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HIGHTSTOWN: Holt honors veterans

By Amy Batista, Special Writer
HIGHTSTOWN — Local veterans and family members gathered at the local VFW Post # 5700 last week to hear U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-12, provide an update on the new veterans law and present a special military medal.
"This has been a day that has been a long time coming so I’m really pleased to be here," said Rep. Holt. "It’s really a privilege to recognize people like that and it’s an important reminder why we as a nation have an ongoing responsibility to the veterans."
Rep. Holt presented a veterans forum Aug. 14 in which he updated veterans on a new law he helped pass, the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act of 2014, to improve access to health care for veterans and reform the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Rep. Holt spoke about the "ongoing responsibility" to veterans.
"In many cases it was years ago, maybe Vietnam, maybe the Gulf War, or maybe even back to the second World War or Korea," he said. "However long ago it was that national obligation still stands. A small part of that obligation is to make sure that they get the recognition for what they’ve done. A larger part of that obligation is what (President Abraham) Lincoln talked about in his second inaugural address. It’s where he said we will care for those who have borne the battle."
He noted that it has not been easy for the nation to live up to the obligation it has for its veterans.
"It has been a struggle over a century and a half since then to provide the care up to standards that we should," he said. "Much of the healthcare that has been provided by the VA is excellent but the news recently has been full of revelations about long wait times that have resulted in lack of care that has resulted in deaths."
Rep. Holt said that he did his own survey after hearing these revelations.
"I sent out some thousands of letters to veterans of central New Jersey who were using, or who I thought might be using, the VA healthcare system," he said. "Based on the some hundreds of replies that I got I’m pleased to say that the answer to some very even-handed questions about the healthcare system, 2:1 it was positive."
Many of the responding vets said they get good, compassionate care, he said.
"About a third had questions, problems, and difficulties, overall here in New Jersey at least it is the veterans healthcare is not a horror story," he said.
He said that he passed on the "less than satisfactory" experiences onto the medical director in New Jersey.
"I hope that they will use that guidance for making improvements where they can," he said.
There are also new laws as a result of these revelations, he said.
"There is new legislation that President Obama has signed into law now that will provide more resources for efficient electronic scheduling that might cut down on the wait time," he said. "New policies and practices for scheduling healthcare and a few more resources."
Rep. Holt said, however, that ensuring veterans could have access to the best care close to their homes may be an area that might still be lacking.
"We still may be short, I think, on the resources to make sure that the care is provided as close to home as the veterans should want and with all of the best equipment and practices available for healthcare today," he said.
Rep. Holt asked for the veterans to provide feedback to him on how it is working.
"Let me know what you hear," he said. "Let me know if these improvements really begin to take place."
He then presented Frank Puleio Jr., of North Brunswick, with eight medals he earned for his service in World War II but had since lost.
Mr. Puleio received the following medals -Bronze Star Medal, Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, with two Bronze Service Stars, World War II Victory Medal, Combat Infantry Badge 1st Award, Honorable Service Lapel Button WWII, and Marksman Badge with Rifle Bar.
"I guess you would say that Frank is a member of the greatest generation," he said. "It was a generation that answered the call without question and didn‘t wait around for parades and metals when the job was done."
He said that like so many veterans, when they returned and wanted to "get on with his life and in a few cases with her life" the medals earned were never awarded or received.
"Sometimes, years later, the family would say ‘grandfather what about those medals’ and he would say ‘oh I don’t know,’" he said. "Why don’t you call the Congressman and find out so they did."
"I contacted the National Personnel Records Center about Frank Puleio’s service," he said. "Some of the records were lost and so the army sometimes has to go through some extra steps to recover the records."
He said there is Veterans History Project and encouraged the veterans and family members in the room to get involved.
"The Library of Congress makes it really easy for you to record your recollections and it’s not just those who served overseas it could be the family recollections from back home," he said. "They collect materials but they especially keep an oral history."
For more information on how to submit your story, please visit its website at www.loc.gov.
"Now millions of veterans have done so," he said. "I think it is something every post should do. You don’t want memories to fade completely."
Rep. Holt said that he nominated Mr. Puleio’s grandson, Matthew Bearden, to the US Military Academy at West Point in 2013.
During his annual Academy Picnic, where he invites all the accepted candidates to his house to celebrate, Matthew and his mother, Lisa Bearden, saw Rep. Holt’s medal presentation to a veteran.
This inspired Matthew and his mother (Frank Puleio Jr.’s daughter) to pursue replacement medals for Matthew’s grandfather, according to Rep. Holt’s Chief of Staff Chris Gaston.
Mr. Puleio served in the Army’s 89th Infantry from May 1944 until his "honorable discharge" in 1945.
Mr. Puleio said that his granddaughter always asked him about his the history of his service.
"If I can remember it," he said. "So we started out from the Bronze Star in."
Rep. Holt said that Mr. Puleio was 18 when enlisted in the service and asked him what made him decide to serve.
"To be honest I was drafted," Mr. Puleio said. "When I turned 18 I told my father I’m going into the service."
He said that he had three other brothers out of five that also served – Calvary, medical and engineers.
"I just think it’s awesome," said Michael Gebhardt, VFW Adjutant for Post 5700. "I think it great to award these medals to veterans who have served and if they can create memories for them to pass on then it’s worth it."