Brigadier General (Ret.) Karen Berry was sworn in on Wednesday as Delaware’s first cabinet-level Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
The event marked the culmination of many years of effort by veteran advocates to enhance the delivery of services to the approximately 70,000 former military personnel living in the state and their families. They argued that veterans were not getting access to all the benefits they had earned and that Delaware was failing to claim millions of dollars in federal funding available to assist them.
Governor Matt Meyer signed House Substitute 1 for House Bill 1 earlier this month, establishing the new Department of Veterans Affairs and elevating veterans’ services to a cabinet-level agency. The new department will centralize and expand services for veterans across the First State, including benefits assistance, housing support, healthcare coordination, and mental health services.
General Berry was sworn in at the Delaware Veterans Home in Milford, surrounded by family, friends, elected officials, state agency leaders, and dozens of veterans whom she now represents.
State Rep. Jeff Hilovsky (R-Long Neck, Oak Orchard), in photo, was one of the prime sponsors of the bipartisan measure, which cleared the General Assembly without a dissenting vote. “What this means is that the doors will be unlocked and opportunities will unfold because veterans who have never had a seat at the table will now have that seat,” he said.
State Rep. Charles Postles (R-Milford North, Frederica) called the swearing-in “a great day for the State of Delaware,” adding that the new post would provide a level of veterans’ advocacy that has long been overdue.
A retired Brigadier General with a distinguished 36-year military career, Sec. Berry was lauded at the event as the right person to lead Delaware’s newest agency. The Delaware State Senate confirmed her nomination to the post late last month.
The Department of Veterans Affairs will, for the time being, remain part of the Department of State for budgetary, administrative, and operational purposes. One of Sec. Berry’s first tasks will be to collaborate with other executive branch officials to develop a transition plan to separate her department from the Department of State no later than July 1, 2030.
