Two guest speakers brought the committee up to date on the region's involvement in long term care for our veterans and regional opportunities to support the troops still serving in harms way. First, a representative of the Red Cross who works with Traumatic Brain Injury veterans at the McGuire VA facility talked about the challenges these individuals face and what positions are available for local residents who want to volunteer to help. It was interesting to hear about this type of rehabilitation and the long (sometimes lifetime) ordeal that many of our soldiers still face even when they are safely back home in the states.
After that, Seth Khan of the VCU Student Veteran's Association talked about his experience serving in Iraq focusing on how much he and his fellow soldiers enjoyed getting care packages and what Richmond area residents can do to get in contact with a soldier that they can send care packages and letters to. Seth was an intern in Senator Webb's office and is now preparing for law school. He is an immigrant to the United States and after graduating high school joined our armed forces. Don't be surprised if you hear this young man's name mentioned for office in the near future. He's got a great resume, spoke well and even handled some pretty tough "off topic" questions from the committee about troop draw downs with ease.
It was refreshing in the middle of campaign season to see a group of committed Democrats put election concerns to the side for one night to learn as much as they can about our troops and what they can do on a personal level to help support them. Way to go, CCDC.
Of course, the Republicans killed this bill in the last session. After all, it's much easier to put a yellow ribbon magnet on your car than actually do something legislatively to make the lives of our veteran's families easier.