Representatives of the veteran’s affairs communities of Guam and CNMI gave their reactions to Deputy Secretary Donald Remy’s visit to hear the concerns of veterans
Reporting on this story is PNC’s Damen Michael
On Newstalk K57 with Patti Arroyo, this morning retired USMC and Vet-Talk Co-Host Tom Devlin, gave input on Remy’s visit to the island
Devlin said that he was unsure about the satisfaction of what Deputy Secretary Remy had heard on concerns of the island’s veterans.
Additionally, he commented that the concerns have all been brought up to previous Deputy Secretaries that have visited Guam repeatedly.
Devlin said, “I think the game is in his ballpark I think it’s up to the VA now to change certain things it’s not up to the veterans it’s up to the VA we’ve told them both republicans and democrats different administrations what we need now they have to do something but the take away from the whole meeting was he didn’t promise anything he said he’d listen and take it back.”
Furthermore, when asked if Remy coming to Guam and stating that he would listen, take it back, and not provide any promises was a positive notation, Devlin responded saying that he has sat in multiple meetings hearing the same thing from multiple other Deputy Secretaries it’s all about the deliverables now.
PNC previously reported that VA Deputy Secretary told the local veterans and the media updates on President Biden’s Unity Agenda, and it possibly assisted the island in the upcoming years.
Meanwhile, CNMI Congressman Gregorio Kilili Sablan told K57 listeners, that veterans of the CNMI in part face similar problems to those on Guam.
He also said, “But then again there are problems that we have here that are unique to the northern Marianas and these are things we are working on. ”
Delegate Sablan also gave input on how CNMI veterans are treated, saying that before his first term there was no actual Veterans Affairs on the ground and that veterans had to go to Guam for any operations.
He added, “So many of the improvements we have made to our vets are substantial and significant considering what it was 14 years ago but that doesn’t mean we are there. We need to continue to fight and make sure the interests of our vets are listened to too. ”
Reporting for the Pacific News Center
I’m Damen Michael
