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REST IN PEACE RICHARD GALEANO
*************************************************************** SEC. MCDONALD RESPONDS TO INVITATION TO HOT SPRINGS: WILL NOT EVEN "CONSIDER" HOT SPRINGS VISIT UNTIL EIS PROCESS IS DONE
****************************************************************** "MYSTERY IN HOT SPRINGS"
Read the Article from American Legion Magazine, the official magazine of the American Legion.
Click here to read online.
************************************************************** VA Historic Preservation Meetings "Ridiculous"
The Section 106 meetings held in Hot Springs on Nov. 18 were punctuated by anger from both the audience and consulting parties at the table as it became rapidly apparent that:
-many consulting parties who had attended the last 106 meeting (in 2012) had not been re-invited
-no veterans organizations were invited, period
-questions were raised about the validity of the process, but ignored or placed in the "parking lot"
-Labat Environmental showed clear bias towards, and even defended, VA whilst still claiming impartiality
-The facilitator was herself was rude and frequently interrupted consulting parties
-The facilitator allowed a VA employee to break the ground rules established early in the meeting, while admonishing the consulting parties who protested
-The facilitator kept pressing consulting parties for "adverse effects" but did not ask VA to identify adverse effects of their own proposal
-Labat Environmental took VA's word that Fall River Health Services would be able to handle the extra workload, whilst admitting that they themselves had not spoken with FRHS
-The facilitator treated the consulting parties with disdain and spoke down to multiple panelists as though they were children
-Labat refused to move the workshop meeting when the crowd got too large, but later in the evening moved their "open house" from the smaller room they had rented into a larger room that they had not rented.
Read Rapid City Journal Article Here.
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VA BLACK HILLS DIRECTOR STEVE DISTASIO
TO RETIRE EFFECTIVE FEB 28, 2015
Says in email to staff: "Our Network Director Jan Murphy and I will work together on a transition plan; we both want a new Director in place as soon as possible."
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Dept of VA Responds to Questions by House Committee on Veterans Affairs; Save the VA had provided answers to the same questions to the Committee in a separate response before VA did.
Click here for the VA's response to questions.
Click here for Save the VA's response
*******************************************FIELD HEARING A MAJOR SUCCESS IN FIGHT TO SAVE HOT SPRINGS VA; VA BLACK HILLS PANEL "VERBALLY SPANKED" BY HOUSE COMMITTEE ON VA
Media Coverage:
Black Hills FOX
KELO Land
South Dakota Public Broadcasting
KCSR - Chadrad
Rapid City Journal
KSFY
Hot Springs Star
KOTA Territory News 10:00
********************************************** Save the VA: Year Two
Where we are & how far we've come toward rescuing a National Treasure for the future of caring for our nation's heroes.
******************************************************************"REVEILLE IN HOT SPRINGS"
 Author Mary Ellen Goulet's book "Reveille in Hot Springs: The Battle to Save Our VA" is available through Amazon.com or at Black Hills Books & Treasures.
"Reveille in Hot Springs" is a compelling read from cover to cover, culled from a year and a half of taking testimonials from veterans who have been treated at the Hot Springs VA. The original testimonials were sent to Washington, D.C. along with Save the VA's counter-proposal and this book represents only a sampling of the thousands of men & women who served our country. From WWII to OIF/OEF, the voices of the veterans echo one sentiment: Protect our VA.
Kirkus Reviews called "Reveille in Hot Springs" an "infuriating, stinging rebuke to politicians who leave returning soldiers to their own devices" and that "Readers may come away from this collection believing that the government should be cloning it [the Hot Springs VA] in every state."
This website was visited times.
Updated 12/12/14
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 |  |  |  |  |  | | | Save the VA is an organization based in Hot Springs, South Dakota, dedicated to protecting the legacy of the 107-year old Battle Mountain Sanitarium National Historic Landmark VA Medical Center & Domiciliary in our community, which has been threatened with closure by VA administrators.
Battle Mountain Sanitarium was the first and only of the original National Soldier's Homes built for the short term healthcare needs of Civil War veterans instead of a retirement home, and is therefore the precursor to the entire Department of Veterans Affairs. The Hot Springs VA has been modified and updated throughout a century to care for America's veterans, becoming renowned for its successful PTSD & Substance abuse treatment facility in a beautiful, calm, and healing rural environment in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
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Save The VA's War Chest
Stands At:
$19,523.05 as of 10/2/2014
If you would like to contribute to Save the VA financially, please contact our treasurer Scott Haden at (605) 745-4140.
Mailing address:
Save the VA Campaign
P.O. Box 851
Hot Springs, SD 57747
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Follow Save the VA on Social Media. Facebook, Twitter & YouTube accounts may contain videos and posts with opinions that may not reflect the opinion of Save the VA as a whole and are solely the opinion of the individual speaking.
 
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The Save the VA Executive Committee currently consists of 15 primary members. They are, in alphabetical order: Don Ackerman, Bryan Brewer, Amanda Campbell, Don De Vries, Barb Fetters, Justin Gausman, Rich Gross, Scott Haden, Stu Marty, Karen Meston, Bob Nelson, Ray Palmer, Bruce Rampelberg, and Pat Russell.
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