More than 1,000 Veterans Affairs employees have been let go after the Trump administration signed an executive order telling agencies to prepare for large-scale reductions, raising concerns among veterans about the future of their benefits.

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.

Central Florida leaders are announcing a new campaign Wednesday aimed at helping homeless veterans.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is remaining quiet about what caused an hours-long lockdown at a Veterans Affairs hospital in Orlando’s Lake Nona neighborhood.

Let’s say you’re in need of certain Veterans Affairs benefits, but you’re unable to get the help you need. What do you do?

ORLANDO, Fla. – Veterans of any age are now eligible for the coronavirus vaccine at two Veterans Affairs locations in Orange County, according to the Orlando VA. The Orlando VA Healthcare Center, which covers most of Central Florida, said it is vaccinating all veterans of any age who receive VA care at the Orlando and Lake Baldwin locations. The shots are being offered at all four sites through appointments and some walk-ins. People must already receive care through the VA or be eligible to receive care there in order to get the vaccine. Use the form below to sign up for the ClickOrlando.com 4pm Trending newsletter, sent every weekday.

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.

OVIEDO, Fla. – A former Veterans Affairs employee in Florida has pleaded guilty to seven counts of stealing government funds, according to the Department of Justice. Attorneys said in a two-year period, Arenas misused vehicles rented through a rental program on behalf of the VA. “VA employees are public servants who owe a solemn duty to the veterans they serve,” said David Spilker, Special Agent in Charge of VA OIG’s Southeast Field Office. “Today’s guilty pleas by the defendant demonstrate VA OIG’s commitment to holding accountable anyone who abuses the public trust. VA OIG thanks the U.S. Attorney’s Office and GSA OIG for their strong partnership in this important matter.”

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.