Official details work of AMVETS

Hundreds of thousands of veterans still await their benefits, an organization official said.

By SEAN BARRON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

BOARDMAN — One of the biggest ambitions of John P. Brown III is to make sure it will be easier for returning veterans and their families to receive a college education.

That is the driving force behind an agreement between the national American Veterans Inc. organization and Kaplan University, an online entity, said Brown, AMVETS’ national commander for 2007 and this year.

Brown, also known as J.P., was the guest of honor at a testimonial dinner Saturday at the Holiday Inn, 7410 South Ave. Hosts of the program were the Department of Ohio AMVETS organization and AMVETS Post No. 44 of Youngstown.

Brown noted the agreement should mean that around $3.9 million worth of scholarships will be distributed over the next three years for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as their families.

“We’re [also] taking care of families,” said Brown, of Boardman. “Some veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq have problems” financially and making the transition to college life.

Brown, who took over the post Sept. 1, 2007, said one of his long-term goals is to have enough scholarships established from which to build larger ones.

As national commander, Brown has duties that include overseeing operations of the organization that represents roughly 220,000 veterans nationally, as well as a team of more than 80 service officers throughout the country who help veterans with injuries and other difficulties file claims with the Veterans Administration.

The team assists service personnel in navigating through bureaucracy so they can more easily collect benefits, Brown noted.

Brown added that he supports policies put forth by James Peake, the recently appointed secretary of Veterans Affairs. Peake, Brown said, is trying to get a large backlog of claims “adjudicated in a timely manner so veterans can live the lifestyle they should.”

More than 800,000 veterans are waiting for benefits, a process that can take months or years, noted Jay Agg, communications director for the Lanham, Md.-based national AMVETS headquarters.

The system is overwhelmed largely because of an influx of young soldiers returning from Iraq, combined with the needs and physical problems of older veterans, both men explained.

AMVETS, along with three other veterans organizations, put together an independent budget aimed at determining how much money is needed to run the VA, Brown and Agg pointed out.

The Bush administration’s budget falls about $3 billion short of the independent budget’s recommendations, Agg noted. The veterans organizations’ budget included funding for a new facility, as well as added research for those suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome and brain injuries, they said.

“Our budget is written by veterans and is a road map for Congress to follow for the Veterans Administration,” Agg said.

For more information on AMVETS programs and scholarships, go to the organization’s Web site, www.amvets.org.

Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann was to deliver the keynote address at the dinner.