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Veterans can get a helping hand from
the Blackfeet Reservation's only active TVRs
Glacier Reporter
"Anyone who's already attempted to submit paperwork without results should let us know," said Gerald Cooper, local Tribal Veterans
Representative. He and Tonaya Whitegrass reported last week on their having graduated from updating training Friday, May 9, offering a variety of services to Blackfeet Country vets.
"We're now the only active TVRs on the reservation," said Cooper, adding Roberta Whiteman has also been trained as a benefits coordinator at Blackfeet Community Hospital.
Cooper and Whitegrass trained with a total of 62 students, representing nine states and 19 tribes.
TVRs provide services that include enrolling veterans in the system to get their benefits. Cooper said he and Whitegrass can update vets' profiles and get on the track of obtaining missing medals, no accounting for service time and in most cases they can assist in changing a dishonorable discharge into an honorable one. They can also access people in the National Monument and Headstone to help pay for such items, probably in time for Memorial Day next year.
To learn more about the TVR program and what it offers, contact Gerald Cooper at 406-450-3817 or Tanaya Whitegrass at either 406-450-2975 or 406-338-7632.
Veterans and Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is a rare lung cancer caused by exposure to asbestos. Asbestos appeared to be the perfect insulation for heat-producing
mechanisms in warships, due to its ability to resist corrosion and extreme heat. Throughout the 20th Century, particularly during World War II and the early Cold War years, massive amounts of asbestos were used
in shipyards for the building of new ships.
Asbestos use continued to expand as asbestos manufacturing companies assisted in writing specifications for products on U.S. Navy ships. more...
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Native American Veterans Seen At Risk
Mental health workers are looking for new ways to help Native American service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who are
suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. In some parts of the United States, specialists are combining modern treatments with traditional healing methods, employing medicine men, participating in sweat lodges,
and asking tribal elders to encourage veterans to seek professional medical help.
But in New England, the effort to reach out to Native American veterans is lagging, mental health specialists and some Native Americans say. At risk, they say, are thousands of Native American veterans, who
historically are more susceptible to combat trauma than other troops, but who also are less likely to seek, and receive, mental health help from government-operated agencies as their non-Indian comrades.
Studies of Native American veterans who fought in Vietnam showed that they were twice as likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder as other veterans. Although no one has studied the prevalence of
trauma among Native American veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, mental health workers anticipate that those troops may suffer from similarly high levels of trauma.
more...
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Veterans Health Administration
The Veterans Health Administration's goal is to provide excellence in patient care, veterans' benefits and customer satisfaction. We have reformed our department internally and
are striving for high quality, prompt and seamless service to veterans. Our department's employees continue to offer their dedication and commitment to help veterans get the services they have earned. Our nation's
veterans deserve no less.
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