VA HQ Veterans News for Wednesday, August 31, 2011.  Thanks to Kevin Secor at VA HQ

1.    Johnson hosts hearing on Native veteran services.  KCAU  South Dakota Public Broadcasting reports that Johnson held a hearing in Rapid City with officials from the Indian Health Services and the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Korean War vet and Crow Creek Reservation resident Don Loudner ...

2.    More Housing Help For Homeless Veterans.  WFAE.org  The US Department of Veterans Affairs has pledged to end homelessness among veterans within five years. In 2009, the Charlotte Housing Authority had just 35 rental vouchers from the VA for homeless veterans. Today it has 135. ...

3.    President Obama pledges to help 'the 911 generation'.  Politico  Obama promised to tackle a growing backlog of medical and psychological claims at the US Department of Veterans Affairs, address the growing problem of homelessness among the Vietnam generation and continue research and treatment for traumatic brain ...

4.    Vietnam vets get fair shout-out.  Omaha World-Herald  Vietnam War veterans gave all subsequent veterans a great gift, said John Hilgert, director of the Nebraska Department of Veterans Affairs. Hilgert was the guest speaker Monday during the Nebraska State Fair Veterans Day Celebration. ...

5.    Blind veteran guides others through challenges.  The Columbian  There have been a lot of steps along the way, including several weeks when Miyares and his family lived in Vancouver as part of a Veterans Affairs organ transplant program. That was in 2004, when Miyares received a new kidney in Portland's VA Medical ...

6.    Seattle, King County to set up special veterans courts.  The Seattle Times  Medical and mental-health services would be provided by the US Department of Veterans Affairs, which set up an office two years ago to help local governments get help for troubled vets. Veterans courts, the latest kind of therapeutic specialty court, ...

7.    Founder of 9/11 charity under scrutiny.  Brownsville Herald  Felix Vazquez, the McAllen Vet Center team leader for the US Department of Veterans Affairs, was surprised to learn that Operation Adopt-A-Soldier had allegedly charged classrooms for items Vazquez received in person from Held on July 11. ...

8.    Hurricane Irene Did Not Stop Old Guard From Watching Over Tomb Of The Unknown Soldier.  Fox News' Live Desk  The Old Guard has watched over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington National Cemetery "every second of every day since April 6, 1948." Fox News added that "even Hurricane Irene could not break that kind of devotion."

9.    Perry: US Commanders Should Lead US Combat Troops. AP   "Addressing the Veterans of Foreign Wars' annual convention in San Antonio" on Monday, Rick Perry "drew sustained applause from the hundreds of veterans in" the audience "when he said no one but US brass should be leading American troops in missions abroad." Said Perry, "It's not in our interests to go it alone. We respect our allies and we must always seek to engage them in military missions. But at the same time, we must be willing to act when it is time to act. We cannot concede the moral authority of our nation to multilateral debating societies, and when our interests are threatened American soldiers should be led by American commanders."

10.What War Vet J.R. Martinez Could Do, "Dancing With The Stars.  Los Angeles Times  "Booster Shots" blog reports, "The cast members of the new season of ABC's 'Dancing With the Stars' have been leaked." One cast member is motivational speaker and actor J.R. Martinez, a 28-year-old veteran "who sustained burns to more than 40% of his body, including his face, after hitting a land mine while deployed with the Army in Iraq in 2003." When asked whether "someone like Martinez" could "be a good role model for soldiers and vets who are grappling with similar injuries and surgeries," Dr. Timothy Miller, executive director of the Veterans Affairs-affiliated Operation Mend, which "treats US military members who have been seriously wounded while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan," said, "No question about it."

11.Home Depot Teams With 3 Doors Down To Celebrate Veterans. Pacific Palisades Patch  "With paintbrushes, rakes and screwdrivers in hand, a team of volunteers stirred up some dust at New Directions, a veterans residential facility" Veterans Affairs hospital in West Los Angeles "on Aug. 24. The team was hoping to make the facility feel a little more like home with a little help from Home Depot." The Patch added, "The spruce-up at New Directions served as the kickoff for 'Celebration of Service,' a campaign teaming the Home Depot Foundation with rock band 3 Doors Down and the nonprofit group The Mission Continues." The campaign aims to give one million dollars per week to veterans causes between this coming September 11th and Veterans Day.

12.VA At Forefront Of National Research On Nerve Pain.  Army Times  "Researchers from the Veterans Affairs Department and Yale University have found a gene mutation that is responsible for roughly one-third of cases of unexplained nerve pain, called peripheral neuropathy, affecting roughly 20 million people nationwide." Dr. Stephen Waxman, who directs VA's Center for Neuroscience and Regeneration Research, says that while a peripheral neuropathy treatment is years away, there is now an "easy target for further research."

13.VA, DoD Take Next Step To Open Source EHR. Healthcare IT News

14.A Marine Reflects On The New Walter Reed.  Washington Post  "The closure of Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the consolidation of military medical installations in the region has been about more than traffic patterns and parking issues. It's been about people - and the transfer of hundreds of wounded warriors," including Marine Cpl. Tyler Southern and "his company commander, Capt. Aloysius Boyle." The tow men, according to the Post, have "written a thoughtful essay about the culmination of the decision to close Walter Read and expand the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda."

15.Family Sues VA Over Navy Veteran's Suicide.  Seattle Times The "father and brother of a Navy veteran who killed himself three years ago are suing the federal government, alleging negligence by the Spokane Veterans Affairs Medical Center." The 2008 death of 26-year-old Lucas Senescall "came amid a spike in the number of suicides by Spokane-area veterans." The Times added, "In May, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Department of Veterans Affairs to overhaul its mental-health system nationally in response to a lawsuit filed by veterans groups."

16.VA Hosts Social Event For Veterans Offering Appreciation And Helpful Information.  San Angelo (TX) Standard-Times The West Texas Veterans Affair Health Care System and the Tom Green County Veterans Service Office "drew 200 to 300 people to the fort for a Welcome Home event, which honored" Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Jill Johansen, a "program manager for Veterans Affair Health Care System based in Big Spring, said shortly after the event's start that she was 'absolutely' pleased with the turnout, which didn't seem to be affected negatively despite triple-digit temperatures." Dan Marsh, director of the VA in Big Spring, said such events are a "great way to let" veterans "know their sacrifices to our country are appreciated and not forgotten."

17.Wis. Clinic Warns Of Possible Disease Exposures.  AP  The Madison-based Dean Clinic is "trying to track down hundreds of patients after a nurse apparently spent years improperly using diabetic injection devices on them, potentially exposing them to blood-borne diseases such as HIV." The AP adds, "It's not known how common infection breaches like this are at private hospitals."

18.More Than 1,800 Riders Take Part In Wounded Warrior Motorcycle Run. Chicago Sun-Times Over "1,800 motorcyclists showed up Sunday for a Wounded Warrior Motorcycle Run" that ended at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery. At that location, "five local veterans were honored and money was raised for the cause of supporting injured soldiers across the country." The "ride was preceded by a ceremony in which checks of $1,000 were presented to five area veterans, three of whom are in wheelchairs."

19.VA Helping Fund New Apartment Complex For Homeless Vets. KMTR-TV  "Two non-profits in Douglas County are closer to building a new apartment complex for homeless vets in Roseburg, thanks to about a three million dollar grant." The money will help pay for a "$10 million dollar, 55-unit complex called 'Eagle Landing.'" The funding is "part of an effort by the Department of Veterans Affairs to curb...homelessness among veterans."

20.Vets Helping Vets.  KOAA-TV  "The plan wasn't originally for helping homeless veterans with the barbeque they held Saturday in Colorado Springs, but the Warrior Brotherhood -- a veterans motorcycle club -- saw a need and went for it." They "'provided all the food, all of the supplies... we couldn't do it without them,' says Cari Matthews, a case manager with Veterans Affairs Supported Housing," which helps "get vets off the street, or keep them from ending up there." KOAA added that VA Supported Housing thinks it will "be spared from looming federal cuts, but they're also hoping to see a few more barbeques, or anything people want to do, to help."

21.Senator Akaka Receives Piece Of Vietnam Veterans Memorial. KHNL-TV