Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

From The VA
During National Volunteer Week, VA salutes Marwah Ahmed, 17, of Montgomery Village, Md., the 2009 recipient of the James H. Parke Memorial Scholarship for her volunteer work at the Washington, D.C. VA Medical Center. Ahmed, a high school senior, has been volunteering at the VAMC since she was 13. She has served in a variety of departments, including the lab, research and the director’s office. She volunteered more than 200 hours at the medical center during 2009. “I think everyone has the passion to help others… and once you get started it just keeps going,” said Ahmed. With plans to pursue a medical career and she already has a “specialty” in mind: “I definitely want to work with Veterans.” Ahmed received a $20,000 scholarship for her distinguished service. The scholarship is named after James H. Parke, the founding father of the Department of Veterans Affairs Voluntary Service National Advisory Committee. The memorial fund, established in 1976, is the non-profit source of funds for a VAVS Youth Scholarship.

Top Veterans Stories in Today’s News

1. Foster announces $600K for blind veterans services DeKalb, Illinois – A $600,000 grant will train 10 individuals on how to care for blind veterans. U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Batavia, announced the federal funding Monday outside the DeKalb American Legion among veterans and Northern Illinois University faculty members, who will be overseeing the new program.
2. VA underpaying on GI Bill living stipends Washington, DC – In a sign of continuing problems with the Post-9/11 GI Bill, Veterans Affairs Department officials acknowledged Monday that living stipends being paid to students for the spring term are outdated because of problems with computing the payments. On average, this means students are receiving about $63 less a month than they should. In some cases, especially in high-cost areas, the losses could be significantly higher.
3. Harry S. Truman Veterans’ Hospital Receives Bad Review Columbia, Missouri – Columbia’s VA hospital tallied more than 300-thousand patient visits last year. The hospital itself might need help according to a new inspection. The Harry S. Truman Veterans’ Hospital got its report card and it had five big f’s on it. The inspector general’s full report just came out this month. They grade in 7 different areas and the hospital failed on 5.
4. Adm. Mullen stops at Pitt, discusses veterans’ needs Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania – The war in Iraq may end, the administration may meet its deadline for an end to the American deployment in Afghanistan, but the needs of many of the veterans of those conflicts will go on for decades. That was part of the message Adm. Mike Mullen brought to the University of Pittsburgh on Monday. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spent the day in Pittsburgh as part of a multi-city listening tour, highlighting the challenges and search for solutions to the needs of returning veterans.
5. Waco VA receives failing grade from Inspector General Waco, Texas – The Waco service office of the Department of Veterans Affairs gets a bad grade from the Office of the Inspector General. That office was audited for everything from temporary benefit evaluations to entering the dates of medical exams.
6. PTSD Still Carries Stigma After 9 Years of War Adm. Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and President Obama’s top military advisor, was in town yesterday visiting with student veterans at Columbia University. I asked him what the greatest challenge was for veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. His answer? The stigma of post-traumatic stress disorder. Mullen said it’s still too difficult for vets to ask for help – many soldiers believe it’s a career-ender.
7. Veterans say government programs failing them Punta Gorda, Florida – Congressman Tom Rooney held a forum today in Punta Gorda to listen to local veterans’ concerns. They had a lot of them, from long waits for disability claims to high suicide rates, one particular issue Rooney is working to change.
8. Deal reached on family caregiver benefits Washington, DC – People caring for severely disabled veterans would be eligible for a host of new benefits — including payment for some — under a compromise reached between key congressional committees, the Veterans Affairs Department and the White House.
9. Stress disorder ups dementia risk in older veterans Chicago, Illinois – Older veterans who have had post-traumatic stress disorder have nearly double the risk of dementia than other veterans, U.S. researchers said on Monday. The findings, presented at an Alzheimer’s Association meeting in Vienna, are the first to link PTSD — a debilitating anxiety disorder that can be caused by wartime trauma — with dementia.
10. Buchanan cuts ribbon on new Bradenton VA clinic Bradenton, Florida – Congressman Vern Buchanan (FL-13) today cut the ribbon on a new, consolidated and expanded Veterans Administration (VA) Community Based Outpatient Clinic today in Bradenton. “This new, consolidated facility will provide area veterans with expanded services and to meet most of their health care needs close to home,” said Buchanan. “I will continue to work as a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee to ensure our nation’s veterans get the health care benefits they have earned.”