It’s official: the VA has finally changed its mission statement, removing male-specific language to reflect the diversity of the veteran population and the families of those eligible for VA services. Based on the words of Abraham Lincoln, the motto now reads, ‘to care for those who served’ as opposed to ‘him who served.’ They also changed the ‘…and for his widow and orphan’ to ‘their families, caregivers, and survivors.’ This change has been a long time coming after much lobbying by women’s and veterans organizations and others; though politics delayed it, the change was made final this week. Here’s a great article summarizing the story and how women will be more included in these changes by Kayla Williams, Iraq war veteran and author.
I was glad to hear of these changes because words do matter. I also knew they were afoot, based on the correspondence I’d been receiving the past few years from the VA. You know it’s bad when you receive a letter fr…
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