Milspeak Memo Post V1.1-31-09 Hollywood Celebrities Who Toured with USO During Vietnam War Read Testimony Concerning Rural Veterans (Testimony before the subcommittee on health committee on Veterans’ Affairs United States House of Representatives regarding Women, Rural, and Special Needs Veterans.) “Over six million veterans live in rural areas across America, and most fall below the poverty line. They travel hours to get to the nearest VA medical facilities. At a hearing of the Subcommittee on Health, Mr. Chairman, you pointed out that although 20 percent of the nation’s populace lives in rural areas, 40 percent of veterans returning from deployments in Afghanistan and Iraq live in rural communities. This leads to “significant challenges maintaining ‘core health care services.” The average distance for rural veterans to access care is 63 miles, according to the National Rural Health Association. The difficulty of accessing health care is a significant problem for many of Maine’s veterans. Although Togus is centrally located in Augusta, the state’s geographic expanse makes it a problem for many veterans to use the hospital as their primary health-care provider. In a 2004 report, a government commission expressed concern that only 59 percent of Maine’s veterans were living within its geographic guidelines for access to care, which ranged from 60 minutes for urban areas to 120 for very rural areas.” (Excerpt from Testimony in linked above – amazing figures, aren’t they?) Comments on PTSD now & during Vietnam War Veterans for Peace Video Vietnam War and Media http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqayiS3NnuY  Plus  “LtCol U.N. Decided” End of Post http://www.68thahc.com/USO_Shows/K_USO_Hollywood_Celeberties_Visits_01.htmhttp://www.vva.org/testimony/summaries/2008/042108.htmlhttp://vfpmaine.org/ptsd%20071404.htmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqayiS3NnuYhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqayiS3NnuY%0Dshapeimage_2_link_0shapeimage_2_link_1shapeimage_2_link_2shapeimage_2_link_3