EARLY EDITION—Vietnam War Veterans Day | ODU ROTC Cadets Honored | TVLC | Ritaanns Ride for TBI
Weekly Report 🎖️
Many members of Outpost 1 are also members of Chapter 96 of the Vietnam Veterans of America. If you served in Vietnam, please consider joining the VVA. Click the logo to visit their website.
VIETNAM WAR VETERANS DAY
2026 NATIONAL EVENTS
https://vva.org/vietnam-war-veterans-day-2026-events/
Greetings, Team
14 Volunteers (including 8 attys and two FSU Law students) worked with 16 Veterans and family members Thursday, 3/26, for our TVLC Legal Clinic at American Legion Sauls Bridges Post 13. Plus we assisted at least 3 others by phone, in and out of state. Veteran Sam Adams, despite having already completed any court obligations for community service, worked again steadily Thurs from early setup to late closing. Big Bend 211’s Eddie McMillian showed his expertise assisting Veterans with unusual legal issues; Kathy Glasson also deserves special credit again filling in for folks who missed this week.
Kudo’s again to TVLC’s truck and trailer team this week-- Khalid Shafi, Charles Robinson, Sam Adams, Gregory Howard, and Eddie McMillian, Veteran volunteers who delivered the load of food and drinks again Wednesday from Quincy to several locations around Tallahassee.
This past Monday, March 23, the Veterans Court session saw several Veterans proceeding successfully thru the 4-phase program. Monday, April 6, 3 pm is your Next opportunity to observe a session of the Leon County Veterans Treatment Court (Leon County Courthouse, Courtroom 2E), and maybe you will consider becoming a Veteran Mentor for the Vets working their way through the program and recovery.
Redux:
No gubernatorial action yet on the bills passed by the 2026 Legislature: NEW VETERANS BENEFITS: Dental Benefits were expanded (HB 253), Veteran Housing subsidies were added when moving is delayed (SB 1602), among several Veterans bills on their way to the Governor. Since the appropriations process hasn’t been worked out as scheduled, the “Regular session” did not finalize the 26-27 Florida budget on time. Before session adjourned, though, more than a dozen Veteran-related bills were passed in one or both chambers in the usual Bipartisan co-operation, including the reform bill by Gen. Patt Maney strengthening the 34 Veteran Courts around the state! (HB 199). Also See www.flsenate.gov for info on the now at least 64 Veteran-related bills which were pending this year. Let us know if you want our “tracker” listing of the ongoing status of the bills, which we updated daily during the session. Some legislation passed may present potential harm to some Veterans if signed by the Governor; other bills fortunately died on the floor of one or the other chamber as the session ended last week.
One special need: The number of issues with the VA is outstripping our local resources to keep up with the complications, new claims, and VA delays; so, any other attorneys wanting to join our “VA Law team,” we need you, and have training and national legal resources available to bring you into the fray. Were you a JAG? Have you helped with Social Security or other federal agencies that you already have a headstart on picking up VA law?
Donations to TVLC from various events in recent months and ongoing supporters are helping Veterans successfully reinstate their Driver’s Licenses, sometimes after years of being unable to lawfully drive. The donations also provide gas for the weekly Food Delivery trips to Quincy for the various Veteran housing facilities around the region.
What else?
Thank you, Dan Hendrickson, for the Tallahassee Veterans Legal Collaborative www.Tallahasseeveteranslegal.com
PO Box 11091,
Tallahassee, Fl 32302,
850/ 570-1967
ODU Cadets Honored
The Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll and Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Weimer awarded eight meritorious service medals and two Purple Hearts to cadets from Old Dominion University Army ROTC during a private ceremony on March 22, 2026. The cadets from ODU were recognized for their bravery and sacrifice during the March 12 shooting incident in their ROTC classroom. The names of the cadets have not been released in order to respect their privacy.
| U.S. Army photo by Ian Ives
~Source DVIDS
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