Friday, October 18, 2013

Need Volunteers for Homeless Stand Down!

UVC Colorado is working on making information on the web more easy to access. Agendas for the general session meetings will be posted to the blog and to the distribution list. Our membership application is available here as well.

The shutdown affected so many things, and the Homeless Veterans Stand Down has issued a call for volunteers. Please help if you can.

Also read: VA Resuming Normal Operations

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Can you help a Veteran move a few items?

A WWII Veteran, Mr. Findlay, has been transferred from a nursing home that lost its VA contract. He has Alzheimers, dementia, and leukemia, and it is nice for him to have familiar things around. He is a very enjoyable person, I am told. He has some larger furniture that they couldn't move: Wooden Drawer Cabinet - 23 inches wide, 4 feet high Chest of Drawers - about two feet wide, 3 feet high One overstuffed chair with hassock One large picture of great sentimental value, 18 inches wide, two feet high. He was at Garden Terrace in Aurora, 303-750-8418 at 1600 Potomac. John Morino who is the executive director at that location, and Meridith in admissions, both know he hasn't gotten all this things yet. He was moved to Windsor Health Care nursing home, 970-686-7474, 710 3rd Street, Windsor CO 80550. Loretta is his caretaker at Windsor. VA is aware that they still haven't gotten his furniture. The UVC Secretary has a call in to the VA parties involved, but if you have the means to transport these things, please call Jenn at 720-271-1426 or email at uvccolorado@gmail.com, or call the numbers above to contact the facilities directly.

American Flag doormat??

Since this is not official Veteran news, I'm not posting it to the blast, but this is worth your consideration. This is not a statement of UVC's position, it was simply shared with us. Here is a link to Snopes, so you can see the story, but it is about an American Flag on a door mat.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Dear UVC Friends, SHORT NOTICE SPECIAL EVENT: On Wed 17 Apr 2013 at 0900 in the West Foyer of the Colorado State Capitol, the US Navy Expeditionary Combat Command will present the Navy and Marine Corps Medal to a former sailor, EOD1 Corey Baughman, who now resides in Denver. The Commander of US Navy Expeditionary Command, Rear Admiral Michael Tillotson, will be flying into Denver for the Medal presentation.

EOD1 Corey Baughman left his former mission station in Japan to return to Denver to care for his mother who had terminal cancer. He is receiving this award for heroism due to an climbing incident on Mt. Fuji in Japan. He was climbing with friends on the North Face of Mt. Fuji when they witnessed a Japanese man who was also climbing near them suddenly fall several hundred feet below their location. They were sure he had perished but immediately stopped their ascent and began climbing down to reach the man. When they finally reached him, although he sustained significant injuries, he was still alive. A large snow storm had moved in around them and they could no longer descend to reach emergency assistance. They found a small climbing hut near their location and moved the injured climber to get him out of the storm. They stayed with him and kept him alive until rescue crews could arrive at the hut more than a day later. EOD1 Baughman now lives in Denver with his family.

Due to the short notice of this ceremony, no formal invite was created. Please advise our office as soon as possible if you plan on attending the ceremony. We hope you are able to join us on Wednesday.

Janelle Darnell, Chief of Protocol
Office of The Adjutant General
Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs
6848 South Revere Parkway
Centennial, Colorado 80112
720-250-1462 office
250-1462 DSN
720-250-1519 fax
303-941-6745 cell
Janelle.darnell@dmva.state.co.us

Sincerely, Jenn Latini, UVC Secretary

Veterans Appreciation Breakfast, and Project Sanctuary update

Dear UVC Friends, Unfortunately, due to the weather cancellation, the Rotarians did not get a chance to pass out their flyers about the SEVENTH ANNUAL VETERANS APPRECIATION BREAKFAST (click for flyer), at the Wings Over The Rockies Air and Space Museum on 11 May 2013, from 8:00 am to 10:00am, located at Hanger #1, Lowry Town Center. This event is FREE to all veterans, their families and friends. It is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Denver Southeast.
Registration is on line at www.militaryevents.us; EVENT CODE: RCSD511.

The key note speaker will be George H Brauchler, District Attorney for 18th Judicial District, comprised of Arapahoe, Douglas, Elbert, and Lincoln counties. George is a Lt Col in the US Army Reserve JAG Corp, and currently serving as the Regional Defense Council for the Central States Region. Lt Col Brauchler is responsible for teams of JAG officers covering seven states.

If you have any questions, e-mail Lester Johnson, Col USAF at lmj.2006tiger@yahoo.com, or call his cell phone at 720-883-6531.

Lester M. Johnson, Col USAF Ret'd
Member Veterans Committee
Rotary Club of Denver Southeast
7865 Vallagio Lane, #202
Engelwood, CO 80112
_________________________________

Spring into action in 2013!! Please visit the Project Sanctuary Newsletter. There are ten more retreats planned for this year. They are now booking 13 months out! That means they need to step up the donations AND the volunteers. Any military family (active duty or retired) that could benefit from a Therapeutic Retreat is invited to apply. Those on their wait list the longest will get first choices.

Sincerely,
Jenn Latini, UVC Secretary

April 17 Colorado Student Veterans Forum

Dear UVC member organizations and those who attend UVC meetings,
Please see the agenda link below announcing a special UVC meeting hosted by the UVC Veterans in Higher Education Committee, schedule for April 17 2013, 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the Tivoli Center Room 320B, Auraria Campus, 900 Auraria Parkway, Denver, CO 80204. This is an excellent opportunity for veteran service organizations, agencies that assist veterans, and Congressional offices to meet and interact with younger veterans. This is also an opportunity for UVC to meet in April, as our regularly-scheduled meeting for this month was cancelled due to weather. Please plan to attend.
Thank you and see you at the Tiv,
Ralph Bozella
UVC President
The agenda can be downloaded:
(click here for UVC formatted agenda)
CLICK HERE for the event flyer.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Meeting Cancelled....

THE MEETING ON APRIL 9, 2013, HAS BEEN CANCELLED DUE TO PREDICTED BLIZZARD. Thank you to all who made the banquet such a success yesterday. A special thanks goes out to Governor John Hickenlooper and our keynote speaker VA Assistant Secretary Jose D. “Joe” Riojas. We look forward to seeing you in May! Please check the calendar at www.unitedveteranscommittee.com on the "events" link. I am currently updating. Jenn Latini, Secretary.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Dear UVC Friends, The Banquet As the banquet rapidly approaches, we are making the final days' push to sell raffle tickets for two $250 gift certificates from Frontier Airlines. Raffle tickets are $5, and the winners need not be present. If you want to purchase and/or sell raffle tickets, and do not have any, please contact UVC's Banquet Chairman Ken Melcher at kcmelcher@juno.com or call me (secretary) at (408) 800-2862. Your call will be returned within a day if I can not answer.

The Agenda Tuesday, 09 April Please review and/or print your agenda prior to coming to the meeting. From a friend of Combat Vets - TRYING TO FIND A VET WITH BOTH TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY AND EPILEPSY. Read on why: (From Ann Marie Bezuyen) I am the director of a program called Heads Up For Vets. It is about TBI, but TBI resulting in epilepsy. I work for the Anita Kaufmann Foundation. Here's the website: http://www.akfus.org/. Look in the program tab and you can see my program. We have collaborated with the VA and I developed the educational materials. What I've been looking for is a Veteran with TBI and epilepsy who is willing to talk about it. So far, no takers. TBI is an awful diagnosis and adding epilepsy to the mix is an unbelievable challenge. What we are afraid of is the soldiers being released with a TBI, knowing they may have a seizure, but they (and their families) really don't know what one can look like. It's not always convulsive. If you can be of help, please contact Jenn Latini by clicking this link: jennlatini@gmail.com.

Also from Combat Vets: One of our long-time members has been laid off and seeking employment for quite some time. This man is a leader in CVMA, Patriot Guard Riders, active with New England regional Veteran-oriented organizations (VSO’s, VA related, etc), and this man is the kind that would give the shirt off his back to a Vet in need. On Easter Sunday, he lost his father to sudden illness that has been deemed service connected, cancerous tumors due to Agent Orange. He is driving to Texas on Tuesday, April 3, to settle his father’s affairs as executor of the will, and escort his body to Arlington National Cemetery. If you can chip in, please visit CVMA Colorado’s web home page and click “Donate.” You can use this paypal button or write Ruffian. (That's Jenn Latini) Toward the end of your transaction (I think it’s the last page you go through) you may designate "Bob" and the funds will be seen to him ASAP. Sincerely, Jenn Latini, UVC Secretary

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Senate and House Bill hearings, week of April 1

These are the hearings that will be at the Capitol building in Denver this week. I am going to try to get these to you each week. It is important that UVC has a presence there! Monday April 1st: HB 1080, Aircraft Manufacturer Employee Income Tax Credit, House Appropriations, 7:30am, Room LSB-A (Monitor) SB 235, Transfer To The Colorado State Veterans Trust Fund, Senate State Affairs, 1:30pm, Room 353 (Support) HB 1123, Waive Confidentiality Unemployment Benefits, Senate Business, 1:30pm, Room 354 (Support) Wednesday, April 3rd: HB 1152, Nursing Facility Per Diem Rates, Senate State Affairs, 1:30pm, Room 356 (Monitor) Friday, April 5th: SB 040, Complete Cemetery Expansion At Homelake Center, Senate Appropriations, 7:30am, Room 356 (Support) SB 111, Require Reports Of Elder Abuse And Exploitation, Senate Appropriations, 7:30am, Room 356 (Support)

Friday, March 15, 2013


Here is a letter from Senator Michael Bennet regarding Veterans' and constituents' concerns about the new drone warfare medal:
Letter to Secretary of Defense Hagel



From the office of Congressman Ed Perlmutter:
This is a flyer with information about free legal clinics for Veterans by attorneys with the Larimer County Bar Association.  This is available to ALL Veterans. The dates are Wednesday, April 17 (Fort Collins) and Wednesday, July 17 (Loveland).  Please help us reach Veterans who could benefit from these clinics.
Veterans Outreach Flyer for Free Veterans' Legal Clinics

Monday, March 11, 2013

New stuff

I'm sure anyone who opens their email now knows that a whole new system is being put in place to share our distribution emails more efficiently. I would like to know if anyone has a problem with the file links, if there's anything confusing (and DON'T think you're just not figuring out something simple, there are other people probably with the same questions!), if you have information that may help us move things along, anything. When things are new, some people adapt more easily than others. Let me learn from your insight, I'm open for opinions too. When something doesn't work well for you, that doesn't work well for me either, and as your secretary I'd like to try to bridge all the gaps early on. I can be reached at uvccolorado@gmail.com and look forward to hearing from you! Jenn
Please visit THIS LINK to view the minutes from February's meeting. The secretary was out of Colorado and the comments may not have all been recorded. If you wish to record comments you made for the minutes that have not been published in the previous link, please visit www.uvcform.com and the minutes will be amended.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Agenda, March 12

Our agenda for next week: March 12, 2013 The guest speaker, Laura Williams, will be presenting Veterans Trauma Court to UVC, and Celeste Davis from Kiewit-Turner will update UVC on the progress at the replacement VA hospital.

The 2013 UVC Banquet

Sunday, April 7, at the Renaissance Hotel near Quebec and I-70, UVC will host the 2013 UVC Awards Banquet. The forms for the banquet can be found here: 2013 UVC Banquet

Jose D. Riojas, the Assistant Secretary for Operations, Security, and Preparedness for the Department of Veterans Affairs, will be the guest speaker for this event. This banquet is UVC's only fundraiser at this point; supporting and attending this event makes a difference for UVC and gives us the opportunity to enjoy one another's camaraderie in this organization we believe in.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Open announcements

1. Liberty Day received a grant from the Daniels Fund in Denver to distribute free copies of the Liberty Day pocket Constitution booklet to all 5th graders in Colorado. Liberty Day is looking for volunteers to bring these materials to the 5th grade teachers and have them agree to teach the 24 questions and answers in booklet to the students. These 24 Q&A's are all facts taken directly out of the text of the US Constitution. Anyone interested in volunteering should contact: 303-989-4833 or andy@libertyday.org.

Andy McKean, President, Liberty Day

2. The Colorado Statewide Independent Living Council is looking for hearing impaired persons (preferably Veterans) to serve on this committee. Let's see if we could help with this request!

Contact information for this request:
Glenn A. Johnson
Chief of Communications
Department of Veterans Affairs
Purchased Care @ Health Administration Center
3773 Cherry Creek North Drive
Denver, CO 80209
(303) 331-7864


3. 2/2/2013
Freedom Memorial Ground Breaking

Following 12-years of fund-raising, research and planning the Colorado Freedom Memorial Foundation will break ground for construction of a one-of-a-kind tribute to the sacrifice made by Colorado's veterans on the battlefield. Military and Civilian dignitaries as well as Gold Star Families and the general public will gather to celebrate at 11:00am on Saturday, February 2nd at the Memorial site, 756 Telluride St. in Aurora.
"The Colorado Freedom Memorial is a long overdue recognition of the debt we owe thousands of Colorado families for the sacrifice of their loved ones to keep us free.", said Colorado Freedom Memorial Founder and President Rick Crandall. "We've spent 12 years trying to raise money for construction and researching the names that should be on the Memorial and at times it seemed like this day would never come. It's hard to describe the emotions we all feel right now."
The Memorial contains the names of all Colorado veterans killed in action since statehood in 1876, so the Spanish-American War through today. Near 6000 names make up the honor roll that will be listed on the Memorial's glass panels when it is dedicated on May 26, 2013. Because of the different ways of maintaining records over the years researching names has been a monumental task. For the ground-breaking local Military Commanders and elected officials will be in attendance along with a color guard, singing of the national anthem and short comments. Dignitaries will move the first shovel of dirt followed by Gold Star families. Then the public will be invited to grab a shovel and dig a scoop of dirt.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

2013 Minutes January

Please click here to view the minutes from January.   Our next meeting is Tuesday, Feb 12, at 9:00 at 2680 W Hampden Ave, Englewood, CO 80110.  

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Happy New Year!

Dear UVC Friends,
Now that we are into 2013, I am happy to start things anew here on the blog. You'll be pleased to know that the website is being updated, and we will be going through a few operational and format changes that will make things more efficient. I have been Secretary since the new session, and I look forward to continuing to serve in any way I can. If you have suggestions or ideas, please feel free to contact me directly at secty@unitedveteranscommittee.com.
If you are not already subscribed to the newsletter, which comes out a few times a week with consolidated information, you can write me at that same email.
Thanks to Izzy Abbass, we also have a LinkedIn profile that is brand new, and we'll be developing on that as well. Look us up as United Veterans Committee of Colorado.
We still have our meetings on the second Tuesday of each month at 09:00 at the VFW in Englewood, 2680 W. Hampden Avenue, Sheridan, CO 80110. Please also mark your calendar for the UVC Banquet, which will be held at the Renaissance (3801 Quebec Street Denver, CO 80207) on Sunday, April 7, 2013. The pdf's are being updated on the site, but if you would like to register to attend you can contact our Banquet Chairman at kcmelcher@comcast.net.
Happy New Year to All!
Jenn Latini Secretary, UVC