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

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1. Protecting the Civil Rights of Servicemembers.  By Thomas E. Perez Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice: The Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice enforces several laws designed to protect the rights of members of the military. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act or SCRA, provides critical additional consumer and other protections to the men and women serving our nation.

2. Alabama veterans cemetery gets preliminary federal approval; $7 million grant. The Republic  State officials say Alabama’s first state veterans cemetery has won preliminary federal approval and should get the US Department of Veterans Affairs’ formal sanction and $7 million in grant funding next month. Alabama Veterans Affairs Commissioner W. …

3. Community builds apartment for Oregon veteran.  KVAL  Cody Smith is now at the US Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Palo Alto, Calif., where he has been undergoing physical therapy and other medical treatment for the past two months. A soldier in the 101st Airborne Division, he was shot in the …

4. Homeless CT vets get $150K for shelter.  Hartford Business  The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and US Department of Veterans Affairs will distribute the funds through state public housing agencies. The homeless veterans also will be provided with case-management services to help them back …

5. VA: Craig Veterans Telehealth Clinic staying open.  Craig Daily Press  The US Department of Veterans Affairs in Grand Junction reported today that rumors the Craig Veterans Telehealth Clinic is closing are untrue. “Contrary to rumor, the Craig Veterans Affairs Telehealth Clinic is not …

6. Civilians Lead Charge to Help Hudson Valley Veterans.  Fox News  More veterans than ever are seeking help from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. From 2002 to 2009, 1 million troops left active duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. Nearly half come in for VA services and 48% of that group are diagnosed …

7. Opposing view: VA continues to improve.  USA Today  Any incident that threatens the safety or well-being of a veterCivilians Lead Charge to Help Hudson Valley Veterans.  an, family member, employee or visitor is unacceptable. VA operates the largest integrated health care system in the nation. We treat 6 million veterans a year at 1624 sites. …

8. State Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spanish Fort gets preliminary federal approval.  al.com (blog)  This artist’s sketch depicts the layout plan for the Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery on Ala. 225 north of Spanish Fort.

9. Local veterans support push for Mercer clinic.  Bluefield Daily Telegraph  — Local veterans are in support of a southern West Virginia lawmaker asking for the Department of Veteran’s Affairs to focus resources on establishing a community-based out-patient clinic for Mercer County veterans. …

10. Overall Measure Includes $2.4 Billion Increase In Funds For VA. In continuing coverage, CQ (6/15, Hart, Symes) notes that on Tuesday, the US House of Representatives “completed work on its military construction and Veterans Affairs appropriations bill, sending its second fiscal 2012 appropriations measure to the Senate.” The legislation passed by a vote of 411-5, “after the House rejected a motion…that would have provided an additional $20 million for veterans’ medical services for post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide prevention and offset the cost by reducing funding for Veteran Affairs Department (VA) information technology programs by $25 million.” As passed, the “measure would provide about $128 billion for the VA in fiscal 2012, a $2.4 billion increase over fiscal 2011.

Have You Heard?

Vocational Rehabilitation: Preparing Vets for Employment

The Vocational Rehab and Employment program assists service-connected Veterans in preparing for, finding, and maintaining a job. In this video, a former Army Airborne Ranger explains how the program helped him launch his career.

More Veteran News

• Veteran Presents Flag That Flew Over Camps In Iraq To VA Medical Center. Prescott (AZ) Daily Courier “US Army Reserve Capt. Michael Worsley thanked employees of the Bob Stump Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Tuesday for their support while he served in Iraq by presenting Donna Jacobs, medical center director of the Northern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health Care System, with an American flag that flew over many camps in Iraq. Dr. Worsley, a clinical psychologist who has worked at the Bob Stump VA Medical Center since 2008, served with the combat stress team along the Baghdad belt in Iraq from December 2009 to October 2010.” Worsley “said he will be deployed to Afghanistan next year.”

• Support Group For Military Spouses In Operation At Walter Reed. CBS Evening News  “Many soldiers who survive combat return home with post-traumatic stress disorder and spouses suffer along with them.” Now, however, a support group for such spouses has been set up at Walter Reed Army Medical Center by US Army Col. Charles Engel, who was shown saying there is a larger need for such programs. The “Chairman of the Joint Chiefs has cited estimates based on Veterans Administration data that put the real number” of PTSD cases at almost 800,000. CBS added, “To catch up with numbers like that, he says, there will have to be programs” like the one at Walter Reed in communities all across the country.

• Pentagon Offering New App To Soldiers With PTSD, Brain Injuries. Tacoma News Tribune “A Pentagon research lab at Joint Base Lewis-McChord is putting more apps in the pockets of service members coping with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries.” Breathe2Relax, a product developed by the National Center for Telehealth and Technology, “features breathing exercises intended to help people manage anxiety and steady their moods.” Breathe2Relax is “available for iPhone users,” and next month, it will be available for Android phone users.

• Martinez VA Supporting Mental Health Disorders Course. Martinez (CA) News-Gazette “Sheila Fahy, a weekly volunteer at the Veterans Administration medical complex in Martinez, spent a day last week spreading the word about an upcoming 13-week course on mental health disorders, including” PTSD. The course, which begins next month, is “designed for families who have a member suffering with mental illness, rather than for the patients themselves. The free course is offered by the National Alliance on Mentally Illness Contra Costa (NAMI CC), and while it is supported by the Martinez Veterans Administration, non-military families are welcome to participate as well.”

• Mullen Urges America To Help Vets And Their Families. American Forces Press Service “America’s top military officer explained what members of the US military have gone through during 10 years of war to the audience of the ‘Late Show with David Letterman,'” during an episode that aired on Monday night. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, “chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told David Letterman that the American people need to know what their armed forces are doing and the sacrifices service members and their families are making.” Mullen took note of those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, adding, “We’ve had tens of thousands physically wounded, lost limbs. We’ve had tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands suffer the invisible wounds of traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress.” Mullen “wants America to do right by this generation of veterans.”

• Work Therapy Transitional Program Modeled After VA-Operated Ones. Munster (IN) Times “As part of the annual Diversity Job Fair and Symposium, the Times Media Group designates benefactors who receive financial donations from the Times to help further the cause of diversity within the region. This year, one of the benefactors is Veterans Life Changing Services, Inc.,” a community organization that offers “residential and compensated work transitional programs for Northwest Indiana veterans and their families. This work therapy transitional program is modeled after similar programs run by the Department of Veterans Affairs, which operate in over 150 locations around the country.”

• Retreats Set Up In New Mexico For Vets With PTSD And Their Spouses. NextGov “The National Veterans Wellness and Healing Center in Angel Fire, N.M., will offer free, week-long retreats this summer for veterans” with PTSD “and their spouses.” The free “retreats, which started on a pilot basis last year, are sponsored by the wellness center and the State of New Mexico Department of Veterans Affairs, but are open to veterans nationwide.” Brewin adds, “To qualify, veterans must be diagnosed with PTSD, must be in or have been in counseling, and must have been referred by a VA vets center.”

• Bay Pines To Fill Veterans’ Mental Health And Housing Needs. Off The Base In order to meet an increasing demand for mental healthcare, officials recently “signed a $92 million deal to build a new, mental health facility linked” to the Veterans Affairs hospital in Bay Pines, Florida. The “156,000 square-foot building will allow the VA to expand its inpatient mental health care programs for PTSD, military sexual trauma, substance abuse and acute mental health conditions.” Meanwhile, the US VA is “expanding its housing for homeless and at-risk Veterans to 34 VA locations across the country,” including Bay Pines.

• HUD, VA To Provide Permanent Housing, Case Management To 32 Bay State Homeless Veterans. Banker & Tradesman Recently, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki “announced…that HUD will provide $338,400 to public housing authorities in Massachusetts to supply permanent housing and case management for 32 homeless veterans in the state. This is the fourth and final round of the fiscal 2010 Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program (HUD-VASH) funding to support homeless veterans, according to a statement.” HUD-VASH is a “coordinated effort by HUD, the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and local housing authorities to provide permanent supportive housing for homeless veterans.”

• Orlando Sentinel Praises VA For Repurposing Buildings To Help Homeless Vets. Orlando Sentinel VA has “made a welcome dent in its long, tough slog to end chronic homelessness among veterans by 2015.” The agency recently “announced it will repurpose 34 unused and underutilized buildings on VA property around the nation for homeless vets and their families.” Still with “some 131,000 veterans homeless on a given night nationally, a lot more is needed to even come close to eradicating homelessness under the 2015 wire.”

• LA Daily Breeze Supporting Efforts Of Bike Riders To Assist Homeless Vets. Los Angeles Daily Breeze A “group of veterans is riding their bicycles from El Monte to St. Louis in an effort to match homeless veterans to available services. Their final stop will be in front of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, who is scheduled to give a speech in August.” The paper says it “can provide at least moral support to these riders by saying we are with them.”

• Two Georgia Hospitals Part Of VA Effort To Assist Homeless Vets. Warner Robins (GA) Patriot “VA medical centers in Dublin and Augusta will figure prominently as the Department of Veterans Affairs increases its services to homeless and at-risk veterans. The enhanced assistance will include housing for returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families, assisted living for elderly veterans and continuum-of-living residential communities.” Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki “said the initiatives will significant support the agency’s efforts to eliminate homelessness among veterans and improve their overall quality of life.” In a news release, Shinseki said, “We have a moral obligation to ensure that veterans and their families have access to affordable housing and medical services that will help them get back on their feet.”

• Inconclusive Agent Orange Study Is Conclusive Enough For Vet Groups. New York Times “It has been nearly a month since the Institute of Medicine released its report on Agent Orange exposure and so-called Blue Water Navy veterans from Vietnam, yet the Department of Veterans Affairs says it is still reviewing the document. That’s not surprising, for the report is chock-full of non-conclusions, unknowns and uncertainties.” But “advocates for the deep-sea sailors argue that the report provides them powerful ammunition for gaining benefits that have already been given to troops that actually set foot in Vietnam.”

• US Army Replacing Black Berets With Patrol Caps. NBC Nightly News “You may recall the hubbub back in 2001 when the Army converted to berets for their basic ACU, the Army combat uniform. But the black berets proved unpopular.” So now, the Army will “go back to the old patrol cap and the beret will go back to be a special head covering for the Rangers, Airborne and Special Forces.”

• Widow Proves Vet’s Exposure To Agent Orange.Washington Times

• With VA Loan, Clifton Couple Are Homeowners.Bergen (NJ) Record