Veterans News for Monday, May 2, 2011

1.    Osama Bin Laden is dead.  http://usat.ly/m4A3nP Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States, is dead, and the U.S. is in possession of his body.

2.    New gravestone for forgotten Maine veteran of Revolutionary War.  Bangor Daily News
Hoffmann said the DAR has worked with the US Department of Veterans Affairs for years to restore grave sites of the nation's veterans. She said that along with providing markers for all veterans, the department also will replace broken or missing ...

3.    Historic hurdles delay planned PTSD center.  Honolulu Star-Advertiser  William Cole Jason Ledford, who is part of a steering committee for a Veterans Affairs post-traumatic stress disorder residential treatment center at Tripler Army Medical Center, believes the program saves lives. He should know: The Iraq war veteran ...

4.    Veterans Assistance Project begins in Middlesex County.  MyCentralJersey.com  "The addition of Middlesex County brings this vital program to a populous county with a large veteran population," said Maj. Gen. Glenn K. Rieth, the adjutant general of New Jersey who oversees the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and ...

5.    Impressive turnout for veterans fair.  GoDanRiver.com  The 38-foot-long motor coach comes from the Greenville Service Center as part of the US Department of Veterans Affairs and travels across the state helping veterans. “We get called to many rural areas that may not have access to a vet center,” Brooks ...

6.    Union army soldier gets his proper due.  Cincinnati.com  At 2:30 pm today, the Sons of Union Veterans and the American Legion Post 484 in Mount Washington will conduct a ceremony at Mount Washington Cemetery to dedicate the new headstone for Isaac Hurley sent by the US Department of Veteran Affairs. ...

7.    VA to locate counseling center in downtown Canton.  Canton Repository  The Metropolitan Centre complex is owned by Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority, which has a five-year lease with the US Department of Veterans Affairs. “It is approximately 3000 square feet,” said Barry Stayer, deputy director for SMHA. ...

8.    New support group for veterans.  Greene County Record  The US Department of Veterans Affairs defines posttraumatic stress disorder as an anxiety disorder that can occur after someone has been through a traumatic event, which is when you see or experience something "horrible and scary," according to the ...

9.    Norcross bill would benefit business enterprises owned by veterans.  NJ.com  That governing body would allocate a specific percentage of the dollar value of total contracts to be awarded as set-aside contracts to qualified veteran business enterprises. Passed unanimously in the Senate and Military Veterans' Affairs Committee, ...

10.                       Bill changing vets head appointment considered.  Chicago Tribune  Supporters of giving the governor the power to appoint the secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs said Thursday that dramatic of a move is needed to fix an agency they believe is in shambles. But the state's ...

11.                       Vets bill forwarded by committee.  2TheAdvocate  HB28 would state in law that the medals are to be delivered through the mail, through a state Department of Veterans affairs parish service office or through the governor. "Whatever manner the veteran states is his preference would be honored," Edwards ...

12.                       Homeless Veterans Getting Fresh Start with NASA.  Patch.com  Andrews's story is not uncommon among veterans from World War II to the War in Iraq today. The US Department of Veterans Affairs estimates there are 107000 homeless veterans every night in the United States. Most are men with about 5 percent being ...

13.                       Silver Springs Wellness Fair coming up May 7.  Reno Gazette Journal  The task force, in partnership with the US Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Rural Health and the VA Sierra Nevada Healthcare System, has invited many groups that will be of special interest to veterans, enlisted, reserve, and their families. ...

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

15.                       Burn pits, TBI blamed for sharp increase in military ailments. The number of U.S. servicemembers seeking treatment for a wide variety of illnesses and injuries has increased dramatically in the past decade, according to a new Defense Department report. Two likely culprits: traumatic brain injuries and exposure to toxic burn pits.

16.                       War veteran sentenced for intentionally setting fires in West Pottsgrove.  The Times Herald  Under the program, veterans are connected with community treatment services through the US Department of Veterans Affairs while receiving appropriate dispositions to their criminal charges. The program represents a collaboration of officials from the ...

17.                       Veterans Assistance Project Begins In Middlesex County. Somerville (NJ) Courier News   Middlesex County, New Jersey has begin a Veterans Assistance Project, a "combined effort of the N.J. Judiciary, the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs and the state Division of Mental Health Services to provide referrals to existing community services as well as mentors for veterans."

18.                       The 2011 North Dakota Legislature, From A To Z. AP   Enactments by the North Dakota legislature includes several measures affecting veterans. SB 2060 would give state employees up to 224 hours paid time each year to serve as part in an honor guard at a veteran's funeral service. HB 1271 would give honorary high school diplomas on request to honorably discharged Korean War veterans. HB 1167 would designate March as Women Veterans' Month, which the governor would be required to proclaim each year. HB 1197 would allow a driver's license showing veteran status; HB 1415 would authorize the state Fish and Game Department to furnish deer hunting licenses to wounded war veterans, and HB 1415 exempts college athletic coaches and assistant to presidents at public college from North Dakota's veteran's hiring preference.

19.                       Senate Passes Bill Requiring Photo ID To Vote.   Rochester (MN) Post-Bulletin Minnesotans "would be required to show photo identification in order to vote under a bill that cleared the GOP-led Senate on Thursday along party lines." The measure, which passed the state Senate 37-26, includes an amendment that exempts persons "living in a residential facility, such as a nursing home, women's shelter, veteran's home or a group facility for the developmental disabled."

20.                       Chicago Teacher, Veteran Honored By Quinn. WLS-TV   Maj. Aaron Rucker, once a Special Forces Officer in Afghanistan, is part of the Illinois Troops to Teachers program, which helps service members transition to public school teaching.

21.                       Study of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Seeks Participants. HealthNewsDigest Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Healthcare System "have launched an imaging study to identify changes that occur in the brains of people with post-traumatic stress disorder during psychotherapy. The results of the trial could give researchers a greater understanding of how the therapy works and could lead to the design of new treatments." The five-year study is seeking 64 participants with PTSD symptoms of PTSD, whether veterans or civilians.

22.                       Seeking A Measure Of Dignity At Military Funerals. New Hampshire Union Leader "Looking back, Jean Durgin said her worry that the military funeral for her son, Russell, would be sullied by protesters was almost too much to bear." She worried that the controversial Westboro Baptist Church might stage anti-homosexual demonstrations at the funeral of her son, killed in Afghanistan in 2006. "On Friday, she came to Concord to stand with 2nd District Rep. Charles Bass, R-N.H., who announced the introduction of federal legislation to allow families such as Durgin's to grieve in peace."  

23.                       Bass Takes On Funeral Protests. Concord (NH) Monitor  "The US Supreme Court ruled last month that First Amendment rights include the freedom to shout virulent anti-gay chants at military funerals, but that doesn't mean Congress won't try to limit when and where those protests can take place."  

24.                       Mass. Vet Runs Relay Race To Benefit Other Vets. Boston Globe  Former Iraq medic Jim Manning, who overcame readjustment problems with help from Heroes in Transition, a nonprofit support group started by the parents of Capt. Eric Jones, a local Marine pilot killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan, is doing better now, with a new home, a job as a medical assistant at the VA health clinic in Hyannis and about to start nursing school. This week, he ran with a team of 12 others who are part of the 1,5000 runners participating in the third annual American Odyssey Relay Run Adventure, a fund-raising race from Gettysburg to Washington, DC.

25.                       Henry M. Jackson Foundation To Honor Heroes Of Military Medicine.   MedicalNewsNet  The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, noting the May 4 "Heroes of Military Medicine" awards dinner. Sen. Daniel Inouye will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, and three other honorees include an Army vice chief of staff, a military surgeon and the National Veterans Suicide Prevention Hotline operated by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

26.                       Roundtable Covers Military Benefits.  St. Cloud (MN) Times At a roundtable, veterans advocates told Minnesota Rep. Tim Walz, a House Veterans Affairs member, that veterans' services "must improve to meet a coming 'tsunami' of demand for such support." It adds that a "common thread in Friday's wide-ranging discussion was the impending crush of claims for healthcare and other benefits for veterans returning from current conflicts, and from Vietnam War-era veterans who are aging and require more care." Walz "praised the quality of care at the St. Cloud VA Healthcare System," and called Minnesota's Beyond the Yellow Ribbon program a national model for helping returning soldiers reintegrate into civilian life. But others at the session "said more must be done to help returning soldiers find civilian jobs," and to address sexual trauma in the military.

27.                       A Source Of Good Workers And A Reason To Feel Good About It.  Fort Worth Star Telegram  Praises orthopedic equipment manufacturer Bledsoe Brace Systems for its record on working with Veterans Industries in Fort Worth to hire rehabilitating veterans receiving VA-supported training and assistance. Bledsoe's human resources director, herself a Vietnam-era veteran, says that the veterans placed with the company are "well-trained, well-disciplined and know how to follow procedures," and notes that while they initially come in as transitional work experience temporary workers, in the past year three have become regular Bledsoe employees.

28.                       Golf Facility Turned Over To Veterans Administration. Lakewood (WA) Patch  The Veterans Administration "officially claimed ownership of the new $1.4-million Rehabilitation and Learning Center at American Lake Veterans Golf Course in a ceremony that drew hundreds of volunteers and supporters Friday." A non-profit raised funds for the facility, on the grounds of the Lakewood VAMC, with the active assistance of golf legend Jack Nicklaus, whose group designed a nine-hole expansion for the course.

29.                       Women's Club Seeks Help For Veterans. Somerville (NJ) Courier News  An official of the Bridgewater, New Jersey Women's Club writes that the group wants to donate a new computer to the residents of the military sexual trauma wing of the Lyons VAMC, and publicly invites discounts and donations.

30.                       Former Lexington VA Nurse Gets No Prison Time In Overdose Case. Lexington (KY) Herald-Leader Rejecting the recommendation of prosecutors and federal sentencing guidelines, a federal judge on Friday decided against imposing additional jail time on a former nurse at the Lexington VAMC for the morphine overdose death of a World War II veteran in 2006. Instead, he sentenced Maria Kelly Whitt to time already served immediately after his arrest, plus two years of supervised release. Originally charged with murder, Whitt eventually pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. The judge also noted that Whitt, who admitted giving the patient one additional shot of morphine, "had held a nursing license for about 14 months and had not received training in palliative care" before the patient's death.

31.                       Veteran Assists Comrade In Need. Manitowoc (WI) Herald Times Reporter August Krieser, a veteran who returned from being hospitalized for five months at the Zablocki VAMC, writes that when he returned home, he found that the motorized entry and exit lift on his home was not working. A fellow veteran, a county mechanic, heard about his problem and visited his home to see if he could help and "spent several days on dismantling the lift, acquiring replacement parts, and reassembling the lift," charging only for the replacement parts. The letter writer thanks the county veterans service officer and Allied Veterans Council, as well as the mechanic, for their help.

32.                       Marines Briefed Matter-Of-Factly On "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Repeal. Los Angeles Times   Although the Marines were less favorable on the change than other services, in January a video was released of Marine Commandant James Amos talking to his troops on the change. Amos says that Marines "will step out smartly to faithfully implement this new law. It is important that we value the diversity of background, culture and skills that all Marines bring to the service of our nation."

33.                       Kent Alum To Share Scenes Of Vietnam. Akron (OH) Beacon Journal  Bill Arthrell, a Kent State alumnus now retired from teaching history in 1988 "up at a Vietnam airport with little more than a backpack and the desire to tell the Vietnamese people he was sorry for what the United States had done in the 1960s and 1970s." While there, he "took photographs of bomb craters, children deformed by the effects of the 20 million gallons of the defoliant Agent Orange dropped by the United States, and the Vinh Moc tunnels, where families lived to escape the bombing." He is now presenting a free hour long slideshow of that two-week trip in Kent, Ohio.

34.                       Military Officers Propose Veterans Treatment Court For West Michigan. Grand Rapids Press The West Michigan Chapter of Military Officers of America "is working to establish a Veterans Treatment Court" for veterans who get in trouble for relatively minor crimes "would be prosecuted, and paired with a mentor and be provided services by the Veterans Administration and veterans groups."

35.                       Volunteer Takes Fellow Vets To Medical Appointments. WGRZ-TV  Navy veteran Chuck Catalina is often "headed to the Buffalo VA Medical Center, with a patient in tow." Catalina volunteers to drive veterans to the appointments at the VAMC two days a week. One of his passengers says that, without the volunteer-provided free ride, he would probably have to take three busses and several hours to make his medical appointments.

36.                       Veterans Bridle At Fire Dept. Hiring Plan . Boston Globe Military veterans are challenging a first-ever plan by the Boston Fire Department to give hiring preference for language skills; the city has won state approval to reserve 15 slots in its next class of firefighters for Spanish speakers, and administrators would be empowered to advance applicants with Spanish-language skills to the head of the civil service list. But a group of military veterans, normally receiving preference for the jobs, has "asked the state Civil Service Commission to investigate."

37.                       Local Organizations Pitch In To Help Darien Veteran Fix Home. Stamford (CT) Advocate   A slideshow showing volunteers from Heroes at Home painting and replacing windows and appliances at the Darien home of Korean War veteran Victor LaBozzo.