Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 1-26-09

1. Recent Senate Confirmations Noted.  
2. Veterans’ Families Suffer From "Secondary PTSD."  
3. Veteran Suffering From PTSD Buoyed By Inauguration.  
4. US Troops Said To Need Thorough PTSD Screening 
5. Canandaigua VAMC Seeking Private Developer For Housing Project.  
6. Army: Alaska Territorial Guard Members Never Should Have Received Retirement Benefits.  
7. Arizona Groups Celebrate Return Of Wounded Army Veteran.  
8. VA Suicide Prevention Program Said TO Work Best For Recent Veterans.  
9. Two New VA Clinics To Open In North Dakota.
10.   VA Outpatient Clinic Opened In Utah.

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HAVE YOU HEARD?
Retired Army General Eric K. Shinseki took the oath of office January 21 at the White House as the Nation’s seventh Secretary of Veterans Affairs, assuming leadership of the Department of Veterans Affairs following his confirmation by the Senate the day before. "The overriding challenge I am addressing from my first day in office is to make the Department of Veterans Affairs a 21st century organization focused on the Nation’s Veterans as its clients," Shinseki said.
Shinseki plans to develop a 2010 budget within his first 90 days reflecting the vision of President Obama to transform VA into an organization that is people-centric, results-driven and forward-looking. Key issues on Secretary Shinseki’s agenda include implementation of an enhanced GI Bill education benefit that eligible veterans will begin using next fall, streamlining the disability claims system, leveraging information technology to accelerate and modernize services, and opening VA’s health care system to veterans previously unable to enroll in it, while facilitating access for returning Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans.

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1.      Recent Senate Confirmations Noted.   In continuing coverage, CQ Weekly (1/26) reports the US Senate "confirmed 13" of President Barack Obama’s "choices for top posts last week, ensuring swift implementation of policy changes at many major agencies," including the Department of Veterans Affairs. CQ notes the new VA Secretary is Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, a retired "Army chief of staff," who was "confirmed by voice vote Jan. 20." Shinseki’s confirmation was also noted by the Augusta (GA) Chronicle (1/25) in the middle of its "Week In Review" column.
      Post Corrects Article That Said Rumsfeld Fired Shinseki From His Army Chief Of Staff Position.   In the second story in its "Correction" column, the Washington Post (1/26, A2) reports, "A Jan. 15 A-section article incorrectly said that then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld fired" Shinseki "from the post of Army chief of staff." Shinseki, now the VA secretary, "served out his full term in that position, ending in June 2003."
      Kaua’i Chamber Official Links Obama, Shinseki To Promotion Of Local Economy.   In an op-ed for the Lihu’e Garden Island (1/25), Randy Francisco, president of the Kaua’i Chamber of Commerce, wrote, "This past week, Hawai’i, the nation and the world witnessed a historical mark in our nation’s history with the inauguration of Hawai’i-born President Barack Obama," who "became the leader of the world’s largest economy. The president…and Kaua’i-born General Eric Shinseki brought Hawai’i to center stage and demonstrated the diversity, strength and possibilities of our democracy if we’re willing to work hard and contribute to our society where these values are demonstrated everyday and passed on from one generation to another." Francisco urged readers to "help lead by promoting Kaua’i." 

2.      Veterans’ Families Suffer From "Secondary PTSD."   The South Florida Sun-Sentinel (1/25, Zucchino) reports, "When Army Sgt. Ryan Kahlor returned from two combat tours in Iraq last year, he was a walking billboard for virtually every affliction suffered by today’s veterans. He had a detached retina, a ruptured disc, vertigo, headaches, memory lapses and numbness in his arms. Fluid seeped from his ears. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. He was violent and suicidal. He carried a loaded handgun everywhere. He drank until he passed out. He cut himself. He burned his skin with cigarettes. He bit through his tongue just to watch himself bleed. Ryan, 24, admits he came back not caring about anyone – the military, his friends, his family or himself. But pushed hard by his parents, he slowly accepted and then embraced counseling and treatment. Today, he has begun to recover. His parents are still trying. The Kahlors – a college employee and a nurse – have fought through a series of transformations unfamiliar to most military families. Tim Kahlor and his wife, Laura, have been left with what he calls, only half in jest, ‘secondary PTSD.’ His doctor prescribed antidepression medication to help him cope with his son’s ordeal. Both parents, haunted by their son’s physical and emotional breakdown, fiercely oppose the war."

3.      Veteran Suffering From PTSD Buoyed By Inauguration.   Capital News 9 (1/25) reports, "After Sgt. Jose Sanchez returned from a tour in Afghanistan, he says he had very little and felt even less. But cheering with millions of others as the 44th president was sworn in Tuesday, despair changed to hope. … The 54-year-old Sanchez, a 20-year Army veteran, traveled hundreds of miles from his home in Binghamton for a glimpse of the new commander-in-chief. He suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and this was the first time he’d been in a large crowd since returning from the war. But he says it was worth every minute."

4.      US Troops Said To Need Thorough PTSD Screening.   In a New York Times (1/26, A23) op-ed, Lawrence M. Wein, "a professor of management science at the Stanford Graduate School of Business," says, "American troops in Iraq daily face the risk of death or injury…by homemade bombs and suicide attackers. So it is not surprising" that post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) "is a common problem among returning soldiers. But how many, exactly, are affected?" That question "is key to determining how large an investment" the VA "needs to make in diagnosing and treating the problem." Wein, who points to his own research in this area, argues, "Thorough screening of every soldier upon departure from the military, immediately followed by three to six months of treatment for those who need it, would reduce the stigma that is attached to current mental health referrals." This "is the least we can do for our veterans."
      Former Marine Proposes "Black Heart" Medal For Vets Suffering From PTSD.   In a related New York Times (1/26, A23) op-ed, Tyler E. Boudreau, a former Marine who served in Iraq and authored "Packing Inferno: The Unmaking of a Marine," notes, "The Pentagon’s recent decision not to award the Purple Heart to veterans and soldiers suffering" from PTSD "has caused great controversy," so he urges new VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to "work hand in hand with the Defense Department to bring about some" other "form of official recognition for these wounded veterans." Boudreau, who suggests that a medal based on this recognition be called the "Black Heart," says "its mere existence would help crystallize in the American – and the American military – consciousness one of the more obscure human costs of war."

5.      Canandaigua VAMC Seeking Private Developer For Housing Project.   The Canandaigua (NY) Daily Messenger (1/24, Sherwood) said the Canandaigua Veterans Affairs Medical Center "is seeking a private developer to lease a vacant building and surrounding land at the VA for housing for veterans and, perhaps, non-veterans." On Friday, the "VA announced…it wants a developer to agree to a long-term lease…to create, fund and manage housing in Building 14, comprising about 23,000 square feet, in addition to roughly three acres of surrounding grounds. A public hearing to answer questions and gather suggestions on the proposal will be held in late February." The Messenger added, "Under the agreement," the "developer would…be required to provide the VA with ‘fair consideration,’ determined" by the US VA secretary.

6.      Army: Alaska Territorial Guard Members Never Should Have Received Retirement Benefits.   In continuing coverage, the KTUU-TV Anchorage, AK (1/24, Goodell) website reported, "Following an announcement that members of the Alaska Territorial Guard," who "were the first defense against a series of attacks by the Japanese along the Aleutian chain during World War II," would "no longer receive retirement pay, the Army said Friday that the guard members never should have received retirement benefits to begin with." In commenting on the situation, Lt. Col. Richard McNorton said, "There was a misinterpretation in the law," which has a quote that "refers to the secretary. Within the Army Human Resource Command they interpreted that to be the secretary of defense, however it was written as the secretary of veterans affairs." US Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) "said he is working with the Army to straighten out the language to ensure retirement benefits are offered to the guard members."

7.      Arizona Groups Celebrate Return Of Wounded Army Veteran.   The Lake Havasu City News-Herald (1/25) reports, "An overcast, foggy Saturday morning could not dampen a long-awaited tribute and homecoming celebration for a local U.S. Army soldier still recovering from wounds he received while serving in Iraq. Cpl. Don Walls, an Army gunner, was honored and thanked for his service to America by family, friends and well-wishers during a brief ceremony outside his home and the Lake Havasu Eagles Aerie 4299. Walls was then treated to a welcome home celebration, hosted by the Fraternal Order of Eagles. The celebration was requested by his wife, Daysha."

8.      VA Suicide Prevention Program Said TO Work Best For Recent Veterans.   The Gary Post-Tribune (1/25, Quinn) reports, "Veterans seeking services when they return from combat have top-of-the-line services waiting for them, but getting through the bureaucracy is one of the biggest deterrents. An average 150,000 vets are homeless on any given night, though no agency in the country keeps an accurate count, Natalie Grantner and Nicole Gier said during their recent Continuum of Care presentation at the Indiana University Northwest library. Of the estimated 150,000, 3,000 of them are in Indiana. The women…said Vietnam veterans make up an estimated 47 percent of homeless vets. A majority of them — 76 percent — suffer with substance abuse and mental illness caused by combat. ‘Many of them suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury, and they have some of the highest suicide rates,’ Grantner said. ‘Fortunately, the Veterans Administration is responding to the high suicide rate with programs like the Seamless Transition program, where social workers team up with injured soldiers while they’re at their recovery hospital to get them
in the system instead of leaving them to figure it out themselves.’ The program has been great  for veterans serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, Gier said, but for the Vietnam vets, getting help is difficult at best."

9.      Two New VA Clinics To Open In North Dakota.   The Grand Forks Herald (1/25) reports, "New VA outpatient centers are to open in Grand Forks and Devils Lake by September, bringing to 10 the number of such centers in the region that allow vets to avoid trips to more distant VA hospitals. ‘We’re seeing some of the same trends with people coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan as we saw after Vietnam,’ said Lonnie Wangen, commissioner of the North Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs."

10.    VA Outpatient Clinic Opened In Utah.   The Salt Lake Tribune (1/25) reports, "A new clinic aimed at providing basic medical care for thousands of veterans has opened in West Valley City. It is the seventh such clinic in Utah and the first to serve patients in western Salt Lake County. A grand opening was held Friday at the facility, part of the Veterans Affairs system of community-based outpatient clinics."