $200 million. Design and construction of the memorial cost about $182 million. The remainder went to groundbreaking and dedication ceremonies, along with a maintenance fee required by the Commemorative Works Act. The Honor Flight Network is a national program that takes World War II veterans to see the memorial. The flights began, almost by accident, a year after it was erected. Honor Flight Southeast Florida, called a “hub,” started in 2009. Flights cost about $80,000, or nearly $1,000 for each veteran taken. Honor Flight figures the veterans paid their ways by serving in World War II and charges them nothing, so fundraising is very important to its mission.

There’s a lot of urgency around the Honor Flight mission. According to a 2008 Associated Press estimate, the once 16.1 million World War II veterans are dying at a rate of more than 1,100 a day. Now fewer than two million are living, according to the Depart-

Q: Best part of what you do?

A: Being able to help constituents. There’s a lot of boloney up here in D.C. that you have to deal with. When you go home and you talk to the senior or the constituent you were able to help, something tangible, that makes it all worth it.

Q: Allen West. What comes to mind when you think of him? And how was campaigning against him?

A: I’m glad the campaign is behind us and I’m very happy to be up in D.C. now serving the 18th district. I really don’t put a lot of thought into what he’s doing. I still see him on the news here and there, but my focus is serving the district.

Q: Election season is coming up. Worst case, you don’t get re-elected, what would your life look like after that?

A: I guess I’ll tell you on Nov. 7, 2014. I don’t know. The way I look at election and re-election is the more I can focus on my job and the more that we can do a good job in this office, doing what our job is, you know, helping people out and all the things we just mentioned, veterans and seniors and the river and doing a good job, then voters will hopefully recognize we’re doing the best we can and will vote to re-elect us.

ment of Veterans Affairs.

No one has an exact death count, but the VA, AP and others have developed the same estimate by using long-form census data, VA data, and standard mortality tables.

The VA estimates that America will have almost no World War II veterans by 2020.

The run will be on Friday, Nov. 1, at 5:45 at the Martin County Airport’s Witham Field, 2100 S.E. Airport Road.

The air show, too, begins at 5:45, with a parachute team delivering an American flag, followed by twilight performances by the Twin Tiger and AeroShell aerobatic flight teams. The Stewart Air Show continues on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 2 and 3, with acts such as the Lewis & Clark FLS Microjet, Precious Metal Air Racer, Air Sports Parachute Demonstration Team, and the Julie Clark, John Klatt, Dan Buchanan and Gary Ward airshows, along with Elgin Wells’ Starjammer.

Veterans will get in free with proof of military service.

Witham Field was an auxiliary facility to the Naval Air Station Vero Beach during World War II. It was later named after Paul “Homer” Witham, the first known Navy aviator from Martin County to die in World War II. Registration for the Southeast Florida Honor Flight Twilight 5k is $25. Visit active.com to register. For information about the Stuart Air Show, visit stuartairshow.com. Honor Flight Southeast Florida is on the web at honorflightsefl.org. For more about the national Honor Flight Network, see honorflight. org. Information about the Washington, D.C., World War II Monument is at wwiimemorial.com.

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VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE • OCTOBER 25, 2013 • 9

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VAMC nurse earns VA Excellence Award

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Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Lisa Lang, an Orlando VAMC LPN, is joined by VA Secretary Eric Shinseki (left) and Dr. Robert A. Petzel, VA Undersecretary for Health (right), during her award ceremony in Washington D.C. in July. Lang earned the 2013 Secretary of Veterans Affairs’ Award for Excellence in Nursing and for the Advancement of Nursing Programs, one of the VA’s most prestigious awards.

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FOR VETERAN VOICE

ORLANDO – “Patient-centered care” is the priority at the Orlando VA Medical Center, and for Nurse Lisa Lang, it’s all in her day’s work.

Lang, a Licensed Practical Nurse at the Viera Outpatient Clinic, recently earned the 2013 Secretary of Veterans Affairs’ Award for Excel-

See AWARD page 11

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10 • OCTOBER 25, 2013 • VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE

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Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Lisa Lang, an Orlando VAMC LPN, demonstrates a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) device at the Viera, Fla., VA Outpatient Clinic. Lang earned the 2013 Secretary of Veterans Affairs’ Award for Excellence in Nursing and for the Advancement of Nursing Programs, one of the VA’s most prestigious awards. VHA photo/Mike Strickler.

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VETERAN VOICE • THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE • OCTOBER 25, 2013 • 11

lence in Nursing, one of VA’s highest individual honors.

“I feel very honored to have received this prestigious award, especially given all the exceptional employees at the VA who give their all and deliver excellent health care,” said Lang. “It is an honor and a privilege to serve our veterans.”

Established in 1984, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs’ Awards for Excellence in Nursing recognizes annually four nurses who are actively engaged in the care of patients at one of the VA’s 152 medical centers. The recipients’ contributions to the care of patients in any VA health care setting must be patient-centered and demonstrate such excellence as to merit recognition from peers.

According to Dawn Mossing, the Specialty Care Nurse Manager at Viera, Lang demonstrates continued excellence, a strong depth and breadth of clinical knowledge, and the skills and self-direction necessary to apply concentrated, effective efforts in meeting the most complex of patient needs. “Lang serves as an important role model to both novice and senior nurses,” said Mossing. “She serves as a true example of dedication and commitment in being a patient advocate, delivering personalized care to all veterans in all circumstances, and enabling other nurses to do the same.”

Among her duties, Lang serves as a member of Viera’s Cardiology Team and is the nurse for the Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) Clinic at Viera. Lang performs the important job of helping Veterans overcome the effects of sleep apnea, a disorder characterized by pauses in breathing or instances of shallow or infrequent breathing during sleep.

According to Mossing, Lang follows more than 1,300 patients in the CPAP Program and developed a technical spreadsheet that allowed staff to track and extract data specific to each Veteran to better determine and meet their needs for apnea care. “The spreadsheet aids in providing focused, cohesive and consistent care to the patient with sleep apnea, where little before had existed,” said Mossing.

Kathleen Cole, the associate director for Patient Care Services at the Orlando VAMC, lauded Lang’s efforts in exemplifying nursing care delivery which truly focuses on the patient-centered care model. “Lisa is a shining example of the excellent nursing care we pride ourselves in offering America’s heroes,” said Cole. “Her positive attitude, knowledge and professionalism exemplify the high quality of care we provide to our veterans every day.”

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