RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Craft breweries from around the country are toasting the troops with a beer aged with a unique ingredient that symbolizes America’s pastime — baseball bats.

Nine different brewers collaborated to create Homefront IPA, all using the same recipe, complete with orange peel and unfinished maple Louisville Sluggers. Toward the end of the fermentation process the beer soaks in a tank with the maple bats.

Former major league pitcher Chris Ray talks with reporters about his baseball-themed beers at The Diamond in Richmond, Va. The specialty brew will be sold at the Double AA minor league Richmond Flying Squirrels’ baseball game Thursday, May 23, 2013. The proceeds are given to military families. (AP Photo/ The Richmond Times-Dispatch, Joe Mahoney)

All proceeds from the beer, which is being released for Memorial Day, will be donated to Operation Homefront, a national group that provides emergency financial assistance to military families.

The Hops for Heroes project began in 2011 when Chris Ray, co-founder of Center of the Universe Brewing Co. in suburban Richmond, was pitching for the Seattle Mariners.

A home brewer at the time, Ray wanted to partner with a local brewery to create a charity beer. Together with Fremont Brewing Co. in Seattle and his brother, Phil, they developed the recipe and chose the charity Operation Homefront, which was suggested by Ray’s childhood friend that served as a soldier in Afghanistan.

“I was always taught when I was growing up to help out the people that help you,” Ray said while talking about the beer at The Diamond, home of the Flying Squirrels minor league baseball team. “They’re putting their lives on the line for us every day. The least we can do is help them keep their car on the road or help them keep their house.”

The list of participating breweries has grown to include Cigar City Brewing in Tampa, Fla., Sly Fox Brewing Co. in Pottstown, Pa., Perennial Artisan Ales in St. Louis, 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco, the Phoenix Ale Brewery in Phoenix, Left Hand Brewing Co. in Longmont, Colo., and Stone Brewing Co., in Escondido, Calif. Other sponsors within the craft brewing industry provided ingredients and supplies to help brewers keep their costs down and increase the amount of money raised for the cause.

Last year, the project helped raise $165,000, with additional donations to the group coming in because of the beer project, Ray said. After the beer is brewed, the bats also are dried and auctioned off.

The breweries will sell the beer in bottles and kegs in their areas, with all proceeds being donated to local chapters of the charity. Bottles in the Richmond market even include American flag caps.

“It doesn’t really get any more Americana than beer, baseball and America’s troops,” Ray said.

While Ray is glad more breweries are participating in the project, he said he wants it to grow slowly to keep the beer novel.

Aaron Taylor, spokesman for Operation Homefront, said the project is a great opportunity for folks to support military families and have a good time.

“It’s a win-win for everybody,” said Taylor, whose group helped meet the needs of 151,150 military families in 2012 by paying for car and home repairs and other financial aid.

Craft brewers are known for using their beers to support causes that they believe in, said Julia Herz, the craft beer program director at the Brewers Association, a Colorado-based industry group.

“They’re just so tied to their communities,” she said. “It’s a very symbiotic thing,”

And with beer lovers excited to see a craft beer that benefits a charity, the beers usually sell out fast.

“What feels good tastes even better,” Herz said.

Other adult beverage makers also support projects that benefit the military.

Several wineries a have created wines to support military groups like Operation Homefront.

Bourbon bottler Jim Beam has partnered with Operation Homefront for the past five years to raise money and awareness through promotional events such as concerts. And whiskey company Wild Turkey has teamed up with The Boot Campaign, which supports veterans through the sale and promotion of combat boots. Its “Boots and Bourbon” initiative raises money and highlights returning veterans’ issues.

Sekletar, 37, painted a 20-by-35 foot mural two years ago based on the iconic World War II flag-raising photo taken during the battle for Iwo Jima. He is adding the new mural to represent the Vietnam War on the same 248 Park Ave. building.

Artist Mike Sekletar works on his second World War II mural from atop a 12-foot scaffolding in downtown Amherst, Ohio. Sekletar’s first Amherst mural was painted two years ago, featuring a scene from the Battle of Iwo Jima. (Sam Greene/Morning Journal)

“I wanted to recognize the Vietnam era with this mural,” Sekletar said. “After going through a lot of images, I saw “Reflections” by Lee Teter. It was a moving and touching piece that just seemed to fit perfectly.”

Sekletar, who lives in Amherst, has started a 16-by-35 foot rendition of “Reflections,” which depicts a man visiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., while ghostly images of his fallen comrades greet him.

Sekletar was able to get permission to copy the painting from Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 172 in Cumberland, Md., who own the rights to the image. When he is done, the reproduction of “Reflections” will be the largest in the United States.

“He started the layout on Monday,” said his father, John Sekletar. “We put a projection of the image on the wall and he outlined the sensitive points.”

Sekletar, along with his partner who helped him on the Iwo Jima mural, Ryan Shannon, 24, believe that they should be able to finish the mural within a month and a half.

“The time frame depends upon weather and how busy our schedules are,” Sekletar said. “It’s a pretty intense piece with a lot of details and names in it.”

John Sekletar, 62, said the plan is to dedicate the mural on Nov. 11, Veterans Day.

Sekletar said he has a very strong art history background. After graduating from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in 1998, he began a career in graphic design. As the need for graphic designs dwindled due to an overabundance of designers, Sekletar began to get back into hand-drawn art.

As a Vietnam Veteran who served in the Navy off the coast of Vietnam, John Sekletar said that the mural will mean a lot to people his age and those who served during the war.

“Lots of people lost loved ones and friends in that war,” he said. “This mural will mean a lot to anyone impacted by the Vietnam War.”

John Sekletar said that he is proud of his son for giving his time to do things like the mural.

“He just loves to give back,” John Sekletar said. “He’s a very humble kid. Mike isn’t in it for the money, he just enjoys what he is doing.”

While not looking past the current undertaking, Sekletar said that he would eventually like to fill the whole wall.

“I don’t have it figured out 100 percent at all,” Sekletar said. “I know I don’t want to do picture after picture after picture, though. I want to kind of blend everything together in collage-like image.”

For more information on the project, visit www.amherstveteransmural.com.

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has gotten her first bill past the U.S. House, a measure meant to help severely injured and disabled military members and veterans get through security at airports.

The bill called the Helping Heroes Fly Act passed unanimously on Tuesday, with 413 yes votes and 20 lawmakers abstaining.

The measure directs the Transportation Security Administration to provide expedited passenger screening for injured and disabled active-duty military members and veterans.

Gabbard says the bill hopes to make airline travel a more dignified experience for military members and veterans and their families.

The bill says the screening should be as private as possible.

The bill now goes to the Senate.

The measure is the Democrat’s first to get through the House. She was elected in November.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee Art Museum is offering free admission to veterans and active military members all summer starting on Memorial Day.

The museum is again participating in the “Blue Star Museums” program, where military families receive free or reduced summer admission to hundreds of museums across the country.

The Milwaukee Art Museum currently has on view an exhibit called “The Veterans Book Project: Objects for Deployment.” It highlights stories of veterans from throughout the country, including five local veterans and their families.

The museum will be free for veterans, active military and up to five additional family members through Labor Day.

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 85,000 veterans were treated last year for injuries or illness stemming from sexual abuse in the military, and 4,000 sought disability benefits, underscoring the staggering long-term impact of a crisis that has roiled the Pentagon and been condemned by President Barack Obama as “”shameful and disgraceful.”

A Department of Veterans Affairs accounting released in response to inquiries from The Associated Press shows a heavy financial and emotional cost involving vets from Iraq, Afghanistan and even back to Vietnam, and lasting long after a victim leaves the service.

Sexual assault or repeated sexual harassment can trigger a variety of health problems, primarily post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. While women are more likely to be victims, men made up nearly 40 percent of the patients the VA treated last year for conditions connected to what it calls “military sexual trauma.”

Ruth Moore of Milbridge, Maine, who was raped twice while serving in the Navy, testifies before the Veterans Affairs subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs on Capitol Hill in Washington in 2012. More than 85,000 veterans were treated last year for mental health and substance abuse problems connected to military sexual trauma and another 4,000 sought disability compensation, underscoring the staggering, long-term impact of this emerging crisis. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

It took years for Ruth Moore of Milbridge, Maine, to begin getting treatment from a VA counseling center in 2003 — 16 years after she was raped twice while she was stationed in Europe with the Navy. She continues to get counseling at least monthly for PTSD linked to the attacks and is also considered fully disabled.

“We can’t cure me, but we can work on stability in my life and work on issues as they arrive,” Moore said.

VA officials stress that any veteran who claims to have suffered military sexual trauma has access to free health care.

“It really is the case that a veteran can simply walk through the door, say they’ve had this experience, and we will get them hooked up with care. There’s no documentation required. They don’t need to have reported it at the time,” said Dr. Margret Bell, a member of the VA’s military sexual trauma team. “The emphasis is really on helping people get the treatment that they need.”

However, the hurdles are steeper for those who seek disability compensation — too steep for some veterans groups and lawmakers who support legislation designed to make it easier for veterans to get a monthly disability payment.

“Right now, the burden of proof is stacked against sexual trauma survivors,” said Anu Bhagwati, executive director of the Service Women’s Action Network. “Ninety percent of 26,000 cases last year weren’t even reported. So where is that evidence supposed to come from?”

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has said reducing the incidence of sexual assaults in the military is a top priority. But it’s a decades-old problem with no easy fix, as made even more apparent when an Air Force officer who headed a sexual assault prevention office was arrested on sexual battery charges.

“We will not stop until we’ve seen this scourge, from what is the greatest military in the world, eliminated,” Obama said after summoning top Pentagon officials to the White House last week to talk about the problem. “Not only is it a crime, not only is it shameful and disgraceful, but it also is going to make and has made the military less effective than it can be.”

The VA says 1 in 5 women and 1 in 100 men screen positive for military sexual trauma, which the VA defines as “any sexual activity where you are involved against your will.” Some report that they were victims of rape, while others say they were groped or subjected to verbal abuse or other forms of sexual harassment.

But not all those veterans seek health care or disability benefits related to the attacks. The 85,000 who sought outpatient care linked to military sexual trauma during the latest fiscal year are among nearly 22 million veterans around the country.

The VA statistics underscore that the problems for victims of sexual abuse do not end when someone leaves the service.

Psychological issues, including PTSD, depression and anxiety, are most common, according to the agency. Victims also can develop substance abuse problems.

Some victims like Moore are so disabled that they are unable to work. Others need ongoing care at VA outpatient clinics and hospitals.

In the final six months of 2011, an average of 248 veterans per month filed for disability benefits related to sexual trauma. That rose by about a third, to 334 veterans per month in 2012, an increase the VA attributed in part to better screening for the ongoing trauma associated with sexual assault. Of those who filed in 2012, about two-thirds were women and nearly a third were men.

“We do a lot more awareness, and as we educate everyone on the potential benefits and that it’s OK to come forward, I think you see an increase in reporting,” said Edna MacDonald, director of the VA’s regional office in Nashville.

To get disability benefits related to sexual trauma, veterans must be diagnosed with a health problem such as PTSD, submit proof that they were assaulted or sexually harassed in a threatening manner and have a VA examiner confirm a link to their health condition.

Many lawmakers and veterans groups support allowing a veteran’s statement alone to serve as the proof that an assault or harassment occurred. An examiner would still have to find there’s a link to the health condition diagnosed.

The VA’s records indicate that veterans seeking compensation related to military sexual trauma had about a 1 in 2 chance of getting their claim approved last year, up from about 34 percent in June 2011.

The VA does not break out the cost of treating and compensating individual veterans for sexual abuse or trauma. A veterans combination of disabilities are unique to each individual, so it’s not able to attribute specific spending levels for individual disabilities.

Benefits depend on the severity of the disability. For example, a veteran with a 50 percent rating and no dependents would get $810 a month. A veteran with a 100 percent rating and a spouse and child to support would get nearly $3,088 a month.

Moore estimates the government’s cost for her disability benefits and treatment could well exceed $500,000 over the course of her lifetime.

It wasn’t until June 2011 that the VA began recording monthly disability claims related specifically to military sexual trauma. Veterans file claims for conditions that are a result of the trauma, not for MST itself, which made it particularly difficult to track. The VA came up with a special process for doing so in 2010.

There’s no time limit to filing a claim. “We have veterans who call our help line who have been assaulted way back in time. They’re still suffering from the effects of World War II or Vietnam. I wish I were exaggerating,” said Bhagwati, whose organization advocates for female veterans.

The VA’s undersecretary for benefits, Allison Hickey, a 27-year veteran and former Air Force general, has required all workers handling disability claims to undergo sensitivity training in dealing with military sexual trauma.

Hickey also assembled a task force to review the claims process for veterans claiming sexual assault or harassment while serving in the military. The group looked at 400 claims and determined that nearly a quarter were denied before all the evidence was presented. That led to another training program on the evidence needed or establishing a PTSD claim connected to military sexual trauma. The approval rate is now much closer, though still slightly behind that for other PTSD claims.

Even though the VA’s statistics indicate that a greater percentage of military sexual trauma are getting benefits, lawmakers believe more action is required.

“If half of them are being denied their claims, that’s still a lot of people, said Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine.

Pingree and Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., are the lead sponsors of the legislation that would allow the veteran’s word to serve as sufficient proof that an assault occurred. The legislation is named after Moore, who spent years fighting for disability benefits.

The VA originally opposed Pingree’s bill, saying the legislation didn’t allow for the minimal evidence “needed to maintain the integrity of the claims process.” But VA spokesman Josh Taylor said Thursday that there’s been a change of heart and that the VA no longer opposes the legislation.

“VA supports the goals of the legislation, and will continue to work with Congress on the best approach to accomplish it,” Taylor said.

An amended version of Pingree’s bill passed the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs two weeks ago and could go to the full House as early as this week. The bill no longer requires the department to alter its regulations for military sexual trauma claims. Instead, the bill says that it’s Congress’ sense that the VA should update and improve its regulations regarding military sexual trauma. And until it does, it must meet extensive reporting requirements, which include a monthly report to all veterans who have submitted a claim that would, among other things, detail the number of claims relating to MST that were granted or denied, the three most common reasons for a denial and the average time it took to process a claim.

Supporters are hoping that the reporting requirements prove so cumbersome that the VA agrees to ease the evidentiary burden for the veterans.

Dave Denhardt, a former Marine, made a life-changing decision at age 38 to rejoin the military.

The Army National Guard welcomed him with open arms, made him an infantryman and sent him to one of the combat-plagued forward areas in Afghanistan.

Within a year, in April 2012, Denhardt’s base was hit by a rocket attack and he suffered severe head injuries that led to seizures, headaches and dizziness. Thankful to be alive within the “kill zone” of the explosions, Denhardt didn’t immediately realize how many health problems — and bureaucratic problems — he would soon face.

He had been thrust into another war. This time, he would be battling the military red-tape within the bureaucracy of the Army and the Veteran’s Administration.

That’s a war with more than 1 million casualties.

Medical personnel determined that Denhardt’s condition was permanent and he would need the assistance of a service dog. But then he was told that acquiring a special-needs dog from a nonprofit group associated with the VA would take four to six years. With the help of the VFW and a Muskegon Key Club, the Shelby Township resident in March was able to purchase a service dog from a for-profit agency in Fenton.

That was only the first hurdle cleared by a man who will likely never walk again without assistance.

Denhardt was not discharged, he was sent by the Army to a special unit for the wounded, the Warrior Transition Battalion at Ft. Knox in Kentucky, where he lives in the barracks.

But dogs are not allowed in the barracks. So Denhardt, who relies upon a wheelchair, travels back to his Macomb County home every weekend to become acclimated to his service dog.

“I’m being trained to work with the dog. It’s a bonding issue,” said Denhardt, a member of the Delta Company 237th Support unit based at the Michigan Light Guard Armory in Detroit.

But the process of winning approval for the service dog has involved numerous approvals at several levels within the Army and VA.

 ‘I push and I push’

“They’ve got all kinds of excuses on why they don’t want me to have the dog. They say, ‘If you get one, then everybody will want one,’” he explained.

Denhardt, now 40, is understandably frustrated because the reasons he needs a service dog are many: injuries to his head, neck and left arm; Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; a Traumatic Brain Injury; memory loss; frequent dizziness and lack of balance due to a destroyed ear drum; little use of his left hand due to numbness throughout his left arm; and the surgical removal of a portion of his left collar bone.

The dog, a golden retriever called Tank – a name chosen by Denhardt’s 5-year-old daughter — is trained in assisting people like Denhardt who suffer from PTSD, seizures and nightmares.

Yet, Denhardt is again improvising, seeking his own solutions due to a lack of VA and military assistance.

Denhardt’s wife is taking a 6-month leave from her job as a nurse so she can help her husband find off-base housing near Ft. Knox and assist him with the transition to a life dependent on Tank on a 24/7 basis.

“Of course I felt frustration and anger when things were spinning out of control. But I’m a very positive person and I push and I push and I push, trying to make the system work so I get things done,” he said.

In the meantime, Denhardt is pursuing a full-fledged retirement from the military for medical reasons. The average wait for approval: 405 days.

Waiting has become standard military procedure for our nation’s sick and disabled veterans.

The highly publicized backlog of veterans seeking VA benefits presents an average wait of 410 days in the Detroit area.

Yet, Macomb County veterans are fortunate. Macomb is one of the few counties in Michigan that levy a separate property tax, a millage, to help fund its Department of Veterans Affairs.

In 2012, Macomb became one of the first of Michigan’s 83 counties to create a Veterans Court for those facing non-violent criminal charges.

“Macomb did an excellent job in getting the millage passed. (MCVA Director Kermit Harris) and his department – they’re one of the best. So, you guys in Macomb are lucky,” said retired Brig. Gen. Carol Ann Fausone, who served 8½ years in the No. 2 military post in the Michigan National Guard, as the assistant adjutant general for the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

The county department acts as an advocate and a liaison between the veteran and the VA. The staff also helps vets with obtaining certified copies of military discharge papers, and service medals and ribbons.

The millage allowed the department to whittle down a 5-week waiting list to one or two weeks.

The number of service officers/counselors rose from two to five. In 2012, the department provided service to 7,511 vets, a 7.2 percent increase from 2011.

 Voters back vets

Macomb County voters first approved the small property tax for veterans services in 2008, reducing a five-week wait to see a service officer or counselor down to one or two weeks. The tax costs the average homeowner $3 to $5 per year but it generates about $1.3 million annually for the department.

When the millage came up for renewal in 2012, veterans groups expressed worries due to an anti-tax furor created by a new millage proposed to fund the Detroit Institute of Arts museum.

Doug Mills, senior vice commander of the Macomb County Council of Veterans Organizations, a coalition of about 50 veterans units, helped organize a successful millage renewal campaign.

“It’s like a brick wall between the vets and that (needed) care,” Mills said at the time. “What these (county) service officers do is help vets get over that wall. They know how to fight, how to do the paperwork and file appeals.”

The department also developed an innovative way to alert local veterans about the services offered in Macomb County. They produced a 2-minute public service announcement that will be shown repeatedly at local MJR theaters over the next several weeks.

The video, featuring department staff, will be shown several thousand times during the pre-preview portion of movie-going sessions at a cost of $20,000.

At the Macomb County Veterans Treatment Court, about half of those accepted to appear before the court suffer from PTSD, which often triggers substance abuse. Many others say their addiction started when they abused their war-related pain medication.

Participants go through intense probation in which they initially appear in front of a circuit court judge once a week and attend counseling sessions and Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous meetings multiple times per week. Court appearances gradually decrease to once per month as they progress through the program.

The special court represents just one example of the constant struggle by counselors and service officers associated with the county and veterans groups to educate veterans about the many programs available to them, even if they were not wounded on the battlefield or were discharged decades ago.

Benefits go unclaimed

Perhaps the greatest problem facing officials is the under-the-radar approach taken by veterans of the 1991 Gulf War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many younger former soldiers shun veterans groups such as the VFW or American Legion. Others seek to avoid the stigma of PTSD or emotional problems. They return home eager to turn the page, find a job, raise a family.

Many health issues associated with military service do not crop up until many months or years later.

“The first thing they want to do is go home. When you’re 22 years old, you think you’re immortal. You don’t think about things like veterans benefits,” said John Whitworth, a Macomb County Veterans Affairs counselor and a former 24-year Air Force veteran.

While major medical advances on the battlefield have saved countless lives, they have also left the nation with a large contingent of military amputees and veterans suffering from brain injuries. In fact, those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan average 8.5 disabilities per veteran, a rate nearly double that of veterans of earlier eras.

Whitworth was among a group of county and state officials who were disappointed when the attendees at a town hall meeting last week in Sterling Heights on veterans benefits were almost entirely senior citizens. Many of the vets were openly frustrated with slow VA services.

For some, anger with the VA dates back for decades. Ron Navicks, an Air Force veteran of the Korean War era rose to speak.

But as he did, the Shelby Township resident began thinking about friends and acquaintances who he believes received poor medical care when they returned home from Vietnam. He reflected on existing VA backlogs that are so long that some vets die before they receive their benefits. Though he was discharged from the service 55 years ago, the emotions are still raw.

“The young guys (from Iraq and Afghanistan) are fed up and the reason there’s such a disconnect …” he said, then paused for about 30 seconds as he struggled to fight back tears. “… is because there’s people who just don’t give a sh–. It’s so obvious to see — for the veterans — how we are used and then discarded.”

Some complaints center on the medical care and bureaucracy at the John Dingell Center in Detroit, the primary VA hospital for southeastern Michigan. But officials there point out that they recently opened a new wing – an entire floor – dedicated to mental health services. They also have a program focused solely on assisting homeless veterans.

VA solution

On Wednesday, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki announced that personnel at all 56 regional benefits offices will be put on overtime, through the end of September, to help eliminate the claims backlog. Numerous attempts to speed up applications for benefits have been stymied by the VA’s shaky effort to convert tons of Pentagon paper files into electronic records.

“The increased overtime initiative will provide more veterans with decisions on their claims and will help us achieve our goal of eliminating the claims backlog,” said Shinseki, a retired general, former Army chief of staff and a disabled veteran.

Shinseki said the waiting list will be eliminated in 2015, although there are many doubters.

According to the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, or IAVA, the VA backlog recently affected more than 1 million vets and now stands at 878,000. Some have waited up to three years to resolve their case.

VA officials point out that vets are also to blame, because they often supply incomplete information or fail to provide signatures on all documents submitted. In addition, the expansion of presumptive claims for Vietnam vets has led to a large expansion in benefit applicants.

Nearly four in 10 of those on the backlog list now consist of those who served in Southeast Asia.

At the same time, Michigan lawmakers have been busy pursuing new services or amenities for the state’s veterans.

A bill making its way through the state Senate would allow communities to exempt from property taxes all veterans in their locality who are 100 percent disabled.

Gov. Rick Snyder recently signed a bill that will provide a special designation on veterans’ driver licenses indicating their prior military service. With the special license, veterans can prove their military service without carrying documents, which allows them to easily obtain discounts and offers from retailers, restaurants and hotels.

A bill pending in the House, sponsored by a former Marine, Democratic Rep. David Knezek of Dearborn Heights would restore tax cuts lost by veterans and others in 2011. Knezek, who said his pay while serving as a lance corporal in Iraq was about $20,000, wants to boost the Earned Income Tax Credit back to its pre-2011 levels. The EITC, which benefits an estimated 12 percent of Michigan military families, provides income tax refunds to the “working poor.”

Michigan has 680,000 veterans, down sharply from 1 million just 10 years ago due to former soldiers dying or moving out of state because of the lagging state economy. The state has five federal VA hospitals and two state nursing homes for vets.

Figures show that Michigan ranks near the bottom of the 50 states, on a proportional basis, in receipt of the $44.4 billion in VA benefits annually paid directly to vets.

What’s more, state services for veterans face criticism.

A state-run nursing home for veterans in west Michigan was criticized in an internal audit last week for providing substandard care. The Department of Military and Veterans Affairs was cited for failing to supply an on-site psychiatrist since August 2011 at the Grand Rapids Home for Veterans. The state auditor general also found that the 430-bed facility lacked proper controls to safeguard food and medical supplies, including pharmaceuticals.

The biggest uphill battle, however, is simply alerting veterans to the compensation to which they are entitled.

Array of assistance 

Pension benefits for disabled veterans and vets age 65 or older can be substantial, depending on household income. The Aid and Attendance pension provides up to $1,632 per month, or a maximum of $1,949 for a married couple. A surviving spouse of a deceased veteran can receive a so-called “Widow’s Pension” of up to $1,055 monthly.

Other federal benefits offer health care, education and job training, scholarships, apprenticeships, home loans and tax credits, emergency financial assistance, counseling, home caregivers, mental health treatment, and payment of burial costs. The Michigan Veterans Trust Fund also provides assistance.

Fausone, the retired brigadier general who now runs a company based in Northville, Legal Help For Veterans, said that changes in VA policy mean that anyone who served on the ground in Vietnam is now assumed to have been exposed to the herbicide Agent Orange. In turn, the VA now offers benefits to Vietnam veterans on a “presumptive” basis for maladies such as diabetes, small-sickle cell anemia, heart disease and certain types of lymphoma and leukemia.

“A lot of our veterans don’t even know this is out there for them. Even a 30 percent disability can mean you will get benefits,” said Fausone, who served 34 years in the Air Force and the Air National Guard. Her advice to those who believe they may be eligible for some federal assistance: “Don’t go out there and think you can do this by yourself. It … is not easy navigating the VA.”

Still, some young veterans who distrust the government and have established no connections to local veterans groups rely upon a grassroots network of brothers in arms to provide solace when their ability to function in the homeland society falters.

At the town hall meeting, a co-sponsor, state Rep. Henry Yanez of Sterling Heights brought the room to a hush when he explained why one of the presenters scheduled to appear was a no-show.

Eric Cross, a veteran from Armada, had sent out a text that said a colleague and friend, Sgt. Ben Lewis, took his life on May 7.

Cross had served in Kosovo in the late 1990s and came back with cancer and PTSD, Yanez told the crowd. He was dispatched to Afghanistan recently and came back with leukemia and much worse PTSD.

In a post on Facebook, Cross admitted that his past bouts with depression, anger and sadness re-emerged in the wake of Lewis’ suicide. He said he used a sledge hammer to smash to pieces the cement walkway leading to his front door.

But then he offered this advice: “It takes a real man to ask for help.”

The additional online message from Cross that Yanez read to the stunned crowd was this: “To all the veterans that see this, there is hope. We will never be the same as we were before we left, but we need to lean on each other. There is a network of us who will not judge you, who will not turn a blind eye to you — with open ears and a sympathetic heart.”

If you’re looking to raise a glass to veterans this Memorial Day you might consider filling it with wine that will raise funds for them, too. A number of wineries are making the veterans-and-vines connection. And if you’re not so fine on wine, there’s even a liquor — Wild Turkey — that’s gotten into the spirit with a Boots and Bourbon campaign.

At the Murphy-Goode Winery in California’s Sonoma County wine country, winemaker David Ready Jr. says linking vines and vets was natural for his family. His great-grandfather served in World War I, he had two grandpas in World War II and his late father served in the early days of Vietnam.

So when he and his team came across Operation Homefront, a national organization that provides emergency financial assistance to military families, they knew they had a fit. “It’s an organization that’s just simply there to help out our active military families or veterans that need little things or big things,” he says.

Since fall 2011, the winery has donated more than $100,000 to Operation Homefront and is on track to donate $300,000 this year, partly through the release of a special wine, Homefront Red, scheduled for the holiday season. A portion of the winery’s profits will be donated to Operation Homefront and distributors also have agreed to donate part of their profits.

In a second initiative, the winery ran a “grill sergeant” campaign, looking for a veteran to serve as winery chef and tour the country for barbecue events. Meanwhile, the winery is wrapping up a Facebook campaign, “A Few Goode Heroes,” in which people nominated local heroes and winners got $1,000 donated to their charity of choice while the winery donated another $1,000 to Operation Homefront. The contest ends in June with a grand prize winner who will get to have the Murphy-Goode Grill Sergeant visit their town and throw a July 4th party in their honor.

“Wine is a lifestyle,” says Ready. “It’s not just a beverage. It’s not just a food. It’s a lifestyle and it’s about getting together with friends and laughing and sharing conversations and what better what to do that than throw a barbecue?”

After all, he says, a name like Murphy-Goode takes a little living up to. “We’re just trying to do good and be good and I think that’s really cool.”

At Valor Winery, a small winery in the Livermore Valley wine-growing region southeast of San Francisco, it’s all about the vets. The winery was founded in 2007 by Iraq War veteran Josh Laine, who got interested in the business through an ex-girlfriend who worked in the industry. Laine, who received three Purple Hearts, currently has 58 veterans on payroll and another 200 veterans who volunteer.

The winery has been producing 3,000 cases a year but plans to ramp up to 15,000 cases. Valor produces a sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, zinfandel and sangiovese. Proceeds go to the Vets & Vines Foundation created by Laine, which employs the vets. Working hard in the fields has “a couple of byproducts; one is camaraderie,” says Laine. Another benefit is mental and physical therapy.

“A lot of these veterans are getting back into shape; they go home tired at night. There’s a lot less fighting with their families and bills are getting paid,” Laine said, who also is in the process of adding a brewery.

McClean Vineyards, set in California’s Paso Robles wine country, is focused on helping returning soldiers with rehabilitation. McClean was founded by Vietnam War veteran Michael McClean. A Distinguished Service Cross recipient, McClean got interested in wine nine years after his return to civilian life when he enrolled in a wine class. McClean Vineyards has been open since 1993 and makes limited quantities of viognier (vee-ohn-yay, a delicate white wine) and syrah. Ten percent of proceeds from wine sales go to the Armed Forces Foundation.

Meanwhile, Rob Mondavi Jr., grandson of the pioneering vintner Robert Mondavi, partnered with ONEHOPE to help the families of veterans. ONEHOPE integrates causes into products including wine and coffee. Half of the profits go to various charities. Mondavi’s ONEHOPE Wine, a zinfandel, raises money for Snowball Express, an organization that supports families and children of fallen soldiers.

But if wine isn’t your style, check out Wild Turkey Bourbon. The whiskey company has teamed up with The Boot Campaign, which supports veterans through the sale and promotion of combat boots. The “Boots and Bourbon” initiative began in April and continues through September.

Wild Turkey will be holding in-store promotions highlighting the Boots Campaign, which has a mission of raising awareness about returning veterans’ issues, as well as raising money. Wild Turkey is donating $50,000 directly to the Boot Campaign, as well as encouraging consumers and friends in the industry to purchase 1,000 pairs of boots this year through various activities. The Wild Turkey team, including master distiller Jimmy Russell and associate distiller Eddie Russell, will be wearing combat boots on the job to reinforce the message.

ASHINGTON (AP) — With no broader budget deal in sight, a key House panel responsible for implementing sweeping cuts to agency budgets moved Wednesday to exempt veterans and largely protect spending on border safety and other homeland security programs in the coming year.

The strategy by the pragmatic House Appropriations Committee is to begin advancing a handful of its 12 yearly spending bills even as Republicans controlling the House and President Barack Obama are at an impasse over how much to lay out on the government’s day-to-day operations. Sweeping across-the-board spending cuts are taking hold for the ongoing 2013 budget year, pinching both the Pentagon and domestic Cabinet departments.

At issue in Wednesday’s legislation is how to allocate cuts for the 2014 budget year beginning Oct. 1. House Republicans have approved a broader budget plan to restore cuts to the Pentagon while making cuts to domestic agencies even deeper. Democrats strongly oppose the move saying it would mean harsh curbs on medical research, science programs, law enforcement agencies and a slew of other programs. They want to replace the cuts, known as sequestration, in their entirety.

Wednesday’s developments strike a compromise. The Appropriations subcommittee that oversees veterans and military construction projects approved a bill to boost funding for veterans’ medical care and claims processing. Their action stuck close to President Barack Obama’s requests.

“This will be a tough budget year, and almost every area of government will be affected by the austere funding levels caused by sequestration,” said Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky. “However, this legislation prioritizes spending to protect critical programs, including infrastructure for our troops, programs for our military families and the quality care our nation’s veterans deserve.”

Top Appropriations Committee Democrat Nita Lowey of New York endorsed the measure but predicted that only a handful of the 12 annual spending bills will advance while others are held in limbo, starved of money and awaiting a broader budget pact this fall.

Rogers also announced increases to homeland security programs like the Border Patrol in legislation to be approved by an Appropriations subcommittee on Thursday.

But maintaining funding for veterans and homeland security programs means that there will be even less money available for other domestic programs.

About this series:

American Homecomings is a project from Digital First Media that chronicles the lives of returning veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The award-winning project was launched more than a year ago and can be seen at www.chicoer.com/americanhomecomings.

The site features many topics of importance to returning veterans, including a searchable database for national veteran services such as counseling and job placement. The database was built by Warrior Gateway, which is partnering with Digital First Media on this project.

There are also blogs, news stories and many other resources on the site.

CHICO, Calif. — Izeck Hempseed went into the military directly from high school because he figured it would be his best path to eventually attend college.

“I knew my parents weren’t going to pay for anything,” said Hempseed, “and my dad was a colonel in the Air Force so I was already used to the military lifestyle.”

Despite that, he found that four years in the Marines was plenty.

“There was no way I was going to stay in, just because of the craziness that I saw,” said the former corporal. He served two tours of duty in Iraq and was discharged in 2008.

He’s now enrolled as a senior at Chico State University, joining the biggest flood of military veterans since World War II to seek higher education.

Veterans returning to school have more options than ever before, thanks to the generous educational benefits of a GI Bill revised after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Derek Evans, a student at Chico State and an official with the campus Veterans Affairs Office, said the bill covers tuition, fees, a $500 book allowance and a basic housing allowance of up to $1,500 per month, regardless of the school a veteran chooses to attend. Tuition covers up to $280 per unit and approximately 36 months of full-time schooling. The housing allowance is based on the cost of living for the nearest military installation.

Veterans with extended years of service may even transfer their education benefits to immediate family members.

Job prospects may be another reason veterans are going back to school in droves. For 2011, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said unemployment among veterans age 18 to 24 was at 30 percent, versus 18 percent for that age group in the general population.

Evans said former military members have an easier time securing educational benefits through his office than they do arranging for other types of assistance through the Veterans Administration. There is no limit to the number of veteran students who can be admitted to Chico State, and they can take advantage of several services and support organizations right on campus.

“Based on what is available here, Chico State has been recognized for three years in a row as one of the top 15 percent military-friendly schools in the nation,” noted Evans.

Certifying veterans for education benefits and getting them enrolled is a streamlined process that can take as few as three days, Evans said.

“Students don’t even have to come in to fill out the paperwork. They can send it from their (school) email, and we use that as their electronic signature.”

As troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan return home, Evans said the school is prepared to handle far larger enrollment numbers.

“I believe we’re expecting a higher number of new veteran students next semester than ever before,” he said.

 National trends

Traditional colleges and universities haven’t been the big winners, however, in attracting former military personnel seeking degrees.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, enrollment among veterans at for-profit private universities like the University of Phoenix sprinted past four-year public institutions in 2009-10, the first full academic year education benefits were available under the revised GI Bill. Community colleges also have seen big gains.

With a generally more serious attitude about school, and little interest in parties and pep rallies, veterans are opting for schools that will earn them a degree with fewer distractions, in the least amount of time.

The University of Phoenix had more than 21,000 veterans enrolled in 2012.

Larry Langwell, adviser to the Chico State Veterans Affairs Office, said a lot of veterans from the war in Iraq are approaching two years since discharge and just starting to decide what they want to do with their lives.

“About 97 percent of our veteran students come from community colleges, so we’ll see many of these students hit here in the next few years,” Langwell said.

Evans said veterans are generally well accepted by their professors and fellow students.

“I think they (professors) would agree that veterans are definitely a benefit in the classroom,” he said.

Evans noted that veterans generally confine sharing their service experiences to a lounge on the campus, where former military members can drop in to use free computers and enjoy a special brand of camaraderie.

“Sometimes, when you’re 10 years older, it’s hard to relate to students who are talking about the parties and what they did the night before,” Evans said.

Evans said service experience has a huge bearing on how well a student makes the transition from a restrictive military setting to a far more casual college environment.

“It may not even be combat related, but just the tougher circumstances you deal with in the military,” Evans said. He added that many veteran students face issues related to post-traumatic stress disorder, but several make it through to graduation, and some even earn advanced degrees.

Evans said he was diagnosed with PTSD and, in addition to educational benefits, is getting assistance based on a 30 percent disability. He noted that his experience in serving other veterans has helped him personally succeed in school.

Dan Torres, an official with the Veterans Service Office at Butte College, just outside of Chico, said veteran students are serious and motivated.

“When you join the military, you learn things,” Torres said. “Just like they did in the service, veteran students have a mission.”

BACK TO SCHOOL

The number of veterans or dependents using GI education benefits has skyrocketed:

2008: 541,439

2009: 564,487

2010: 800,369

2011: 923,836

2012: 945,052

Source: U.S. Veterans Administration