Sarasota Veterans Commission

The following are excerpts from a November 2007 article in the American Legion Magazine by Ralph Peters, a retired Army officer, military expert and author. He lists the twelve myths about war. It is time to re-read what Colonel Peters said then and apply his wisdom to today's reality of victory over Al Qaeda in Iraq. For the full article go here.Myth No. 1: War doesn't change anything. This campus slogan contradicts all of human history ...We need not agree in our politics or on the manner... Read Full Story

This is a letter from guest columnist Lee Kichen sent to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Lee is a retired Army Lieutenant Colonel, legislative Chair for the Veterans of Foreign Wars and Past President of the Sarasota County Veterans Commission. For nearly ten years a major legislative priority of the National Organization of the Veterans of Foreign Wars has been a “GI Bill for the 21st Century”. We are extremely gratified that this Congress is now recognizing the importance of reforming... Read Full Story

New York Daily News, Wednesday, July 9th 2008, 9:26 PM With his combat medals on his chest, Vietnam War hero Rudy Thomas Sr., takes citizenship oath Wednesday at Brooklyn Federal Courthouse. This disabled Vietnam veteran paratrooper with three Purple Hearts is no longer a man without a country. Wednesday, 40 years after limping home from Vietnam, Rudy Thomas, 64, a Trinidadian immigrant, took the Oath of Citizenship in the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse. Now he is an official American... Read Full Story

In a recent column we asked when was the last time the liberal Sarasota Herald-Tribune editorial board addressed veterans issues. Well today they have an editorial titled, "One Pearl's wisdom". It is the great story about an English woman Pearl Cornioley who died last month and was, "a member of the select Special Operations Executive, which the British government formed to coordinate the resistance in occupied countries of Europe.Cornioley's initial assignment as a secret agent was to pose... Read Full Story

I just returned from a naturalization ceremony conducted by the Department of Homeland Security at the Tampa Convention Center, Tampa, FL. We took a friend there to be with her at her naturalization because her husband could not. He is in the Merchant Marine and on a Navy ship in the Pacific. At this first of two ceremonies scheduled in Tampa for today, July 4th, 709 men and women from 90 different countries took the oath to "support and defend the constitution of the United States... Read Full Story