1.    Gates' leadership guided by weight of troops' sacrifice.  Robert Gates was on nobodys short list to replace former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in November 2006, after Republicans lost control of the Congress in a midterm election considered a rebuke of the Iraq War leadership of President George W. Bushs team.

2.    Army launching new email system.  The Army is implementing a new email system that will increase storage capacity, but users must clean house before the move.

3.    USAREUR retires Vietnam-era 'Huey' helicopter.  The distinctive whomp, whomp of the UH-1 Army helicopter could be heard coming over the horizon.

4.    Carter: North Korean leader willing to meet with world leaders.  North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il is willing to meet with world leaders without preconditions and even hold a summit with the president of rival South Korea, former President Jimmy Carter said Thursday following a three-day trip to the North.

5.    A military honor.  McDonough Voice  Pictured, from left, are Karolynn Heuer, director of the student assistance and parent service center; Joan Ryan, state administrator for veterans education; Dan Grant, director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs; Kathy Meyers, ...

6.    Senate Unanimously Approves Veteran Measures.  Patch.com  The second specifies that the state Department of Veterans' Affairs Board of Trustees may include members or representatives of veterans' organizations that represent or serve disable veterans. The board consists of the department's commissioner and 16 ...

7.    State grant helps vets find quality dental care.  Illinois Times  He was treated for PTSD and depression at the Veterans Affairs Illiana Health Care Center in Danville, but he was told that he couldn't receive a tooth extraction or filling unless he was prisoner of war or had an injury that was directly related to ...

8.    Veteran clinic moves to mall.  Alamogordo Daily News  The Alamogordo Community Based Outpatient Clinic will move to a new, state-of-the-art facility at the White Sands Mall on May 2, according to a news release issued Wednesday by Health Net Inc. and the New Mexico Veterans Affairs Health Care System. ...

9.    School Enrolls Largest Number of Vets.  Inside INdiana Business  The Veterans Affairs Office serves as a liaison between students who are veterans, their dependents and the Department of Veteran Affairs. The office assists students with veteran status and dependents of service members disabled or deceased. ...

10.                       Vets home is tough sell in city.  Press-Enterprise  Nuñez, executive director of San Jacinto-based Veterans Alliance of Southern California, has appeared three times before the City Council to describe the group's plan to seek a Veterans Affairs grant to buy a home and fix it up for use. ...

11.                       County helps more veterans access benefits.  Allegan County News  More military veterans and their families in Allegan County are receiving their benefits from the US Department of Veterans Affairs, thanks to the help they receive from Allegan County Department of Veterans Services. ...

12.                       Veterans Administration's REACH Program. Hernando (FL) Today  "With major budget cuts headlining the news these days, it's noteworthy to mention" that the US Department of Veterans Affairs is "currently implementing a caregiver support program that is becoming available nationwide. Finally,"   "there is a department of our government that has acknowledged that it makes perfectly good sense, morally and fiscally, to invest in the caregivers of our beloved veterans." This new program is "known as REACH, an acronym for Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregivers' Health."

13.                       VA Expanding Art Project For Military Sexual Trauma Victims. WTVR-TV  A Veterans Affairs hospital and some victims of military sexual trauma are "expanding the Clothesline Project," which provides such victims paint and a t-shirt on which to artistically express their feelings, "in hopes of helping more victims come forward to talk about their dramatic experience. The project has been hosted in different parts of the state to visually show the violence women have endured."  

14.                       Erie VAMC Offering Free Counseling To Trauma Victims. WJET-TV   In "conjunction with Sexual Assault Awareness Month," the Erie VA Medical Center is "offering some extra help to veterans." The hospital is "offering free counseling and treatment to any veterans who've experienced" military sexual trauma. 

15.                       VA Hospitals Curb MRSA Infections. New York Times reports. Citing a report on the agency's program in the New England Journal of Medicine, the Times reports that the VA used a 'bundle' of measures, such as screening all patients by taking nasal swabs and isolating those who tested positive for MRSA, then urging healthcare workers to take special precautions to prevent spreading germs from those patients."

16.                       Court Rules Against VA On Fiduciaries.  New York Times On Tuesday, the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims "told the Department of Veteran's Affairs to loosen its grip on benefits decisions for veterans who have been declared incompetent." When families not wanting VA-appointed fiduciaries for such vets have sued, VA "has generally argued that while families may have input in the decision to appoint a fiduciary, once the minder is in place the relationship is solely within" VA's jurisdiction "and is not subject to judicial review." Tuesday's ruling, however, ordered the VA secretary and his agency to reexamine that argument. A VA spokesman asked to comment on the ruling defended VA, saying its fiduciary program is "in the veterans' best interests."

17.                       Drill Tests New VA Emergency Management Center. Salt Lake Tribune At the George E. Wahlen Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Wednesday, a disaster drill involving exposure to hazardous chemicals "was played out,...with help from nearly 200 fake patients - including off-duty police officers, students and medical professionals from 12 area hospitals." The drill was "created by the Veteran's Administration emergency management joint training center" in Utah, the first of four regional training centers being set up by VA nationwide.

18.                       Rural Health Team To Help Jones County Veterans. Kinston (NC) Free Press  For "veterans in Jones County to receive services from the Veterans Health Administration, they normally have to make the two-hour trek to Fayetteville." On Thursday, however, the Fayetteville Veterans Affairs Medical Center's "rural health team will take travel out of the equation, when they visit the Jones County Civic Center," from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Ed Drohan, rural health public affairs officer for the Fayetteville VAMC, "said the team works to make veteran benefits an easier process."

19.                       New Asheville VA Website Offers Easier Patient, Doctor Communication. Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times The Charles George Veterans Affairs Medical Center "in Asheville has implemented a new technology within VA's My HealtheVet website that allows Veterans to communicate directly with healthcare teams online." This technology, "called Secure Messaging, promotes a partnership between patients and their healthcare team by providing an additional communication method that is convenient, flexible, and available 24 hours a day. 'This safe and secure web-based system allows VA patients and their healthcare teams to communicate non-urgent, health related information in a private and safe computer environment,' said Dr. Walter Martin, facility champion for Secure Messaging."

20.                       Huntington VA Medical Center Ranked No. 1 For Timeliness. Huntington (WV) Herald-Dispatch That the Huntington Veterans Affairs Medical Center "has ranked No. 1" among VA hospitals nationwide "in timeliness of completing compensation and pension examinations for veterans." The hospital has an 11-day average, while the "nationwide standard is 30 days."

21.                       Pets Helping To Heal Our Nation's Vets. Huffington Post

22.                       VA Course A Local Treasure That Should Stay Open. Murfreesboro (TN) Daily News Journal

23.                       VA To Launch Health Data Exchange Project Focused On Rural Utah.  iHealthBeat "In July, the Department of Veterans Affairs plans to launch an initiative to exchange veterans' health records between a medical center in western Colorado and private health care providers in southeastern Utah.

24.                       Social Media Policies: Strict, Loose Or In-Between? Federal Computer Week "After a discussion emerged on GovLoop about at least one component of the Defense Department blocking access to LinkedIn – an all-business networking site with none of the timewasting games and activities that services such as Facebook provide -- FCW decided to ask several agencies to describe their current policies. In an earlier survey, 46 percent of senior government employees said they are now allowed to use Facebook and other sites at work." FCW adds, "The Justice Department, however, does not block the sites, according to spokeswoman Tracy Russo, and the Veterans Affairs department blocks streaming media but not social networking sites, said spokeswoman Josephine Schuda."

25.                       Local Officials To Apply for Veterans Hospital In Valley. KRGV-TV   "It's the next step in making a veteran's hospital" in the Rio Grande Valley a reality. Local "veteran officials have announced their intention to apply" for such a facility. The "announcement came out of a meeting in Harlingen on Wednesday."

26.                       VA Employees Participate In National Walk At Lunch Day. Grand Island (NE) Independent

27.                       VA Hospital To Host Fair. Danville (IL) Commercial News

28.                       VA Hospital To Begin 24/7 Visiting Policy. Columbia (MO) Daily Tribune

29.                       Schumer Seeks More Time For Veterans Housing In Rockland. Westchester (NY) Journal News

30.                       SDSU Vets Center Gets $1 Mil Gift. San Diego Union-Tribune

31.                       Advocate Pleased With Film's Reception. Jacksonville (NC) Daily News   Jerry Ensminger, a former Camp Lejeune Marine, is in "New York to promote Semper Fi: Always Faithful, a documentary about his struggle to discover the truth about drinking water contamination" at Lejeune. Ensminger, who points out that audience reaction to the film has been good, "said he has taken full advantage of the time to spread information about his ongoing efforts with congress, the media and federal agencies to make information public about the extent and the effects of the contaminated water."

32.                       Howerton's Mission: Help Other Veterans Start, Grow Businesses. State Journal The work veteran Walter S. "Wally" Howerton III has done helping disabled vets in business while serving as "president of Elite Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Network of West Virginia Inc." earned him the "2011 Small Business Administration West Virginia Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year Award. The award recognizes individuals who have fulfilled a commitment to the advancement of small business opportunities for veterans" of the US armed forces.

33.                       Western Artist Harry Jackson Dies At Age 87. AP   "Wyoming artist Harry Jackson, known for both his works of abstract expressionism and images of the American West, has died at the age of 87."