密歇根新闻广播 老兵问题依然没有解决

 

On this Veterans Day, we're 10 months into Governor Gretchen Whitmer's term. Air Force veteran Stephanie Zarb helped advise Whitmer's campaign for governor as co-chair of the Veterans for Whitmer group. Zarb told Stateside that despite Whitmer's promises to make sure veterans get the benefits to which they are entitled, the administration has actually made it harder for veterans to access those benefits.

In October, Whitmer cut funding for the County Veteran Service Fund Grant and the Buddy-to-Buddy Volunteer Veteran Program from her budget. These two services are critical in connecting veterans to their federal benefits, said Zarb.

My issue is not that veteran programming got cut, Zarb said. The problem is what got cut are the programs that help veterans connect to their benefits. And so it doesn't matter how good your other programs are. Even if those programs find veterans, if they can't access a VA-accredited service officer to give them access to their federal benefits, those other benefits aren't as important.

The Veterans Benefits Administration is responsible for determining whether veterans are eligible¹ for benefits, not connecting them to opportunities. VA-accredited service officers are the people navigating² the available resources and passing on that information to veterans.

In Michigan there are approximately 600,000 veterans—the 11th highest population of veterans in the nation. Most of the state's veterans are from the Vietnam era, and services were limited when they came home in 1975, said Zarb.

I think most people would say we failed them when they came home, and we have continued to fail them for 50 years, Zarb said.

Last month, the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency (MVAA) leadership embarked³ on a 13-stop listening session. The stated goals are to make sure veterans are heard, their questions are answered, and to get more of Michigan's nearly 600,000 military veterans connected to federal benefits. But, Zarb said, the MVAA spent $4 million on a similar listening tour just a few years ago.

These questions have been asked, and they've been answered, Zarb said. And our Vietnam veterans really don't have the time to go through a whole other cycle.

1 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

2 navigating   

v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的现在分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃

参考例句：

• These can also be very useful when navigating time-based documents, such as video and audio. 它对于和时间有关的文档非常有用，比如视频和音频文档。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Vehicles slowed to a crawl on city roads, navigating slushy snow. 汽车在市区路上行驶缓慢，穿越泥泞的雪地。 来自互联网

3 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。