VA Veterans News for Monday, June 27, 2011. Thanks to Kevin Secor at VA HQ 

1.    PH seeks US help for vets.  Inquirer.net  Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario has asked the US Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) to reconsider the cases of Filipino World War II (WWII) veterans who were denied benefits under a recently passed US law. ...

 

2.    Easy rider.  Boston Globe  If last year's ride is any indication, an unofficial national “biker network'' will have local clubs turning out to join in sections of the ride and for VA visits. When she gets home, Lister will be putting the finishing touches on the 4th annual JJ ...

 

3.    A review of major benefits available to veterans.  The Durango Herald  Colorado also has several state veterans nursing homes. Eligibility for some of these benefits may depend upon residency, military component and the veteran's disability rating. To find out more about state benefits check with your local veterans ...

 

4.    Was military record exaggerated?  Worcester Telegram  American Legion officials have launched an investigation into allegations that William R. Barbour Jr. of Auburn, a former state commander of the Legion and veterans affairs official ...

 

5.    Brown Applauds Groundbreaking of Valor Home in Akron.  PoliticalNews.me  In March 2010, Brown wrote a letter to the US Department of Veterans Affairs in support of the Valor Home project to help secure vital federal funding. “The Valor Home will be more than just a housing facility for veteransundefinedit will be a lifeline for ...

 

6.    'Stand Down' provides services to Wagner-area vets.  Daily Republic  Friday's event was meant to focus on homeless veterans and getting them any help they need, but any veteran could receive help at the event. Milo Bartunek is a veteran of the Korean War and has used the Wagner Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic for ... 

7.    VA fraud case draws McCaskill's attention.  Blue Springs Examiner  McCaskill sent a letter of concern to Eric K. Shinseki, secretary of Veterans Affairs, in which she and others requested corrective action – specifically the way in which the department screens and approves applicants for its Service Disabled Veteran ... 

8.    Disabled American Veterans' mobile service offers services locally.  Republican & Herald   George Sinkovich doesn't agree with the US Department of Veterans Affairs' decision to deny a claim he filed. To appeal it, the Pottsville Vietnam veteran would need to travel almost two hours ... 

9.    From Crazy Horse to the GI Bill.  Family Security Matters  According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs, “Before the war, college and homeownership were, for the most part, unreachable dreams for the average American.” “Millions who would have flooded the job market instead opted for education. ... 

10.                       Grave marker stolen from veteran's grave.  Salisbury Post  The Rockwell family has ordered a permanent marker from the US Department of Veterans Affairs to honor him. One part already has arrived, and now they're just waiting on the base. But until then, the grave of Ken Whitley won't bear his name. ... 

11.                       Udall, Bingaman push Ft. Bayard as VA trauma center.  Bizjournals.com  The state's two US Senators Jeff Bingaman and Tom Udall, both Democrats, are co-sponsoring legislation calling for a feasibility study of a polytrauma center in the region. They asked the US Department of Veterans Affairs to examine whether Ft. Bayard ... 

12.                       Plymouth Career Center Employee Honored for Helping Veterans.  Patch.com  JobNet has also focused on providing job training opportunities for those veterans who have become disabled while serving their country. Through a long-standing collaboration with the US Department of Veterans Affairs' Vocational and Rehabilitation ...

 

13.                       As Navy Inquiry Widens, Ohio Prosecutors Get First Guilty Plea.  St. Petersburg (FL) Times   "In the first successful prosecution in an expanding investigation of the US Navy Veterans Association," Blanca Contreras "pleaded guilty Wednesday to a series of charges linking her to a multistate scam that fleeced millions from donors who thought they were contributing to veteran causes." She will be "sentenced Aug. 3 and faces from three to 25 years in prison."

 

14.                       VA Nurse Accused Of Stealing From Disabled Veteran.  WHEC-TV Nurse Heather Pospiech, who is "accused of cleaning out the bank account of a disabled veteran who was in her care," is facing Federal charges. She was a nurse at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Bath, but it "appears Pospiech is no longer employed there."

 

15.                       Illinois DVA Slates Helping Hometown Heroes Session.  WMAQ-TV The Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs "reaches out to vets in Berwyn today. Helping Hometown Heroes brought together a number of state, federal and local agencies to one place to answer vets' concerns. Twenty different agencies were on hand today to talk about the benefits and opportunities available to our men and women in uniform."

 

16.                       Veterans Need To Learn More About Their Benefits.  Dalton (GA) Daily Citizen Georgia Commissioner for Veterans Affairs Pete Wheeler says that the American Legion and other veterans groups are working to educate veterans on the benefits to which they are entitled. Speaking to the state's American Legion convention, Wheeler said that the various veterans organizations "work as a team together" to educate and assist the state's more than 700,000 veterans.

 

17.                       Khobar Towers Victims Remembered On 15th Anniversary.  Shreveport (LA) Times Armed service member gathered at Eglin Air Force Base Friday "to remember 19 brave warriors and 12 valiant 33rd Fighter Wing Airmen on the 15th anniversary of the Khobar Towers bombing." The June 25, 1996 terrorist attack at Khobar Towers in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia produced 400 casualties among military and civilian personnel.

 

18.                       Homecoming Planned For Corey Kent.  Cape Coral (FL) Daily Breeze  Corey Kent will be coming home to Cape Coral on July 9, for the first time since sustaining severe injuries in Afghanistan. He will "also be coming home to a groundbreaking for a new addition to his home that will give him independence and freedom when he finally comes back home for good." A local contractor is donating the materials and labor, and the city has waived permit fees for the home. After about a month home, Kent will then return to Walter Reed for further rehabilitation work.

 

19.                       One-Armed Veteran Michael Kacer Catches Foul Ball In Hat.  Larry Brown Sports Video of Michael Kacer, an Afghan veteran who lost an arm in a rocket attack there, neatly catching a foul ball in his baseball cap while attending a Yankees-Rockies baseball game Friday night "as part of Achilles International, 'a New York-nonprofit providing mainstream athletic opportunities for people with disabilities.'"

 

20.                       After Years Of Groundwork, Ground Is Broken For Veterans Home. WQOW-TV After around a decade of groundwork, on Friday government officials and veterans "broke ground for a new nursing facility at the Northern Center Grounds in Chippewa County." The $20 million nursing facility will provde housing for around 72 veterans in western and northern Wisconsin; construction is expected to be completed by August 2012.

 

21.                       Montana, Veterans Affairs Committee Lack Agreed Agenda For Interim Session. KTVH-TV The state administration and Veterans Affairs Committee "met at the Capitol today. No interim study bills for the committee were passed during session, leaving the members to decide for themselves what to look into during the interim."

 

22.                       VA Updates List Of Vessels Exposed To Agent Orange In Vietnam.  Las Vegas Review-Journal The Fleet Reserve Association says Veterans Affairs has updated a list it keeps of ships and other vessels that may have been exposed to Agent Orange herbicides during the Vietnam War. The release quotes Chris Slawinski, the association's national veterans service officer, who said, "Thousands of Navy and Coast Guard veterans who served aboard ships during the Vietnam conflict experience health problems related to herbicide exposure, but their illnesses and disabilities are not automatically considered service-connected in the eyes of the VA. Each addition to the VA's list of exposed vessels will make it easier for these veterans to prove exposure and will hopefully facilitate more timely determination of benefits." 

23.                       Investigation Has Yet To Find Evidence Agent Orange Was Buried At Base In South Korea. Wall Street Journal On Thursday, it was revealed that a joint US-South Korea investigation has so far found no evidence to support veterans' claims that Agent Orange was buried in 1978 at Camp Carroll, a US military base in South Korea. Similar coverage appears in a Reuters (6/24, Kim) story run by at least 16 publications, in Stars And Stripes (6/24, Rowland), and on the NPR (6/23) website. 

24.                       PTSD Will No Longer Be 'Invisible' In The Military.  WUSA-TV  "The organizers of 'Honor for All; Visible Honor for Invisible Wounds' are hoping to bring the debilitating effects of PTSD and traumatic brain injuries to the forefront." The rally Saturday, organized by Vietnam veteran Tom Mahany, who lost his brother-in-law, a fellow vet, to suicide, was intended to shed light upon the affliction affecting thousands of Iraq and Afghan veterans. A virtual reality immersion therapy experiment run by an Emory University psychologist involves 90 veterans with PTSD and "helps them revisit and 'work through' what has happened to them." 

25.                       PTSD Awareness.  Macomb (MI) Daily The VA has "declared Monday to be PTSD Awareness Day. VA Medical Centers, such as the John D. Dingell VAMC in Detroit, have PTSD specialists who provide treatment for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder." The VA's PTSD program "serves veterans from World War II to the present including National Guard members and Reservists who have completed a federal deployment to a combat zone. Those who have experienced sexual trauma, harassment, and bereavement may also apply for help by calling 1-800-905-4675."

 

26.                       Georgia Researchers Develop Parkinson's IPhone App.   CMIO Georgia Tech Research Institute researchers "have developed iTrem, an app that lets those with Parkinson's disease and other neurological conditions use their iPhone to collect data on hand and arm tremors and relay the results to clinicians." They add that it has the potential to replace currently used subjective tests of tremor severity, this allowing more frequent and accurate patient monitoring. Inclusion of other Parkinson's-related tests and gait analysis are planned with the University of South Florida and the James A. Haley VAMC in Tampa. 

 

27.                       Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center Full Accreditation Re-Established.  WJBF-TV The Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center's full accreditation "was re-established after The Joint Commission revisited the medical center June 21st to conduct a focused, one-day survey associated with the existing conditional accreditation."

 

28.                       VA Programs Wonderful.  Altoona (PA) Mirror A veteran writes glowingly of the healthcare he's received at the Van Zandt VAMC, noting that he was "in awe of its many positive aspects. The medical staff is absolutely outstanding." After praising the staff's friendliness, the fitness program, pharmacy services and counseling for families on medical decisions, he concludes that "I cannot put into words how grateful I am to be able to use this service, and how very fortunate we soldiers are to have this facility in our area."

 

29.                       Area Advocates For Homeless People See Growing Need.  Glens Falls (NY) Post-Star  "Homelessness continues to rise in the region, giving service providers a greater imperative to cast a wider safety net to help those in need." On Thursday, "officials with the Saratoga Rural Preservation Co. held a ribbon-cutting at a new homeless shelter in Ballston that will be dedicated exclusively to female veterans." A.C. Mazurek, the "executive director of the Rural Preservation Co., said a few applications had already been submitted, and that more referrals were expected when the home opened and referrals began to arrive" from the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

 

30.                       DHA Applies For Homeless Veteran Vouchers.  Danville (IL) Commercial News "Twenty-five more homeless veteran housing choice vouchers will be coming to the city" of Danville. The Danville Housing Authority (DHA) has "applied for the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers at the invitation" of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Commercial-News adds, "DHA works in partnership with the Veterans Affairs Illiana Health Care System to administer the vouchers."

 

31.                       Wagner Event Offers Outreach To Veterans.  Yankton Press & Dakotan "In military terms, 'stand down' means a respite, or break, from combat. On Friday, veterans will receive a 'stand down' of another sort - a respite from hardships and homelessness" – during an event held form noon to 3 p.m. at the Wagner National Guard Armory. The Press & Dakotan added, "The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is sponsoring the event to reach all veterans, according to Sioux Falls VA spokeswoman Shirley Redmond," who pointed out that the event is part of VA's commitment to ending veteran homelessness.

 

32.                       Military Vet Faces Prospect Of 10 Years In Prison For Passport Fraud.  CNN  "Days after photographing scenes at the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, a US Navy veteran found himself behind bars -- where he could remain for a decade -- for alleged passport fraud. Former US Petty Officer 2nd Class Elisha Leo Dawkins was arrested in April, spending Friday like many others in a federal detention center in Miami. A federal indictment says Dawkins' failed to acknowledged that he'd once applied for a passport when filling out a new application, something his lawyer Clark Mervis calls an innocent oversight -- albeit one punishable by up to 10 years in prison, if he's convicted." Dawkins' supporters have begin a letter-writing and online campaign, and are trying to raise $10,000 for bail. Dawkins has served in the military since graduating from high school, including one tour in Iraq.

 

33.                       VA Developing New Mental Health And Research Complex.  Seattle Daily Journal Of Commerce The US Department of Veterans Affairs is "developing a new mental health and research complex at its campus on Beacon Hill." This will be a "key facility in a new nationwide VA program that provides state-of-the-art service to 21st-century war-injured veterans and conducts advanced research on new diagnostics and cures for these emerging types of injuries." 

34.                       VA: PTSD Has Wide-Ranging Impact On Vets' Bodies. San Francisco Chronicle "Combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder are more likely to have dementia, cardiac problems and structural changes in the brain as they get older than veterans without PTSD, according to new research. The findings, which for the most part resulted from research at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, raise concerns about the overall health of aging veterans, but hold promise for the potential of helping to treat these diseases." The "impact of combat on the brain as it ages" was to "be at the center of the fourth annual 'Brain at War' conference Thursday at the Marines' Memorial Club in San Francisco,"