ALEXANDRIA – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) visited the local Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) Chapter in DeRidder, where he greeted veterans as they gathered for their monthly meeting and discussed what he can do to help them.
“I appreciate having the opportunity to speak with veterans on what we can do for them,” said Dr. Cassidy. “My office helps vets every day get appointments at the VA or get disability claims reviewed. I’m also doing everything I can in Washington to protect their benefits. They served us. We need to serve them.”
In 2022, Cassidy passed and signed into law the Solid Start Act, solidifying a Trump-era policy which requires that veterans be contacted three times by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) during their first year after leaving the service about the VA benefits they’re eligible to receive. More recently, Cassidy and U.S. Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) demanded answers from the Overton Brooks VA Medical Center in Shreveport after an inspector general report found they failed to comply with suicide prevention protocols, which enabled both a suicide and a suicide attempt.
Cassidy has also introduced legislation to form a policy advisory commission that will ensure a transparent, expert-driven review process for the Veterans Health Administration, making sure that they efficiently and effectively provide health care to the veterans they serve. His Baton Rouge office also can expedite disability rating, pension, and appeal applications for veterans and their spouses or widows, under certain circumstances. They can also help with VA appointments and related matters, and can be reached at (225) 929-7711.
The VVA chapter met in the War Memorial Civic Center for Beauregard Parish, which originally opened on November 28, 1941 as a United Service Organization (USO) base to entertain troops participating in the Louisiana Maneuvers and for those stationed at DeRidder Army Air Base and what was then Fort Polk. It was the first USO base not built on a military installation, and was donated to the USO. Soldiers of the U.S. 45th Infantry Division, known as the Thunderbirds, were the first to use it. It was used through World War II and the Korean War.
89,000 soldiers visited the DeRidder USO, with 15,000 receiving showers and 27,000 watching movies. Dances were also held three times per week during World War II. Today, the Civic Center hosts a War Room Museum with many items from World War II on display, and hosts events such as the monthly meeting of VVA Chapter #1138. Their commander, Mr. Glenn Dean, welcomed Cassidy to their meeting.
“We are grateful for Senator Cassidy stopping by our meeting to learn more about the needs of our community,” said Mr. Dean. “We fought for our country abroad so our neighbors could live in freedom here. In return, we ask for a VA that serves us, and we look forward to Senator Cassidy working to make that happen.”
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