Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country

Find out What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1. VA May Do More For Agent Orange-Exposed Vets, Those Deployed In Gulf War.
2. Duckworth, Olympians Take To Slopes At Winter Sports Clinic.
3. VA Acquisition Academy Praised.
4. Minnesota VA Commissioner To Retire.
5. Iraq Vets Refile Exposure Lawsuit Against Defense Contractor KBR.
6. Donations “Pouring In” To Deceased Marine’s Father To Pay Legal Fees.
7. Korean War Vet A Longtime Golden Age Games Participant.
8. Terrorist Charges Filed.
9. Missing After Action.
10. Military Plans To Test Brain-injury Therapy.

Have You Heard
VA is establishing new partnerships with five of the country’s finest nursing schools to strengthen its nurse corps. These new VA Nursing Academy partnerships will expand the number of collaborations between the department and nursing schools from 10 to 15. “The expanded role of VA in the education of nurses will ensure the department has the nurses needed to continue our world-class health care for Veterans,” said Dr. Linda D. Johnson, director of VA Nursing Academy. “The VA Nursing Academy expands the teaching faculty, improves recruitment and retention, and creates new educational and research opportunities.” The VA Nursing Academy is a virtual five-year pilot program that expands learning opportunities for nursing students at VA facilities and funds faculty development of VA staff for additional faculty positions to school partners. Five nursing schools will form new partnerships with five VA medical centers and join the VA Nursing Academy this year: Western Carolina University, Asheville, N.C.; University of Alabama, Birmingham, Ala.; University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu; Pace University, Manhattan and Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Waynesburg University, Pittsburgh. For more information about the program, check the Web Here.

1.      VA May Do More For Agent Orange-Exposed Vets, Those Deployed In Gulf War. Warren (PA) Times-Observer (4/1, Ferry, 10K) VA Secretary Eric Shinseki commented on the proposal, stating, “These warriors,” including some who “may be eligible for retroactive” payment, “deserve medical care and compensation for health problems they have incurred,”

Agent Orange is mentioned by the Warren Times-Observer (4/2, Rieder), notes in its “Sugar Grove Area News In Brief” that “AMVETS and AMVETS Ladies Auxiliary, Post #50 in Sugar Grove are sponsoring a ‘Silver Rose’ Fundraiser to benefit those with Agent Orange and other chemical disorders” from the Vietnam “era to present. The event is to be held Sunday, April 11th at 2 p.m. at Post #50.”
“Military Update” column, in Stars And Stripes (4/2, Philpott), “About 86,000 Vietnam War veterans, their surviving spouses or estates will be eligible for retroactive disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs – an average of 11.4 years for veterans and 9.6 years for survivors – under a draft” VA rule “published March 25 in the Federal Register
VA Reps To Agent Orange-Related Town Hall In Oklahoma. The Tulsa (OK) World (4/2, Gamallo) “Tulsa’s American Legion Post 1 will host a town hall meeting Friday for Vietnam veterans suffering ill effects from Agent Orange.”

2.      Duckworth, Olympians Take To Slopes At Winter Sports Clinic. The American Forces Press Service (4/2, Haynes) Veterans Affairs Assistant Secretary Tammy Duckworth, and two US Olympic athletes “joined each other on the slopes during the 24th National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic March 31” in Snowmass Village, Colorado. Duckworth, Bode Miller, “who has an adaptive ski program as part of his foundation,” and Casey Puckett “skied with the veterans as part of the weeklong event,”

3.      VA Acquisition Academy Praised. Government Executive (4/2, Newell)

4.      Minnesota VA Commissioner To Retire. The Minneapolis Star Tribune (4/1, Brunswick, 347K), Clark Dyrud, who has been “commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs for the past four years,” is “retiring. Current Deputy Commissioner Michael Pugliese will replace Dyrud, a Vietnam veteran and Purple Heart recipient who has worked at Veterans Affairs since 1980, Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced.”

5.      Iraq Vets Refile Exposure Lawsuit Against Defense Contractor KBR. Evansville (IN) Courier & Press (4/2, Bradner)

6.      Donations “Pouring In” To Deceased Marine’s Father To Pay Legal Fees.IAP (4/2), “Donations are pouring in for a fallen Marine’s father who was ordered to pay the court costs of an anti-gay church” he sued after members of that church picketed his son’s funeral.

7.      Korean War Vet A Longtime Golden Age Games Participant. San Bernardino County (CA) Sun (4/2, Nolan), “A veteran who suffered a spinal injury in the Korean War,” 73-year-old Fontana resident Art Casillas “doesn’t let a wheelchair slow him down

8.      Terrorist Charges Filed. The Martinsburg (WV) Journal (4/2, Marshall).

9.      Missing After Action. The Chicago Tribune (4/2, Sylvinski).

10.    Military Plans To Test Brain-injury Therapy. The AP (4/2, Elliott).