Honor

Today I honor my veteran father who passed away 4 years ago at age 48 after battling ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) for 5 years. He and my mom played a large role in having a bill passed by our government for giving proper healthcare aid to veterans with ALS. The bill now allows all veterans with ALS to have the highest level of VA benefits without having to prove that their disease is service related. In the past they had to fight to get any benefits, and it just isn't right that people who serve our country in some form have to also fight the government in order to receive health benefits that are due to them, especially when there has been so much evidence of service related onset of ALS in veterans of overseas service, which my dad was. He served in Saudi Arabia and in Korea and was exposed to chemicals, during bomb tests in the desert, which he believed was connected to his young onset of ALS, as it is for many veterans.

My mom spoke in the house and senate 3 years ago and on May 13th, 2008 (my dad's birthday) Florida's government declared May to be ALS awareness month.

I am proud of my parents' work at helping future veterans to receive care, and today I honor my dad, his marine dad and my mom's navy step-dad who fought in WWII.