Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 3-29-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1. Veterans Suffering From Traumatic Brain Injuries Often Have Accompanying Impairments.  
2. New Jersey Event Raises Funds For Veteran Who Lost Legs In Iraq.  
3. Maryland Veterans Want To Retain Mental Healthcare Contractor.  
4. Shift Of Veterans From Urban To Rural Areas Noted.  
5. Woman Found Dead On New York VA Hospital Campus Was Strangled.  
6. Illinois Veterans Facilities Will Benefit From Stimulus Funds.
7. Oklahoma Vets Support Change In Divorce Law.  
8. Providence VA Medical Center In Line For $11 Million In Stimulus Funds.  
9. Quadriplegic Doctor Helps Other Veterans.  
10. Today In History:

1.      Veterans Suffering From Traumatic Brain Injuries Often Have Accompanying Impairments.   The Yankton Press & Dakotan (3/29, Johnson) reports, "Today’s wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have also resulted in a common affliction for returning soldiers: Brain injuries caused by bomb blasts. Because of improved protective gear and medicine, the mortality rate of soldiers is lower than ever, but they are surviving with complex injuries, according to a speech therapist who as worked in the Minneapolis VA Medical Center for 25 years. ‘In my opinion, these guys are going to come out being the primary signature of the war – these guys coming out with mild traumatic brain injuries plus post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic pain,’ Don MacLennan said Friday at the South Dakota Occupational Therapy Association’s (SDOTA) spring conference held at the Avera Sacred Heart Hospital Professional Office Pavilion in Yankton. ‘I think they will show up for years to come, because I don’t think it’s going to go away without treatment.’ There’s a reason it could take years for some cases to surface, he added. ‘It’s not that the injuries lie dormant and suddenly pop up. It’s that these individuals struggle and people don’t know why they’re struggling,’ MacLennan said. ‘The impact of the injury will be there, but it can be confusing. People don’t know about brain injuries, and what they think they know about brain injuries is wrong because they get it from television and movies. People don’t recognize what is going on.’ Many soldiers are suffering from what is referred to as polytrauma, which the Veterans Health Administration has defined as ‘an injury to the brain in addition to other body parts or systems resulting in physical, cognitive, psychological or psychosocial impairments and functional disability.’ In other words, MacLennan says they are ‘enormously complex injuries.’ Some blast injuries may be easy to identify – such as a fracture or a burn – but soldiers may also experience traumatic brain injuries that are not as readily observed."

2.      New Jersey Event Raises Funds For Veteran Who Lost Legs In Iraq.   The Asbury Park Press (3/29, Webster) reports, "Sgt. Michael Minard was at a loss for words when he saw the outpouring of community support at a fundraising event held for him on Saturday. … Some 250 supporters came out to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4247 For Love of Country fundraiser to show their support for the 27-year-old Army veteran and Keyport native, who lost both legs in an explosion while serving in Iraq. The Colts Neck High School Navy Junior ROTC Drill Team conducted an opening ceremony, said Angel Quiles III, commander of the VFW post. Proceeds from the event will go toward building a new wheelchair-accessible home for the Minard family. Minard lives with his wife, Lynda, and daughters Kayla, 6, and Brooke, 13 months. Homes for Our Troops, a nonprofit group, wants to fund the project, Minard said."

3.      Maryland Veterans Want To Retain Mental Healthcare Contractor.   The Cumberland Times-News (3/29, Hill) reports, "More than 65 veterans are waiting for an answer to their petition to allow Re-Entry Associates to continue treating them for mental health. But the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has moved forward with expanding services at its six Community-Based Outpatient Clinics as part of a nationwide goal to improve the overall quality of care, said Ann Brown, director of the Martinsburg Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The clinics offer primary care, specialized care and medication management all under one umbrella. At the Cumberland clinic, there will be a full-time psychiatrist and one social worker for

mental health treatment. They have access to an additional psychiatrist through teleconferencing. All the staff is certified to treat posttraumatic stress disorder and patients can be referred to Martinsburg for in-patient care for PTSD, Brown said during a recent phone interview with the Times-News. … The expansion means the VAMC is able to handle all veterans’ health care needs in-house, eliminating the need to contract out services. ‘We were looking to move from a fee-basis arrangement to a contract with Re-Entry Associates so we could tighten up licensing requirements and the care provided,’ Brown said. ‘During this time we found that Re-Entry could not fulfill the contracting requirements. Then we got the additional funding, which allowed us to provide all services in-house.’" Brown "said the VAMC has held multiple meetings with congressional staff, members of the Maryland Vietnam Veterans Association and Maryland Veterans of Foreign Wars Association. Lisa Wright, press secretary for Congressman Roscoe Bartlett, said the congressman has been following the issue closely. ‘The Maryland and West Virginia delegation has had several meetings and conference calls with the VAMC of Martinsburg, Veterans Integrated Service Network 5, Vet Counseling Centers, Vietnam Veterans Association, Veterans of Foreign Wars Association and Re-Entry,’ Wright said. ‘So there’s been an ongoing exchange of information leading up to a letter to the (VA) Secretary Eric Shinseki, and also after the letter. However, we have not yet received a formal reply.’ Wright’s Feb. 24 letter included the petition from the 65-plus veterans who want to remain at Re-Entry."

4.      Shift Of Veterans From Urban To Rural Areas Noted.   The San Jose Mercury News (3/29, Swift) reports, As California’s veteran population drops, VFW and American Legion posts throughout the Bay Area are consolidating, selling off their real estate, or closing. There are many causes, but one is a significant – and largely unexplained – shift of veterans from urban areas like the Bay Area and to rural states such as Utah and Idaho. At the start of this decade, less than a quarter of America’s veterans lived in rural areas. Now, even though there are 3.2 million fewer veterans than in 2000, there are 1.3 million more of them living in rural America, a 20-percent surge. While urban areas of California, New York and New Jersey have seen huge declines in their veteran populations, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs data show a third of the nation’s veterans are now living outside the nation’s cities and suburbs." According to the Mercury News, "V.A. demographers cannot completely explain the rapid shift. ‘The number of veterans in urban areas has decreased,’ said Dat Tran, a V.A. demographer. ‘If you look 30 years out, we’re looking at veteran populations shifting from heavy populations on the West Coast and upper Midwest’ to a heavier concentration in the southeastern states."

5.      Woman Found Dead On New York VA Hospital Campus Was Strangled.   The Westchester Journal News (3/29) reports, "The 39-year-old Peekskill woman found dead on the grounds of the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Montrose was strangled, state police said tonight. The Westchester County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy on Sabrina ‘Brina’ Rasa today and ruled her death a homicide. … Rasa’s body was discovered by a hospital employee behind a vacant building in a remote part of the 184-acre property.

      The Long Island Newsday (3/29) and Mid-Hudson News (3/29) also note the medical examiner’s conclusion.

6.      Illinois Veterans Facilities Will Benefit From Stimulus Funds.   The Kankakee Daily Journal (3/29) reports, "Funding for the Illinois Veterans Center at Manteno, the Abraham Lincoln National Veterans Cemetery at Elwood and other veterans facilities in Illinois is included in federal economic recovery legislation, according to U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson, D-Crete, and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Sprinfield." Halvorson "outlined stimulus bill funding for construction, repairs and equipment. Included is $3.9 million for construction of a storage building and upgrading of the courtyard at Manteno and $8.3 million for an 80-bed addition to the Illinois Veterans Center at LaSalle. The funding is federal payment of 65 percent of the costs of previously completed projects, Jessica Woodyard, spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs, said Thursday. However, she said, the stimulus bill expedited the federal reimbursements, which are paid to the Illinois Capital Development Board."

7.      Oklahoma Vets Support Change In Divorce Law.   The Oklahoman (3/29, Bisbee) reports, "Retired U.S. Navy flight engineer Frank Kurland is trying to get state courts to change how military retirement pay is viewed in divorce proceedings. The 47-year-old Midwest City man and several retired service members are meeting with veterans groups across Oklahoma to discuss House Bill 1053. … If this bill becomes law, Oklahoma will be the first state to require the courts to view military retirement pay differently. When Kurland ended his 17-year marriage after retiring from the military, he was surprised to learn his ex-wife was entitled to a percentage of his military retirement pay, even if she remarried. ‘Serious change’ Under HB 1053, the payments would be viewed as alimony, not property, and alimony ends when the recipient remarries. The bill, filed by Rep. Gary Banz, R-Midwest City, passed the House and was approved by the Senate Judiciary committee last week. ‘There is support to move this bill through the process,’ said Sen. Patrick Anderson, R-Enid, who carried the measure in the Senate."

8.      Providence VA Medical Center In Line For $11 Million In Stimulus Funds.   WPRI Providence (3/29) reports, "Rhode Island’s veterans facilities are getting millions for upgrades from the federal stimulus package. The Providence VA Medical Center will get $11 million to make the 60-year-old facility more energy efficient. The projects there will include converting high-pressure steam boilers to more efficient low-pressure models."

9.      Quadriplegic Doctor Helps Other Veterans.   Salem, Oregon’s Salem-News.Com (3/29).