Lt. Governor Murray in city for veterans

Lt. Governor Tim Murray and Secretary of Veterans Services Thomas Kelley will be in Lynn Tuesday as part of a state effort to get out the word about veterans benefits and new provisions of veterans benefits bills that will be important to returning Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans in the future.

“The governor and I want to do everything we can for the brave men and women returning from these wars and facing re-entry into the society,” said Murray during a Saturday interview.

“Never have so many faced so much after serving their nation in difficult wars that have left so many of them seriously physically and mentally damaged,” he added.

Lt. Governor Murray serves as chairman of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Veterans’ Srvices.

He will moderate the public meeting being held from 3-4:30 p.m. at the Franco-American Post, 535 Western Avenue.

Murray and Kelley are apparently going to be discussing new provision in Veterans’ health care that deals with post-traumatic stress disorder and with new provisions of the veterans bill recently drafted.

The city’s capable veterans agent Michael Sweeney will be meeting with the Lt. Gov. as well as Kelley.

“They’re coming out to hear first hand what’s going on with the families of Lynn servicemen and with the servicemen and women themselves,” he said.

“It is very easy to sit in Boston and to say everything is going well. It is another to get firsthand reports from all over the state,” he added.

Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families have been impacted not only by the modern nature of the war and from roadside bombs and booby trapped buildings but also by the economic downturn which has served to exacerbate family conditions while a husband or wife and mother is serving overseas and away from home.

There are hundreds of thousands who have been wounded and who have lost limbs and whose mental health has been affected by PTSD.

In part, this tour is intended to spread the word that the government is there to help.