Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 11-17-08

1. Report Calls For Increased Gulf War Syndrome Research.  
2. New Ad Campaign Aims To Connect Veterans With Help, Other Vets.  
3. Rehbein: Legion Must Work To Address Mental Healthcare Budget Shortfalls.  
4. Meeting Of Progressives On Veterans Issues Marks Generational Change.  
5. Local Group Organizes Veterans Support Group.  
6. Amputees At Medical Center Raising Funds For Transportation.  
7. Homeless Shelter In Massachusetts Tries To Help Veterans.  
8. More Information Technology Seen As Key To Better US Healthcare. 
9. Alabama VA Receives Property Deed For Veterans Home.  
10. VA Is Government’s Second Largest User Of Recruitment Incentives.

Study of Compensation Payments for Service-Connected Disabilities

The below link on the Study of Compensation Payments for Service-Connected Disabilities is provided for your information http://www1.va.gov/op3/page.cfm?pg=64

1.      Report Calls For Increased Gulf War Syndrome Research.   The AP (11/16, Hefling) reports, "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, a panel commissioned by Congress said." The report calls for "at least $60 million [to be] spent annually for research," and calls that research "a national obligation." The report will be delivered to Secretary Peake "on Monday." The AP notes that "independent scientists have declared that the symptoms of veterans of the 1991 Gulf War do not constitute a single syndrome," but the report argues that Gulf War veterans are nevertheless "affected by complex symptoms at rates higher than those in the military who did not deploy." According to the report, "17 years after the war, this research still has not provided tangible results in improving the health of ill Gulf War veterans."

2.      New Ad Campaign Aims To Connect Veterans With Help, Other Vets.   The Hudson Valley (NY) Times Herald-Record (11/16, James) reports, "A major TV public service campaign aimed at veterans began airing nationwide this week." The Ad Council video is intended to "snag America’s troops as soon as they return from war, and link them with other veterans." The ads will promote communityofveterans.org, "a veterans-only social network, similar to Facebook or MySpace, that allows troops to link up online in a secure but casual setting," run by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.                                                                                                                                  Ad Campaign Aims To Help Newly-Returned Vets Find Online Support.   In continuing coverage, the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record (11/17, James) reports, "A major TV public service campaign aimed at veterans began airing nationwide this week." In the clip, "titled ‘Alone,’ a young soldier…arrives home to an empty airport," then "wanders out into a bare New York City street." There, he is met by a man who "strides toward the soldier and extends a hand, saying, ‘Welcome home, man.’" The Ad Council "debuted the first in a series of public service announcements aimed at veterans last week." The ad campaign "will appear on TV and in print, radio, outdoor and online venues over the next three years. Each segment promotes a Web address: communityofveterans.org." The website "is a veterans-only social network…that allows troops to link up online in a secure but casual setting. It’s run by a New York-based advocacy group called Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America."

3.      Rehbein: Legion Must Work To Address Mental Healthcare Budget Shortfalls.   New Hampshire’s Foster’s Daily Democrat (11/17, Modica) reports that when American Legion National Commander David Rehbein spoke to American Legion Post 79 members in Maine on Saturday, he "said the Legion must…work toward addressing budget shortfalls" for Veterans Affairs mental health services for veterans of both current and previous wars. Rehbein "also spoke about the…Legion’s" recent lobbying efforts to keep the VA "from outsourcing administration of the GI Bill, which provides educational assistance for veterans. By the time Rehbein and other legion representatives left their two-week stay in Washington, the proposition had been altered into a plan to only outsource the IT department, he said."

4.      Meeting Of Progressives On Veterans Issues Marks Generational Change.   The Middletown (CT) Press (11/16, Mill) reports, "In a scene that would have been almost unimaginable 40 years ago, a group of progressives sat down Saturday on the Wesleyan campus to discuss how to better serve the needs of war veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan." The Press says "the symposium itself represented stark evidence of how attitudes and perceptions have changed since the Vietnam era."

5.      Local Group Organizes Veterans Support Group.   The Williamsport (PA) Sun-Gazette (11/16, Maroney) reports, "For disabled military veterans, getting together in groups with those who feel the same pain or share similar experiences can make all the difference," which is why the Center for Independent Living "is starting a veterans support group beginning Wednesday." The Center’s service coordinator "said history of mistreatment of veterans returning from war can’t be repeated. The group is going to make every attempt to make sure that does not happen with local vets."

6.      Amputees At Medical Center Raising Funds For Transportation.   The New Haven Register (11/16, Smith, 72K) reports on the Veterans’ Amputee Support Group at the West Haven VA Medical Center. The group is working with the Knights of Columbus to raise money for a new vehicle which can transport the Center’s amputees to events outside the hospital. One veteran said, "There is a great need to get our boys out for recreation," and many amputees cannot travel outside the hospital because of a lack of transportation.

7.      Homeless Shelter In Massachusetts Tries To Help Veterans.   The AP (11/17) reports, "About 1,500 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are identified by the Department of Veterans Affairs as experiencing homelessness." But in Leeds, Massachusetts, a shelter "run by a nonprofit called Soldier On…serves a handful of veterans who fought in those two wars, mixed with dozens who served in Vietnam. The mission, says Soldier On, is to assist veterans with ‘picking up the pieces of their lives.’"

8.      More Information Technology Seen As Key To Better US Healthcare.   In a story on attempts to overhaul the US healthcare system, CQ Weekly (11/17, Carey) reports, "Lawmakers…say that broadening the use of health information technology could not only reduce paperwork but also make" the healthcare system "more efficient and improve the quality of care delivered. But efforts in Congress to provide loans and grants to hospitals, doctors and other sectors" of the healthcare industry "to promote faster adoption of electronic medical records have been snagged on privacy and cost concerns." However, one "example of an integrated health information technology system is the one that links Kaiser Permanente’s more than 8.7 million members to their health care teams and their personal health information. It is the largest private ‘health IT system in the world, second only to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ VISTA (Veterans’ Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) system."

9.      Alabama VA Receives Property Deed For Veterans Home.   The Montgomery (AL) Advertiser (11/16, Rowell) reports, "The Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs formally received the property deed for the state’s fourth veterans home from the St. Clair County Economic and Development Council. … Pell City donated the land, utility services and other assistance estimated at $2.2 million. The facility will have approximately 280 beds — making it the largest of the state’s veterans homes." 

10.    VA Is Government’s Second Largest User Of Recruitment Incentives.   The Fredericksburg (VA) Free Lance-Star (11/16, Wilkinson) reports, "Federal agencies are increasingly using recruitment, relocation and retention incentives. Use of these incentives has increased by more than 95 percent since they were first established in 2005." According to the Lance-Star, "Defense and Veterans Affairs were the largest users. Defense made incentive payments of more than $100 million, and Veterans Affairs paid more than $37 million."