DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS

807 Maine Ave., SW · Washington, D.C. 20024 · Phone (202) 554-3501 · Fax (202) 863-0233

News Release

Contact: David E. Autry FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DAV National Convention August 1, 2008

Bally’s Las Vegas Hotel and Casino

Telephone: (702) 967-7336

Disabled Veterans Honor Outstanding VA Employees

LAS VEGAS — Four outstanding Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employees will receive the National Commander’s Outstanding VA Employee awards from the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) at the organization’s 87th National Convention at the Bally’s Hotel in Las Vegas. The awards will be presented by National Commander Robert T. Reynolds Aug. 9.

Dr. John J. Garcia, the chief medical officer at the Frank Tejeda VA Outpatient Clinic in San Antonio, Texas, will receive the award for Veterans Health Administration employee in recognition of his compassionate care of some of the most severely injured service members and veterans wounded in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. He served in Vietnam, Panama, the Gulf War and the Iraq War, where he was injured. “Dr. Garcia displays the humanity and dedication of a person who has spent a lifetime in the service of his country and a fellow disabled veteran,” Commander Reynolds said.

Kim T. Michalowski of the VA Regional Office in Milwaukee, Wisc, will be honored with the Veterans Benefits Administration award. Michalowski is recognized for his active outreach to help veterans. “Kim works tirelessly to ensure veterans receive timely and quality benefits delivery,” Reynolds said. “In 2007, his team greatly improved the claims review process.”

The National Commander’s Award for Outstanding Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration will be presented to Daniel J. Barford, the cemetery representative at the national cemetery in Dayton, Ohio. He is a licensed funeral director with a family tradition of working in the National Cemetery system. “A Vietnam veteran, Barford finds his work assisting the families of veterans to be very rewarding,” Reynolds said. “He compassionately offers his assistance to families when they must bury a loved one.”

Jana Klein, a field representative at the VA’s Board of Veterans Appeals in Washington, D.C., is the daughter of a career soldier and will receive the VBA Outstanding Employee Award. “Jana displays both compassion and professionalism to the limits of the law,” Reynolds said. “She balances her responsibility to the board and applying the statues and regulations with doing as much as she can to assist a veteran.”

“The VA, as the second largest federal agency, has thousands of employees dedicated to helping build better lives for disabled veterans, their families and survivors,” Reynolds said. “These individuals we are recognizing are the best of the best and living examples of the roles that all VA employees should follow.”

The 1.4 million-member Disabled American Veterans, a non-profit organization founded in 1920 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1932, represents this nation’s wartime disabled veterans. It is dedicated to a single purpose: building better lives for our nation’s disabled veterans and their families. For more information, visit the organization’s Web site www.dav.org.

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