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Institute for Veterans and Military Families is higher education's first interdisciplinary academic institute in service of veterans and their families.

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Institute for Veterans and Military Families is higher education's first interdisciplinary academic institute in service of veterans and their families.

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Transitioning between military and civilian life can be difficult for some people. IVMF strives to bridge some of the gaps and help veterans and their families with resources for the entrepreneur, as well as educational opportunities.

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D'Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families

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"In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure."

Military Installation: Fort Carson
Sec+ Graduate
Systems Administrator, Northrop Grumman, Since September 2018

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Home - D'Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families

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IVMF is higher education's first interdisciplinary academic institute, focused on advancing the lives of the nation's military veterans and their families.

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Smoking cessation is an important wellness program provided to veterans and family.

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Smoking cessation is an important wellness program provided to veterans and family.

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Smoking is a risk factor to so many different illnesses that it makes sense to offer these programs. In the long run it might save lives and money.

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Attention A T users. To access the menus on this page please perform the following steps. 1. Please switch auto forms mode to off. 2. Hit enter to expand a main menu option (Health, Benefits, etc). 3. To enter and activate the submenu links, hit the down arrow. You will now be able to tab or arrow up or down through the submenu options to access/activate the submenu links.

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Attention A T users. To access the menus on this page please perform the following steps. 1. Please switch auto forms mode to off. 2. Hit enter to expand a main menu option (Health, Benefits, etc). 3. To enter and activate the submenu links, hit the down arrow.

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Free access to National Parks for Disabled vets 

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Free access to National Parks for Disabled vets 

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The blog says it only requires a 10% service connected disability rating or higher. This is one of several ways that the country can honor the sacrifices made by these veterans. Many veterans enjoy outdoor activities and can benefit from this pass. It may improve mental health for some veterans.

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Spring flowers are blooming, the summer travel season quickly approaches and Veterans are joining the 330-million yearly visitors enjoying U.S. National Parks.

Many Veterans, with a service connected disability rating, are entering Federal parks for free with the Lifetime National Parks Access Pass from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Good for entry into 400+ National Parks and over 2,000 recreation sites across the country, the Lifetime Access Pass is another way a grateful nation says thank you for the service and sacrifices of Veterans with disabilities.

The Access Pass admits disabled Veterans and any passengers in their vehicle (non-commercial) at per-vehicle fee areas; and, the pass owner plus three additional adults where per-person fees are charged. In addition to free entry at participating parks, the Access Pass includes discounts on expanded amenity fees; such as camping, swimming, boat launching and guided tours.

Veterans who have a VA disability rating, (10 percent or higher) are eligible for the Lifetime Access Pass-with two ways to apply.

First, disabled Veterans can apply in person at a participating federal recreation site. Simply present photo identification (Drivers license, State ID, Passport) and documentation proving a permanent disability (VA awards letter, VA ID with service connected annotation, VA summary of benefits, or receipt of Social Security disability income). That's It. The Pass is free and issued at the time of entry.

Second, if applying by mail, send a completed packet and $10 processing fee to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The packet should include:

Pass delivery expected 10-12 weeks after receipt.

Make sure to have photo ID available when using your Lifetime Access Pass and enjoy the majestic scenery and abundant recreational opportunities our National Parks provide.

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Disabled Veterans eligible for free National Park Service Lifetime Access Pass - VAntage Point

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Many Veterans, with a service connected disability rating, are entering Federal parks for free with the Lifetime National Parks Access Pass. Good for entry into 400+ National Parks and over 2,000 recreation sites across the country, the Lifetime Access Pass is one more way a grateful nation says thank you for the service and sacrifices of Veterans with disabilities.

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Combat veterans need help. If we condition them through basic training to prepare for war, maybe we should spend the time and money to de-condition them out of war.  

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Combat veterans need help. If we condition them through basic training to prepare for war, maybe we should spend the time and money to de-condition them out of war.  

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6AYmzunPlQ

The same skills that are learned in a theater of war make a soldier dangerous in a civilian environment. Nurses should pay close attention to mental health of veterans, particularly within the civilian population.

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Your time in Iraq makes you a threat to society: Andrew Chambers at TEDxMarionCorrectionalSalon 2013

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You can apply for Hazlewood benefits if you joined the military from Texas. Some educational benefits could help pay for higher education.

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The Texas Veterans Portal is a resource that connects veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors to the assistance, benefits, and services that was earned from military service.

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ACE CARD/BROCHURE. Veterans and their family members can ask the health care provider for a pocket sized card for a quick reference.

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ACE CARD/BROCHURE. Veterans and their family members can ask the health care provider for a pocket sized card for a quick reference.

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If the veteran or family member is showing signs of crisis, the card can provide immediate guidance.  Sometimes, people freeze in an emergency, and this card can help provide direction.

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Here are a couple of forms to complete in order to apply for your GI BILL. As a nurse, you could use this information to refer patients that are having employment difficulties.

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Handouts and Forms - Education and Training

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The GI Bill provides education benefits to veterans and their dependents.

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Vets can have access to more private healthcare now via the Veterans Choice Program. There are eligibility requirements. 

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Vets can have access to more private healthcare now via the Veterans Choice Program. There are eligibility requirements. 

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This is particularly helpful to those that live rurally, or those that have acute occurrence of illness. Personally, I’ve needed health care for an acute illness and the soonest appointment I could get was 27 days out.

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A Veterans Affairs hospital in Denver. Veterans who can prove they must drive for at least 30 minutes to a V.A. facility will be allowed to seek primary care and mental health services outside the department's system. Credit Credit David Zalubowski/Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Veterans who live as little as a 30-minute drive from a Veterans Affairs health care facility will instead be able to choose private care, the most significant change in rules released Wednesday as part of the Trump administration's effort to fix years-old problems with the health system.

Veterans who can prove they must drive for at least 30 minutes to a Department of Veterans Affairs facility will be allowed to seek primary care and mental health services outside the department's system. Current law lets veterans use a private health care provider if they must travel 40 miles or more to a V.A. clinic. Measuring commuting time rather than distance will greatly open the private sector to veterans in rural and high-traffic urban areas.

Supporters say the new policy, which is likely to go into effect in June, will help veterans get faster and better care. But critics fear it will prompt the erosion of the largest integrated health care system in the country as billions of dollars are redirected to private care.

The goal of the new policy, officials say, is to provide veterans with easier, streamlined access to health care.

"This is the most transformative piece of legislation since the G.I. Bill," Robert Wilkie, the secretary of veterans affairs, said in a telephone interview this week. "It gets us on the road to becoming a 21st-century health care institution."

The move has been anticipated for months, after congressional lawmakers passed legislation last spring that empowered the administration to make substantial changes to veterans health care.

Current law lets veterans facing a wait of 30 days or more for an appointment at their closest V.A. facility seek private care, but under the new policy, that would be reduced to 20 days, and with the goal of 14, by 2020. Veterans will also be allowed access to walk-in clinics; however, those will require co-pays for treatment after a third visit. If seeking a specialist after the new policy takes effect, veterans must prove a drive of at least 60 minutes.

Taken together, the percentage of veterans eligible for what officials refer to as "community care" currently - roughly 8 percent of the seven million treated annually - would rise to between 20 and 30 percent, according to Department of Veterans Affairs officials.

Lawmakers and veterans advocacy groups - which have been wary of large-scale moves into the private sector - were largely briefed about the program on Wednesday after the new policy was released. This caused some to argue that they had been blindsided, which has been a frequent complaint by Democrats and many traditional veterans advocates during the Trump administration.

"While we are glad the V.A. has finally informed us of how it plans to implement the V.F.W.-supported V.A. Mission Act," said Joseph E. Davis, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, "we are disappointed the V.A. chose not to incorporate the voice of our 1.6 million members in the decision making process."

In recent years, Veterans Affairs hospitals have struggled to keep up with patient loads as service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan - many with complex injuries and post-traumatic stress - hit the system at the same time that aging and increasingly ill older veterans made more use of it.

A scandal in 2014 over hidden waiting lists at V.A. facilities sent lawmakers in search of solutions, with many Republicans favoring more use of the private sector and Democrats preferring to add doctors and medical centers to the government-run system.

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"This is the most transformative piece of legislation since the G.I. Bill," said Robert Wilkie, the secretary of veterans affairs. "It gets us on the road to becoming a 21st-century health care institution." Credit Sarah Silbiger/The New York Times

Congressional Republicans and the Trump administration have been greatly influenced by Concerned Veterans for America, an advocacy group with ties to the billionaire industrialist brothers Charles G. and David H. Koch, which has long championed expanding the use of private health care for veterans. Traditional veterans service organizations, which have largely opposed these changes, have had less say under Mr. Wilkie.

"These proposed access standards will ensure veterans have better access to health care and will give them more choices in how they receive their care," said Dan Caldwell, the executive director of Concerned Veterans for America. "These standards are simple and straightforward, eliminating much of the confusion created by the Veterans Choice Program and the V.A.'s other community care programs."

The legislation that was passed last spring and signed by President Trump in June, the Mission Act, increased funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs and earmarked more money for private care. It is up to Congress to beef up both pots of money each year.

"I can't imagine the V.A. being shortchanged in any way," Mr. Wilkie said. "I can't imagine anyone doing that."

Critics fear that private health care, which tends to have higher costs than government-provided care, will force the department to cut corners elsewhere. Mr. Trump has instructed his cabinet secretaries to cut each department's budget, and a prior budget agreement that lifted caps on spending is set to expire soon, leading many to wonder if Veterans Affairs will be able to pay private providers and maintain its own services.

A congressionally mandated report in 2016, by a panel called the Commission on Care, analyzed the cost of sending more veterans into the community for treatment and warned that unfettered access could cost well over $100 billion each year. That same commission found quality of care at the Department of Veterans Affairs to be very high, one area of agreement between department officials and those who use and advocate the system.

The new standards were developed after V.A. officials studied both the military's insurance plan, Tricare Prime, which sets a lower bar for access to private care than the department has historically had, and the Medicare Advantage program, which allows Medicare beneficiaries to buy private health insurance plans instead of using government-run fee-for-service Medicare.

The Department of Veterans Affairs will remain at the center of care coordination, and the private providers - who would be paid by the department at rates roughly comparable to the Medicare program - would not be permitted to cherry-pick the healthiest patients, V.A. officials said. About 26 percent of veterans pay a co-payment, and they would have similar co-payments at private doctors.

The department, however, has struggled greatly with its information technology systems in recent years, and studying those systems is now the purview of a House subcommittee. Whether the department can successfully coordinate care with myriad health care providers will be a concern that Congress will doubtlessly follow.

Department officials - including Mr. Wilkie - have repeatedly insisted that the department should and probably will remain the provider of choice for most veterans, who prefer the culture of a V.A. hospital to that of the private sector. But a shrinking veteran population over all in the United States and more reliance on private providers could lead to the closings of some government hospitals, some veterans groups and members of Congress warn.

Mr. Wilkie insisted that was not the goal of the new policy, and said that fears of full privatization were unfounded.

"I think it's simple: People don't want change," he said of such concerns. "That is a normal human reaction."

Some veterans groups have decided to wait to judge the policy until the spring as the standards continue to be tweaked.

"I've asked people not to take a negative stance," said Sherman Gillums Jr., the chief advocacy officer for American Veterans, or Amvets, one of the largest of the six congressionally chartered veterans service organizations. "The president asked the secretary to present a plan and now that he's given us another step in the plan, it's our job to help him successfully implement it."

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A12 of the New York edition with the headline: V.A. Rule Would Broaden Access to Private Health Care for Some Veterans. Order Reprints | Today's Paper | Subscribe

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Veterans Will Have More Access to Private Health Care Under New V.A. Rules

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WASHINGTON - Veterans who live as little as a 30-minute drive from a Veterans Affairs health care facility will instead be able to choose private care, the most significant change in rules released Wednesday as part of the Trump administration's effort to fix years-old problems with the health system.

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This provides a list for many resources available to the veteran and the veteran's family. Oftentimes mental illnesses are present in suicidal behavior. Treating underlying depression may redirect thought patterns.

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Suicide Prevention: Resources - Mental Health

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Veteran can receive a pension to help pay for a home care aide to assist with ADLs.  

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Veteran can receive a pension to help pay for a home care aide to assist with ADLs.  

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This is a private organization, not directly affiliated with the VA that helps veterans apply for a pension that can pay for home health aides in order to remain as independent as possible.

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Veterans Home Care - VA Aid and Attendance Pension Benefit

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Veterans Home Care: In-Home Care for Veterans and Surviving Spouses

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We are dedicated to helping veterans or surviving spouses receive the benefits they deserve including in-home veteran assisted living services and more.

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NCVAS- National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics.  NCVAS uses statistics to be able to anticipate future needs.

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NCVAS- National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics.  NCVAS uses statistics to be able to anticipate future needs.

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This page shows the numbers of female veterans and is used to anticipate the future needs of female veterans.  For instance, since the number of female veterans are increasing each year, there will be a need to increase providers in the Women's Health unit over time.

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Facts and Statistics about Women Veterans

The current projected percentage of U.S. Veterans who are women is 10%. For the most recent projections, visit VetPOP.

As of 2015 women make up nearly 12.3% of OEF/OIF/OND Veterans.

In 2017 the median age of women Veterans was 51 years, compared to 65 years for their male counterparts.

The middle age group (45-64 years old) represents the largest group of women Veteran VHA patients. Among them, the top 10 conditions in FY 2015 included cardiovascular risk factors (hypertension, lipid disorders, overweight/obesity); mental health conditions (depression); painful conditions (joint and spine disorders); and other conditions (eye and dermatologic disorders).

In FY 2015, approximately 43% of women Veteran VHA patients were 18-44 years old, 46% were 45-64 years old, and 12% were 65+ years old.

About 1 in 3 women seen in VHA respond "yes" when screened for Military Sexual Trauma (MST).

Although rates of MST are higher among women, because there are so many more men than women in the military, there are actually significant numbers of women and men seen in VA who have experienced MST.

¹ Military Sexual Trauma Support Team. (2019). Military Sexual Trauma Screening Report, Fiscal Year 2019. Washington, DC: Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.

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US Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration

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The current projected percentage of U.S. Veterans who are women is 10%. For the most recent projections, visit VetPOP. As of 2015 women make up nearly 12.3% of OEF/OIF/OND Veterans. In 2017 the median age of women Veterans was 51 years, compared to 65 years for their male counterparts.

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This is a brief list of resources tailored specifically for female veterans. It encompasses a variety of topics from physical activity to veteran entrepreneurs.  This would be a good resource to offer your female veteran patients.

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Opportunities and Resources for Women Veterans - Center for Women Veterans (CWV)

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Attention A T users. To access the menus on this page please perform the following steps. 1. Please switch auto forms mode to off. 2. Hit enter to expand a main menu option (Health, Benefits, etc). 3. To enter and activate the submenu links, hit the down arrow.

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The national controversy over kneeling during the national anthem is difficult to watch.

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Surprise Police Officer Tanya Keplinger Sings the National Anthem

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One of my all time favorites by Lee Greenwood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q65KZIqay4E

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It is important for nurses to be alert to common assessment findings in suicidal ideation, particularly among veterans.  Veterans make up 20% of total annual suicides, though they are less than 1% of the population.

(The link may take you to your download file.)

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A soldier shares his story of PTSD and depression 

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A soldier shares his story of PTSD and depression 

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PTSD and depression are risk factors commonly found in patients with suicidal ideation. Nurses should make sure they do a thorough history and pay additional attention to the mental health questions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DF5caucKjI

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Soldier talks about his struggle with depression and PTSD

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Depression is a potent risk factor for suicide. There are programs that can help identify at-risk veterans.

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Vets and depression: Returning from war to fight new battle

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Active duty Suicide rate 2018.  321 soldiers and sailors took their lives in 2018. Active Duty members and veterans can call the Veterans Crisis Line at 800-273-8255, option 1.

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Active duty Suicide rate 2018.  321 soldiers and sailors took their lives in 2018. Active Duty members and veterans can call the Veterans Crisis Line at 800-273-8255, option 1.

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Mental health is important to evaluate for each patient. Sadly, I knew someone that committed suicide, and both my sons know someone that committed suicide while on active duty.

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The U.S. military finished 2018 with a troubling, sad statistic: It experienced the highest number of suicides among active-duty personnel in at least six years.

A total of 321 active-duty members took their lives during the year, including 57 Marines, 68 sailors, 58 airmen, and 138 soldiers.

The deaths equal the total number of active-duty personnel who died by suicide in 2012, the record since the services began closely tracking the issue in 2001.

Suicide continues to present a challenge to the Pentagon and the military services, which have instituted numerous programs to save lives, raise awareness and promote prevention. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller, in his 2019 guidance to Marines released Friday, urged them to consider the lasting impact that a "permanent solution to a temporary problem" can have.

"We pride ourselves on building tough, resilient, mission-focused Marines, but we also pride ourselves on taking care of our own. ... While there is no dishonor in coming up short or needing help, there is no honor in quitting. MARINES NEVER QUIT ON EACH OTHER!" Neller wrote.

The Corps' 57 active-duty deaths represent a 25 percent increase from 2017, the highest number of suicides since the service began closely tracking them in 2001.

The Corps also lost 18 Reserve members in 2018 to suicide, second only to 2016, when 19 Marine reservists took their own lives. The service began tracking such deaths in the reserve component in 2012.

The number of Navy suicides -- 68 sailors in 2018, up from 65 in 2017 -- also was a record and marked a steep increase in the suicide rate among active-duty Navy personnel. Just five years ago, when the Navy recorded 41 suicides among active-duty sailors, the suicide rate was 12.7 deaths per 100,000 sailors; now the rate is more than 20 deaths per 100,000. The Navy is the only service that publishes its data, including calculated suicide rates, online.

According to Air Force officials, 58 active-duty airmen took their lives, while three Reserve members died by their own hands. The number represents a decline from previous years, down from 63 in 2015 and 2017, and 61 in 2016, but is still troubling, said Brig. Gen. Michael Martin, director of Air Force Integrated Resilience.

"We are not satisfied with flat-lined suicide death numbers. The Air Force is dedicated to a comprehensive, leadership-driven strategy with the ultimate goal of supporting airmen and their families early with a robust network and never losing another airman to suicide," Martin said in a statement.

The Army referred requests on the data to the Defense Suicide Prevention Office, which has not published the year-end totals. But it also noted in an email that 138 soldiers died as the result of suicide in 2018.

Those deaths mark the highest number of suicides in the active-duty Army since 2012, but are markedly lower than that year, when 165 soldiers took their own lives.

Army spokeswoman Col. Kathleen Turner said the loss of any soldier or family member is a tragedy.

"Like the rest of America, the Army continues to grapple with the loss of too many of our people to suicide," Turner said. "While the Army has made progress, more work needs to be done. We must continue to ensure commanders have the policies and resources they need to prevent suicides, that all leaders have the tools to identify soldiers who are suffering and to positively intervene, and that all soldiers view seeking mental health care as a sign of strength."

The U.S. military is not unique in struggling with the impact of suicide. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide rates in the U.S. have increased in nearly every state since 1999. And while mental health conditions often are seen as the cause of suicide, it's "rarely caused by any single factor," according to the CDC.

DSPO has been without a permanent chief since October 2017, when former director Keita Franklin moved to head the Department of Veterans Affairs' suicide prevention office.

It last sponsored a conference on suicide prevention in August 2017 and held a suicide prevention month in September 2018, which included hosting an outreach event, attending resource fairs at various locations, and promoting awareness campaigns.

The suicide rates for the military services -- data that help Pentagon leadership understand the scope of the issue compared with civilian populations -- are not generally published by the individual services. They are calculated based on the number of deaths and population of the services and published in an annual DoD Suicide Event Report, or DoDSER.

The last DoDSER was for 2016, when the rate across all the military services was 21.1 deaths per 100,000 active-duty service members.

Rates for the individual services that year were:

19.4 per 100,000, based on 61 deaths, for the Air Force;

26.7 per 100,000, based on 127 deaths, for the Army;

15.3 per 100,000 based on 50 deaths, for the Navy;

and 21 per 100,000, based on 37 deaths, for the Marine Corps.

According to the Navy, the adjusted rate of suicide in the civilian population for men of the same age as those who serve in the armed forces, is 26.8 per 100,000.

Military personnel who need need help can call the Veterans Crisis Line at 800-273-8255. Suicidal troops and veterans can call the Military Crisis Line at 800-273-8255, press 1, for assistance, or text 838255.
-- Staff reporter Oriana Pawlyk contributed to this report. -- Patricia Kime can be reached at Correction: This story was updated to reflect the total number of Army suicides in 2018. The Army provided the year-end figures in an email to Military.com that weren't included in the original version. Patricia.Kime@Military.com. Follow her on Twitter @patriciakime.
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Active-Duty Military Suicides at Record Highs in 2018

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The U.S. military finished 2018 with a troubling, sad statistic: It experienced the highest number of suicides among active-duty personnel in at least six years. A total of 321 active-duty members took their lives during the year, including 57 Marines, 68 sailors, 58 airmen, and 138 soldiers.

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One of the benefits offered that every veteran should take advantage of. It helps the vet and their family by guaranteeing financing without the need for a down payment (in most cases). This can provide a stable environment that will allow for healing.

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Main entry page for the VA Loan Guaranty Service.

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My youngest son

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A long time ago

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Here you will find the dates to fly the flag at half mast. This list also describes the proper way to care for and hang the United States flag.

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General Flag Display

It is the universal custom to display the American flag only from sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flagstaffs in the open. However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed twenty-four hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.

The flag should be hoisted briskly and lowered ceremoniously.

1. When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall, the union should be uppermost and to the flag's own right, that is, to the observer's left. When displayed in a window, the American flag should be displayed in the same way, with the union or blue field to the left of the observer in the street. No other flag or pennant should be placed above, or, if on the same level, to the right of the flag of the United States of America, except during church services conducted by naval chaplains at sea...for personnel of the Navy...when the church pennant may be flown above the flag.
No person shall display the flag of the United Nations of any other national of international flag equal, above, or in a position of superior prominence or honor to, or in place of, the flag of the United States at any place within the United States or any Territory of possession thereof; provided, that nothing in this section shall make unlawful the continuance of the practice heretofore followed of displaying the flag of the United Nations in a positions of equal prominence of honor, and other national flags in positions of equal prominence or honor, with that of the flag of the United States at the headquarters of the United Nations.

2 OTHER FLAGS ON SAME HALYARD - When flags of states, cities, or localities, or pennants of societies are flown on the same halyard with the US flag, the US flag should always be at the peak. When the flags are flown from adjacent flagpoles, the US flag should be hoisted first and lowered last. No such flag or pennant may be placed above the US flag, or to the right of the US flag

3. When the flags are flown from adjacent staffs, the American flag should be jousted first and lowered last. No such flag or pennant may be placed above the flag of the United States or to the right of the United States flag.

4. The American flag, when it is displayed with another flag against a wall from crossed staffs, should be on the right, the flag's own right, and its staff should be in front of the staff of the other flag.

5. When flags of two of more nations are displayed, they are to be flown from separate staffs of the same height. The flags should be of approximately equal size. International usage forbids the display of the flag of one nation above that of another nation in time of peace.

6.When used on a speaker's platform, the flag, if displayed flat, should be displayed above and behind the speaker. When displayed from a staff in a church or public auditorium, the flag of the United States of America should hold the position of superior prominence, in advance of the audience, and in the position of honor at the clergyman's of speaker's right as he faces the audience. Any other flag so displayed should be placed on the left of the clergyman or speaker of the right of the audience.

Half-Staff
We provide an email alert service of when to fly your American flag at half mast.

The flag, when flown at half-staff, should be first hoisted to the peak for an instant and then lowered to the half-staff position. The flag should be again raised to the peak before it is lowered for the day.
Days the American flag should be flown at half-staff:

May 15th - Peace Officers Memorial Day

Last Monday in May - Memorial Day (half-staff until noon only, then raise to the top of the staff)

July 27th - Korean War Veterans Armistice Day

September 11th - Patriot Day

December 7th - Pearl Harbor Day

By order of the President, the flag shall be flown at half-staff upon the death of principal figures of the United States Government and the Governor of the State, territory or possession, as a mark of respect to their memory.
In the event of the death of other officials of foreign dignitaries, the flag is to be displayed at half-staff according to presidential instructions of orders, or in accordance with recognized customs practices not inconsistent with law. In the event of the death of a present or former official of the government of any State, territory or possession of the United States, the Governor of that State, territory or possession may proclaim that the National flag shall be flown at half-staff.
Flags flown on poles affixed to a home or building are not to be flown at half staff but a memorial streamer can be affixed to the top of the flagpole to signify half staff.

7. CASKET - When the flag is used to cover a casket, the union (blue field of stars) is at the head and over the left shoulder (of the deceased). The flag should not be lowered into the grave or allowed to touch the ground.

8. OVER A STREET - When the flag is displayed over the middle of the street, it should be suspended vertically with the union (blue field of stars) to the north over an east-west street, or to the east over a north-south street.

Portions taken from the The Flag Code of The United States and the National Flag Foundation

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It is the universal custom to display the American flag only from sunrise to sunset on buildings and on stationary flagstaffs in the open. However, when a patriotic effect is desired, the flag may be displayed twenty-four hours a day if properly illuminated during the hours of darkness.

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Respect Ol’ Glory

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You CAN make a difference!  As a nurse, it would be prudent to do a thorough assessment, and pay particular attention to the mental health issues. The rates are veteran suicide is increasing while the veteran population is decreasing.

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My oldest son