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