Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 5-12-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans 

1. Shinseki To Be Honored At West Point.  
2. GI In Custody After Shooting Fellow US Soldiers In Iraq. 
3. Iraq, Afghanistan Vets Welcomed Home At VA Event.  
4. Birmingham VAMC Opens New Facility.  
5. BPVAHCS Expanding.  
6. Funeral Service Held For World War I-Era Vet.  
7. Erie VAMC Offering Substance-Abuse Counseling Program.  
8. Colorado Expected To Begin Veterans Court Program In August.  
9. Administrator Declines To Issue Grant For Veterans Housing Project.  
10. Staten Island Cemetery To Open Section For Catholic Veterans.

1.      Shinseki To Be Honored At West Point.   The Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record (5/12) reports, "More than 950 Army cadets will graduate" from the United States Military Academy at West Point "on Saturday, May 23. To celebrate commencement, a number of…public events will take place on the grounds" earlier in the week, including on Tuesday, when Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki will be one an honoree at the "Alumni Review and Distinguished Graduate Awards Ceremony."

2.      GI In Custody After Shooting Fellow US Soldiers In Iraq.     The AP (5/12, Gearan) reports that according to "a senior military official," the "Army sergeant who shot and killed five fellow soldiers Monday at a counseling center in Iraq had been disarmed after an earlier incident at the center but returned with another weapon." A separate AP (5/12, Jelinek) story notes Pentagon officials "say the shootings happened" at a clinic "where troops can go for help with the stresses of combat or stress from personal issues."
      Attack Shines Spotlight On Combat Stress Issues.   A third AP (5/12, Reid) article, one which says the "attack drew attention to the issues of combat stress and morale among soldiers serving multiple combat tours over six years of war," reports US Rep. Harry Mitchell (D-AZ), a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, "said the…shooting underscores the ‘critical need’ to reach out to soldiers ‘suffering from the effects of combat stress’" and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
      The New York Times (5/12, A4, Williams) notes that "about one in six soldiers returning from Iraq show signs" of PTSD "or other emotional difficulties, according to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine in 2004." The Los Angeles Times (5/12, Sly), meanwhile, says, "Combat stress cases have escalated dramatically in recent years as many soldiers make their third or fourth tours of duty in Iraq, veterans affairs advocates say. There have been several instances in recent months in which Iraqi soldiers have fatally shot Americans on military bases, and a smaller number of incidents in which" US "soldiers have killed fellow Americans."
      The Wall Street Journal (5/12, A6, Dreazen, Chon) and the Washington Post (5/12, A8, Londono) also note the shootings, while USA Today (5/12) reports, "Lengthening and repeated deployments were a cause for growing concern when the Army last gauged mental health stress levels in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2007. That year, teams of Army psychological specialists fanned out across battle zones to produce the fifth consecutive mental health assessment of troops in Iraq since the war began and the second consecutive study of troops in Afghanistan." The Army "is planning a sixth mental health review of troops in the field this year."

3.      Iraq, Afghanistan Vets Welcomed Home At VA Event.   KALB-TV Alexandria, LA (5/11, 12:09 p.m. CT) broadcast, "As veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan come home and get on with their lives," the Veterans Affairs medical center "in Pineville wants those vets to know they’re here to help." So, on Saturday, the "VA held an event to honor veterans and their families those who have served" in the two wars. The "day included free food and music."

4.      Birmingham VAMC Opens New Facility.   WIAT-TV Birmingham, AL (5/11, 5:02 p.m. CT) broadcast that the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center "opened a new special care facility" Monday. The "20,000 square foot building cost nearly $5.5 million dollars." The hospital is also "working on an identical building dedicated solely to mental health services."

5.      BPVAHCS Expanding.   BN9-TV Tampa, FL (5/11, 1:14 p.m. ET) broadcast that the Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Healthcare System "is expanding service. The agency will relocate the Dunedin community clinic" to a larger location in Palm Harbor. There is "also a larger clinic opening on MLK Street in St. Petersburg."

6.      Funeral Service Held For World War I-Era Vet.   In continuing coverage, WAVE-TV Louisville, KY (5/11, 11:09 p.m. ET) broadcast, "Kentucky’s last surviving World War I-era veteran was laid to rest" during a private funeral service Monday. Robley Rex "died a week-and-a-half ago, just a couple days before his 108th birthday," after spending "hundreds of hours volunteering at the Louisville VA Hospital." WDRB-TV Louisville, KY (5/11, 4:07 p.m. ET) aired a similar report.

7.      Erie VAMC Offering Substance-Abuse Counseling Program.   The Erie (PA) Times-News (5/11, Bruce) profiled Air Force veteran Joe DeSantis, who needed a "combination of better management of his bipolar disorder, Alcoholics Anonymous and a new substance-abuse counseling program offered by the Erie Veterans Affairs Medical Center" to get a handle on his alcoholism. After noting that the "hospital received a grant to start the program in December," the Times-News added, "Substance abuse is a common problem among veterans. More than 354,000 veterans were treated in the VA health system in 2006 for substance abuse — a 22 percent increase from 2002."

8.      Colorado Expected To Begin Veterans Court Program In August.   The KMGH-TV Denver, CO (5/11) website reported, "There’s a growing push in Colorado to establish" a "specialized court for military veterans charged with misdemeanor crimes while trying to readjust to civilian life." The "state Department of Human Services received a grant" from the Department of Veterans Affairs for the court, which "would provide treatment to combat veterans determined to be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or brain injuries." KMGH noted that a "pilot program" for the court "is expected to launch at the beginning of August in two or three Colorado counties."

9.      Administrator Declines To Issue Grant For Veterans Housing Project.   The Contra Costa (CA) Times (5/12, Bartholomew) reports, "A bitterly contested proposal to create apartments for sober-living homeless veterans" at the Sepulveda Veterans Affairs "complex in North Hills appears dead on arrival. Citing a lack of jurisdiction, a Los Angeles zoning administrator declined to issue a variance to develop 147 privately managed apartments targeted for chemically dependent and disabled homeless veterans on public" VA "property. ‘The city has no jurisdiction over federally owned property,’ Associate Zoning Administrator Linn K. Wyatt wrote in a 22-page ruling issued Friday, ‘and therefore issuance of the variance grant would not be legally binding.’" The Times adds that since VA "officials have refused to formally accept responsibility for apartment operations, Wyatt said the city had no way to enforce the conditions of its permit. Proponents have until May 28 to appeal the decision."

10.    Staten Island Cemetery To Open Section For Catholic Veterans.   The Staten Island (NY) Advance (5/12, O’Shea) reports, "Resurrection Cemetery has begun offering 2,500 graves solely to Catholic veterans, in a special section of the Pleasant Plains cemetery dedicated to memorializing Staten Islanders who served in the military." But that is "not good enough for all Island veterans, said State. Sen. Andrew Lanza (R-Staten Island), who along with other politicians has pushed in the past for a national cemetery in the borough and has talked to the archdiocese about creating a veterans’ section at Resurrection." On Monday, Lanza "said…that he still hopes the archdiocese might relax its rules and open the area to non-Catholic veterans. ‘If they can do that, it kind of almost solves our problem,’ he said."