22 Nov 2010

Count of all veterans in American Samoa wanted

10:16 am on 22 November 2010

The Coordinator of the Disabled Veterans Outreach Programme for the Western Pacific wants to carry out a village by village count of all veterans living in American Samoa.

Jackie Yuen, who's based in Guam, hopes that during a future visit she will be able to coordinate such a project with the Office of Samoan Affairs.

She says the Hawaii Veteran's office estimates there are 15,000 former soldiers living in the territory, but the local VA office has just 2,000 registered veterans.

Jackie Yuen says it's important for veterans to register.

"If we don't have enough veterans here in American Samoa that means you would get less service, less facility, less staffing. But if more veterans here on the island that means that's going to require more staff, more equipment, more facility, so that's a key factor."