Contact: Barbara Riley
Friday, August 22, 2008

HAMPTON, NH – United States Senator John Sununu (R-NH) today (8/22) visited with veterans and their families who were taking part in the North  Beach “Surf Free for American Heroes Day at the Beach” event organized by American Legion Post 35, local surfing shops, and the community in conjunction with the Wounded Warriors Project.

“Wounded Warriors is an outstanding program that has welcomed our soldiers home and created special programs for those overcoming injuries. American Legion Post 35 has joined the cause with ‘Surf for America,’ and special thanks go out to local surf shops and residents who have supported the effort," said Sununu, who stopped by to talk with visiting veterans and their families. “Our men and women in uniform deserve our thanks and praise, particularly when they are injured in the line of duty. What a great way for the Granite State to set an example of giving back to those who have given so much.”

American Legion Post 35 Commander Ralph Fatello said, “This is the first of what we hope will be an annual event where we can show these wounded warriors a day at the beach. These veterans deserve a fun day for all they’ve been through, and this is Post 35 and the local community coming together for them. We’re going to be veterans talking to veterans, and it’s admirable that they’ve chosen to go surfing.”

The Wounded Warriors Project is a national organization that provides a variety of support services for injured service men and women. For Friday’s event, Disabled Sports USA worked with Walter Reed Hospital in Bethesda, MD and the Wounded Warriors Disabled Sports Project to enable the disabled veterans to participate in adaptive sports. The Hampton project marks the first time that surfing is being offered as part of the Wounded Warriors Disabled Sports Project. Further information on the organization can be found at  www.woundedwarriorsproject.org.

BACKGROUND: Sununu efforts to improve and expand services for veterans include:

• Supporting legislation in the U.S. Senate which would modify and update the education incentives in the GI Bill and increase the monthly benefit for college costs.

• Supporting concurrent receipt legislation to permanently end the dollar-for-dollar reduction of retirement pay by disability benefit payments received by military retirees.

• Taking steps to evaluate and enhance the services currently offered at the Manchester Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), including the need for radiation treatment.

• Working to open the Berlin VA Veterans Center to provide counseling and outreach services in the North Country.

• Writing and guiding to passage an amendment to the “Veterans’ Housing Opportunity and Benefits Improvement Act” to update eligibility criteria for housing assistance grants for younger disabled veterans, and also cosponsored an amendment to increase the grants’ value.

• Supporting legislation to create and fund a comprehensive outreach program to assist members of the National Guard with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as they return from combat.

• Urging the VA to designate Greenfield, New Hampshire's Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center as a satellite to the Veterans Administration polytrauma-level care centers for war-related injuries.

• Securing funding for the New Hampshire Veterans Home in Tilton and Buckingham Place, a veterans’ transitional housing development in Nashua.  Fought for funding for Liberty House veterans’ homeless shelter in Manchester.

• Announcing new Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Grants to provide rental vouchers for homeless veterans with disabilities in New Hampshire.

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