Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

From The VA
Last year, California’s Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, signed a bill to establish March 30th as an annual day to recognize Vietnam veterans. The VA Central California Health Care System, located in Fresno, Calif., decided to hold its celebration two days earlier on the weekend so more people could attend. About 150 Vietnam veterans and family members attended the event at the Fresno medical center for the first “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day.” Sunday’s celebration included several speakers, stories and songs. Army veteran Ernie Lorta of Clovis, Calif., brought his entire family to the event, including his young grandchildren, and his own son, Michael who currently serves in the Navy. It’s “been a long time in the making, I’m sure … too long,” he said to KFSN-TV in Fresno. “But it’s good for the Vietnam veterans to be recognized.” There were similar welcome home ceremonies held all over the state, including one at VA’s South Valley Outpatient Clinic in Tulare, Calif. The events are held to recognize the sacrifices of Vietnam veterans who were never officially welcomed home and thank them for their service.

Top Veterans Stories in Today’s News

1. New Mexico shuts down Navy Veterans Association Santa Fe, New Mexico _ (UPI) — The U.S. Navy Veterans Association, a group that claims to raise money for vets and their families, has been ordered to stop fundraising in New Mexico. The office of state Attorney General Gary King determined two of the officers of the state chapter are listed at fictitious addresses, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported.
2. Shinseki: VA Tackles Root Causes of Homelessness Washington, DC – No one who has ever served the United States in uniform should ever end up living on the street, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki insists. So he’s committed to ending homelessness among America’s veterans within the next five years, and reports he’s already seeing signs of progress through a plan that provides not just beds, but also services to address the root causes.
3. Researchers: VA Electronic Health Records System Worth The Cost Charlestown, Massachusetts – A new study in the journal Health Affairs finds that while the system, “collectively called Vista, for Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture” was expensive, it has paid off, The Wall Street Journal reports. “‘We conservatively estimate that the VA’s investments in the four health IT systems studied yielded $3.09 billion in cumulative benefits net of investment costs by 2007,’ say the authors, a team from Center for IT Leadership at Partners Healthcare in Charlestown, Mass.
4. PTSD, PTSD, PTSD (continued): The VA Crime Against American Veterans Molalla, Oregon – I believe I have had thousands of veterans and civilians who have read and/or responded to my articles on this subject. I am possibly obsessive-compulsive about it because I have it myself, have been mistreated for it by the VA, and I have successfully treated about 1000 veterans and others for the problem with cannabis/marijuana. I do spend much of my time on my computer searching for new revelations about this subject. My outstanding feeling about this is that not only the VA but civilian doctors are also mistreating PTSD patients by denying them medication which really works while the standard potpourri not only doesn’t work but the adverse side effects are worse than the symptoms of PTSD.
5. VA to advertise for land for new Louisville hospital Louisville, Kentucky – The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is moving forward on plans for a new VA hospital by asking landowners to offer sites for sale within 15 miles of a location near University Hospital. But officials stress that doesn’t mean they’ve chosen a site for the new hospital. They say they are considering several places: adjacent to University Hospital, at the current site off Zorn Avenue and elsewhere in Jefferson County.
6. Change Agents: U.S Veterans Meet with Vietnamese Premier Hanoi, Vietnam – At a meeting with American veterans here yesterday, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung urged “the United States government to take responsibility for solving the aftermath of its war with Vietnam.” During the war, Mr. Dung emphasized, more than two million Vietnamese were killed, millions more were injured, and more than 300,000 are still missing. Moreover, three million people were exposed to toxic chemicals like Agent Orange sprayed by the U.S. military during the war.
7. The Record: Operation Paramus Park Paramus Park, New Jersey – The Nation has long struggled to provide its service members and veterans with the recognition, benefits and services they are due. There are too many culprits to list here, but institutional rigidity, a focus on pomp and circumstance over the facts on the ground and shifts in public sentiment are certainly among the issues. So we’re glad to see a flexible, thoroughly suburban outreach plan in New Jersey that is making inroads with members and veterans.
8. Patriot Cafe to reopen Friday, April 9, at VAMC in Pineville Pineville, Louisiana – The public is invited to attend the reopening of the Patriot Cafe at 9:45 a.m. Friday, April 9, at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Pineville. The cafe is located in Building 8 at the VA Medical Center. Guided tours will be given and light refreshments will be served immediately following the ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the reopening.
9. Veterans super clinic likely won’t move to Brunswick Wilmington, North Carolina – The odds are not good that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs would move a planned veterans super clinic in Wilmington to Brunswick County. “It is essentially a done deal,” Veterans Affairs Network Director Daniel Hoffman said of the planned 100,000-square-foot veterans care facility to be built on Wilmington International Airport grounds.
10. Texas awards $1 million grant to help veterans Houston, Texas – Texas has awarded the first grant from a fund created to provide emergency assistance to veterans across the state. The $1 million grant, announced by Gov. Rick Perry during a visit to Houston on Wednesday, has been given to the Texas Veterans of Foreign Wars. The group will use the grant to provide veterans and their families emergency assistance with household, vehicle, childcare, medical and personal expenses. Awards can be for up to $1,000.