Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Veterans!  Here’s your Top 10 News stories of the day compiled from the latest sources

We encourage you to browse our list so that you can take what you want and keep what you need…..

1. Quick Facts: Mental health status of US troops.  Press TV Nextgov Just over half of all veterans’ post-deployment health visits address lingering pain in their backs, necks, knees or shoulders said Dr. Stephen Hunt, national director of the US Department of Veterans Affairs Post Deployment Integrative Care
2. News Tribune – News – Local – State salutes Desert Storm veterans.  28 at the Illinois State Capitol building to honor the 20th anniversary of the end … The Illinois National Guard, Illinois Department of Veteran Affairs,
3. Diocese Plans Two Housing Projects.  WNEP-TV  He added the new building will house 30 veterans, both men and women, all screened and approved by the US Department of Veterans Affairs. It will be affordable housing for the veterans with a common area and connected to the existing soup kitchen next
4. Alabama gets nearly $33 million federal grant for state veterans home in Pell City.  The Republic
The US Department of Veterans Affairs says it will award $32965078 for construction at the state veterans home in Pell City. The grant is for assistance in constructing a 174-bed skilled nursing facility and an 80-bed assisted living unit. Sen.
5. Reisch named new South Dakota National Guard commander.  Rapid City Journal Doohen is also the secretary of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which Daugaard is splitting into two departments. Reisch will oversee the state National Guard, while another individual will oversee veterans’ issues.
6. East Montgomery to get VA clinic.  Montgomery Advertiser  By Jill Nolin • March 4, 2011 A Montgomery County commissioner said the US Department of Veterans Affairs will build a new regional outpatient clinic in east Montgomery — a move he said could bring as many as 300 jobs and have a huge economic impact
7. Budget impasse affecting Navy operations, top admiral says. The lack of a 2011 permanent federal budget is forcing the Navy to curtail projects and will have lasting effects if the impasse continues, Adm. Gary Roughead told the House Armed Services Committee this week.
8. Sailor charged with espionage, attempting to sell classified information. A sailor based at Fort Bragg, N.C., has been charged with four counts of the capital crime of attempted espionage, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic officials announced late Thursday.
9. Jefferson County veterans give proper burial to homeless.  STLtoday.com  The US Department of Veterans Affairs provides the opening and closing of the grave site, a grave liner, a headstone or marker and burial in a national cemetery. “We feel like they deserve that honor,” Norton said. Today, he and the other veterans in
10.VFW To Honor Denair Middle School Student For Flying US Flag On His Bike. Merced (CA) Sun-Star The Veterans of Foreign Wars is flying Cody and his mom to Washington, D.C. — grandpa will join them on the way — to present the boy with its VFW Commander-in-Chief’s Medallion and U.S. flag during its national gathering also the VFW National Commander will testify Tuesday before a joint hearing of the House and Senate Veterans’ Affairs committees on key issues for the group, including “slow implementation of the caregiver bill, a backlog of 1.5 million VA claims, and veterans’ jobless rates, which exceed the national average.”

HAVE YOU HEARD?

Women Veterans: A Legacy of Service

The origins of honorable female service dates back to the birth of the nation. See how women from past conflicts have paved the way for women serving in combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan today. View video

IN OTHER NEWS

• Funds Available To Help Veterans And Their Families. Taylor (TX) Daily Press The Texas Veterans Commission “announced the availability of more than $4 million in grants to be awarded to organizations that provide services to veterans and their families. A wide variety of services are eligible for funding, including housing and employment assistance for homeless veterans, emergency financial assistance, counseling for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and family and child services.”

• Commissioner Of Veterans’ Affairs Gets Bipartisan Praise.Hartford Courant The appointment of Linda Schwartz as commissioner of Connecticut’s Department of Veterans Affairs by new Gov. Dannel Malloy “was seamlessly confirmed in early February, with legislators from both parties singing her praises.” Schwartz, a former academic at the Yale School of Nursing, “has proved a tireless advocate, a skillful bureaucrat and an innovative leader, further burnishing a national reputation that she had earned in veterans’ health research and advocacy for female veterans.”

• Wisconsin May Shift Veterans Funds Away From Retirement Homes. WGBA-TV Cuts to the state budget “may mean money once headed to the retirement homes will be used for other veterans’ programs,” under intradepartmental fund shifting proposed by Gov. Scott Walker. The administrator for that division reportedly says that when reductions in state spending for the home could also reduce federal support.

• State Veterans Homes Association Honors Michaud. WMTW-TV The National Association of State Veterans Homes is recognizing Maine Congressman Mike Michaud for his work in Washington on veterans’ issues. Last week, the group awarded Michaud its “Legislator of the Year Award” for his leadership in improving long-term care service and benefits for veterans.

• South Carolina DVA Would Be Part Of Consolidation South By Governor. WACH-TV A proposal to consolidate 14 offices, including the South Carolina’s veterans affairs office, into a new Department of Administration reporting directly to the governor.

• State Vietnam Medallion Program, Passed In 2009, Remains Unfunded. KSNT-TV A Vietnam medallion program was unanimously passed by the state legislature in 2009, “but so far no awards have been sent out because of funding issues.”

• Arizona Vets Chief To Be Honored At Epilepsy Foundation Event.KSAZ-TV Col. Joey Strickland, the head of Arizona’s Department of Veterans Services, attends a Mardi Gras ball fundraiser for the Epilepsy Foundation, and notes that the non-profit “supports combat-wounded soldiers who have received head injuries.” Strickland, Louisiana native, will be crowned king of the event.

• Policy On Grave Flags Changes. Knoxville (TN) News Sentinel “Volunteer groups that place small American flags on the graves of veterans on Veterans Day will be able to continue the practice because of a change in federal and state policy. US Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki announced recently that the federal government is reversing a policy that had dictated that flags could be on display on veterans’ graves at national cemeteries only during the Memorial Day holiday.”

• Injured Veterans Could Move In To Scotland Campus Retrain, Re-acclimate. Chambersburg (PA) Public Opinion The Scotland Landing Foundation “is proposing to convert the former Scotland School for Veterans’ Children into a community for disabled veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

• Transition To Civilian Life Challenging For Homeless Female Veterans. Sacramento Bee “Many homeless female veterans are on the streets of Los Angeles and San Diego, which each already contain large homeless veteran populations. As is the case with male veterans, combat trauma, substance abuse and a difficult economy are the most common reasons female veterans become homeless.” Although a small portion of homeless veterans, female veterans are at higher risk of homelessness than their male counterparts, and their numbers are growing, a joint VA-HUD report said last month.

• Veterans Village Works To Help Female Vets. Sacramento Bee Esther Bailey, a formerly homeless Army veteran now living at Veterans Village of San Diego, where she is also receiving treatment for alcohol and drug addiction.

• Officials Want Buckles To Lie In State.Parkersburg News and Sentinel West Virginia legislators “are asking the Speaker of the House of Representatives to reconsider the decision preventing World War I veteran from West Virginia to lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda.” Sen. Joe Manchin (D) called the decision of House Speaker John Boehner against permitting use of the Rotunda “unconscionable.” But WV2 Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R), who earlier introduced a bill to allow Buckles to lie in honor in the Rotunda, now says that the Arlington National Cemetery ceremony that Speaker Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to authorize “would be a fitting tribute to Mr. Buckles’ military service.”

• Buckles’ Daughter Not Taking ‘No’ For An Answer On Rotunda Honor. AOL News Buckles’ daughter “is not giving up her campaign to see the last veteran of World War I lie in the US Capitol Rotunda, even though House and Senate leaders are seeking permission to stage an elaborate tribute at Arlington National Cemetery on the day he is to be buried there. Susannah Buckles Flanagan issued a lengthy explanation Saturday outlining why the request to have her father, who died a week ago Sunday at age 110, lie in honor in the Capitol was not unreasonable.”

• VA Practitioner-Author Address Overtesting As Physician-Patient Issue. Fox Network  The author of “Misdiagnosed: Making People Sick In The Pursuit Of Health,” Dr. Welch discusses the issue of overtesting patients, noting that “our tests today… actually find too many things wrong. You know, we’re able to see small things, tiny abnormalities on scans and x-rays. We’re able to detect small changes in your blood, and it turns out that a lot of us harbor abnormal results, and yet, doctors will see this and they will feel that they need to act on every abnormality, even though most of us will have abnormalities that will never bother us in our lifetime and perhaps most importantly may lead to unnecessary treatment, treatment that can’t help them but can hurt them.”

• Houston VA Achieves “Advanced Primary Stroke Center” Status. Cyprus (TX) Times The Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center (MEDVAMC) “earned the Gold Seal of Approval from The Joint Commission as an Advanced Primary Stroke Center,” becoming the first VA medical center to win that designation.

• Former County Official Convicted Of Disability Fraud, Stolen Valor Violations. WCYB-TV A jury “found a former Dickenson County commissioner of revenue guilty of defrauding the Department of Veterans Affairs and lying about his military service. The US attorney’s office says the jury convicted 59-year-old Ronnie L. Robbins of violating the Stolen Valor Act by falsely stating he had been awarded the Vietnam service medal and the Vietnam campaign medal, and making false statements related to claims for disability benefits.” He could face up to 28 years in prison.

• A Home Of Her Own.  Arizona Daily Sun VA housing assistance to 24 homeless veterans and their families in Flagstaff, including recovering crack addict Merri Gussin. A $75 million VA-HUD program aims to provide permanent housing to chronically homeless veterans like her.

• American Spirit Strong At Marine Homecoming. Orange County Register Six Camp Pendleton Marines, who after at last two tours of duty apiece in Iraq used their vacation time to hike 492 miles in 22 days from San Francisco to San Clemente to raise funds for wounded veterans.