Veterans’ Services

To the Board of Selectmen:

The following report is submitted for the year ending December 31, 2006.

Financial and/or counseling service was extended, as necessary, to veterans or their dependents residing in East Longmeadow during 2006. The Massachusetts Department of Veterans’ Services continues to mail information packets to military personnel returning from duty in the Middle East. The packets (also available through the Massachusetts Department of Veterans’ Services web site) describe how returnees go about receiving various services.

We will assist veterans to obtain a copy of their discharge paper DD-214 or other pertinent discharge records if for some reason they are lost. Improvements to this process are now in effect.

I encourage all veterans to visit the VA Medical Clinic on Bond Street in Springfield or the VA Hospital at Leeds (Northhampton, MA), even if they are in perfect health at this time. They should fill out an application for the Veterans Universal Access Identification Card, just in case they require medical assistance in the future. They must have a copy of their discharge paper, DD 214 or other suitable record of military service to apply. (Even if they are in good health now, they should apply for the card.)

Monthly coffee hours will be scheduled from January through April of 2007. Speakers of interest to veterans will be scheduled and announced through the East Longmeadow Senior Centers’ Newsletter and local news media. The speaker for our January and February meetings will be Maryann Lyman the Manager of Patient Accounts and Supervisor of Enrollment/Eligibility for the VA Medical Center & Clinics.

Veterans and/or their dependents, who are legal residents of East Longmeadow, are invited to use this Department’s Services by telephoning the Selectmen’s office at 413-525-5400 ext. #1.

Respectfully submitted,

George W. Herrick III

Veterans’ Services Officer