COLUMBIA – Kicking off Memorial Day weekend, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today announced that the newest round of results of her Missouri veterans’ secret shopper program show encouraging results, while identifying areas for possible improvement.

McCaskill launched her Veterans’ Customer Satisfaction Program (VCSP), a confidential survey, to give thousands of Missouri veterans an opportunity to offer direct, meaningful feedback on the quality of service they receive at their local VA facility.

The combined surveys-over the course of 9 reports in 3 regions-have so far found that an average of 61 percent of veterans rated their overall experience with the VA Medical Centers as Excellent or Above Average, with another 17.4 percent rating their experience as Fair. An average of 78 percent surveyed said they would recommend their VA facility to other veterans.

Nearly 1,000 Missouri veterans participated in this year’s surveys, and the program is now in its fourth year.

“For me, the best way to find out whether veterans are receiving the high quality of customer service they deserve is simply by listening to them, said McCaskill, the daughter of a World War II veteran and a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. “We launched these surveys to give us a real snapshot of the quality of service Missouri veterans are receiving, and an opportunity for them to offer meaningful feedback to us and to the VA on their experiences and how those experiences can be improved. It’s clear there are areas for improvement, and I won’t stop working to get these numbers higher-but I’m generally encouraged by the progress we’ve seen over the past four years, and I think other states could learn a lesson from this effort.”

The survey is now active in three regions: St. Louis, Kansas City, and Columbia. In Columbia, 90 percent of veterans surveyed would recommend their VA facility to other veterans, and nearly 80 percent rate their experience as Excellent or Above Average. Veterans ranked the largest improvements in timeliness to see a provider and the cleanliness of the facility. In St. Louis, the survey showed double-digit improvements in veterans’ attitudes on communication by the VA staff at the facility, length of time waiting to be seen by a provider, and willingness to recommend the VA facility to other veterans. In Kansas City, 77.5 percent indicated they would recommend the VA facility to other veterans.

Full survey results can be found HERE for Columbia, HERE for St. Louis, HERE for Kansas City.

Veterans can visit http://www.mccaskill.senate.gov/vcsp to participate in the survey.

Following a series of highly publicized incidents in 2010 which called into question the high standard of care provided by the St. Louis VA Medical Center – John Cochran Division, McCaskill enlisted Missouri veterans and VA administrators to help assess the overall quality of customer service. In response, McCaskillannounced the secret shopper program for veterans to rate the quality of service at Missouri VA facilities and provide the VA with targeted, helpful feedback about veterans’ positive and negative experiences at the VA medical centers. The VA’s independent watchdog confirmed in 2012 that the problems at Cochran had largely been corrected.

Few experiences are more powerful or moving than a visit to a cemetery on Memorial Day. Unlike a military cemetery where rows upon rows of graves give silent testimony to the human cost of war, in most Kansas cemeteries the stories of the dead – young, old, male and female – tell a story about the community.

But like their battlefield counterparts, cemeteries that dot the Kansas countryside are the resting place for veterans. Some of these graves are filled with young men who barely reached adulthood when they died. Their stories tell of dreams unfulfilled, of promises and potentials cut short.

When visiting these places, it is possible to be overcome with a sense of yearning. It is also possible to feel something larger, a sense of finality and rest, and a sense of peace.

The soldiers from World War I, World War II, the Korean conflict, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom and Afghanistan are at rest in these cemeteries. They live on in the memory of their families and friends and, in a larger sense, in the memory and gratitude of the nation they gave their lives for. Lingering among the memories is always the nagging question: Did they die in vain?

On Memorial Day, Kansans will once again gather in cemeteries in Iola, Valley Falls, Meade, Washington, Hoisington or Grinnell to recall and reassure themselves that the lives and deaths of these young men and women had meaning.

When we think of our liberties this Memorial Day, remember that some gave all. Remember those veterans who died so we could remain free.

Only a handful of those who served in World War I remain, and the number who served in World War II dwindles daily. Vietnam veterans have reached middle age and today’s young men and women are the veterans of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

For many their story remains the same. They grew up as farm kids in the Midwest or some other region of our country. Those from the Midwest grew up with the feel of the prairie earth beneath their feet, the wide-open sky overhead and the rhythm of the seasons in their blood.

At an early age, most of the young men and women learned to cultivate the soil, plant crops and harvest the bounty with their parents. Like many farm boys and girls, they understood machinery and the use of tools. They developed self-reliance and initiative.

Soon, many found themselves in another field far from home. This field was a battlefield in Europe, the Far East, Vietnam or the Middle East. These veterans become the unsung heroes of war.

But these young men and women were not repairing a combine in a harvest field or operating a small business on MainStreet. Instead, they were patching up a tank under enemy fire, threading their way through the jungles of Vietnam, avoiding anti-personnel mines in Iraq or keeping an eye peeled for snipers in Afghanistan.

This Memorial Day, mothers, fathers, families and friends will travel to cemeteries across Kansas and our country. Once on those hallowed grounds, they will pause to remember and pray for the young men and women who did not return from war. For many, visiting a cemetery on Memorial Day somehow eases the pain and loss of loved ones.

At the same time let’s give thanks and remember those veterans who are still with us. Let’s not forget those serving around the world today in the armed forces.

John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.

MOUND CITY (AP) – A northwest Missouri state park that was under water for several months in 2011 is back in business.

The St. Joseph News-Press reports Big Lake State Park south of Mound City reopened in time for the Memorial Day weekend.

Flooding along the Missouri River swamped the popular vacation spot in 2011. The high water remained throughout the summer, ruining the park’s hotel and cabins.

Those amenities are gone, but Big Lake’s campground reopened Friday with 58 electric sites, 18 basic sites and a shower house. Also available are the day-use area, 100-person shelter and boat ramp.

Workers are still restoring the swimming pool. The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has spent about $600,000 at Big Lake, and the agency says visitors may still see some work underway.

MICHAEL FELBERBAUM, AP Tobacco Writer

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Some makers of the liquid nicotine used in electronic cigarettes are using notable brand names like Thin Mint, Tootsie Roll and Cinnamon Toast Crunch to sell their wares.

MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration’s decision to allow more veterans to get care at private hospitals could take some pressure off backlogged Veterans Affairs facilities.

Many of them are struggling to cope with new patients from the wars on terrorism as well as soldiers from prior conflicts.

Agreeing to recommendations from lawmakers, the administration says it will allow more veterans to obtain treatment at private hospitals and clinics in an effort to improve care.

In a statement Saturday, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki also said that VA facilities are enhancing capacity of their clinics so veterans can get care sooner.

Lawmakers from both parties have pressed for this policy change as the VA confronts allegations about treatment delays and falsified records at VA centers nationwide.

JIM SALTER, Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Serving aboard an U.S. submarine was one of the most dangerous assignments in World War II, with nearly 1 in 5 crew members losing their lives.

A suburban St. Louis man is trying to ensure that those men — more than 3,600 sailors — are remembered by publishing a new book.

Paul Wittmer, a submarine veteran who turned 90 last week, spent eight years conducting research at the National Archives in St. Louis, which houses millions of military personnel records.

He compiled biographical information on every submariner lost during WWII. The effort culminated with a six-volume book he hopes to see in every state library.

Wittmer says the stories needed to be captured for history.

NOMAAN MERCHANT, Associated Press

DALLAS (AP) — Robert Gates, the new president of the Boy Scouts of America, says he would have moved further than the youth organization last year and admitted openly gay adults.

But he won’t support any attempts now to change the policy.

Gates took the helm this week of a group that serves about 2.5 million youth nationwide but faces continued membership declines and fights over its inclusion of openly gay boys, but not adults.

He told The Associated Press Friday that he “was prepared to go further than the decision that was made,” but respects it and won’t try to change it.

He says moving further now would ignite a debate that could threaten Scouting’s existence.

The 70-year-old Gates was secretary of defense under two presidents and CIA director.

COLLEEN SLEVIN, Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado-based grocery store chain recently announced it will carry only dairy products from farms where cows graze in pastures.