Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed the "BRAVE" Act Act that recognizes April 5th as Gold Star Wives Day. The legislation also provides additional support for members of the veterans’ community and their families including tax credits and educational opportunities. 

The link below will take you to more information about the Act and the Governor's signing, in which an unidentified Gold Star Wives member is clearly pictured behind the Governor! 

https://framinghamsource.com/index.php/2018/08/28/governor-baker-signs-brave-act-to-strengthen-services-and-supports-for-commonwealths-veterans/

Margaret (Babe) Jones recently celebrated her 100th birthday! On July 13th, Mrs. Jones turned 100 and her local paper, The Herald Dispatch, covered this occasion, noting her membership in Gold Star Wives. Congratulations Mrs. Jones!  

Link to article.

The StarTribune front page on July 21/22 issue, above the fold, covered the Gold Star Wives Memorial Service.  The in-depth article is also available online. 

GSW Members attend the Memorial Service held at Fort Snelling National Cemetery, in the Historic Fort Snelling Memorial Chapel in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The service, which took place the morning of July 20, 2018, honored the spouses of all the members of Gold Star Wives.  Those in attendance were addressed by Major General (Ret) Norris L. Einertson, 17th Chief of Chaplains, United States Army. 

Colonel Karen Lloyd addresses the attendees of the 2018 Gold Star Wives National Convention. She reviewed the work of the Veterans History Project and encouraged all to participate and share any materials they would like.  More information can be found at loc.gov/vets.

Highlights:

Effective August 1, 2018 entitlement under the Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance (DEA) program will be reduced from 45 months to 36 months.

In October, 2018, the monthly allowance for eligible recipients will increase.

The DEA program offers education and training opportunities to eligible dependents of Veterans who are permanently and totally disabled due to a service-related condition, or of Veterans who died while on active duty or from a service-related condition.

Visit https://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/50119/50119/ to see the amount of monthly allowance increases that take effect October 1st.

A Gold Star Memorial Monument was dedicated Saturday morning on Harmar Hill in Gold Star Park, formerly known as Lookout Park, in Marietta, Ohio.  The monument's goal is to honor the families of those that paid the ultimate price for our country. View the beautiful monument here.  

Star and Stripes has published an article covering the Survivor Benefit Plan, recent changes that affect the program, and the goals of several military, veterans, and survivors organizations.  Gold Star Wives member Edith Smith is quoted in the article.  Here is a link to the full article.

Excerpt taken from the VA web site: 

If you are a family member caring for a service-disabled Veteran, you may be eligible for counseling to determine your career goals and training to increase your skills.

Veterans’ dependents who are eligible for the VA Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance program may also receive the following assistance from the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment program:

• Career choice – Understand the best career options based on your interests and capabilities.
• Benefits coaching – Make effective use of your VA benefits and/or other resources to achieve education and career goals.
• Personalized support – Receive academic or adjustment counseling and personalized support to remove barriers to your success.

For more information please visit https://explore.va.gov/employment-services/spouses-dependents-survivors

Several new GSW Resources have been posted from the VA DoD Survivors Forum.  These pertain to CHAMPVA eligibility and benefits, Forever GI Bill, Special Operations Warrior Foundation, NCA Legacy Campaign, and Helping Bereaved Men.

These can be found at the top of the large table at GSW resources, or you can click this link.