Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 3-2-09

1. Obama’s Agenda For Vets Posted At White House Website.
2. Walter Reed Taking Proactive Approach To Mental Healthcare.  
3. Critics Complain About Light Use Of VA Criteria By Disability Review Board.  
4. Website Linking Vets In Need To Those Who Can Offer Help.  
5. Erie VAMC To Screen Film For Women Vets.  
6. Disabled Iraq Vet "Stunned" By Afghanistan Orders.  
7. Soldier Who Lied About Combat Injury Sentenced To Probation.  
8. Chicago Welcome Home Ceremony For Soldiers Returning From Combat Set For Next Sunday.  
9. Army Secretary Discusses PTSD Awareness Campaign, Anti-Suicide Program.  
10. New VA Rules Thought To Have Boosted Hearing Aid Sales.

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HAVE YOU HEARD?
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed into law by President Obama on February 17. It is an unprecedented effort to jumpstart our economy, create or save millions of jobs, and put a down payment on addressing long-neglected challenges so our country can thrive in the 21st century. The Act is an extraordinary response to a crisis unlike any since the Great Depression, and includes measures to modernize our nation’s infrastructure, enhance energy independence, expand educational opportunities, preserve and improve affordable health care, provide tax relief, and protect those in greatest need. Recovery funds will also assist VA in improving the delivery of care and benefits to America’s veterans. You can follow the management of VA recovery fund allocations on the va.gov/recovery Web page. Just go to the www.va.gov and click on “recovery” in the blue left-hand border.

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1.      Obama’s Agenda For Vets Posted At White House Website.   The second story in George W. Reilly’s "Veterans’ Journal" column Providence (RI) Journal (3/2) says President Barack Obama "promises to deliver the care and benefits that the nation’s military veterans deserve while transforming the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to an administration agenda posted recently on the White House" website "devoted exclusively to veterans — www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/veterans." Obama, "who served on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, plans to reverse the 2003 ban on enrolling modest-income veterans into the VA system. The administration also wants to end employment discrimination for Guardsmen and Reservists and improve the process of transitioning from active duty to civilian life."

2.      Walter Reed Taking Proactive Approach To Mental Healthcare.   AFP (3/2) says anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), "and record-high suicide rates are haunting American veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, amid a taboo over mental distress," but at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, "psychological help is part and parcel of the care provided to soldiers wounded in combat, according to Colonel John Bradley, chief of the hospital’s psychiatric department. ‘We don’t wait for a declaration of emotional distress or dysfunction but we rather see the patient right from the beginning. We are looking for early signs of depression "’or difficulty coping with their battle injuries,’ he told AFP." According "to Bradley, 10 to 15 percent of wounded veterans treated at Walter Reed suffer from PTSD."
      Suicide-Prevention Presentations To Be Given To Marines.   The Los Angeles Times (2/28, Perry) reported, "Alarmed by a rising suicide rate among their troops, Marine officials announced Friday that all Marines, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan, will receive a two-hour suicide-prevention presentation next month." The "sessions will remind troops to watch for warning signs among their buddies and to immediately inform their superiors if they believe a Marine is thinking of suicide. In 2008, 41 Marines committed suicide, a rate of 19 per 100,000 troops. In 2007 the figure was 33 suicides (16.5 per 100,000)," while "in 2006 it was 25 (12.9 per 100,000)." The "Army had a similar increase. In 2008, 128 soldiers committed suicide, a rate of 20.2 per 100,000, up from 16.8 in 2007."
      VA Operating Suicide Prevention Hot Line.   The third story in George W. Reilly’s "Veterans’ Journal" column Providence (RI) Journal (3/2) notes, "Since July 2007, the Department of Veterans Affairs has operated an around-the-clock suicide prevention hot line — (800) 273-TALK — that the department said has received about 100,000 calls and has rescued more than 2,600 people." The VA "also has suicide prevention coordinators at each of its medical centers."
      Montana Deployment Program Seen As Model For Rest Of Nation.   In continuing coverage, the Great Falls (MT) Tribune (3/2, Newhouse) reports, "Two years after former Army Spc. Chris Dana committed suicide after struggling" with PTSD, the Montana National Guard is "spending approximately half a million dollars a year to make combat deployments easier for its soldiers and their families. The Montana Guard’s Yellow Ribbon program has become a model that the rest of America should adopt, said" US Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT). In a "news release last week, Tester said legislation is

being prepared to make many of the reforms employed in Montana mandatory nationwide."
      Hundreds Attend Oklahoma Reintegration Program Event.   The AP (3/2, Hinton) reports, "Soldiers from Oklahoma’s 45th Infantry Brigade who returned from Iraq in October congregated by the hundreds Saturday to participate in the state’s first reintegration program for servicemen impacted by war." The "weekend program, known as Oklahoma Project Yellow Ribbon Reintegration, was set up to make personal, onsite communication with servicemen 90 days after their deployment back, because that is when symptoms, both mental and physical, can surface."
      Iraq Vet Writing About War, Veterans.   The Worcester (MA) Telegram & Gazette News (3/2, Sacks) profiles Iraq veteran Tyler E. Boudreau, who has been "making his mark through intelligent, reflective writings and activism aimed at enhancing cross-cultural empathy and communication." This year, "his opinion pieces on war, veterans and Iraq have appeared" in such places as the op-ed page of the New York Times (1/26, A23), where he wrote "about the controversy over recognizing" PTSD, the newspaper noted. He "proposed that, rather than a Purple Heart, those suffering from psychological wounds of war be awarded their own type of medal," which Boudreau "suggests…be called a Black Heart."

3.      Critics Complain About Light Use Of VA Criteria By Disability Review Board.   In his syndicated "Military Update" column, appearing in the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser (3/2), Tom Philpott writes, "Complaints from veterans and from a high-profile commission that the services routinely were ‘low-balling’ disability ratings for military members found medically unfit spurred Congress last year to take action. Among other things," Congress "ordered the Department of Defense to create a special board to review disability ratings of 20 percent or less given to members who separated since Sept. 11, 2001." For the most part, the new Physical Disability Board of Review Board will "not be reassessing ratings for mental and physical conditions from applicants based solely on the more liberal criteria used by raters" at the "Veterans Administration Schedule for Ratings Disabilities, or VASRD." The "problem with that, critics said, is for some health conditions, service guidelines had watered down or ignored the VASRD."

4.      Website Linking Vets In Need To Those Who Can Offer Help.   The Chicago Tribune (3/2, Olkon) reports, "Desperate for help and hobbled by federal bureaucracy," some veterans have gone "public with their needs, recently posting their stories to total strangers on USATogether.org, a non-profit group created by a Silicon Valley entrepreneur to help injured veterans." In response, strangers "are coming to the aid of soldiers with things such as auto repair, a new washing machine or lodging for family while a soldier recuperates at a Veterans Affairs hospital far from home." According to the Tribune, before USA Together founder and Chief Executive Officer Dave Mahler came up with his "concept about a year and a half ago," he was given advice by a spokeswoman with the "VA hospital in Palo Alto, Calif."

5.      Erie VAMC To Screen Film For Women Vets.   The Jamestown (NY) Post-Journal (3/2) reports the Erie Veterans Affairs Medical Center "is holding a screening of the film, ‘Lioness’, for all returning service women from Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) and their families." According to the Post-Journal, the film "captures the reality of what five women experienced physically, mentally and spiritually as the first group of women sent into direct ground combat."

6.      Disabled Iraq Vet "Stunned" By Afghanistan Orders.   The Chattanooga (TN) Times Free Press (3/1, Gregory) said 39-year-old veteran Charles Ayars, a resident of Tunnel Hill, Georgia, returned home from a stint in Iraq "with a Purple Heart for a traumatic brain injury that left him with short-term memory problems and post-traumatic stress disorder. He is classified as disabled" by the US Department of Veterans Affairs, so he "was stunned when a letter arrived a few weeks ago ordering him to report for deployment to Afghanistan in April." Ayars "is technically eligible to be called up" from the Army’s Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) "through June 2010," but the IRR policy "worries veteran advocates such as Tom Tarantino," a Washington, DC-based "policy associate with the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America," who says that "in the last year, year and a half, guys are getting called up out of the IRR to perform functions that have nothing to do with their occupational specialties. They just need warm bodies."

7.      Soldier Who Lied About Combat Injury Sentenced To Probation.   The Seattle Times (3/1) reports, "A former soldier from Kent who faked combat service in Iraq to get medical compensation has been sentenced to three years’ probation by a federal judge who called his behavior ‘deplorable.’ Brandon V. Perkins appeared in U.S. District Court Friday before Judge Richard Jones. … Perkins pleaded guilty Nov. 13 to falsely claiming to be suffering pain and injury from a combat injury suffered when he was shot by enemy fire while deployed in Iraq. Based on his claims, Perkins received $2,720 in Veterans Administration medical benefits to which he wasn’t entitled."

8.      Chicago Welcome Home Ceremony For Soldiers Returning From Combat Set For Next Sunday.   The Southtown Star (3/1, Metsch) reports, "A welcome-home celebration for veterans and active duty members of the military who have returned from Iraq or Afghanistan will be held March 8 in Chicago. … Attendance is limited to veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom and active-duty service members and their families. Besides celebrating their homecomings, those attending can get information about benefits, employment, health care and other resources to assist in their transition."

9.      Army Secretary Discusses PTSD Awareness Campaign, Anti-Suicide Program.   The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (3/1,Labbe) reports, "Access to counseling is key to tackling head-on the incidents of post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide that plague soldiers." In July 2007, the month Army Secretary Pete Geren was confirmed, the Army "initiated a massive counseling effort in which every soldier – active duty, guard and reserve – talked about post-traumatic stress disorder and mild traumatic brain injury. Through a chain-teaching program, soldiers learned to identify the symptoms and how to seek treatment for these potentially devastating conditions. ‘This exercise forced 900,000 men and women to talk about PTSD – a conversation that we’ve never had before,’ Geren said. The Army plans a similar program this March on suicide prevention."

10.    New VA Rules Thought To Have Boosted Hearing Aid Sales.   The Roanoke Times (3/1, Jones) reports, "As sales of hearing aids dipped throughout much of the nation in 2008, the opposite happened in Virginia. Virginia sales grew 5.5 percent to about 46,000 units, according to Hearing Industries Association, which represents hearing aid manufacturers." A "major purchaser of hearing aids is the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In 2007, the VA accounted for 14 percent of all hearing aid sales, Bopp said. Data from 2008 isn’t available, but that figure is expected to increase with a new congressional directive saying any veteran referred to an audiologist from a primary care provider must be seen. Previously, there were restrictions related to military service. That directive went into effect in October, and since then the number of veterans visiting audiologists at the Salem Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center has increased, said Christine Woodrum, an audiologist at the Salem VA."

NEWS FROM CHAIRMAN BOB FILNER

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS

http://veterans.house.gov

Schedule for Week of March 2, 2009 

 

Tuesday, March 3 at 10 a.m. – 334 Cannon House Office Building

**Subcommittee on Health Committee Hearing

Legislative Hearing on H.R. 784, H.R. 785, H.R. 1211 and Draft Discussion on Emergency Care Reimbursement 

Tuesday, March 3 at 1:30 p.m. – 334 Cannon House Office Building

**Joint Subcommittees on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs and Oversight and Investigations Hearing

“Document Tampering and Mishandling at the Veterans Benefits Administration”

Wednesday, March 4 at 1 p.m. – 340 Cannon House Office Building

Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity Hearing

Legislative Hearing on H.R. 147, H.R. 228, H.R. 297, H.R. 466, H.R. 929, H.R. 942, H.R. 950, H.R. 1088, H.R. 1089, and H.R. 1171

Thursday, March 5 at 9:30 a.m. – 106 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Joint House and Senate Full Committee Hearing

Legislative Presentation of Paralyzed Veterans of America, Blinded Veterans Association, Jewish War Veterans of the United States, Wounded Warrior Project, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, Ex-POWs, and Gold Star Wives.

 

**Link to webcast available here: http://veterans.house.gov/

Keep updated on the committee schedule here: HVAC Website