Posted on May 6, 2020
Veterans Experience Live (VetXL): Survivors Together - Memorial Day Q&A with Community Partners answering questions about benefits
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The Department of Veterans Affairs and our community partners TAPS, American Gold Star Mothers, AAFMAA, Wounded Warrior Project, Travis Manion Foundation, American Red Cross, and Gold Star Wives of America will be here on May 20th at 3PM EST to answer questions.
You can ask questions to the following people:
RDML Ann Duff- Director of the Office of Survivors Assistance
SSgt Danny Devine - Executive Director of Engagement and Memorial Innovations, NCA
Maj Bonnie Carroll - President and Founder, TAPS
Mona Gunn - National President, American Gold Star Mothers
BG Michael Meese - President, AAFMAA
LTG Michael Linnington - CEO, Wounded Warrior Project
Amy Looney - Vice President, Travis Manion Foundation
Melissa Comeau - Director, American Red Cross Military and Veteran Caregiver Network
Nancy Menagh - President of Gold Star Wives of America
VA Office of Survivor Assistance-
The Office of Survivors Assistance serves as an expert resource regarding all benefits and services furnished by the VA to Survivors and Dependents of deceased Veterans and members of the Armed Forces. We can help you navigate the myriad of benefits and services available, and direct you to your best options. Additionally, we work closely with veteran service organizations, other departments, state and local veteran groups and community leaders to educate everyone about available services and benefits.
National Cemetery Administration-
NCA will commemorate Memorial Day this year with solemn wreath-laying ceremonies. All VA national cemeteries will be open Memorial Day weekend from dawn to dusk for public visitation.
Starting May 14, Veterans Legacy Memorial will permit online visitors to leave a “tribute” text at http://www.va.gov/remember
Effective, Wednesday, April 15, 2020, to ensure social distancing at the cemetery, witnessing family members have been asked to view the interment from their cars or the road very near their cars. Families may visit the gravesite in the days following the interment consistent with CDC guidelines and local travel restrictions. Click here to learn more about burial benefits and the Veterans Legacy Memorial: https://www.cem.va.gov/
TAPS-
The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) provides compassionate care and survivor support services for the families of America’s fallen military heroes. Since 1994, TAPS has offered support to more than 95,000 survivors of fallen military in the form of peer-based emotional support, grief and trauma resources, grief seminars and retreats for adults, Good Grief Camps for children, casework assistance, connections to community-based care, online and in-person support groups and a 24/7 resource and information helpline for all who have been profoundly affected by a death of a military loved one. For more information go to taps.org or call the TAPS National Military Survivor Helpline at 800.959.TAPS (8277).
American Gold Star Mothers-
American Gold Star Mothers, Inc was founded and incorporated in Washington, D.C. 92 years ago. We are a nonprofit membership organization of mothers whose children died while on active duty, died as a result of their service, or are missing in action. We have members in chapters around the country who keep alive the memory of their sons and daughters by helping veterans, active-duty military, and their families. As a service organization, we continue the service of our sons and daughters, who would have been veterans, by volunteering at VA Medical Centers in our local communities.
AAFMAA-
Established in 1879, the American Armed Forces Mutual Aid Association (AAFMAA) is the longest-standing, not-for-profit financial solutions provider supporting military and veteran families. At the heart of AAFMAA is a unique and unsurpassed level of care for our Members’ survivors. When a Member dies, an AAFMAA Survivor Assistance Services counselor assists the surviving spouse and family to get all of the benefits earned through military service and continues to assist them for the rest of their lives. Just since 9/11, AAFMAA has provided over $900 million to military families—not as a charity, but as a mutual Association—with Members helping other Members at the passing of a loved one.
Wounded Warrior Project-
Wounded Warrior Project is transforming the way America’s injured veterans are empowered, employed, and engaged in our communities. Since 2003, we’ve been tireless advocates for our nation’s finest, improving the lives of millions of warriors and their families. Warriors never pay a penny for our programs – because they paid their dues on the battlefield. Our free services in mental health, career counseling, and long-term rehabilitative care change lives. We’re committed to helping injured veterans achieve their highest ambitions. When they’re ready to start their next mission, we stand ready to serve.
Travis Manion Foundation-
Travis Manion Foundation strives to unite and strengthen communities by training, developing, and highlighting the role models that lead them. We develop programs, training opportunities, and events designed to empower veterans and families of the fallen, and then inspire them to pass on their values to the next generation and the community at large.
American Red Cross Military and Veteran Caregiver Network-
The Military and Veteran Caregiver Network (MVCN) offers peer-based support and services to connect those providing care to service members and veterans living with wounds, illnesses, injuries and/or aging. The mission of the MVCN is to provide our nation’s military and veteran caregivers of all eras with peer support to reduce isolation and increase connection, engagement, knowledge, skills and hope.
The MVCN helps caregivers of all eras and at all stages of caregiving by providing access to three peer support programs:
· Online Peer Support Community
· Peer Mentor Support Program
· Peer Support Groups (Online & Community-Based)
New Integrated Condolence Care Program - https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/press-release/2020/red-cross-offers-virtual-care-for-families-who-have-lost-loved-o.html
Gold Star Wives of America, Inc. is a Congressionally Chartered non-profit service organization made up of Gold Star spouses of both men and women.
Formed in 1945, our membership spans all eras from WWII to current. Our spouses died while serving on active duty in the Armed Forces or from their service connected disability as a result of that service, including PTSD/suicide. Our mission is to preserve and enhance benefits for surviving US Military spouses and children;
to help or members and their children face the future with courage and determination; and to honor the memory of our military spouses who made the ultimate sacrifice.
You can ask questions to the following people:
RDML Ann Duff- Director of the Office of Survivors Assistance
SSgt Danny Devine - Executive Director of Engagement and Memorial Innovations, NCA
Maj Bonnie Carroll - President and Founder, TAPS
Mona Gunn - National President, American Gold Star Mothers
BG Michael Meese - President, AAFMAA
LTG Michael Linnington - CEO, Wounded Warrior Project
Amy Looney - Vice President, Travis Manion Foundation
Melissa Comeau - Director, American Red Cross Military and Veteran Caregiver Network
Nancy Menagh - President of Gold Star Wives of America
VA Office of Survivor Assistance-
The Office of Survivors Assistance serves as an expert resource regarding all benefits and services furnished by the VA to Survivors and Dependents of deceased Veterans and members of the Armed Forces. We can help you navigate the myriad of benefits and services available, and direct you to your best options. Additionally, we work closely with veteran service organizations, other departments, state and local veteran groups and community leaders to educate everyone about available services and benefits.
National Cemetery Administration-
NCA will commemorate Memorial Day this year with solemn wreath-laying ceremonies. All VA national cemeteries will be open Memorial Day weekend from dawn to dusk for public visitation.
Starting May 14, Veterans Legacy Memorial will permit online visitors to leave a “tribute” text at http://www.va.gov/remember
Effective, Wednesday, April 15, 2020, to ensure social distancing at the cemetery, witnessing family members have been asked to view the interment from their cars or the road very near their cars. Families may visit the gravesite in the days following the interment consistent with CDC guidelines and local travel restrictions. Click here to learn more about burial benefits and the Veterans Legacy Memorial: https://www.cem.va.gov/
TAPS-
The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) provides compassionate care and survivor support services for the families of America’s fallen military heroes. Since 1994, TAPS has offered support to more than 95,000 survivors of fallen military in the form of peer-based emotional support, grief and trauma resources, grief seminars and retreats for adults, Good Grief Camps for children, casework assistance, connections to community-based care, online and in-person support groups and a 24/7 resource and information helpline for all who have been profoundly affected by a death of a military loved one. For more information go to taps.org or call the TAPS National Military Survivor Helpline at 800.959.TAPS (8277).
American Gold Star Mothers-
American Gold Star Mothers, Inc was founded and incorporated in Washington, D.C. 92 years ago. We are a nonprofit membership organization of mothers whose children died while on active duty, died as a result of their service, or are missing in action. We have members in chapters around the country who keep alive the memory of their sons and daughters by helping veterans, active-duty military, and their families. As a service organization, we continue the service of our sons and daughters, who would have been veterans, by volunteering at VA Medical Centers in our local communities.
AAFMAA-
Established in 1879, the American Armed Forces Mutual Aid Association (AAFMAA) is the longest-standing, not-for-profit financial solutions provider supporting military and veteran families. At the heart of AAFMAA is a unique and unsurpassed level of care for our Members’ survivors. When a Member dies, an AAFMAA Survivor Assistance Services counselor assists the surviving spouse and family to get all of the benefits earned through military service and continues to assist them for the rest of their lives. Just since 9/11, AAFMAA has provided over $900 million to military families—not as a charity, but as a mutual Association—with Members helping other Members at the passing of a loved one.
Wounded Warrior Project-
Wounded Warrior Project is transforming the way America’s injured veterans are empowered, employed, and engaged in our communities. Since 2003, we’ve been tireless advocates for our nation’s finest, improving the lives of millions of warriors and their families. Warriors never pay a penny for our programs – because they paid their dues on the battlefield. Our free services in mental health, career counseling, and long-term rehabilitative care change lives. We’re committed to helping injured veterans achieve their highest ambitions. When they’re ready to start their next mission, we stand ready to serve.
Travis Manion Foundation-
Travis Manion Foundation strives to unite and strengthen communities by training, developing, and highlighting the role models that lead them. We develop programs, training opportunities, and events designed to empower veterans and families of the fallen, and then inspire them to pass on their values to the next generation and the community at large.
American Red Cross Military and Veteran Caregiver Network-
The Military and Veteran Caregiver Network (MVCN) offers peer-based support and services to connect those providing care to service members and veterans living with wounds, illnesses, injuries and/or aging. The mission of the MVCN is to provide our nation’s military and veteran caregivers of all eras with peer support to reduce isolation and increase connection, engagement, knowledge, skills and hope.
The MVCN helps caregivers of all eras and at all stages of caregiving by providing access to three peer support programs:
· Online Peer Support Community
· Peer Mentor Support Program
· Peer Support Groups (Online & Community-Based)
New Integrated Condolence Care Program - https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/press-release/2020/red-cross-offers-virtual-care-for-families-who-have-lost-loved-o.html
Gold Star Wives of America, Inc. is a Congressionally Chartered non-profit service organization made up of Gold Star spouses of both men and women.
Formed in 1945, our membership spans all eras from WWII to current. Our spouses died while serving on active duty in the Armed Forces or from their service connected disability as a result of that service, including PTSD/suicide. Our mission is to preserve and enhance benefits for surviving US Military spouses and children;
to help or members and their children face the future with courage and determination; and to honor the memory of our military spouses who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Posted in these groups: 
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
Memorial Day
Military Family
Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors
AAFMAA
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Memorial Day Military Family Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors AAFMAA
Posted 4 y ago
Responses: 106
LTG Michael Linnington
Thanks for your kind words.
Amy Looney
Thank you for joining us here today PVT Zehner!
RDML Ann Duff
Thank you for your service!
Maj Bonnie Carroll
Thank you for the comment and your service, PVT Zehner!
We are so grateful to RallyPoint, the VA, and all organizations representing the care and programs for all military survivors. Please know TAPS is here 24/7 to provide comfort, care, and resources to all those grieving the death of a military loved one. We honor our military service members by caring for all those they loved and left behind. Your TAPS family is here for you at 800.959.TAPS(8277) or TAPS.org. With gratitude and hope, Bonnie Carroll
https://www.taps.org/
https://www.taps.org/
How can DoD better educate military members and spouses on these benefits while they are in service, so that if a tragic event happens, it will not be the first time they have heard or been exposed to these wonderful programs you have?
SSgt Danny Devine
Maj. -- as one who worked Veterans Benefits on the VA House Cmte, i always pushed for a block of training at each level of PME. Senior NCO academies, War Colleges, any chance there is a discussion of leadership -- VA benefits are an essential element of that training and discussion.
LTG Michael Linnington
Hi Maj Nadeem -- concur with the responses below. Transition from the military is a busy time for Service Members AND their families. As spouses are now included in many of the transition programs (Transition Assistance Program), both should attend if their busy schedules permit. A good web page is at: https://www.dodtap.mil/
Mona Gunn
The Blue Star and Gold Star Service flags should be a part of Basic Training so that all service members will know their mothers can join Blue Star Mothers of America because they have chosen to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. If they die while on active duty or are missing in action, their mothers can join American Gold Star Mothers, Inc. Both organizations have been in existence since 1928 and 1942 respectively and have chapters throughout the country. Gold Star Wives of America is another organization that was organized in 1945 for widows and widowers whose spouses die while on active duty or as the result of a military service connected cause. Thank you for your service and educating others is the key to knowing about this organizations.
Maj Bonnie Carroll
Dear Maj Nadeem, Thank you so much for your question. TAPS is the national nonprofit organization providing comfort, care, and resources to all those grieving the death of a military loved one. We are regularly requested to provide briefings and trainings to our military partners and are available 24/7 to answer any questions or provide support to anyone following the death of a military member. If you or anyone would like to request a briefing on how TAPS can support our military, please call 800.959.TAPS(8277) or send a request to [login to see] and we would be honored to share our resources with all. With gratitude for your service, Bonnie
LTG Michael Linnington Sir, how has technology allowed your team to better communicate and serve the WWP community? Do you see VR and other related technologies as a viable option for PTSD/TBI treatment?
LTG Michael Linnington
Great questions, thank you! WWP has always utilized technology to better serve our warriors and their families. It has certainly been critical these last few months as we transitioned from face-to-face programming to virtual and telephonic programming in response to the coronavirus pandemic. As we have pivoted and adapted to meet warriors where they are during this difficult time, there are lessons to be learned. One of those was that we were able to engage with warriors who we have not connected with in a while. Going virtual has lowered many of the barriers to participation. While we are, at our core, a face-to-face organization, we are taking a look at further leveraging technology to continue engaging as many warriors as we can moving forward.
Regarding VR and other technologies as treatment for PTSD/TBI, Emory University Veterans Program, one of the Academic Medical Centers within WWP's Warrior Care Network, is currently utilizing evidence-based therapy called Prolonged Exposure (PE) and Virtual Reality (VR) to enhance their therapy in treating these invisible wounds.
PE is one of the few evidence-based and proven therapies to treat PTSD. Basically, PE has the patient recall the traumatic event many times under the guidance and close engagement of a clinical therapist trained in PE. As a patient recalls the traumatic event each time, they get more comfortable with the event and begin to “own” it and not let it “own” them, thereby becoming less traumatic or painful.
VR helps as a force multiplier to recall the memory even more vividly by using sounds, smells, visuals, etc. It’s sophisticated in that, as the patient tells their story, the therapist can replicate the situation virtually with a series of commands to add smells, locations, actions, and visuals. Sometimes patients are unable to fully recount their traumatic event(s), and by using VR, Emory University’s world-class clinicians are able to improve and enhance the therapy.
A great article is at the following website: https://www.cbs46.com/news/virtual-reality-simulations-help-veterans-with-ptsd/article_22c7aaf6-fc2d-11e9-9c7c-6f4235752e7d.html
Regarding VR and other technologies as treatment for PTSD/TBI, Emory University Veterans Program, one of the Academic Medical Centers within WWP's Warrior Care Network, is currently utilizing evidence-based therapy called Prolonged Exposure (PE) and Virtual Reality (VR) to enhance their therapy in treating these invisible wounds.
PE is one of the few evidence-based and proven therapies to treat PTSD. Basically, PE has the patient recall the traumatic event many times under the guidance and close engagement of a clinical therapist trained in PE. As a patient recalls the traumatic event each time, they get more comfortable with the event and begin to “own” it and not let it “own” them, thereby becoming less traumatic or painful.
VR helps as a force multiplier to recall the memory even more vividly by using sounds, smells, visuals, etc. It’s sophisticated in that, as the patient tells their story, the therapist can replicate the situation virtually with a series of commands to add smells, locations, actions, and visuals. Sometimes patients are unable to fully recount their traumatic event(s), and by using VR, Emory University’s world-class clinicians are able to improve and enhance the therapy.
A great article is at the following website: https://www.cbs46.com/news/virtual-reality-simulations-help-veterans-with-ptsd/article_22c7aaf6-fc2d-11e9-9c7c-6f4235752e7d.html
Virtual reality simulations help veterans with PTSD
ATLANTA, Ga. (CBS46) -- Statistics show that more vets die from suicide than in combat, but a free state of the art program offered by Emory Healthcare is helping to
Melissa Comeau
LTG Michael Linnington - Thank you for your leadership at WWP! This technology is truly helping.
Glad to see such an impressive group together to take care of our fallen and their loved ones.
Mona Gunn
Lt Col Ranoudo, it is truly an honor when we meet other Gold Star Mothers who are on this journey that none of us wanted to be on. But we find strength when we fellowship with each other and we know we are not alone.
Maj Bonnie Carroll
Thank you for your service and support, Lt Col. We honor all those grieving the death of a military loved one. Regardless of how or where they died, TAPS is here to support and comfort all those they loved and left behind. With gratitude for your service and honor for all those you have lost, Bonnie Carroll
Thank you to everyone participating in today's virtual forum, especially the Department of Veterans Affairs and RallyPoint for co-hosting this event in recognition of upcoming Memorial Day activities nationwide. For anyone with questions that were not answered, please visit our web page, and/or our Resource Center (9 am to 9 pm daily, EST) at: https://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/programs/wwp-resource-center
Wounded Warrior Resource Center for Veterans | WWP
When you need help and someone to listen, we are just a phone call away. Contact our Resource Center to receive financial, medical, and emotional help.
Thank you for joining us today! If you have additional questions about VA health and benefits, please call the White House VA Hotline and talk to a live agent [login to see] . We will be checking this page until May 26th to respond to any other questions. Thank you so much.
It was a great opportunity to participate in this forum. We will keep an eye on this site and continue to answer questions.
If anyone wants additional information concerning AAFMAA and what we do to assist with the financial independence and security of the American military community, please check us out at http://www.aafmaa.com
If anyone wants additional information concerning AAFMAA and what we do to assist with the financial independence and security of the American military community, please check us out at http://www.aafmaa.com
RallyPoint; Partners -- Veterans and Survivors … thanks for this opportunity and sharing information about VA … and enabling NCA to share info on this unusual Memorial Day.
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