Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Purple Heart Patriots

October 11, 2016 8:30 AM
To: Marlene Snyder <msnyder551@yahoo.com>
Subject: Please forward to Purple Heart members

Hello Purple Heart Patriots

I am writing to invite you to attend a special tribute to Veterans that will be held on November 10 at 2:00 PM at Atria Seville Assisted Living .

The address is 2000 N Rampart (just south of Lake Mead Blvd).  There are 23 Veterans who live at this facility and the administration would

like very much to celebrate their service…and yours as well.

We have a great afternoon planned for everyone, so please try to come.  I do need RSVP’s for catering. 

Please either email Jgomperz@cchlv.com or Msnyder@cchlv.com with your response.  Hope you will join us…oh yes there is a special,

surprise guest you’ll really want a picture with.

 

Janine Gomperz
Volunteer Coordinator
7842 West Sahara
Las Vegas, NV 89117
Phone: 702-636-0200
Office Fax: 702-636-2208
Marlene Snyder, Clerical Assistant
(702) 636-0200
Our Vision: No one should travel the end-of-life journey without compassion, comfort and support.

Upcoming events for Purple Heart recipients‏

 

Patriots of Las Vegas MOPH Chapter 711.  At our October meeting we discussed many upcoming events and below is a recap.  Some are just days away and we may need your RSVP to assist the event planners.  If an RSVP is requested – please let us know ASAP whether or not you plan on attending.  This is a courtesy for those putting on the events to know how many persons will be attending so they can order food, beverages, tables, chairs, and know who will be assisting,  etc. etc.

UPCOMING EVENTS … WE NEED YOUR RSVP’S for some

   Please look below for more details

SUMMARY

Oct 14 & 15, Fri & Sat, 9 am, So Nevada Veterans Home, Boulder City

                2016 Veterans Olympics  --                                                                                   YES please RSVP

Oct 19, Wed, 5 pm to 7 pm, V.A. Medical Center, 6900 N Pecos Rd

Veterans Health & Wellness Fair/Quarterly Town Hall –                                  NO RSVP needed

Oct 25, Tue, 11:30 am, Heritage Springs Senior Living, 8720 W. Flamingo Rd

                We’ll be having lunch with 18 Veterans living at Heritage –                          YES please RSVP

Oct 31, Mon to Nov 6, Sun, TPC Summerlin

                Shriners Hospitals Open.  Free to Veterans and active duty –                         NO RSVP needed

Nov 5, Sat, 9 am, Summerlin I-HOP

                Monthly Chapter 711 meeting –                                                NO RSVP necessary, Please SHOW UP

Nov 9, Wed, 7:30 pm, Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall, UNLV campus

                UNLV Bands Musical Tribute to Las Vegas Diabetes Heroes –                          YES please RSVP

Nov 10, Thu, 2 pm  Atria Seville Senior Living, 2000 N Rampart at Lake Mead Bl.

                Tribute to Purple Heart members and Atria’s veterans –                                 YES please RSVP

Nov 11, Fri, 7:30 am, Meet at Summerlin I-HOP and we’ll travel downtown for parade

                VETERAN’S PARADE, Downtown Las Vegas  (Probable gathering area: 4th St west of

            W. Charleston Blvd)                                                                                                        YES please RSVP

Nov 11, Fri, 10 am-3 pm, V.A. Medical Center

                Veterans Day Car Show and BBQ     NO RSVP needed.  Suggest Parade 1st and then VAMC

Dec 9 & 10, Fri and Sat, 9 am to 4 pm, Smith’s Food King, 2211 N Rampart Dr., 89128 (at Lake Mead)       

                Chapter 711 Quarterly Fundraiser                                                                             YES please RSVP

Dec 17, Sat, 9 am, So Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Boulder City

                Wreaths Across America: 9 am Chapel Service; 10 am lay wreaths              YES please RSVP

Ongoing – Spend a few minutes a week or month visiting veterans in Hospice Care.  YES please RSVP

DETAILS

Oct 14 Veterans Olympics.  MOPH Chapter 730 has asked us for help in conducting a fishing tournament on Friday at 9am at Veterans Memorial Park, Boulder City.  Please be at the Veterans Home at 7:45 am to get assignments and begin setting up. Please RSVP to Dan Peterson, Commander MOPH Chapter 730, 702-449-4491, dpeterson6525@gmail.com      Please also advise Len Yelinek if you will be volunteering.

Oct 15 10am is Opening Ceremony for field events, then award presentations and BBQ. Please be at the Veterans Home by 8 am to set up.  Should end around 3 pm.  Please RSVP to Dan Peterson, Commander MOPH Chapter 730, 702-449-4491,dpeterson6525@gmail.com      Please also advise Len Yelinek if you will be volunteering.

Oct 19 Veterans Health & Wellness Fair (5-6 pm) … and Town Hall (6-7 pm).  Representatives from VA Benefits, Enrollment, non-VA care, and patient advocacy will be on hand at Health & Wellness Fair to attend to your individual concerns and needs. The Town Hall will include updates from local VA leadership on improvements and advancements in the delivery of health care and benefits in So NV.

Oct 25 You’ll visit and dine with 18 veterans (7 Navy, 3 Air Force & 8 Army) who reside at Heritage Springs Senior Living.  No cost for the meal.  This is an opportunity to swap stories with these veterans and they will be most appreciative of your spending some time with them.  Chapter 730 patriots will also be dining with these veterans so I’ll give you an opportunity to meet fellow Purple Heart recipients in So Nevada.  Please RSVP ASAP to Len.

Oct 31 Watch the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open Golf Tournament – FREE to Veterans

You can receive up to two complimentary tickets for each day of the tournament. Tickets can be claimed from www.ShrinersHospitalsOpen.com or at the admissions trailer the day of the event.  The Birdies for the Brave Patriots’ Outpost is located on the 9th green and offers complimentary food and beverages Nov 3-6.  Great camaraderie opportunity with other MOPH patriots and veterans of all services.

Nov 5  Chapter 711 November meeting.  We’ll have a presentation on Veteran Suicide Prevention by Richard Egan, Senior Master Sergeant USAF Ret.  Richard is the State of Nevada's Suicide Prevention Training and Outreach Facilitator, and will be introduced by Craig Mandeville, our chapter’s Suicide Prevention Chairman.  We have many items on the agenda, so please attend.

Nov 9  UNLV Bands Musical Tribute to Las Vegas Diabetes Heroes.  This is a fundraising event sponsored by the LEAP Alliance and the Lions Club Task Force Against Diabetes. They are inviting MOPH members and families to attend FREE of charge for a marvelous community band (90+ instruments) concert .  Please RSVP ASAP to Len.

Nov 10,  Atria Seville is paying Tribute to Purple Heart members and the 23 veterans who reside at the Atria Seville Senior Living Center.  Following the tribute ceremony there will be entertainment and Happy Hour beverages from approx. 3 pm to 4 pm.  Should be a festive occasion and I encourage everyone to attend and fraternize with the veterans residing at Atria Seville and our fellow patriots from Chapter 730.

Please RSVP ASAP to Len.         Atria needs a count ASAP.

Nov 11  Veterans Day Parade, Downtown Las Vegas.  Meet up at the Summerlin I-HOP at 7:30 am and we’ll carpool to the Parade.  Haven’t been assigned our spot yet, but we’ll form up on Fourth St just west of W. Charleston Blvd.  This year patriots from Chapter 730 will join us as we parade town Fourth Street to the old City Hall (now Zappos Hq).  Friendly Ford will be providing us some Mustang convertibles thanks to Bill Veal and John Waid, and Bill Olds has arranged to have several JROTC cadets carry our chapter’s banners.   We'll have final details at our November meeting.       

Nov 11  After the parade you might want to head over to the VAMC for a Veterans Day Car Show and free BBQ.  There will be entertainment, a Health and Science Fair, Kids Zone and more.  Last year more than 2,000 veterans attended this annual event.

Dec 8 and 9  Chapter 711 Fundraiser at Smith’s Food King.   Thanks to Bill Veal (with assistance by John Waid) in setting up this Viola fundraiser.  You’ll hear more at our November meeting.

Dec 17  Wreaths Across America at So Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Boulder City.  You’ll hear more about this at our November meeting.

Ongoing – Janine McDonough Gompers of the Sapphire Foundation for Prostate cancer spoke at our October meeting about prostate cancer and financial assistance available from the Sapphire Foundation.   Janine is also an executive with Compassionate Care Hospice and spoke about the loneliness of many veterans in hospice care who will be perked up by visits of veterans. Please, Please call Janine at 702 577-3800-w or 626 552-2283-c if you can spare a few minutes a week or month cheering up hospice veterans.  You’ll truly feel much better after your visits to these fellas and gals who are confined to 10’x10’ drab rooms and rarely get visitors.

Yours in Patriotism,

Len Yelinek

Commander, Las Vegas Chapter 711

Military Order of the Purple Heart

(702) 362-7673-h    (702) 460-0769-c

Monday, October 10, 2016

VASNHS Health & Wellness Fair and Quarterly Town Hall Download to Calendar (.ics file)

Submitted By: VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System Public Affairs


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The VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System will host a Health & Wellness Fair and Quarterly Veterans Town Hall at the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System Medical Center in North Las Vegas, 5-7 p.m. Oct. 19.
The Health & Wellness Fair runs from 5-6 p.m. and will include information on a wide-variety of services and programs available to Veterans. During this time, special accommodations are also being made to have representatives from benefits, enrollment, non-VA care, Myhealthevet and patient advocacy on hand to attend to Veterans' individual concerns and needs.
The Town Hall will be from 6-7 p.m. and include updates from local VA leadership on improvements and advancements in the delivery of health care and benefits to our Veterans in Southern Nevada.
Veterans who have questions or topics that are applicable for a town hall audience are welcome to submit them to Public Affairs for consideration at vhalaspao@va.govbefore the event or via a comment card during the Health & Wellness Fair. (Note: Due to privacy, submissions that relate to or can identify a particular individual and/or his or her personal situation will not be considered for the public town hall, but we will ensure the question is routed appropriately for a private response).

Location

6900 N. Pecos Road North Las Vegas NV 89086 USA

The VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System is located at 6900 N. Pecos Road in North Las Vegas adjacent to Pecos Road exit on Interstate 215.

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Date & Time

Oct 19, 2016 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM

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Published October 9, 2016

VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System Public Affairs

There is no cost for this event... The event is FREE and open to the public.

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Patriots -- Just passing along some information you may find of interest.

 

Len Yelinek

Hi All,

We need your help! NDVS is recruiting for AmeriCorps members in Reno, Elko, and Las Vegas. We are looking for individuals that want to commit to a year of national service as part of our Nevada Vet Corps, serving at NDVS or at a number of other host site agencies that are partnering with us, all to improve the quality of life of veterans throughout the state of Nevada. There is a stipend and an education award among other benefits.

Please take a look at the link provided here http://veterans.nv.gov/page/Nevada-Vet-Corps . If you are interested, apply through the website or here https://my.americorps.gov/mp/listing/viewListing.do?id=69864&fromSearch=true . If you know someone who might be interested, please pass it on. Please contact me if you have any questions.

I appreciate your support.

Best regards,

Tamalyn Gee

Tamalyn Gee

AmeriCorps Program Director

Nevada Department of Veterans Services

Office: 775-688-1653

Cell: 775-400-8066

geet@veterans.nv.gov


--

Len Yelinek

Commander, Las Vegas Chapter 711

Military Order of the Purple Heart

(702) 362-7673-h    (702) 460-0769-c

Friday, October 7, 2016

Readout of Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work's meetings in Helsinki, Finland

10/07/2016 11:31 AM CDT


IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. NR-354-16
Oct. 7, 2016


Readout of Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work's meetings in Helsinki, Finland

Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Gordon Trowbridge provided the following readout:
Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work held a series of meetings today in Helsinki, Finland, as part of ongoing U.S. efforts to strengthen bilateral and multilateral security relationships with the nations of the Nordic-Baltic region.
Deputy Secretary Work met with Finnish President Sauli Niinisto to thank him for Finland's contributions to the counter-ISIL campaign, peacekeeping operations, and regional security. They discussed ways to continue building the strong, deep and lasting security partnership between the United States and Finland.
Work and Minister of Defense Jussi Niinisto met to sign a bilateral statement of intent that formalizes our two nations' shared desire to cooperate on issues of mutual interest. Deputy Secretary Work and Minister Niinisto discussed steps to implement the statement of intent, which lays a foundation for stronger partnership between the United States and Finland through mechanisms such as sharing of security information and expanded joint training and exercises.
Deputy Secretary Work also participated in the third of a series of multilateral meetings with Nordic-Baltic nations. Building on previous meetings held in Oslo, Norway and Stockholm, Sweden, delegations from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and the United States discussed several issues of shared interest. The meeting included an update on NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence effort on its eastern flank, the U.S. European Reassurance Initiative, security challenges in the Baltic Sea region, the status of the campaign to defeat ISIL and opportunities to strengthen security and stability in the region.
Deputy Secretary Work concluded his visit with a first-of-its-kind trilateral meeting with Finnish Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Defense Jukka Juusti and Swedish State Secretary for Defense Jan Salestrand. The three discussed ways to build on strong bilateral ties among our nations, and agreed to additional trilateral sessions at a working level in Washington later this year.

-

U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
On the Web: http://www.defense.gov/releases/
Media Contact: +1 (703) 697-5131/697-5132
Public Contact: http://www.defense.gov/landing/questions.aspx or +1 (703) 428-0711 +1

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Fw: First Annual Commander In Chief Forum/ Veterans Town Hall‏

 

 

Richard Small

9/01/16

 


Subject: First Annual Commander In Chief Forum/ Veterans Town Hall
Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2016 01:58:54 +0000

The Nevada Veterans Council, Nevada Democratic Veterans & Military Families Caucus, and the Nevada Veterans Association are co-sponsoring the official IAVA sanctioned watch party for Las Vegas. The watch party will take place at the Grant Sawyer State Building on September 7, 2016 at 5:00PM. Doors open at 4:30PM.
Veterans & Military Families in Nevada collectively comprise almost 20% of the Nevada population. We HIGHLY encourage elected officials and candidates to attend. The event will also have media coverage.

    Saturday, October 1, 2016

    This is too important not to share.

    Capt. Steven Ellison, MDA Military Doctor

    This should be required reading in every school and college in our country. This Captain, an Army doctor, deserves a medal himself for putting this together. If you choose not to pass it on, fine, but I think you will want to, after you read it.


    I am a doctor specializing in the Emergency Departments of the only two military LevelOne-Trauma Centers, both in San Antonio, TX and they care for civilian emergencies as well as military personnel. San Antonio has the largest military retiree population in the world living here. As a military doctor, I work long hours and the pay is less than glamorous. One tends to become jaded by the long hours, lack of sleep, food, family contact and the endless parade of human suffering passing before you. The arrival of another ambulance does not mean more pay, only more work. Most often, it is a victim from a motor vehicle crash.


    Often it is a person of dubious character who has been shot or stabbed. With our large military retiree population, it is often a nursing home patient. Even with my enlisted service and minimal combat experience in Panama, I have caught myself groaning when the ambulance brought in yet another sick, elderly person from one of the local retirement centers that cater to military retirees. I had not stopped to think of what citizens of this age group represented.

    I saw 'Saving Private Ryan.' I was touched deeply. Not so much by the carnage, but by the sacrifices of so many. I was touched most by the scene of the elderly survivor at the graveside, asking his wife if he'd been a good man. I realized that I had seen these same men and women coming through my Emergency Dept. and had not realized what magnificent sacrifices they had made. The things they did for me and everyone else that has lived on this planet since the end of that conflict are priceless.


    Situation permitting, I now try to ask my patients about their experiences. They would never bring up the subject without my inquiry. I have been privileged to hear an amazing array of experiences, recounted in the brief minutes allowed in an Emergency Dept. encounter. These experiences have revealed the incredible individuals I have had the honor of serving in a medical capacity, many on their last admission to the hospital.

    There was a frail, elderly woman who reassured my young enlisted medic, trying to start an IV line in her arm. She remained calm and poised, despite her illness and the multiple needle-sticks into her fragile veins. She was what we call a 'hard stick.' As the medic made another attempt, I noticed a number tattooed across her forearm. I touched it with one finger and looked into her eyes. She simply said, ' Auschwitz .' Many of later generations would have loudly and openly berated the young medic in his many attempts. How different was the response from this person who'd seen unspeakable suffering.

    Also, there was this long retired Colonel, who as a young officer had parachuted from his burning plane over a Pacific Island held by the Japanese. Now an octogenarian, he had a minor cut on his head from a fall at his home where he lived alone. His CT scan and suturing had been delayed until after midnight by the usual parade of high priority ambulance patients. Still spry for his age, he asked to use the phone to call a taxi, to take him home, then he realized his ambulance had brought him without his wallet. He asked if he could use the phone to make a long distance call to his daughter who lived 7 miles away. With great pride we told him that he could not, as he'd done enough for his country and the least we could do was get him a taxi home, even if we had to pay for it ourselves. My only regret was that my shift wouldn't end for several hours, and I couldn't drive him myself.

    I was there the night M/Sgt Roy Benavidez came through the Emergency Dept. for the last time. He was very sick. I was not the doctor taking care of him, but I walked to his bedside and took his hand. I said nothing. He was so sick, he didn't know I was there. I'd read his Congressional Medal of Honor citation and wanted to shake his hand. He died a few days later.


    The gentleman who served with Merrill's Marauders,


    the survivor of the Bataan Death March,


    the survivor of Omaha Beach ,


    the 101 year old World War I veteran.


    The former POW held in frozen North Korea


    The former Special Forces medic - now with non-operable liver cancer


    the former Viet Nam Corps Commander..


    I may still groan when yet another ambulance comes in, but now I am much more aware of what an honor it is to serve these particular men and women.


    I have seen a Congress who would turn their back on these individuals who've sacrificed so much to protect our liberty. I see later generations that seem to be totally engrossed in abusing these same liberties, won with such sacrifice.


    It has become my personal endeavor to make the nurses and young enlisted medics aware of these amazing individuals when I encounter them in our Emergency Dept. Their response to these particular citizens has made me think that perhaps all is not lost in the next generation.


    My experiences have solidified my belief that we are losing an incredible generation, and this nation knows not what it is losing. Our uncaring government and ungrateful civilian populace should all take note. We should all remember that we must 'Earn this.'

    Written By CAPT. Steven R. Ellison, M.D. US Army

    If it weren't for the United States Military, there'd be 'NO'United States of America !

    Steven Ellison, MD
    A MILITARY DOCTOR

    And now as you have finished reading this our Congress is in the process of charging these people for their medical care and at the same time possibly reducing their retirement pay. A typical political"Thank you."     This should be required reading in every school and college in our country. This Captain, an Army doctor, deserves a medal himself for putting this together. If you choose not to pass it on, fine, but I think you will want to.