Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 09-19-08

Today’s Local News for Veterans

What’s Inside

1. Officials Plan To Break Ground On Orlando VA Hospital In October.
2. VA Grant Will Help Pay For Green-Friendly Renovations At Colorado Facility.  
3. San Francisco VAMC Researching PTSD Blood Test.  
4. Father "Livid" That He Cannot Be Buried Next To Afghanistan Vet Son.  
5. Decision To Deny Marine Posthumous Medal Of Honor Sparks "Outcry."  
6. New Vet Center Now Open In Ohio.  
7. VA Doctor Honored For Infection Prevention Efforts.  
8. Roseburg VA Hosting Stand Down Event.  
9. VA Awards Building Contract For New Clinic In Kentucky.  
10. VA Hospitals Host POW-MIA Recognition Days

1.      Officials Plan To Break Ground On Orlando VA Hospital In October.   The Orlando (FL) Sentinel’s (9/18, Matthews) blog reported, "After decades of waiting, local and federal officials plan to break ground Oct. 24 for a new Orlando veterans hospital in Lake Nona, said aides" to US Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL). In a statement, Feeney said, "I look forward to joining" VA Secretary James Peake, "Central Florida veterans and local officials this October to celebrate the construction of a long-overdue hospital to serve Central Florida’s large veterans population." NEWS13-TV Orlando, FL (9/18, 5:13 p.m. ET) aired a similar report.

2.      VA Grant Will Help Pay For Green-Friendly Renovations At Colorado Facility.   The Alamosa (CO) Valley Courier (9/19, Mullens) reports, "On Sept. 12, 2008 Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. Jams B. Peake announced that CSVC (Colorado State Veterans Center) at Homelake in Rio Grande County would be the recipient of a grant of up to $5.2 million for upgrades to the facility’s resident support and activities area." The funds "from the federal grant will be combined with those from a state grant of $2.8 million to refurbish Homelake’s residence cottages." The Valley Courier adds, "The use of ‘green’ technology and energy efficiency are major components of the domiciliary project which will be done with a final goal of obtaining LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) project certification."

3.      San Francisco VAMC Researching PTSD Blood Test.   On its website, KGO-TV San Francisco, CA (9/18, Jennings) reported, "The Veterans Health Administration estimates it will treat nearly six million patients this year, including more than 260,000 veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The most common mental health problem suffered by those troops is post-traumatic stress disorder," or PTSD. Now, however, there "is aggressive research underway" in this area at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where scientists "are looking for changes in the blood and the brain to find treatments for victims of PTSD." The research "could one day allow PTSD to be diagnosed through a blood test or a brain scan, like most other diseases." KBWB-TV San Francisco, CA (9/18, 9:31 p.m. PT) broadcast a similar report.

4.      Father "Livid" That He Cannot Be Buried Next To Afghanistan Vet Son.   The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (9/19, Bell) reports, "The father of an Army corporal killed in Afghanistan is livid" that the US government "won’t honor his request to be buried next to his son at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery." Because Kurt Zwilling "is a veteran himself," he "has a right to be buried at Jefferson Barracks." The government, however, "has told him he can’t reserve the spot next to his son" because those spaces are reserved for spouses. But Zwilling’s son Gunnar "was not married, and his father wants him to have family next to him." The Post-Dispatch adds that on Thursday, National Cemetery Administration spokesman Michael Nacincik "said that, once the father dies, the administration would take up his request then, but isn’t making any promises." 5.      Decision To Deny Marine Posthumous Medal Of Honor Sparks "Outcry."   In continuing coverage, the Washington Post (9/19, A16, Tyson, 696K) reports, In continuing coverage, the Washington Post (9/19, A16, Tyson) reports, "According to the secretary of the Navy, Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta gave his life to save his comrades" in Iraq in 2004, "grabbing a…grenade…and absorbing the brunt of the blast." But a decision by Defense Secretary Robert Gates "not to recommend him for the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military honor, stirred an outcry" Thursday "by his family and Marines whose lives he saved." The AP (9/19, Carter) reports that Peralta’s mother "plans to appeal to Congress to award her son" the Medal of Honor.

6.      New Vet Center Now Open In Ohio.   On its website, WNWO-TV Toledo, OH (9/18, Branam) reported, "Up until three weeks ago, Northwest Ohio veterans had to travel into Michigan to seek individual and group therapy," but that is no longer the case because the "Northwest Ohio Veterans Center is open for business." The "Vet Center, located on South Byrne Road in Toledo, plans on having it’s grand opening during Veterans Day Weekend."

7.      VA Doctor Honored For Infection Prevention Efforts.   In continuing coverage, the Federal Times (9/18, Neal) reported Dr. Rajiv Jain of the Veterans Affairs Department was one of eight "employees…honored Tuesday with Service to America Medals," which "are presented each year by the Partnership for Public Service to federal employees who make outstanding accomplishments. Jain was presented with the Citizen Services Medal for his work at the VA’s Pittsburgh Healthcare System facility, where "Jain developed a program that has notably reduced the number of life-threatening infections acquired at hospitals" across the world. At Jain’s hospital, meanwhile, "the surgical unit has cut its infection rate by 70 percent. ‘There’s one take-home message from my work, and it’s to keep your hands clean,’ he said as the guests laughed and applauded."

8.      Roseburg VA Hosting Stand Down Event.   KMTR-TV Eugene, OR (9/18, 11:08 p.m. PT) broadcast that the Veterans Affairs Roseburg Healthcare System "is hosting the Southern Oregon Stand Down" on Friday. Those "who show up" at the event, which "runs for three days," can "get medical and health counseling, dental and chiropractic care, legal assistance, haircuts, job training and assistance, clothing, and food."

9.      VA Awards Building Contract For New Clinic In Kentucky.   KFVS-TV Carterville, IL (9/18, 10:11 p.m. CT) broadcast, "The Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded a contract to build a new VA clinic in Mayfield, Kentucky." The clinic "is tentatively scheduled to open in February. For now, vets in the Mayfield area have to go" to the Marion VA Medical Center "or the VA clinic in Paducah." WPSD-TV Carterville, IL (9/18, 6:11 p.m. CT) aired a similar report, while the AP (9/19) also notes the contract. 

10.    VA Hospitals Host POW-MIA Recognition Days.   The Oregonian (9/19, Brettman) reports the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center "will host a POW-MIA Recognition Day ceremony at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at its Vancouver campus’ Vietnam War Memorial Garden." Meanwhile, the lead story in the Chillicothe (OH) Gazette’s (9/19) "Briefs" column reports the Chillicothe VA Medical Center "will observe POW/MIA Recognition Day Friday." Similarly, the second story in the Elmira (NY) Star-Gazette’s (9/19) reports the Bath VA Medical Center "will host its annual Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Recognition Ceremony at 1:30 p.m. Friday."
      The Alexandria (LA) Town Talk (9/19, Brown), on the other hand, reports that the VA medical center in Pineville, Louisiana, held a POW/MIA Remembrance Service on Wednesday, while the KOSA-TV Odessa, TX (9/18) website reported that the Big Spring VA Hospital "hosted a luncheon" Thursday "for POWs and MIAs." KOSA added, "National POWMIA Recognition Day is Friday." Finally, KHOG-TV Fort Smith, AR (9/19, 10:23 p.m. CT) broadcast that on Thursday afternoon, the VA medical center in Fayetteville, Arkansas, "paid tribute" to "our armed forces who were prisoners of war or missing in action."