Carson American Legion post earns award from national commander

Carson City's American Legion post, Capitol Post No. 4, was honored by the legion's national commander on Tuesday night.

American Legion National Commander John Brieden awarded the post with the Brieden's Rangers Ribbon for renewing 100 percent of its membership by Jan. 11. The post also earned a meritorious service award for enrolling a membership equaling or surpassing the post's all-time high.

Post Commander Tod Jennings said "I had a membership team that reached out and made the contacts. And there's a kind of a renewed patriotism.

"Plus the American Legion is active. We're not the only post in town, Post 56 is active as well, so there is a lot going on - a lot of opportunity to do things."

Jennings said he is most proud of Operation Recognition. The operation lobbied for and was successful in passing Assembly Bill 52, allowing veterans who left to serve in a war without finishing high school earn their diploma and graduate.

"We lobbied hard for that at every workshop every hearing. We believed the veterans who did leave school deserved to graduate," he said.

Brieden has been in Nevada since last week, when he was on hand for Veterans Affairs secretary Tony Principi's approval of a new VA hospital in Las Vegas and four new clinics in Nevada.

Brieden spent Tuesday morning touring the Capitol and the afternoon on the links at Genoa Lakes. On Monday, he stopped by Fallon where he said it is vital for U.S. veterans to become informed and politically active.

Veterans issues can be complicated all by themselves, but the obligatory spin of political candidates can make them downright unintelligible, said Brieden. So the legion is embarking upon its Impact 2004 campaign to encourage voting and inform poll-bound veterans.

"We're a non-partisan organization, but we want to get the information in front of veterans so they can make an informed choice," Brieden said.

The legion's overall goal is to secure better funding for VA programs aimed at helping American veterans, Brieden said, adding it would take close to $4 billion to fund VA programs to what the legion considers an appropriate level.

While the VA plan has been criticized by some veterans as taking away more than it's adding, Brieden said it will help the agency become more efficient.

The plan unveiled Friday called for construction of 156 to 200 new clinics, two new hospitals and the closure of three others. Brieden said the clinics, slated for areas with growing veteran populations, would save some veterans the task of trekking out to one of the nation's crowded VA hospitals.

"We don't want people driving 400 miles for health care," he said.

Veterans issues have been gaining more attention lately, as the war in Iraq continues and the casualties that accompany war accrue.

Many soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are severely wounded, Brieden said, and will require medical treatment for the rest of their lives.

"You haven't seen the cost of this war yet," Brieden said.

Whatever that cost amounts to, a country that sends people into battle is obligated to pay it.

"Our job is to make sure they live up to that obligation," Brieden said.

- Reporter Cory McConnell contributed to this report.