The following is an excerpt from www.legion.org/veteransbenefits:
“As the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our PACT Act becomes law, millions of veterans suffering from illnesses caused by toxic exposures will be eligible for benefits. The PACT Act, which covers veterans from Vietnam through Iraq and Afghanistan, is the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic-exposed veterans in more than 30 years and addresses a broad spectrum of toxic exposures. Veterans will now see additional benefits for exposures to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan, additional presumptive conditions for Agent Orange exposure, nuclear radiation exposure during several nuclear clean-up operations, and provisions for victims of water contamination at Camp Lejeune.”
There is a long list of health problems associated with veterans’ exposure to toxins during military operations addressed at the above website. You can also find links to the District Service Officers for consultation.
Ron Jones, the curator and director of the Texas County Military Museum, has announced the reopening of the Genealogy Library. The library will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursdays. The library and the museum are in the white building with the pair of Hotchkiss revolving cannons on Grand Avenue in Houston.
POW/MIA Recognition Day is Sept. 17. Observances are planned for schools and Veterans Memorials around Texas County.
Veterans organizations in Texas County:
•American Legion Post 41 meets at 6 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month at the meeting hall on the west end of Chilton Oil Company in Houston (just north of Pizza Hut). Changes to membership eligibility now allow U.S. veterans of all branches and periods of service to join the American Legion.
•Fleet Reserve Association Branch 364 meets at 2:30 p.m. on the fourth Sunday of each month at the American Legion Post 41 meeting hall in Houston. The FRA exists to serve all veterans and active-duty members of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard.
•Veterans Of Foreign Wars Post 473 meets at 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month at its meeting mall on U.S. 63 north of Cabool.
•Veterans Of Foreign Wars Post 6337 in Licking meets at 5:30 p.m. on the third Monday of each month at the meeting hall on Main Street just south of Highway 32.
Houston resident Robert E. Simpson is a retired U.S. Navy chief electronics technician who served from 1969 to 1990. Email gfjjkaa@gmail.com.