Politics on the Hudson

Congressman John Hall, D-Dover Plains, chairman of the Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, held a hearing today to examine how the government is doing in assisting veterans’ families.

Hall noted the increasing numbers of women serving in the military with more than 160,000 deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. As of February 2007, more than 143 single parents have died in Iraq and the vast majority were women, he said.

“As a result, we are witnessing a new phenomenon of grandparents raising grandchildren that have been orphaned by the Iraq War,” Hall said before introducing some of them.

A means must be found to help survivors navigate “the bureaucratic maze” they face after a servicemember’s death or injury, Hall said.