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.    Half a world away, the New York-New England rivalry thrives.  Soldiers with the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade traded friendly fire for hours in Afghanistan early Monday morning — not with bullets, but with words.
 
2.    National guard critical to scientific mission in Antarctica.  The place where most U.S. personnel touch down in Antarctica is McMurdo Station, the largest of three bases that the U.S. has built to facilitate scientific research and maintain a military presence on the icy continent.
 
3.    Cyber weapons growing concern in hyper connected world, experts say.  The concept of cyberwar crossed a threshold in 2010, says Michael Hayden, former CIA and NSA director, when the Stuxnet computer worm destroyed a series of nuclear centrifuges in Iran by hijacking their controls.
 
4.    Creating ice sculpture stirs emotions in US military team.  Last week, sailors from Naval Air Facility Misawa made the daylong journey to Sapporo, Japan to play in the snow. However, it was by no means a vacation.

5.    Onions: Veterans affairs should be priority.  University Daily Kansan  And for that, our veterans deserve our respect, our gratitude, and most certainly our attention. What I find hard to accept is that, according to the US Department of Veterans’ Affairs, one third of homeless adults are veterans.

6.    PTSD costs.  The Seattle Times  The psychiatrist went on to claim the rate of such diagnoses eventually could cause the Army and Department of Veterans Affairs to go broke. “He (the psychiatrist) stated that we have to be good stewards of the tax payers dollars, and we have to ensure …

7.    Type 2 Diabetes Therapy Subject of New ACP Guideline.  Medscape  One author has disclosed that he has been a consultant for ECRI; has received grants from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the US Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; and is an employee of …

8.    VA to trace veterans’ medical history.  Atlanta Journal Constitution  The Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center is one of 50 nationwide selected as an enrollment site for the Million Veteran Program. The program is a voluntary research initiative, run by the US Department of Veterans Affairs, …

9.    Porter County’s veterans treatment court growing quicker than expected.  nwitimes.com
Both the Porter and Cook County programs operate with teams of specialists and work closely with the US Department of Veterans Affairs to make sure participants are receiving all the help that’s available. Another key element is the volunteer veterans, …

10.    Local VA focuses on safer care after 2011 scandal.  Dayton Daily News  The US Department of Veterans Affairs has turned to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for help in answering that question. While an internal VA investigation has not identified a link between the three positive cases and the care they …

Have You Heard?

VA Looks to Solve Genetic Mysteries

VA’s Million Veteran Program is seeking volunteers to build a blood sample bank in an effort to solve genetic mysteries. The program may help in the development of better treatments and preventive measures. Read more

More Veteran News

•  Advocate Praises Veterans Job Core Initiative.  CNN  Tarantino, who is with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, praised the initiative, which, according to CNN, does several things, including targeting the “first responders and law enforcement fields” as places for vets to find jobs. Tarantino said that “veterans work great as first responders. Veterans were our first national park rangers. And so being able to transition those skills into the Department of Interior is great and veterans are also nine percent of the business owners in this country. So helping veterans start small businesses is just a natural fit, and it’s a continued investment in these men and women.” American Forces Press Service  On Friday, the President “continued his commitment to improving employment among veterans by introducing an initiative to hire them as the country’s first responders. ‘In my State of the Union address, I proposed a new initiative called the Veterans Jobs Corps to put veterans back to work protecting and rebuilding America,’ he said,” adding, “And today, we’re laying out the details of this proposal.” Obama made his comments at a fire station in Arlington, Virginia, while speaking to “veterans, firefighters, police officers and national park employees.” On Thursday, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki took part in a conference call with reporters, saying the Veterans Job Corps initiative “will ensure our veterans don’t have to fight for jobs once they come home.”

•   Vietnam Veterans To Receive Warm Welcome.  Middletown (CT) Patch  “The Department of Veterans Affairs along with the Central Connecticut State University Veterans History Project are organizing an event to give Vietnam veterans the welcome they should have received decades ago. ‘Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans’ event will be held on March 31 at the Governor William A. O’Neill Armory in Hartford at 7 p.m.” The event is “‘aimed toward entertainment and appreciation’ of the veterans, according to a spokesman for the event.”

•  Project Seeks 1 Million Veterans To Give Blood, DNA For Disease Research.  Baltimore Sun  Officials with the US Veterans Affairs Department “are undertaking what may be the largest effort of its kind in the nation, to collect medical records and blood samples from a million former service members for a bank of genetic information. The idea is to give researchers enough DNA and other data to link specific genes to mental and physical maladies, from post-traumatic stress disorder to heart disease, and eventually develop new preventive measures or treatments.” The Sun points out that personal information of veterans participating in the research project “will be kept confidential.” Dr. Joel Kupersmith, VA’s chief research and development officer, commented on the research, saying “vets are very altruistic people and they’re likely to help if you tell them it will benefit someone else.”

•    Bloomberg Waiting For Go-Ahead From Pentagon On Parade For Iraq Veterans. NBC’s Meet The Press  An interview with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was asked if he opposes a parade in his city for Iraq veterans. Bloomberg said, “No, I think it’d be great. But the Pentagon has asked us to postpone any parade as long as we still have our soldiers in Iraq getting shot at and sadly, killed. I think I’ll leave it up to the military experts and Pentagon to decide when they think it’s appropriate. And then New York will give them a parade like we’ve never done before to say thank you for everything they’ve done.”

•     Obama Dinner To Mark End Of Iraq War.  USA Today  A “select group of combat veterans and their spouses or guests” will be invited to the “state-dinner-like event.” The theme is “the common fighting man or woman, said Douglas Wilson, Pentagon public affairs chief. The intent is for those invited – with guests, numbering more than 200 – to represent the 1.5 million who fought in a nine-year-war that left nearly 4,500 dead and 32,000 wounded, he said.”

• Court Connects Veteran Offenders With Aid From VA.  Arkansas Democrat Gazette Veterans Affairs assists a Veterans Court program in Garland County.

• Municipal Cemeteries Could Fill Up Fast, Leaving Many Scrambling For Other Affordable Options.  South Florida Sun-Sentinel   “Municipal cemeteries traditionally have provided low-income families with an affordable choice over private cemeteries or mausoleums.” But municipal cemeteries are filling up, and cities are showing “no signs of expanding their cemeteries in tough budget times.” Ed Libengood, Boca Raton’s cemetery manager, “said in recent years, as the economy has spiraled downward, many veterans have chosen to be buried at veterans’ cemeteries such as South Florida National Cemetery west of Lake Worth, which is free for veterans and their dependent children.”

•  Work Begins On New National Veterans Cemetery.  Baton Rouge (LA) Advocate  The US Department of Veterans Affairs is “on a fast track to develop burial sites at a new national cemetery before the Port Hudson National Cemetery runs out of space for new interments later this year. Construction has begun at a new site, to be known as Louisiana National Cemetery, on 103 acres of land on West Mount Pleasant Road west of Zachary and south of the Port Hudson cemetery.” Port Hudson National Cemetery Director Rex Kern “said ‘Phase 1-A’ of the construction will include 2,500 crypts and an area for in-ground burial of cremated remains.”

•  Local Soldier Seeks Spot At 2012 Warrior Games. Winter Haven (FL) News Chief “Cpl. Brian King, an Auburndale native, was among 30 wounded, ill and injured soldiers demonstrating his marksmanship skills at the University of Texas-El Paso in preparation for the 2012 Warrior Games.” The “competition, which will be hosted by the US Olympic Committee, is also supported by the Department of Defense, US Department of Veterans Affairs, USO, Fisher House Foundation and the Bob Woodruff Foundation. Results of the shooting tryouts will be announced” in March.

•   Young Doctors Flock Toward New Specialty In End-Of-Life Care.  San Jose Mercury News  “As Daniel Shaine approaches the end of his battle with terminal cancer, he is no longer surprised to find a troop of young doctors, some with pregnant bellies or sparkling engagement rings, at his side at the Palo Alto VA hospital.” The Mercury News adds, “Increasingly, patients at the end of their lives are talking about end-of-life decisions and Do Not Resuscitate Orders with doctors on the brink of giving birth. These freshly-minted physicians are among a new wave of specialists in the growing field of palliative medicine.”

1. 21.                       Tampa Bay VA Hospitals Pump Down The Volume.  St. Petersburg (FL) Times “Tampa Bay’s two veterans hospitals, the Bay Pines and James A. Haley medical centers, are testing devices that measure the decibel level on inpatient wards. Placed at nursing stations and looking like a red light signal, the device flashes red when the noise exceeds levels set by the hospital.” Officials with VA “say the agency is becoming more aware of the effects of noise on healing, as are hospitals around the nation.”