INDIANAPOLIS (April 23, 2023) – A home-schooled senior from Indianapolis capped a busy weekend of competition in her home city by earning a $25,000 college scholarship and first place in The American Legion High School Oratorical Scholarship Program – “A Constitutional Speech Contest.” Haley Bock’s winning prepared oration was titled “The Black Hole of American Democracy: American Territories are Where Voting Rights Vanish.”
Bock started the weekend as one of 49 state or department champions in the 84th annual contest. She advanced to the championship through three rounds of intense competition. She was sponsored by American Legion Post 3 in Indianapolis.
Ian Chung, a senior from Vestal, N.Y., earned a $22,500 college scholarship with a second-place finish, while Emma Johnson, an 11th grade student from Powell, Wyo., earned $20,000 and third place in the competition. The scholarships account for a small portion of post-secondary scholarships that The American Legion, the nation’s largest veterans organization, awards annually.
In her prepared oration, Bock opened her remarks about Luis Segovia, a U.S. citizen and Guam resident who served tour tours in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Illinois National Guard.
“Luis Segovia was willing to give his life for his country,” she said. “He protected Iraqi citizens’ right to vote. But back home in America, Luis, along with four million residents of the American territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands were denied their right to vote.”
“They’re calling out but they’ve yet to be heard,” she concluded. “So, who will give them their voice? When will we all speak out, rise together, and grant those the rights they too have fought for and deserve?”
In each round of the weekend competition, orators delivered a rehearsed 8- to 10-minute address and a randomly assigned 3- to 5-minute oration on a constitutional topic, each without the benefit of notes and in front of a live audience, including the judges. The nearly 1.7-million-member American Legion developed the contest to encourage young people to improve their communications skills and to study the U.S. Constitution. More than $3 million in scholarships have been awarded over the history of the contest.
INDIANAPOLIS (April 22, 2023) – Out of an original 49 contestants, only three remain as finalists in The American Legion High School Oratorical Scholarship Program, “A Constitutional Speech Contest.” The three survived two intense rounds of competition today and will vie for the championship during tomorrow’s finals which will be webcast live at 10 am Eastern Time on www.legion.org and on Facebook live at The American Legion National Headquarters page.
The top prize, a $25,000 scholarship, will be awarded to Haley Bock of Indianapolis, Ian Chung of Vestal, N.Y. or Emma Johnson of Powell, Wyo. The second and third place winners after tomorrow’s competition will receive $22,500 and $20,000 scholarships respectively. Each of the 49 competitors are department (state or regional) champions.
The other 15 semi-finalists who competed in this afternoon’s competition are Mahee Haswani (Calif.), Mae Webster (Colo.), Nurfat Ishaque (Fla.), Andrew Fleming (Ga.), Bridger Benson (Idaho), Thanvee Paga (Iowa), India Young (Ky.), Andrew Kil (Mich.), Emily Aloise (N.H.), Guhan Krishnan (Ohio), Jesse LaBahn (Okla.), Henry Overbay (S.C.), Abigail Whicker (Tenn.), Trenton James McMillen (Va.) and Emma Lo (Wash.).
The contest, now in its 84th year, encourages young Americans to improve their communications skills and study the U.S. Constitution. Approximately 6,000 high school students begin competition annually at The American Legion post-community level. More than $3 million in scholarships have been awarded since the inception of the program. The national contestants all competed in Indianapolis, the headquarters city for The American Legion. Previous champions include former presidential candidate Alan Keyes, the late Sen. Frank Church and writer Brent Bozell.Jr. Former Vice President Mike Pence and commentator Lou Dobbs are past state champions.
WASHINGTON (March 31, 2023) – The head of the nation’s largest veterans organization called on VA to assure student veterans who have been impacted by missed Post-9/11 GI Bill housing stipends today to “quickly make the situation right and assure veterans that it never occurs again.”
“Veterans understand that when they fail in uniform, the only acceptable responses are ‘no excuses!’ and ‘I’ll correct it!’ This is the type of response that The American Legion expects VA to offer all the students who were expecting their housing stipend today,” said American Legion National Commander Vincent “Jim” Troiola. “Yesterday, a senior VA official assured us that their inspector general has been notified and the department is working to ensure that electronic payments reach veterans by Monday and checks are mailed out that same day. They are going to conduct a root cause analysis and contact schools to ensure that they are aware of what occurred. VA will also provide letters to veterans to share with creditors. These measures are a good start. The American Legion understands that when mistakes occur, it is the corrective response that is most important. The American Legion has always believed that VA has a responsibility to serve veterans as well as veterans have served this country. We expect VA to quickly correct whatever flawed process led to this error and ensure that veterans are not further inconvenienced by this delayed payment.”
WASHINGTON (March 24, 2022) – The head of the nation’s largest veterans organization double-downed on the Secretary of Veterans Affairs’ assurances that proposed Congressional Budget Office cuts to the VA budget will not happen.
“In remarks to the media yesterday, Secretary (Denis) McDonough said of proposed cuts ‘We don’t think that’s a good idea…Nobody inside VA is talking about it, nobody in the executive branch and I haven’t heard anything about it from Congress…We’re not going to do it,’” Vincent “Jim” Troiola, national commander of The American Legion said. “The American Legion agrees with Secretary McDonough. Veterans have sweated, bled and sacrificed for this country. There is absolutely no way The American Legion would allow unelected bureaucrats from the CBO to reverse the hard-fought gains that veterans have made over the last couple of years. The administration and Congress deserve great credit for last year’s passage of the PACT Act. The American Legion is committed to ensuring that the promises made to veterans are promises kept.”
Troiola pointed out that the CBO is not a deliberating body and does not have the authority to cut veterans benefits. “What I can assure veterans and their families is that The American Legion has a strong legislative team that monitors such proposals, and we would use our loud pulpit to ensure that members of Congress know that such suggestions should be considered dead on arrival.”
What a wonderful week we had visiting the State Capitol Building and many of our Legislators! Our busy day began with a “Know Before You Go” briefing with donuts and coffee. We broke down into Teams and took off to the capitol building.
Our visitations took us to 12 different Legislators to discuss many items. The American Legion’s first priority was funding for our Boy’s State/Girl’s State program. This is through a higher education appropriation which offsets costs and is paid directly to Florida State University. This appropriation helps us keep our costs per delegate at a reduced rate.
While many of the bills were discussed, with each legislator we focused more on our relationships with each of them. Brainstorming on ideas of possible future legislation and appropriations was discussed.
Here is a list of legislators that we met with:
Representative Duggan
Representative Smith
Representative Benjamin
Representative Gregory
Representative Snyder
Representative Giallombardo
Representative Casello
Representative Holcomb
Representative Dunkley
Senator Burgess
Senator Torres
Alex Vargo, External Affairs Director for The Speaker of House
Click here for legislation that is being tracked with the actions under each item of where the bill is currently sitting.
Jonathan Marrero, RN/rTMS Operator; Dawn Mossing, Nurse Manager, Outpatient MH; Dr. Snehal Kadia, MD, Psychiatrist- Somatic Treatment Program; Dr. Roopa Chavda, MD, Psychiatrist/Program Manager, Somatic Treatment Program; Sandra Montanez, RN/ rTMS Operator
The Orlando VA Health Care System (OVAHCS) has launched a revolutionary program to treat Veterans with serious mental health disorders at the Orlando VA Medical Center in Lake Nona, Orlando, Fla.
The Somatic Treatment program is comprised of three treatment regimens. Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT), Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Rtms), and Intranasal Esketamine which are offered to patients who undergo a thorough psychiatric evaluation, and who have received a medical clearance by their provider.
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT): ECT is available at OVAHCS for inpatients as well as outpatients, and indicated for treatment resistant depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia not responding to medications
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS): The ideal candidate will have tried at least two antidepressant medications at adequate doses for an optimal duration and have considered ECT. This treatment is used for those with treatment resistant depression.
Intranasal Esketamine: Ideal candidates are less than 65 years old who have tried and failed at least four antidepressant medications (adequate doses and duration) with at least two trials augmented with appropriate medications (antipsychotics, second antidepressant, Lithium, T3) has been considered for ECT, has another adult to accompany them during their session, and agrees to stay and be monitored for at least two hours post administration. Treatment is provided to those with treatment resistant depression and acute suicidal ideations.
“To date, we have treated 15 Veterans with serious mental health disorders who have seen firsthand the positive benefits of the Somatic Treatment Program,” said OVAHCS Psychiatrist, Dr. Roopa Chavda. “We know that this treatment works and are hopeful that Veterans continue to seek out additional ways to overcome their mental health challenges through treatment opportunities like these.”
Veterans interested in the Somatic Treatment program can ask for a referral from their mental health provider. For additional information, please call: 407-631-4762.
Orlando’s Major League Soccer club, Orlando City Soccer Club has set up an exclusive offer for this season for Florida Legion members! Receive a complimentary ticket with the purchase of one discounted ticket for select 2023 games. We hope you take advantage of this exclusive offer, as an expression of gratitude for your membership and involvement with the Florida Legion!
With deep regret we report the passing of Past 15th District Commander George T. Pinner, Jr. of Tampa, Florida, who passed away on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, at the age of 91. He is survived by his Children; 2 daughters: Debbie Pinner and Sandy Riley; two sons: George T. Pinner, III (Chip) and Michael McHerron.
On May 12, 1956, he married the love of his life Betty Lee. He worked for CXS railroad for 40 years (previously named Atlantic and Seaboard Coastline). After the passing of his beloved wife, George met Jeannie York, with whom he spent the last 21 years. Sadly, Jeannie passed away 16 days before George.
George was a U.S. Army Korean War Veteran. He was a member of Tampa Post 152 with 36 continuous years of membership. George served as Post Commander from 1998-1999 and 2000-2001 and 15th District Commander from 2002-2003. He also served on many committees and was very involved with Boys State.
The Burial Service will be held at 1 pm on Thursday, March 23, 2023, at the National Cemetery in Bushnell. A Celebration of Life will be held at 1 pm on Saturday, March 25, 2023, at Tampa Bay Community Church, 3318 Moran Rd, Tampa, Florida 33618.
In lieu of flowers, his family requests donations to Hospice of Tampa or Tampa Bay Community Church.
Leader of Nation’s Largest Veterans Organization Urging Congress
to Oversee Implementation of PACT Act, Address Veteran Suicide
WHEN: Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 10:00 am ET.
WHERE:Room #50, Dirksen Senate Office Building – Capitol Hill
WHO: Vincent “Jim” Troiola, National Commander of The American Legion, will represent the organization’s nearly 1.7 million members when he speaks to lawmakers about the implementation of the promises made by the PACT Act, suicide prevention, health care for veterans and quality of life for military and family members.
WHAT: Commander Troiola’s testimony in a joint session of the House and Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs, will point out that U.S. Coast Guard members risk going unpaid in the event of a future government shutdown, many military retirees still pay a “disabled veterans tax,” the U.S. Flag Code needs modernization and many other issues of importance for the veteran community. The testimony will be streamed live on www.legion.org
Leader of Nation’s Largest Veterans Organization, National Leaders to Address Public Policy Priorities of American Legion
WHEN: February 28, 2023, at 8 am-12:45 pm
WHERE:International Ballrooms, Concourse Level, Washington Hilton Hotel 1919 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC 20009
WHO: Vincent “Jim” Troiola, National Commander of The American Legion, will address members of the nation’s largest veterans service organization as they prepare to visit Congress to discuss the organizations top legislative priorities. Commander Troiola will also testify before a joint session the House and Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs on March 1 at 10 am. Other Speakers at the February 28th “Commander’s Call” include Ukraine Ambassador to the U.S. Oksana Markarova, VA Secretary Denis McDonough, Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.; Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill.; Rep. Mark Takano, D-Calif.; Brig. Gen. Stephen J. Lightfoot (USMC); and other distinguished leaders involving the veterans community.
WHAT: Commander Troiola, the Ukraine ambassador, the VA Secretary and other speakers will address The American Legion’s concerns about the state of VA health care, the U.S. military, national security and other issues of importance to American veterans.
