From John Smith’s 1607 establishment of our country’s first militia, to the current conflicts around the world, Virginians have a proud history of military service. There is no state in the Union with a more storied history of service, or a more concrete connection to current day sacrifice.
Indeed, Virginia has the fourth highest number of active-duty and reserve military members in the nation.
Of Virginia’s nearly 800,000 veterans, 80 percent served in wartime, the highest percentage of any state.
Our very own Virginia National Guard has mobilized more than 1,500 soldiers and airmen in the past 18 months for duty overseas.
Almost 300 personnel are still serving on federal active duty in the Middle East. The Virginia Guard has lost 10 soldiers to hostile enemy action since Sept. 11, 2001.
We are too often reminded, in real time, of the ongoing sacrifice made by our service members.
Only a few days ago, the Virginia Beach community grieved the loss of Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator Kyle Milliken, who was killed in action in Somalia. Chief Milliken, 38, a Navy Seal based at Little Creek, was pursuing an MBA at the College of William and Mary.
Virginians understand that freedom is not free.
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On Memorial Day, we recognize that the greatest way to honor the sacrifice of those who gave their all in defense of our commonwealth and country is to ensure that Virginia is the most military- and veteran-friendly state in the nation.
Over the past three years, Gov. Terry McAuliffe and the leadership of the General Assembly have laid the groundwork for a menu of commonwealth-provided veteran services that have strengthened our ability to support our active-duty and veteran citizens.
The timing has never been more crucial. With more than 30,000 transitioning service members joining the Virginia citizenry over the next three years, Virginia must be ready. And we are.
All Virginians can be proud of how we support our veterans and their families. Regarding transitioning veterans, the governor established goals for creating long-term, high-paying jobs for veterans — and for keeping veterans and transitioning service members in Virginia.
For example, the governor and General Assembly recognized the need for a pathway to employment and education for recently discharged veterans and transitioning service members who served as medics or corpsmen and want to stay in the healthcare field.
To that end, we created the first and only program of its kind in the nation to partner with private healthcare systems, working closely with six Virginia health systems to hire 19 transitioning service members into Virginia hospitals since December 2016.
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Virginia has dramatically improved our ability to help veterans apply for federal veterans benefits earned as a result of their service. We have expanded from 23 to 26 benefit services offices across the state, with additional offices in Loudoun, Manassas, and Williamsburg to open by year’s end. Virginia is the only state in the nation to offer 100 percent electronic claims filing, increasing accuracy and reducing the time it takes veterans to receive payment awards.
The commonwealth has also led a partnership of federal, state, and local entities to become the first state in the nation to functionally end veteran homelessness, as recognized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, ensuring that every veteran who needs and is ready to be housed receives housing.
Since October 2015, more than 3,000 homeless veterans in Virginia have been placed into permanent housing, ensuring that homelessness among veterans is rare, brief, and non-reoccurring.
But our work must continue.
We will continue to attack veteran homelessness head on. We will provide resources and solutions to house those who are homeless, while also providing financial, employment, and behavioral health services to help veterans avoid homelessness in the first place.
We will expand our ability to provide veteran rehabilitation, memory care, and skilled nursing, breaking ground on two new 128-bed veterans long-term care centers before the end of the year, one in Fauquier County and one in the city of Virginia Beach.
And this summer, construction will begin on a 27,000-square-foot expansion of the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond, allowing for the addition of the names of those who have perished in the Global War on Terror to the over 12,000 names of Virginians killed in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf currently enshrined there.
As we enjoy time with friends and family on this holiday, I urge every Virginian to take the time to remember those heroes who have paid the ultimate price — from the cold of Valley Forge to the barren deserts of Iraq and mountains of Afghanistan, and beyond. Let us all put our thanks to action by helping Virginia serve those who have served.