Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 7-10-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans

1. Subcommittee Approves Measures Designed To Strengthen Vets’ Health Benefits.  
2. Following Meeting With Shinseki, VISN 12 Director Visits Tomah VAMC.  
3. VA Secretary’s Wife, Elmo To Team Up For Children In Military Families.  
4. Gates Urged To Ban Tobacco Use By US Soldiers.  
5. Vet Center Employee To Benefit From Post-9/11 GI Bill.  
6. VA Partnering With Outward Bound On Fall Trip.  
7. VA Involved With Kayak Program For Disabled Vets.  
8. Advocates Spotlight Problems Returning Vets Have With VA Services.  
9. Vietnam Vet Support Group Reaching Out To New Generation.  
10. Wounded Vets Return To Iraq In Attempt To Find Closure.

1.      Subcommittee Approves Measures Designed To Strengthen Vets’ Health Benefits.   In continuing coverage, CQ (7/10, Nylen, Ethridge) reports, "A number of bills designed to enhance the health care benefits of veterans won approval Thursday by a House Veterans Affairs subcommittee. Among the measures approved…by the panel’s Health Subcommittee" was HR 1335, which "would prohibit the Department of Veterans Affairs from collecting co-payments for certain services from veterans who are ‘catastrophically’ disabled." The "panel also approved" a "measure (HR 2926) that would require the VA to provide medical care to Vietnam-era veterans exposed to herbicide and veterans of the Persian Gulf War," a "draft bill that would increase the resources available to caregivers of veterans, including a requirement that the VA secretary make education sessions available for caregivers, both in person and on the Internet," a "bill (HR 1197) that would give Medal of Honor recipients priority status equal to that of Purple Heart Recipients or former prisoners of war for VA hospital care and medical services," a "measure (HR 1302) that would create a director of physician assistant services in the office of undersecretary of Veterans Affairs for health," a "bill (HR 1293) that would increase the amount veterans can receive under the Home Improvement and Structural Alteration grant program," and a "bill (HR 1546) that would direct the VA secretary to establish a Committee on Care of Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury." CQ adds, "At a markup later in the day" on Thursday, the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs "approved three bills relating to life insurance benefits."

2.      Following Meeting With Shinseki, VISN 12 Director Visits Tomah VAMC.   The Tomah (WI) Journal (7/9) reported, "Dr. Jeffrey A. Murawsky, Veterans Integrated Service Network Director (VISN 12)," concluded "a two-day visit to the Tomah Veterans Affairs Medical Center…on June 29-30." As the director of VISN 12, Dr. Murawsky "oversees seven hospitals, 32 community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs), six nursing homes, and two domiciliaries that provide health care services to 1 million veterans who reside within its four-state (Illinois, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Wisconsin and Northwest Indiana) area. Prior to his visit to Tomah last week, Dr. Murawsky met with" VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki, in Washington, DC, "for a four-hour briefing on VISN 12. ‘The Secretary was very excited to learn about how we operate in our VISN,’ Dr. Murawsky said. ‘Out of 21 VISNs in the VA, VISN 12 ranked number one in performance measures in 2008.’" The Journal added that Shinseki "also shared with Dr. Murawsky his vision for the 21st century VA. ‘The Secretary was very clear. The VA needs to be people-centered, results-driven and forward- thinking,’ Dr. Murawsky said. ‘We want to be an employer of choice for our staff, be accountable for our efforts and challenge old assumptions to better serve our veterans."

3.      VA Secretary’s Wife, Elmo To Team Up For Children In Military Families.   In his "What’s Brewin’" blog for Nextgov (7/9), Bob Brewin noted that Sesame Street Muppet Elmo "will make a special guest appearance" with US Army Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton, "director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, at a press conference in Philadelphia next week," during the annual conference of the Military Child Education Coalition. Sutton "will unveil how Elmo and his pals can help kids deal with the stress of military

deployments. This is part of a continuing outreach project with the Muppets that Sesame Street and the Defense Department kicked off in 2006, using familiar characters to help children in military families deal with tough challenges." Brewin added, "I hear that Patty Shinseki, a coalition board member and wife of the Veterans Affairs secretary, plans to hang with Elmo and Sutton."

4.      Gates Urged To Ban Tobacco Use By US Soldiers.   USA Today (7/10, Zoroya, 2.29M) reports, "Pentagon health experts are urging Defense Secretary Robert Gates to ban the use of tobacco" by US "troops and end its sale on military property, a change that could dramatically alter a culture intertwined with smoking. Jack Smith, head of the Pentagon’s office of clinical and program policy, says he will recommend that Gates adopt proposals" by a Federal "study that cites rising tobacco use and higher costs for the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs as reasons for the ban. The study by the Institute of Medicine, requested by the VA and Pentagon, calls for a phased-in ban over a period of years, perhaps up to 20." Also, "the report said, troops worn out by repeated deployments often rely on cigarettes as a ‘stress reliever.’ The study found that tobacco use in the military increased after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began."

5.      Vet Center Employee To Benefit From Post-9/11 GI Bill.   The Portland (OR) Tribune (7/10, MacKinnon) says that "even with…his part-time work-study receptionist job at the Portland Vet Center," veteran Nick Olas has had trouble "making ends meet" while attending Portland Community College. But "soon, Olas will switch from the old veterans’ education benefits to…new" ones that will take effect at the beginning of next month. The Tribune adds that once "Olas masters" the "calculus and other math he’ll need for studying renewable energy engineering, he’ll transfer to Oregon Institute of Technology, where tuition is considerably higher. But Olas will be able to afford it," because his "tuition will be covered directly" by the VA, through that "new Post-9/11 GI Bill."
      Purdue Joins Yellow Ribbon Program.   The AP (7/10) reports, "Purdue University is joining other Indiana schools in offering veterans help with tuition costs through the Yellow Ribbon Program run" by the US VA. The Post-9/11 GI Bill "covers public in-state tuition for undergraduate veterans," but "schools in the VA’s Yellow Ribbon Program provide more money for students with higher costs, such as veterans attending a private college or graduate school." The AP adds, "Indiana University and Indiana State University are among other colleges participating in the program." A separate

6.      VA Partnering With Outward Bound On Fall Trip.   The Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times (7/10, Bompey) reports, "Some local veterans will have the chance to spend five days rock climbing and backpacking in Pisgah National Forest this fall as part of a program to help them readjust to civilian life." The Charles George Veterans Affairs Medical Center "in Asheville and Outward Bound are partnering to run a wilderness expedition course for local veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The goal of the program is to give veterans a break from their daily lives, help them to readjust to civilian life and allow younger veterans to find out what services are offered at the VA, said Hillary Bolter, a social worker at the medical center." Meg Ryan, "veterans program manager for Outward Bound, hopes the agreement the organization has with the Charles George VA will lead to other collaborations with other VA medical centers. The group is also working with the Department of Veterans Affairs to have wilderness

trips offered on a permanent basis, and Ryan would like to see courses specifically geared toward veterans" with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
      Organization Leading Efforts To Bring PTSD Clinic To Tennessee.   On its website, WBIR-TV Knoxville, TN (7/9, Welsch) noted that when veteran Mark Brogan, who was badly injured in Iraq, returned to Knoxville, the "emotional toll of war started to surface." Deciding "he needed help was one thing, but receiving it was another. ‘You have the clinic here in Knoxville, but it’s rather small,’ he said," adding, that he "saw a person" at the Veterans Affairs "clinic here, and I was told they’d get me a gym membership so I could go work out. That’ll make me feel better.’" In addition, however, a post-traumatic stress disorder specialty clinic, to be located at the old Fort Sanders Hospital in Sevierville, "is in the works." Tennessee Helping Hearts, "an organization devoted to helping military families, is helping lead the project. Along with them, county officials, state level politicians," and US Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN) "have pledged support for the project."

7.      VA Involved With Kayak Program For Disabled Vets.   The Frankfort (KY) State Journal (7/10, Pearl) reports, "Lexington’s Ben Brown, a 27-year-old disabled" US Navy veteran, "came to Knight’s bridge early Wednesday evening to take a biweekly kayaking journey with other veterans on Elkhorn Creek." The "two-hour kayaking trip was part of Team River Runner Lexington. ‘It’s a program we do with the Lexington VA,’" said Nathan Depenbrock of Canoe Kentucky, who added, "We use kayaking as a form of rehab for soldiers affected by war. The national program focuses on vets returning from Afghanistan and Iraq, but we are open to any veterans.’" The State Journal, which notes that Team River Runner "was founded in 2004" by Washington, DC, "area kayakers who worked with veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center," adds, "Brown said he met" Joe Mornini, the program’s executive director, "at a VA sponsored summer sports clinic in San Diego last year."

8.      Advocates Spotlight Problems Returning Vets Have With VA Services.   The Johnson City (TN) Press (7/10, Weigelt) reports, "In early June, the director of The Manna House transitional housing program told" the US House Committee on Veterans Affairs "that the system of services intended to help returning combat veterans re-establish themselves as civilians is instead ‘designed to defeat them.’ The testimony of Johnson City’s Sam J. Fann, was similar to that of several panels of witnesses invited to address the committee on veterans’ homelessness." Fann "testified that a lack of coordination in the delivery of VA services, inadequate case management, the lack of transportation, poor communication and insufficient education and employment opportunities with the VA system were among the of most challenging difficulties facing returning veterans." Soon after testifying, "a call to Manna House from the Homeless Services office" at the VA Medical Center at Mountain Home introduced Fann to Iraq veteran Chad Dunford, "the latest in a succession of returning combat veterans whose difficulties" had "just been described to Congress."

9.      Vietnam Vet Support Group Reaching Out To New Generation.   The Stockton (CA) Record (7/9, Goldeen) said that in the "past year or so," a small, informal support group of Vietnam-era combat veterans in Stockton has "made a conscious effort to reach out to the newest generation of America’s combat veterans serving in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. They hope to see more young veterans at their meetings. ‘By doing this, it gives the Vietnam veterans an opportunity to

give their experience a sense of meaning. They can give a lift up to the young guy coming back, warning him not to go down the path they did that might include drugs and alcohol and divorce and violence,’ said Darryl Silva," the "clinical coordinator for mental health in the Central Valley for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Palo Alto Health Care System." Silva, who "called the informal outreach by the Vietnam veterans ‘an absolutely good thing,’" credited the "poor experiences with earlier VA officials" that the Vietnam-era vets had "for today’s massive changes in the agency’s approach to post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury."

10.    Wounded Vets Return To Iraq In Attempt To Find Closure.   The American Forces Press Service (7/10) reports, "Six wounded Soldiers, all amputees, returned to Joint Base Balad, Iraq, recently, hoping to close the door on the combat that changed them forever." The visit was part of Operation Proper Exit, "a USO pilot program sponsored" by the US Army "and the Troops First Foundation." The "program’s goal is to give" wounded soldiers "an opportunity for closure, and to see the progress made in securing and stabilizing the country," said Christopher A. Burrell, one of the six veterans, "who were accompanied by civilians with the Troops First Foundation."