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.       Forestry Grants Available for Trees, Education.  Hawaii Reporter  Since their first Kaulunani grant in 2005, the West Hawai’i Cemetery was designated by the US Department of Veterans Affairs as attaining “shrine status.” It is only one of three State-owned Veterans Cemeteries in America, as well as the only one in …
2.       Veterans’ family caregivers, once forgotten, now getting support through.  Syracuse.com  “You feel alone.” Bredberg is what the US Department of Veterans Affairs calls a “hero on the homefront.” For many years veteran caregivers like Bredberg were largely forgotten. But now for the first time the VA is offering cash compensation, …
3.       Nations vow continued support for Afghanistan after troops leave.  Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Monday appealed to the international community for continued support for at least one more decade in order to protect the last decade’s economic, social and security gains from collapse.
4.       AAFES pulls weight loss, bodybuilding supplement from shelves.  Weight-loss and bodybuilding supplements containing a popular new stimulant were pulled off the shelves at Army and Air Force Exchange Service stores over the weekend due to concerns they could be related to soldier deaths, according to the Defense Logistics Agency.
5.       Analysts: Switch US troops to advisory mission in Afghanistan in 2012.  With the clock ticking on U.S. combat involvement in Afghanistan, the United States should end the current counterinsurgency mission by October, when U.S. surge forces are scheduled to be out of the country.
6.       VA announces new members for women veterans committee.  The Department of Veterans Affairs announced six new members Friday for a committee designed to provide insight on the issues facing the 1.8 million women veterans.
7.       90 Seconds: U.S. Army Sgt. Sean Yorty.  U.S. Army Sgt. Sean Yorty says he enjoys being in a combat zone: “When you’re out there and people are shooting at you and you are shooting back at them and there is all this chaos, just the pieces that you play, every movement that is made is like the paintbrush of an artist sweeping across the canvas.”
8.       Wounded veterans congregate in Tacoma.  TheNewsTribune.com  The communities surrounding Tacoma have the highest per capita population of seriously disabled Iraq and Afghanistan veterans on the West Coast, according to Department of Veterans Affairs records obtained by McClatchy Newspapers and analyzed by The …
9.       Costs of caring for wounded: Recent wars to rival Vietnam.  The Seattle Times   The tragic history of the injured/maimed US veteran has been one of a nation with a. …
10.  Women Veterans group helps female veterans.  Jamestown Sun  About 4600 of North Dakota’s 56300 veterans are women, according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Men make up about 51700 of them. About 150 women veterans live in Stutsman County. The role of the Womens Veterans group is to monitor …

Have You Heard?

The National Cemetery Administration will host a series of commemorative events highlighting the historical heritage of more than half of its’ national cemeteries that were created during the American Civil War. The first event will take place at VA Central Office today, with a presentation on the Bloedner Monument, believed to be the oldest surviving monument dedicated to soldiers of the Civil War. Speakers will discuss how NCA protected the fragile monument through conservation and relocation; and how a master stone carver created a replacement to continue honoring the soldiers from the 32^nd Indiana Infantry with a new monument at Cave Hill National Cemetery in Louisville, Ky. NCA will hold additional events across the country through 2015 to commemorate the 150^th anniversary of the American Civil War, which began in 1861 and ended in 1865. The National Cemetery Administration traces its’ lineage back to July 17, 1862 when Congress authorized the President to purchase land to be used as national cemeteries for soldiers who died in service to the country. To learn more about NCA, its’ history and the interesting story behind the Bloedner Monument, visit http://www.cem.va.gov/.

More Veteran News

•   House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health Hearing.  Insurance News Net   A program could be planned for medical personnel and others on what they should ASK A VET? AFSP would like to commend the US Department of Veteran Affairs and Dr. Jan Kemp for their leadership and vision in constructing and implementing this program …

•   Vets in crisis can now text VA for help.  Rochester Democrat and Chronicle  The national Veterans Crisis Line, operated by the US Department of Veterans Affairs and staffed at the Canandaigua VA facility, has begun communicating via text message. “A lot of people prefer to text than to phone,” said Victoria Bridges, …

• Military service was a prelude to life’s work of two local veterans.  TheDay.com  Information about the inductees is on the Connecticut Department of Veterans’ Affairs website. Harold Farrington Jr. of Old Saybrook is the other honoree from southeastern Connecticut. Farrington worked for the US Department of Veterans Affairs for …

•   Pearl Harbor Day Observances Set.  The Appleton (WI) Post-Crescent  “The state Department of Veterans Affairs will hold ceremonies Wednesday at the Wisconsin Veterans Homes at King and Union Grove on the 70th anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbor. At King, a ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. in the Marden Center Multi-Purpose Room, with Veterans Affairs Secretary John Scocos serving as master of ceremonies and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch as the keynote speaker.” The “ceremony at Union Grove will begin at 10 a.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room of Boland Hall.”

• Veterans Inducted Into Hall Of Fame.  Middletown (CT) Patch  “Two Meriden residents, a former Berlin patrolman and a Rocky Hill man were among 10 veterans statewide who were inducted into the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame, Class of 2011, on Friday.” The “Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame, which was created by former Gov. M. Jodi Rell, recognizes distinguished veterans who have made significant contributions to their communities after leaving military service. Each inductee or family representative received a commemorative medallion recognizing his or her induction.”

•   As Veterans’ Mental Health System Expands, Access Remains A Concern.  CQ “Thousands of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans in need of mental health services are finding it difficult to make initial appointments and get continued care from the Veterans Health Administration…revealed” a November 30th hearing conducted by the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. But “VHA leaders say government watchdogs have reviewed its mental health services” and had good things to say about those services. The chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, US Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), “said she will order an inspector general’s report and continue to probe conditions in the field before she decides whether legislation is needed.”  CQ   “Suicides among active-duty members of the military as well as veterans continue to rise…said” witnesses at a hearing of the House Veterans Affairs Committee on Friday. The witnesses added that veteran suicide rates cannot be tracked easily because such deaths are reported by localities, not by a centralized source. One witness, Rene A. Campos, “deputy director of government relations for the Military Officers Association of America, said there needs to be more coordination between the Department of Defense and the VA when it comes to strategies to prevent suicides.” But Jan Kemp, VHA’s national mental health director for suicide prevention, “said in prepared testimony that the VHA’s efforts to prevent suicide have been stepped up in recent years and include a crisis line, a chat service and texting option, a major ad campaign to publicize the crisis line, placement of suicide prevention coordinators at all VA medical centers and integration of primary and mental health services.”

•    In Kentucky Town, Impact Of Iraq, Afghan Wars Runs Deep.  McClatchy  “To understand the impact” of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan “on the American fabric, McClatchy reviewed reams of reports and records from the Department of Veterans Affairs.” The review found that London, Kentucky, has “one of the highest rates in the country of veterans collecting disability payments for post-traumatic stress disorder – one the costliest and most prevalent ailments to emerge from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.” McClatchy points out that “VA and the Department of Defense are more aggressive in screening departing soldiers for mental health problems.”

•    VA Official Thinks Main Can Handle Needs Of Vets With PTSD.  Bangor (ME) Daily News  Dozens of veterans are pondering the “circumstances that led to the death of Justin Crowley-Smilek,” an Afghanistan veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) “who was shot by a police officer last month in Farmington.” Law “enforcement leaders, state lawmakers and mental health experts seem to agree that more must be done to better prepare Maine’s communities for increasing numbers” of returning combat vets. Jim Doherty, a spokesman for the Veterans Affairs hospital in Togus, “believes Maine has the capacity to handle the treatment needs of its vets with PTSD,” although he stresses that it is important for vets to ask for care.

• Long-Term Care Costs For Vets Huge.  McClatchy  “The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may be winding down, but the long-term costs of caring for those wounded in battle is on path to rival the costs of the Vietnam War. While Vietnam extracted a far higher death toll…the number of documented disabilities from recent veterans is approaching the size of that earlier conflict, according to the McClatchy Newspapers analysis” of data from Veterans Affairs, which is “losing ground in efforts to provide fast, efficient and accurate disability decisions. And the agency has yet to get control of a problem that has vexed it for years: The wide variation in disability payments by state and region, even for veterans with the same ailments,” although Thomas Murphy, director of VA’s compensation program, “said the agency put in place a new system to guide the regional offices through their disability decision process,” which “he said…should help improve consistency.”

•  VA Increases Resources At Several Care Facilities In Florida.  Bradenton (FL) Herald  “Among Florida’s 40,841 Iraq-era veterans on disability rolls are 756 from the Manatee-Sarasota area, according to a McClatchy analysis of 2010” VA data. The Herald added, “In response to the returning wounded warriors, the US Department of Veterans Affairs has increased resources at its hospitals and clinics, including Bay Pines VA Healthcare System in St. Petersburg and James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa. Last year, the VA closed its clinic in Ellenton and opened the Bradenton-based Outpatient Clinic at 5520 S.R. 64 E., which not only is a larger facility, but has more medical resources.”

•  Vet Center Prepares To Help Returning Vets.  Sacramento (CA) Bee  “The small agricultural town of Dixon,” California, “has the highest concentration of disabled vets in the region along with nearby Vacaville, according to a Bee analysis” of US VA “data of ZIP codes with populations greater than 10,000.” Staffers at a local Vet Center, “most of whom have served in the military themselves, are preparing to help the next wave of veterans with services ranging from medical treatment to family therapy to addiction counseling.” Meanwhile the California VA is “gearing up to help returning Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers with job training, education and pension benefits.”

• How Technology Can Connect Doctors And Caregivers.  American Medical News “With more than 29% of the US population acting as a caregiver to someone else, chances are that physicians eventually will be faced…with questions about how they can work with caregivers to ensure the health of the person receiving care.” Veterans Affairs is already doing so, according to Dr. Adam Darkins, chief consultant for VA’s Office of Telehealth Services. American medical News adds, “The Veterans Health Administration is often viewed as the gold standard when it comes to telemedicine and home monitoring…said” Gail Hunt, CEO and president of the National Alliance for Caregiving.

•    Hospitals Increasingly Turning To Telemedicine.  Roseburg (OR) News-Review  The Veterans Affairs hospital in Roseburg “this year hired a telemedicine coordinator and four technicians specializing in telemedicine.” The Roseburg VA joins other hospitals “nationwide that are expanding telemedicine programs.” The News-Review added, “Telemedicine allows patients in smaller, rural hospitals to connect with specialists.”

• Laser Stroke Recovery Photobiomodulation.  Allentown (PA) Morning Call  Dr. Ab Boonswang, a “cardio-thoracic surgeon at Easton Hospital, is enthusiastic about the potential for low-level light therapy, also known as photobiomodulation, on stroke patients.” One researcher, “Dr. Margaret Naeser at the VA Boston Healthcare System, has been using and studying laser and LED light on acupuncture points and says the technology and knowledge are advancing in the right direction. ‘Everyone is optimistic about this,’ she said.”

•  Vet Thankful For Therapy Dog.  KLAS-TV  Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the “invisible wound of war, but trained service dogs are helping traumatized veterans” like Jeff Beck, a Las Vegas resident who served in Vietnam, cope. Beck and a “psychiatric service dog named Nala” have “spent the last three weeks training in Michigan. The non-profit Stiggy’s Dogs showed Nala how to spot symptoms” of Beck’s PTSD.

•  When Vets Want To Become Farmers.  Des Moines Register  “With help from a growing national network of farmer support groups,” 26-year-old veteran Tyler Albers “plans to graduate from college next year and grow organic vegetables on a four-acre plot at his family’s farm in northeast Iowa.” The Farmer-Veteran Coalition “wants to triple in size by the end of next year and help 1,000 veterans start careers in agriculture, producing foods as varied as maple syrup and corn.”

• At Natick American Legion Post, An Army Man Keeps Giving. Boston (MA) Globe When Patrick Clark was elected commander of Natick’s E.P. Clarke American Legion Post 107 three years ago, he dove into the job. Clark, 45, an Army sergeant first class from a family with a long military tradition, served in Afghanistan and Iraq as a medic, caring for and comforting the wounded.

•    Called To Duty.  Eugene (OR) Register-Guard  When the United States entered World War II 70 years ago this Wednesday, these and others answered the call of duty. For nearly four years, the war lodged itself into the lives of Americans like nothing had before and nothing has since.

•  Fort Campbell Vet Fights For Mobility iBOT Has Given Him.  Clarksville (TN) Leaf Chronicle  After becoming paralyzed from the waist down following a helicopter accident in Iraq, he received a “groundbreaking power wheelchair called the iBOT Mobility System, courtesy of the Lakeway Patriot Fund Committee and America’s Huey 091 Foundation.” But “just a year after Linfoot received his iBOT, the program was quietly shut down and manufacturing terminated.” Actor “and veterans advocate Gary Sinise” is “pleading for restoration of the iBOT program.”

•  Injured British Soldiers Set For Trans-Atlantic Row.  AFP  “Four British servicemen who were seriously injured in Iraq or Afghanistan are set to depart Monday on a gruelling trans-Atlantic rowing challenge,” known as “Row2Recovery.” The servicemen are “part of a six-man team that intends to make the roughly 3,000-mile (4,800-kilometre) trip from the Spanish island of La Gomera in the Canaries to the Caribbean island of Barbados.” The “team hopes to raise over £1 million ($1.6 million, 1.16 million euros) for three charities supporting wounded servicemen.”

•   Aging Pearl Harbor Attack Survivors Passing On The Baton.  CNN  About 84,000 uniformed Americans were on Oahu that fateful day. Only an estimated 8,000 are alive today — and they are in their late 80s and older. Children and grandchildren have stepped up to carry the flag of their forefathers.  The Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors, with about 20 chapters, is helping to “carry on the legacy left to us,” said national president Louella Large, whose father served at the U.S. Army’s Schofield Barracks during the attack.