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. History, heritage and honor celebrated Memorial Day. nwitimes.com For as we all know freedom has never been free and many have paid the price with life and limb for all of us since before our country’s birth and will continue to do so. According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs website, three years after the …

 

2. Winston leads panel about women veterans. Slidell Sentry News “I’m really honored to have this opportunity to work with women veterans from across the nation, their families, healthcare providers, and issue experts. ” The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) estimates that approximately 1.8 million of the …

 

3. War, remembrance of American heroes. Asbury Park Press There were 55400 World War II veterans living in New Jersey in 2010, about half as many as in 2005, according to estimates from the US Department of Veterans Affairs. World War II veterans who were 18 in 1945 are now 84 years old. …

 

4. Oregon House backs restoration of medical services at Roseburg VA. NRToday.com
   The Oregon House of Representatives unanimously passed a measure Monday urging the US Department of Veterans Affairs to restore the Roseburg VA Medical Center to a full-service hospital with an intensive care unit. TO CONTINUE reading this article, …

 

5. Doubts trip up vet project. Tampabay.com Aside from the county funding, St. Jude’s was approved last October for a $493675 grant from the US Department of Veterans Affairs for the transitional housing facility. The VA said Livingston has not forfeited that funding.

 

6. Games lift isle economy and veterans’ spirits. Honolulu Star-Advertiser Tammy Duckworth, VA assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs and a McKinley High School and University of Hawaii graduate, said she was looking “forward to showing our nation’s heroes the aloha state.” Veterans age 55 or older who …

 

7. WWII veteran finally receives medals. Business Clarksville Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs (TDVA) Commissioner Many-Bears Grinder today recognized a decorated World War II veteran who never received his medals. Private First Class Henry Cathey served in the United States Army from November 1942 to …

 

8. FAITH BASED SUMMIT FOR BALTIMORE AREA RELIGIOUS. PoliticalNews.me The Summit also included a panel discussion of faith-based liaisons from federal agencies, including: the Small Business Administration, US Department of Education, US Department of Veterans Affairs, US Department of Housing and Urban Development and …

 

9. VA Golden Age Games On Tap. Honolulu Star-Advertiser “The 25th VA National Golden Age Games, featuring US military veterans ages 55 and over, begins its six-day schedule with Thursday’s 7 p.m. opening ceremony at Kuroda Field at Fort DeRussy. Nearly 1,000 vets, including 100 from Hawaii, are scheduled to compete in golf, air riflery, swimming, cycling, track and field, and other sports through May 31.” Closing ceremonies for the event will be held on “May 31 at 7 p.m. at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Tapa Tower Ballroom.

 

10. House Passes Veterans’ COLA And Education Bills. CQ By voice vote on Monday, the House passed HR 1407, which “would institute a cost-of-living adjustment for benefits paid to disabled veterans and their dependents.” It “marks the first such adjustment in two years.” Also on Monday, by a vote of 389-0, the House passed HR 1383, which “would raise GI Bill payments to some veterans at private universities.”

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More Veterans News

1. Vets-Related Bills Approved By House. The Hill “The House on Monday approved four non-controversial bills related to the treatment of veterans, with little debate.” The bills approved included the aforementioned HR 1407 and HR, 1383, as well as HR 1627, which “sets out new conditions for placing monuments in Arlington National Cemetery” and “prevents the practice of reserving burial plots” there. The House also approved HR 1657, which “calls for tougher penalties against companies that misrepresent themselves as owned or operated by veterans.”
2. One Measure Calls For Arlington National Cemetery Monument To Jewish War Chaplains. FOX News On Monday night, “as part of a bill known as the ‘Honoring American Veterans Act of 2011,’ the House approved what amounts to a resolution praising the service of Jewish war chaplains.” The unanimously passed legislation, which calls for a Jewish War Chaplains monument at Arlington National Cemetery, “also praises American troops who have participated in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
3. Subcommittee To Be Updated About Arlington National Cemetery. The Hill On Wednesday, the “House Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee will hold a hearing titled ‘Arlington National Cemetery: An Update from the New Administration.'” The hearing takes place “at 11 a.m. in Cannon 334.”
4.  Secretary Of Veterans Affairs Visits New VA Clinic. Pacific Daily News On Monday, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki “attended the dedication ceremony of the Community Based Outpatient Clinic…in Agana Heights.” He “served as the ceremony’s keynote speaker and addressed the overall concerns surrounding the VA.”
5. VA Asks Employees To Do Better. The Hill Craig Newmark took note of the “VA Innovation Initiative (VAi2),” which Newmark called the “next phase of…innovation efforts” coming from Veterans Affairs employees. Newmark added, “Official documentation about the process and website may be found at: http://go.va.gov/vfen.”
6. First Element Of Shared DOD-VA Health Record System Almost Ready. iHealthBeat “The first component of a planned joint electronic health record system between the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs will be in place by July, according to a VA official, Federal Computer Week reports.” During a recent Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing, Deputy VA Secretary W. Scott Gould “said a prototype of a common user interface has been developed.” Gould “added that there will be ‘significant functionality shared between VA and DOD’ by June 2012.”
7. Increasing Amount Of Women Veterans Are Homeless. WOFL-TV It is “well known” that unemployment has “caused a rise in homelessness. … But you probably haven’t heard this: more of the homeless are women who served their country. The number of female vets who are homeless is twice that of women who have never served.”
8.  New Home For 5 Female Veterans And Their Families To Be Dedicated Tuesday. Denver Post On Tuesday, a dedication ceremony is scheduled for a Denver facility that will house five homeless female military veterans and their children,. That is according to the non-profit organization HomeAid Colorado, which constructs homes for the temporarily homeless. The Denver home, which will receive logistical support from the US Department of Veterans Affairs, is the first of three that will be built for homeless veterans.
9. Report: Many Errors In VA Mental Health Claims. Army Times Veterans Affairs “health care workers and benefits processors are receiving new training in how to handle disability evaluations for veterans claiming traumatic brain injuries after an internal investigation found a high percentage of errors on those types of claims. A May 18 report by the VA Inspector General says a spot review of disability claims found an 8 percent error rate in claims related to post-traumatic stress disorder and a 19 percent error rate in claims related to traumatic brain injury.” The Times adds, “Training for medical personal in proper exam procedures should be completed by June 30, but the new process for second reviews of TBI cases will not take effect until Sept. 30.”
10. War At Home: A Soldier’s Search For Serenity. CNN Struggles of Iraq veteran Shane Parham, who has been diagnosed by “doctors at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs hospital…with post-traumatic stress disorder,” or PTSD. “About 20 percent of all the men and women who served in Iraq and Afghanistan have PTSD, according” to VA.
11. Growing Therapy. Worcester (MA) Telegram & Gazette Horticultural therapy program at Seven Hills Foundation on West Boylston Street in Worcester. The therapy is also used by Veterans Affairs, which has built “greenhouses…on hospital grounds to provide veterans with an opportunity to work.” One hospital with such a greenhouse is the Northampton VA Medical Center, which through its horticultural therapy program provides a “mix of socializing and physical activity, and emotional well-being.”
12. British And US Task Force Will Help Seriously Injured Soldiers. London Times “Britain is to draw on US expertise in treating seriously injured soldiers through a task force to be set up by David Cameron and President Obama this week. A group including experts from both countries will also discuss what more can be done to support men and women reintegrating into society after spending months in war zones such as Afghanistan. Honouring the Armed Forces will be a key part” of a state visit this week by President Obama, president of a country whose pentagon budget includes a lot of money to care for the wounded.
13. Veterans Hit Red Tape Trying To Apply For VA Benefits. Bluefield (WV) Daily Telegraph “Local veterans are calling for more clarity when it comes to eligibility for health care through” the Veterans Affairs hospital in Beckley. New regulations “prohibit the enrollment of veterans who make over a certain national income threshold while others said they were denied based on having insurance through or belonging to groups such as the United Mine Workers of America.” Hospital spokeswoman Debbie Voloski, who said, “If any veteran has questions about eligibility or why they were denied enrollment, they can come and talk with our enrollment coordinators or our chief of medical administration services, who would be more than willing to help them.”
14. Group Performs For Hospitalized Veterans. WVVA-TV On Monday, veterans were “honored…with a variety of show tunes and lots of glamour and glitz,” as a group called Re-Creation performed at the Beckley Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Re-Creation “travels throughout the country, bringing musical favorites to veterans.” The group is “putting on more than 300 concerts this year.”
15. VA Caregiver Program Draws 400 Applicants On First Day. Army Times “About 625 family caregivers of severely wounded troops applied for new benefits the first week they were offered by the Veterans Affairs Department – 400 of those on the first day, officials said.” The “new program is for those seriously injured in the line of duty on or after September 11, 2001.” According to the Times, advocates, “said they’ll monitor implementation” of the program.
16. VA Works To Verify “Vet-Owned” Businesses. Army Times Veterans Affairs investigators are “chasing small businesses” that “falsely claim to be veteran-owned or disabled veteran-owned to qualify for work set aside by the federal government solely for veterans.”
17. Vets Just Out Of Prison To Get VA Care. Army Times “Veterans health care is being extended to vets in halfway houses and other post-incarceration temporary living arrangements, a move Veterans Affairs Department officials hope will reduce the chances of vets returning to a life of crime after serving a sentence.” The “idea is based on a 2008 study that found having good health care benefits reduced the recidivism rate for criminals and eased their transition back into the community.” According to the Times, the “practice of not paying for health care provided by federal, state or local governments for incarcerated veterans would remain in effect.”
18. Special Disaster Assistance Available Through VA. US Navy Seals “The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced last week the availability of special disaster assistance, for Veterans who have been affected by the recent tornado outbreaks. A press release on the VA website shared that Veterans with VA-guaranteed home loans, who have been affected by the tornadoes in the South, may be eligible for special disaster assistance. Mortgage assistance may” also “be received by Veterans who live in designated disaster areas through their loan services.”
19. Q&A: The Good, Bad, And Otherwise Of Cloud Computing In Federal Health IT. Government Health IT “Among the top agencies listed in Federal Chief Technology Officer Vivek Kundra’s cloud-first policy are the Department of Defense, Health and Human Services,” and Veterans Affairs. All three agencies “will turning to clouds, be those of the public, private, or hybrid variety, under Kundra’s plan.” Government Health IT “spoke with Aileen Black, vice president of public sector for VMware, about what the potential spread of cloud computing into government means to the federal health IT realm, the advice she has for government health IT organizations tasked with creating a cloud, and why taxpayers want the model.”
20. Dangerous Dust. Army Times “US troops in Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan have inhaled microscopic dust particles laden with metals, bacteria and fungi – a toxic stew that may explain everything from the undiagnosed Gulf War illness symptoms lingering from the 1991 war against Iraq to high rates of respiratory, neurological and heart ailments among troops in the current war.” The Defense Department has “examined the concerns raised by the studies,” said Craig Postlewaite, who heads the Pentagon’s Force Readiness and health Assurance Office. Postlewaite “said the military found the dust is ‘not noticeably different from samples collected in the Sahara desert and desert regions in the US and China.'”
21. Army Tries New Brain Scans To Hunt Blast Effects. AP The US Army is “trying a type of brain scan commonly used to study dementia to find subtle changes in the brains of soldiers who suffer wartime head injuries.” The scan, known as the “single-photon emission computerized tomography, or SPECT, produces data about the level of perfusion, or blood flow in the brain, which is rendered in colors from red and white to blue and grey. Doctors at Fort Campbell in Kentucky have been using the scan for less than a year to help in treatment of wounded soldiers and study the effects of blast injuries.”
22. Battle Creek Physician’s Research To Help Military. Battle Creek Enquirer “A new way of thinking about replacing bone joints has been developed in Battle Creek, and now the United States military is interested. Dr. Michael Langworthy of Battle Creek Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Clinic has researched a biological approach to joint replacements that are necessary because of osteoarthritis, or arthritis of a joint.” On Saturday, Langworthy, who favors using biological supplements and injections for patients with osteoarthritis, “left for Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, where his knowledge of osteoarthritis and joint replacement due to blast injuries will be tapped to treat soldiers and others coming in from the battlefield.”
23. Advocates: Retain Evidence In Military Rape Cases. AP
24. Report Critical Of VA Centers In Murfreesboro, Nashville. Tennessean
25. VA Medical Center Gets Into The “Green Routine.” KTRV-TV
26. VA Employee’s Dream Serves Fellow Soldiers. Rapid City Journal
27. Soldier On’s Approach Wins Approval. Berkshire (MA) Eagle “Soldier On was recognized at the national level last week when its local housing development for homeless veterans was one of 14 facilities across the country to win a prestigious Door Knocker Award.” Soldier On “had already made a name for itself locally with the Gordon H. Mansfield Veterans Community Village in Pittsfield.”
28. The Final Battle. KFVS-TV
29. Marine Corps Veteran Puts War Memories On Ceramic Cups. KGO-TV San
30. 40. 1,300 Museums Offer Military Families Free Tickets. AP
31. Honoring Gold Star Families. KVII-TV
32. Ga. Man Posing As Soldier Sentenced To Prison. AP