Free Virtual Legal Aid for Texas Veterans All Week

Tomorrow is Veterans Day. One hundred and two years ago, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, a cease fire was called between Germany and the Allied nations in World War I. That “armistice” held for seven months, until the Great War formally ended on June 28, 1919, outside Paris at the Palace of Versailles. Later that year, President Wilson declared November 11 a national commemoration of the armistice. In 1938, Congress established it as a federal holiday to honor the brave American veterans of that “war to end all wars.” However, after subsequent wars created new veterans, the holiday’s scope was expanded to all American veterans in 1954.

Texas has the second-largest population of veterans in the nation, and approximately 8,000 of them receive legal aid each year.

TexasLawHelp.org is promoting and running special legal aid programs for veterans all week. Please check out their impressive array of offerings by clicking here.

Veterans History Project: Victory in Europe Day

Victory in Europe, or VE Day, is celebrated on May 8 each year in many European countries to commemorate the acceptance of the unconditional surrender of Germany, thus formally ending World War II. This year, May 8 marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. To celebrate the momentous occasion, the Veterans History Project, a project of the American Folklife Center of the Library of Congress, has created an online exhibit, Experiencing War: End of World War II, 75th Anniversary. The exhibit features interviews with just a few of the 16 million Americans who served our country during World War II and offers some insight into the wartime experiences of these brave men and women, experiences that not only affected history but also touched their personal lives. You will meet:

• a Navy Commander who was at Normandy on D-Day, in Europe on the day that the war ended there, and on board the first ship to enter Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrendered;

• a Japanese-American medic who escaped three times from the Germans and was the only non-Caucasian in his POW camp;

• a technician for the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion who survived German bombing raids in London; and

• a technician in the Army’s 45th Infantry Division, who was one of the first Americans to enter the concentration camp at Dachau.

These are only handful of veterans whose stories are featured in this online exhibit. However, there are many other veterans from various wars who have contributed their stories to the Veterans History Project. Past exhibits include: Experiencing War: Voices of War and Experiencing War: End of World War II, 70th Anniversary.

Note: In 2000, Congress, recognizing the need to preserve the oral histories of veterans for future generations, enacted Pub. L. 106-380, which authorized the American Folklife Center to establish the Veterans History Project. If you would like to participate in the project or know someone who would, check out the Veterans History Project How to Participate page for more information.

Latest & Greatest – The Military Divorce Handbook: A Practical Guide to Representing Military Personnel and Their Families

By Mark E. Sullivan

Published by American Bar Association. Section of Family Law

KF 535 .S85 2019

The Texas Access to Justice Commission has designated the week of November 10-16 as Texas Veterans Legal Aid Week. Here at the Harris County Law Library, November is Veterans Law Resource Month, and we are featuring titles to help veterans. One such title is The Military Divorce Handbook: A Practical Guide to Representing Military Personnel and Their Families. 

There is no such thing as a cookie-cutter divorce. Elements may be the same, but each case is unique and each is fraught with its own circumstances and situations. Divorce can be especially problematic and difficult when one or both spouses are active military personnel. Issues such as custody and visitation may not be as clear-cut and easily resolved as those involving civilians. To offer some guidance in this matter, attorney Mark E. Sullivan has written The Military Divorce Handbook: A Practical Guide to Representing Military Personnel and Their Families.  This two-volume set begins with a discussion of service of process and its two main concerns: how can one locate someone serving in the military and how can one serve him? The author explains how the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects parties who are in the military and how it can affect the timing of lawsuits brought against military personnel. He addresses the unique issues surrounding custody and visitation, especially as it affects cases in which the military parent is mobilized or deployed. Family support and enforcement of that obligation may take on an added dimension in cases involving military families due to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and other military support rules. Sullivan also talks about divorce and what is considered domicile for purposes of filing for divorce. Another area that requires some discussion is the division of property, which includes military benefits and pensions. Sadly, the military does not afford protection from domestic abuse, so the author includes a chapter about this issue as well. 

If you are looking for a fairly comprehensive guide to representing military personnel in a divorce matter, have a look at The Military Divorce Handbook. The appendices after each chapter are especially helpful with extra resources. Moreover, there are practice tips peppered throughout the book.

A Veterans Day Salute from the Harris County Law Library

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Click the photo to see a copy of the law that established Armistice Day (1938) as it appears on the Harris County Law Library shelves in the original 1921 U.S. Statutes at Large from the U.S. Government Publishing Office.

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Click the photo to see a copy of the amended law (1954) that changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day. Also from the original 1921 U.S. Statutes at Large at Harris County Law Library, from the U.S. Government Publishing Office.

On this Veterans Day, with gratitude, the Harris County Law Library salutes all who have served.

In 1938, Congress passed a law, 52 Stat. 351 (pictured above), which established Armistice Day as a legal holiday. Congress amended the law in 1954 following World War II and the Korean War to honor all veterans, “striking out the word ‘Armistice’ and inserting in lieu thereof the word ‘Veterans’.” Later that year, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first Veterans Day Proclamation. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy’s delivered remarks at the Armistice Day wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery.

Further reading on the History of Armistice/Veterans Day:

•  Law Library of Congress Armistice/Veterans Day blog post, In Custodia Legis

•  Remarks at the Veterans Day Ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery (1961)

•  U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs History of Veterans Day