First, I would like to thank Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens for hosting the areas Vietnam veterans and their guests last Friday night. It was a beautiful night, the Gardens were truly “AGLOW!” After the visit to the Gardens, Post 36 hosted them for a lasagna dinner. It was a great end to a perfect evening. Many thanks to Ed Harmon, the master chef, Robin Ford, Chris Armstead and his wife Gretchen and daughter Imij for their help putting on the dinner. Most of the veterans were part of the Kieve-Wavus Education’s Vietnam Veterans camp that’s held at Camp Kieve com in Nobleboro. This is camp is held annually in December for Vietnam veterans and their significant others. The term “camp” is used loosely in this case because everyone stays in hotel style room in a recently renovated lodge. Registration usually starts in October so if you are interested in attending, I should know in advance and will spread the word as soon as I do.

So, for those who use the VA for healthcare (VHA) or get benefits through the VBA, you likely have been using MyHealtheVet to have access to all your medical records, renew prescriptions, or talk to your healthcare providers. It has been working great for me and for everyone who has become used to it. Well, starting Jan. 31, you will no longer be able to access MyHealtheVets thru the VA portal. Instead, you will have to use Login.gov or ID.me. The MyHealtheVet portal isn’t going away, just the way to access it is. If you are using DS Logon to access MyHealtheVet, that option is going away on Sept. 30, 2025. So, the only two options will be Login.gov and ID.me. So, if you haven’t already created a Login.gov or a ID.me account, you should do that soon and start getting use to it. What are they? Login.gov is a government-provided account for accessing VA and other government services. ID.me is a private account provider that partners with government and non-government organizations. To learn more about the change and to create an account, go to www.va.gov/sign-in-changes. Or, if you are like me, this is just all to confusing, so I call Mike Labbe, the VA MyHealtheVet guru at (207) 512-6983 or email at Michael.Labbe@va.gov. Mike can likely walk you through the process over the phone but if there is an interest, I can set up a day at the Post when he can have appointments and work with you and your computer to get you set up. So, just to be sure it all worked, I just logged into my meHealtheVet account using IDme.gov. While there were a number of steps to go through, and then you had to search down through all the federal agencies you can connect with, once you get to the VA myHealtheVet you are there. What comes to my mind is, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” Oh well!