Posts Tagged: ‘veterans administration’
Scam of the day
May 30, 2012 – More veterans scams
May 29, 2012 Posted by Steven Weisman, Esq.
Just a few days after Memorial Day, it is a good time for us to remember our veterans and their service to our country. Unfortunately, scammers always are thinking of veterans, but when they think of veterans, they think of how they can steal from them and make them victims of scams.
One of the more common recent veterans scams involves a telephone call or an email from someone purporting to be with the Veterans Administration asking for the veteran to update his or her debit card number or financial records.
read more here
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Another VA laptop stolen with veterans' personal data
Stolen laptop contained veterans' information, VA says
Laptop had personal data of 824 veterans
By Kyle Martin
Staff Writer
Friday, June 1, 2012 4:12 PM
The personal information of more than 800 veterans was contained in a laptop that was stolen two months ago, the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center said Friday.
The 824 affected veterans have been notified and offered free credit monitoring for a year, according to a news release.
read more here
Laptop had personal data of 824 veterans
By Kyle Martin
Staff Writer
Friday, June 1, 2012 4:12 PM
The personal information of more than 800 veterans was contained in a laptop that was stolen two months ago, the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center said Friday.
The 824 affected veterans have been notified and offered free credit monitoring for a year, according to a news release.
read more here
Over 40,000 Veterans Appeals Ignored
VA Audit: Over 40,000 Veterans Appeals Ignored
Posted on June 1, 2012 by VCS
From Ben Krause VCS AD for Advocacy and founder of disabledveterans.org
VA Regional Offices are ignoring 18.5 percent of veterans’ appeals on average, according to a recent audit. The Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that ignoring claims causes a processing delay of 444 days.
Let’s hope the VA notices your appeal. In “Audit of VA Regional Offices’ Appeals Management Processes” report, auditors found that one veteran’s claim had been ignored for over 1,500 days.
As of the date of the audit, 246,000 disability appeals were on file. If the 18.5 percent average holds across the entire VA, another 45,000 appeals claims are not on record despite the VA having the appeal on file.
To assess appeals processing, the Veterans Affairs OIG created a sample of VA regional offices across the US. These offices served as the “average” regional offices. The auditors then handed the different offices 783 potential NOD’s. VA adjudicators failed to identify 145 of these as potential appeals.
Here is how the process works. A veteran files an appeal because they disagree with a decision by the VA. In this form, it is considered a Notice of Disagreement (NOD). Once a review of the claim is completed, if the reviewer does not agree with the veteran, a Statement of the Case is created by the VA. If the veterans still disagrees, they appeal and VA then certifies the appeal to the Board of Appeals.
For the Notice of Disagreement portion, the VA has set a target of 125 days to complete the review. The VA has also set a 180-day target for the certification process.
In 2010, VA took an average of 656 days to fully process an appeal. This audit does not provide the average for 2011, but one unidentified regional office averages 1,219 days.
read more here
Posted on June 1, 2012 by VCS
From Ben Krause VCS AD for Advocacy and founder of disabledveterans.org
VA Regional Offices are ignoring 18.5 percent of veterans’ appeals on average, according to a recent audit. The Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that ignoring claims causes a processing delay of 444 days.
Let’s hope the VA notices your appeal. In “Audit of VA Regional Offices’ Appeals Management Processes” report, auditors found that one veteran’s claim had been ignored for over 1,500 days.
As of the date of the audit, 246,000 disability appeals were on file. If the 18.5 percent average holds across the entire VA, another 45,000 appeals claims are not on record despite the VA having the appeal on file.
To assess appeals processing, the Veterans Affairs OIG created a sample of VA regional offices across the US. These offices served as the “average” regional offices. The auditors then handed the different offices 783 potential NOD’s. VA adjudicators failed to identify 145 of these as potential appeals.
Here is how the process works. A veteran files an appeal because they disagree with a decision by the VA. In this form, it is considered a Notice of Disagreement (NOD). Once a review of the claim is completed, if the reviewer does not agree with the veteran, a Statement of the Case is created by the VA. If the veterans still disagrees, they appeal and VA then certifies the appeal to the Board of Appeals.
For the Notice of Disagreement portion, the VA has set a target of 125 days to complete the review. The VA has also set a 180-day target for the certification process.
In 2010, VA took an average of 656 days to fully process an appeal. This audit does not provide the average for 2011, but one unidentified regional office averages 1,219 days.
read more here
Friday, June 1, 2012
New Education Benefit for Vets
New Education Benefit for Unemployed Veterans Has Strong Response
VA Outreach for Veterans Retraining Assistance Program Garners Over 12,000 Applicants since May 15
WASHINGTON (May 31, 2012) – Within two weeks of being announced, a program to give skills training to some unemployed Veterans has garnered over 12,000 online applications, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“VA is committed to supporting Veterans as they seek employment. This initiative will help provide education and training so that Veterans have an opportunity to find meaningful employment in a high-demand field,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “We will continue to build on the success of our initial outreach efforts to Veterans.”
Called the Veteran Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP), the program allows qualifying Veterans between the ages of 35 and 60 to receive up to 12 months of education assistance. Maximum payments are equal to the full-time rate for the Montgomery GI Bill – Active Duty, currently $1,473 monthly.
Under VRAP, Veterans apply on a first-come, first-served basis for programs that begin on or after July 1. VA began accepting applications on May 15. Forty-five thousand Veterans can participate during the current fiscal year, and up to 54,000 may participate during the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, 2012.
The goal of the program is to train 99,000 Veterans for high-demand jobs over the next two years.
To qualify Veterans must:
- Be 35 to 60 years old, unemployed on the day of application, and have been issued discharges under conditions other than dishonorable;
- Be enrolled in education or training after July 1, 2012, in a VA-approved program of education offered by a community college or technical school leading to an associate degree, non-college degree or a certificate for a high-demand occupation as defined by the Department of Labor;
- Not be eligible for any other VA education benefit, such as the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the Montgomery GI Bill, or Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment;
- Not have participated in a federal or state job training program within the last 180 days; and
- Not receive VA compensation at the 100 percent rate due to individual unemployability.
While the initial response has been encouraging, VA officials stress the need for a sustained effort to reach potential VRAP applicants.
“Besides the Veterans themselves, we are asking anyone who knows of an unemployed Veteran to help us get the word out so everyone can take advantage of this new benefit,” said Curtis Coy, VA’s deputy undersecretary for economic opportunity. “With the help of our Veterans community and our partners in the Department of Labor, we hope to reach as many eligible Veterans as possible.”
In addition to its national outreach campaign, VA will seek out potential VRAP-qualified Veterans through online applications and at the National Veterans Small Business Conference being held in Detroit June 26-28. During 2012, VA representatives will also provide VRAP information and assistance at hiring fairs sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce through the Hiring Our Heroes campaign.
For more information on the Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) program, the Hire Heroes Act of 2011, VRAP, high demand occupations, and application procedures, visit the website at www.benefits.va.gov/VOW, or call VA National Call Center toll free at 1-800-827-1000.
Veterans may also access the VRAP application online athttps://www.ebenefits.va.gov through eBenefits, a joint project between VA and the Department of Defense.
Veterans are also encouraged to visit the nearly 3,000 One-Stop Career Centers across the nation for assistance from staff, Local Veterans’ Employment Representatives (LVERS), and Disabled Veterans’ Outreach Program (DVOP) specialists. Center locations are listed at www.servicelocator.org.
Army adds more charges against Staff Sgt. Robert Bales
Army drops murder charge in Afghanistan shooting rampage
SEATTLE (AP) — The Army has dropped a murder charge, but added others, including steroid use, against a soldier accused in a deadly shooting rampage in Afghanistan.
Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is now accused of gunning down 16 civilians in pre-dawn raid on two Afghan villages in March.
read more here
SEATTLE (AP) — The Army has dropped a murder charge, but added others, including steroid use, against a soldier accused in a deadly shooting rampage in Afghanistan.
Staff Sgt. Robert Bales is now accused of gunning down 16 civilians in pre-dawn raid on two Afghan villages in March.
read more here
Marriage and family -- a hidden casualty of war
Marriage and family -- a hidden casualty of war
By Major General Mastin M. Robeson, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired)
Published June 01, 2012
FoxNews.com
As we celebrated Memorial Day last weekend and remembered those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom, many Americans spent the day with their families and friends, perhaps at a backyard barbecue or by a lake or the seashore. For others, the day was one of sadness as people across the country visited cemeteries and honored loved ones laid to rest. But there are those in our military who were, and are, grieving from a different kind of loss, a hidden casualty of war: military marriages.
I saw a lot of family heartache during my 34 years of service in the United States Marine Corps, but the last 10 years have proven to be the most difficult on military marriages and families.
Statistics from the Department of Defense report that since the start of operations in Afghanistan in 2001, the military divorce rate has continued to rise. Last year alone, the marriages of some 30,000 military personnel ended in divorce (USA Today, December 2011).
This has been the longest war in America’s history. We have been hugely successful at preparing our forces for a dynamic battlefield, protecting the individual warrior from an array of complex threats, and providing for the spouse and family left behind.
However, the more subtle challenge that cries for attention is the ever-mounting pressure on the marriages of our military personnel. Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are not new to the battlefield, but multiple lengthy deployments are increasing their impact.
read more here
By Major General Mastin M. Robeson, U.S. Marine Corps (Retired)
Published June 01, 2012
FoxNews.com
As we celebrated Memorial Day last weekend and remembered those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom, many Americans spent the day with their families and friends, perhaps at a backyard barbecue or by a lake or the seashore. For others, the day was one of sadness as people across the country visited cemeteries and honored loved ones laid to rest. But there are those in our military who were, and are, grieving from a different kind of loss, a hidden casualty of war: military marriages.
I saw a lot of family heartache during my 34 years of service in the United States Marine Corps, but the last 10 years have proven to be the most difficult on military marriages and families.
Statistics from the Department of Defense report that since the start of operations in Afghanistan in 2001, the military divorce rate has continued to rise. Last year alone, the marriages of some 30,000 military personnel ended in divorce (USA Today, December 2011).
This has been the longest war in America’s history. We have been hugely successful at preparing our forces for a dynamic battlefield, protecting the individual warrior from an array of complex threats, and providing for the spouse and family left behind.
However, the more subtle challenge that cries for attention is the ever-mounting pressure on the marriages of our military personnel. Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are not new to the battlefield, but multiple lengthy deployments are increasing their impact.
read more here
Soldier's widow wages war against meds she says killed her husband
Soldier's widow wages war against meds she says killed her husband
Posted: May 31, 2012
By Ashlea Surles, Reporter
HATTIESBURG, MS (WDAM)
"We met on Valentine's Day at a Bitter Ball for singles in Mobile, Alabama," said Alicia McElroy, sitting on her couch in her Petal home describing the day she and her husband met. "He was awesome, he was your dream guy. He was too good to be true almost."
Alicia and James McElroy knew they were it for each other from the start.
"Ever since the day we met we never were apart, we were inseparable," said Alicia.
They dated for about a year, were married, and had a son - Dane. James, a Mississippi National Guard soldier who everyone called 'Mac', worked close to home at Camp Shelby.
"We had a good life, we had a happy family," said Alicia. "It was perfect, I mean you couldn't ask for more."
But that was all about to change.
"We got the call on our anniversary in 2009 that he was being deployed." James left in April and came home on leave in October and, Alicia says, he had changed. "Mac was crying all the time, he was depressed, he was anxious, just real agitated and irritable, he couldn't sleep."
"He had been in bed all day and I had been out here with Dane, I didn't want Dane to see his dad like that and I went in the bedroom that afternoon to check on him," said Alicia. "He was in bed sobbing ... He was curled up in the sheets, head, pillow, everything just crying his eyes out," Alicia said. "And after a little while he said 'Please help me, get me some help."
The military sent him to Fort Benning in Georgia to begin receiving treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
read more here
Posted: May 31, 2012
By Ashlea Surles, Reporter
HATTIESBURG, MS (WDAM)
"We met on Valentine's Day at a Bitter Ball for singles in Mobile, Alabama," said Alicia McElroy, sitting on her couch in her Petal home describing the day she and her husband met. "He was awesome, he was your dream guy. He was too good to be true almost."
Alicia and James McElroy knew they were it for each other from the start.
"Ever since the day we met we never were apart, we were inseparable," said Alicia.
They dated for about a year, were married, and had a son - Dane. James, a Mississippi National Guard soldier who everyone called 'Mac', worked close to home at Camp Shelby.
"We had a good life, we had a happy family," said Alicia. "It was perfect, I mean you couldn't ask for more."
But that was all about to change.
"We got the call on our anniversary in 2009 that he was being deployed." James left in April and came home on leave in October and, Alicia says, he had changed. "Mac was crying all the time, he was depressed, he was anxious, just real agitated and irritable, he couldn't sleep."
He had done a tour in Iraq and once before in Afghanistan, and halfway through his third combat deployment he was breaking down.
"He had been in bed all day and I had been out here with Dane, I didn't want Dane to see his dad like that and I went in the bedroom that afternoon to check on him," said Alicia. "He was in bed sobbing ... He was curled up in the sheets, head, pillow, everything just crying his eyes out," Alicia said. "And after a little while he said 'Please help me, get me some help."
The military sent him to Fort Benning in Georgia to begin receiving treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
read more here
Risky RPG Removal from Marine's Leg
UPDATE Marine talks about what happened that day.
You have an RPG in your leg
Risky RPG Removal from Marine's Leg
Posted 2 days ago by Member 26835147 Lt. Cmdr. Gennari talks to CNN's Brooke Baldwin about his risky role in the removal of a live rocket-propelled grenade embedded in a Marine's leg.
UPDATE
You have an RPG in your leg
Risky RPG Removal from Marine's Leg
Posted 2 days ago by Member 26835147 Lt. Cmdr. Gennari talks to CNN's Brooke Baldwin about his risky role in the removal of a live rocket-propelled grenade embedded in a Marine's leg.
UPDATE
Pulling A Live Rocket From A Wounded Marine Is All Part Of The Job For This Navy Sailor
Robert Johnson
Jun. 2, 2012
It's part of the job for American medical teams to care for civilians caught up in the bloody mess of Afghanistan fighting, so when a call came over the radio January 12, to help an injured three-year-old girl, an Army medical team rushed to save her.
The child had a bullet lodged in her back and had been doused by shrapnel, but when the medical unit arrived they found an even more pressing problem — a 22-year-old Marine Lance Corporal named Winder Perez had been hit as well — and the rocket propelled grenade (RPG) that had taken him down lay unexploded in his leg.
read more here
13% of deployed Marines consider suicide 2006-2007
If it was this bad back then, what would a new study show?
Study: 13% of deployed Marines consider suicide
By Gidget Fuentes
Staff writer
Posted : Thursday May 31, 2012
SAN DIEGO — More than one in 10 Marines who deployed overseas reported having suicidal thoughts or plans to attempt suicide, according to a study looking at suicidal predictors.
As part of the study, which was briefed at the Navy-Marine Corps Combat Operational Stress conference here in late May, researchers sought to identify potential links to suicidal behavior that may have been evident within a month before a Marine attempted to take his life. They analyzed variables such as post-traumatic stress symptoms, depression, substance or alcohol abuse, and social support, looking also at “negative life events,” such as trauma prior to deploying, combat exposure and the “mundane” worries of everyday life.
“In our sample, unfortunately, 13 percent of people reported some type of suicidal thoughts or plans,” said Cynthia Thomsen, a research psychologist with the Naval Health Research Center.
The anonymous study of 1,517 active-duty Marines and sailors was conducted in 2006-2007. A wide cross-section of the Corps was represented, including the infantry, aviation and combat support communities.
Most participants were male (93 percent) and from the junior enlisted ranks (E-1 to E-4). Nearly half had done more than one overseas deployment, but 11 percent were not combat-related.
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Sgt. Daniel Angus' family await apology after Air Force mortuary scandal
Tampa Marine's arm sawed off to be "dressed" for funeral?
Family of slain Marine await apology after Air Force mortuary scandal
By Robbyn Mitchell
Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, June 1, 2012
TAMPA
Silently, the Angus family waited.
The mother, father and sister of Sgt. Daniel Angus bided seven months to see what punishment would come for the morticians and supervisors responsible for sawing off the arm of the Marine killed in Afghanistan.
Last week, a reporter — not the Pentagon — called the family with the news.
And they grieved for Daniel Angus yet a third time.
This time, they wanted to be heard.
"More than anything, we deserve an apology that doesn't start with 'I'm sorry, but …' " said his mother, Kathy Angus, in a news conference Thursday. "Everyone involved needs real consequences for what they did."
The Air Force said in a statement last week that Dover Air Force Base Port Mortuary supervisors Col. Robert Edmondson and Trevor Dean were punished for retaliating against employees who complained about the way servicemen and servicewomen's bodies were being handled.
read more here
Family of slain Marine await apology after Air Force mortuary scandal
By Robbyn Mitchell
Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, June 1, 2012
TAMPA
Silently, the Angus family waited.
The mother, father and sister of Sgt. Daniel Angus bided seven months to see what punishment would come for the morticians and supervisors responsible for sawing off the arm of the Marine killed in Afghanistan.
Last week, a reporter — not the Pentagon — called the family with the news.
And they grieved for Daniel Angus yet a third time.
This time, they wanted to be heard.
"More than anything, we deserve an apology that doesn't start with 'I'm sorry, but …' " said his mother, Kathy Angus, in a news conference Thursday. "Everyone involved needs real consequences for what they did."
The Air Force said in a statement last week that Dover Air Force Base Port Mortuary supervisors Col. Robert Edmondson and Trevor Dean were punished for retaliating against employees who complained about the way servicemen and servicewomen's bodies were being handled.
read more here
Military kids in Germany being "accosted"
Another Child Accosted at Base in Germany
May 31, 2012
Stars and Stripes
by Jennifer H. Svan
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany -- Despite heightened security on Kaiserslautern-area military bases following two reports of child molestation and an attempted child abduction, Air Force officials said another attempted abduction was reported Wednesday.
In addition, officials at Royal Air Force Lakenheath in the United Kingdom are urging parents there and at nearby bases to be vigilant after an American boy reported an incident while he was walking off base May 2, though officials said there were conflicting accounts of what happened and it was not clear whether it was an attempted abduction.
In Kaiserslautern Wednesday, an 11-year-old boy reported that a man in an Army uniform tried to grab him at about 4:30 p.m. while he was walking alone on the side of Vogelweh that houses Vogelweh Elementary School and Armstrong's Club, said Lt. Gen. Craig Franklin, the commander of the Kaiserslautern Military Community and 3rd Air Force.
Military investigators are treating the incident as an attempted abduction and are seeking additional information and possible eyewitnesses to confirm what happened, Franklin said.
Franklin has called two town hall meetings for Friday to inform parents of the latest incident and to update them on the investigation. The first town hall will take place at 11:30 a.m. at Armstrong's Club on Vogelweh; the second town hall is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at the Hercules Theater on Ramstein Air Base.
read more here
May 31, 2012
Stars and Stripes
by Jennifer H. Svan
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany -- Despite heightened security on Kaiserslautern-area military bases following two reports of child molestation and an attempted child abduction, Air Force officials said another attempted abduction was reported Wednesday.
In addition, officials at Royal Air Force Lakenheath in the United Kingdom are urging parents there and at nearby bases to be vigilant after an American boy reported an incident while he was walking off base May 2, though officials said there were conflicting accounts of what happened and it was not clear whether it was an attempted abduction.
In Kaiserslautern Wednesday, an 11-year-old boy reported that a man in an Army uniform tried to grab him at about 4:30 p.m. while he was walking alone on the side of Vogelweh that houses Vogelweh Elementary School and Armstrong's Club, said Lt. Gen. Craig Franklin, the commander of the Kaiserslautern Military Community and 3rd Air Force.
Military investigators are treating the incident as an attempted abduction and are seeking additional information and possible eyewitnesses to confirm what happened, Franklin said.
Franklin has called two town hall meetings for Friday to inform parents of the latest incident and to update them on the investigation. The first town hall will take place at 11:30 a.m. at Armstrong's Club on Vogelweh; the second town hall is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. at the Hercules Theater on Ramstein Air Base.
read more here
Joe Mantegna: Our Returning Troops Need Jobs
Joe Mantegna told the country to hire veterans and he is practicing what he preaches! I just read that he told quadruple amputee veteran Taylor Morris to look him up when he is ready and he'll put Taylor on Criminal Minds.
If you subscribe to this blog, you know I don't have much time for TV anymore but one of the shows I watch all the time, (including reruns) is Criminal Minds. There are times when I think the show could do a better job addressing Combat PTSD veterans coming home instead of showing the harm they can do but at least they do it with compassion.
National Memorial Day Concert: Joe Mantegna and Dennis Franz help give tribute
If you subscribe to this blog, you know I don't have much time for TV anymore but one of the shows I watch all the time, (including reruns) is Criminal Minds. There are times when I think the show could do a better job addressing Combat PTSD veterans coming home instead of showing the harm they can do but at least they do it with compassion.
Criminal Minds' Joe Mantegna: Our Returning Troops Need Jobs
By Adam Bryant
TV GUIDE
May 25, 2012
Criminal Minds star Joe Mantegna has a message for Americans this Memorial Day: Our veterans need jobs.
Mantegna, who will return as co-host of Monday's National Memorial Day Concert on PBS with fellow CBS star Gary Sinise, is also actively working with America Wants You!, a new initiative that encourages corporate America to hire men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Mantegna and Criminal Minds co-star Thomas Gibson have also filmed PSAs to spread the word.
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National Memorial Day Concert: Joe Mantegna and Dennis Franz help give tribute
Quadruple amputee Taylor Morris says "I chose this path"
Simply remarkable! Taylor Morris lost parts of his limbs but has no regrets for taking on a dangerous job.
Quadruple amputee sailor: ‘I chose this path; I’m doing fine’
By PAT KINNEY
For The Globe Gazette
Taylor Morris remembers and feels everything.
He remembers the explosion that blew him off the ground and took portions of all his limbs.
He still feels his hands — every knuckle, every fingernail — as though they’re knotted up inside him and being crushed, and the stinging where his legs were, as though they’ve fallen asleep.
But he feels other things, too, the recuperating Cedar Falls sailor said Wednesday in an exclusive interview from his hospital room at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesdsa, Md.
He feels the love and support of a family and his girlfriend, Danielle Kelly, who have never left his side; of comrades in arms including fellow amputees; of brothers and sisters who are raising funds for future expenses; and of folks in Northeast Iowa he barely knew or never knew, including people organizing fundraisers or simply sending checks.
“Tell folks back home I chose this path, and I knew it was dangerous going into it,” Morris said from his hospital room at Walter Reed via Skype and telephone. “And it’s unfortunate it happened. But I don’t want them to pity me or to feel bad. I’m doing fine, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get back to 100 percent.”
read more here
Brendan Haas gives Disney to fallen soldier's family
Boy Who Donated Disney Trip to Soldier’s Family Wins Vacation of His Own
By ABC News
May 31, 2012
ABC News’ Linsey Davis and Lauren Sher
Nine-year-old Brendan Haas, who spent three months trading things so he could win a vacation to Disney World and then gave it away to a girl whose father was killed in Afghanistan, was surprised with his own Walt Disney World trip today on “Good Morning America.”
To reward Brendan for his generosity, the Disney Company, the parent company of ABC, awarded Brendan’s family with an all-expense paid trip of their own, and made Brendan an “honorary citizen of Walt Disney World.”
But instead of accepting the trip, Brendan said he wanted to pay it forward yet again and that he’d be able to find another family of a fallen soldier who deserves it.
“We can’t accept a trip to Disney but we have many more people who would like to have an all-expenses paid [trip] …so we can do another raffle,” he said today from his home in Kingston, Mass.
read more here
By ABC News
May 31, 2012
ABC News’ Linsey Davis and Lauren Sher
Nine-year-old Brendan Haas, who spent three months trading things so he could win a vacation to Disney World and then gave it away to a girl whose father was killed in Afghanistan, was surprised with his own Walt Disney World trip today on “Good Morning America.”
To reward Brendan for his generosity, the Disney Company, the parent company of ABC, awarded Brendan’s family with an all-expense paid trip of their own, and made Brendan an “honorary citizen of Walt Disney World.”
But instead of accepting the trip, Brendan said he wanted to pay it forward yet again and that he’d be able to find another family of a fallen soldier who deserves it.
“We can’t accept a trip to Disney but we have many more people who would like to have an all-expenses paid [trip] …so we can do another raffle,” he said today from his home in Kingston, Mass.
read more here
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