Fast and Furious in 5 Months!

Hello all, 
Thanks for stopping by our website. We are adding a blog post to keep you updated on our advocacy efforts. To say the least, it's been a busy last 5 months. Kate and I joined forces with Mr. Frank Larkin (Retired U.S. Senate Sergeant of Arms, US Secret Service Special Agent, and Navy Seal Veteran) and wrote a bill in honor of Kate's late husband, Mike, and Frank's son, Ryan, who had TBIs from combat, tragically died from their injuries, and were again denied the Purple Heart posthumously.

Our bill addresses the massive void in recognition of service members and Veterans with a combat-related TBI, care for their chronic TBI symptoms, and provides guidance for improved research and TBI prevention. As I am sure you have seen, there is a lot of media attention surrounding blast overpressure injuries during training. We are working to address these types of injuries AND are bringing combat-related TBIs back into the spotlight.

Specifically, as it relates to the Purple Heart, our bill calls for Awards Branches to change the Purple Heart criteria to allow for post-deployment diagnoses and treatments for TBIs---understanding that current protocols to identify, document, and treat these injuries were not in place when most GWOT TBIs occurred. As many of you have experienced, Purple Heart applications are being denied for not having documentation of a TBI diagnosis and treatment for the injury in theater. We understand that this requirement (and mis-application of the regulation) excludes most GWOT Veterans with a TBI and we are working hard to change that.

Here's a timeline of our efforts over the past 5 months: 

• Nov-Jan: Wrote the Froede-Larkin Military Suicide & Traumatic Brain Injury Reform Act
• Jan: Connected with key staffers in the offices of SENs Ernst and Warren via Zoom to share our bill. Received the support of SEN Booker's office on changes to the Purple Heart criteria.
• Feb: Frank testified to the Senate Armed Services sub-Committee in a hearing on blast overpressure injuries and shared our bill with the committee. 
• March: Frank, Kate, and I met up in DC and met with SEN Ernst and her team, and lead staffers in the offices of SENs Warren, Booker, & Gillibrand. I also spoke with REP. Pascrell and we had a follow-up meeting with his lead.  DoD got a copy of our bill and immediately wanted to meet. 
• April: SENs Warren & Ernst repackaged our bill into a standalone bill called the "Blast Overpressure Safety Act" and the House followed suit--with REPs Khanna and Stefanik introducing the bill. The same group will also add the bill to the upcoming National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).  We also secured support from a leading Congressman to add the Purple Heart criteria changes to the upcoming NDAA.

This is a huge step forward, but we need to keep up the momentum to get this bill and other NDAA items related to the Purple Heart criteria passed--- so we are heading back to the Hill soon to ensure members of Congress maintain their commitment to service members/Veterans with a TBI AND to urge the Senate and House Armed Services Committees to put our loved ones' names back on the bill. In line with organizations like the Wounded Warrior Project, we believe bills for service members and Veterans should bear the names of those we've lost. 

We could use your help by: 

1. Calling your members of Congress to urge them to do the following:
   1. Support the Blast Overpressure Safety Act and to change the name to the Froede-Larkin Blast Overpressure Safety Act.
   2. Pass the Purple Heart criteria changes in the NDAA.

     2.  Asking friends/extended family to donate to help us offset travel costs (see donation page).

• Please note: We have gladly volunteered our time over the past 15 years to help service members, Veterans, and their families and have never asked for a donation. However, we could use some help now with travel funds to get our bill over the finish line and ensure the Purple Heart criteria changes get into the upcoming NDAA. 

As always, we are here to help. Please reach out with questions/concerns via our "contact" page.