Category: VA

Just as the sun rises every morning to give us light and warm our earth, sun salutations are a beautiful way to start our day. Sun salutations are a sequence of yoga poses that can be done as one movement and one breath while honoring the sun (the provider of all energy on earth). This…

This summer, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) honored the South Texas VA’s Integrated Medicine Fellowship Program (IMFP) and University of Texas Health San Antonio Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship with its HERO Award. The award was presented “For your unrelenting effort and extraordinary service and care you provided as frontline health care workers during the COVID-19…

Two doctors, a father and son team at Salem VA, began their journeys into medicine from very different starting points, but each believes their day is made all the better for being able to spend it with family. Dr. Placido DeGuzman is on his second stint with Salem VA. The first lasted nearly a decade…

The 2022 National Veterans Wheelchair Games All-Star Softball Team, made up of 15 Veterans from across the nation, took fourth place in Division 3 at the USA Wheelchair Softball World Series, August 4-6 in Chicago, Illinois. The Veteran athletes were nominated for the all-star team by their peers and coaches during the 2022 National Veterans…

On the anniversary of his Medal of Honor action, today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Veteran Alvin Cullum York, who fought during the Meuse-Argonne offensive. Alvin York was born in 1887 in a log cabin in the Indian Creek area of Fentress County, Tennessee. The third of eleven children, York’s family was impoverished. York only attended school…

As we prepare to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month, now is the perfect time to remember that, at VA, our goal is to grow a diverse workforce and cultivate an inclusive work environment representative of our Veteran population. We believe that by capitalizing on the diversity of our team and purposefully embracing inclusion, we create…

Automated technologies are increasingly common in various everyday scenarios—whether it be in sorting mail, finding the best path to drive to the office, or in accessing specific services. Automated technologies, including when used with artificial intelligence (AI), pose new questions on how to ensure such systems are accountable, protect civil rights, and work for the…

Secretary McDonough is on official travel in Seattle, WA today. Author: Dominique Ramirez

Seeing a doctor can be a challenge for people living in rural communities. Whether it’s because of a provider shortage, distance to a hospital or lack of broadband, it’s not always easy to get care when you need it. That’s why VA is making it easier than ever for Veterans to access health care. Nearly…

Traumatic brain injury, or TBI, often stems from physical impacts to the head or acceleration/deceleration injuries―where the brain strikes the inside of the skull. But what about brain injury caused by a blast wave from an explosion? Should that type of brain injury be considered distinct from a TBI caused by a physical impact? The…

This week’s America250 salute is Army Veteran Leroy Petry. Leroy Petry was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and had an ambition to serve his country since he was seven years old. Petry enlisted in 1999. He served as a rifleman, grenadier, squad automatic rifleman, fire team leader, rifle squad leader, assistant operations sergeant, weapons…

October 5, 2022: John Thurman John Thurman served in the Marine Corps during World War II, fought on Iwo Jima and saw the famous flag raising on Mount Suribachi. When John “Jack” Thurman first learned about his great-uncle’s military service in the Marine Corps, he knew that he, too, would serve. That uncle, Walter Torrey,…