Presidential Memorial Certificate Honors Memory of Deceased Veterans

A Presidential Memorial Certificate (PMC) is an engraved paper certificate, signed by the current President, to honor the memory of honorably discharged deceased veterans. This program was initiated in March 1962 by President John F. Kennedy and has been continued by all subsequent Presidents. Statutory authority for the program is Section 112, Title 38, of […]

The Operative Word

I graduated from Berkeley with a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies. But this does not make me a pacifist. Some wars need fighting, I’m afraid, and some people need killing–even though it strains my humanity to utter it aloud. The second Iraq War–for instance–was a four-star clusterf**k, while we should have gone hammer and […]

Putting Community First

My mother grew up on a farm in Kansas, one of nine children. My grandfather, R.W. Young, had bought an old farmhouse and property before the depression that nobody wanted. He eventually moved to Wichita, Kansas in the thirties, where he worked as a cattle stockbroker, served as a minister and helped build the church […]

A Murrain on Murrieta

If the 20th was the American Century, it follows that the United States spent much of that time–especially during the Cold War–propping up and otherwise aiding democracies across the globe. Just in the last decade we have joined battle in both Iraq and Afghanistan with the stated aim of promoting stability (democracy) in those countries. […]

Compensation Benefits for Dependents

A prominent condition affecting Gulf War Veterans is a cluster of medically unexplained chronic symptoms that can include fatigue, headaches, joint pain, indigestion, insomnia, dizziness, respiratory disorders and memory problems. VA refers to these illnesses as “chronic multi-symptom illness” and “undiagnosed illnesses.” The term “Gulf War Syndrome” is used when referring to medically unexplained symptoms […]