Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 3-15-09

1. Shinseki Releases Open Letter To Veterans.  
2. Shinseki’s Capitol Hill Appearances This Week Noted.  
3. Kayak Training Benefits Wounded Veterans.  
4. Brain Injury Recovery Kit Donated To Wyoming Clinic.  
5. Welcome Home Event Held For Returning Florida Veterans.  
6. Job Fair Targets Recent Veterans.  
7. Deployed Soldiers’ Families Face Common Hardships.  
8. Disabled Combat Veterans Take Up Skiing.  
9. Conditions At Contracted Tallahassee VA Facility Criticized.  
10. Rio Grande Valley VA Hospital Backers Start 250-Mille March To San Antonio

1.      Shinseki Releases Open Letter To Veterans.   The Navy Times (3/13, Maze) reports Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki "released an unusual open letter to all veterans Friday, saying he is committed to transforming his department into a 21st-century organization in which ‘veterans are central to everything VA does.’ Issued after two weeks of controversy swirling around VA for problems both inherited and caused by some preliminary decisions within the Obama administration, the letter is an unusual step. VA officials said that other than annual Veterans Day messages, they are unaware of any other such letter to veterans sent by a VA secretary for at least a decade, and probably longer. VA spokesman Phil Budahn said it would be wrong to read too much into the message. ‘It is what it is,’ Budahn said. ‘He wanted to send a message to veterans that introduces him and lays out his priorities.’ Veterans organizations – who so far appear to like Shinseki – seemed pleased. Joe Davis, public affairs director for Veterans of Foreign Wars, the nation’s largest group for combat veterans, said VA ‘is in the service industry, and its leader is communicating in simple language that his customers are his No. 1 priority and the reason his department exists.’ ‘Secretary Shinseki is one of us, and we look forward to working with him to ensure that VA fulfills a grateful nation’s promise to her veterans,’ Davis said." The Times notes that Shinseki "is a disabled veteran – twice wounded in Vietnam – who served a full career in the military, rising to Army chief of staff. In his letter, he says he views his new job as an ‘opportunity to give back to those who served with and for me during my 38 years in uniform and those on whose shoulders we all stood as we grew up in the profession of arms.’"

2.      Shinseki’s Capitol Hill Appearances This Week Noted.   Syndicated columnist Tom Philpott, in a piece appearing in the Tacoma News Tribune (3/14) among other outlets, writes, "Obama is drawing high praise from veterans service organizations for proposing a Department of Veterans Affairs budget that would exceed by $1.3 billion what even the veterans groups suggested be spent next year. No previous president has offered a VA spending plan that surpassed in size the ‘Independent Budget’ presented to Congress by major veterans groups. Obama seeks to fulfill several promises made to veterans during his presidential campaign, including a big increase in VA healthcare budgets. But it was a new and unpopular proposal being studied by the administration that created uncomfortable moments for VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki when he made separate appearances Tuesday before the House and Senate veterans’ affairs committees. … Shinseki received a warm welcome when he presented the budget outline to the Senate and House veterans affairs committees. But he also got a string of strong warnings from committee members over a cost-saving proposal that Shinseki conceded is under study. The administration is considering charging veterans’ health insurance plans earned through civilian employment for VA’s costs in treating service-connected injuries or ailments. VA already taps ‘third party’ insurance plans for treatment of nonservice-related conditions. Collections in fiscal 2008 totaled $2.4 billion. VA expects to collect $2.5 billion this year. The total could jump to $3 billion next year if care of service-connected conditions are included. Shinseki emphasized that this is only ‘a consideration’ and not yet part of Obama’s budget request."

3.      Kayak Training Benefits Wounded Veterans.   The St. Louis Post-Dispatch (3/13, Gregorian) reports, "Marine veteran Nolan Kowalski schleps his kayak gear toward the pool and strips down to his swim trunks. … A handful of other veterans are already in the pool inside the Jefferson Barracks Veterans Affairs fitness center. They struggle to flip their kayaks then right them with the help of volunteers. Not Kowalski. He straps on a life vest and goggles and is soon rolling and swirling through the water with ease. Every Tuesday morning, 10 or so vets meet up for Team River Runner, one of several sports programs designed to promote health and healing among wounded and traumatized war vets."

4.      Brain Injury Recovery Kit Donated To Wyoming Clinic.   The Casper Star-Tribune (3/14, Rupp) reports, "It takes a community to heal a hero, David Allhusen says about injured Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans. The Brain Injury Association of Wyoming exemplified that saying Thursday when it donated a Brain Injury Recovery Kit to the Casper Veterans Administration Clinic. The kit, developed by office supply company Day-Timer and a brain injury survivor, contains DVDs and manuals to teach people with brain injuries and their families what to expect and how to start the road to recovery."

5.      Welcome Home Event Held For Returning Florida Veterans.   The Tampa Tribune (3/15) reports, "The University of South Florida Sun Dome opened its doors to returning veterans today for a free "welcome home" celebration that offered job opportunities and overviews of benefits. The James A. Haley Veterans’ Medical Center organized the event because some veterans are so relieved to get home, they don’t pay attention to the wealth of information they’re given about medical benefits and other insurance, said Nolan Hinson, program manager of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom at the medical center. The medical center calls and mails wounded veterans it learns about through the Department of Defense but relies on veterans’ organizations and other community outreach to connect with those in better health, Hinson said."

6.      Job Fair Targets Recent Veterans.   The San Diego Union-Tribune‘s Michael Stetz (3/15) writes, "Lucas Hernandez used to have a steady job that offered all kinds of perks: a clothing allowance, worldwide travel. Not every stop was all that, though. Twice Hernandez went to Iraq and once to Afghanistan. He left the Army in February 2008 because his hitch was up. He didn’t re-up because of family problems. It turned out to be a bad time to turn in his uniform. Hernandez can’t find work. ‘I apply everywhere, even KFC,’ he told me at a recent job fair for active military and veterans at the Scottish Rite Center in Mission Valley. … The job fair was crowded with people like Hernandez, 28, a Chula Vista resident. They were mostly veterans looking to upgrade their jobs or find work. They milled about, talking to all kinds of employers, from Sears to Lockheed Martin to the U.S. Border Patrol. They waited in long lines. Some held briefcases filled with their résumés. Many had short hair and iron expressions – no doubt remnants of military duty."

7.      Deployed Soldiers’ Families Face Common Hardships.   The San Antonio Express-News (3/15, Christenson) reports, "This week marks the sixth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, and there is a growing awareness of the stresses faced by Iraq veterans, families and the Army, which along with the Marine Corps, has borne the weight of the war. Mounting evidence shows that survivors of multiple combat deployments are particularly at risk, and most worrisome of all for some experts is the potential impact of more deployments as the United States fights open-ended wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today’s Army is the most battle-seasoned in the almost-36-year history of the all-volunteer force, says one top officer, Lt. Gen. David Huntoon, the service’s staff director. Potent in the field as never before, it also guarantees long separations and one ever-present threat: the dreaded visit from casualty assistance officers followed by funerals with military honors. A soldier’s way of life is foreign to a nation largely disconnected from the all-volunteer force that Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, last month called ‘incredibly resilient, and at the same time, very pressed.’ At Fort Hood, home to a pair of divisions that have been in Iraq three times so far, fear, heartbreak and isolation are as much a part of military life as flag-studded farewell and homecoming ceremonies."

8.      Disabled Combat Veterans Take Up Skiing.   The San Francisco Chronicle (3/15, Stannard) reports, "Andrew Bradley gazed down the beginner’s slope at Alpine Meadows Ski Resort through a mask of trepidation. The 20-year-old soldier never skied before. Had never really seen snow, save the icy inch that occasionally gathers around his Texas home. Oh, and Bradley’s right leg was blown off just two months ago by a roadside bomb that struck his patrol in Iraq, a fact that he seemed to consider no greater a challenge than slick snow and gravity. … Finding a way around obstacles can be more important than reaching a destination, as any skier knows – and a lot can be discovered along the way. That’s the idea underlying the mission of Disabled Sports USA Far West, which worked with the nonprofit Wounded Warrior Project to bring 20 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan to Tahoe City last week."

9.      Conditions At Contracted Tallahassee VA Facility Criticized.   WCTV Tallahassee, FL (3/13, Searcy) reported, "Karen Shorette’s husband Chuck retired from the Air Force in 2001 and returned home to Tallahassee. His multiple sclerosis became so bad that he needed to be placed in a facility where he could have constant care. In 2007 when the Shorettes went searching for a nursing home, they asked Veterans Affairs for help and Capital Healthcare Center is where they were sent. ‘The moment we got close to any of the patients rooms you could smell urine. That threw up a red flag right away,’ said Karen Shorette. Mary Kay Hollingfworth, the Public Affairs Officer for North Florida and South Georgia Veterans Health Systems says, all nursing homes contracted through Veterans Affairs are monitored on a monthly basis by a social worker or nurse. The facilities go through a yearly inspection and Veterans Affairs checks the nursing home watch list regularly. But Karen Shorette still recommends you see for yourself before sending a veteran to one of these places." WCTV adds, "It is important to understand there is a difference between VA run and VA contracted facilities. The facilities in Tallahassee are only contracted and do not have VA staff. These facilities can lose their contracts if they fail to improve after being on a watch list."

10.    Rio Grande Valley VA Hospital Backers Start 250-Mille March To San Antonio.   The McAllen, TX Monitor (3/15, Ley) reports, "The weather was chilly and wet Saturday morning, but Gisela Guzman and her siblings said nothing would keep them from making the 250-mile march to the Audie L. Murphy Veterans Hospital in San Antonio, where their father was recovering from a stroke. … Guzman, 31, was there with her sister Dalila and her brother Espiridion – who is named after his 55-year-old father. … The group, along with about two dozen other demonstrators, was planning to walk to San Antonio to raise awareness on the local and national level about how far Rio Grande Valley veterans must travel to receive specialized, surgical and urgent care, according to a news release from Rey Leal, the event’s organizer. Leal, a 25-year-old Iraq war veteran, organized the event to try to catch the attention of Washington officials and convince them to establish a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in the Valley." The Monitor notes, "Earlier this month, VA officials announced their department had finalized contracts with Valley Baptist Health System in Cameron County and South Texas Health System in Hidalgo County to provide inpatient, surgical, emergency and mental health services to veterans enrolled in VA benefit programs. But critics say that isn’t enough. Veterans at the march on Saturday said they need and deserve a hospital."
      The San Antonio Express-News (3/15, Brezosky) reports, "For the second time in four years, about 100 Rio Grande Valley veterans and supporters on Saturday began a six-day walk to San Antonio to call attention to their quest for a Valley veterans hospital. Veterans in the Rio Grande Valley have had to travel to San Antonio – four to five hours away – for even routine medical care, catching rides on ‘vet vans’ driven by volunteers and leaving loved ones behind for cancer care or other continuous treatment. In the years since the group’s 2005 march to Audie Murphy VA Hospital, the Department of Veterans Affairs has opened a $40 million outpatient clinic in Harlingen and announced contracts to allow veterans to use VA benefits for inpatient and emergency care at four Valley hospitals. Plans are to expand the Harlingen clinic to 120,000 square feet by 2011 and add a 53,000 square-foot clinic in McAllen by 2012. A third, 33,000-square-foot clinic is planned to open in Corpus Christi in 2011. Among services already offered are audiology, dental care, physical therapy, mental health care, pulmonary care and orthotics. By summer, the Harlingen clinic plans to offer more services including MRIs, or magnetic resonance imaging, and bone density scans. The VA says the need for 95 percent of trips to Audie Murphy will be eliminated and they are doing the best with the money Congress has approved. ‘We do not have funds appropriated to build a Valley hospital,’ VA spokeswoman Diana Struski said. Veterans say all that is nice, but not enough, especially when a new generation of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans is coming home."