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• Friday, April 10, 2015

  National Commander to Visit NY Advocating Better PTSD Treatment

  ALBANY – The national commander of The American Legion will visit the Capital Region, Watertown and New York City April 15-17, with a message advocating for better treatment of veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI).

   New York State American Legion Commander Frank Peters said National Commander Michael D. Helm will discuss the Legion’s priorities, including getting the Veterans Administration (VA) to offer alternative therapies for PTSD and mTBI rather than heavy doses of drugs.

  Helm first stops in the Albany area Wednesday, April 15, where he will tour the Watervliet Arsenal in the afternoon and meet with members of the news media at 5 p.m. at the Holiday Inn in Saratoga Springs. Then he speaks to the Capital Region Legion Family during a 7 p.m. banquet at that Holiday Inn.

  On Thursday afternoon, Helm will tour Fort Drum near Watertown, meet with news media at 4:45 p.m. at the Best Western Hotel in Watertown, and then address the Central New York Legion Family at a 7 p.m. banquet at the hotel.

  On Friday, he will speak to New York City area Legion Family members at an 8 p.m. dinner at Antun’s in Queens Village.

  The Legion Family includes members of the American Legion, the American Legion Auxiliary and the Sons of the American Legion.

  The leader of the 2.4-million-member wartime veterans organization is a U.S. Army veteran who served with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C., during the Vietnam War.