Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

From the VA:

Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

1.      Obama: Sacrifice Not Over In Iraq, But Commitment Is Changing. In continuing coverage, the AP (8/3, Pace, Loven) reports, “Nearing a milestone in the long and divisive Iraq war, President Barack Obama on Monday hailed this month’s planned withdrawal of all US combat troops – ‘as promised and on schedule’ – as a major success despite deep doubts about the Iraqis’ ability to police and govern their country.” During a speech “to the national convention” of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Obama said, “The hard truth” is that while “we have not seen the end of American sacrifice” in Iraq, “our commitment…is changing — from a military effort led by our troops to a civilian effort led by our diplomats.”
     During his speech, says McClatchy (8/3, Tale), Obama “pledged to veterans, ‘Your country is going to take care of you when you come home'” from Iraq. The President “also made a point in his Monday remarks of reassuring that his health care overhaul will not limit veterans’ access to prosthetics or other government health care benefits. Many congressional Democrats are on the defensive for having voted for it.”
     Coverage of the speech also appears in an AFP (8/3) article, a front page New York Times (8/3, A1, Baker) story, the Wall Street Journal (8/3, Williamson, Coker), the Washington Times (8/3, Rowland), the Christian Science Monitor (8/3, LaFranchi), The Hill (8/3, Youngman), and the Los Angeles Times (8/3, Hennessey, Sly). A very similar version of the latter article runs in the Chicago Tribune (8/3). Obama’s convention address is also covered by UPI (8/3), the “Political Punch” blog for ABC News (8/3, De Nies, Miller), a Wall Street Journal (8/3) editorial, and briefly by USA Today (8/3, Wolf), at the end of a story on falling public support for Obama’s Afghanistan war policy. Obama’s speech is also noted in a brief report aired by MSNBC Live (8/2, 12:29 p.m. ET).
     President Highlights Administration Efforts To Assist Vets. According to CNN (8/3), Obama “offered praise Monday for all the veterans of major US military conflicts since World War II.” While speaking to an “enthusiastic crowd” at the DAV convention, the President also “ran through a litany of administration initiatives for military veterans, including ‘dramatically increased funding for veterans health care across the board.’ Among the initiatives he highlighted: an increased use of electronic record-keeping that will allow veterans, for the first time, to go” to the Department of Veterans Affairs website and download or print personal health records.
     Shinseki Singled Out For Praise During Speech. American Forces Press Service (8/3, Carden) notes, “Caring for veterans is a moral obligation, President Barack Obama said” during a speech in which he also “lauded Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki for ‘building a 21st century VA,'” one that Obama said is working to end a claims backlog and homelessness among veterans, as well as improve veteran employment opportunities. AFPS adds, “Shinseki has spoken candidly many times during his tenure as VA secretary about his desire to end veteran homelessness. VA has initiatives with the Housing and Urban Development Department as well as new programs to treat drug addiction and psychological issues before homelessness can become an issue.” In his “Stripes Central” blog for Stars And Stripes (8/2), Leo Shane III noted that on Friday, he “sat down” with Shinseki, who detailed what the President would discuss during his speech.
     Vet Reaction To Speech Mixed. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (8/3, Schneider) reports, “As President Barack Obama swept through Atlanta on Monday — speaking before 2,000 disabled vets and raising a half-million dollars from party faithful — he drew warm praise as well as chilly skepticism.” For example, when, during his DAV convention speech, Obama “praised Vietnam veterans,” Marvin Vaughan, “who received a Purple Heart and who says he suffers from Agent Orange-related illness was deeply moved.” After the speech, however, Iraq veteran Clarence Sinkler said the US VA “has been giving us a hard time in claiming” post-traumatic stress disorder.
     The Gainesville (GA) Times (8/3, Thomas) notes that even with efforts by the Obama Administration to assist veterans, “some say there is still lots of room for improvement. Among other things, more work needs to be done to improve diagnosing and treating conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries…said” disabled veteran Wendy Paradis.
     The Washington Post (8/3, A8, Wilson, Blake) reports, however, that during his DAV convention speech, Obama “promised to speed up benefits to veterans and improve care for a wide range of combat-related injuries, including post-traumatic stress disorder.” The Post adds that Vietnam vet Joe Borbas “said Obama should have devoted more of his speech to Afghanistan.”
     Politico (8/3, Lee), meanwhile, says that during his speech, Obama “briefly discussed the war in Afghanistan, offering effusive praise for the sacrifices members of the all-volunteer military have made” both in that war and the one In Iraq. Similarly, Bloomberg News (8/3, Runningen, Nichols) reports, “Obama spoke to a convention of more than 3,000 disabled veterans, including those who have served and sacrificed in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. ‘Every American who has ever worn the uniform must also know this: your country is going to take care of you when you come home,’ Obama told the group,” calling the US “commitment to…veterans” a “sacred trust.”
 veterans “deserve.”
     Herbert Calls For End To “Tragic, Farcical” Wars. New York Times (8/3, A23) columnist Bob Herbert says that while the US military faces an “epidemic of suicides,” using a “tiny portion” of the country’s population to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, neither former President George W. Bush nor current President Barack Obama has “called on Americans to make any real sacrifices in connection with either” conflict. Herbert concludes, “It’s time to bring the curtain down for good on these tragic, farcical” wars, “bring the troops” back, “nurse the wounded, and thank them all for their extraordinary service.”

 2.      Duckworth To Post On New Defense Department Blog. The American Forces Press Service (8/3, McMahon) reports, “In Their Own Words: Lessons Learned in Today’s Military,” a “new Defense Department blog” that launched Monday, “aims to provide a platform for servicemembers, veterans and families to share their thoughts and experiences on a variety of topics.” Blog “postings in August will not be limited to Iraq and Afghanistan,” because “L. Tammy Duckworth, assistant secretary of veterans affairs for public and intergovernmental affairs and a major in the Illinois Army National Guard, will share the lessons she has learned while working to increase the resources available for the growing population of female veterans.”

3.      State Lawmaker Travels By Motorcycle To Promote Brain Injury Awareness Among Vets. The Huntington (WV) Herald-Dispatch (8/3) reports Bryan Barbin, a “Democratic state representative from Johnstown, Pa., made an 1,800-mile, seven-day journey through seven states on his motorcycle to promote awareness of traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans, especially those injured in Afghanistan and Iraq.” On July 18th, Barbin “arrived on his motorcycle at the West Virginia State Capitol and presented a resolution that he has drafted designating July 7, 2010, as ‘Combat Related Brain Injury and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day’ in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” to “some West Virginia Delegates.” Those delegates “plan to introduce a resolution during the upcoming West Virginia Legislative session designating a special day to be set aside known as ‘Combat-Related Brain Injury and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day’ in West Virginia.”

4.      As Workers Cast SAVE Award Votes, Last Year’s Winning Idea Undergoes Testing At VA. The Washington Post (8/3, Rein) reports, “In just two weeks, federal workers came up with 18,000 ideas to save the government money and help it operate more efficiently, from switching to smaller, fuel-saving vehicles at the Pentagon to allowing early retirement for unproductive employees.” Workers “have voted these ideas up or down 164,000 times during the same period on a Web site created by the Office of Management and Budget, a twist in President Obama’s second annual SAVE award.” After noting that last year, Nancy Fitchner, a “program support clerk” at the Veterans Affairs hospital “in Grand Junction, Colo., told the president that veterans should be permitted to take home leftover medications that would otherwise be discarded,” the Post says VA is “labeling medications for patients to take home at a handful of test sites” as part of a program that, when it is “expanded to all VA medical centers next year,” will “save an estimated $3.8 million a year.”

 5.      Lawmakers Want Comparison Between How VA, SSA Handle Disability Claims. CQ (8/3, Young) reports, “With the number of pending veterans’ disability benefit claims at nearly half a million, President Obama vowed Monday to ‘break'” a Veterans Affairs disability claims backlog “once and for all.” CQ, which notes that during a “speech to a Disabled American Veterans conference,” Obama “praised technical changes in the claims process,” says, “House appropriators have another suggestion: Get some tips from another agency that has had its own much-publicized troubles with disability claims over the years – the Social Security Administration. Last month, the Appropriations Committee said it wants the Government Accountability Office to conduct a comparative analysis of how disability claims are handled by the Department of Veterans Affairs and by Social Security as a way to aid…VA in handling a rush of new claims while continuing to process its existing backlog.”

6.      Memorials To Be Dedicated At Vets Cemeteries In Hawaii, Maryland. The Maui (HI) News (8/3, Nicolas) reports, “A new memorial has been established to honor Purple Heart recipients from Maui.” The memorial, which was “erected about two weeks ago at the Maui Veterans Cemetery in Maka-wao,” has “been a two-year project of Vietnam veteran Nelson Jacintho, commander of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, Maui County Chapter No. 779, and his younger sister, Joslyn Minobe.” The News goes on to say a dedication for the memorial “has been set for 10 a.m. Saturday.”
     According to the Annapolis (MD) Capital (8/2, Kaku), the “Military Order of the Purple Heart will hold a dedication ceremony for a new monument in the Maryland State Veterans Cemetery in Crownsville on Saturday.” Similar monuments, which “feature an image of the Purple Heart medal,” are “already…standing in 44 other states.”

7.      US Vets President To Be Laid To Rest In Nebraska. In continuing coverage, the AP (8/2) noted that 55-year-old veteran Dwight Radcliff, “president of the United States Veterans Initiative,” recently “died of a heart attack.” The Omaha (NE) World-Herald (8/2, Kaufman), which also covered Radcliff’s passing, said his funeral will be held “at 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Westlawn Cemetery in Omaha.”

8.      New VA Clinic To Open In Vermont. On its website, WCAX-TV Burlington, VT (8/2) said, “Veterans in northern Vermont will soon have a new place to go for medical care,” because US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) “announced a new VA community health clinic is opening in Newport on the North Country Hospital campus. Veterans will be able to go” to the Veterans Affairs facility “for physician visits, lab tests, mental health services and more. Right now the clinic will only be open Tuesdays and Wednesdays.”

9.      To Help Son, Other Soldiers, Man Takes Leadership Post At VA Hospital. In a story it “jointly prepared” with the Partnership for Public Service, a “group seeking to enhance the performance of the federal government,” the Washington Post (8/3) says “no one has made an impact” on the career of Chris Redwood “as much as his son, a recent graduate from West Point. Wanting to help ensure that those in the military like his son will always have access to the best health care possible when they need it, Redwood took a leadership position in intensive care unit (ICU)” at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Washington, DC. According to the Post, Redwood “has been instrumental in leading an analysis of…resources as well as determining how his staff can help best improve the quality and level of care.” In a related Washington Post (8/3) article, the Partnership for Public Service says Redwood is the VA hospital’s ICU nurse manager.

10.    VA Hospital Reps To Discuss Care, Benefits At American Legion Post. The Urbanna, Virginia-based Southside Sentinel (8/3) reports, “Representatives from the Hampton Veterans Administration (VA) Medical Center Rural Health Team will be at American Legion Post 83 on 73 Hookemfair Rd. in Mathews on Wednesday, August 11, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.” The representatives will “meet with local veterans who have questions concerning health care and prescription drug benefits.”