Hundreds of veterans packed VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on Thursday to find resources available to them, especially for suicide prevention.

The Veterans Affairs secretary is reversing a department memo that aimed to ban VA displays of the iconic “V-J Day in Times Square” photograph showing a Navy sailor kissing a woman he did not know on the streets of New York at the end of World War II.

President Biden is expected to participate in the 70th annual National Veterans Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery starting at 11 a.m. Saturday to honor the men and women who have served and continue to serve in the U.S. armed forces during war and peacetime.

Military veterans battling cancer because they were exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances, will have their benefits claims expedited to ensure they get “timely access to care and benefits.”

FILE - In this July 7, 2020 file photo, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Richard Wilkie speaks at the National Press Club in Washington. Confronted with a sexual assault allegation at a veterans hospital, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie repeatedly sought to discredit the female congressional staffer who made the complaint. The groups pressed Trump to act in the last weeks of his administration since Wilkie had refused to accept responsibility and was refusing to resign. Wilkie and other senior officials had declined to fully cooperate with the investigation by VA Inspector General Michael Missal. Wilkie is Trump’s second VA secretary after David Shulkin was fired in 2018.

“It is unfair to expect accountability from the nearly 400,000 VA employees and not demand the same from its top executive. Wilkie and other senior officials had declined to fully cooperate with the investigation by VA Inspector General Michael Missal. Wilkie is Trump’s second VA secretary after David Shulkin was fired in 2018. President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to rebuild trust in the VA when he takes office on Jan. 20. He has selected Denis McDonough, who served as President Barack Obama’s White House chief of staff, to be VA secretary.

“The accountability, professionalism and respect that our veterans have earned, and quite frankly deserve, is completely lost in this current VA leadership team,” said B.J. Wilkie and other senior officials had declined to fully cooperate with the investigation by VA Inspector General Michael Missal. Wilkie is President Donald Trump’s second VA secretary after David Shulkin was fired in 2018. “VA can and must do better,” said Randy Reese, executive director of Disabled American Veterans’ Washington headquarters. He has selected Denis McDonough, who served as President Barack Obama’s White House chief of staff, to be VA secretary.

“The response of Secretary Wilkie and senior VA officials to the veteran’s complaint of sexual assault was troubling,” Missal said in a statement. “The tone set by Secretary Wilkie appears to have influenced aspects of the initial VA police investigation and the conduct of other VA employees,” the report said. On Thursday, Biden said he will nominate Denis McDonough, who served as President Barack Obama’s White House chief of staff, to be VA secretary. VA officials did not examine the information, the report said. A study released by the VA last year found 1 in 4 female veterans using VA health care reported inappropriate comments by male veterans on VA grounds.

WEST HAVEN, Conn. – Two workers were killed in an explosion Friday while repairing a steam pipe in a maintenance building at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Connecticut, officials said. Alfred Montoya Jr., director of the VA Connecticut Healthcare System, said the men were in the basement of the small outer building and had just finished routine maintenance on a leaky pipe. He said the explosion occurred just after 8 a.m. as the pipe was being refilled with steam. “Our prayers are with the families of the victims of this explosion," VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said. The explosion occurred in a building that houses the hospital’s labor shops, such as carpentry and plumbing, a spokesperson for the hospital said.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – During his rally Thursday night at Cecil Field, President Donald Trump announced a new Veterans Affairs facility would be coming to Jacksonville. News4Jax has learned the Southpoint and University locations will be replaced by the new facility. The new location, which has yet to be announced, will be approximately 164,000 square feet. It will have primary care, mental health, onsite radiology, optometry and audiology services. The location on Jefferson Street in Springfield will continue to operate.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - A man who worked for a carrier service is accused of stealing pain medication from the Jacksonville Veterans Affairs clinic that was meant to be delivered to patients. But investigators said they learned some of that medication never made it to the hub, so they set up surveillance on Flood. Police said the surveillance operation on the delivery driver revealed he conducted a scheduled pickup of medications from the VA clinic to be delivered to the hub. According to the report, a bottle of hydrocodone was placed in the tampered package after previously being sealed in a different package at the VA. According to the report, the second package contained two previously sealed bags that had been opened and the detective noted that medication was missing.