VFW Post 2667

VFW Post 2667, the Coweta Veterans Club, and American Legion Post 57 are hosting a blood drive on Monday, August 24th, from Noon till 5:30. The drive will be held at the Veterans Club on Highway 29. If at all possible, please sign-up beforehand by calling 770-251-6949. Even if you don't sign-up early, show up at the Veterans Club on Monday the 24th to give this precious gift. All blood types are needed.

Commander John O'Connor Sr. Vice Commander Jeff Carroll Jr. Vice Commander Glenn Flake Quartermaster John Skinner Adjutant Dick Stender Chaplain David Jessel Trustee: 3-Year Dick Dennis Trustee: 2-Year Ron Freese Trustee: 1-Year Bobby Hammond Service Officer Joe Smith

VFW Post 2667 in Newnan is hosting its 2nd Annual $10 ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT Shrimp and Crawfish Boil on June 20 from Noon to 4 PM. The Boil will be at the Coweta Veterans Club on Highway 29. Children eat for $7. The Shrimp Boil is a fund-raising event supporting community service activities and some of the proceeds will go to the Family Readiness Group of the recently deployed 48th. The Southern Pride band will play live starting at 2:00. This band has opened for Brad Paisley and is scheduled to open for Kid Rock & Lynard Skynard. There will be door prizes and activities including limbo and corn hole games. Pull our your Hawaiian shirt and come on down to support local veterans.

Newnan's new Veterans Memorial Plaza will be dedicated May 25 during the annual Memorial Day program. Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2667 will conduct the community Memorial Day ceremonies at 11 a.m. Guest speaker will be John Gwizdak, VFW past national commander. Gwizdak, a retired Army officer, is a Vietnam veteran. He has been the featured speaker at similar events held all across the nation and has for 25 years been a champion for veterans programs here in Georgia. A short musical program will be presented by Northside Elementary School Chorus, under the direction of Miss Joan Nelms. VFW Commander Jeff Carroll said this year's program will pay homage to every name on the community Honor Rolls that will be the plaza centerpiece. "This is a change from our normal ceremonies, which for each of the last 12 years has honored one of Coweta's war dead," said Carroll. "This year, while we remember those men, we celebrate this wonderful community achievement t

ATLANTA - There is an under-used, special monthly pension benefit available to Georgia's wartime veterans and surviving spouses of deceased wartime veterans incapable of self support and in need of regular personal assistance. "Many wartime veterans and surviving spouses whose incomes are above the federally mandated limit for a basic VA pension may still be eligible for pension at the higher housebound or Aid and Attendance rate," points out Georgia Commissioner of Veterans Affairs Pete Wheeler. "Although this is not a new program, not everyone is aware of his or her potential eligibility." The Aid and Attendance pension benefit may be available to any wartime veterans and surviving spouses who have in-home care or who live in nursing-homes or assisted-living facilities. "Especially helpful if they have large medical expenses that they may not receive reimbursement," noted Commissioner Wheeler. For a wartime veteran or surviving spouse to qualify for

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced 3,174 Veterans have already been notified of the results of testing they underwent recently, that testing was conducted because of improperly reprocessed endoscopy equipment that may have been used in their care. These Veterans, in the Tennessee, Georgia and South Florida areas were among 10,555 Veterans sent letters offering free testing. VA patients, who believe that they may have been exposed to cross contamination, were patients that received endoscopic procedures at the VA’s Murfreesboro, TN, facility from April 2003 to December 2008 and the VA’s Augusta, GA, hospital from January 2008 to November 2008 and the VA’s Miami hospital from May 2004 to March 2009. As of April 1, 2009, 17 veterans have tested positive for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, or the Human Immunodeficiency (HIV) Virus. Five Veterans tested positive for Hepatitis B virus; eleven for Hepatitis C; and one for HIV. Of the positive test results, eleven

The Department of Veterans Affairs is in the preliminary stages of designing a medallion (IAW Public Law 110-57, December 2007) to be affixed to an existing privately-purchased headstone or marker to signify the deceased's status as a veteran. VA estimates the new medallion will be available in the summer of 2009. If requested, this new product can be furnished in lieu of the traditional headstone or marker. This benefit is only applicable if the grave is marked with a privately-purchased headstone or marker. In these instances, eligible veterans are entitled to either a traditional Government-furnished headstone or marker, or the new medallion, but not both. SOURCE: www.cem.va.gov/hm/hmtype.asp

Come see the Southern Pride band at the Coweta Veterans Club Friday night, April 17th. Just $5 cover to hear great music! Band starts @ 8:00 pm.

On April 13, Georgia National Guard's 48th Infantry Brigade Bravo Company Second Battalion will leave Newnan on the first leg of their deployment to Afghanistan. The community is encouraged to show support by lining the streets of Newnan to see them off. The company will travel to Camp Shelby, Miss., on April 13. The brigade will remain in Mississippi until the end of May/beginning of June, at which time they will deploy to Afghanistan. Approximately 130 soldiers are attached to the local brigade, which is based in Newnan at the Jackson-Pless National Guard Armory next to Newnan High School. Their mission abroad during the year-long tour will be to train and mentor the Afghan National Army. Roughly half of the 130 soldiers went with the brigade to Iraq in 2005. According to Newnan Police Chief Douglas L. "Buster" Meadows, the unit is scheduled to depart the armory at 10 a.m. -- though that time is subject to change -- and the route will take them to the Court