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New head of CT VA tours Danbury to learn about local veteran issues

The new Commissioner of the state Department of Veteran Affairs made several stops in Danbury on Tuesday.  He first visited with veterans at Regional Hospice and Home Care. 

 

Commissioner Sean Connolly says their mission is to serve those who have served.

 

Connolly says the benefit of being at the Hospice Center is seeing Veterans taking care of Veterans.  The families benefit from the Center as well.  He says often times family and caregivers are forgotten about.  At the VA campus in Rocky Hill, there is a Health Care Center, which is a long term care, chronic disease hospital.  Connolly says some people compare it to a nursing home, but notes that it's more than that.

 

Connolly says there are Offices of Advocacy  in each of the state's five Congressional Districts.  About 10,000 calls a year are made to the Office of Advocacy and Assistance Office, which includes Veteran Service Officers across the state.

 

He also stopped at the Vet Center on North Street, which is part of the federal VA organization.

 

On the federal VA side, Connolly says Connecticut does well meeting needs of vets for appointments at hospitals.  It's still tough he says, but compared to the rest of the nation Connecticut fares well. 

 

There are over 20,000 post-9/11 veterans returning to Connecticut coming home with wounds you can see, and with wounds that you can't see.  The federal government has post-9/11 GI bill which offers educational assistance to veterans, Connecticut offers benefits at state schools as well.

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Markley van Camp Robbins

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