Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 5-19-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1.  Lawmakers Ask VA To Investigate POW Claims.
2.  Veterans Policy Resolution Sent To President, VA Secretary.  
3.  US Military, VA Attempting To Treat PTSD, Depression.  
4.  Grassley Opens Inquiry Into Doctor Accused By US Army Of Falsifying Study.  
5.  Vet Center, VA Hospital Part Of Veterans Assistance Coalition.  
6.  Military Culture Conference Held In Texas.  
7.  VA Clinic Dedicated In Michigan.  
8.  Veteran’s Conference To Be Held At Troy University. 
9.  Martinsburg VAMC Director Briefs Maryland Board.
10. Location Chosen For Nursing Home In North Carolina.  

1.      Lawmakers Ask VA To Investigate POW Claims.   The AP (5/19) reports US Reps. Mike Coffman of Colorado and Jim Marshall of Georgia "have asked the Department of Veterans Affairs to investigate whether some veterans are falsely claiming to have been" prisoners of war (POW). On Monday, "Coffman, a Republican, and Marshall, a Democrat, sent the request to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki." The AP says it "reported in April that the Department of Defense has identified a total of about 580 surviving POWs from the Vietnam War and the first Gulf War in 1991, but the VA is paying disability benefits to about 1,250 purported POWs. Coffman is a Marine veteran of the first Gulf War who also served in Iraq," while "Marshall served in Vietnam with the Army." The Denver (CO) Daily News (5/19) also notes the letter to Shinseki.

2.      Veterans Policy Resolution Sent To President, VA Secretary.   In a story noting an interview Gregory H. Arabian, the "incoming Commander of Belmont AMVETS Post 2008," conducted with Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray, the Belmont (MA) Citizen-Herald (5/19) reports Murray, "as chairman of the Governor’s Advisory Counsel on Veteran’s Services" in Massachusetts, "recently addressed" the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA) "and was instrumental in having" the Veterans Policy Resolution "passed at the NLGA winter meeting in March of 2009." Among other things, the resolution "requests that all NLGA members work with their Governors and Administrations to increase outreach to our veterans and encourage mental and social service professionals to enhance their understanding of mental health and reintegration issues facing veterans and their families. The resolution was sent to the President, Vice-President," Veterans Affairs secretary, and the leadership of the US Senate and House.3.      US Military, VA Attempting To Treat PTSD, Depression.  
      Counselor Concerned About Way US Military Responds To Mental Illness.   In his Fort Wayne (IN) News-Sentinel (5/19) column, Kevin Leininger writes, "Just days after an Army sergeant killed five fellow soldiers at a military stress center in Baghdad, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen acknowledged the obvious need to ‘redouble our efforts in terms of dealing with’ the psychology of modern warfare." But Leslie Haines, an Iraq veteran who founded the Lutheran Military Veterans and Families Ministries, "fears those words will ring dangerously hollow unless the military

fundamentally changes its traditional response to mental illness – an approach that subordinates the well-being of individual soldiers to the needs of the unit." Nor is Haines "optimistic the understaffed" VA "can provide the care returning soldiers need."
      US Said To Be "Sacrificing" Troops’ "Psychological Well-Being."   In a related New York Times (5/19, A25) op-ed column, Bob Herbert writes, "I couldn’t have been less surprised to read last week that an American G.I. had been charged with gunning down five of his fellow service members in Iraq." This "is what happens in wars," which "is why it’s so sick to fight unnecessary" ones. Herbert argues that if the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which he says are "brutally and cold-bloodedly sacrificing the psychological well-being" of US troops, "are so important to our national security, we should all be engaging in some form of serious sacrifice, and many more of us should be serving."

4.      Grassley Opens Inquiry Into Doctor Accused By US Army Of Falsifying Study.   In continuing coverage, the New York Times (5/19, B3, Meier, Wilson) reports, "A top Republican lawmaker has opened an inquiry" into Dr. Timothy R. Kuklo, "a former Walter Reed Army Medical Center doctor whom" the US Army "has accused of falsifying a medical study involving a product made by Medtronic, a company for whom he works as a paid consultant. Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, released letters Monday seeking information about…Kuklo." The Times notes that US Army investigators have determined that an article written by Kuklo "overstated the benefits of…Infuse," which "was used at Walter Reed to treat American soldiers who had suffered severe lower leg injuries in Iraq."
      The Wall Street Journal (5/19, A6, Burton, Armstrong) reports, "Walter Reed officials said last week that…Kuklo forged the signatures of purported co-authors on the study." The officials "also said that data in the study were based on ‘falsified information,’ and that the numbers in the study didn’t comport with its own numbers about soldiers’ wartime injuries." The Journal adds, "Grassley sent letters about the matter to…Washington University," where Kuklo is on staff, Walter Reed, "Medtronic and the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery," which "published the study last year, and then, earlier this year, retracted it. Washington University has said it is studying the matter."

5.      Vet Center, VA Hospital Part Of Veterans Assistance Coalition.   The third story in the Rochester (NY) Democrat & Chronicle’s (5/19) "News Briefs" column notes that on Tuesday, "Seven groups will announce…a coalition to support Rochester-area veterans and families." The groups included in the coalition "are the American Red Cross, Army Strong Community Center, Canandaigua Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Monroe County Veterans Service Agency, Rochester Vet Center, The Salvation Army and Veterans Outreach Center."

6.      Military Culture Conference Held In Texas.   The AP (5/19) reports, "The stigma for a military man or woman to admit," much "less publicly display," any "kind of disorderly conduct because of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often reduces the chance of them getting help. That was the assessment of Waymon Stewart, executive director of Tyler’s Andrew Center," which "facilitated its first daylong Military Culture Conference last month. Topics included stress management, resources for military personnel and their families," PTSD, "grief and loss, domestic violence in the military and ‘married to the Army.’"

7.      VA Clinic Dedicated In Michigan.   The Clare County (MI) Review (5/19, Maurer) reports, "Hundreds of people attended the dedication ceremony for the new Clare Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinic Friday." At the "conclusion of the ceremony, officials…participated in the ribbon cutting at the clinic entrance to officially open the facility."

8.      Veteran’s Conference To Be Held At Troy University.   On its website, WTVY-TV Dothan, AL (5/18) reported, "Helping veterans plan and start businesses is the goal of Troy University’s Small Business Development Center in its ‘Book Your Flight to Business Success: A Veteran’s Conference.’" At the "one-day conference," which "will be held at Ft. Rucker, Alabama," on May 29th, participants "will be provided the most up-to-date information on how to start a business, how to finance a business and how to do government contracting." Karen Zhassanbay, "chief communications officer for the Center for Veterans Enterprise in Washington, D.C.," is scheduled to speak at the event.

9.      Martinsburg VAMC Director Briefs Maryland Board.   The Cumberland (MD) Times-News (5/19, Hill) reports, "Members of the Maryland Veterans Behavioral Health Advisory Board and Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown were briefed on the services provided" by the Martinsburg Veterans Affairs Medical Center "when they met at Frostburg State University on Monday. Ann Brown, director of the Martinsburg center, presented information about transportation, the facility’s hours of operation, services and fee-basis centers. ‘We have volunteer vans which take patients from Cumberland, or Keyser (W.Va.), to Martinsburg if needed,’ she said." She also "updated the board on the status of the transition of veterans being seen at Re-Entry Associates to the Cumberland clinic," which "Brown believes…is going well."

10.    Location Chosen For Nursing Home In North Carolina.   The Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times (5/19, Schrader) reports, "State officials have chosen a site in Black Mountain for a planned nursing home for veterans, and hope to receive" Federal money "as early as this summer to build it. The state has sought" a Federal "grant for years to help build two new nursing homes, and should be able to win it now that the economic-stimulus package has increased the grant money available, said Charles Smith, who heads the state Division of Veteran Affairs. If it’s funded this year, he said, the nursing home could open in 2011."