Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 11-14-08

1. Duckworth, Peake Both Seen As Potential VA Secretaries In Obama Cabinet.  
2. Report Calls For Additional Gulf War Illness Research.  
3. Groundbreaking Ceremony Held For New Clinic In Montana.  
4. Peake Presents Performance Award To Minneapolis VAMC.  
5. Navy Buddies Reunite At SORCC Veterans Day Ceremony.  
6. Dog Training Program Helps Vets Suffering From PTSD.
7. Nevada Facility Houses Vets Receiving Treatment At VA.
8. VA Investigates Handling Of Veterans’ Claims In New York.  
9. Private Charity Building Lodge For VA Patients.  
10. WWII Vets In Town For Parade Visit Troubled Hawaii Facility.

     1.      Duckworth, Peake Both Seen As Potential VA Secretaries In Obama Cabinet.   In continuing coverage, the New York Times (11/14, Baker) reports President-elect Barack Obama has not publicly endorsed a successor for his Senate seat, but he "did appear this week with Tammy Duckworth, one of the reported candidates to replace him." He "laid a wreath for Veterans Day in Chicago on Tuesday accompanied by Ms. Duckworth," currently the director of Veterans Affairs for the state of Illinois. Duckworth is also "seen by some as a possible" secretary of Veterans Affairs, although some of Obama’s "advisers favor keeping the current secretary, James B. Peake."
      In his blog for the Washington Post (11/13), Philip Rucker wrote, "Duckworth…has surfaced as the leading contender for secretary of Obama’s Department of Veterans Affairs, several veterans advocates said." Meanwhile, "some say" Max Cleland, who headed the VA under Jimmy Carter, is also a contender for the post, as is "Arnold Fisher, head of Fisher House Foundation, a leading veterans’ charity." Rucker added, "A dark horse candidate to head" the VA "is the incumbent secretary, James Peake, appointed by Bush in 2007. A Peake aide, speaking only on the condition of anonymity, said her boss ‘has not yet made any plans, and his focus is on the transition.’" Rucker’s blog entry also ran as the fourth story in Al Kamen’s "In The Loop" column in the Washington Post (11/14, A17). 

2.      Report Calls For Additional Gulf War Illness Research.   The AP (11/13, Hefling) reported, "Even as possibly hundreds of thousands of veterans suffer from a collection of symptoms commonly called Gulf War illness, the government has done too little to find treatments for their health problems nearly two decades after the war ended," an advisory panel of medical experts and veterans commissioned by Congress said. The panel "wants at least $60 million spent annually for research, calling it a ‘national obligation,’ according to its report, obtained by The Associated Press. The report…goes to the Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake on Monday."

3.      Groundbreaking Ceremony Held For New Clinic In Montana.   On its website, KPAX-TV Missoula, MT (11/13) reported, "More than 100,000 Montanans" are US veterans, "making up 11 percent of the state’s population. To help meet the medical needs of area veterans, officials broke ground Thursday" for a new Veterans Affairs clinic in Billings. But while, the new clinic "will help aid veterans in Billings," there are "still many concerns the vets are asking about." US Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) and Montana Lt. Gov. John Bohlinger, "who were among Thursday’s noted speakers, met with veterans to hear what they had to say."
      Prior To Ceremony, Tester Meets With Vets.   The Billings (MT) Gazette (11/14, Lutey) reports Bohlinger and Tester "met with roughly 40 people at the Montana State University Billings’ College of Technology." The listening session for veterans "was the pre-event to Thursday’s groundbreaking ceremony for a new" VA clinic in Billings. One man at the session "suggested that veterans’ visits to private doctors and hospitals should be covered by their service benefits. The argument is one frequently made by veterans, particularly those in rural states who have to travel long distances for VA services." The VA, however, "is rolling out 24 new clinics nationwide, including ones in

Havre, Cut Bank and Lewistown, to make care more accessible." The Gazette added that in February, Tester had urged VA Secretary James Peake "to break ground on the $8 million, 25,000-square-foot" Billings clinic this year.
      Clinic Said To Be A Barrier Buster For Veterans.   In a related editorial titled "VA Building Up Billings Veterans Care," the Billings (MT) Gazette (11/14) said that because "of limited resources and long distances, Montana veterans have always had extra barriers to getting VA care," but the new clinic in Billings "will overcome those barriers for thousands of veterans." The Gazette added, "Speaking Thursday in Billings, Tester credited Peake with moving the project forward to this point."

4.      Peake Presents Performance Award To Minneapolis VAMC.   The Sawyer County (WI) Record (11/14) reports, "Secretary of Veterans Affairs James Peake…presented" the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center with the Robert W. Carey Trophy Award for performance excellence during an October 31 ceremony in Washington, DC. The "Carey Trophy Award — the VA’s most prestigious national quality award — recognizes a VA organization that implements management approaches resulting in high levels of performance and service to the nation’s veterans. ‘The Minneapolis VAMC is a model for health care, not just in the federal sector, but for practitioners and researchers everywhere. They are champions of excellence,’ said Peake." The Record adds, "Besides the medical center in Minneapolis, the Minneapolis VAMC operates outpatient clinics in Hayward, Chippewa Falls, Rice Lake and Superior in Wisconsin, and Rochester, St. James/Mankato, Maplewood and Hibbing in Minnesota."

5.      Navy Buddies Reunite At SORCC Veterans Day Ceremony.   The Medford (OR) Mail Tribune (11/12, Fattig) reported, "Veterans Day didn’t end Tuesday for George Rader of Medford and Dave Perry" of Modesto, California. The "old Navy buddies, who last saw each other 42 years ago when they were both gunners mates aboard the USS Valley Forge in the Vietnam War, spent the holiday together, and they intend to treat each day as a day to honor veterans." Both men "were introduced to the crowd during a Veterans Day ceremony" at the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center & Clinics (SORCC) in White City, Oregon. The Mail Tribune noted that in 1984, Rader "began experiencing health problems, including diabetes," a "heart attack and kidney failure. ‘They suspect it was from the Agent Orange,’ he said, referring to a diagnosis by VA medical specialists." In fact, Rader and Perry’s reunion "was inspired by Rader’s need to find Navy buddies who shared his experience, explained Sharon Rader, his wife of 30 years. The couple had suspected his health problems were service-connected and needed to find those who could help verify his claims."
      Mainly Recycled Materials Being Used To Build New SORCC Rehab Center.   The Medford (OR) Mail Tribune (11/11, Fattig) reported, "More than 95 percent of the material" from Camp White, an old Army hospital in Oregon, "will be recycled as part" of a "plan to build a new rehabilitation center at what is now" the SORCC. Aaron Ausland, "president of Ausland Builders, the contractor that will build the $3.6 million, 21,000-square-foot structure by the end" of next summer, commented on the project, saying, "There is really a very minor amount of material we aren’t using." The foundation "is being recycled and ground up to be used as an aggregate base." The Tribune added, "The construction marks the second phase of rebuilding at SORCC, which began early in 2007 with groundbreaking for a new 64-bed building to provide residential care for

rehabilitating veterans."
      Southern Oregon Said To Be A Good Place For Vets Home.   In a Veterans Day editorial, the Medford (OR) Mail Tribune (11/11) wrote, "Southern Oregon has long been a welcoming place for military veterans, thanks to the Veterans Affairs Domiciliary, now known" as the SORCC. And if Oregon veterans officials "win a federal grant they are seeking to build a second state veterans home, the SORCC campus would be an ideal location" for several "good reasons," the first being that the "existing state home is in The Dalles – about as far away from here as you can get and still be in Oregon." Then "there is the boost to the local economy. … The total impact on the Rogue Valley economy would be $30 million to $50 million annually, according to SORCC Director Max McIntosh." Therefore, Southern Oregon’s legislative delegation "should make it a priority to help secure funding for the state’s share of the cost" on the home, and "push to have the facility built here."

6.      Dog Training Program Helps Vets Suffering From PTSD.   On Veterans Day, the KPIX-TV San Francisco (11/11, Vu) website reported, "A growing number of military veterans are struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD," but a pilot program at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Menlo Park "offers up a new prescription, man’s best friend. In a program called ‘Paws for Purple Hearts,’ nine veterans with PTSD are training three dogs to become service companions for disabled veterans." The training "helps these veterans to establish a bond and come out of their shells."

7.      Nevada Facility Houses Vets Receiving Treatment At VA.   In honor of Veterans Day, KTVN-TV Reno, NV (11/11, Stockwell) interviewed Iraq veteran Mike McCaw, a resident of the Veterans Guest House in Reno, which "provides families with a place to stay while they are getting treatment next door" at the Veterans Affairs hospital. According to KTVN’s website, McCaw’s memories of war "are still vivid. ‘The fact is you had to…kill somebody, a human being. That weighs on you.’"

8.    VA Investigates Handling Of Veterans’ Claims In New York.   The Albany (NY) Times Union (11/13, Waldman), which also noted the lawsuit, reported, "A high-ranking" US Department of Veterans Affairs "administrator has been placed on paid leave in the wake of an investigation into his office. Joseph Collorafi was suspended last month as chief" of the New York City regional VA office, said Keith Thompson, the office’s acting director. An "initial investigation revealed that someone in the…office intentionally entered veterans’ claim documents with incorrect dates – called ‘backdating’ – into an internal database, VA spokeswoman Alison Aikele said Wednesday." James O’Neill, Assistant Inspector General for Investigations at the VA, "said…a subsequent investigation involving the shredding of documents" at the same office could take months.
9.      Private Charity Building Lodge For VA Patients.   In a Veterans Day editorial, the Washington Times (11/11) argued that the "private sector and private individuals are needed to fill the gaps where government is unwilling or unable to do the job" for veterans. One "example of such a private endeavor is the $12.5 million veterans and wounded warriors lodge being built in Palo Alto, Calif., by the Pentagon Federal Credit Union Foundation." The Palo Alto Veterans Affairs hospital "has one of the world’s most sophisticated poly-trauma facilities," but "many patients have nowhere to stay and sometimes must drive up to 50 miles each way every day for treatment." In order to "fill this gap, the Pentagon Federal Credit Union Foundation, a private charity dedicated to helping veterans, is building a lodge to house these wounded warriors for free."

10.    WWII Vets In Town For Parade Visit Troubled Hawaii Facility.   The Hawaii Tribune-Herald (11/8, Henderson) reported "a small group of Oahu World War II veterans" from the US Army’s 100th Infantry Battalion visited the Yukio Okutsu Veterans Home in Hilo last Friday morning. The veterans, "from the most decorated combat unit" in US military history, were in town for that day’s "second annual Veterans Day Parade." The Tribune added that this past Wednesday, one day after Veterans Day, marked "the one-year anniversary for the home, which has…faced challenges during its first year." A US Department of Veterans Affairs survey of the facility, which was paid for through state and federal grants, "found 42 ‘deficiencies’ in mid-May. The home needs to meet VA standards in order to collect reimbursements from the VA," and John Johnson, the home’s administrator, "said a VA team…came to reinspect the facility Oct. 27." Johnson "expects the results from that inspection late this month."