Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

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. Support Veterans During National Volunteer Week.  A lot of people I know understand the importance of giving back to Veterans, but they often tell me they don’t know how to do so. I always tell them, the best thing you can give someone is time, and National Volunteer Week is a perfect reminder to put actions to words and help someone out.

During my first semester in college, I volunteered at my local VA hospital in Albany, New York. A few hours a week, I walked patients to their appointments and listened as they shared stories. I soon realized my presence was a sign of support that they deeply valued.

What I loved most about volunteering was establishing relationships with Veterans. Whether I was listening to stories about the scorching summers in Vietnam or learning how blind Vets navigate through the city streets, I was always engaged. When I told them I was in the Army Reserve, they brightened up and shared their advice. “Never volunteer for anything!” and “The most fun you’ll have in your life is in the military, don’t forget it.” Taking the time for a simple conversation and a smile made the walks through the medical center hallways a little more appealing for Vets receiving care. Once you find out how far goodwill can take someone, you may just find yourself volunteering throughout the year.

Learn how you can volunteer your time or donate to a number of VA hospitals and programs.

2. AF Summer Student Jobs. The Air Force has summer jobs available, and disabled veterans are in a special position to apply. To apply, you must meet any of these requirements: eligible for the Student Temporary Employment Program, have Veteran Recruitment Appointment eligibility, be a documented 30 percent disabled veteran, or have reinstatement status.   Read more here.

3. Still in the Fight: A New Reality. A New York Times writer interviews three veterans and writes about the experiences each is going through in the aftermath of war.  Some of the story is encouraging and some is unfortunately, simply reality.  Read more here.

4. US Embassy opens veterans’ office, clinic.  Inquirer.net  By Jerry E. Esplanada MANILA, Philippines—Citing Filipino and American war veterans “who sacrificed so much for us,” US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas Jr. Wednesday inaugurated the new US Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) building in …

5. National Conference on Evidence-based Practice Draws Nursing Leaders.  UMB News…Among other top officials who appeared at the conference, which was co-sponsored by the Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care System, was Cathy Rick, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, FACHE, chief nursing officer of the US Department of Veterans Affairs. …

6. The Home Depot Foundation Pledges $30 Million to Veterans Housing Issues.  PR Newswire  In 2010, over 20000 military members and veterans faced foreclosure, the highest number since 2003. (US Department of Veterans Affairs) Veterans comprise eight percent of the general population, yet they form 16 percent of the homeless ranks.

7. Mortgage Deals – US Top Mortgage Brokers, Originators And Bankers Ranked.  Star Global Tribune  In addition, top entrants ranked by US Department of Veterans Affairs and US Department of Agriculture-loan volumes are listed in online-exclusive rankings. To be eligible for initial consideration in Scotsman Guide’s Top Originators rankings, …

8. Remains of Korean War soldier interred at Arlington.  A soldier whose remains were returned from North Korea in the 1990s was buried Tuesday in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors, 60 years after he disappeared during the Korean War, according to the Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office.

9. First Lady Wants You: To Help Military Families. AP “Drawing in everyone from Best Buy’s Geek Squad to the Afghan war commander fired by her husband, Michelle Obama ramped up her campaign to support military families on Tuesday and prodded everybody else in the country to get in on the act.” The First Lady, “joined in the East Room by the president and Vice President Joe Biden and wife Jill, launched ‘Joining Forces,’ an initiative to help military families who face a long list of unique challenges, such as moving around a lot and having a parent or spouse facing wartime perils far away.” The AP adds, “Patty Shinseki, wife of Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki,” will be part of an advisory panel overseeing the initiative.

10. Richmond VA Hospital Opens Data Exchange With MedVirginia. Government Health IT “The Veterans Affairs Department has started a pilot to share patient records between the Richmond VA Medical Center and MedVirginia, a central Virginia health information exchange, which expands the virtual lifetime electronic record (VLER) program.” With that program, VA is “developing a single electronic system to track the medical, benefits and administrative records of service members from their induction into the military throughout their lives as veterans. VA selected the Richmond area because it has a high concentration of veterans, military retirees, and members of the Guard and Reserve present in the region, said Eric Shinseki, Veterans Affairs secretary.”

HAVE YOU HEARD?

Miramar National Cemetery Begins Burials

On April 12, Miramar National Cemetery in San Diego marked its first regularly scheduled casketed burial. The 313–acre facility provides burial options for the nearly quarter of a million Veterans in southern California. Read more on VA’s blog VAntage Point.

IN OTHER NEWS

• Some Soldiers Prefer Amputations Rather Than Damaged Limbs, Now That Prosthetics Are So Good. USA Today “Wounded soldiers…are making choices about arms and legs that predecessors from earlier wars never had: whether to trade poorly functioning flesh-and-blood for microprocessor-driven substitutes. Advanced prosthetics created to replace limbs lost in battle now are being sought by troops with legs or arms that survived combat, but are not functioning well or are still causing great pain after” prolonged physical therapy. USA Today cites research indicating that between 2008 and 2010, there was a 10% increase in the number of combat-related, delayed amputations.

• Homeless Women Veterans Need More Clinical Resources, Open Ears. Huffington Post “President Obama’s administration has called for the end of veteran homelessness by 2015. But that won’t be possible unless more is done to understand and tackle the complexities of homelessness, says Victoria Curtin, program director at the Naomi House, a Veterans Affairs-funded recovery-oriented program for female vets in Los Angeles.” Curtin “says more help is needed to address the unique challenges women vets face and the reasons they become homeless.”

• Researchers Devise New Clinical Trial System. Stanford University Daily “A team of Boston- and Stanford-based researchers has devised a less costly, clinic-based approach to randomized clinical trials (RCT) that shifts patients to a more successful therapy as the trial progresses. The method, based on the Veterans Affairs (VA) electronic medical records system (EMR), is currently being tested in a comparative effectiveness trial of two insulin regimens in the Boston VA system.” This “new approach, called a point-of-care clinical trial, aims to apply the statistical strength of an RCT to the real-world settings of observational studies.”

• Plaque Honoring Bob Dole Dedicated At WWII Memorial. CNN “With the help of a tent to block the rain, Vice President Joe Biden and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar — along with several of Dole’s…former Senate colleagues — helped unveil a plaque that will now be featured at the memorial to note the 87-year-old’s tireless efforts to get it built.”

• Veteran Says Upside Down Flag Aimed At Lawmakers. AP A  “veteran who placed an American flag upside-down outside a war museum” in eastern Illinois, “said he is aware that he’s upset a few people but meant no disrespect.” The 86-year-old, a veteran of three wars, “said he is flying the flag outside the Vermilion County War Museum in Danville as a distress signal over what he sees as lack of support in Washington, DC, for the nation’s military, ongoing wars fought by the military and other concerns about the way the federal government is run.”

• VA Says No Fault Found In Ohio WWII Vet’s Death. AP “The Department of Veterans Affairs says no fault has been determined in an Ohio VA hospital parking lot accident that fatally injured” World War II veteran Marion Kibler, who “died March 7 from…injuries” sustained in the accident. In a statement, VA “says…that it is still investigating to see if anything could have been done to prevent what it calls ‘this tragic loss.

• VA Nurse Who Refused To Draw Patient’s Blood Sues Sheriff’s Office Alleging Wrongful Arrest. Palm Beach (FL) Post Marjorie Lachaud-DePalis, a US Department of Veterans Affairs “nurse who claims she was handcuffed and held in a police cruiser when she refused a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy’s request to draw blood from a patient,” has “sued the agency for false arrest. In a lawsuit filed” in US District Court, Lachaud-DePalis “claims she and others tried to explain to Deputy Kenneth Noel that it was against VA policy for nurses to draw blood from patients without a doctor’s order. Noel, according to the lawsuit, was adamant that emergency room personnel had received a letter from the State Attorney, ordering them to draw blood from patients suspected of being intoxicated.”

• VA Rushed Through Wi-Fi Procurement, OIG Says. Federal Computer Week “Contracting costs jumped 77 percent on a contract to install Wi-Fi infrastructure at 236 Veterans Affairs Department facilities, in part because…VA rushed the procurement, according to a new report from the department’s” Office of Inspector General (IG). FCW continues, “The VA awarded the five-year contract to Catapult Technology Ltd. for $91.4 million in October 2008, but current costs are projected at $161.5 million, according to the report by Mark Myers, director of the IG’s Healthcare Resources Division Office of Contract Review. The VA terminated the contract due to invoicing and pricing problems in October 2010 after installation was completed at 45 sites.”

• Program To Aid Vets Through Court. Norristown (PA) Times Herald “Montgomery County is establishing a Veterans Treatment Court to address more effectively the special needs of military veterans who wind up in the court system or in prison. A key component of the court is to connect veterans with treatment and support services through” the US Department of Veterans Affairs. The Times Herald adds, “In order to be eligible, a veteran defendant must suffer from traumatic brain injury, post traumatic stress disorder, military sexual trauma or psychological or substance abuse problems that require treatment, according to county officials.”

• If You’re A Veteran In Need, Where Do You Turn For Help? Huffington Post Joshua Kors, an investigative reporter for The Nation, notes, “Since 2001, over 530,000 soldiers have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. In a better world, those vets could turn” to the US Department of Veterans Affairs “to solve their problems. But for so many soldiers,” VA, with its “daunting” paperwork and appointment delays, “is the problem.” Kors notes that he has compiled a list of alternate resources for wounded vets in need of help.

• Budget Deal Includes VA Funding Increase. CNN Newsroom The “deal that was reached Friday night to avoid” a “massive government shutdown.” Some “winners” in the deal include the US Department of Veterans Affairs, which would get “$600 million more” than “it would have received in the previous year.”

• Deal Would Cut $25 Million From Veterans Housing Program. Wall Street Journal Under the fiscal 2011 budget deal reached late last week, a number of housing programs, including one that serves veterans, face spending reductions. Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Vouchers would be cut by $25 million.

• Measure Would Increase Funds For Veterans, Cut Them For Military Construction. CQ “Programs to support military veterans would see substantial increases in funding under a new fiscal 2011 spending measure despite the sweeping cuts it proposes across much of the federal government. The measure (HR 1473) would allocate less overall” for VA “and military construction programs than enacted in fiscal 2010, even with the increases in veterans’ programs. That is due to a large proposed cutback in spending on military construction projects.”

• Lawmakers: Protect New GI Bill Living Stipends. Army Times “Two California lawmakers have joined forces to try to prevent Post-9/11 GI Bill living stipends from being cut off between school terms for thousands of students. Reps. Susan Davis, a Democrat, and Duncan Hunter, a Republican, are co-sponsoring what they are calling the Post 9/11 GI Bill Payment Restoration Act, which would prevent a cutoff of interval payments between terms, quarters or semesters that is scheduled to take effect on Aug. 1.” The Times adds, “Denying interval payments…was included in an overhaul of the Post-9/11 GI Bill” that aims to improve the original version of the benefits program.