FederalDaily - April 9, 2007
Regiment to Focus on Wounded Marines, Sailors
In an effort to help wounded combat veterans, the Marine Corps has created a new regiment focused
on tracking and assisting injured Marines and sailors as they navigate their own recovery back home.
It is the first such Corps regiment to have sole responsibility for tracking the wounded, Marine Col.
Gregory Boyle said on April 4. The effort will have a single database and tracking system to help streamline
the transition process and help Marines cut through red tape. The Wounded Warrior Regiment also will
help injured servicemembers plot a course through the medical evaluation boards, assist in the processing
of life insurance claims and offer referrals to charitable nonprofit organizations, Boyle said. “The
mission of the Wounded Warrior Regiment is to provide and facilitate assistance to wounded, ill and
injured Marines, sailors and their families throughout the phases of their recovery,” Boyle
said. The regiment will have headquarters in Quantico, Va. To see more, go to: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=32698
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VA Searches for Living WW I Vets
As the number of living veterans of World War I continues to dwindle, the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA) is asking for the public’s help in identifying those few who are still alive. Of the approximately
4.7 million U.S. men and women who served in the armed forces during World War I, the VA knows of just
four still surviving, VA Secretary Jim Nicholson said April 4. The agency only learns the identity
of veterans when they apply for benefits and must seek the public's help to find those who don’t
apply. “These veterans have earned the gratitude and respect of the nation,” Nicholson
said in a statement. “We are coming to the end of a generation that helped bring the United
States to the center of the international arena.” To qualify as a World War I veteran, someone
must have been on active duty between April 6, 1917 and Nov. 11, 1918. The four known survivors are:
John Babcock, 102, of Puget Sound, Wash.; Frank Buckles, 106, of Charles Town, W. Va.; Russell Coffey,
108, of North Baltimore, Ohio; and Harry Landis, 107, of Sun City Center, Fla. To see more, go to: http://www1.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=1318
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Bush Grants Dudley a Recess Appointment
Bypassing the normal nomination process, President Bush on April 4 gave a recess appointment to Susan
Dudley, allowing her to serve for the next two years as regulatory czar at the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB). Dudley will head OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, a low-profile
but powerful office which can set government-wide policies and work with agencies to draft rules. Dudley’s
nomination got into trouble in the Senate over her close ties to industry and laissez-faire approach
to regulation. Advocacy groups were angered by the appointment. “This is devastating news for
the public,” said Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook. “Dudley has a record of unrelenting
hostility to regulatory protections for the public health, safety, consumers, the environment, privacy
rights—everything that we expect our government to provide.” Dudley’s recess appointment
could extend through January 2009— effectively until the end of the Bush presidency. To see more,
go to: www.publiccitizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=2411
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