Marine Corps Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews receives the American flag during his retirement ceremony in 2023 at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, Va. Vargas-Andrews, who was injured during a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan, will be the featured speaker at a fundraising benefit organized by the Rolling Hills Blue Star Moms in California. (Joaquin Dela Torre/U.S. Marine Corps)
Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews, a retired Marine Corps veteran critically injured during the Abbey Gate attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2021 will be the featured speaker on April 11 at a benefit organized by the Rolling Hills Blue Star Moms at the California Aerospace Museum.
Vargas-Andrews will be accompanied by his mother, Tiffany Andrews, who will also speak at the event.
Organized by Chapter CA27 of the Blue Star Moms, the fundraiser is a formal evening gala that will bring together the local military community, including Silver Star families. It will benefit Team River Runner, a nonprofit that provides adaptive water sports for disabled veterans, according to the group.
The purpose of the gala is to honor the contributions and sacrifices of critically injured service members and their families.
Army veteran Tim Maggart, a singer-songwriter, will debut his song, “We Will Lift You Up,” at the event. It is a tribute to Silver Star families and was penned for the gala, organizers said.
“This evening is about honoring the extraordinary strength of Silver Star families while coming together as a community to support those still on the path to recovery,” said Jan Rusk, a vice president and past president of the chapter.
Rolling Hills Blue Star Moms is a non-political charity that relies solely on donations, Rusk said.
People can purchase tickets and access information on sponsorships at: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/an-evening-of-silver-stars-gala. Tickets are $75, and sponsorship opportunities start at $500.
The California Aerospace Museum is on Freedom Park Drive in McClellan Park, which is in Sacramento County.
McClellan Park is a former Air Force base that now operates largely as a business park.
Veterans, active-duty service members and their qualifying family members (spouses and children) who are education beneficiaries must confirm their enrollment on March 31 to receive payments.
Department of Veterans Affairs education beneficiaries — including those receiving Chapter 35 Survivors’ and Dependents’ Educational Assistance — are required to confirm enrollment on the last day of every month, according to the VA.
Failure to verify enrollment may result in delays in receiving the monthly payments.
Beneficiaries can verify by text, email or online at VA.gov, or call 888-442-4551.
Payments typically process within 5–7 days after verification.
The VA previously automatically verified some Chapter 35 beneficiaries. But VA policy, effective in January, requires the monthly action from beneficiaries, according to the VA.
A bill led by Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., a former Navy SEAL, would lay the groundwork for formal evaluation of proposed psychedelic-assisted therapies and other emerging treatments to address chronic mental health problems in veterans, according to supporters.
The Veterans Health Administration Novel Therapeutics Preparedness Act would establish the Office of Novel Therapeutics within the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the bill.
The office would play a central role in oversight of proposed psychedelic-assisted therapies and other new mental health treatments as they move through the approval process with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to Sheehy’s office.
The bill states that “emerging therapeutic interventions, including certain psychedelic-assisted therapies under evaluation by the Food and Drug Administration … may significantly alter the treatment landscape for post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other mental health conditions affecting veterans.”
“The veteran suicide epidemic has continued without meaningful change for too long,” said Juliana Mercer, a Marine Corps veteran and executive director of the nonprofit Healing Breakthrough. “The issue isn’t whether we’re trying — it’s that our system isn’t built to move new treatments into care fast enough for the veterans who need them most.”
The suicide rate among veterans is nearly double that of the general population, according to RAND, a nonprofit research organization.
The bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., a Marine Corps veteran; Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., an Army National Guard veteran; and Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and chairman of the Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies.
The office would help ensure that the VA develops the clinical standards, workforce training and infrastructure to “safely deliver next-generation treatments,” according to the bill’s sponsors and supporters.
