Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 5-21-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1. Duckworth Sworn In As VA Assistant Secretary.  
2. Senate Confirms Baker As Veterans Affairs CIO.  
3. Hearing Focuses On Conflicting Gulf War Illness Reports.  
4. Portland VAMC To Honor Returning Vets.  
5. VA Helps Launch Veterans Support Website.  
6. VA Hospital Not Yet Ready To Send Patients To Equine Therapy Program.  
7. Lofty Goal Set For Battle Creek VAMC By Its New Director.
8. Bigamy Charges Against Iraq Vet Dropped.  
9. Vet Urges Obama, Congress To Allow Gays To Serve Openly.  
10. VA Officials Discuss Stimulus Bill During Visit To Virgin Islands.  

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HAVE YOU HEARD?
The San Juan, PR, VA Medical Center is now home to the most technologically and medically advanced intensive care unit in the Caribbean. Its state-of-the-art six-million dollar surgical and cardiothoracic intensive care unit opened recently in a 13,000 square-foot, 14-bed facility featuring a special ceiling tower for critical care utilities such as medical gases that allows unrestricted bed hookups regardless of location. The unit’s four nurses’ stations connect directly to operating rooms and nine work stations located near patient rooms allow care providers access to the electronic medical record system while keeping visual contact with the patients. The unique facility includes accommodations for attending physicians on call 24/7, modern Internet Protocol Television plasma screens for patient education, and wireless computers and telephones. It’s the “Best Care Anywhere” for Puerto Rico’s veterans.

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1.      Duckworth Sworn In As VA Assistant Secretary.   The AP (5/21) reports Tammy Duckworth, the "former head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs," has "been sworn in as an assistant secretary" at the US VA. Duckworth, who "lost both her legs and partial use of one arm in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Iraq in 2004," was "sworn in Wednesday at Walter Reed Army Medical Center." She "will direct the Office of Public Affairs and Intergovernmental Communications. Among other things, the Illinois National Guard major will oversee the VA’s public affairs operations, as well as programs for homeless veterans."
      Duckworth To Attend Memorial Day Events In Hawaii.   The AP (5/21) reports Duckworth "will attend a Memorial Day service Monday at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl in Honolulu." The VA official "moved to Hawaii when she was 16 and graduated from McKinley High School and the University of Hawaii." The Honolulu Advertiser (5/21) publishes a similar story, as did the Honolulu Star Bulletin (5/20), which also noted that Duckworth will "be the guest speaker" at Hawaii’s "Memorial Day observance Monday."
      Duckworth Announces Reissue Of Purple Heart Stamp.   The Lake County (CA) News (5/21) reports Duckworth spoke Monday at a US Postal Service "ceremony announcing the reissue of the Purple Heart stamp. Hundreds of people attended the morning event at the Washington Convention Center." The News adds, "Duckworth is a recipient of the Purple Heart for wounds she sustained while serving in Iraq with the United States Army."

2.      Senate Confirms Baker As Veterans Affairs CIO.   Federal Computer Week (5/21) publishes a story that first appeared in Washington Technology (5/20, Wakeman).

3.      Hearing Focuses On Conflicting Gulf War Illness Reports.   The Marine Corps Times (5/21, Kennedy) reports, "The Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs say an Institute of Medicine study shows there is no Gulf War ‘syndrome,’ and that there is nothing unique about the symptoms" one in four "Desert Storm veterans suffer. But the congressionally mandated Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Illness say that not only is there a series of symptoms that make up a definable illness, they know what caused that illness." And on Tuesday, those "opposing views were on full display," in the "first of three congressional hearings about Gulf War Illness." Congress "decided to hold the series of hearings because of the new reports from the IOM and the research advisory committee, as well as the change in VA leadership," which is now being run by Eric Shinseki. The Times adds that during Tuesday’s hearing, Lawrence Deyton, "chief public health and environmental hazards officer" for the Veterans Health Administration "said…Shinseki has begun efforts to develop a simpler procedure for veterans to quickly and easily get benefits for service-connected ailments."

4.      Portland VAMC To Honor Returning Vets.   The Clark County (WA) Columbian (5/20) reported, "Local veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom will be honored June 13 at the third annual Welcome Home celebration event," which will be sponsored by the "Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center…and its partners." The event will include "an evening of baseball for veterans and their families at Portland’s PGE Park."

5.      VA Helps Launch Veterans Support Website.   In continuing coverage, the Rochester (NY) Democrat & Chronicle (5/21, Wang) reports, "Introduced as a digital one-stop shop that’s ‘friendlier than a switchboard or an 800 number,’" a website "launched Tuesday aims to direct returning soldiers and their families to veteran services in the Rochester area." The site was "created by seven community organizations," including the Canandaigua Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Rochester Vet Center.

6.      VA Hospital Not Yet Ready To Send Patients To Equine Therapy Program.   The Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram (5/20, Vaughn) noted that Wings of Hope Equitherapy in Johnson County "wants to implement a program to help Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have traumatic brain injuries, missing limbs or post-traumatic stress disorder. The horses are ready, and so are the instructors and volunteers. The funding, they say, is not a problem either," but "they’re missing…the veterans." According to the Telegram, the Veterans Affairs hospital "in Dallas doesn’t yet know enough about the program to sign off. Dr. Richard Robinson, who leads the VA’s polytrauma medicine unit in Dallas, said he and others would need to better understand Wings of Hope before sending patients."

7.      Lofty Goal Set For Battle Creek VAMC By Its New Director.   The Battle Creek (MI) Enquirer (5/21, Willis) says, "Women are leading greater Battle Creek’s three largest" Federal "agencies, now that Suzanne Klinker has joined their ranks." Klinker, who "became director of the Battle Creek Veterans Affairs Medical Center on April 13," is the "third woman to lead the organization since it opened in 1924. Several miles east of the medical center’s main campus is the Hart-Dole-Inouye Federal Center, where two women lead the Defense Logistics Agency’s main operations." The Enquirer adds that it is Klinker’s "goal…to win the prestigious Robert W. Carey Organizational Excellence Award, given annually" to VA "centers that can prove exceptional outcomes through design. The Battle Creek VA’s new design, which she calls ‘veteran-centered care,’ will allow patients and their families more opportunities to guide the healing process."

8.      Bigamy Charges Against Iraq Vet Dropped.   On its website, KCTV-TV Kansas City, MO (5/20) reported that Missouri resident Marcella Rivera "said her husband abandoned his family before" serving in Iraq, "and when he came back, he got a new wife and baby and a new life." She said she did not "think he should get away with it," but according to KCTV, "he may have done just that" because on Friday, Rivera "found out…that" bigamy "charges against her husband were dropped. She said his attorney stated that he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition he suffered after his military tour in Iraq. Rivera said he didn’t remember still being married" to his first wife "and thought they were divorced." KCTV added, "’There are real soldiers suffering from PTSD and he’s using that as a crutch,’ said Marcella Rivera."

9.      Vet Urges Obama, Congress To Allow Gays To Serve Openly.   In a Wall Street Journal (5/21, A17) op-ed headlined "Gays Have Served Honorably In The War On Terror," Brian Hughes, "a gay man who served for four years" in the US military, writes, "As a candidate, Barack Obama spoke out strongly against the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy of banning gays and lesbians from serving openly in the Armed Forces." But the "White House now hedges on the issue, saying it supports changing the policy ‘in a sensible way.’" Hughes, however, who says public "support for repeal consistently polls above 75%," argues that it is "time for Congress and the Obama administration to order the full integration of gays and lesbians in the armed services."

10.    VA Officials Discuss Stimulus Bill During Visit To Virgin Islands.   The Virgin Islands Daily News (5/8) noted that on Monday, May 11th, officials from the US Department of Veterans Affairs were scheduled to be in "the territory…to discuss benefits and the impact" of the Federal "stimulus bill and to conduct counseling sessions." In addition, "Julian de Jesus of the Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Puerto Rico" was supposed to "be in the territory" that same week "for veterans counseling sessions."