Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 11-3-09

What’s Inside Today’s Local News for Veterans 

1. Florida Retired Military Group Honored For Helping Wounded Veterans. 
2. White House Video Features First Lady, Jill Biden Honoring Vets At World Series. 
3. Mississippi High School To Honor Veterans At Annual Breakfast. 
4. Blue Star Mothers Organize Candy Drive For Troops At Oklahoma Dentist Office. 
5. North Carolina Military Mothers To Discuss Forming Blue Star Chapter. 
6. Florida Elks Honor Veterans. 
7. October’s Jump In Active-Duty Suicides Seen As Worrying Military Experts. 
8. Kirk Calls For H1N1 Vaccine For Veterans Before Guantánamo Detainees. 
9. VA Extends Agent Orange Benefits. 
10. Veterans Day Observances Planned. 

1.      Florida Retired Military Group Honored For Helping Wounded Veterans.  Florida’s Villages Daily Sun (11/3, Corder, 39K) reports that the Lake Chapter of the Military Officers Association in The Villages, Florida, "earned for the second consecutive year the national organization’s ‘four-star’ banner for the monetary and morale support they devote to Operation Helping Hand" for their work in "the vastly difficult rehabilitation process" endured by combat wounded veterans from the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq." The piece explains that Operation Helping Hand is part of the Tampa MOAA chapter’s "enduring legacy to these wounded patriots. … About five years ago, Robert Silah, president of MOAA’s Tampa chapter and a retired US Navy captain, founded Operation Helping Hand." 

2.      White House Video Features First Lady, Jill Biden Honoring Vets At World Series.  Major League Baseball (11/3, Newman) reports on its website on a new "one-of-a-kind video" produced by the White House "that takes you behind the scenes of the visit by first lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of the Vice President, on that unforgettable first night when Major League Baseball got it all started by honoring veterans for Game 1 at Yankee Stadium. The video starts in the motorcade on that rainy afternoon, when the pair, along with Major League Baseball executives, visited US military veterans at a local Bronx V.A. hospital." 

3.      Mississippi High School To Honor Veterans At Annual Breakfast.  The Biloxi Sun Herald (11/3, Scallan, 41K) reports on the today’s tenth annual veteran’s breakfast at Gautier High School in Biloxi, Mississippi, noting that the event was begun "in 1999 by then-teacher Susue Bounds. Bounds now lives in Madison but she still helps organize the event and attends every year. U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor was the guest speaker at the first breakfast and will deliver the keynote address this year. … This year, organizers expect more than 300 people to attend. After breakfast, veterans and their families will go to the gym where the entire student body will be assembled, waving American flags and cheering as the veterans enter. Students also will get a chance to visit with veterans after the program." 

4.      Blue Star Mothers Organize Candy Drive For Troops At Oklahoma Dentist Office.  The Muskogee Daily Phoenix (11/3, Purtell, Spaulding) on a local dentist participating in the Blue Star Mothers’ Candy for the Troops Program, noting that Dr. David Jones "and his staff collected 110 pounds of candy from 32 children and one Marine in three hours Monday afternoon. Jones said the program is intended to reduce the amount of sweets in the mouths of children and give it instead to soldiers far from home. The office will continue collecting the candy through Wednesday."
  

5.      North Carolina Military Mothers To Discuss Forming Blue Star Chapter.  The Jefferson (NC) Post (11/3) reports on a meeting to be held on November 8 in Jefferson, North Carolina, at which military mothers will "discuss the chartering of a High Country Chapter of the National Organization of Blue Star mothers who have sons or daughters serving in the military. The organization will plan activities to support both the families and those serving in the military. Those activities are determined by each group, and include mailing cards, letters, and packages to area service men and women as well as being a support group for mothers who have sons and/or daughters in the military."  

6.      Florida Elks Honor Veterans.  The Vero Beach (FL) Press-Journal (11/3, 26K) reports on an occasional local Elks Lodge "luncheon for Disabled Veterans from the VA Medical Center in Riviera Beach," focusing on the October iteration. "The veterans were mostly from WWII and included two ex-POWs, and veterans from the Army, Navy, Merchant Marine and Coast Guard."  

7.      October’s Jump In Active-Duty Suicides Seen As Worrying Military Experts.  The Wall Street Journal (11/3, A15, Dreazen, 2.08M) reports that in October, 16 US soldiers killed themselves while on duty abroad or domestically, bringing the 2009 total of active-duty suicides to 134 and indicating that the 2008 record of 140 active-duty may be broken. Now, as the Obama Administration is considering deploying more troops to Afghanistan, some military experts worry that longer deployments and decreased time between deployments could contribute further to rising suicide rates. An ongoing suicide-prevention effort by the US Army has shown some modest effects, but officials from the Army are still trying to ascertain if October’s suicide figures were anomalous or indicative of a true rise in the number of military suicides.  

8.      Kirk Calls For H1N1 Vaccine For Veterans Before Guantánamo Detainees.  The Chicago Tribune (11/3, Pearson, 534K), in an article about IL10 Rep. Mark Kirk (R) appearing at a press conference about his US Senate bid, "was critical of the Pentagon’s decision to give H1N1 vaccine to terrorism suspects at the military’s Guantanamo Bay naval base ahead of military veterans. Kirk said the Veterans Administration facility in North Chicago was given 200 doses of the vaccine for a vulnerable population of 50,000 veterans. ‘I think the necessary policy should be that all veterans in the United States that are in the vulnerable population should be vaccinated first before al-Qaida terrorists,’ Kirk said." 
 

9.      VA Extends Agent Orange Benefits.  In a column in the La Crosse Tribune (11/3), Richard Mial writes, that veterans with coronary artery disease, b-cell leukemia or Parkinson’s disease "may qualify for compensation from the Veterans Administration, even if you had been turned down in the past. La Crosse County Veterans Services Officer Jim Gausmann said Monday hundreds of veterans suffering from ischemic coronary artery disease now may be eligible for benefits. ‘The VA will treat the disease and compensate veterans for the disabilities,’ Gausmann said. ‘Compensation can be $123 a month up to $3,000 a month and in rare cases $6,000 a month. ‘I can personally tell you that veterans have been denied for the b-cell leukemia, hairy cell leukemia,’ Gausmann said. ‘We’re attempting to reach those people to reopen those claims." 

10.    Veterans Day Observances Planned.  A number of articles in regional media outlets reported on upcoming Veterans Day observances. The Idaho Statesman (11/3, Webb, 61K) runs a report listing a number of events, including one at the State Veterans Cemetery and the Idaho State Veterans Home. The Providence Journal (11/3, Reilly, 133K) reports on a ceremony at the Providence VA Medical Center, while the Upper Rogue Independent (OR) (11/3, Sell) reports on a celebration at the VA Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center & Clinics.