Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

Veterans!  Here’s your Top 10 News stories of the day compiled from the latest sources

We encourage you to browse our list so that you can take what you want and keep what you need…

1. Military monitors radiation as troops deliver humanitarian aid.  U.S. military assets continue to converge on Japan, hoping to deliver humanitarian assistance while being careful not to expose servicemembers to radiation leaking from the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant.

2. Marines depart Okinawa to assist in Japan humanitarian effort.  Relief support from Okinawa continued Monday afternoon as three Marine Corps C-130J cargo planes departed here bound for Naval Air Facility Atsugi and Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni.

3. U.S. Navy: Low-level radiation detected at some Tokyo-area bases.  The Navy said very low levels of airborne radiation were detected Tuesday morning at greater Tokyo-area bases in Yokosuka and Atsugi, prompting commanders to direct base residents to remain indoors as a precaution.

4. Misawa, Yokota announce ‘stop-movement’ order.  Due to last week’s earthquake in Japan and the turbulent aftermath, the Air Force is suspending all movement of forces into or out of Misawa and Yokota air bases until further notice, the Air Force has announced.

5. CalVet Signs MOUs with Homeless Veteran Service Providers.  Imperial Valley Weekly California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) Acting Secretary Rocky J. Chavez will sign Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with local Southern California homeless veteran service providers giving “graduates” from their programs priority for …

6. Waide Announces $9.9 Million Expansion of Ballard Center.  iSurf Muhlenberg.com This is important since the Ballard Center has always had the longest waiting list of any of Kentucky’s three state veterans nursing homes. The project will be funded 65% by the US Department of Veterans Affairs and 35% by the Commonwealth and will …

7. USACE and VA Issue Project Labor Agreement Surveys.  The Truth About PLAs The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) recently issued surveys requesting information from the construction industry on the potential use of project labor agreements (PLAs). …

8. Potential Cuts for Veterans.  WJFW-TV  The state of Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs says this proposal cuts a bit too much. “This could require veterans to literally do without dental,” Tammy Walters, an Oneida County Veteran’s Service Officer says. “To do without eyeglasses, …

9. Ore. AG: Fred Meyer to adjust qualifying veterans’ pay, pension benefits.  The Republic After complaints from some veterans in Oregon, Fred Meyer Stores has agreed to change some of its employment practices, two state agencies said Tuesday. The state attorney general’s office and the state’s veterans affairs agency investigated after some…

10. VA helping veterans make transition to college.  The-News-Leader Cleveland State University was added to the pilot project in September 2009. “Veteran-students transitioning from active duty service to civilian educational pursuits face unique challenges entering the college setting,” said VA Secretary Eric K. …

HAVE YOU HEARD?

 

Sunshine Week in the Federal Government

March 13–20 is Sunshine Week, a celebration of the progress made by the federal government to be more open to its citizens. Sunshine Week also serves as a reminder that we can do more. Read more about VA’s achievements during the first year.

IN OTHER NEWS

• Apartments opened for Virginia Beach homeless.  The Virginian-Pilot The complex will house 14 homeless veterans and eight homeless individuals with disabilities. Kirk D. Welch, executive director of the JCOC, said the project has been in the works since 2003. The US Department of Veterans Affairs is paying the …

• Unemployed Veteran Piloting New Online Service to Land Job. Vatican City State …. “We are happy to participate in this pilot initiative,” continues Gagliardi, “and we see VetFolios.com as a place where we can direct our member businesses to quickly see who the local veterans who need jobs are and what skills they can … VetFolios is being brought to life through a combined effort between AxHill LLC, a Washington, DC, military consulting and technology firm and the California Department of Veteran Affairs (still in negotiation).

• VA Honors Military Women of Past and Present. Dept. of Veterans Affairs News. VA Reaching Out to Veterans … Agreements have recently been reached between VA and Arizona State University,

• Moraine Valley Institutes Changes to Veterans Education Program.  Patch.com Assistant dean of new student retention Jo Ann Jenkins told the board the US Department of Veterans Affairs gives student-veterans rigid guidelines for college courses and withholds the stipends of those who deviate from the rules.

• Franklin County’s veterans seek more aid in lean times.  Chambersburg Public Opinion
• Harris said the increase is due partly to the economic downturn, but largely because the US Department of Veterans Affairs expanded the list of presumptive diseases associated with exposure to Agent Orange, an herbicide used extensively during the

• Last American Veteran Of World War I Buried. AP Frank Buckles was buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Tuesday, “with the pomp and ceremony befitting the man who outlived 4.7 million other Americans who served in World War I.” Dignitaries in attendance at the funeral “included…Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.” Prior to his burial, as Buckles’ “body lay in honor inside Arlington’s Memorial Amphitheater Chapel,” both President Obama and Vice President Biden paid their respects.

• Buckles Honored At Cemetery In Texas. Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram “As Frank Buckles was being buried about 1,300 miles away in Arlington National Cemetery, almost 100 people gathered” in Fort Worth’s “Mount Olivet Cemetery to salute him and the rest of the 4.7 million Americans who served in World War I.

• Boston Conference Focuses On Military Suicides. AP Veterans are attending the “third annual suicide prevention conference,” which is “sponsored by the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs. The conference, called ‘All the Way Home,’ is focusing on finding ways to prevent military suicides by …. Conference speakers have included VA Deputy Secretary W. Scott Gould, who, among other things, “told the crowd gathered at the conference that…VA is re-branding the national Veterans Suicide Prevention Hotline, including changing its name to the Veterans Crisis Line.”

• How Do Continuing Resolutions Impact Agencies? Washington Post “A new three-week continuing resolution expected to pass the House and Senate this week might make things easier for Congress to negotiate a new budget deal, but would likely wreak havoc at federal agencies, if history is any guide.” “Lawmakers eager to cut federal spending may …

• Syracuse VA Center Expansion Progressing. WSYR-TV “Work on a major expansion for the VA Center in Syracuse continues to move forward. When completed the facility will grow by nearly 20-percent, adding new programs and facilities to handle the changing needs of today’s veterans.”

• Syracuse VAMC Helping Family Members Of Vets With Mental Illness. WWTI-TV Because mental illness is “becoming more and more common for returning US soldiers,” the Syracuse Veterans Affairs Medical Center is “reaching out to friends and family to help them better understand and deal” with such illness

• Still In The Fight: A New Reality. New York Times Michael D. Fay, a former Marine Corps combat artist who was “deployed several times to Iraq and Afghanistan,” says he and his “fellow war artist Richard Johnson” are “charter members of the International Society of War Artists (ISWA); the chairperson of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History’s Armed Forces History Division, Jennifer Jones, has asked us to start documenting wounded warriors with our reportage drawing.”

• Dayton VA Reps Speak About Dentist Investigation. WKEF-TV Bill Schoenhard “with the VA Health Administration” spoke about the dentist, stating, “Given the great care that veterans receive here and the commitment of our staff to serve our nations heroes, it’s very unfortunate this one incident would go on for so long with regard to a breakdown in infection control practices.”

• Duckworth Speaks To Gathering Of Women In US Military. KGTV-TV While women in the US military “have come a long way,” their “challenges are not over. That was the sentiment” in San Diego on Tuesday, “at the largest gathering of military women in the country.” Those in attendance heard from a number of women, including Veterans Affairs Assistant Secretary Tammy Duckworth, a disabled Iraq vet who drew laughs when she told the gathering, “One of the questions I get asked in Washington is, ‘So do you think women belong in combat?’ And I look back at them and say, ‘Did you think I got this way in a bar fight?'”

• California Assisting Homeless Female Vets. KFSN-TV “The head of the state Department of Veterans Affairs was in Fresno” on Tuesday to “honor female veterans and…call attention to homelessness among vets.” The California VA has partnered with the non-profit “Colorado Trading and Clothing Company,” which has “given items to 11 organizations throughout California to benefit homeless female veterans.”

• Women Make Up 8% Of Veteran Population. Clarksville (TN) Leaf Chronicle “military women of the past and present in celebration of Women’s History Month this March.” The article quotes VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, who said his agency is “honored to serve these women who have contributed so much to our nation.”

• Health Research Targets Veterans. PS News “A joint research project between the Australian and United States Departments of Veterans’ Affairs has been announced to investigate the impact of recent conflicts on the health of returned service people.”

• Veterans Have No Local Options For Substantial Healthcare. Press Of Atlantic City The US Department of Veterans Affairs has “steadfastly ruled that there is no need for more substantial healthcare options for southern New Jersey veterans,” veterans and “area legislators argue that not only is there a need, the need is urgent.” An example of such a dispute occurred last month, when VA Secretary Eric Shinseki announced that his agency had “rejected a proposal that would have enabled veterans to receive radiation and dialysis treatment at Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point.”

• Marion VAMC Involved With Veterans Advocacy Council. WSIL-TV Marion Veterans Affairs Medical Center has “formed a new partnership” with a “clinic in Evansville. It’s known as the Veterans Advocacy Council.” Karen Absher, a representative for the council, said it was formed to give veterans a “voice and an ability to express their concerns about the care they might be receiving at any VA hospital.”