Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

From the VA:

Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

1. Shinseki Will Keynote Event Marking 65th Anniversary Of End Of World War II. The Associated Press (7/3) reports, “Veterans Secretary Eric Shinseki and U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye are due to speak at the USS Missouri ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II. Shinseki is due to deliver the keynote address at the Sept. 2 ceremony in Pearl Harbor.”

2. VA Aims To Develop Fully Automated System For Disability Claims. Medical News (7/3) reports that Secretary Shinseki has announced “plans to develop a fully automated, online system for handling Veterans’ disability compensation claims. More than a simple digitization of existing paper-based claims, the new system is part of VA’s modernization of the end-to-end processing workflow.” In a statement, Shinseki called the plan “another step in transforming VA into a 21st Century department that better serves our Veterans.”

3. Wisconsin DVA Stages ‘Supermarket Of Veterans Benefits.’ WKOW-TV Madison, WI (7/3, 11:134 p.m. EDT) reports that hundred of veterans “gathered in Milwaukee today to learn more about what the state could do for them. It’s called the ‘supermarket of veterans benefits.’ It was put on by the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs at the Milwaukee County Zoo” to educate veterans about state benefits available to them, in an annual event begun in 2000.
WISN-TV Milwaukee (7/3, Lyles, 11:07 p.m. EDT) adds that Kathleen Scholl of the Wisconsin DVA says that it’s “very important for us to reach out to the younger, the newer veterans. The OIF, OEF — Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom.” Earlier in the day, WISN-TV Milwaukee (7/3, Lyles, 8:44 a.m. EDT) interviews Wisconsin Secretary of Veterans Affairs Ken Black. WAOW-TV Wausau (7/3, 11:03 p.m. EDT) and WMSN-TV Madison (7/3, 10:06 p.m. EDT) also cover the event.

4. New Wisconsin Anti-Smoking Law Affects State Veteran Homes. The Chicago Tribune / Associated Press (7/3) reports, “Independence Day is the last time Wisconsin veterans living at the home in King will be able to smoke inside. Wisconsin’s statewide smoking ban taking effect Monday covers all indoor workplaces, including the veterans homes, all bars and restaurants, and even Lambeau Field. The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs estimates about 140 out of 700 veterans at the King home smoke.”
WAOW-TV Wausau, WI (7/3, 11:01 p.m. EDT) adds that “The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs estimates about 25 percent of the veterans living at the King Home near Waupaca do smoke. One resident says in a statement that he enjoys smoking and doesn’t intend to stop.” WKOW-TV Madison, WI (7/3, 11:134 p.m. EDT) and WMSN-TV Madison (7/3, 10:06 p.m. EDT) also report the story.

5. Alabama Makes Progress On Plans For Fourth Veterans Home. The Montgomery (AL) Advertiser (7/3, Rowell, 40K) reports on progress on the state’s fourth veterans home, being built in Pell City. It notes that the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs “approved the design of the home earlier this year, and most of the required surveys and assessments have been completed. Department Commissioner Clyde Marsh, a retired admiral, said he recently was called by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs when some provisional funds became available from other projects nationwide that were unable to begin construction for various reasons.” The state expects to know within weeks whether any of those funds will be available to start construction on the home this fall.

6. Amount of US Aid To Vietnam For Agent Orange Relief Criticized. An account in Vietnam’s Thanhnien (7/3) reports that, before Secretary of State Hilary Clinton visits Vietnam later this month, US ambassador to Vietnam Michael Michalak “said in a press briefing earlier this week to officially commemorate the ties, saying that relationships were at their strongest since 1995.” After noting the start of cooperation in such formerly sensitive areas as peacekeeping operations and training, humanitarian aid and disaster relief, the report noted that “the US has been criticized for providing a small amount of funding to deal with the Agent Orange/dioxin effects, providing only $9 million since 2007.”

7. Oregon Military Family Suffers From Gulf War. A 3,200-word story in The Oregonian (7/3, Sullivan, 276K) tells the story of the Vaughans, an Oregon military family for whom the Gulf wars had tragic consequences. George Vaughan and Debra Vaughan met at military intelligence school, then he was deployed to the Gulf in August 1990. Experiencing a variety of symptoms after returning to the States, he became “the first active-duty soldier medically retired with an undetermined diagnostic code of Gulf War illness,” but when the medical board reversed its decision, George “testified before Congress and appeared on Geraldo Rivera and ’60 Minutes’ three times, a public face of Gulf War illness.” After four more evaluations, George was eventually medically retired and went to work for the National Security Agency. The day after the 9/11 attacks, Michael Vaughan, the wife’s son by her first marriage, persuaded his parents to let him leave high school to join the 82nd Airborne. His death in a truck bombing of a base led both parents into deep depression, which culminated in his mother’s suicide at the cemetery where he was buried.

8. Quadruple Amputee Faces Challenges. The New York Times (7/2, Alvarez, 1.09M) reports on Brendan Marrocco, “the first veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to lose all four limbs in combat and survive.” Using by four high-tech prostheses and aided by medical and rehabilitation staff at Walter Reed Army Hospital, and his older brother, who gave up a good-paying IT job at Citigroup to move into the hospital with him, Brandon is now “preparing for a rare and risky double arm transplant at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center that could profoundly improve his independence.”

9. War Veteran Paintings. The CBS Evening News (7/3, story 8, 3:30, Doane, 6.1M) concludes with the story of Matt Mitchell, an artist “determined to paint 100 portraits of those affected” by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

10. ‘LZ Michigan’ Honors Vietnam Veterans. The Grand Rapids (MI) Press (7/3, Agar) reports, “Vietnam vets will be honored in a ‘welcome home’ celebration at Fifth Third Ballpark. The 7 p.m. event will feature music, including country singer Michael Peterson, a traveling Memorial Wall, speakers, motorcycle rally, displays and a video from a three-part documentary, ‘Vietnam War Stories.'” The “Landing Zone Michigan” event is sponsored by WGVU-TV, Grand Valley State University and the West Michigan Whitecaps.