Smartphone feature provides immediate access to Veterans Crisis Line

VA is excited to announce that service members and Veterans can connect to the Veterans Crisis Line using these simple words. The Siri function on Apple’s iPhone and the Google Assistant function on Android phones now automatically dial the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline which also serves the Veterans Crisis Line, even if the number (1-800-273-8255) is not saved in the phone’s contact list. Callers will need to Press 1 in order to reach the Veterans Crisis Line.

Veterans Legacy Program: Lt. Col. Alexander Miguel Roberts, Veteran of WWI and WWII, Prisoner of War, and aviation enthusiast

Lt. Col. Alexander Miguel Roberts served as an Army pilot during World War I. He reached celebrity status back home after his plane was shot down over Belgium in July 1918. After surviving his plane crash, the German Army captured Roberts, taking him as a prisoner of war. Hometown newspapers reported on Roberts’s experiences during the war..

ICYMI: #ExploreVA Facebook Live event on VA Home Loan Programs

Looking to purchase a home? First-time and experienced homebuyers alike may be able to take advantage of VA’s home loan programs. Plus, VA offers housing-related assistance programs for Veterans with certain severe service-connected disabilities.

VA and the National Association of Realtors (NAR) discussed these programs in detail during the #ExploreVA Facebook Live event on June 28 with Maxine Henry, Program Analyst for VA Loan Policy, and Sehar Siddiqi, Federal Housing Policy Representative for NAR.

 VETERAN OF THE WEEK

This week we honor Marine Veteran Ed Weintraub.

Ed always wanted to be a Marine and enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1953. After completing boot camp at Parris Island, he later became an instructor at the Infantry Training Regiment at Camp Geiger.