American Legion Post 93 Ceredo-Kenova has been working on a bill in Congress (HR 1901) to help veterans of Lebanon, Grenada, Panama and Korea. This bill would amend Title 38 and make these combat veterans eligible for the VA non-service connected disability pension.

This pension is paid only when a veteran becomes permanently and totally disabled and has limited or no income.

We commend Rep. Nick Rahall for introducing this bill for us. Rahall testified in support of the bill on the House floor and before the House Sub-Committee on Veterans Affairs.

We asked Rep. Shelley Capito to sponsor this bi-partisan bill. Her response was: "Should this bill reach the House Floor, I will be sure to keep it in mind."

On more than one occasion, we asked Sen. Jay  Rockefeller, a member and former chairman of the Senate Veterans Committee, to join Rep. Rahall in introducing a companion bill in the Senate and fight to see it become law.

Sen. Rockefeller's responses were: "HR 1901 is currently pending with the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, and I will certainly keep your concerns in mind if it is brought before the Senate for consideration," and the "tremendous deficits faced by our country are making it difficult to expand veterans' benefits as much as we would all like to see."

The Heritage Foundation lists 11,351 pork and earmarks amounting in the tens of millions of dollars crammed into appropriations bills by both houses of Congress: 6,651 in the House and 4,700 in the Senate.

With all due respect, these are the same representatives who have also made 33 groups of civilian employees, they say, "who provided military-related service" eligible for the same pension to be paid by the Veterans Administration.  Examples include U.S. civilian employees of American Airlines, civilian crewman of U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, United Airlines, Northeast and Northwest Airlines, and the operational analysis group of the office of Scientific Research and Development.

Some groups have been added since we started this fight five years ago to make these four groups of combat veterans eligible.

American Legion Post 93 Ceredo-Kenova has been working on a bill in Congress (HR 1901) to help veterans of Lebanon, Grenada, Panama and Korea. This bill would amend Title 38 and make these combat veterans eligible for the VA non-service connected disability pension.

This pension is paid only when a veteran becomes permanently and totally disabled and has limited or no income.

We commend Rep. Nick Rahall for introducing this bill for us. Rahall testified in support of the bill on the House floor and before the House Sub-Committee on Veterans Affairs.

We asked Rep. Shelley Capito to sponsor this bi-partisan bill. Her response was: "Should this bill reach the House Floor, I will be sure to keep it in mind."

On more than one occasion, we asked Sen. Jay  Rockefeller, a member and former chairman of the Senate Veterans Committee, to join Rep. Rahall in introducing a companion bill in the Senate and fight to see it become law.

Sen. Rockefeller's responses were: "HR 1901 is currently pending with the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, and I will certainly keep your concerns in mind if it is brought before the Senate for consideration," and the "tremendous deficits faced by our country are making it difficult to expand veterans' benefits as much as we would all like to see."

The Heritage Foundation lists 11,351 pork and earmarks amounting in the tens of millions of dollars crammed into appropriations bills by both houses of Congress: 6,651 in the House and 4,700 in the Senate.

With all due respect, these are the same representatives who have also made 33 groups of civilian employees, they say, "who provided military-related service" eligible for the same pension to be paid by the Veterans Administration.  Examples include U.S. civilian employees of American Airlines, civilian crewman of U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, United Airlines, Northeast and Northwest Airlines, and the operational analysis group of the office of Scientific Research and Development.

Some groups have been added since we started this fight five years ago to make these four groups of combat veterans eligible.

Our veterans from across the great nation were drafted, wore the uniform, trained and fought for this country.

Since the cease-fire in 1953, combat troops have been defending South Korea and have been engaged in many hostile actions from the North Koreans. The two sides are still technically at war. The Korean Defense Service Medal was authorized by Public Law 107-314 for those who have served in Korea subsequent to the cease-fire. Public Law 104-3 expanded eligibility in the VFW to veterans that have served within the territorial limits of South Korea after June 30, 1949.

On Oct. 29, 1983, 241 of our Marines died in a suicide attack on the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. By the time the hostility ended on Feb. 8, 1984, 270 Americans had died.

Some 20,000 Americans fought on or around Grenada between Oct. 23 and Nov. 21, 1983. Nineteen were killed and 116 were wounded.

In Panama, 27,000 courageous troops facilitated the overthrow of Gen. Manuel Noriega. Twenty-three were killed in action and 322 wounded between Dec. 20, 1989, and Jan. 31, 1990.

Public Law 101-478 expanded eligibility for the membership in the American Legion to Veterans of Lebanon, Grenada and Panama.

It has been said that the measure of a nation is gauged by the way its people honor their defenders. We are pleading with our elected representatives to step up to the plate and honor these defenders with the respect they deserve.

Hayes is the commander of the Ceredo-Kenova Post No. 93 of the American Legion.