Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

From the VA:

Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

1.      Klein Demands Change In VA Service Dog Policy. The Army Times (8/20, Maze, 104K) reports, “An inconsistent policy that can sometimes bar a veteran from entering a Veterans Affairs Department hospital or clinic accompanied by a service dog – even one approved by VA – has prompted” US Rep. Ron Klein (D-FL) to “demand a change in regulations,” so that service dogs would be treated the same as guide dogs. In a “Wednesday letter to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, Klein said VA’s restrictions seem especially outdated because the Americans with Disabilities Act – which does not apply to VA – requires civilian hospitals and clinics to allow guide dogs and other service animals to accompany disabled people if the animals are specially trained.”

2.      Senators Announce New Military Family Caucus. The “Stripes Central” blog for Stars And Stripes (8/19, Shane) noted that on Wednesday, a “group of 20 senators announced the formation of the Senate Military Family Caucus, the first legislative coalition in that chamber to focus on the impact of war on spouses and children of troops. The move comes almost a year after House members launched their own military family caucus.” According to Stars And Stripes, the Senate Military Family Caucus will be co-chaired by US Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and US Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), who “just last month pushed Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to stop insurance companies from profiting off death benefits owed to families troops killed in action.”

3.      Construction Of Vets Cemetery Nearly Complete. The Roanoke (VA) Times (8/20, Sturgeon) reports, “Construction is 75 percent complete on the $7.8 million Southwest Virginia Veterans Cemetery, with crews finishing up buildings, roads and a shelter for burial services.” According to the Times, veterans, who “heartily support the decision to locate a state veterans cemetery” in Southwest Virginia, “anticipate opening ceremonies scheduled for the first week of April.” The Times adds, “When fully built, the third state-run veterans cemetery in Virginia will have space for an estimated 60,000 remains.” The AP (8/20) publishes a similar story.

4.      Company Contracted To Work On Safety-Related Tasks At VA Hospital. According to the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Finance And Commerce (8/19, Johnson), “Maple Grove-based FlowSense has landed a project” at the Veterans Affairs hospital “in Minneapolis. The project, awarded last week, includes putting in ramps and other safety-related tasks, according to FlowSense president Paul Smallwood,” who “said it’s about a four- to six-week project.”

5.      VA To Open New Vet Center, Add Counselors To Other Centers In Wisconsin. The St. Germain, Wisconsin-based News Of The North (8/20, Costanza) says the Department of Veterans Affairs has “announced it will open a new ‘Vet Center’ site in Wausau, WI in fiscal 2011, as well as add counselors at the Milwaukee, Madison and Green Bay Vet Centers to help process cases and expedite assistance to veterans.” In a letter, Wisconsin lawmakers had “urged…VA to open a Vet Center in north central Wisconsin to help serve the tens of thousands of veterans who do not live near a facility.” The Madison-based Wisconsin State Journal (8/20) and the AP (8/20) publish similar stories.

6.      Psychologist Named Health Behavior Coordinator At VAWNYHS’s Buffalo Site. A blog for The Batavian (8/20, Owens), a newspaper based in Batavia, New York, notes that the Veterans Affairs Western New York Healthcare System has “announced the selection of Terri Julian, Ph.D., clinical psychologist, for the position of Health Behavior Coordinator (HBC)” at the system’s Buffalo site. According to the blog, Julian, who “serves on the Department of Veterans Affairs Central Office’s National Disaster Management Senior Leadership Team, Mental Health Component,” gained “national recognition for her work establishing a peer-support program and partnerships with veterans’ service organizations.”

7.      VA Provides X2 Prosthetic Leg To Vietnam-Era Vet. In continuing coverage, Stars And Stripes (8/20, Shane) reports, “Vietnam veteran John Loosen has been walking with a prosthetic leg for nearly 40 years, but this week was the first time he could step backward or comfortably shift weight from side to side,” using his new leg, “an X2 prosthesis system:” with a “microprosessor-controlled device that can react to subtle changes in terrain or the wearer’s gait. The technology has been available to wounded veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan for years, but Loosen is the first Vietnam-era veteran to receive one through the Department of Veterans Affairs.” Officials with the agency “said they hope to give out between 10 and 20 of the X2 legs per month to older amputees through a program launched this month.”

8.      Iowa Couple Opens VA Foster Home. The Nevada, Iowa-based Tri-County Times (8/20, Zientara, 11K) reports, “Until recently,” 86-year-old World War II veteran Harold Quick “was in a Des Moines area nursing home,” he “needed 24-hour care,” and the “Veterans Administration needed to care for him efficiently. Those are the reasons why Quick ended up in the home of Scott and Marilyn Olson, of Cambridge,” who met with Jan O’Briant, the “medical foster homes director in extended care and rehabilitation for the Des Moines VA,” before qualifying as foster home caregivers and opening a VA Medical Foster Home. The Times adds, “Nationally, the VA hopes to place 4,000 veterans in the Medical Foster Home program, O’Briant said.”

9.      Vets “Enraged” By Stolen Valor Act Ruling. In continuing coverage, NBC Nightly News (8/19, story 8, 0:40, Williams, 8.37M) broadcast that a Federal appeals court’s recent ruling, which said the Stolen Valor Act is unconstitutional, has “enraged a lot of people, especially veterans.” The court ruled that the Stolen Valor Act, which “made it a crime to lie about military honors you didn’t earn,” is a violation of free speech.
     Conrad Says Ruling “Dishonors” Vets. The AP (8/20), meanwhile, notes that on Thursday, US Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND), the “chief Senate sponsor” of the Stolen Valor Act that Congress approved in 2006, “said he’s disappointed” by the court’s ruling. Conrad “says the ruling ‘dishonors those who fought bravely for our country.'”
     The second item in the CNN (8/19) blog, “Thursday’s Intriguing People,” pointed out that in its ruling, court sided with “Xavier Alvarez of Pomona, California.” CNN said that according to the Whittier Daily News in California, as punishment for violating the Stolen Valor Act, Alvarez had been sentenced to more than 400 hours of community service at a veterans hospital.

10.    Civil War Monument Moved To Louisville Museum. In continuing coverage, the Bowling Green (KY) Daily News (8/19) reported, “The Civil War Bloedner Monument that was first erected on a battlefield in Hart County is now on what is believed to be permanent display at the Frazier International History Museum in Louisville.” After noting that the monument was removed from Louisville’s Cave Hill National Cemetery in “late 2008 and professionally conserved to stop further damage,” the Daily News added, “US Department of Veterans Affairs historian Alec Bennett says it’s the nation’s oldest existing Civil War memorial.”