Veterans Voice
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Medical care for veterans gets boost in Senate
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate on Tuesday adopted the latest in a continuing series of major budget increases to provide medical care for veterans.
The move came as the Senate passed, by a rare 100-0 vote, a $134 billion spending bill for veterans programs and military construction projects.
The unanimous vote reflected the unique political standing of the veterans budget, which has received hefty increases even as former President George W. Bush sought to tamp down spending on domestic programs. Those increases have become even more significant since Democrats won control of Congress three years ago.
The pending measure awards a 9-percent increase over last year's budget for veterans health care. The House passed a companion measure this summer and the bill now heads to House-Senate talks to produce a final version for President Barack Obama to sign.
Even as more and more veterans of World War II and the Korean War die off, costs are rising for service members wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. One factor in rising costs is that people are surviving battlefield wounds that would have proven fatal in the past, including losses of multiple limbs and traumatic brain injuries.
At the same time, repeated deployments and combat stress have led to increasing numbers of veterans seeking help for post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 419,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan will be covered by VA health care by next year - a 61-percent increase over 2008 levels - at a cost of $2.1 billion.
The measure also approves a $48.2 billion down payment on the budget for veterans medical care for 2011.
Also Tuesday, the Senate killed an amendment by Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., that would have barred the Obama administration from either building in the U.S. a new prison to hold detainees from the controversial Guantanamo Bay prison or upgrading an existing facility to hold them.
Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who's advocating bringing Guantanamo detainees to a largely vacant state prison in rural Illinois, rallied colleagues against the amendment and said it made no sense to bring prisoners from Guantanamo to the U.S. but not be able to spend money to make U.S. facilities safer.
Calling the roll
Following is a list of local veterans whose obituaries appeared in the Gazette Nov. 5-19. The information given here about their service is what was provided in each obituary.
Dr. Levon Fred Ayvazian, d. Nov. 3, b. Oct. 3, 1919; U.S. Army, captain; during the Korean War (from 1951 to 1953) at the Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Aurora, Colo.
Rene J. "Mac" LeVay, 87, Westhampton, d. Nov. 5; b. July 22, 1922; U.S. Army Air Corps, 17th Airborne Division, paratrooper; World War II, European theater, Battle of the Bulge and the Rhine Jump.
John M. Yuscavage, 77, Northampton, d. Nov. 5; b. June 19, 1932; United States Naval Academy graduate; USS Smally as an ensign; Submarine School in New London, Conn., in 1957; assigned to the USS Trench; Nuclear Power School in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., USS Shark, a nuclear-powered sub that patrolled the Arctic Circle during the Cold War; retired from the Navy in 1962 with the rank of commander.
Ralph R. Miller Sr., 90, Easthampton, d. Nov. 8; U.S. Army and U.S. Coast Guard, Coast Guard Ship Sorrel during World War II.
Wallace J. MacDonald, 80, Southampton, d. Nov. 9; b. Dec. 16, 1928; U.S. Air Force in 1948, sergeant.
Michael Aleck Yanginski, 91, formerly of Hatfield, d. Nov. 11; b. Sept. 1, 1918; U.S. Navy; World War II.
Lawrence (Larry) A.. Fink, 79, Northampton, d. Nov. 12; U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps; Korean War.
John E. Kargul, 86, Easthampton, d. Nov. 11; U.S. Army 66th Infantry Division, Battery A-721st Field Artillery Battalion, Panther Division; World War II, European theater, D-Day in France in 1944.
William F. Mazeski, 60, Florence, d. Nov. 12; b. March 24, 1949; U.S. Air Force, staff sergeant; two tours in Vietnam.
John Kennison Stene, 92, South Deerfield, d. Nov. 9; b. April 21, 1917; U.S. Army, 1944 to 1947, stationed at Fort Hood, Texas, and overseas in Japan and Korea.
Robert J. Weeks, Northampton, d. Nov. 12, U.S. Army for three years.
Conrad P. Brisson, 78, Easthampton, d. Nov. 13; b. Sept. 27, 1931; U.S. Army, Company G 65th Infantry Regiment APO 468; Korean War; Purple Heart, Hill 412 in North Korea, June 14, 1953.
Siegfried Feller, 83, Pelham, d. Nov. 10; b. Jan. 15, 1926; U.S. Army, 69th Infantry Division, first to meet the Russians at Torgau just two weeks before the end of the war in Europe, radio operator; World War II; Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns; occupation of Berlin 1944-46; Bronze Star
Richard L. "Dick" Bodin, 85, Florence, d. Nov. 10; b. March 26, 1924; U.S. Army, tech sergeant; World War II.
Charles R. "Ted" Slattery, 72, Northampton native, d. Nov. 10; U.S. Navy, chief petty officer; 22 years of service.
Veterans Voice appears on this page twice a month, on the first and third Saturday. Readers are encouraged to submit questions, stories, story ideas, announcements, military photos with captions and other materials of interest to veterans. Send all submissions to Veterans Voice, c/o Ellie Cook, Daily Hampshire Gazette, Box 299, Northampton, MA 01061; or email ecook@gazettenet.com.
