Vfw Leader Sees Fight For Health Benefits Finding Remains Of Korean War Vets Also A Priority
The Veterans of Foreign Wars’ top is sues this year are protecting health care benefits, supporting U.S. troops in Bosnia and finding the remains of soldiers lost during the Korean War, the VFW’s national leader said Saturday.
John Moon, commander in chief of the 2.1 million-member organization, was in Spokane to address the Washington VFW’s midwinter conference.
A powerful lobbying group, the VFW is the nation’s second largest veterans group after the American Legion.
Moon, a 49-year-old former Marine who served in Vietnam, hopes to use some of that clout to safeguard veteran health spending.
“What we’re afraid of is that attempts to balance the budget and cost-cutting on both sides of Congress may jeopardize needy veterans,” said Moon, of Grover Hill, Ohio.
The VFW is concerned by President Clinton’s plans to substitute a portion of the Department of Veterans Affairs budget with reimbursements from third-party payers, such as insurance companies.
“These reimbursements clearly are not adequate to offset the effects of inflation. Even VA’s overly optimistic estimates of the annual increases in collections amount to little more than one-half of 1 percent of VA’s annual medical budget,” the VFW stated in a letter to Clinton last week.
The VA’s tightening budget comes at a time when World War II and Korean War veterans have greater need for medical care, Moon said.
On the international front, the VFW opposed Clinton’s December announcement to extend the stay of U.S. forces in Bosnia.
“We feel that the troops should come home. The European community can now manage that crisis,” Moon said.
“However, now that the decision has been made, we will support our troops there.”
In Southeast Asia, the VFW has been negotiating with North Korea for permission to excavate old battlefields in hopes of finding the remains of more than 8,000 U.S. servicemen missing from a war fought 45 years ago.
VFW officials have been meeting with North Korean leaders since 1992 to address the issue. Moon will travel to North Korea this summer to further discuss the issue.
From May through September, there will be some excavations of North Korean battlefields, Moon said.
About 300 veterans and auxiliary members are attending the three-day conference, which ends this morning at Cavanaugh’s Inn at the Park.
, DataTimes