Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi and the Nassau County Legislature have agreed to help the Nassau County Veterans Monument Fund, Inc. build the Vietnam Veterans Monument in Eisenhower Park. The 12' high sculpture depicts two hands clasped with the inscription "All we ever had was ourselves." The monument will be unveiled by Veterans Day 2005. Leonard Wahl, father of Sgt. Gregory Wahl, who died last year in Iraq and left a wife and young daughter, has started an organization to benefit the children of Long Island's Killed in Action from the War in Iraq and Afghanistan. Fifteen service men have died in Iraq from Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Several have left very young children. The Children of the Fallen will host a Memorial Dinner Dance on July 26 at the Andrew Fatscher Post American Legion, 51 Roosevelt Avenue and Valley Stream from 8 p.m. to midnight. The American Legion has donated the hall and Chefs Scott Bradley of Snaps in Wantagh and Joe Loschiavo of 99 Club in Valley Stream have donated their services. Tickets are $60 each and can be reserved by calling Doug Quantro at 317-8293 or Vinny Puccio at 578-8470. Jeffrey L. Wiener grew up in Lynbrook. He died May 7, 2005 in Iraq serving with the Marines as a Navy Corpsman. A volunteer fireman and "Great Guy" according to Mike Ciaramella, who worked with Wiener at the Nassau County Police Ambulance Bureau from 2000 to 2002. HM2 Wiener joined the Navy Reserve after leaving Nassau county and when he was activated, he found himself fighting in the same country his brother, also a Marine, had also served. Jeffrey Wiener leaves a wife, Maria Theresa and two daughters, Theodora, age 2, and Mikayla, age 6. A fund has been set up for the family. Donations can be sent to Maria Theresa Wiener, c/o Washington Mutual Bank, PO Box 65, Yaphank, NY 11980, Attn: Krisha E. Kurtz. The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee is holding hearings on S.1180, The Sheltering All Veterans Everywhere Act. If passed, important programs such as the Department of Labor's Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program will be extended beyond 2006. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs there are 250,000 veterans homeless on any given night and another 250,000 experience homelessness at some point. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson has backed legislation proposed by Sen. Larry E. Craig (Idaho) creating low cost traumatic injury insurance for members of the Armed Forces. The payments from such insurance would be in addition to disability compensation paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs. It may not be the "anything you ever wanted to know about VA benefits" source book but the Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependents is an excellent handbook and will answer most questions about veteran's benefits. The handbook can be downloaded free from the VA website at http://www.va.gov/opa/feature/. In addition to health care and burial benefits, veterans may be eligible for programs providing home guaranties, educational assistance, training and rehabilitation, income assistance, pensions, life insurance and compensation for service connected illnesses or disabilities. In some cases survivors may also be entitled to benefits.

The VA is reporting that as of March 2005 the number of pending claims in its inventory is 336,000 down from 432,000 in 2002. Also, the number of days it takes to make a decision on a claim has been reduced to 171 down from 233 days.

John Dorriety, president of the National Association of County Veterans Service Officers, disputes the VA numbers and claims 750,000 claims are backlogged.

As a result of a case decided at the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims on April 5, 2005 veterans with a disability for tinnitus rated bilaterally before June 13, 2003 but awarded only 10 percent may have grounds to re-open their case. Contact the Veterans Service Agency at 572-8452. Plans are being made for the 2005 Stand down for Homeless Veterans. Nov. 14 is the likely date. We are in search for a location at this time. The Auxiliary of the Nassau County American Legion has made a contribution that will fund this year's event. As part of the Stand Down transportation will be provided to any veteran who wants to attend the Hire a Hero Job Fair at the Javits Center in New York City on Nov. 3. Tom Gwynne, vice president, programs, has informed us that the Cradle of Aviation is planning a special event to mark the 60th Anniversary of VE Day. The event will be Sunday, Aug. 14. More information will follow. Also, the Cradle is looking for docents (exhibit explainers) with military backgrounds to join their staff. If interested and available Saturday and Sundays from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. and 1 p.m. - 4:30 p.m., please call Sarafina at 572-4034, or e-mail her at Smannino@cradleofaviation.org. David Vishewich of United Parcel Service will conduct interviews at the Nassau County Veterans Service Agency, 1425 Old Country Road, Building H, Plainview, NY 11803 on June 30 from 1 to 3 p.m. All veterans are welcome.