At AFN, U.S. Veteran Affairs secretary promises permanent grave markers, other benefits for Alaska

Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie told the Alaska Federation of Natives convention on Saturday that the agency is expanding benefits for veterans and families of service members in Alaska.

Speaking before hundreds of Alaska Natives, and later in a listening circle with dozens of veterans, Wilkie said he was impressed with the longtime military service of Alaska Natives, with the highest enrollment rates in the nation.

 "It is what Sen. Sullivan calls Alaska's special kind of patriotism," Wilkie said, referring to Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who had urged Wilkie to visit Alaska before he was confirmed in July.

Wilkie's comments helped cap AFN's 52^nd annual convention, a three-day spectacle of culture, art and politics. On Saturday, thousands of delegates from around Alaska called for new efforts to combat sexual assault in Native communities. In a remarkable moment Friday, Gov. Bill Walker announced he was ending his re-election bid with weeks left.

[AFN bids farewell to governor in historic event.]

Speaking on Saturday, Wilkie said the agency will use Alaska as a testing ground for an electronic medical-records program that will smooth the transition from military to post-service life as veterans pursue health care.

Wilkie also complimented Alaska's unusual health system, with tribally run clinics in villages providing care to veterans in villages.

Over the last few days, Wilkie said he'd visited the Alaska Native Medical Center, providing health care in Anchorage, and the group's that manage the center, Southcentral Foundation and the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium.

Wilkie said the agency was renewing reimbursement agreements with tribes through 2022, as part of the program. Since 2012, the agency had reimbursed tribal-care provides $21 million, he said.

"The greatest lesson I learned is you help Veterans Affairs more than I help you," he told the convention.

Speaking in a more intimate listening session after his speech, seated in a circle with some 30 Alaska Native veterans, Wilkie said the agency will provide permanent grave markers across Alaska, for families with deceased veterans.

A lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, Wilkie said Sullivan had leaned on him to take that step, and other efforts in Alaska.

Sullivan, a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, sat beside Wilkie.

Sullivan said the grave markers will replace old markers crumbling in Alaska's rugged weather.

"We pressed hard for that," Sullivan told the veterans.

Sullivan told a reporter after the hearing that work is underway to bring other benefits to Alaska, including the creation of a Veterans Affairs residency pilot program.

The goal is that physicians in training will conduct residency programs in Alaska and base their careers here, combating a shortage of doctors.

Sullivan had inserted that language into the VA modernization bill signed earlier this year.

On Friday, Wilkie attended the annual Stand Down Anchorage event where homeless veterans are able to access social services and other help.

At the AFN listening session on Saturday, George Shoogukuwrk, 67 and a U.S. Army Vietnam-era veteran, said the Veteran Affairs agency helped him get into his own home, after he had been homeless.

"Today, I'm good," he said.