VA HQ Veterans News for Wednesday, September 7, 2011.  Thanks to Kevin Secor at VA HQ!

1.    Father counsels military families after son's death.  ABC7Chicago.com  In the decade since the attacks, 306 men and women from Illinois have died in combat or while supporting military missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the US State Department of Veterans Affairs. Only a handful of states have sacrificed more ...

2.    'Worthy recipient honored.  The News-Press  And for years, there's been the mountains of paperwork and countless hours spent wrangling with the US Department of Veterans Affairs to get help not only for her husband, David, 38, but also her father, a Vietnam War veteran who long ago said he would ...

3.    Stand Down' Supports State's Veterans.  Patch.com  If the Rocky Hill Veterans Home gets invaded this Friday it will be a mission accomplished. On Friday, the state Department of Veterans Affairs will host Stand Down 2011, an annual event that aims to help any veteran who is homeless or in need of ...

4.    Helping veterans' families.  Jackson Clarion Ledger  In February 2010, psychologist Shawn Clark joined the Jackson VA as a local recovery coordinator, making Jackson a logical choice when the government renewed the program in December and approved adding a second site in each state. ...

5.    Well-being: Post-traumatic stress sufferers need security.  The News-Press  Legion research exposed this problem, which helped create the US Department of Veterans Affairs. Decades of wars and research later, combat stress is now known as post-traumatic stress disorder. The Legion dropped "disorder" because of its stigmatizing ...

6.    Veterans dismayed over Maine clinic's closing.  Press Herald  Sixty-seven years later, the 92-year-old wonders whether the US Department of Veterans Affairs has forgotten his service because it is closing a clinic where he gets some of his medical care. A mobile medical clinic for veterans that has been stationed ...

7.    Wis. Pays To Clean Vet Cemetery Trash. AP  A maintenance supervisor at Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery "used the grounds as his private dump, burying" trash from his rental properties. "State Department of Administration officials say the company contracted to clean up the garbage has submitted $37,000 in bills, with more likely to come." The state Department of Veterans Affairs originally estimated the cost would be $18,000.

8.    Deptford Mall Hosting Veterans Outreach. West Deptford (NJ) Patch  New Jersey "Department of Military and Veterans Affairs will be on hand at the Deptford Mall from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to handle questions and concerns as part of their Veterans Outreach Program."

9.    Annual "Stand Down" For States' Veterans In Need. Waterford (CT) Patch Connecticut "Department of Veterans Affairs is hosting Stand Down 2011" on Friday, "an annual event that aims to help any veteran who is homeless or in need of assistance." Linda Schwartz, commissioner of the Department of Veterans Affairs said, "We do a very large outreach and our outreach gets better every year."

10.VA Responding To Growing Number Of Female Veterans. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review  The VA's recently opened a $1.6 million Women's Health Center in its Oakland hospital as "part of a nationwide push by the VA to make its hospitals more friendly to women." Agency "officials hope the center encourages more female veterans to seek medical care through the agency." Previously, the GAO "chided the agency's disregard of female patients -- particularly the lack of privacy in some facilities and some doctors' unfamiliarity with women's needs. The VA is training doctors specifically to address women's care."

11.Conference For Women Veterans Planned In Columbus. Dover (OH) Times-Reporter  "The Ohio Department of Veterans Services is teaming with the VA Healthcare System of Ohio to host the Ohio Women Veterans Conference on Oct. 8." The conference recognizes "that women veterans face circumstances different from their male counterparts, particularly in regard to connecting these veterans with the benefits they've earned."

12.PTSD-Gene Link Found In Students After Shootings. AP  A study published in Archives of General Psychiatry showing that after a shooting at an NIU campus, "symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder were more common in Northern Illinois University students who had certain variations in a gene that regulates levels of serotonin." AP notes that "Other variations in the same gene and in other genes have been linked with PTSD in previous research." AP reported that "Dr. John Krystal, psychiatry chairman at Yale University's medical school and director of clinical neurosciences at the Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD" said the research "could eventually 'provide clues to novel treatment.'"

13.VA Posts Online List Of Ships Associated With Presumptive Agent Orange Exposure. Lake County (CA) News  "Veterans who served aboard US Navy and Coast Guard ships operating on the waters of Vietnam between Jan. 9, 1962, and May 7, 1975, may be eligible to receive Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) disability compensation for 14 medical conditions associated with presumptive exposure to Agent Orange." A list of the "ships confirmed to have operated on Vietnam's inland waterways, docked on shore, or had crewmembers sent ashore" is online. VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki said the "list is an important recognition of the sacrifices US Navy and Coast Guard Veterans made for this Nation."

14. Veterans Dismayed Over Maine Clinic's Closing. Portland (ME) Press Herald  "A mobile medical clinic for veterans that has been stationed in Bingham for two years is scheduled to shut down Oct. 1." VA representatives, legislators' staff, and veterans will meet on Wednesday to discuss the trailer's future. "Officials cite high costs as the primary reason for removing the mobile clinic." VA Maine Healthcare System associate director Ryan Lilly said that "Patient visits to the clinic are twice as expensive as those in an office setting" and closing it will save $100,000 - $200,000 annually. However, veterans say they will have to travel much longer to get care without the clinic.

15.Where There's A Wheel, There's A Way: Muscatine, Louisa VA's Team Up To Get A Van To Take Vets To The Hospital. Muscatine (IA) Journal  The Muscatine and Louisa County, Iowa, VA Commissions are renting van from the Disabled American Veterans Service "to transport veterans from Louisa and Muscatine counties to the VA Hospital in Iowa City." However, "the van's used only part-time until they get more volunteers to drive it."

16.Mobile Service Center Helping Veterans With Claims In Oklahoma. KSWO-TV "There's help for veterans in and around Lawton tomorrow with filing claims, thanks to the local DAV chapter and the Veterans Administration. The VA's mobile service center set up shop today outside the VFW post on Second Street, just north of Lee Boulevard."

17.Discharged For Being Gay, Veterans Seek To Re-Enlist. New York Times An article titled, "Gay Veterans Face Hurdles In Re-Enlisting," reports, "Many gay men and lesbians who were discharged under the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy say they want to rejoin the service, drawn by a life they miss or stable pay and benefits they could not find in civilian life. By some estimates, hundreds of gay men and lesbians among the more than 13,000 who were discharged under the policy have contacted recruiters or advocacy groups saying they want to re-enlist after the policy is repealed on Sept. 20." The Times adds that "though the Pentagon says it will welcome their applications, former service members discharged for homosexuality will not be granted special treatment," and "will have to pass physical fitness tests and prove that they have skills the armed services need right now."

18.Defense Companies Target Health Care. Washington Post

19.Veterans Get Extra Attention at University Of South Florida. St. Petersburg (FL) Times  The University of South Florida "has more military students now than ever - about 1,600 at last count, double what the school had in 2008," and it is "one of the few schools in the country with a standalone veterans department." Larry Braue, director of the Office of Veteran Services, offers a class in which "veterans learn how to access government benefits, get involved on campus and search for a job."

20. VFW To Welcome Home Local Afghanistan Veteran. Cape May County (NJ) Herald

21. Veteran And Wife Need Help. Bay News 9 Tampa (FL)

22.'Battle Buddies' Organization Brings Together Service Pets And Vets. Zootoo