We Need An Annual, All-Channel Telethon For Our Veterans

Temptations at Homeward Bound Telethon for veterans

Telethons have become a curious American institution. The biggest and most infamous one, of course, was the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, the kitschy, old-school show-biz affair that for five decades raised millions of dollars for muscular disease before Jerry inexplicably walked away in 2011. 

Well, just as Labor Day became synonymous with the Jerry Lewis telethon, I'd like to see Veterans Day become synonymous with a national telethon for veterans. It's a no brainer, right? And it should be broadcast on all of our 1,000-plus channels so we have no choice but to watch it, and support it. It’s the very least we can do for those who have served our country.

The telethon happening later today is a good start. Actors Alan Alda and J0e Mantegna will host Homeward Bound, a live, four-hour national telethon to support American veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

Presented by Haven from the Storm and airing live to a nationwide audience on the Military Channel, the telethon will be broadcast from the historic American Legion Hall #43 in Hollywood from 7:00-11:00 PM (ET).  The first two hours of the telethon will also air on Tribune's PIX11 (New York) from 7 - 9:00 PM ET; WGN (Chicago) from 10:30 PM - 12:30 AM (delayed)(CT); and on KTLA (Los Angeles) from 4 - 6:00 PM (PT). The telethon will be live-streamed on www.homewardboundtelethon.org and rebroadcast on the Armed Forces Network on Monday. Among the celebrities who will be appearing on the telethon tonight are Secretary of State John Kerry, Mark Harmon and the cast of NCIS, Alan Alda, Trace Adkins, Patti Austin, Jason Bateman, James Brolin, Napoleon and Tabitha D'Umo, Dr. Phil McGraw, Bette Midler, Kevin Spacey, Steve Tyrell, Ben Vereen and Henry Winkler.  The telethon will also feature performances by The American Military Spouses Choir, Cactus Crossing, Under The Streetlamp, Gentleman's Rule and The Temptations Revue. The broadcast will include testimonials and personal stories from veterans and their families who've experienced difficulties as they returned from the battlefronts of WW II, Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. These include decorated war veterans Staff Sergeant Ty Carter (2013 Medal of Honor recipient) and Staff Sergeant Kyle Hausman-Stokes (Bronze Medal recipient); US Paralympic Medal Winner Marine LC Brandon Pelletier; actor/Navy SEAL Joel Lambert; Tuskegee Airman Lt. Bob Friend; Army Sergeant Tom Woods, Vietnam Vet Dannis Johnson, and others. People magazine, for which I worked for many years, is teaming up with Homeward Bound because of the magazine's commitment to providing assistance to men and women who served in the military. A portion of the night's proceeds will go to one of People's charities, Operation Finally Home, which provides custom-built, mortgage free homes to America's heroes and the widows of the fallen who have sacrificed so much to defend our freedoms and our way of life.  Operation Finally Home brings together corporate sponsors, builder associations, builders, developers, individual contributors, and volunteers to help these veterans and their families transition to the home front by addressing one of their most pressing needs - a home to call their own. (www.operationfinallyhome.org). Other participating charities in this telethon include The American Red Cross, New York Presbyterian Hospital, One Mind 4 Research, and the Wounded Warrior Project. Here's hoping that tonight’s telethon plants the seed for a much larger annual Veterans Day tradition.

The Reno Dispatch Wins Five Press Club Journalism Awards

There are so many talented journalists in my hometown, San Diego, which boasts one of the largest and finest Press Clubs in the nation. I was honored to be in their company this week and to have won eight San Diego Press Club awards at the club's annual gala.

I proudly won three first place awards for my work at Newsweek Daily Beast, including the top award for investigative reporting for my exclusive on the groundbreaking chemical weapons/Gulf War Illness lawsuit in Texas. It's a troubling story that still has not been resolved. It remains an open court case, and I will continue to stay on top of it.

And it's especially gratifying that the national news blog you are now reading, which I launched just a year ago, garnered five writing awards. My wife Gabriela kept telling me, "Jamie, if you build it (the news blog), they will come." As usual, she was right.

Thanks to all of you for being loyal readers of The Reno Dispatch. As long as you keep reading, I promise you I will keep writing.

Jamie Reno

November 1, 2013

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SAN DIEGO PRESS CLUB 

2013 JOURNALISM AWARDS

FIRST PLACE:

Daily Newspaper or Website – Essay/Commentary/Opinion

"A Deafening Silence: Pope Benedict's Real Legacy"

The Reno Dispatch

Daily Newspaper or Website – Investigative Reporting

"Groundbreaking Gulf War Syndrome Lawsuit: Chemical Warfare's Lingering Fallout"

Newsweek Daily Beast

Daily Newspaper or Website - Business & Financial

"San Diego is Drone Town, USA" 

Newsweek Daily Beast 

Daily Newspaper or Website – Military

"Norman Schwarzkopf's Lionization Ignores a Dark Gulf Legacy"

Newsweek Daily Beast

SECOND PLACE:

Daily Newspaper or Website - Breaking News

"Exclusive: Scientists Link Gulf War Illness to Chemicals From U.S. Bombings"

The Reno Dispatch

Daily Newspaper or or Website – Health & Medicine

"America's Favorite Weed Killer Linked to Cancer"

The Reno Dispatch

Daily Newspaper or Website – Multicultural

"Only in America: A Civil Debate With My Muslim Friend"  

The Reno Dispatch

Daily Newspaper or Website – Travel

"Hotel California: The Rock & Roll Legacy of the Golden State's Inns"

The Reno Dispatch