Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 1-13-09

1. Event Raises Money For Homeless Veterans Facility In California.  
2. Racing Legend Helps Launch Veterans’ Safe Driving Initiative.  
3. VA Programs Available To Help Cut Healthcare Costs For Some Veterans.  
4. Vets Said To Face Higher Suicide Risk After Discharge From Psychiatric Hospital.  
5. Ski Instructors Trained In How To Teach Disabled Vets To Ski, Snowboard.  
6. VA Clinic Operating In Aiken, South Carolina. 
7. VA Clinic In Michigan Moves To New Location.  
8. With TV Station’s Help, Widow’s Benefits Approved.  
9. Hefner VAMC To Host Arts Festival.  
10. Grant Delay Could Push Back Opening Of Alabama Veterans Home.

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Excellent Link as a Resource Tool for Vietnam War:  http://www-static.cc.gatech.edu/fac/Thomas.Pilsch/Vietnam.html 

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1.      Event Raises Money For Homeless Veterans Facility In California.   In a story submitted to the Stockton (CA) Record (1/13), Lanny Bauer, "the adjutant/treasurer of Al Jordan Chapter 15 of the Disabled American Veterans," notes that US Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA) "was the featured speaker Dec. 20 at a fundraiser" that took in over $3,000 "for Dignity’s Alcove, a transitional facility for homeless veterans in Stockton. Dignity’s Alcove will receive a $377,000 federal grant that would pay for an expansion if it can raise" approximately "$131,000 to pay for the grant’s matching requirement. ‘The vision, the program and the tireless effort of co-founders Harold and Mary Butts in establishing this facility is commendable and deserving of the Veterans Administration’s support as well as the support of the community,’ said McNerney."     

2.      Racing Legend Helps Launch Veterans’ Safe Driving Initiative.   In its "Yeas & Nays" blog, the DC Examiner (1/13, Dufour, Gavin) reports, "In order to highlight a new safe driving initiative for veterans," the Department of Veterans Affairs "called on perhaps the biggest name in all of driving: Richard Petty, the winningest driver in NASCAR history." Petty "appeared at a noon press conference at the VA to launch the Veterans’ Safe Driving Initiative." During the press conference, VA Secretary James Peake "explained that in the five years following a deployment to a war zone, there is an ‘excess risk’ of a veteran dying on the road."

3.      VA Programs Available To Help Cut Healthcare Costs For Some Veterans.   The Montgomery (AL) Advertiser (1/13, Rowell) reports, "For veterans struggling financially," the Department of Veterans Affairs "is offering an assortment of programs that can relieve the costs of health care or provide care at no cost." In a press release noting the programs, VA Secretary Dr. James B. Peake said it "is important that eligible veterans learn of the many ways VA has to help them afford the health care they have earned." The Advertiser adds, "Each VA medical center across the country has an enrollment coordinator available to provide…information about these programs."

4.      Vets Said To Face Higher Suicide Risk After Discharge From Psychiatric Hospital.   HealthDay (1/13, Reinberg) reports, "About a third of the veterans treated in Veterans Affairs hospitals suffer from depression, putting them at much greater risk of suicide than non-depressed" vets, "University of Michigan researchers report." Their study of depressed vets "revealed a spike in suicide risk after discharge from a psychiatric hospital and a relatively short-term increase in risk after beginning treatment with an antidepressant. The findings were published in the January issue of the Journal of Affective Disorders." Lead researcher Dr. Marcia Valenstein, "a clinical psychiatrist at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and an associate professor of psychiatry" at Michigan, "said that to help stem the tide of suicide among veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs is spending $300 million for suicide prevention and other mental health services." WAFB-TV Baton Rouge, LA (1/12, 5:10 p.m. CT) aired a similar report.
      Potential Link Drawn Between Deployment Length, Increased Suicides.   USA Today (1/13, Zoroya) says Josh Barber, who killed himself after returning from Iraq, "is part of a larger story – the record number of soldiers and combat veterans who have killed themselves in recent years, at a time when the Pentagon has stretched deployments for combat troops to meet President Bush’s security plans in Iraq." In 2007, the US Army "counted 115 suicides, the most since tracking began in 1980," but by "October 2008, that record had been surpassed with 117 soldier suicides." A "leading suspect in the rise of suicides are the long and multiple combat deployments – not as a direct cause, but as a leading factor behind the stresses and family divisions that result, says Col. Carl Castro, an Army psychologist and suicide researcher."
      DOD/VA Suicide Prevention Conference Held In San Antonio.   The San Antonio (TX) Express-News (1/13, Huddleston) reports, "There was an air of candor" Monday "at the annual DOD/VA Suicide Prevention Conference, sponsored by the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs. Aside from often being hard to isolate as a cause of death, suicide is an issue many in the military are slow to deal with because of the stigma attached, officials" speaking at the "three-day forum" said. The conference is the "largest suicide prevention conference ever focused on war stress."
      Parents Of Deceased Vet Say He Was Deserving Of Purple Heart.   In continuing coverage, the WWLP-TV Springfield, MA (1/12, Bruno) website reported, "The Pentagon made a firm decision" recently not to award the Purple Heart to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but the "Lucey family of Belchertown knows just how lethal" PTSD can be. They "lost their son, Jeffrey Lucey, when he hung himself in their family home only one year after returning from Iraq. Kevin and Joyce Lucey have said that they believe their son should have received" the Purple Heart "for his mental wounds." WWLP added, "David Bressem, a Team Leader at the Springfield Vet Center, told 22News" that "there are many resources" for veterans "struggling to return to normalcy and that it is very important that they seek out help."
      New Vet Centers To Open In New York, Florida.   The Binghamton (NY) Press & Sun-Bulletin (1/13, Hill) reports, "Southern Tier combat vets….have a new place to go for help," because on Thursday, the Binghamton Vet Center, "part of the federal Department of Veterans Affairs, will hold a grand opening." The "center’s staff of three psychologists has been seeing patients at the new office at Chenango and Henry streets since October." With "a growing number of combat veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the center is sorely needed, said Team Leader and clinical psychologist Allison Miller." The AP (1/13) publishes a similar story.

      The Naples (FL) Daily News (1/13) reports, "According to a news release, the Department of Veterans Affairs is opening the new Fort Myers Vet Center located at 4110 Center Pointe Drive Suite 204, Fort Myers, on Jan. 15, 2009 at 11:00 a.m." The ceremony will include a "ribbon cutting."
      Minnesota Program Offers Assistance To Iraq, Afghanistan Vets.   The Saint Paul (MN) Pioneer Press (1/12, Olson) reported, "When the phones to the state LinkVet hot line first started ringing in 2007, the counselors were overwhelmed with what they heard. Returnees from Iraq and Afghanistan were reporting a cascade of problems," including drug abuse, depression, and job loss. In response, Minnesota "has launched a new case management program that will help veterans cope with multiple health and social issues. Lutheran Social Services has received a $500,000 contract to provide this service indefinitely."

5.      Ski Instructors Trained In How To Teach Disabled Vets To Ski, Snowboard.   The Chambersburg (PA) Public Opinion (1/13, Taylor) reports, "Wounded warriors returning from Iraq and Afghanistan shouldn’t be excluded from winter sports, such as skiing and snowboarding, Whitetail ski instructor Bill Dietrich believes." Dietrich, director of Two Top Mountain Adaptive Sports Foundation, "gathered more than 30 ski instructors at the Montgomery Township resort Sunday to teach them how to teach veterans recovering from serious wounds, including amputations, how to ski and snowboard. The local foundation is one of the nation’s newest chapters of Disabled Sports USA, an organization promoting snow sports programs for people with disabilities." Dietrich "said the volunteers who showed up" for Sunday’s training "were… eager to help build his Wounded Warrior sports program," which "will provide day trips for disabled veterans wanting to learn how to ski and snowboard."

6.      VA Clinic Operating In Aiken, South Carolina.   The Aiken (SC) Standard (1/12, Stone) reported, "The Department of Veterans Affairs has an outpost in Aiken to provide health care services more efficiently to those who served" in the US military. The "Aiken VA Clinic offers primary medical care, mental health care and social services to local vets. It does not provide specialized medical care such as cardiology, orthopedics or other specialties but has partnerships with the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Aiken Regional Medical Centers for referrals, according to manager Mary Snelling." Snelling added that the clinic "opened on Feb. 4, 2008."

7.      VA Clinic In Michigan Moves To New Location.   WLUC-TV Marquette, MI (1/12, 7:01 p.m. ET) broadcast that the Veterans Affairs "outpatient clinic in Marquette is now calling" the Upper Peninsula (UP) Medical Center home. The "clinic is no longer next door to the Jacobetti Veterans Home, but moved to suite 285 in the UP Medical Center on West Fair Avenue last week. Officials say the clinic simply outgrew its old facility and needed more space."

8.      With TV Station’s Help, Widow’s Benefits Approved.   On its website, KNXV-TV Phoenix, AZ (1/12, Bernstein) noted that Judi Luby, the wife of veteran who died in 2007, has had her survivor death benefits claim approved by the US Department of Veterans Affairs after turning to WNVZ and the American Legion for help. Luby had applied for the benefits "four times." VA Phoenix Regional Office Director Sandra Flint discussed the case during a phone interview with KNXV, saying, "I apologize to Mrs. Luby for the time that it did take us to process her claim and I appreciate Channel 15’s help in helping us get that done."

9.      Hefner VAMC To Host Arts Festival.   The Salisbury (NC) Post (1/13) reports the Hefner Veterans Affairs Medical Center "in Salisbury will host a local Creative Arts Festival for veterans to qualify for regional and national competition. The Creative Arts Festival at Salisbury is sponsored" by the Salisbury VAMC "and the American Legion Auxiliary Department of North Carolina." Winning entries at the festival "will advance to the regional level, where they will compete with entries submitted by veterans from other VA facilities around the country for advancement to the national finals." Entries "must be turned in by 3 p.m. Feb. 6 for the scheduled competition Feb. 14."

10.    Grant Delay Could Push Back Opening Of Alabama Veterans Home.   In continuing coverage, WTVM-TV Columbus, GA (1/12, 12:06 p.m. ET) broadcast, "The goal was to open" a "new military veterans home" in Pell City, Alabama, "in 2011, but now, state officials say the date may be pushed back a year. Alabama’s commissioner of Veterans Affairs says a federal grant for construction has been delayed," and without "that money, the home can’t be built."